Paris is always a good idea!! {so long work stress}

L ast week I shared my thoughts with you on the struggle I’d been having since upping my hours at work. Well a couple of things have happened since then and I’m feeling lots brighter, so in the interest of helping other Mums who might be in the same predicament, I thought I’d share them with you!

Acupuncture

Firstly I went for some acupuncture! I’ve had it before, just after our wedding when I think the stress of working too hard and renovating our first home resulted in this ugly puffy eye thing. The Dr’s thought it was an allergy and I had all sorts of tests, but the creams they prescribed made it a million times worse. A quick consultation with Dr Google recommended acupuncture and after a few sessions, the puffiness started to clear up and it has never returned, so as my body appears to be playing tricks on me again – i.e. by refusing to get up the duff!! I thought another visit to my local, ever so friendly Chinese lady was in order.

Acupuncture is a funny old thing. It’s linked to the belief that disease/stress is caused by disruptions to the flow of energy, (or qi) around the body. Acupuncture works by stimulating acupuncture points on or under the skin, which in turn releases the qi, meaning it is once again able to freely flow around the body.  A consultation with my acupuncturist concluded that I was too cold and needed to eat more lamb! (I never eat lamb so perhaps she has a point!) After a massage and some cupping to remove the toxins, she stuck two needles in my tummy and two behind my ears, then lay me down under a heat lamp for 45 minutes whilst patting me on the back! It all sounds rather bizarre and I must admit I am perplexed as to how it all works, but it really does. In the week since having the treatment I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and the dark clouds have been removed from behind my eyes! I’m going for more treatment this afternoon so I’ll keep you updated on the progress, then I think I’ll write a longer post about the experience so watch this space.

Talk

Around the same time as my acupuncture appointment, my boss noticed that I hadn’t been myself at work and had a little word. This was a little bit embarrassing for both parties as I didn’t really want to admit that it was because of work that I’d been finding things difficult, so the cringe factory alone gave me kick up the bum needed to switch my brain back into gear and get motivated. Since our talk my internet faffing has reduced to zero and I’ve been much more engaged with the projects I’m running.

And finally the cream de la crème of medicinal healing!!!

I took a trip to ‘Gay Paree …’

Yes that’s right & there’s nothing quite like a break in the city of love to clear a stuffy head. Shortly after writing last weeks post I boarded the Eurostar with twelve of my loveliest girl friends and we headed to Gay Parieee for a fabulous weekend in the sun celebrating my friend Charlotte’s up and coming nuptials. It was absolutely the best medicine I could have asked for, and after I got over the sheer exhaustion of returning from a hen weekend, I felt 100,000 times brighter and ready to take on the world!

I’ve included some snaps of our Paris trip below! We stayed in a beautiful gite 40 minutes outside of the city centre and I think it was perhaps the most instagrammable house I’ve ever seen with pink walls, pretty flowers and powder blue shutters! We were in social media heaven!!

We wore stripey tops, fabulous skirts, drank wine by the Eiffel tower watching the sunset and laughed all weekend long. It was perfect. I think girl time should be prescribed on the NHS!

I didn’t have to worry about getting out of the house within a certain time. I slept!! For the first time in about 6 months, I had a full night of uninterrupted sleep and didn’t wake up until 8am. Can you imagine the luxury?? OK it might have been Gin induced sleep, but it was real sleep. Actual sleep!! Tres Bon!!

What have I learned?

So what have I learned from this whole experience… well I’ve learned that yes being a working Mum is hard… bloody hard! But I’m actually really lucky to have a job which I enjoy and which is so flexible around childcare. After Paris I realised that I’m able to do much more fun stuff with Ettie (and with friends) because I work. Being a SAHM would be lovely, but because we live in the south-east of England, after paying the mortgage and the bills there wouldn’t be much money left for anything else, and I’m pretty sure Ettie would get sick of the sight of me if we were stuck in doors all day!

I’ve learned that Gin solves a multitude of problems, and while not medically endorsed, I can definitely vouch for its medicinal properties! (sleep, relaxation, the ability to switch off!)

Finally I’ve learned that it’s good to talk!! Paris made me realise that if you’re feeling the pressure, the best thing to do is actually drop everything, step away from the problem and take time out for you, because you can bet your bottom dollar that there’s someone out there who’s been through the same situation and they are sitting there ready to talk about it! My to do list actually grew after taking a few days away, but I was refreshed and invigorated by the time I got home and so I was ready to tackle life again!

Since Paris, I’ve decided to make a few little changes that will hopefully make life easier, like getting the food shop delivered so we’re a bit more organised with meals! We were doing click and collect anyway, but now those bad boy carrots are coming straight to our door!  I’m also going to have a set day for blogging so I don’t feel like I’m continually chasing my tail & might even splash out on a cleaner once we get some rooms in the house finished! (I’m still in negotiations with Stu about this one!!)

So the upshot of everything is, if you find life is getting on top of you…. sleep more, talk to friends, drink gin and sod off to Paris whenever you can, because in the words of the great Audrey herself ‘Paris is always a good idea’ xx