You know ... ... life is pretty damn good right now.

Work is going well - I'm on top of my caseload, I'm slowly getting through my most difficult cases, and they're never as bad once I start them as I think they're going to be. And we've had a spate of 'easy' cases come through - single issue complaints that are generally straightforward to deal with.

I'm really happy to be working where I work - the money is dreadful, taking into account my level of qualification - but the work's interesting and, the most important thing for me, there's a great work/life balance. I remember how horrible it was in private practice when I'd wake up with the first thought in my head being work-work-work, and the last thought before I went to sleep, after lying awake fretting about work, would be ... work. Poor, but free of stress (most of the time) is preferable.

Yesterday I walked to Mudchute Farm at lunchtime. It's ten minutes away from the office and all the noise, dust, crowds and building sites of Canary Wharf.



They've got some wonderful chickens and roosters there - really beautiful ornamental-looking ones with feathered legs, and gorgeous plumage. There were loads of them out enjoying the sunshine on Tuesday, but it was a bit overcast and grey yesterday and there didn't seem to be as many around. Maybe they go indoors when it's colder.



This one was asleep.



It's really amazing to me that there are farm animals living in the Inner City.



More photos of the farm here.

Yesterday was a damned good day. Not only did I have a lovely long chat with J. when I got home, but it was the perfect evening to veg out in front of the TV.

First, it was American Idol. In the UK we get the performance show on a Thursday night (heavily edited to remove all the vote-vote-vote stuff, as we can't vote from the UK anyway), followed by the results show on Fridays. I generally go online after the Thursday show to see who's been eliminated, and skip Friday.

I'm feeling the Adam Lambert love, that's for sure. That boy is awesome. I'm also excited that I'll be in Ohio on Finale night, so I'll be able to vote for Adam (assuming he makes it through next week - how could he not??!!)



Then, after Idol, there were back-to-back episodes of ER, the final series, and these were the episodes in which Dr Doug Ross made his comeback. I watched ER from the very beginning, and of course it was the start of my adoration of George Clooney which continues to this day.

After Dr Ross left I thought the show would never be the same, but it introduced some great characters and in its day it was a wonderful ensemble show. It jumped the shark a few years back and I stuck with it for a couple of seasons after that but I gave up on it after watching a couple of episodes of the penultimate season. I hate it when a drama show turns into a soap opera.

It was sooo good, though, to see gorgeous George in his scrubs, being all authoritative yet sympathetic with Susan Sarandon. Damn, that man is fabulous.

Just one more week until my holiday, and two until my biiiiiig birthday.

Yeah, life is good right now.  ¶ 10:26 am