Me and my legwarmers

My colleague Claire finds it hilarious that I wear legwarmers when I walk to work. It's friggin' cold, that's why!!

Anyway when she saw me she started singing the theme tune from 'Fame' and demanded I do a high kick for the camera. So here it is. Effortful expression and all. Plus a close-up of said legwarmers.

Ah, I love the work wind-down to Christmas :)

10 years in UX

This morning I realised, with a start, that I'll have been working in usability/user experience for 10 years come September. Ten years!! That's such a long time! I'm not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, there's a sense of pride - I've come a long way in that time. I'm light years away from the green post-grad who donned corporate wear for IBM GSA back in '98. On the other hand, part of me is thinking I should broaden my playing field, have a career change, do something else with my life. But as ever, I'm kind of stumped as to what my next move should be, as it could be in any number of directions! Plus work has started getting quite interesting over the last six months, and promises to continue being interesting. So, the 'big move' is probably going to go on the back burner for a while. Again. But ten years... that's enough to scare anyone out of their comfort zone...

Freaking out

Ever had a day where things are just freaking you out? All was well until I went to have lunch with a colleague and we sat outside a cafe where pigeons were abundant. First I tried moving my chair while sitting on it, and because it was one of those wooden slat/foldy ones immediately got a finger wedged under the seat which caused a nasty, bleeding cut.

Then a persistent pigeon not only wouldn't move away from our table but actually hopped onto it and started nosing into my salad! It scared the crap out of me! We shooed it away but it just wouldn't go! We quickly grabbed our trays and headed inside. I was shaking for the next 5 minutes.

Then I got back to work to find emails from clients asking about the work I was meant to have finished today. (The key client was away so I figured I could get away with having it done by the time he got back. Ok, so I've been completely burned out by work and have been taking it easy since my huge deadline - I'm only human!) So that caused the heart rate to go a bit silly-fast.

Then I thought Ben had invited all these people I didn't know to our housewarming and had a little freak about that too (I was wrong and I apologised).

So all in all, I've had about enough shocks for one day! I feel emotionally bruised and my finger still hurts :( I just want to go home and cuddle my giant toy monkey...

Moves, and more moves

Gee has it been that long since I wrote a blog entry? Tut, tut. I didn't mean for it to be so long between posts. But as you'll soon hear, things have been fairly demanding lately.

Firstly I finally left my beloved Stoke Newington at the end of September :( It was kind of emotional, especially as Lorraine and I had developed an attachment. But I'll be going back periodically, to collect mail, get my hair cut, and catch up with Lorraine. Ben and Jon helped me move half of my stuff (as well as some of theirs) into storage, and the other half into their place in Borough. Eleanor (Jon's gf) had moved in a few days before, so I'm sure the boys had a lot to get used to in a short space of time! Given that they'd not had a cleaner in the entire year they've been here, and aren't the cleaning types, one of the first things Eleanor and I did was to give the flat a good clean. (We're still waiting for the boys to clean the oven and the toilet, 3 weeks later). Despite that, it's been really great living under the same roof as my Benjy, and seeing him every night :) It's also been nice sharing a place with Jon and Eleanor - they're good mates and we always have great conversations.

Ben and I move into our new place in Barnsbury next weekend. I can't believe my month in Borough is almost up! We're very excited though... it's going to be so much fun to finally have our own place and furnish it and sort stuff. (I love sorting stuff, in case anyone was wondering... I've mildly considered becoming a professional 'sorter' at times). We're having our housewarming on December 1st. Invite is pending.

So, one move down, one to go. Almost. Because in the meantime, my workplace has moved too! Yes, Flow Interactive now have a new (and not fully finished) office in Clerkenwell - a much more 'happening' suburb than Highbury & Islington - not nearly so residential, and much closer to central bars, restaurants and the CBD or "City" as it's called here.

So needless to say, getting used to new routines has been the theme of the month. Add to that a crazy work schedule, travelling with the mobile lab, fitting in physio appointments and you have one tired and run-down Mimi. I developed a cold last week but it seems to be disappearing, which is good. 'Cos I sure as hell can't afford any time off work at the moment!

You'll be pleased to hear my wrist is improving... it's no longer swollen and the mobility is much greater since I started physio. I'm not very disciplined at doing my exercises, but it's getting there nevertheless. I'm even going back to football on Monday, after a too-long absence - yay! Not in goal, though.. I doubt I'll be doing that for some months. Just on the pitch, in my old defence position. Let's see if I even remember how to play! ;)

For those more spiritually inclined, I have discovered Sonia Choquette and in doing so have found the next step in my personal development. I've also started seeing a homeopath and am trying to go 'alternative' wherever I can. So, all looking good on that front.

Right now I'm just really looking forward to moving into the new place, and settling into a proper routine. Unsurprisingly, I've been feeling a bit unsettled and all over the shop lately, and I just want a bit of regularity in my life. Fortunately, it's not far away :)

One last, but important, piece of news: my dear friend Zoe and her hubby Alasdair have moved to the UK! They're living in Bishop's Stortford, halfway between London and Cambridge (where their respective jobs are based). We caught up last weekend, and it was great. It's so good to know a good friend from home is just a short train ride away...