Monday 30 November 2009

Running on Empty

I am really enjoying my job at the moment, I get to work with such a huge range of lovely, interesting people but really feeling like I'm running on empty. Mentally work has done me the world of good and I feel much more enthusiastic about life and am so glad to be back in employment. However as anyone with m.e knows, you can't always make your body do the things your mind wants it to. I have loads of training and upcoming projects at the moment but am getting really stressed out by the exhaustion it's causing. I look in my diary with apprehension at the moment as I know I'm pushing myself to my current limits. This week is particularly busy so fingers crossed I'll manage to cope with it all.

Sunday 29 November 2009

Been Busy! (and tired)

It's been a while so just going to do a quick update. Still working and enjoying my job even though I still find it hard to keep going. Learning to balance things a bit more at the moment. Still not managed to clean out my car. Still trying to sort out the mass of junk that has accumulated in my bedroom. Finally posted my DLA application form and waiting for a response one way or the other. Been training some museum volunteers on how to use blogger so they can contribute to the museums' blog. Had a very good letter from 'working links' apologising for my treatment. It was quite a grovelling apology but written very well and addressed all the points raised in my letter so I was pleased with their response. I am now putting it all behind me. (see complaint letter post - 18th October 09)

Still finding working difficult but am lucky to have a job I love in a wonderful place. I went to London to visit friends last weekend and have struggled all week to recover! Juggled my working hours around a bit this week as was incredibly tired and run down. My body does not cope very well with nights out but I only see my university friends all together once or twice a year so was determined to go. Spent most of the weekend travelling though. Still not really met anyone my own age up north so do miss having friends around. Have been asked to be a bridesmaid in August which is very nice but does leave me with a slight feeling of "always the bridesmaid never the bride". Not really sure how I will meet anyone. I live in a remote rural area and when I'm not working I'm mostly resting so don't really know how to meet people. Most young people seem to leave the area in their twenties so still feel a bit isolated.

On the whole things are going very well, just about coping with life at the moment, am already looking forward to a break over Christmas though! Also looking forward to having family up to stay for Christmas. Get on well with my siblings and grandparents so very much looking forward to it this year. Had the dreaded swine flu jab this week and surprisingly enough it didn't affect me too badly. It did ache a lot for a few days but no more than any other jab and cleared up quite quickly. My normal flu jab was worse. I still have bad days when I get over stressed and exhausted but on the whole things are going well. It's been quite a dramatic year with lots of ups and downs. I hope next year is a little calmer.

Thursday 12 November 2009

Do What You Can, When You Can

Still adjusting to work, mentally exhausted this week. Don't know about anyone else but when I get tired I find it incredibly difficult to keep anything in perspective and to control my mood. By the end of my working week I'd convinced myself that I was useless and that I was not pulling my weight at work or contributing anything. I think part of my problem is that mentally I am so eager and have so much stuff I want to do, that I know I am capable of, but when my body won't keep up with me I feel like a failure. Looking back on it this evening I realise this simply isn't true but it got to the point where I sent an email to my manager apologising for my tiredness and the fact that I had altered my hours a bit this week to help adjust. I had been told many times that so long as I did my 16 hours a week I could pretty much arrange them to suit my needs but doing this filled me with a sense of failure and guilt! silly I realise. Anyway I had a lovely email in reply basically telling me not to be ridiculous and that they understand, and that I am a highly valued member of staff, whether I believe it or not.

I am now a little embarrassed by this and it even made me cry! It's so hard to stay in control of my own mind when I'm worn out! I need to cut myself some slack I think, it's only my 3rd week of working after 2 years so the fact that it's taking me some time to adjust is understandable. I think I still have a hard time accepting the fact that M.E does stop me doing things that I want to do. If I could I would work every day but I just can't, so need to chill out a bit and let myself settle into it. I spent many years struggling to accept the fact that I have to live a little differently because of my M.E and used to hide it as much as I could, only close friends and family knew how it effected me. I had experienced so much negativity about the illness that now, when people are understanding I don't quite believe it. Maybe after a while I may be able to do more but the only person putting pressure on me at this point is myself!

Saturday 7 November 2009

Household Tasks

I seriously can't muster the will or the energy to finish my DLA form, it's so long and I can think of better things to do. For starters my car/giant handbag is so full of rubbish I've been meaning to give it a good clean (inside) for weeks. Got as far as parking it near the house so far. Maybe tomorrow. My bed had become an island amongst a sea of mess and clothes in my bedroom, I did manage to tidy that up a bit today. Boring jobs like doing the washing and changing the bed seem to become so much effort! It takes me days to build up to it sometimes. Had a good few days rest before the next Tues-Thurs work days so hopefully I won't be so shattered this week but who can tell. Does anybody else get freezing cold when they're tired? I seem to spend much of my time in about 3 jumpers looking very padded.

Still consciously trying not to let work stress me out too much. It's o new to me now that I have to mentally slap myself for worrying so much about every little thing. I just want things to go well! I'm still at a stage where I'm just pathetically grateful to be working at all and in a job that's flexible and that I enjoy. This seems to make me a bit over eager to please and I am quite hard on myself I think. I'm starting a course of yoga again on Monday, I think gentle yoga does help, especially the relaxation side of it. It's run by my physiotherapist so I know I won't be pushed too far. well that's it for now, sorry if this post is a bit dull but I'm starting to use this blog as a diary now too.

Thursday 5 November 2009

Working Life Continues

Just finished another week at work. I am loving my job but also still finding it incredibly tiring. So much so that when the boss asked me how I was doing I (without thinking) replied "I'm knackered!" Just as well he knows not to be offended by my un-worklike language. They've been great to me so far and I couldn't ask for a more understanding work place. I still get a bit stressed out by it all but that's more to do with fighting the fatigue than the work itself.

I'm posting a video I made a while back for the museum, I'm working on a story gathering project at the moment working with local families and volunteers. Creating digital photo stories like this one. It's about an original volunteer who whilst taking down and re-building an old manor house, so that it could be preserved at the museum, found the oldest silver spoon in the country!


Sunday 1 November 2009

Light-hearted Banter

Seeing as so far my blog has been a bit doom and gloom, I thought I would do a light-hearted post. I went to the Museums' Halloween party last night, it was awesome! one of the best halloweens I've ever had. Lots of kids in cool fancy dress, and adults in cool fancy dress too. I got to wear ridiculous ammounts of eyeliner and my fancy mask.

Although I was technically working (serving on the tea and cake stand) I still managed to have a wander round the site and see what was happening. Also managed to scoff a hot dog in a bun, which is always a good thing. I even managed to get over my fear of night-time driving and drove home too. Spent most of today trying to catch up on some sleep, it wasn't a late night but being on my feet for a few hours and then not getting a good nights' sleep left me a bit rubbish today.

Just for fun I'm copying in a hilarious video from youtube that my cousin told me about. Who would have thought binoculars could create such a great version of football?! I often find having a giggle can lift my mood a bit on a bad day. For all those with M.E out there hope this gives you a few minutes of carefree amusement. Enjoy.