Knilly Frickers

This is an apology to one of my science teachers at high school, I've changed his name, not for any real reason other than to be mysterious  Dear Mr Tuna, (for context I've just eaten tuna and that's what my brain decided cling to)  I owe you an apology.   I just thought you were a Grumpasaurus who felt you were teaching a class of idiots and giving them a lecture because you hated us.  All of the above may well be true but I think I get it now.  We'd often get a bit of a telling off for collectively getting things wrong or failing to understand why we were wrong. Sounds standard for school, but occasionally we'd get a bit of a rant going beyond the here and now, you'd start talking about our potential futures and how we'd have to change our approach to succeed or how we may get conned by electricians or plumbers in the future if we didn't think more for ourselves.  I used to think you were making a mountain out a molehill but I think I get it now.  Yo...

It's been a whole week since I did any rambling of the written kind. I've had a really horrible cold over the last week that still hasn't quite faded yet and my head just felt like a huge foggy abyss - not the best mindset for a blog post!  It's been a strange sort of week where I've been functional but felt like I wasn't quite present.  I've never had an out of body experience but I think this week I may have experienced a few out of mind experiences, if that makes any sort of sense!!  There's been times this week when I've completed tasks or activities and while I know I've done them, experienced it and remember it clearly, it feels like my body was doing things on auto pilot, keeping me going while I mentally checked out.  There are plenty of times when I'm not ill and I mentally check out and do things on autopilot, which probably isn't very healthy.  Sometimes I can go along with a normal pattern of routine without really thinking ab...

Missed the lunchtime blog today! I was busy feeling sorry for myself while I tried to fend off my summer cold.  It also feels like an oxymoron, summer cold.  The only thing I was rambling about at lunch time was probably my runny nose or the elephant having a disco inside my forehead, now that I've had a bit of rest and recouperation and have a bit more of a control on my symptoms, I decided to do a bedtime blog post!  For the past few days while I've been feeling poorly, along with many other days when I've been feeling perfectly fine, I've been doing a lot of box set binging.  Its not always a bad thing, sometimes the best way to chill is with one of your favourite TV programmes, for me it's like spending time with company that I can vary my concentration levels with.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm being a tad unhealthy, quite often episodes of shows I like to watch are released weekly so I don't go overboard, but if I start on something new that's been ou...

Tiny violins at the ready, I'm feeling a bit poorly today!  I'm not sure if it's my hay fever, if I'm getting a cold or I'm just a bit run down but I'm not 100% today. The downside of not feeling quite 100% is while you feel rubbish, you can't always just stay in bed. My rule for taking sick days is if my brain can still think and process without thinking 'ahhhh I'm so ill' and I'm still capable of cognitive thought, I'll power through it and go to work. That's what I've done today, powered through it although I do feel a little like I'm running on empty which isn't a great way to feel when trying to get my creative mindset on. We also currently have a heatwave in Glasgow today which isn't really helping me although the view from the window is glorious.  I don't always have to be feeling poorly to feel less than 100%, there are some days when I just feel a little less than being able to give the world the full Rach...

For someone who really likes crafty things I'm really lacking in any craft like ability. A few Christmas' ago my boyfriend got me a crossstich book because I mentioned I'd like to try it. I thought back to my home economics teacher treating me like an idiot for my inability to thread a needle and I gave up.  I put learning to crochet on my 28 things before I'm 28 list and struggled to make the first loop, I've made a tiny bit of progress since then, although I haven't yet given up, my plan is to master at least a line before I'm 29.  Even as a kid, anything artisic or craft like was my least favourite thing to do, it was my idea of hell. Now I'm older it's something I wish I was better at as I think it would be a great creative outlet. I'm really envious of my friends who do have hobbies like that, which they are amazing at but I try and remind myself that some of them had to learn too. Maybe that's my problem. I don't like it when I can...

Yesterday I was thinking about being organised and today I'm thinking about routine.  Routines are great, I thrive on them. I like having a sense of what usually happens and when, it keeps me in check and keeps me in a semi state of organisation.   My nephew Ben is autistic and he also relies on a sense of routine and watching his sense of routine amazes me because while he relies on similar patterns of circumstance, he fills each one with something new and different and creative. It's made me look at the way I view routine and creativity and the ways they can work together.  I like the reliability of routine. You know where to go, what to do and have a rough idea of what will happen so that you can then equip yourself with your plan of how to go about your routine. Where I can come into a bit of bother with routine is when it doesn't stimulate me. Sometimes I get myself into routines of behaviour and activity for the sake of them and if I lack passion for it, I begin to ...

I like to think that being organised is one of the strongest skills I have. I can plan things in detail and I think well on paper which helps in a work sense.  In a personal and work sense I often have a to do list for my to do list.  When I was at college and university I had a list with all my tasks organised my tutor and due date taped to my bedroom door so that whenever I left or entered my room I'd be reminded of what I needed to do and could highlight as I completed things. This year, I've let my organised side slide and allowed my brain to become frazzled and overloaded while I fly by the seat of my pants. Starting today - that stops! I need my head to be in a place of tranquility and clear vision not scrambled among different things.  Here are a few tools and methods I find useful - mainly to serve as a reminded to myself to use them but if they are useful to anyone else - then awesome! Mind-mapping I love a good mind map, getting all my thoughts out on paper...

I forgot to bring my house keys with me today, a genius move if ever there was one. Thankfully my parents are likely to be home when I am heading home from work or if they are out enjoying the sunshine this afternoon, I can head to my boyfriend's house so it won't be a massive catastrophe. It set me off thinking about that phrase when one door closes another door opens. I didn't always believe in that saying and thought it was just something people say to make you feel better when something doesn't quite work out for you but there have been a few instances in my life where it has been true.  When I was finishing up my internship a few years ago and had absolutely nowhere to go to next and was completely clueless as to what to do, a short term opportunity at my brothers work opened up. While it wasn't in my preferred field, it was an opportunity I enjoyed and allowed me to spend time with my brother that I otherwise wouldn't have.  Before I began my current role,...

I'm sleepy today, properly could lie down for a kip sleepy, I'm at work so there won't be any afternoon naps for me today but never mind. I have something of a reputation for being sleepy, in my later years of school and my college years. I was notorious for my desk snoozing, there are even some historical photos of me on some friends facebooks where I'm snoozing when I ought to have been learning. Sometimes I'm sleepy because I've stayed up too late and needed to be up early, sometimes I've gone to bed early and had too much sleep and sometimes I've had too much caffeine and thrown my energy levels out of whack.  I don't think it's really any of the above this week, I'm just feeling really lethargic and unresponsive. I think I need to start addressing my diet, not in an oh my goodness I need to lose weight kind of way (although it wouldn't hurt) but I think because I've had to cut a lot of things out of my diet with my dairy intolera...

Anyone who knows me or has read my blog has probably gathered I enjoy ambit of retail therapy. I enjoy visiting stores and soaking in the colourful array of shoes, clothes, accessories and items around me, sometimes I'll even buy some!  At times, my insessant shopping chat can come across a bit 'airhead shopaholic' but I swear I'm not trying to be the Scottish answer to Cher Horowitz, although I'd freaking love to have her computer operated outfit selector and access to her wardrobe space. I perhaps just like to shop but sometimes I think back to when I was a kid.  I was sometimes made fun of for wearing what someone identified as a hand me down or as not very fashionable or socially acceptable to wear.  At the time, this was the worst thing in the world, to not be wearing the right thing and I'd be a bit of a brat about it. I of course understand now that while we weren't poverty stricken, having the latest version of trainers every three months couldn'...

It's Friday! I wouldn't exactly say I have the Friday feeling but I'm feeling somewhat chipper about the weekend.  Weekends never last long enough, you wait a whole week for them to roll around and then they have passed before they've even begun!  I've always quite liked Friday's at Primary School it was the day we had 'Golden Time' where for the last 45 minutes of the day you could chill. As I got older it was the day I had off of college and uni. Until I started working it was a day my parents and I spent with close family besties (hi H&D) in some shape of form. In fact, as I type my parents are enjoying a lovely day with them, about to embark on lovely home made baking and treats.  My current Friday routine post work is to visit my boyfriends house and consume food of some description, either his or his mothers cooking or one of the lovely takeaways where he lives. Tonight I'm deviating from routine and going out with a friend and while I'...

Its day four of my my impromptu blogging challenge. I've just finished my lunch and I'm chatting with my colleague Chelsea about the Wheelchair Rugby team she plays for and how they are looking for volunteers.  Unfortunately it clashes with my other volunteering commitments but I decided that volunteering can be today's topic!  Volunteering is something I enjoy, I currently volunteer with a local children's club and a group that looks after my local park.  The children's club is a few times a week and the park one is a monthly meeting with some events throughout the year, I also look after the Facebook account for the park group which keeps me active in my volunteering when we have no events planned. I guess I originally used to pick volunteering opportunities that would help me. I was either a student or unemployed and wanted to get as many helpful thinks on my CV/Resume as I could to help me get closer to securing a job. Nowadays, I'm more into picking opportu...

It is Wednesday lunchtime, I'm wearing a black dress and for a small portion of the morning I had my still dripping wet from the shower hair in pigtails, I had some Wednesday vibes going on and decided to channel that into today's impromptu lunchtime post!  I'm also going to see The Addams Family in October and decided it was about time I started getting excited about that!  I was born on a Wednesday, so perhaps that's why I relate to Wednesday's character. I wouldn't say I'm full of woe, as the poem goes, if anything I probably try too hard to be chipper, but there are elements of Wednesday that I can relate to.   I wouldn't say I'm as sadistic as Wednesday but I share her penchant for sarcasm and have a similar reluctance to trust those I'm unsure of. I can be similarly withdrawn and quiet at times, but I think in both our cases we're deep thinkers and solitude is our favoured way to process and analyse the matters dancing around in our hea...

Day two of my impromptu blogging challenge. I've given myself a little longer than 10 minutes today to see what I can do with an extra 20!  It's raining, because of course it is! I live in Scotland, I don't know why every year when the summer rolls around I'm astounded to see rain!  I actually quite like rain. Do I enjoy getting soaked? Nope! Although there is some beauty in rain. I often find watching heavy rain through a window very therapeutic, I'm not really sure why, it just makes me feel sort of secure.  I also do some of my best thinking in the rain, just me, a dome shaped umberella and my noggin!  I also like parks in the rain, in theory that's a bit dumb because you can't sit on any benches, no cant use any equipment but there's something beautiful about freshly soaked trees, grass and shrubbery they seem to make a gorgeous glittery green view that stretches for miles.  I used to hate driving in the rain but I'm even getting starting to find...

I have 10 minutes left on my lunch break and thought I'd have a wee go at writing an impromptu blog post.  I think I'm going to try this every day this week as a creativity challenge, hopefully it goes better than my blogmas attempt which was fairly abysmal! I'll pick a topic every day and do a quick mind dump post!  Today's topic is Mondays!! Every week, we dread a Monday rolling around! I don't know why. I guess it's because it's the beginning of the working week and we have to get back into routine after a few days off - if we are lucky enough to have the weekend off, I know not everyone has that luxury. I actually prefer a Monday to a Tuesday for some reason. I know what to expect from a Monday, Tuesday can be a real curveball day but Monday I can generally rely on to be consistent. Sometimes I wonder with a Monday though, is it the getting back to routine that we dread, or the routine itself?  I've managed to fill five minutes with my drivel so I...