The List worked!

I had a lot to do today, so last night I wrote myself a list of all I had to do. As I thought of each item, down it went on the list.

The list grew bigger and bigger.

I`ll never get it all done I thought as I kept thinging of things that I had to do, where shall I start? But I added them to the list.

But......

....today, I started at the top of the list,
first job done,
second job done,
another items crossed off
...and another.... and another..

.... and although my list had 19 items on it (all to do after a mornings work, and before going out to a meeting in the evening too - some of the items being for that meeting) .....

I got them all done - and with time to spare to wash my hair!

It certainly paid to make that list. Everything got done, nothing got forgotten, I had all I needed for the meeting.

Now, I just hope that I`ve got everything prepared that I need for tomorrow! - well, they`re all crossed off the list, so they must be.





(Thanks fellow bloggers for your good wishes - I feel better today too)

Waiting Over

I didn`t have long to wait this morning before the phone call that I`d been waiting for came. And with it came the news that I hadn`t been selected for the job this time.

Was I disappointed? In lots of ways yes, because I know that it was work that I could have done and would have enjoyed doing; it would have been a help in my home life too. But yet when I came out of the interview yesterday I knew that I`d let myself down, I`d as usual shrunk into my quiet self, I`d become (as so often) tongue-tied and `struck dumb`, and didn`t showing my true abilities. I suppose too that my upbringing, being that one doesn`t talk about oneself, or what I can do still affects me, and I find it very difficult to talk about myself.

Yet, I`m proud of myself that I did have the courage to apply for the job and to go for the interview. My confidence in myself is growing to how its been my whole life. Even a few years ago I wouldn`t have plucked up the courage to even show an interest in the job even though it would be work I could do. And as for going somewhere I`d not been before I would have found all excuses under the sun not to go. So, although I wasn`t successful in being appointed, I feel its another small success for me in confidence building.

Thoughts from Records

Touching and reading some books this afternoon, I suddenly was stuck by the realisation that what I was handling was over two hundred and twenty years old. That someone that long ago had handled the same and written in them, and here I was all these years later reading what he had written. I suddenly felt very priviledged to be doing so.

What I was looking at were some old church records.

One of the things I found interesting, gave an insight into the life of people in the 1780`s, was that alongside the names on the registers they had also given the trade or circumstances of the person.

Amongst the, to be expected, Labourer; Farmer; Sailor, etc., I found a lot of more unusual jobs - Mantlemaker; Twine spinner; Besom maker; Caulker; Watchmaker; Tide waiter (wonder what that involved?); Rope maker; Coal heaver; Chopper (wonder what he chopped and why); Shop maid, Cutler. A few had Pilgrim against them, one even had Gent - which set me wondering why he should have that description.

A large number were Servants, Invalid was written against another name, then I came across the one that seemed to me an even sadder description against several names - Pauper. And one even said gone to the Workhouse.

Actually handling books and seeing the handwriting in them, as against just learning history from printed books, really brought home to me the hard times that people had as against our lives today.


It also set me thinking, that maybe we should do the same with the records we keep in this day and age, so that people in years to come could look back and think... what did a dustman, traffic warden, check-out girl,.etc.... do?!