wavy

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gosh, it's amazing what difference a day makes.

yesterday was a tough one. despite working outside* all afternoon, i felt pretty low and fed up with work. i also felt particularly stabby. other negative emotions this past week have included feeling terrified at the enormity of the task ahead since this is, by far, the most difficult thing i have ever had to do in my life. have i said that before? probably a number of times. forgive me but i will probably repeat it on a weekly basis.

i also had a workload reality check and had to cancel some social arrangements and say no to other invitations so that felt pretty rubbish. but i have chosen to work in this way because that is my best chance (i know how i work by now) at getting targets met on time.

there are lots of positive emotions at the moment too. and not just today when i am feeling chipper. i'm very proud of myself for having succeeded in immersing myself in my work and it feels good. i am confident about the work i am so far producing and i am so very passionate about my research and the data i've collected (after following families through their first year of parenthood).

in all, i would say this week has been wavy. (thanks to hels for this term).

here are a few pics of my first week of project hermit.

wed - wine to steady the nerves before project hermit began

thurs - data, notes & coffee. #currentview

 fri - taking a break and getting sun on my face. #currentview

sat - shedding a few tears as the enormity of writing up dawns on me

sun - apt reading for mother's day

mon - good old fashioned post-it notes and pads helping me organise my PhD in addition to spreadsheets

tues -work was going well but my mum bought be these flowers to cheer me up when times are tough

wed - outdoor office.

*i am so lucky to be able to work at my parents' whenever i want. their house is a sanctuary and they have the oh so important outside space that my beautiful bristol flat doesn't. i tend to move location quite a bit when working this hard (to keep me alert) so i move from room to room, house to house, cafe to cafe.

two more things - it will be interesting to see if anyone reads this since i won't be advertising it on twitter (taking a complete break for a while) and facebook (still zero regrets about quitting). also, i am still updating my pics daily to my flickr site.