Summer ?

Summer is finally here. 

By Summer I don't just mean that part of the year that the meteorologists and astrophysicists define as summer, I mean actual Summer. Hot Weather. 

Today, in the flat it reached 29 degrees centigrade. I was hot, the cats were hot. Pretty much from the moment I came home till about ten at night I've left the front door open, the windows as ajar as i dare and the window in Chloe's room open all the way (with the door shut so that the cats can't decide to leap out of the window. 

And it's still 27 and a half degrees. It's really nice, and the sunshine is gorgeous. I've not been out in it a huge amount as it has rather been too hot to enjoy over the weekend. 

Somehow I need to summon the strength and energy and find the time to take Chloe's Violin to the post office. In this heat, and with the times I'm working that means taking it to work with me, and at my lunch break walking into Havant and taking it to the Post Office, and then walking back to work. In the middle of the day. 

You may guess that I'm not really up for that. 

At the weekend Chloe was on a sleepover, and she had agreed previously that we go to the Beacon Barbie (Barbecue). In a moment of pure teenager she decided on the train to mine that she didn't want to go after all. This was after I had been shopping and brought some salad and some sausages and burgers for us to take. (not that they could ever go to waste really). 

This was disappointing, I had really been looking forward to going, but could really understand that having been out in the heat walking around Southsea all day with her friends, the idea of walking to the train station, getting a train, walking to mine, doing some stuff, walking back to the train station and then getting a train to Steve's etc, etc and being surrounded by a load of people who would all be adults would not really hold that great an appeal for her. 

She was quite happy for me to leave her at the flat, and I go without her, but I was not happy with this arrangement. I wanted to spend time with Chloe, having looked forward to seeing her all week, and to bugger off and leave her there on her own, not that she would be bothered at all I am sure seemed to be  rather crazy to me. 

In other news, Andy Murray won the Men's final at Wimbledon. Yay. Was a very exciting match, very energetic. I don't think I could run around a tennis court that much in that heat without collapsing. 

I've perhaps foolishly offered to do some editing for Steve. This will be my chance I guess to put my money where my mouth is, instead of just moaning about how other people edit stuff. 

One down... 51 to go

You know how I said the other day that I had probably jinxed things by saying that I felt that I was doing okay, and that I was making good progress.

Well, that bad mojo caught up with me today. It was a day in which it was certainly harder to spot the 'achievements'. Even so, it was the whole business today basically screwed it's plan up and threw it in the bin within half an hour of us starting.

Previously, I might have fought this fire fighting, or argued about it, but today I just got on with things, even with the slightly more difficult conditions. This, I think, helped. I wasn't so much fighting everything and everyone else.

Bloody hard work though.

After last winter, I promised myself that I would not go through 'that' again. I decided, in the spring, that I would change how I dealt with the overwork that forms part of the winter period in the call centre (the bit when everyone goes crazy with fear about their bills), and I have to say that although this hasn't produced an oasis of calm in the middle of the call centre that is me, I do feel more.... rational.

I'm really no use to anyone, especially me, if I am feeding of anger and frustration all the time, I end up making rash choices, bad judgements and bite of the hands of those that try to help, purely because I am so short-sighted in that state that I can't see the wood for the trees.

Well, we are more than half way out of the dark now, it may still be a fair old climb back out of winter, and into spring, but we are on the way there.

And this summer, I'm determined to spend more of it somewhere I normally don't.... out of doors. I want to get out there and soak up the air, the warmth, the sun... if anything, just so I can remember that there actually was a summer when we get back to winter again.