Onwards and upwards...!

It has been, shall we say, not the best start to a year I've ever had!  It actually started just before Christmas with what I though was a chest infection leaving me very short of breath all of the time.  More on that later though...

January has been very quiet for me.  It's my first proper January so I didn't really know what to expect.  I thought it might be quiet but not this quiet!  It's been tough to be honest.  February is looking better and then there's Mother's Day in April so March should pick up a bit...  I hope!

The next worry was all about my new premises.  I am mega excited about having my own studio in Grimsby (if a little terrified at the same time) and was all geared up to be in during February.  Well, the Council have put a stop to that little plan!  It's still going ahead but the planning application process I have to go through to change the use is incredible.  The most complicated form I've ever seen and more scale drawings than you could shake a stick at (if stick shaking floats your boat).  And it's not cheap either!  And to top it off they gave me and my new landlord 2 different bits of conflicting advice meaning the 8 week process has been delayed by a further 4 weeks!  It's become a bit of a personal rant, but I would have thought they would be making it as easy as possible to get businesses into premises on a road with 40% of the shops closed!  And breathe...

And last but not least: last week I was diagnosed with a blood clot above my left knee!  No idea how I got it or even how long it's been there, but I am now having clexane injections in my stomach and warfarin tablets every day for the next 6 months.  And the best bit is the shortness of breath I had before Christmas could very well have been a pulmonary embolism!  Woohoo!

But let's not dwell on the negatives...  After all, a problem is just an opportunity in disguise!  At least I now know that January will be a quiet month so can plan for it next year.  My move will happen at some point and it will be amazing!  (Watch this space for a big opening party...)  And I caught the clot before anything really bad happened.  So not such a bad start really.