Farewell to the zombies, I'll miss you

Thursday:

Job stuff is going well, although I woke at 4am worrying about various things and took a couple of hours to switch off the brain and get back to sleep.

The first issue was my current client, I thought the work was nearly done then yesterday she sent me this 'new' version of her manuscript with some more additions scattered through it -- all garbled and full of spelling and continuity errors. I really didn't want to have to edit the whole thing again! But she called me today to apologise, she had just had surgery and was still dopey after general anaesthetic when she wrote and sent that (she said she also sent some really weird emails to her sister). So I only ended up wasting an hour on that and I was very happy that it was resolved.

I had my interview for the government contract today. I couldn't get Skype working properly; I could see them but they couldn't see me. We went ahead with it anyway and we're progressing to the next stage so it looks like it will probably happen.

This is kind of a big deal to me in the sense that I have been working from home for years now. My time is completely my own to arrange, but on the other hand I don't see other adults very much which can be lonely. So when someone I respect recommended me for this job (she would be my boss) I decided to go for it. I would be working longer hours than I am used to (still part time school hours) because there would be no excuse to go and stack the dishwasher or cook an elaborate lunch or ... exercise during the day.

We are heading into winter so the only time I would want to run would be during the day. Early morning (which I hate anyway) or after my husband gets home from work (also scared of the dark) would be too cold. I was walking the kids to school this morning, after four days off running, noticing I had no pain in my shins or feet or anywhere else and decided to give up running. I've been resisting being a quitter, but I think my commendable determination had turned into stupid pigheadedness. It was hurting every time (and not in a good way), I didn't like it, the residual pain meant I wasn't exercising at all on in-between days, I was showing hardly any improvement, and now I'd have to do it in sub-freezing temperatures.

So I think it will be back to dancing, which I actually enjoy. And I'll walk to work every day too (if they hire me) which will be an hour total each day. I feel a little sad about 'giving up' but I think it is the right decision. I will miss those zombies. Maybe I'll try again when I am lighter, so there is less weight on my joints.

If I do start this job in a bit over a week, I'm not sure what to take for lunch. Salads + protein I guess. It can be tricky when you are used to relying on carbs, or else being able to spend time preparing and cooking. Today I made a kind of quinoa 'fried rice' (no actual rice, just quinoa, chicken and finely chopped vegetables, stir fried in olive oil and with a good squeeze of lemon juice to finish). I suppose I could pre-cook stuff like that and warm it in the microwave there. Every workplace has a microwave these days, right? They better have tea-making facilities or I'm not going.