Down South, the overwhelming narrative is one of a spring in full flow, cue a flood of selfies on Instagram and Facebook, complete with the obligatory sunglasses, sleeveless tops and sandals. Up here, in my North Eastern corner of Ruralshire, the best that we have had is six degree weather and intermittent sunshine – not quite spring, but very nearly as good as it gets up here, being thankful that we are not having snow in March like we did last year.

March pretty much sped by – leaving in its trail a raft of ups and downs. For one, my on-off dalliance with LK was finally put to the sword, common sense finally prevailing over blind, senseless hope. Six months and some of walking on egg shells, being treated like crap and being used a a dump for wildly swinging emotions have been exchanged for clarity and distance – still slightly hurting but a step in the right direction.

In one week from hell, I got a tooth pulled out, flunked my driving test spectacularly and got turned down for the dream job – a mid level rust geek role at a Company  I had always wanted to work for since my (Nigerian) under graduate days. Being on the verge of turning 35, coming up to 5 years in my current role and changes to the operational status of the plant I support have all been elements of the perfect storm which seems to have hit a tad early.

It has not been all doom and gloom though – J’s been a refreshing breath of fresh air by all accounts, and (finally) some clarity around my current work situation.  Catching Zara MacFarlane at the Aberdeen Jazz Festival, thanks to boredom at the office and some googling was also a highlight. Rocking at the Blue Lamp, she  delivered a nuanced performance, high in energy at times but also deep and sombre at times. Much value for money, the one blight on the night being that I ended up sat at the same table as someone I had done lunch with in the past who spectacularly failed to recognise me. Some impact i must have left I guess!

The monthly lunches with the guys from work have become a staple. This time we returned to the Bistro Verde to take in the fantastic sea food on offer. It delivered as usual, if the service was somewhat slow this time. Calamari, Gin and tonics and pan fried haddock set me in the mood for an extended weekend of luxuriating, capped off by meeting J in London, Hillsong and a fabulous kebab in Harrow after being dragged through the Currys computer aisles by C.

In books, I ended up completing two – half way through a third. Much progress given how February delivered zero completed books. Both books, by some quirk had to do with the making and breaking of habits – Charles Duhigg’s New York Times bestseller The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change and Heath Lambert’s Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace. Both books take an ax to the root of habits from different perspectives – Duhigg’s the more pop science based approach with Heath Lambert’s  a very much biblically focused one.  Two of the better reviews I stumbled on provide a good summary of both books – Business Week on The Power of Habit and Tim Challies on Finally Free.

In other news, I somehow managed to pick up 3kg in weight. Those darned two for one Tuesdays from PapaJohns be damned 😦