Sunday 30 May 2010

May Bank Holiday - installment 1

Holiday, such a great word. We collected Mika and Shizuka from the school yesterday afternoon and had a reasonably quiet journey home as shyness reigned. However, we then raced off to the shopping mall and I think that helped with some girlie bonding. They are both 17, but there does not seem to be too huge a difference between what they like and what our two like.
There is of course a lot of Japanese and we have all agreed that mealtimes will be for English. It is however, brilliant to be using it so much!!

On the work front. The job is very interesting but the volume of work is huge. I have yet to take on two of the major parts of the job, scheduling the operations waiting list and monitoring the outpatients clinics and am aware that there is not enough time in one week to do all aspects. Since joining, everyone, including management and my consultant have said it is a two person job. Having said that, the previous secretary came for a visit this week. She had a break down and is off on sick leave on medication. She did say though, that she wants to come back in about two weeks. I had mixed feelings as I am keen on part time work, but she indicated that she would only need an assistant and that it was her decision about what parts of the job she would keep and what she would hand over. Odd.
It turned out though that both my team leader and my consultant want to keep me. Good for the ego and the bank balance, but I have been thinking long and hard and will be honest with them both.

I would be more than happy to be part of a two man team as I can see how one could be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work. I really want a small amount of breathing space in my life at present. Full time work like this is a buzz, but it takes a while to settle when I get home and I need my energy for the family and for myself so that I can enjoy life, not live to work.

All of this seems pretty obvious, but like many people, I have a tendency to take on too much and end up feeling wretched. This is the perfect chance to start the way I want to continue and maybe we can all be happy?

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