At last another update.

First, quick travel plans: I am going to be in Porto from 25th June to 3rd July, then back to UK, either London or Cambridge.

It has been ages and ages since I updated my website, because I’ve been running around chasing several priorities, all of which clamour they will only be fulfilled if giving sole and undivided attention. Because of this I have discovered that although I am very good at multi-tasking, as are most members of the female species (I am all for differences between men and women, as honestly most of them seem to work in our favour, one that doesn’t will be mentioned below), I am not good at juggling different priorities. I obviously have to learn this art, as it is needed for things like motherhood, or a successful career (as obviously you can’t tell a child “now stop growing, falling sick, breaking an arm, needing love while mummy works on getting this very important promotion”). I have more respect now for all those women (and handful of men) who manage to do this. As for me, my priorities thankfully just barely accept being put on hold while I try and work on one at a time. Which would be fine, except for the fact that, as most of you know, I am not good on focusing intensively on something for long periods of time. However, I only seem to manage one priority at a time which means all breaks have to come from non-priority things. Which means things are DELAYED…
But anyway, here are the priorities I have been juggling with:
- finishing my PhD
- finding a long-term job, this includes
- improving my CV
- finding a temp job to earn some money to keep me going
- since I have been getting some temping jobs in Cambridge, finding a room in Cambridge
- not letting myself go so I end up looking like a whale
- admin stuff to do with property in Portugal, still some stuff to do with my flat, now a whole lot of new stuff to do with my grandmother’s inheritance
Any suggestions on how to accomplish all these things at the same time would be very helpful.

On a more cheery note, coming back to live in London has been a very good experience, lovely flatmates who immediately welcomed me in and keep inviting me for stuff although I was only staying for a few weeks, plus the added bonus of having more friends nearby who also invite me for stuff. One of them is also working on her PhD which means I had the added luxury of being able to work on my thesis IN COMPANY! Played a fun football game for the first time in about nine years, wasn’t bad at it either – I am a natural defender. Recently have finally managed to organize a touch-rugby game, it was also great fun, although the concept of moving forward whilst passing backwards is a tough mental exercise. Here the differences between men and women did not come to my advantage, as the extra ½ million red blood cells that men have per cubic centimetre of blood (I hope I got this stats right) means I was wheezing and puffing along halfway through the match, by then being the only woman on the pitch. Managed to hold out until the end of the game though. Having another one today, might go better this time. Also, lots of socializing here in London, was really fed up with this thing in Portugal of not going out if you’re in a relationship. Here you do go out even if you are in a relationship, sometimes even, GASP! without your partner!, and also there are a lot more people who are not in relationships, men (which for me is an added bonus of course) and women. The weather has been helping, despite also causing one of the worst attacks of hay fever I have had in years. Still, mine was nothing compared to some fellow sufferers so it’s ok.
All of you who I haven’t been in touch with, send news via e-mail or the greetz in this blog. I will put all my friendships and visits in order when I accomplish the priority list above. That is a serious promise. In the meantime, I can’t live without my friends of course so keep in touch with offers for drinks, games, writing, etc.