What I learned this week...

The first thing I learned this week was that I’m not invincible. I pride myself on never catching cold – yet there I was sniffling and coughing just like I used to do at the end of each term at university. Ah, she says to herself, what does that have in common with this? Oh, yeah, it’s that I’ve been busy, busy, busy and stressed, and now, though not completely gone, the stress is normal rather than extra-normal. When I was working full-time and going to university full-time, I’d work my butt off until the end of term, 14-18 hour days, and then I’d get a cold. It was as if my immune system understood that I was available for be sick and so it allowed me, perhaps even encouraged me, to be so. And here I am again. Got it.

I learned that if the bolts that hold your toilet seat onto the toilet have been there for a long time (say longer than the 8 years I know they haven’t been changed in this apartment), you practically have to blast them off to replace the seat with a new one.

I learned that getting in touch with someone who works three time zones away from you isn’t always easy, especially if, like me, one of the people works odd hours. If I worked 9-5, we’d probably have connected by now. We’ve now traded phone calls for a whole week and hope to finally speak to each other in person tomorrow.

And finally, I’ve learned that even though you’ve been wearing the same glasses you’ve had for over 30 years at home for all that time, there comes a time when they no longer fit. I’ve sat on them, dropped them, lost them, twisted the frames dozens and dozens of times so they’ll stay on my head. Note to self: replace the glasses you wear at home AT LEAST once every ten years!

What did you learn this week?

Kate