First Weekend of Freedom
Well, technically half-week plus weekend. It's been really lovely if you don't count the frustrations on the job hunt.
Thursday, after the usual job hunting/applications, I met up with the wonderful atticus_frog for tea, cake and a nice long, wide-ranging chat sitting in the sun. Bliss! Followed by my first post exam yoga class. I've been doing some self practice at home while studying, but nothing vigorous; mostly just some light asana & lots of pranayama to work out the worst of too much sitting and shallow breathing, 15-30 mins max a few times a week. Fortunately, this seemed to have done more for me than I anticipated as I didn't fall behind in class and managed to find some new aspects to a couple of postures. Good stuff! I think the massage working out some serious knots in my upper back/shoulders also helped tremendously. I just wish I had the income to go back for another session or two to finish it off, but oh well.
Friday - Domesticity (chores), more job applications and bugging all of my favourite recruiters (ie ones that had the most promising jobs) which sadly didn't turn up anything. So after chores were done, I read The Wilding while Hublet went out for drinks with colleagues. Totally agreed that TW is not nearly as good as In Conquest Born, but I don't know I would say it was bad. I actually enjoyed it for what it was - a new exploration of a familiar and much loved universe. Agreed, the characters are not as vibrant and well crafted, the writing style is pretty clunky, but it is a quick read and fairly fun nonetheless.
Saturday, was a beautiful walk in the South Downs with atticus_frog, lushfemke and their boys. We had glorious sunshine, some really spectacular views and great company. Minus a rather sad little river and a later lunch than was strictly comfortable, it was practically the perfect ramble. Coming home, we lazed about in the evening and eventually switched on the film Man on Wire, which we've had from LoveFilm for ages. And it turned out to be just as good as we hoped. My heart was pounding from the expectation and then soared when they finally pulled it off. I especially liked that they kept the story completely in that present and resisted the urge to make overt references to the loss of the Towers. Somehow having that knowledge in the back of your head rather than explicitly mentioned made the story even more poignant. One of the best documentaries I've ever seen and would highly recommend it.
Today, we've been taking it easy. Meeting for Worship went well and I was rather inspired by the epistle from BYM. Still kind of sad I missed it this year, but with exams bookending that weekend it was just not feasible. Oh well, there is always next year. Grocery shopping was followed by chores which in turn was followed by making carrot cake muffins - warning that recipe easily makes 36 cupcakes, NOT the 24 she advises (unless her cupcakes were really big). The frosting is utterly divine though. Right now, I'm waiting for the polenta to finish cooking for this recipe (a recipe I've made before, but am doubling today - so you know, their estimated cooking time for the polenta is pretty optimistic. Even for the stated amounts it's closer to 45 mins). I went out on a limb and added basil, rosemary and cherry tomatoes to the garlic roasted mushrooms and it smells utterly divine. My polenta has lumps, but I think we'll all survive.
So yes, life it goes back to relatively normal, and I'm keeping busy. Just gotta nail that job down and it will be just about perfect. . .
Thursday, after the usual job hunting/applications, I met up with the wonderful atticus_frog for tea, cake and a nice long, wide-ranging chat sitting in the sun. Bliss! Followed by my first post exam yoga class. I've been doing some self practice at home while studying, but nothing vigorous; mostly just some light asana & lots of pranayama to work out the worst of too much sitting and shallow breathing, 15-30 mins max a few times a week. Fortunately, this seemed to have done more for me than I anticipated as I didn't fall behind in class and managed to find some new aspects to a couple of postures. Good stuff! I think the massage working out some serious knots in my upper back/shoulders also helped tremendously. I just wish I had the income to go back for another session or two to finish it off, but oh well.
Friday - Domesticity (chores), more job applications and bugging all of my favourite recruiters (ie ones that had the most promising jobs) which sadly didn't turn up anything. So after chores were done, I read The Wilding while Hublet went out for drinks with colleagues. Totally agreed that TW is not nearly as good as In Conquest Born, but I don't know I would say it was bad. I actually enjoyed it for what it was - a new exploration of a familiar and much loved universe. Agreed, the characters are not as vibrant and well crafted, the writing style is pretty clunky, but it is a quick read and fairly fun nonetheless.
Saturday, was a beautiful walk in the South Downs with atticus_frog, lushfemke and their boys. We had glorious sunshine, some really spectacular views and great company. Minus a rather sad little river and a later lunch than was strictly comfortable, it was practically the perfect ramble. Coming home, we lazed about in the evening and eventually switched on the film Man on Wire, which we've had from LoveFilm for ages. And it turned out to be just as good as we hoped. My heart was pounding from the expectation and then soared when they finally pulled it off. I especially liked that they kept the story completely in that present and resisted the urge to make overt references to the loss of the Towers. Somehow having that knowledge in the back of your head rather than explicitly mentioned made the story even more poignant. One of the best documentaries I've ever seen and would highly recommend it.
Today, we've been taking it easy. Meeting for Worship went well and I was rather inspired by the epistle from BYM. Still kind of sad I missed it this year, but with exams bookending that weekend it was just not feasible. Oh well, there is always next year. Grocery shopping was followed by chores which in turn was followed by making carrot cake muffins - warning that recipe easily makes 36 cupcakes, NOT the 24 she advises (unless her cupcakes were really big). The frosting is utterly divine though. Right now, I'm waiting for the polenta to finish cooking for this recipe (a recipe I've made before, but am doubling today - so you know, their estimated cooking time for the polenta is pretty optimistic. Even for the stated amounts it's closer to 45 mins). I went out on a limb and added basil, rosemary and cherry tomatoes to the garlic roasted mushrooms and it smells utterly divine. My polenta has lumps, but I think we'll all survive.
So yes, life it goes back to relatively normal, and I'm keeping busy. Just gotta nail that job down and it will be just about perfect. . .