Ficklish Blog

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Under the wire

I am an odd creature, as many of you are more than aware. I am apparently able to blithely ignore this page for weeks at a time, but then something utterly random prompts me to post. Please don't get too excited, I don't have a funny story to tell or a point to make. No! What has got me typing furiously at 11:30pm on a Thursday evening is the thought that if I don't get something in by midnight, this will be the first month since I started this blog where I don't have any posts at all.

Yes, it's true. I'm posting to protect my post-in-every-calendar-month record. That's it. I suspect you are watching a ceremonial scraping of the very bottom of the blog barrel, right here. I couldn't be more proud.

I wrote last year about how much January sucks. I've noted that Her Excellency The Jackles has posted on the very topic today (you go, the Jackles!). This year hasn't been too bad - but that grey, broke, blah January feeling has definitely been present. And we haven't even had any snow this year, boo.

I have been really busy at work. My new job is not quite so new anymore, and I'm still enjoying it, but it has been full on and exhausting these last few weeks. Most of the time I feel like the professional facade has worn very thin and my true incompetence is only barely concealed. But then, I had an appraisal meeting last Friday where my boss took all of fifteen seconds to tick each criteria 'Excellent' and then we got on with talking about one of my projects. I've got him fooled, at least. It's a good job, and I'm glad to have it - it makes such a difference to be motivated and engaged in what I'm doing. When I think about how bored and desperate I felt three months ago, I don't feel so bad about the long days.

It is three weeks today until I jump aboard a giant flying tin can and head HOME, which is more exciting than I can possibly say. For your reference, here is my rough itinerary:

22 Feb - 27 Feb: Melbourne
27 Feb - 5 March: Brisbane
5 March - 9 March: Sydney (+ Canberra)

So I hope to be able to have a shandy with you very soon. Hooray for that! For now, it is 11:55pm and it is TIME TO POST! Phew.