walkies

At 6.30 in the morning! Yeah, I know. Wow! What in the world was I doing at that ungodly hour? Would you believe it if I told you I voluntarily got up early, just to take said walk? I know. Wow.

It wasn't as difficult as it might seem. It's been getting light here at about 4.30am, and I find myself waking up at about 5, thinking it must be at least 7 cos the light is so damn bright. But no. Five. Then I have a hard time falling back to sleep, and feel guilty for wasting precious daylight, even though I know full well that it will stay light until at least 10pm.

The thing is, I need to start walking more. I need to get rid of all this flab I've been carrying around. And although I could theorestically walk well into the night, in reality I find it hard to motivate myself to leave the house after I've settled in for the night. As soon as I get home from work, I strip out of my work clothes, pull on my pajamas, cook dinner, watch Neighbours, and pull the blanket over me. It takes a lot of psyching up to get me out from under those blankets. So why not aim for early morning walks instead?

It was quite nice as well. The roads were busier than I thought they'd be. I stuck to sidewalks around the village, explored some neighbourhoods I had never been to before, and the new cemetary. I had my walkman with me, listening to a tape I made a few weeks ago just for such occasions. It was chilly when I set off, but warmed up so nicely.

I was out there for 45 minutes, and when I got back I found I had more than enough time to shower and got ready. In fact, I became bored with the same old news on all the morning shows, and restless. By the time I got to work, I felt like half the day had already gone by. I had already been up for hours! Which is maybe the one drawback -- well, that and less sleep. The day kicks off with an energetic boost, but it then seems that much longer. By the time it came time to leave, I was ready for bed. Maybe this will improve with practice.

Work wasn't so bad either. Bad photographer has given his notice, much to the delight of everyone, and his last day of work is tomorrow. Woo hoo! It was just Tommy and I in the office today, but we had everything under control. Somehow, we've managed to arrange so many photos that we have extra, and I was able to plan our schedule four days in advance. I typed it up and emailed it to the photo editor and she was suitably impressed at my level of organisation. Hell, yeah!

One of the editors - the one I'm most scared of - came to the office for a visit on Monday. Luckily, I wasn't there. PHEW! Everyone else got their annual appraisals. I'm actually due for ym 6-month one, but no one seems to have noticed. No complaining here.

Anyway... when scary editor came up he had a suggestion. Well, an order really. The three of us are to divy up the area into three patches, for which we will be held personally responsible. We'll be expected to go to more community council meetings and evening events, and are to develop a solid list of contacts so that we are not scooped by any of the smaller community newspapers. Right.

Actually, I'm not too opposed to this plan. It was the sort of thing I was expecting when I took the job. It just took a really long time to happen. As it is, I've been given the smallest area of the lot, and one which I had already sort of adopted.

Tonight was the first community council meeting. And before that, in the afternoon, the opening of a new heritage centre. Perfect place to start! I sidled up to the local councillor and had a good schmooze, leaving with two stories! At the community council meeting, I got another two stories, and met this local history buff who gave me a tour of his home!!! Yup! Thankfully, there were no invites for tea. It was all I could do to stop from giggling, however. Too fucking quaint. Gorgeous old home too, dating back to the 1700s. I'm considering suggesting it to our home supplements editor for a feature or something. Aren't I just raking in the Brownie points eh?

It felt kind of nice to start to get to know an area, though, and to meet people. Never mind the fact that the area is half inhabited by a colony of crazy cultists, many of them from America.

I desperately need a hair cut. And to lose about 50 pounds. No joke. Sadly, the results from my bloodwork came back and supposedly I've been overmedicated for my thyroid condition so they'll be reducing the dose of my supplement pills, meaning my metabolism will also be reduced. That don't help, do it? Maybe my heart will stop racing and my limbs will start shaking when I get hungry. Hmmm. Trade-off.

I don't like going to bed when it's still light outside! Supposedly, at the height of summer, it doesn't get dark until after 11pm. Insane!

This weekend, more work. Although hopefully I can get into the forests for a nice walk or two. Next weekend I'm stuck up here too, with no Richard, as he's heading home for his mom's birthday. I shouldn't mind, but I do because I'm selfish. So it'll be another two weeks before I get back to Glasgow and see people. Fortunately, there will also be a fab free outdoor concert to entertain me.

I think I'm getting used to being alone.