The end of a long day

It has been a long Wednesday, but an interesting and productive one.

I was happy today that I made it up the hill on my bike. At the end of the park where I live, there is a railway bridge, and over it, a dirt track leading down to the main road. I like to cycle down there in the morning - it's short, but has enough rough and muddy bits to get me going first thing. Down is fun. But boy, does going up hurt these days! After not cycling (or indeed doing much else) since my knee injury in October, the old fitness level isn't what it used to be. Yesterday I borked, about three quarters of the way up the hill. But today - I made it to the top. Sweaty, yes. Puffing, yes. But I was there. And on only my third day back in the saddle, I thought it was some kind of achievement.

I will probably end up referring to this quite often on this blog, but the sun came out today, and that always makes me that little bit happier. Grateful, too, that spring is on its way, and it reminded me as well that the nights are light until past 6pm now. So having the sun beam down on me whilst out for a lunchtime meander put me in a better mood and optimistic about the season to come.

I'm about to start coaching a girls football team soon, and I went to a preliminary meeting with the girl who is coaching them now this evening. She wants to hand over after Easter (gulp) but I am heartened that I won't be taking it on alone. There will be a more experienced coach with me to start with, for the pre season and into the first season, while I find my feet and start my FA coach training.

So what does all this have to do with gratefulness, I hear you ask?

It struck me when I was talking to Sarah, the current coach of the team that I'll be taking on, that there are so many things in our communities that rely on the goodwill, time and energy of people like her who volunteer. We should be grateful every day for those people, who might teach our kids football, or be at events with the St John Ambulance to provide first aid, or like my BF, lead Scout groups. They might be people like the team where my mum lives who go to care homes to play board games with elderly residents. There are so many reminders in every community of the fundamental goodness of human nature and the will of people to reach out to one another - we should remember these things when it seems as if every second person is a potential terrorist, rapist or pest, when the hysteria gets too much. Most people actually want others to be happy, and they put a lot of effort into achieving that within their own spheres of influence.

Slipped already!

Well in the whirlwind of visiting friends, and driving home and starting work again, I've been pretty bad at remembering to come on here and blog! And OK, I might have been busy being a gadget freak with my new iphone. I resisted the temptation for so long, but now I have one, well, I'm hooked, I'm ashamed to say. I am careful to keep things in perspective and realise that it's not one of life's essentials and life still happens when you don't have an iphone, but I'm liking it. Nevertheless, I can see the downside possibly being that it is way too easy to waste a lot of time doing things like the Imbecile Test and feeding virtual fish.

Today's first piece of good news is that I have started cycling again. After months off while my knee injury healed, I have watched my fitness steadily decline and my weight go up. I was horrified to get on the Wii Fit and find myself over 11 stone. This is going to change! My first positive of the day was my cycle into work, to arrive feeling pumped and ready to go for the day was a rare change from my usual morning state. That, and I was properly hungry for breakfast, rather than just eating it because I feel I should. There's nothing like the feeling of hunger after physical exercise to make you appreciate food as the fuel it is for your body, and also nothing like pushing your body a little physically to make you want to put the right fuel in it.

The second thing of today that made me feel happy was how chuffed my work colleague was with his birthday cake. My work mate turned 42 today, and he isn't the sort to "do" birthdays, however he told the guy who sits opposite me that it was his birthday today, and he told me....so we decided that the only thing to do with someone who hates birthdays is make a fuss of it of course! We have that sort of relationship in our team where we make our days pass better with banter and humour, so we knew it wouldn't be taken in the wrong way. I found him a card that was actually for a 2 year old and added a 4 to the beginning, and got people in the office to sign it by stealth. The cake was a chocolate hedgehog, and he absolutely loved it! He's kind of a gruff character at times, and the prickly hedgehog sort of suited him, so he was amused - and pleased we'd put in the effort. It was nice to make someone's day, especially as it had been rather a busy one in one way or another.

Right now, I feel happy in fact, because my beloved dog is stretched out beside me on the sofa. He is a proper mummy's boy, and generally does like to be where I am most of the time. I just love the way having a sleeping mutt next to you induces calm - he just looks so peaceful and content, it's impossible for it not to rub off!