Day 221- Surviving the stresses
There are things that can be done to try to maintain a healthy mind. As well as the basics that are eating and sleeping the right amount there are other factors we have some element of control over such as stress. Work can be a minefield and though it has been suggested to me in the past that perhaps I should just do a job which does not end up coming home with me I have never been able to let go of the dream. There is no doubt that the job I do can be stressful but I love it and imagine I would suffer far more from not having it in my life.
One stress which I guess I was keen to relieve was the one that I had some degree of control over, my home environment. As with every parent and child that has left the nest, a return often results in conflict which can be an added stress for all. By moving out I was hoping to relieve this tension for all of us and regain a little control over my moods which can so easily be swung by the slightest stress or conflict. When I moved out I said to the boy and several others that the great thing about living with strangers is that though there is nobody to commandeer a cuddle with there is also no great need to become involved in anything.
Sadly though this house which was meant to be a haven has turned in the last few days into a living hell. There perhaps should have been warning signs about my more youthful house-mate. Although he seemed perfectly pleasant when I suggested setting my desktop downstairs I was sure he responded by saying: “Wicked, we can hook it up to my decks.” It was early days and though the boy disagreed I decided it would be best to assume he had said desk and leave the lead in a box for the time being.
There were a few other warning signs but I chose to be blinkered as I so wanted this to work and knowing my move had been hasty I didn’t want to worry about having made another wrong decision. When I arrived back on Sunday however, stressed from the drive and ready for a fast pasta dish and some catch up TV I was shocked but not entirely surprised to find the house in a state.
The carpets had been wrecked, the bathrooms were a mess and special smoking stuff lay all over the coffee table. My organic sugar was all but gone as was my butter and my pretty glasses were nowhere to be seen. Where there had previously been tomato puree, there was now the remains of a class B drug in my Tupperware. Though this was rather worrying the real sin was the use of my tomato ketchup. There are just some things that are sacred and sauce is one of them.
I was so upset because the whole point of doubling my outgoings was to avoid these kind of stresses. I went upstairs to my room after making dinner, too tired and angry to cope with the conflict and asked the boy to bring the plates up when he was ready. Though the house-mate in question promised he would sort things out he soon came back with a bunch of friends, two of them were still sleeping and smelling on the sofa in the light of the late morning. The pattern continued the next night. I came home at 10pm to find both sofas filled with people who clearly had no other place to perhaps because the bus shelters were filled with other floozys. Wanting nothing else but to collapse on the couch and read The Sunday Times at last, stressed from work and sad from seeing the giant I was pretty close to losing it.
Thankfully the landlady lost it before I had to and by the time I came home yesterday lunchtime the lad was being moved along. I am relieved as the last thing I need at the moment is another battle and it being fought before I even had a chance to knight up is just so nice. It is a horrid situation but apparently these teen sleepovers have become a regular thing and the last straw was probably a letter of complaint from the district council about noise pollution. Though it is sad I am just thankful one more stress has gone and that once more I may cook in a kitchen with herbs like basil, rosemary and marjoram rather than the potent yet perfectly illegal marijuana.
- Today’s dress is really lovely but unfortunately was a little more see-through than I’d realised. I would advise wearing it with a slip especially if you have to go speak to the police in the pouring rain. My Fairy god mother donated it to the project and it is one of my favourites of the last 221 days.
