I haven't been blogging a lot lately, not so much due to being busy as to not being particularly inspired. I'm at the eight month countdown for leaving post, and it feels like everyone expects me to check out or acquire short-timer's disease sooner rather than later, which I don't really feel the need to do, at least for many more months. My colleagues might disagree, but I think I did a pretty good job of not checking out mentally in Jeddah until the last few weeks, and even then to a much lesser degree than many others! Truth be told, I'm not counting down from Kampala. This is a great post, I love my job, I love my house, I'm comfortable. And the things that drive me crazy about Uganda won't go away just because I leave; they'll just manifest themselves as other things in Lebanon and make me nostalgic for the good old days in Kampala.
Part of the issue is that while I'm leaving post this year, I'm leaving several months after the mass exodus that is summer transfer season, so I don't have the same sense of urgency/relief/stress that others are feeling right now. I'm looking forward to having more time to prepare for pack out (let's see if I use any of it wisely!) and less competition for GSO and other resources for actually checking out. Sadly I'll miss some good friends who are leaving this summer, and I'll have the inevitable but depressing task (that's not the right word, but you get the idea) of welcoming new people to post, making great new friends, and then leaving them in a few short months. This always happens, but it still sucks. One perpetual feature of FS life that not a lot of people talk about but everyone experiences.
My EER is well under way, so I don't have that pressure hanging over me right now, and our mission's big project for the spring will be over next week. I will have significant overlap with my successor but still need to work on SOPs and brain-dumps, and there are always long-term projects to work on.
So I like to call this unintended blogging hiatus a result of the eight month doldrums, but, really, it's just life. Because these aren't really doldrums, anyway; I'm not depressed/anxious/resigned or any of those things.
I could commit to posting a photo or quick story every day, but that's not really my style. I can only commit myself to so many things without losing momentum on all of them, and I'm trying to be good about working out, so I'm sticking with that one for now. I still have some travelogues to get up and will work on those, but the next trip is probably three months away, so until then expect a lot of cat stories/photos. (Followed by a safari-filled visit with my mom later this summer!)
Anyway, there's my random brain-dump for the day, probably brought to you in part by my being home sick this afternoon. I have been feeling off since Friday with no real symptoms I could put my finger on except fatigue, so I took advantage of a slow(ish) afternoon to come home and try to get better. And on the ride home I figured it out. As I squinted through my sunglasses because the sun was still too bright, it hit me. This is a migraine. Without the headache. It all made sense. Fatigue, light and sound sensitivity, a bit of nausea, and crankiness. None of them diagnostic on their own, but together - pow! I did have a headache yesterday but not a bad one or on par with a migraine, so I didn't connect the dots. Sure enough, two Excedrin Migraines and a cat nap (literally - they're still in my bed) later, and I am feeling much more like my old self. I don't get migraines very often anymore, thank goodness, and I very rarely get silent migraines, but it's not unheard of. I am feeling very empowered by having figured this out and addressed it, if you can't tell ;-).
So, there you have it. My caffeine-induced rant for the day (week, more likely).
Part of the issue is that while I'm leaving post this year, I'm leaving several months after the mass exodus that is summer transfer season, so I don't have the same sense of urgency/relief/stress that others are feeling right now. I'm looking forward to having more time to prepare for pack out (let's see if I use any of it wisely!) and less competition for GSO and other resources for actually checking out. Sadly I'll miss some good friends who are leaving this summer, and I'll have the inevitable but depressing task (that's not the right word, but you get the idea) of welcoming new people to post, making great new friends, and then leaving them in a few short months. This always happens, but it still sucks. One perpetual feature of FS life that not a lot of people talk about but everyone experiences.
My EER is well under way, so I don't have that pressure hanging over me right now, and our mission's big project for the spring will be over next week. I will have significant overlap with my successor but still need to work on SOPs and brain-dumps, and there are always long-term projects to work on.
So I like to call this unintended blogging hiatus a result of the eight month doldrums, but, really, it's just life. Because these aren't really doldrums, anyway; I'm not depressed/anxious/resigned or any of those things.
I could commit to posting a photo or quick story every day, but that's not really my style. I can only commit myself to so many things without losing momentum on all of them, and I'm trying to be good about working out, so I'm sticking with that one for now. I still have some travelogues to get up and will work on those, but the next trip is probably three months away, so until then expect a lot of cat stories/photos. (Followed by a safari-filled visit with my mom later this summer!)
Anyway, there's my random brain-dump for the day, probably brought to you in part by my being home sick this afternoon. I have been feeling off since Friday with no real symptoms I could put my finger on except fatigue, so I took advantage of a slow(ish) afternoon to come home and try to get better. And on the ride home I figured it out. As I squinted through my sunglasses because the sun was still too bright, it hit me. This is a migraine. Without the headache. It all made sense. Fatigue, light and sound sensitivity, a bit of nausea, and crankiness. None of them diagnostic on their own, but together - pow! I did have a headache yesterday but not a bad one or on par with a migraine, so I didn't connect the dots. Sure enough, two Excedrin Migraines and a cat nap (literally - they're still in my bed) later, and I am feeling much more like my old self. I don't get migraines very often anymore, thank goodness, and I very rarely get silent migraines, but it's not unheard of. I am feeling very empowered by having figured this out and addressed it, if you can't tell ;-).
So, there you have it. My caffeine-induced rant for the day (week, more likely).
1 comment:
Migranes suck without being all sneaky on top of it. Glad you caught it and were able to get the rest with the assistance of a well stocked medicine cabinet. I also totally agree with your versions of the end of times at a post. I call it my mental yoga - being in one place, staying calm and balanced, while allowing the thoughts and to do list of the next post to come and go. Or the blog posts to come and go. :)
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