Well, gang, this has been a week indeed for a whole variety of reasons, both professional and personal. I won’t go into too much detail but suffice to say that by Saturday I really needed some moments of sanity.
The week started with a lovely evening in Hackney with friend Rhiannon, where we had tickets to watch the recording of an episode of Zack Polanski’s podcast. He was interviewing the Green party candidates for Mayor of Hackney, who are running on a presidential style two-for-one ticket. The mayoral candidate, Zoe Garbett, is running in Dalston and is a member of the London Assembly. The candidate for Deputy Mayor (running in Hackney Downs) is Dylan Law and he’s remarkable – passionate about representation in politics and about seeing people like him reflected. Both were articulate, engaged with their communities and almost had me wishing I lived in Hackney so I could vote for them rather than the omnishambles of Epping Forest District Council. We had dinner at Nando’s beforehand and put the world to rights as usual – it’s wonderful to have such cheerleaders in my life, especially at the moment.
I also got to onboard our new Community Gardener on Monday and visit the Centre for the first time in a while. My Creative Studio is looking fabulous – light and airy, and the creamy yellows and blues I chose for the joinery and floors look lovely. I wanted a space that would work for all our visitors, rather than being aimed at adults or children, so thought in neutral tones. I can’t wait to actually start delivering programmes in there!
Tuesday afternoon saw three of us meeting about 15 of our successful volunteer applicants, talking to them about what volunteering at the Centre will look like. It’s so heartening to have had such a great response from people all over London, from 18 year olds through to retirees, all of whom are excited about being part of this new team.
Wednesday and Thursday were freelance days, supporting a sustainable business expo at the Business Design Centre in Angel. As they were early starts this meant I had two nights in a hotel – blissfully peaceful with triple glazing and only a few minutes from the venue although apparently my location failed to update on Life360 so I could have been ANYWHERE. These are busy days so not having to commute at the end was a real treat. I was on speaker registration and tannoy announcements, using my smily voice at all times and generally being helpful. I must have been being particularly charming, as I got asked out for a drink by one of the exhibitors – a very bluff Jeremy Clarkson type, so I politely declined. It’s so long since anyone chatted me up that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t actually made the request. I suspect he was impressed with my charming ‘drink up and go home’ technique at the drinks reception the previous evening.
The nice lady at Pret gave me my hot chocolate on the house too, for being friendly and cheerful at 7am. Despite swearing I absolutely did NOT need any more notebooks and pens, I came home with seven of each and some nice chocolate. I don’t think I need to buy another notebook until I retire but you never know…
I’ve said before that supporting these events is a really good way to remind yourself that there’s a world outside the one you work in – chatting to people from across the UK about their industries, recommending places to eat of an evening, catching up with people you only see a couple of times a year at these things. One event last year, World Skills, has led to a project with Medway School of Art, so they can lead back to your day job as well.
Friday was back to work with a bump – almost 100 emails lurking in my inbox which all needed to be dealt with, guest lists to be created for upcoming events, questions to be answered, dependencies to be considered. Still, it was Friday and I wound up the day with a five mile walk spotting deer and bunnies in the fields. It’s a good way to clear your head at the end of the week as well as getting 15000 steps in on a desk day.
I decided that Saturday needed to be a day of relaxation, so Miriam and I headed off to Harlow where we installed ourselves in Starbucks to catch up with some admin before heading to the Nailbar for her to get a manicure and me to get a pedicure in the hope that the sun will come out soon….I chose a slightly sparkly orange/red colour for my toes and they make me happy. I never get my fingernails done as they get trashed with typing and crochet but a good pedicure is a treat. I even got my eyebrows done and my fringe trimmed so I can see out of it rather than peering at people. Miriam made me avocado and bacon on toast for lunch and in the afternoon we went out again, did some more admin in a friendly pub where we met an excellent black labrador and an enormous Chinese Red Dog who was very generous with his paw. Thing 2 cooked dinner and I felt much more amenable to everything.
Today has long walks, finishing off the admin and probably laundry – but I feel better about the whole thing,
Things making me happy this week
- Spring springing near the office
- Lego flowers
- The cats being pleased to see me on my return, even though they’d been fed already
- Haagen Daz Tiramisu ice cream
- Bumping into my colleague Valentina unexpectedly on my way home on Thursday
- Baby cows
- The prospect of a weekend in Wales over Easter
That’s it from me this week!
Kirsty x
What I’ve been reading
Kate Shugak novels 15 – 20 – Dana Stabenow
What Kirsty did next 