the hard way

Man, if i ever want to get really annoyed i know what to do, just follow these simple steps:

1. Spend two consecutive days in Birmingham going home in between.
2. Sit quietly through a group supervision and when asked what i thought celebrating the fact that the meeting had given me no extra work to do (other than my PhD of course) now that teaching is pretty much over. I now wish i'd paid attention to what was being said with me now having to re-draft an article for Friday on top of my four interviews scheduled for this week.
3. After a manic day, sit on a train for over 5 hours to get to my parent's. Now i'm normally a fan of train journeys but that is just way too long especially when tired and sat with teenage girls being teenage and their teacher guardians being rude. Coming back was fine as i could work and watch the cute kid in front of me who kept trying to stroke my hair.
4. Spend the weekend getting annoyed with my parent's constant back handed complements and correcting what i was doing or saying and forgetting that i somehow manage to look after myself ok for the 360 odd days when they aren't there. Sometimes it'd be nice if they just let things go and saying thanks every now and again. Then maybe i would be prepared to trek up there more. Man, why can't i ever actually say that to them? Well according to a Cosmo quiz i did it's because i am a 'communication nightmare'. This made me realise that a lot of the things that make up my perecption of family home is nothing to do with the physical building (although re-decoration is turning it into a Munro house) with us slipping into traditional family habits very quickly.
5. The weekend did make me realise how much i can recognise and adopt the moods of those around me. This can be a good trait but also might explain my failure to be proactive in the majority of instances. I think i'm just scared of either coming over too aggressive or being rejected.

Good things about these last fews days:
1. I beat Lol at squash thereby achieving one of my aims for the year. Hopefully i won't need to be tired and grumpy to do this again.
2. The pace of life at my parent's is so nice. The place is just so still and it allows for walks on the beach.
3. The Pipettes- Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me ( www.thepipettes.co.uk/). Come on Spring!
4. The crumble i made on Sunday kicked ass.
5. Watched Cold Mountain again and remembered how much i love it. It should also come in useful when i next play 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon.