Learn to control money but do not allow it to control you

savingwannabe

It is that time on Friday when i feel tired and wonder why am I here? Then i read your diary and you always make me smile. Wonderful news on all counts Firewalker. Do enjoy. Thank you for cheering me up. swX

Cheery_Daff

WEll done FW! :T :T And good on you for acknowledging the things that go well :T

(I did laugh at the thought of your husband commenting on you leaving your coat behind! :rotfl:)

Marru

Well done FW you truly deserve it all :T (well, not about the forgetting the coat you don't...)

Firewalker

Guys, the coat thing was very embarrasing. Airport staff running around the waiting areas trying to find my bright red coat was not what I really wanted. But even more embarrasingly, at the conference I decided to go to the loo and no, this time I did not go in the gents' (I have been known to do this when very tired). I just found myself in an utility room full of cables and mops and things, instead of the toilet. Some of the women at the conference had a good laugh about it. I suppose yesterday was just not my day - for practical things this is.

Had quite a bit to drink tonight but hey-ho I am in Paris. I do suspect that tomorrow morning I'll regret this last beer.

Good night, sleep tight...

Firewalker

InaPickle

Amuse-toi bien a Paris!

And drink lots of water. That's the secret to lack of hangoverness.

Lara44

That's brilliant about your presentation FW. You are so right to recognise the successes. And if it's the French sociologist I'm thinking of - how wonderful!

savingwannabe

Dont worry one of my old friends once locked herself in the toilet at a graduate job interview at a nice airport. Needless to say since she screamed the place down in order to be released and did not acquire the job. She was so funny. It was good when we were all in our 20s our perception of life seemed so simple then. Old times, I miss her.

Firewalker

If at the beginning of January someone asked me whether I believe that I’ll make it through the month my answer would have probably been ‘Are you joking? Of course not!’ And I do realise that this sounds a bit dramatic and not terribly positive. This answer, however, would have had the advantage of being realistic. There was so much to do, so many trips to do, so many papers and presentations to finish.

Today I am sitting in my study at home and feeling very pleased with my-self. I did do it; my colleague and friend was right when she told me that I have done it before and I’ll do it again. During January I have been away for 12 days altogether; I visited five places (and five work related events); I delivered two high level presentations, took part in a project meeting and carried out three interviews (research interviews). I am not ill just very tired; and I will be pleased not to see another airport for some time.

I have done this before but this time there was a difference. Every trip, I made sure that I did something that takes me out of the routine and gives me pleasure. I walked around Rome, run around Paris, had a nice dinner in Brussels and took pictures in Florence. All the time I remembered to open to the ‘outside’, to let myself feel, absorb and live.

Tonight Little Boy and I will read Northern Lights together. Life is good and the Universe is very generous to me!

Firewalker

MrsMoo2U

FW, what a great month you have had with so many opportunities opening up for you. The year 2011 seems to be a good one for you. And you are so clever to step out of your comfort zone and make the most of each city. I travel and stay over a lot, I have pasted myself into a corner of staying in the hotel room so I will take on board your philosophy of doing something in each place.

With regards to your toilet story. I had a colleague who went for a job interview. At the end of the interview she got up to walk out. There were two doors on the way out where she only remembered one on the way in. She chose the door to the left, opened it and walked in to discover it was the broom closet. She didnt know what to do so stayed there, the chair of the interview panel opened the door and suggested that she exit. He was laughing so loud as she walked out she thought that she would not get the promotion. However she did and she was soooooo pleased. BUT we never let her forget and every birthday we gave her a mop or a bucket or a shovel as a gift. It made for great fun but I am sure that she was mortified at the time.

Cheery_Daff

Well done FW, what an inspiration :j I'm impressed, and what a lovely idea to do something for yourself in every place you visit. I try to do the same thing - the other day my colleague and I sat on the top deck of a double decker bus on the way home from a research interview, we had a great time looking at the scenery

Let's hope February is a little calmer for you!