Time at the beach on a road trip. Just what the doctor ordered for this working from home mum. Photo / 123RF
Time at the beach on a road trip. Just what the doctor ordered for this working from home mum. Photo / 123RF
THIS SIDE OF TOWN
There are many pluses to working from home. For one, you can stay in your pjs all day if you want. Not that I do - I'm usually dressed by 10am.
There's no before and after school care required for the kids and I am able to be on handfor school trips and chauffeur them to various after-school trainings. The harbour outlook is also pleasant.
It's very peaceful and I need silence to focus but, some days, the only contact has been with the meter reader or bible knockers, who clearly think I need saving.
The other bonus is that my home and gardens are spic and span but this is also my undoing. Having inherited the hard-working gene of 'work, then play', I cannot stop until a job is done.
Trouble is, the jobs are never done – especially this time of year – so there's been not a lot of play. Labour Weekend was spent, among many other outdoor chores on the home front, repainting the deck black.
I had enlisted my oldest to do this and, meanwhile I got a little carried away and went off painting the fencing, the gate, the letterbox … But when I returned, he had run out and only half the deck was complete.
I got a little carried away with painting - the fencing, gate, the letterbox and the deck. Photo / 123RF
I was also wearing half the paint and in no state to go out in public to buy some more. We'd run out of time as it was back to work/ school, plus this was his project so I've been forced to park it until next weekend. The multi-toned deck has been doing my head in all week.
Another thing that's been doing my head in are the pittosporums surrounding my property. Yes, they are great for privacy, but they grow out of control! If you're ever tempted to plant them, then thinking of up-sticks in the next few years, please don't. They will become someone else's nightmare.
Overgrown trees surrounding the property have been doing my head in. Photo / 123RF
These great big messy things are surrounding my parameter and, thereby blocking out all the neighbours' views, and my own, so there's a lot of pressure to get these tended to each year. For some reason this year's top quote came back at $4200 – more than quadruple what I have paid previous years!
All this housework and yard work, plus the day job being onsite at home, I think has caused a little overwhelm of late. And so, after meeting the monthly deadline this week, I decided to escape for a day.
It's very peaceful working from home, the silence helps to focus but, some days... Photo / 123RF
With no plan, I jumped in the car and set off on a day trip roadie. Roadies are good for the soul – especially with loud music! (Gardening is also therapeutic but this was what I needed to escape from.)
Today I have travelled 147km out of town, stopping at various scenic coastal spots and coffee shops along the way. And although work has followed me to a degree, I am bringing this to you today from the lovely Waipū Cove.
No multi-toned decks, wayward pittosporum - looking at them through smudged windows, in sight – just tranquil rolling waves, fresh air and freedom.
