What objects define you? That's the question asked by Maud on Awfully Chipper recently, and her story of her mother's gold watch hooked me in. My mum had a gold watch with a clasp too, and though I haven't thought of it for years, when I read Maud's post, the memory came back as clear as ever, and ...
Category: Just my two cents
Life in colour – who has Synesthesia?
Until my mid twenties, I thought everybody saw numbers and days of the week in colour, and months of the year as concrete spots on an imaginary clock face. Then I had a very enlightening conversation with my sisters who told me they didn't in fact see Friday as yellow or any other colour, and didn't see ...
The Work Wardrobe Has Come Full Circle
For seventeen years, I had an office uniform. Not a real uniform – just one that met the dress code of a typical office. For the first few years, the self-imposed uniform was mostly black-trousers-and-something, though I occasionally changed it up with grey trousers - just to add a splash of colour. My trousers were always too long ...
One for the Runners
Seven Ways to Pretend to be Busy at Work
Diary of a Procrastinator
9.20am Homefree! Literally! All three kids at school and preschool for the first time since mid-December. I'm going to get SO much work done. 9.21am I better check email. And Twitter, in case there's important news in the world. And Facebook, in case anyone I know posted a photo of anything vaguely cute or funny. And Instagram, ...
On Balance
In theory, there's no reason to make resolutions just because it's the start of a new year, but where there's an excuse to make a list and potentially tick things off, count me in. I don't usually make long or detailed resolutions - I hand-pick a handful of broad goals and write them on the back of an envelope, then leave ...
From the Dentist’s Chair
I can sense his dissatisfaction. He plucks the crown off again, mutters something, and goes back to filing it. I'm staring up at a light through oversized plastic glasses and my nails are digging into my palm. Is he muttering because it's not going well? Should I be worried? Maybe he's a perfectionist, and all the ...
Saturday Night Evolution
The roar of football from one room, a kids' movie in the other. The smell of steak and onions. An as yet unopened bottle of red on the counter. It's on a promise. The doors are closed, the blinds are down, the pressure's off. There's a blanket of calm with a weave of excitement running through. There's an ...
The only thing worse than looking, was looking away
This morning I dropped my three-year-old to preschool, and when I got home, I clicked onto Twitter. The first thing I saw was the picture of Syrian child Aylan Kurdi's body on a beach. Instinctively I clicked back out - it felt completely wrong to look at it at all. But a moment later, the only thing ...