I shouldn't be feeling

quite as silly as I do this evening, but I am feeling VERY VERY SILLY!

I shouldn't be because it has been a hectic day with a further 4 hours of work at home.
I shouldn't be because Basil (see Saturday) has been very very faulty today and has, at times, made it difficult to sit, stand or walk. I need to figure out a way to float - zero gravity would be excellent!
I shouldn't be because I had 4 hours sleep last night.
I shouldn't be because I have finally accepted that I have to have a conversation with my consultant about pain management in the interim period running up to the operation that has not yet been scheduled.


However, I am feeling very silly and quite positive because...

Despite a hectic day I have had some fab lightbulb moments with students today and some lovely smiling faces of students who modestly accepted praise about how they have grown up and blossomed into delightful, polite young people who are a credit to themselves.

Despite being in pain, I have got through the day without locking myself in a room somewhere and crying. That happens more than you would think.

Despite having a never ending mountain of work to climb, like the rest of my colleagues, I seem to have made a little bit of a dent in it, which means that with the new stuff added today, I have maintained equilibrium i.e. I have the same amount to do, just different things, as for every job that dropped onto the list, one was ticked off.

Despite the trauma of having to visit the supermarket this evening, I was treated to a group of 20-something boys (men? Am I getting old) who referred to me as a "lovely lady" and when I laughed and said that was the first time I had been referred to like that today, was treated to "Well, I can tell you every day for the rest of your life if you want" from one of them. Yes, I did laugh. I also resisted the urge to point out that I was old enough to be their mother. But it did make me grin from ear to ear!

On a different note, the ridiculous-ness of the photo, I hope, will make some of my readers smile, because there are a number of my friends in the real world and in the virtual haunts that I linger in who are having a rough ride at the moment. Different things for different people, all of whom I care about and for whom I wish I could make it all better, take away the angst, the emotional pain, the stress and worry. Sadly, I can't do anything than be here if they need me - that's the only thing I can do. But I hope that they know that I am here and I will listen.

xxx