This week, for the first time since I had Daniel, I have been working full time. I've been teaching an Oracle course. It has been an interesting experience - although I have conducted training sessions before it's been so long I literally can't remember when I did them, and they were only in-house. I've missed the kids though, even though it's only been a few days. Peter has been working flexitime for the week so that I can do this. Although I have found it a satisfying experience, by the end of each day I am totally knackered. It's a very intensive course, and I can see the students are approaching coma-like states, or at the very least, complete information overload, by about 3pm. It will be interesting to see what sort of evaluation they give me at the end of the course. I really have no idea how they will rate me.

I was pretty stressed the first morning of the course, and Peter let me have a beta blocker to calm my nerves (anti-stress pills that both of the GP's we've had over the last few years have prescribed as casually as smarties). They help to reduce the physical effects of stress so that you don't feel physically unwell in addition to being nervous. I was quite impressed how quickly the nausea and knotty stomach feeling dissipated. I had one of these in the morning at home, and Peter slipped me another about ten minutes before the course was due to begin. Since I had no water to hand, and have never been able to swallow even the tiniest of pills dry, I just chewed it up.

The feeling of relaxation was dramatic and immediate. Unfortunately, it took place in my mouth. I was a bit concerned about this, as although I realised that a) it would make quite a blogworthy anecdote, and b) it would probably be something to 'look back on and laugh at' in later years, I did not really fancy the prospect of lecturing with no oral sensation.

Fortunately the story had a happy ending as my mouth pulled itself together pretty soon and was almost back to normal as I began the first lecture.