Four years

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It dawned on me after writing yesterday's post that it was the first for four years, and that I had simply re-entered the room without so much as a "hello" or a "sorry it's been a while".  And that of course got me thinking about what I'd missed over the last four years and why I had not been motivated to write.

I rarely think that I am particularly busy - I'm not running a company or a country, I have reasonable hours and plenty of holidays.  I'm not building a house and I don't have a demanding second career in amateur sports.  But all too often I do have the sense that there is something that needs to get done, if for no other reason than if it gets done then I can collapse on the sofa and watch TV, which often happens for 20 or 40 or 50 minutes around 9.15pm.  And so, during the work week there is the routine: walk the dog, make the breakfast, get out the door, do the job, come home, make the dinner, walk the dog, clean the kitchen, put the kids to bed, make the lunches, feed the dog.  The weekend comes: do some exercise on my own, have a family adventure, get ready for the week.

The four years in question include two working in the Autism program which was intense and often exhausting.  The last two, I have had a different job, learning support, which is less exhausting but entailed a very steep learning curve which was punctuated by covid with all the upheaval it brought.  

The reprieve from the busy ten months of the year that we as a family have is our long summer break and we spend a not inconsiderable amount of time planning for these, doing these, and making the photo books that while not exclusively a record of the summers, are perhaps dominated by them.  Trips to the UK, individual getaways for me and Crystal, canoe-camping trips, a New England road trip and so it goes on.

Which makes me wonder, why now?  Schools are closed, there are no lunches to pack, little morning routine, a limit to how much we can get out and about, and my support around the school has been largely stripped back to the admin tasks. I have more energy in the evenings!  And there is the pressing realisation that the year ahead, whatever it may bring, is one worth recording.  

I do regret not writing about some of the challenges and triumphs of the past quadrennial.  I think it would be cool to reflect on how I felt as my lifelong hypochondria was justified ;-) by a couple of bouts of AFib which landed me in the ER on two occasions, with no real immediate risk to my health but for sure a good dose of worry.  I tend to take these things as they come but rarely take the time to appreciate the bird's eye view.  

Next post: less than 4 years away, less reflective, more punchy.  Coming soon...

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