Stuff and whatnot

Photo from here, also see Etsy shop here.

Isn't the weather just divine? I wish I was having this picnic, and I wish we were beside the sea rather than stuck here in the 'burbs. The Monkey is crashed out in her cot after spending a couple of hours in Nanny and Grandad's garden while I was at work. She's great at the moment, getting more confident on her feet, sleeping amazingly well, I feel very fortunate to have her around. She's the best. Her daddy was away for a couple of days last week in Cannes, so it's good to have him back too. I'm still trying to be mindful of what I am eating, although I'm finding that my resolve slips as we approach the end of the week and I get a bit tired of cooking from scratch and start fantasising about takeaways. The hot weather helps as it decreases my appetite anyway. I've been losing about 2lbs a week so far, which feels healthy and sustainable and hopefully will ease my passage into the funky new dress I've bought for some upcoming summery parties!

On Saturday I attended a professional workshop on CBT for Depression. It's the first professional development workshop I've done since I had the baby and it really reinforced to me that I need regular events like this both to update my skills but also to network with other therapists. Working in private practice can be quite isolating and it can rapidly become quite stultifying, just this one workshop has sparked ideas and plans and re-ignited my interest in my work. I've decided that once a month I am going to set aside a whole day for CPD and ask one of the grandparents to have the baby. I'll do a workshop as frequently as possible and if not, I'll go into London and spend the day reading or researching. When I was doing my MA dissertation I loved spending the entire day in Borders coffee shop, I'd gather a pile of books on my way up and just work my way through them. I've wholeheartedly enjoyed my first year of motherhood but until now work has felt like an intrusion into my time rather than a welcome additional facet to my life. I didn't realise until Saturday that my professional confidence has really taken a nosedive and I need to do something about that. Work is quiet at the moment, the flow of referrals is more a trickle, so it's the perfect time to do something constructive, particularly as we are still in the limbo of being on-the-way-to-moving-house.

And on a completely random note, can anyone tell me how to 'strike through' text on Blogger?