Back to work blues

It's the start of a new work year for me. I'd imagine many others who are starting their drift back from the summer holidays back into the working world are feeling like I am today. Perhaps it was a coincidence that I slept really badly last night, frequently waking up to check the clock with the one eye I could manage to prise open, all the while tossing and turning and thinking, "I have to get up in 5/3/2/1 hours"?

Being the start of a new work year, I thought I'd spend some time clearing my emails (I didn't expect many - after all, others have been on leave, too), catching up on some reading from my RSS feeds, then start attacking the long list of jobs I left myself as I sailed out the door at lunchtime on Christmas Eve. Having had a two-week break, I should be refreshed and eager to pick up where I left off, completing jobs in half the time (due to my renewed energy) etc ... yeah, right!

I said, "hello, how was your holiday?" a few times. I saw that I'd left my desk in a relatively tidy state, so that didn't need much doing to it. It took me less than half an hour to delete 16 emails. I read a few blog posts. I looked at the time: 9:06 am. I'd been at work for little more than an hour and was already bored but still hopeful that motivation might walk in the door at any stage and point me in the direction of my list of jobs to do. It's now lunch time and there's still no sign of it showing up. Twitter confirms my suspicions; nobody else seems to be on task today either.

As an aside, I can't decide whether it's completely random or meaningful that I've had this earworm stuck in my head for much of the morning:


How about you? Are you back at work or are you still enjoying the last of your break? Or, did you work through like my sweetie had to? Survival tips welcome.

Song list

I was listening to my iPod on shuffle today and randomly came across a song from my previous band's song list. It's been a few years since that band ended and I've only just started relistening to some of the songs we played during our seven years together.

As I explained in this post a few years ago, good covers bands don't play the songs they like; they play the songs you like. This often includes songs they hate. Here's a good example. Here's another. Sometimes they play songs they start out liking but quickly get thrashed to a musical death after playing them repeatedly night after night for several years in a row. Sometimes you get to enjoy them again a few years after you finish playing them, and luckily that happened with this song and this beautiful number, but it's not always guaranteed.

There are a handful of songs I've played over the years that survived this grueling process of musical destruction. They were songs I liked before we learned them, while we were playing them, and still love listening to now. I'd like to say there are more, but I was struggling to come up with five. It turns out I eventually found six - yay! Here are my picks:

The eight irresistible princples of fun

Such a tempting title! A friend posted this link on her Facebook wall. I rarely follow links or watch videos posted on Facebook or Twitter unless they are accompanied by a compelling argument. Today, I'm glad I clicked this on link 'just because'.

We all know how to have fun and know who we are as individuals, right, just like we know what we want for ourselves? Wrong! I thought I was getting a pretty good handle on this during the past few years but now am having second (and third and fourth) thoughts.

Four years ago, I decided that my life needed some drastic changes. Making a career out of being a perfectionist and a workaholic only left two things: more work and no satisfaction. So I left a supposedly 'good' (ie stable but dead end) job in a career that was all I'd ever wanted to do and took a leap. It took quite some time but I let go of sooooo many self-imposed restrictions, as well as those imposed by others who had no right to impose them, and started doing things (or not doing things) just because I wanted to. I was the most 'selfish' I had ever been and life changed dramatically. I was genuinely happy for the first time in years!

A few months later, Café Chick was born. She had a lot of fun and allowed me to do many things that I had previously denied myself permission for. I tried new things, went out more, made lots of new friends and my lovely sweetie came along. I started my own 101 in 1001 project. Things were going great!

But Café Chick is only a part of me, not the whole me. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the 'old' me and her stress-making, workaholic ways to creep back up and start strangling the me I was getting to know. I managed to keep things in check for a while and get back on track. However, I'm not sure I know who I really am now, let alone what I want. Don't get me wrong: I've got a pretty good idea of who Café Chick is as well as who my work persona is. I know how a lot of people around me see me. I can usually work out how they want me to be and act accordingly. I just don't know who I am.

The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun is fantastic and just what I need at this moment in my life. I'm sure I am not alone in this. I need to have a declutter, both physically and mentally, work out who I am then be that person instead of feeling ashamed of her. I have an elaborate history of being walked over and subsequently passed over personally, professionally and in many of my relationships. I need to work out how to stop this and not feel bad about it. Maybe this is what 2011 really has in store for me? I certainly hope so - how very exciting that would be!

Buttermilk pancakes

My sweetie has a tried and true recipe for pancakes that he uses over and over. They are the yardstick he measures every other pancake by. On the rare occasion I manage to drag him out to a café for brunch, he will inevitably order pancakes and then declare, "I make better pancakes at home". He's often right about that.

I had some buttermilk in the fridge left over from making spicy vanilla cupcakes before Christmas. I found a recipe for buttermilk pancakes in the Dominion Post on Christmas Day. It's a Ruth Pretty recipe so I expected it to be good. I can honestly say that these are the lightest, fluffiest and yummiest pancakes I have ever made! Although the recipe says it makes 21 small pancakes and feeds 7-8 people, two of us polished off six large pancakes smothered in maple syrup between us.

Ruth Pretty's buttermilk pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup self-raising flour (140g)
• 2 tablespoons (20g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (3g) baking soda
• pinch table salt
• 1 tsp (5g) finely grated lemon zest (I used a few drops of lemon essence instead)
• 1 cup (250ml) cultured buttermilk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, melted

Method

1. Into a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add lemon zest, buttermilk and eggs and whisk to form a smooth batter.
2. Add melted butter and whisk to combine.
3. Lightly grease a frying pan with additional butter or baking spray. Place over a medium heat.
4. Pour batter into pan. Turn pancake over when bubbles form evenly on the surface. Cook second side until golden brown.

Over the edge meme

A Sunday Stealing meme for a Sunday night. Feel free to steal as you please.

1. What curse word do you use the most? Probably sh!t.
2. Do you own an iPod? Two - a classic video iPod and an iPod touch.
3. Do you still remember the first person you kissed? Vividly.
4. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture? Take the picture - I hate photos of me.
5. Has anyone ever called you lazy? All the time.
6. Has anyone told you a secret this week? I don't think so. If they have, it's safe with me as I don't remember.
7. What is the first thing you notice about the someone that you are attracted to? Their body language/posture.
8. What are you looking forward to? Lots of stuff! Mostly everything that the excitement of a new year holds.
9. Do you own any band t-shirts? I don't think so - I'm too cheap to buy them at concerts.
10. When is the last time you slept on the floor? It must have been a while as I can't remember the most recent time. I've recently recovered from a back injury so tried to avoid sleeping on floors these past couple of years.
11. What did you do last night? Watched Shutter Island at home on DVD - great movie.
12. Do you get along better with the same sex or the opposite sex? Opposite sex - I always have, for some reason.
13. Who was the last person to make you mad? My sweetie. It's all ok now, though.
14. Who would you want to be tied to for 24 hours? Actually, the thought of being tied to anyone for 24 hours makes me grimmace.
15. T or F: All’s fair in love and war? It's usually how it happens, but doesn't mean I agree with it.
16. What’s something you’ve always wanted? A purple car.
17. Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? Sometimes.
18. Do you want a bright yellow ‘06 Mustang? No, but a purple car would be nice.
19. Where is/are your best friend(s)? Currently spending the holidays with her family in New Plymouth but she lives in Auckland.
20. Would you rather swim in the ocean or a lake? A warm ocean.

Who's next?

Welcome to 2011

Happy new year! Buon anno a tutti! Welcome, 2011.

Here we are at the start of another year. So many options, so many possibilities. True, today is just another day like any other, but there is something so incredibly exciting about moving into a new year and everything it promises. I can tell it's going to be a good one!

We saw in the new year in quiet style, staying at the Bolton Hotel in Wellington overnight. We had been given a voucher from my sweetie's family and decided to put it and a bottle of Moët et Chandon to good use. Success!

Like any other year, 2010 had its ups and downs but overall was a great year for me. 2011 is going to be even better! Like every other year, there will be no new year's resolutions for me; I can choose to do something or change my life any day of the year, thank you.

My 101 in 1001 project is due to wrap up in a few months. I know I won't finish every activity on my lits before then but they are all things I still want to do so I'll see where things are at on 29 March and continue with my list until it is complete.

I need to start thinking about what I'm going to spend the money I have put aside after completing each activity on. Spending is not my forte. I had already decided when I first made up my list on 1 July 2008 that it would be spent entirely on something I want, and not necessarily need. I have a couple of ideas ... suggestions welcome. In fact, if I did make anything that resembled a new year's resolution, it would be to spend money on myself in 2011.

So, what does the new year hold for you? What are your hopes and plans? I hope 2011 is as wonderful for you as it is going to be for me.