Just January

Even though I'm not a big fan of the New Year celebrations themselves, I generally love January. There's a lot of things to love about it - fresh start to the year, it's Wavey's birthday, it's my birthday, we get to eat cake twice over, there's more presents, all in all, good times. 

January 2014 was "Just January". We called it this as it was an absolutely awful month. My endless assignments list seemed to get bigger and bigger and the problems I was having with my group work seemed to escalate. I spent much of the month biting my lip to avoid screaming out loud with frustration. But the most awful thing of all was that Wavey's brother died. It wasn't unexpected but that doesn't make it easier to deal with or reduce the sorrow in any way. I can honestly say it's the first time I've ever felt so heartbroken, for Wavey, for his parents, for the whole family. I sobbed as I drove home after seeing his mam for the first time.

We worked out the other day that on Wavey's birthday he was registering his brother's death, and on my birthday it was his funeral. Needless to say we didn't celebrate either day. I'm not telling you this for pity, merely illustrating exactly how Just January really was. The service was lovely and the number of people that came was utterly overwhelming. Wavey spoke at the funeral, I was so immensely proud of him, even as he literally finished off everybody in the room, tears and tissue packets rustling. We spent the rest of the day surrounded by family, telling stories, laughing, I got manhandled and groped but that's a story for another time. It truly was a good send off, I think G. would have been proud of us all.

The month finally came to an end, finishing exactly the same way it had started, with assignment deadline hell. At 5pm on Friday I uploaded and collapsed in a heap on the floor with my endless list covering my face. Three days later and I'm at a bit of a loss to know what to do. What is this thing called spare time? It's an odd sensation. 

We've vowed to call this month Fun February. We hope it lives up to its name...