I am not good at being sick…

There has been a form of black plague sweeping through the branch I work in, and, of course, typical to form, people will still come in to work, when on the verge of death.  Personally I resent the sharing of germs like this – my opinion is that if you are sick you should stay home and get better.

Why do people still come in when they are sick? WHY???

A girlfriend of mine explained her reasons for this to me a few years ago.  At the time she had two boys under the age of 5.  She said that if she stayed home when she was sick, she would still have to do all of the Mom stuff that needed doing, and that being in her workplace actually gave her a break from dealing with two sick children and a sick husband.

Fair enough – I can understand this… but still – the sharing of germs is not fair to the rest of us…

This past week I have had the initial stages of what could turn into a nasty case of the plague… yesterday afternoon I started to get a headache and this morning I woke up with the stuffy nose, dry cough AND headache.  I phoned in sick.  This, unfortunately, breaks my no-sick-days record. I haven’t taken a single one since I started in the branch and the one head cold I actually have had this past year I got and ended while on vacation… So while today served a good purpose, helping me rest and feel better, it also stopped me doing some of my usual things I would have been doing today.

Even though I am 41, I can still hear my Mum’s voice in my head saying that if I was too sick to go to school then I was too sick to _____ (insert whatever it was here that I was wanting to do) so in spite of the sunshine, I didn’t do any lawn or garden work.  I did manage to get some inside stuff done, but truly, not a lot.  I took a three hour nap after I finished my lunch – and when I woke up, my headache and sinus congestion was gone. Woo hoo! Yay for naps!

Provided I wake up tomorrow feeling better than I did when I woke up this morning, I’ll take advantage of what promises to be another sunny day, and walk the dog (she was a trooper today and kept me great company all day) - and I’ll mow my little raggedy patch of back yard.  I’m also thinking that I may stop at Art Knapp’s and get some more plants and some fencing for the little side flower bed.

But only if I still feel better...

With love across the waters,

Sleeping In and Taking it Easy

I love late start mornings.  Wednesdays I start my work shift at 10:15 and this morning that means a lie in and extra long cuddle with Jasmine, a nice omelette breakfast (I am out of home-made granola, so it was either the omelette or old and stale Cheerios... which I really should get rid of!) some computer putter time and, of course, some planning time.

Computer time this morning is a continuation of last night's computer orgy. I spent a good three hours logged into various job websites looking for work and have submitted about five applications for various jobs. While I like the company I am working for (I  have been with them for nearly 20 years now) I'm increasingly unhappy with the management team.  Dad told me years ago that people don't leave jobs, they leave managers... and the more I think on this, the more I realize it's true - the jobs I have left this quickly (it's been less than two years) have been because of management.

So... instead of sitting on my hands, I'm finally taking action to rectify this situation.  I had an interview a couple of weeks ago that showed promise (and still does) but that particular role was awarded to someone else.  I'd love to work for that company though, and will be keeping in touch with the Human Resources manager to see if anything can come of it.

I'm also looking outside of the financial services industry - for the first time in ages and ages, I might add.  While scary, it's also exciting to consider other possibilities.  I'm not too old to learn new things - I love the challenge of learning and growing and think that when we, as humans, stop ourselves from learning new things we start to feel a little stale. OK, yes, I admit it, most of the applications I sent off last night are financial services roles, but there were a couple that aren't...

The planning aspect of my lazy morning (which I have to admit is creeping away on me quickly) includes more planning for the back yard garden space as well as planning for the front yard patch. I also still need to figure out what to do with my home office. And maybe my bedroom closet. I was putting away clean laundry last night and thinking I may need some shelving in there to manage some of the chaos.

But back to the home office... I've made a few changes to the previous lay-out but am not entirely satisfied yet with the outcome.  After my last bout of Feng Shui activities it was tidier and more organised, but still felt not quite right.  The home office is in the Helpful People and Travel sector of my house overall.  If you lay the Bagua map over only the upstairs, the home office sits in the Relationship and Love sector.

Are you confused yet? I am.  Never mind - we'll muddle through this.

Instead of fiddling with overall home and floor maps for this, I'm thinking I may manage my home office as a single space with each sector in it being treated (to be enhanced, energised or cured as needed) separately.  There are a few limitations to this - a large one being that the desk needs to be in the power position (and partially, at least, facing the door.  The way the space is set up, you enter in the Skills and Knowledge sector.  I have my desk facing the wall in the sector for Career and Life path as well as the sector for Helpful People.  The closet (doors on, but not yet painted - still need to get to that!) represents an extra piece of space, so I'm not really spending a lot of mental work on that one... but it lies along the wall for Children and Creativity and I have a window in the Relationship and Love corner.  Also in that corner, I have shifted my metal bookshelf to that area as I needed something behind me.  It's strange, but before I moved the bookshelf (when it was just bare wall with nothing because I had moved out the old desk) I felt very unsupported at my back whenever I sat at the desk.  Shifting the bookshelf (and my filing cabinet - Feng Shui is meant to be functional too!) made me feel better.  Hm.

The file cabinet is in the Fame and Reputation area (I have a couple of dishes of crystals on it for good measure)   and at present I have Jasmine's bed and a chair sitting in the Prosperity corner.

See what I mean? This is going to need a plan of attack!

Never mind, we're supposed to have rain most of tomorrow (my day off) and so, since I can't exactly spend that kind of day out in my garden comfortably, I can spend the bulk of the day indoors looking at the indoors projects that I neglected last week on my days off because it was gorgeous and sunny.  I picked up an extra shift on Friday - so will have Thursday and Sunday off to manage my household and personal chores.  

With love across the waters,