Things of beauty, with which to collect oneself...

So, I returned to work! It was...the same as ever! Partly that meant it was good; nice, known. Lovely to see colleagues and to know the rhythm. Lovely to speak to the friends I hadn't seen in six months - as some friendships, whilst strong, do not always infiltrate the everyday from work to home. Turns out my brain does still work and that I have remembered everything I knew. I do have an encyclopedic memory - maybe why this job suits me well. I have recall of pretty much every technical conversation I have ever had at work!

But the other side were those familiar feelings of having too much to do in one day. I have been so spoilt lately with time on my side. I remembered with alarming accuracy how little time there is when that large portion of your brain is taken up with a job. The children's homework seemed slightly tougher that night; I cooked their pasta dinner in my heels and coat as they were starving and we had  run late. I was staggered at how quickly the simple action of working again has disarmed me! I thought I was prepared. And most of all I sensed this shift of past tense - my sabbatical is now in my past and not my present. Not sure how to feel about that - so forgive me for not saying it all went swimmingly. It did; work was just...as hard as I had remembered.

So - we had a weekend of down time in an attempt to get the balance back and today, a domestic time trying to get better prepared for this week's adventures. I so want this to work; I so want to keep hold of all the good I have achieved in recent months.

I can, I can, I can...

Meanwhile, there are always beautiful pictures and things.