A change is all I needed!

It's been a few months since I made what seemed to me to be a radical decision. I've always thought about looking for a job closer to home, but I never really put much effort into it. That was because I loved my job. I loved my role, I love my work friends (still love them to bits!) and I truly loved going to work, even if it meant sitting for 4 hours on trains every day. Circumstances after that - and completely by my own doing - meant that I found myself in a role that was incredibly unsatisfying. I learnt a few years ago that there is far more to life than sitting at a desk, spending every day in a job that doesn't test you.

It has been a month today since I started my new job around the corner from home and I can honestly say that I feel more relaxed than I have done in years - and I didn't feel particularly wound up before! I now have the luxury of time - time to sleep in, time to walk Lucy in the mornings and time to take a leisurely drive to the office. Time to get home when it's still light, time to cook and time to spend time with Dave in the evenings. Whereas before my week was dictated by train schedules, there are now no timetables to stick to and I'm loving it! Add to that the fact that I am once again doing what I truly love to do and it's a winning formula.

I won't lie, this has been an amazing year for us and I touch a lot of wood saying that. If no other good things happen this year, I can honestly say that I'm happy with my lot in 2014. It's been a truly fantastic year so far and it's only June.

The saying is that a haircut is as good as a holiday, well in my case, a holiday and new job have literally turned my life around for the better. Long may it continue!

Three hours and forty minutes

Since Dave and I made the decision to move out to the country, there is only one thing about every day that I've wished I could change.  My 4-hour commute to a job that I love.  4 hours.  2 hours each way - and that is without the inevitable occasional delays caused by the weather, strikes, people who feel the only option is to jump and all sorts of other laughable reasons that the train companies give you.  Not to mention the over £5,000 a year hole in my bank account made by the extortionate fares.

I've never felt particularly stressed about my commute every day - it's a decision that we made and one that I was comfortable with to have the quality of life that we have in the country, away from the noise, grime and fast pace of a big city.  But the reality is that more and more recently, my body has been telling me that it is tired of doing it every day and is not willing to do it for much longer.  I'd always had it in the back of my mind that I'd only move if the exact right role presented itself at the right time... and it's time.  And so comes the end of an era.

I resigned on Thursday from a company that I have loved working at for 5 years.  I was both nervous and really hesitant about it, second-guessing myself right up until halfway through the first conversation (the first of five that I had to have!).  I explained all the usual things like it wasn't a decision that I had arrived at lightly, why I'd made the decision and where I was going. But it wasn't until I explained that I effectively only get 90 minutes a day during the week to spend any time awake in the same room as my husband that it really hit home.  I immediately calmed down because I realised with that one statement that I have made absolutely the right decision.

I am going on to a role which will stretch my braincells and give me a challenge that makes it worth the move.  But one of the best things about it is that it is a 10 minute drive from home.  I will have a total commuting time of 20 minutes a day - 30 maybe if I get stuck behind a tractor.  That will give me back 3 hours and 40 minutes of my life every day, which to me, is absolutely priceless.  I could make a whole lot of promises to myself that I will use that time to exercise, to bake, to clean the house more and a multitude of other things, but the only thing that I'm going to pledge now is that I will appreciate it and absolutely covet those additional hours I'll get to be in my husband's company every day.  Further than that, I'll just see what each day brings.

There are loads of cliches that I could come up with now, but I'll just go with the one that I know to be absolutely true - the past 5 years has presented me with fantastic opportunities that I am incredibly grateful for and I have made life-long friendships from my time there.  And looking forward, although I've taken a risk, it's a risk that I feel has had to be plunged into, so let's see what comes next!  I'm ready!