Wednesday 29 June 2016

Escaping the village!

Today I plotted and carried out a daring escape from the village.  I boarded the No 18 bus and headed for the giant metropolis that is the city of York.  My mission - to boldly go and investigate the sales in my favourite clothes shops, and also to call in and surprise them at work.   



Well I learned lots - firstly the bus drivers in our area are a bit crazy, hurtling down the narrow country roads at alarming speed - best not to focus on what is going on.  Second that I can actually walk a fair distance without stopping, and without feeling any discomfort whatsoever.  I must have walked at least a couple of miles, which is way more than I've done on any other day since the heart attack.   Third, the weather in this country is unpredictable and today turned out wet and cold, and I wasn't dressed for it.  Fourth,  that I don't look like someone who has recently had a heart attack.  I guess my own expectation would be that a recent heart attack victim would look grey and haggard and frail, and I don't look any of those things.  I would say that I look quite a bit healthier than I did before it happened, and my colleagues echoed that when they saw me today.  The new hair helps I guess, but I can see that I look better complexion wise.  So much so that I'm not wearing make up at all at the moment, whereas I was slapping it on before I got ill, to try and make me look vaguely human.  Perhaps I looked more like the perceived image of a heart attack victim BEFORE it happened.  I know I owe a lot to the skill and knowledge of the doctors that have treated me, and also the tablets I'm on!

I was quite moved by the reception I got from colleagues at work - I guess that it had been a shock for them to hear what had happened to me, and I was surprised by how much people had worried about me.  It was nice to talk about a few things going on at work and catch up with developments.  There is a major restructure going on within the University at the moment, so lots of comings and goings, new appointments and role changes.  There isn't much that affects me directly, and I'm looking forward to us being a School of Languages and Linguistics which will be great for everyone in the department.  Nothing against the Business School (which we were part of before the restructure) but there isn't really much synergy there, and being part of that faculty really didn't work for us - it was more like we were kind of tagged on because it fit in terms of numbers of students and staff etc and made our faculty a similar size to the others. 

It was nice seeing a couple of friends today - unplanned too.  I had lunch with one as we met in Pret A Manger.  She's been having a stressful time, and was shocked to hear what I'd been up to.  I think it does tend to put things in perspective, although I wish I wasn't the example having that effect on people.  Another friend was on the bus for both journeys so we chatted on the bus, and took our minds off the crazy driving!  I'll be glad when I can drive myself places from Sunday, although I've got to make sure that I plan things carefully so I'm leaving enough time to get places without stress.

So after my bold and daring adventures I was quite tired, so had a nanna nap when I got home, and got a nice cuddle from Ossie the cat.  She still isn't recognising her sister although things are improving - they have touched noses, although that was closely followed by a hiss and a growl just to make sure Elsa knew where she stood.   

Now I've got the tennis on and we have Marcus Willis (world number 772) playing Roger Federer, and loving it.  He is losing, and that was always going to happen, but what an amazing experience for someone who had almost given up on a tennis career prior to having this run in the qualifying and now getting through to the second round at Wimbledon.  You can see the joy in his face at what he is experiencing.  Just another example that anything is possible... Leicester City won the Premier League after all, oh and Iceland beat England in Euro 2016 (perhaps try and forget that one!).  I wonder what is possible for me in the future?  Maybe I'll run 5k one day??  Play tennis again?  Become a Senior Lecturer or more at work?  Write a book?  Sing in a choir?  Act?  One thing I do want to do is inspire my kids, and that is something that I haven't done up until now - make them proud of their mummy rather than having them wishing I was fitter, slimmer, more energetic, etc etc. 


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