It’s been a long weekend of time spent with the extended family (on my mum’s side). A mixture of birthday and anniversary celebrations, stretching from Friday through to this evening.

I’ve left early, along with two of my cousins who live elsewhere — I have work I’d like to do tonight, but I’ve also reached my inner introvert’s limit of time spent around a group of people (in this instance, 12 others).

A year ago, I would have felt guilty for needing to leave the room every so often, or walk away from the group for a few minutes; now, understanding my introverted nature leads me to view this as normal, and while I’d sometimes rather it were different, I can at least view my behavior as falling within acceptable parameters.