Judith Proctor's Journal

 I'm now getting up an average of an hour earlier than  I used to and going to bed about 15 mins earlier.  I'm also getting to sleep much faster.

Why?

Wonderfully simple.  My son Henry has joined the ranks of the employed.  A full time, permanent job, in a field he enjoys, within walking distance of home.

I get up earlier to make him breakfast before he goes (Yes, I expect he could make his own, but I actually like doing this - and I feel happier knowing that he's got some nice warm porridge and a piece of fruit inside him before he heads out in to the cold)

I go to bed slightly sooner because I'm less stressed, and I get to sleep much sooner for exactly the same reason.

Henry walks 20 mins into work -  even when it snows, as it did on his first day.  Great way of keeping fit, more reliable than the local bus service, and leaves us the car if we need it.  More environmentally friendly as well.

He's been there a week now, and it all seems to be going well.  It's a small local company with a relaxed working environment that has recently been taken over by Hitachi and is doubling in size as a result.  It could be an ideal combination of small company friendliness combined with big company resources/pensions/etc.  Only time will tell, but I'm optimistic.

Now all I need is for Richard (my husband) to find work.  He's been hunting for a while, several interviews but no job yet.  If he gets something, I'll be bored to tears during the day (when I'm not snowed under with folk festival work), but I'm sure I'll cope (tongue in cheek...)

Richard and I both started new jobs today.

I've just had a phone call to say they're closing the school because of the snow, so I don't need to go in today.

On the other hand, a guy Richard needs to talk to about his project has been trapped locally by the snow, so he's getting more useful work done than he'd originally anticipated.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody luck!