make 2009 as good as it can be

Will do a proper goal review tomorrow, but tonight I want to look back on the great things that happened in 2009. In chronological order:

Wallow in Crap

Right back at the beginning of January I became Intrepid Leopard and made the perilous journey out to zone 6 to visit Moose in Croydon. We got the tram to Ikea and had a lovely time filling a trolley with goodies before repairing to the restaurant for meatballs and lingonberry sauce. Then we went back to her flat and had a lovely time writing and recording Wallow in Crap. I’d already written some lyrics but Moose improved them and we came up with a tune, sang our parts and added music, and drank vodka out of a mug. It was a really happy afternoon.

Painting my flat

I’d been moaning for ages about how horrible the flat was looking – at that point I’d been here for six and a half years, and when I moved in Mum and I painted the walls but not the ceiling, which had turned a disgusting colour. I was going to get someone in to do it, but G volunteered his services and was absolutely brilliant at organising everything and helping me pack up my stuff, cleverly rigging up the hi-fi so we could listen to some ace tunes while we worked. I enjoyed staying at his place downstairs for 2 weeks, and remember a particularly fine lunch one Saturday at about 3pm after we had worked our socks off all morning, consisting of baked Vacherin, a baguette and a bottle of Chorey-les-Beaune. Fantastic.

The Third International Gathering of the Breakfast Martini Gang

Stine’s visit over Easter was totally brilliant – she generously put up with my little idiosyncrasies such as organising my paperclip collection and insisting on dragging her to Rotherhithe where we found the world’s worst museum and encountered an exceptionally weird man. Other highlights included visiting Moose’s new place, going to a concert at St Johns Smith Square, the cocktail party itself with Moose, Silvie, Cate and Lesley (what happened to Lesley?!), and a day trip to Bath the following day. Going to the champagne bar at St Pancras was an unexpected treat, thanks to Silvie. And we had a surprisingly good time in London Pub. Happy days indeed.

Burgundy

In May I went to Burgundy (for the 6th time) with G and some other friends and we had a great time visiting serious restaurants in Beaune, Chagny and Puligny and having wine-tastings in Chorey, Meursault and Morey St Denis. I can’t wait to go back in January.

School reunion

This one popped up out of the blue in June – a reunion for my year at the girls’ school which I attended from 7 to 16. As I was no longer in touch with anybody from there, it was utterly terrifying, and not many people from my class were there, but I reconnected with one of them, and that led to meeting my ex-best friend again after 18 years. We’re now back on seeing-each-other-from-time-to-time terms which is fantastic and I’m really happy about it! Also am giving myself a pat on the back for having the guts to go, as I could easily have chickened out and then none of that would have happened.

Tea at the Ritz

Moose and I had tea at the Ritz to celebrate her birthday, and it was a real once-in-a-lifetime experience. The cocktails in the bar afterwards were also wonderful, and it was there that I discovered the Dark and Stormy. A superb afternoon. The Flirting 101 class was an unexpected bonus!

Rediscovering Scott Joplin

Back in the summer G asked me to order some Scott Joplin CDs and they were so fab that I felt inspired to start playing the piano again. I swang into action and within a week I’d bought a digital piano. I’ve been torturing the neighbours ever since and have learned two pieces from scratch and am going to play them to my parents next week. Looking forward to learning more next year.

Suffolk

In September I spent a week in Suffolk with Dad, my brother and my sister-in-law, and my mother joined us for a couple of days too. We stayed in a cottage in Southwold and I really enjoyed going up the lighthouse, doing a tour of the Adnams brewery, and taking a boat trip from Orford to Aldeburgh, something Mum and I did back in 1989 – same boat, same people, same menu! (Mum and I both remembered the chocolate mousse…) On the way back Dad and I visited Sutton Hoo which was great.

The tablet

I think this was in October – I was just chatting randomly to Moose about drawing and she told me about tablets, and again I swang into action and procured one (good old Amazon), and have been inflicting silly pictures on people ever since, and made the video for Wallow in Crap which meant we could put it on youtube. Tremendous fun.

Big Ben

My sister-in-law was involved in creating an exhibition for the 150th anniversary of Big Ben and arranged for my family to go up it in November. This was another once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can’t quite describe how exciting and moving it was to hear the bell chime at midday – it was historic.

ticking along…

Work

Just realised it was my 4th anniversary in the job yesterday. Last week I was still struggling with some issues; this week they mainly went away and things have gone well. The office is very cheery and I enjoy the constant banter with H, M and E and having lunch with Z when she’s in. The new system is almost complete now too. It feels as though I can wind down for a while now as we get closer to Xmas. Our office Xmas lunch is on Thursday and H has devised a fabulous seating plan which mixes everyone up while avoiding any clashes, so am looking forward to that.

Social

Chiefy’s drinks went well on Wed, and I didn’t have any trouble schmoozing as there were lots of nice people there and the carefully-chosen booze was flowing. Had a lovely night on Thurs with bro and SIL, and a nice time on Friday and last night with G. Today saw lunch at ACC’s and TS the sculptor was also there, good to see him. So all well. Next week will be relatively quiet but am looking forward to having an opportunity to recharge my batteries.

Healthinessfulllllllllness

Not too bad. I’ve been to the gym for an hour yesterday and today. The new machines are wonderful and I feel quite inspired to spend more time down there (watching the boot camp brigade from the sidelines has also helped). Am upping my veg levels which feels good. Also yesterday finally got round to getting some HC45 cream to sort out the lurgy on my hand as have tried the other stuff for 4 months now without it working – it seems to be responding.

Reading

Continuing American Gods by Neil Gaiman which is great.

Piano

Haven’t done a lot, but am keeping it fun. Playing Swipesy never fails to cheer me up.

Wine

Today we had a 1999 Beaune Pertuisots which was very nice, and we gave it an 8.

General

Coming up to the end of the year always makes me start reconsidering my goals. Things that are springing to mind at the moment: more cooking inspired by ACC’s lunch today which was lovely – have asked Mum for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s latest book for Xmas so perhaps that will provide inspiration. Also Rob Yeung’s point about doing new things has struck a chord – perhaps listening to a different radio station for a while, reading a different newspaper, that sort of stuff. I don’t do cultural things as often as I would like, mainly because I don’t like going to things by myself, and going with other people requires a degree of organisation. I need to get back in touch with RJ, and I need to start planning my trip to Copenhagen/Malmo to see AB. There’s a heap of things (cleaning the oven, getting my watch strap fixed, getting my eyes tested) that I’ve been putting off. I have ongoing guilty feelings that I don’t do enough socially valuable things with my leisure time and am a frivolous hedonist on the fast-track to hell ;) Then I remember that I have a fairly full-on full-time job working for a local charity – it’s not like the nice student days where I could spend an afternoon a week working in the Oxfam bookshop. If I want to spend my spare time either being quiet and reading or being convivial is there anything wrong with that? Life is short and there’s only so much time in the day. Sorry, bit of a brain dump but these are the things on my mind right now.

A mixed bag this week.

Work

On the whole it’s going well. The only major issue at the moment is that I’m struggling with the UP once again. It seems that during every conversation she manages to say something that rubs me up the wrong way, and whenever I take the trouble to reply to one of her “look at me, and how many bright ideas I have!” emails (sent to the entire department for no apparent reason), she doesn’t bother to reply. At the work wine-tasting the other night she randomly started speculating that ACC and I had met on a blind date – wtf? – which was quite embarrassing. On Friday she attacked me in the middle of a meeting when I said I didn’t want to introduce a new scheme right in the middle of our busiest period and at the same time as various other upheavals that are going on. Grrrrr! Sorry, just needed to vent a little. I do really like my job, and I’m getting on well with everyone else.

Social

I’ve been out every night this week but a lot of it was work stuff. It was lovely to see Moose and Cate on Monday. The wine-tasting on Friday was brilliant, and the weekend has been quiet which was just what I needed.

Something happened on Friday which took the wind out of my sails – I lost a FB friend for the first time. FB had been quite a positive thing in my life up till now, but now I realise it can be a double-edged sword – at least on here if you lose a subscriber you don’t know who it is, and you don’t have to be subscribed to someone to read their stuff in any case.

Anyway, enough with the doom and gloom. I have some nice things lined up for next week: chiefy’s drinks do on Wed, which will be a mixture of work and pleasure, then D&G (bro and SIL) are coming round for dinner on Thurs and G and I are having lunch with ACC on Sun.

Reading

I finished Neverwhere last night and started American Gods this afternoon. Discovered that the reason I was unaware that Neil Gaiman had been writing lots of things which I didn’t know about was that the bookshops keep them in the Science Fiction and Fantasy section rather than mainstream fiction. These ridiculous genre classifications. Felt like a teenage boy in Waterstones today ;)

Healthinessfulllllness

Bloody awful. I’ve been eating way too many cakes and biscuits, drinking too much, sleeping badly, feeling exhausted and lousy much of the time, and not doing any exercise. Nice one leopard! I seriously need to get a grip. These things are related, so if I can sort out one then the rest will follow. The new gym kit is supposed to be arriving this week so hopefully I can hit the gym next weekend and play on lots of lovely new machines. Early nights wherever possible, and I shall be booze-free as much as poss too.

Piano

Haven’t done as much as I should have but don’t feel like it today. Think I need to start learning a new piece as am getting bored playing the same stuff over and over again.

Wine

Drank some fabulous wines on Friday – Dom Perignon 1995, red and white Corton from 1971, Chateau Latour 1997 (am in definite danger of acquiring a ruinous Ch. Latour habit now), Rieussec 1975 sauternes and Warres 1975 port. It was hard to say which out of all that lot was the best. The general vote seemed to be for the Rieussec, but all of them were amazing. I do love drinking old wine – the Corton in particular was ethereal and haunting, and just not something that you’re going to see in Tescos.

Feeling down in the dumps today and the appalling weather is not helping. But it’s been a good week otherwise.

Friends and family

Nice things have happened, and it was great to get back in touch with an old friend this week. A fair bit of gallivanting is lined up next week too – I seem to have a good balance going on at the moment.

Work

A good week. I was nervous about the big meeting, but it went all right. The new minion seems to be settling in well. Various other issues crop up from time to time but basically things are now under control, and I was able to take Friday off without worrying about returning to chaos.

Healthinessfulllllllness

Haven’t been paying much attention to this, so much else has been going on. I haven’t been stuffing myself with biscuits or anything though, so things could be worse.

Exercise

Did an hour in the gym yesterday and an hour today. I’m happy that I went yesterday and that adding it into my Saturday routine is feasible. Need to do more weights but buggered up my shoulder in my sleep on Tuesday night so am going to wait until that sorts itself out.

Reading

Finished the body language book and wrote a review. Now reading the current issue of the LRB and then planning to move on to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Piano

This is going ok – there are a couple of bits of Swipesy which I’m still struggling with but am continuing to do half an hour whenever I get a chance so hopefully it will come together by Christmas.

Wine

(Widening this from the premier cru project, as that’s on hold at the moment.) Had some lovely vintage port on Wed going back to 1970, helped G with his 1968 Boal madeira which is now sadly all gone, and we had an ace bottle of 1996 tokaji 6 puttonyos last night. But I was gutted to find that my beloved Beaune Greves 1999 was undrinkable. We’re going to have the last bottle tonight so paws crossed that it’s still ok.

Maintenance

Just did a major clean of the flat which always makes me feel better.

Can’t think of anything else. Am bored with my own list. I guess everything is ok really, I just seem to be lacking sparkiness at the moment. Heigh ho.

Am pleased to say it’s been another exceptionally good week.

Friends and family

I’ve been unusually sociable this week! Saw my family and the wine-tasting crowd on Wednesday including a couple of people I don’t see very often. On Thurs went for dinner with AB, her husband and a couple of other people, and we’ve now managed to find each other on FB so hopefully we should be able to stay in touch much better now. She’s Swedish and has already been interrogating me about the presence of a jar of Ikea lingonberry jam in the FIGOTBMG photo on there, eek! How to explain that without giving away 43T? Friday was Dark and Stormy night with Moose which was brilliant fun. Last night I saw G and today it was my brother’s 40th birthday lunch which was really good and G is coming round shortly to make dinner. So a busy week. It’s been lovely but a bit random that all these things happened in quick succession. I have a relatively quiet week coming up which I’m looking forward to.

Work

Work has continued to go really well. Got the accounts finished and I’m going to present them to the trustees at the big meeting on Tuesday. We had a breakthrough on Monday at the weekly meeting, concerning the way we calculate how much dosh the trustees have available for grants. I spoke up and suggested a better way of doing it so am proud with myself for doing that. We interviewed for a new minion and found someone I think will be good, who starts tomorrow. And I sorted out an issue that cropped up earlier in the week. As I was leaving on Friday evening, P thanked me for helping her settle in, which was very nice.

Healthinessfulllllllllllness

Nothing much to report on the weight loss front because I haven’t been weighing myself knowing that if I do, it will be bad news! It’s difficult to reconcile dieting with all the gallivanting and meals out that have been happening this week. Will try to do better next week. Have finally made an appointment to go to the dentist so that’s something (it’s been over a year apparently, oops).

Exercise

Did weights last Sunday which made me achey for about four days, and late nights have not been conducive to early morning trips to the gym. I went today though and found that one of the new machines has arrived already – an uber-whizzy elliptical thing – so I spent a very enjoyable hour bouncing about on it. I’m abandoning any attempt at early mornings for the time being, but am aiming to do two sessions of weights at home and to go to the gym on Sat and Sun next weekend.

Reading

Finished Ghostwritten which I really enjoyed, more than Cloud Atlas in fact – there are a lot of similarities. Next up I want to read the book on improving one’s voice, as I have to speak at the meeting on Tuesday and want to be as good as possible. After that, it will probably be Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman which G picked up at the book exchange.

Piano

Practised on Monday and yesterday and then played to G. My main problem is that as soon as I think anyone’s listening, I immediately fuck up, and G is a particularly critical audience. I even go wrong when I hear someone walking down the corridor outside! And once that happens, I find it hard to recover. I wish I could simulate having someone listening. Anyway, more practice required.

Premier cru project

We’ve had two this week – a Mercurey ’99 and a Fixin ’99. The Mercurey was lovely and we gave it a high 8. The Fixin was very disappointing and only got a 6. I think this means we’ve now drunk all the pcs that are ready to drink now so guess this goal will have to go on hold until my trip to Burgundy in January.

Cooking

Nothing new, but I made 5 hour lamb yesterday and another terrine is in the oven as I type.

Leopard Towers

I’ve kept the flat reasonably clean this week and have been making an effort to deal with post as it comes in so that piles of crap don’t reappear, and to put my clothes away when I go to bed instead of leaving them lying around the place, ahem. The cheery candle and cheery tulips from Moose are making it even cheerier! I really like being in the Towers at the moment.

Exuberance is still awol, but the price of exuberance is the Gloomy Trap so I’ll settle for this current mood of mellow cheerfulness.

It’s been a great week!

Friends and family

Going well – had dinner with G on Sunday, went to a wine tasting on Wed and saw ACC and A, and had dinner with AM on Friday who I hadn’t seen for a while. Just spoke to parents who are fine but apparently the cats are very needy at the moment and are missing me. I’m missing them too! Coming up, a busy week: dinner with G tomorrow, a big wine tasting which all my family and AM are going to on Wed, then dinner with the elusive AB and some of her other friends on Thurs, Dark and Stormy Night with Moose on Fri and my brother’s 40th birthday lunch on Sunday. So lots to look forward to!

Work

I can’t believe what a turnaround it’s been. Last week I was feeling extremely unappreciated and had had a major row with my boss. This week he’s been much nicer and I’ve done the accounts with days to spare and have been enjoying myself tinkering with them to improve the format. I also got to have lunch with a senior colleague on Tues who dispensed useful advice. It feels as though things are on the up and I’m not dreading going into work tomorrow like I was last week!

Diet/healthinessfullllness

Ticking along, nothing much to report.

Exercise

Went to the gym on Tuesday morning which I was very pleased with myself for doing! Also did an hour’s walking yesterday and weights today. Planning roughly the same next week.

Reading

Finished the Rings of Saturn, a wonderful book, and am now reading Ghostwritten by David Mitchell which I’m enjoying a lot.

Piano

Coming along well – I can play the first two pages of Swipesy now so it’s just the last two sections to go. I’ve made a start on them and am quite confident I can learn them by Christmas.

Drawing

Did the picture which is currently my avatar. I enjoyed doing that yesterday!

Premier cru project

Nothing to report – I did drink a premier cru Puligny on Wed but G wasn’t there and being an ‘07 it was too young to rate anyway.

Cooking

Haven’t made anything new this week, but did feel like a domestic goddess today making chicken stock and petits pots extreme.

Self-maintenance

Had a very productive day today clearing out a lot of clutter, filing, cleaning, and doing a clothes audit which resulted in lots of things that I’ve either worn out or never worn being thrown out / taken to the charity shop. I also rediscovered a couple of things which are wearable that I’d managed to forget about, bonus! The flat is now clean and tidy and it feels great.

To sum up

Earlier in the year I was struggling to find anything positive to say here because I was feeling miserable and full of self-loathing. I’m relieved that that period is behind me and that right now I’m feeling content with my life… it’s not perfect, and there are still ups and downs, but it’s pretty damned good!

It’s been a week of ups and downs but I’ve been feeling quite serene today and although things aren’t perfect, in the grand scheme of things I don’t have a lot to complain about.

Friends and family

It’s been a really excellent week on this front. Had a brilliant time on Wednesday going up Big Ben with my family. The sense of anticipation as we waited at the top and then seeing the hammer rise and strike the giant bell was absolutely incredible. I’m also up-to-date with practically everyone else – the dinner with D and M last night went pretty well, things seem to be going well with G and have just called AB and am going to see her in a couple of weeks!

Work

Everything was ok until Thursday when a relatively minor disagreement was blown out of all proportion and turned into a more general bollocking, actually a Greatest Hits Bollocking as the chance was taken to rake over some ancient history too. This left me feeling angry and miserable, but I guess I just have to grow a thicker skin. I always knew this year and a half of transition (the longest handover in history?) would have its challenges and every day that passes is a day closer to the big day. Looking on the bright side, the good news is that I have permission to recruit a new minion, temporarily in the first instance, to tide us through the busy period, so that’s something to be grateful for. And next week I’m under chiefy’s orders to take another, very experienced colleague out for lunch and pick his brains about how to be a good finance director, which should be interesting.

Healthinessfulllllllness

A mixed bag too. Booze-consumption was lower than usual and I did intermittent fasting on Friday but then ruined it by eating biscuits, duh!

Exercise

I was full of grand ideas this week but I find that getting into work at 8.30 helps me get the day off to a gradual and less stressful start, but if I go to the gym first thing then I can’t get in until 9.00. Going today did make me feel great though, so I will try to go tomorrow and see how the rest of the week turns out. I’ve done quite a lot of walking this week (down to Westminster and back on Wednesday, and over to Marylebone and back yesterday) so that counts for something. I was also pretty pleased that climbing Big Ben didn’t present a major problem.

Reading

Finished the second Sherlock Holmes book, and am now re-reading The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald which I’m enjoying very much. It’s an account of a walk he took along the Suffolk coast and he goes off on all sorts of tangents and tells historical anecdotes, and it’s like nothing else you’ve ever read, incredibly erudite yet very readable and down-to-earth.

Piano

This is coming along well. I have practised every day this week and am on to the second page of Swipesy now. Am hoping that I might have learned the whole thing by Christmas, which would give me two pieces to play to my parents during the cocktail hour.

Drawing

I drew the bonfire night picture for Zanna but haven’t been in the mood for doing anything else. I’ll definitely do some next weekend though.

Premier cru project

Nothing to report as we’ve run out of things drinking now, waiting for further stocks to arrive from Beaune… But we’re going to have a promising-looking 1985 Gigondas this evening.

Cooking

Made terrine again yesterday, looking forward to trying it this evening!

Maintenance

Cleaned the flat yesterday and used my new mop for the second time. It’s definitely making a difference. I also have a nice candle which I found in the supermarket for a quid, which has been cheering me up most evenings.

Making progress, making progress…

Work

I still get panicky at times, and I still find the Upsetting Person hard to deal with, but the success journal has made me realise that actually I do get a hell of a lot done every day. Am putting a case forward to the Big Cheeses that we need another person to provide some spare capacity and stay on top of some areas which currently I haven’t got time to do, and am not the right person to be doing it in any case. Big Phil is sympathetic so we’ll see what chiefy says tomorrow. Lord EP is visiting on Tues and I have a day off on Wed.

Social

There have been some excellent evenings recently, particularly dinner last Sunday and the champagne tasting on Wed. Have seen some other friends and emailed AB at last (thanks to agent Z), and my relationship with my sister-in-law is getting closer which I’m really happy about. Next week: it seems there’s a possibility of a feline visitor on Tuesday (!) and I’m going up Big Ben with my family on Wednesday, having dinner with Danger Girl on Thursday and seeing old school friends D and M on Saturday – so it will be an action-packed week!

Healthinessfullllllllness

Not getting anywhere diet-wise at the moment which is frustrating. Am going to plan each day in advance on Fitday in a bid to get back in control of this, although it’s hard when eating out. Otherwise my health is good. Sleep will be a priority this week.

Exercise

Went to the gym today and have set up goals for next week.

Piano

Coming along very well – have now learned Paragon Rag (although still wobbly on p.4) and have moved on to Swipesy Cakewalk so there’s a possibility I could have learned that by Christmas. Keeping it fun is the main thing.

Reading

Currently reading the 30th anniversary issue of the LRB and also Sherlock Holmes, which I’m enjoying a lot.

Drawing

Released the WiC video on youtube which was fun to do and received some nice comments – and some less favourable ones – thanks G, keeping it real ;) This is now on the back burner for the time being waiting for further inspiration to strike. I do have another project in mind but am not sure if I’ll get round to starting it this week.

Premier cru project

Back on track! ACC is bringing back 8 pcs next week and I’ve spent some time with G looking at the maps in the book. We realised that not all the vineyards marked on the map as pc are included in the list of pcs, so there are more than we realised. G has been standing over me making me put the additional ones onto the spreadsheet. Boring but necessary! He’s also putting together an order from another wine merchant so we’re going to have plenty to get stuck into over the next few months.

Writing

Nothing to report. Previously I was writing a letter-to-self but now I’ve reached the stage where I’ve managed to bore even myself ;) so haven’t felt any great need to return to it. Last week I came across something I’d written a month ago and could see that I’d moved on to some extent, so that was good.

Quite a good week, on the whole. Lots done.

Work

Better than last week, managed to be productive and deal with a couple of things that had been hanging over me, so feel more on top of things. Tomorrow H and I are on a charity tax course _{no yawning at the back} and the prospect of not going into the office has banished Sunday night blues. I’ll probably get a bad attack of Monday night blues instead ;)

Friends and family

Fab evening on Wed with G and assorted middle-aged men drinking obscure booze. Otherwise it has been quiet, but plans are in progress. I’m thinking a lot about this at the moment: who do I really like spending time with? why are there some friends who are hard work to engage with? what works and what doesn’t? why is it that with some people I always seem to be the one making the effort, and is it worth it?

.

Family are all fine. November is going to be a big family month as will see them at least 3 times in London, for the trip up Big Ben, a wine-tasting, and my brother’s 40th birthday lunch (can’t believe he’s 40 next month argh!). I was wondering about going home at some point but am seeing parents so much anyway that am not sure I will.

Healthinessfullllllness and exercise

Nothing much to report.

Reading

Finished Lord EP’s book about his solo transatlantic crossing, which I enjoyed despite knowing nothing about sailing. Also read most of the LRB and am in the middle of a book about personality which Moose has lent me. It’s really interesting although it’s telling me some things I don’t want to hear. More on this later in the week as I come to terms with it.

Cooking

Finally used the terrine dish Mum gave me by making a duck terrine yesterday. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and looks incredible but I haven’t tried it yet, waiting for G to turn up shortly. I hope it’s nice because there’s a lot of it! Project Oatcake has been set up as a separate goal and I’ll probably embark on it next weekend.

Piano

This is coming along well. I’ve practised 3-4 hours this week and Paragon Rag is definitely getting there, and I’ve started the first page of Swipesy Cakewalk which has a lovely carefree tune. I love walking to work with it in my head.

Drawing

I unexpectedly sprang into action this week and bought a tablet which is like a pad with a pen which connects to the computer. It came with Art Rage software, so now I can produce silly cartoons ad infinitum. Have been enjoying myself enormously! The Wallow in Crap video will be coming to youtube soon. You have been warned! ;)

Generally, feeling more cheerful than I have done for some time.

Friends and family

It’s been a good week on this front. Highlights: triple arse and seeing CB and A on Thurs, several very enjoyable evenings with G, getting the new wine-tasting calendar from ACC, an invitation from M and a couple of messages from the elusive AB. Next week: am looking forward to a boozy dinner at the Savile on Wed and seeing TR and PB, whose company is always good for morale.

_sigh

Work

Argh. The office is cheery at the mo, which is great, but we’re also under a lot of pressure and H was off sick for 2 days. I’ve told Big Phil that I think we need another person and he was quite receptive to that – at the moment I find myself still doing things that someone else could do, and not having any time to step back and look at the big picture which I’m supposed to be doing. Glad I’m not gallivanting much next week as it means I can stay late if I need to _{have just realised this makes me sound completely tragic ;)}

Exercise

Did a very quick weights session on Mon, tai chi on Wed, and more weights and an hour of cardio this week. More of the same next week and I’d quite like to get up early and do intervals one day but will see how the sleep goes.

Healthinessfullllllllllness

Last week I was quite depressed about my post-holiday bulge. This week it disappeared surprisingly easily, despite several days which could not be described as healthfullllllll. So that was good! This week, more focus required.

Reading

Haven’t done much this week – I seem to be in the middle of several non-fiction books all at once which isn’t great. Made a start on a very interesting novel this afternoon!

Writing

I wrote 5 pages this week, 4 on Monday and another one today. To be continued…

Piano

It’s very gratifying to be able to see the progress I’m making with this. Did about 3 hours practice this week and discovered yesterday that I can almost play the second page of Paragon Rag without the music. Page 3 is almost there. Page 4 needs work, but it’s coming on. Had a bash at the first page of Swipesy today – looking forward to learning that.

Premier cru project

This is back on, yay! and in the last week we’ve had two 10s! a 1988 Gevrey-Chambertin and a 2007 red Chassagne-Montrachet. I’ve also typed up all my notes, some of which had been lying around since June, so feels good to get it up to date. We had a lovely time last night poring over an auction catalogue, pair of wine geeks that we are ;)

Self-maintenance

I haven’t done anything notable to maintain myself, but I did clean the flat yesterday and got rid of some rubbish.

Sleep

Had two awful nights worrying about things in the middle of the night but it seems to have abated. The moral of the story is to stay away from alcohol on weeknights as much as possible.

Overall, ticking along I guess, but exuberance is still AWOL.