This Week - Settling In and Trying to Find a Balance

This week, has been pretty busy, but a little less frantic, with not quite so much new information to take on board, thankfully.

On Sunday, we packed up and left the hotel in Yorkshire. I visited a family grave at the local churchyard to leave some flowers, as I hadn't been for probably a couple of years and felt a visit was long overdue. OH and I then explored the village allotment site where my father had a plot many years ago. It was unlocked, so we went in and took a little look. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me.  OH then went off for a run, whilst I walked the dog and we met up again at his parents house, before eventually heading back to London.

To be honest, I was glad to get back home and get sorted before another working week began. My hours this week were more spread out and the shifts were all the same length.  My official hours are 20 each week, usually worked over four days, with days off inbetween. I will be working my first weekend shift on Saturday, which will be interesting, as it is supposed to be very busy.

When we got back, I did some unpacking and then we watched some TV before heading to bed.

On Monday, I had a few things to do prior to going in to work for 1pm. I needed to walk the dog, post some parcels and also write a shopping list for the weekly shop.

Work was a bit quieter today. It wasn't constantly busy on the tills, so it did pass a little less quickly. When I left work, I needed to do the weekly shop, so I ended up getting home quite late at 8pm. After unpacking the shopping, I had some supper and then did some financial housekeeping and blogging before going to bed.

Thankfully, I wasn't working on Tuesday, so I was able to have a homey day and catch up with myself. I had also hoped to get back to my favourite class at the gym, which I'd missed the week before. Unfortunately, though, it had been cancelled this week for some reason, so I did a couple of circuits of Hackney Marshes on my bike instead. It was nice to get out in the fresh air and get some exercise at the same time.

In the afternoon, I did some laundry, posted a parcel, made some Calendula balm and caught up on paperwork and jobs at home. I even took a nap for an hour in the afternoon, which felt like bliss. It was so nice to have a day to myself, doing exactly as I pleased. It restored the balance a bit.

On Wednesday, I was working my first late shift starting at 5pm, so I had most of the day to do my own thing. I was going to go to the Soca Aerobics class in the morning, but after rushing the walk with the dog to get home, so I could rush off to the class, I started to wonder why I was rushing around trying to go from one thing to another on my day off. I decided to miss the class this week, as it should be moving back to my local leisure centre very soon, so I'll go again then, if my work hours allow.

Instead, I took my time to get ready for work in the evening and set off early so I would miss any traffic build up that can occur at certain times of the day. This allowed me time to go to Home Bargains and do a bit of shopping that I didn't have time to do on Monday. 

I then went into work, where it was pretty steady all night. It felt strange working so late until 10pm. The store closes at 9pm, but then we need to tidy the store for an hour. There was torrential rain on the way home, which was a bit scary, but I just took it steady.

On Thursday morning, I had to set the alarm to be up and off to my weekly voluntary work session for 8.30am. It was still raining, so I had to get the bus today.  The bus was so full, mainly with kids on their way to school. I then had to find my way to the venue on foot, making it there in time. 

The session was very busy again. There were a couple of volunteers I hadn't met before. We seemed to get quite a lot done, which is always satisfying, but I was glad to get home and just chill for the afternoon. I even had a nap again. Hopefully, once I get used to my new job and the voluntary work, I won't need to do this on my days off, but if I do, then so be it.

On Thursday evening, I headed out to the local library to return some books. I bought some more audio books whilst there. (More about these in a seperate post)

Friday, I was due to be at work for 9 am, so I set off at 8 am in case there was a lot of traffic. Unfortunately for me, there wasn't, so I was half an hour early. I sat in the car and caught up with a bit of YouTube on my phone. The shift was very busy and my head was a bit scrambled by the time I left at 2pm. I'm gradually getting used to it though. 

By the time I got home on Friday, I chilled for an hour and then it was time to take the dog out before it started to get dark. 

On Saturday, I was due at work for 2 pm, so I was able to get up in a very leisurely manner, do a few odd little jobs about the house, walk the dog and then get ready for work. It was my first Saturday at work and it was busy, with a constant stream of customers.  The queue at the till got quite long at several points, so it was very intense, but it passed quickly. I was glad to get home though and chill with OH and the dog. It was Bonfire Night and the dog always gets very anxious, so we never go out and leave her.

A busy week, but I think I'm slowly settling into my new job. I'm enjoying not having any responsibility for anyone but myself and can come home and not really bring work home with me, which is good.

I hope you had a good week.