SmileyAli

Not entirely on board with a do this asap from someone I can see has had the original mail for six weeks before deciding to off load it on to me.

Finding the right cloth that doesn't leave dust was indeed an issue!

Today's #FinchApp spring clean was clean a mirror. Reader, I cleaned all the mirrors!

I work with people in many time zones. There is always a moment of horror when the 08:00 call (not a fan) gets shifted to 07:30. Sucking it up.

What this does is means my 3am being awake spell now doesn't churn over work matters. It thinks about the dog instead, but it is what it is.

I am so my father's daughter. I am breaking my life down into routines and rituals. My end of the working day ritual now has a post it note to remind me to pause and write down answers to: What emerged today? What is open? What shape does tomorrow have?

I thought it was about right but didn't do maths. In my brain I have the foundation around 1660 but I suspected there wasn't an actual specific year. I'd have to google.

Forced a conversation about what we'd do if our dog ran off and got lost (didn't come back) so we have a plan for the occasion

Hell yeah! I was putting away microfibres cloths and realised tea towels were not all folded, various piles had overlapped, oven gloves were on a mission of their own, table cloth hasn't been used in a decade, place mats with stains on I'm ashamed to use ...

For anyone hanging on to find out which drawer I decided to clear as part of the Finch App spring cleaning challenge. I didn't decide so much as have the drawer present itself to me. It was the tea towel drawer. I found a lid I thought I'd lost, binned 2 tea towels and a tablecloth to charity.

It is ridiculous. You bring up a "birb" and it's your little friend. You send it on adventures, you earn jewels to fund outfits and furniture for it's birbhouse. I add my own tasks so I remember to shower every two days, change the bathroom towels and thaw out dog food.

Ridiculously excited about the Finch App spring cleaning challenge task of tackle one drawer. Do I chose a big one, a small one, a regular use one, or seldom touched, a sock drawer or a kitchen drawer. I am savouring this task.

#MSFriday musings. My legs are being very MSy this week. Feeling like I used to after running a 10k, whereas arguably I haven't even run 1km.

I'm oddly excited by the Finch App spring challenge. Today I get to wipe down a surface but tomorrow, get this, I have a drawer to tackle

Because of the Finch App, today I watered my houseplants to earn enough jewels for a drawing of a bird to "purchase" a blue lantern. In case you wondered.

AI has been very understanding today.

It's 2 o'clock, and I still have 70 items on my task list for today, along with unread emails, and a couple of larger tasks that are ongoing. I have literally no idea how to organise the next two hours. Maybe a brew.

I'm reading a Simon Armitage poem a day, and honestly, am living my best life.

And it's far from over, from what I can see. I've taken on more, I'm using my skillset more than ever before, I feel like I fit what I'm doing. But equally because of the MS it feels like a final swan song over the next maybe three years. Although hopefully ten.

In 1998 life gave me the opportunity to work in sport. It wasn't something I was targeting. So far I've had a wonderful career working around some of the most physically and mentally gifted people you can imagine. Just dropped a line to a 38 year old I've known since he was 18. It's a great journey.

No regrets at having introduced other half to ChatGPT. I'm now sat here with a three page printed out (and stapled) 14 day dog training plan. And in honesty, it makes me happy. We have structure, I have something I can re-read and don't have to remember, we're consistent and we're working together.

I'm grateful for being able to name a sensible amount of people who would be on my team in a crisis. Depending on the nature of the crisis. I feel fortunate. There aren't many but they are gold.

That sounds bonkers.

I've gone wild and texted two friends to try to sort out doing something that feels do-able! The March chapter of my Resilience Agenda diary is all about connection, and it chimed with me.

Lost dogs posts on social media have ramped up in how painful I find them since I now have a dog and it hurts just thinking about him lost, alone, worried, confused, and wondering where his people are.

Oh my. I take it you don't have a formally agreed flexible working request (it's probably not too late to submit one, although possibly antagonistic).

That sounds so painful.

I realise I mostly respond by rejecting all invitations, agreeing to do absolutely nothing. I'm not exactly in Fear Of Missing Out mode but there's a twang, for sure. Many things I can opt into at last minute.

This is on my list. My boss, having watched me on calls for bloody months doing spreadsheet stuff looked at me the other day and said ... I've been meaning to talk to you. I mean, what? Why let me flounder for so long. I'll join you on the journey!

Well this isn't good. I am assessing, really truly considering and taking seriously how I manage my stress levels yet here I am, in freeze mode. No idea quite how this happened. I guess the simple response is this is where I am, and what's the way forward.