Monday 19 August 2019
At the start of last week, accepting that a house with no TV, no curtains and only a wild,weedy wilderness where the garden used to be, is no place to live, I made myself a ‘to do’ list. It worked beautifully for all the tedious, but trivial tasks. However I realise that I may need to dig a little deeper when it comes to solving more challenging problems..
The garden was easy enough. I am no green-fingered goddess but I can spray weedkiller and steer a lawn mower as well as anyone! Upon a friend’s recommendation, a very cheery local TV man appeared on Tuesday and by Tuesday evening, ITV, Netflix and BBC i-player were back in our lives – hooray! Another friend, guided me through the marvellous new world of polyfiller and sandpaper and we can now once again, shut the neighbours out after dark.
In addition, Prom-dress daughter and I caught up on some hospital appointments and we sorted out learner driver car insurance for my eldest, with a great company called Marmelade. This is a job I’d ruled out, for several months, on cost grounds but, it turns out, it was just a case of finding the right company. (My eldest now drives us everywhere! ) We played basket ball and fitted in a family walk and a pub lunch I also drank rather a lot of alcohol, with friends new and old, and, all in all, enjoyed a very productive and sociable week. Having a ‘To-Do’ list certainly seems a pretty good way to have a ‘Ta -Da’ kind of week!
Alas, if only all life’s problems were as easily fixed as an overgrown lawn. My email inbox also has more exciting and more challenging news, with a couple of new job opportunities. One of these is now in hand and I am really pleased about, but the other…scares me quite a lot. I sit down to tackle the demanding interview prep but, after a demoralising few months at work, it is too easy for old feelings of inadequacy to surface and sink my efforts in waves of panic and self doubt. I am also distracted by the thought of Prom-dress daughter’s results day, an imminent UKCAT test for my eldest, plus the ever nearing spectre of the university offers and interviews cycle.
Perhaps what we need to navigate through these trickier waters is a Bucket List, (because I think that new jobs, A Level choices and UCAS applications may be too much of a project for a weekly ‘To Do’ post-it. ) So here’s to: a job where I feel valued by my bosses, A levels that excite, and Uni offers that inspire. Now those are tasks that will needs us all to dig in for the long term, but if we can manage it, hopefully they will bring those richer rewards…
