Day Twenty-Five – Saturday 11^th April

I was right about the headache; this one is a bitch. I am not looking forward to this suffering for the entire bank holiday weekend!!! It is hotter today than yesterday. I also spent all of yesterday thinking it was Saturday, so I was mega confused for part of the day! I even wished my Godmother a Happy Birthday a day early because I was convinced Friday was Saturday.

I started reading another book today, ‘When You Disappeared’ by John Marrs. I really enjoy Marr’s style of writing and I have yet to be disappointed by any of his novels.

I also started to make a funky art page for the title of my next Unit in the course I’m taking. It was more because I wanted to do something creative, but it’s looking pretty awesome at the moment. I just need to finish it before Tuesday, when I’ll have to start studying again.

I went on a walk with my parents today and apparently ‘proved my Dad right’ in telling them that I hated the walk and was never doing it again. It’s a walk we used to do when we first moved to where we are, but I haven’t done the walk in over a decade.

It killed me, but I kept a good solid pace in front of my parents. It’s up a steep narrow hill, and the way down in on an even steeper and narrower. My inflamed kneecap doesn’t bother me that much anymore, except when I’m walking up a hill and putting pressure on it. So, while we were doing this walk, every step was sending a jolt of pain from my knee and up into my thigh. Combined with that, I have naturally tight calf muscles, I do daily exercises to help but it really doesn’t do much and when I walk uphill, the calf muscles spasm and go into cramp. All in all, it was a very painful walk for me, and on the incline, I started to feel rather dizzy and dehydrated.

I know my body very well and I know what works for it and what doesn’t. I’ve got to the point now where I can do a good average speed on my indoor cycle bike for about 30minutes – before my legs feel like jelly – and its exercise that doesn’t bother my knee. This time last year, I couldn’t do that, so it shows what improvement I’ve managed to make in terms of my knee.

Baby steps.

There is a puzzle lying on the dining room table that none of us have touched since it was put down in February. We keep walking past it, but no one has the courage to attempt to fit a piece. I think it’s because the puzzle is a scene on a table or something, but all the pieces are a different shade of brown and there is no easy way to start putting pieces in. I think we’re all daunted by the puzzle.

Day Twenty-Six – Sunday 12^th April

I managed to get a dark chocolate Easter ‘Teardrop’ egg for my parents to share. Then they got two pairs of funky socks each. We haven’t really done chocolate in the family in over 10 years, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself gifted with some chocolate – made with stevia – that is sugar free. My Mum also gave me a bunny felting set, which I’m super excited to do. I’ve always wanted to try felting, so hopefully it’s something I can master.

It was a different Easter celebration. There was no church. No family. No expectation to do a certain thing or present yourself a certain way. It was interesting.

I managed to move myself all over the house today, I knew I wasn’t going to go out in the heat, but I managed to spend time in the garden as well as spend time reading and being calm.

I still have that headache, for the last 2 nights my sleep has been interrupted at best, awake till the wee hours of the morning and angrily grumbling to myself and the pain in my head. I have tried every trick I know but have now resigned myself to the fact that it’s here to stay and all I can do is ride it out.

I finished reading ‘When You Disappeared’ by John Marrs today – WOW! I was going to read another book but the headache that was happily sitting over my left eye, decided it needed more space and in the san of about 15minutes, had taken over my whole forehead which was throbbing in pain. I had a two-hour nap. Woke at 6:30pm but could have happily continued sleeping. I made myself an iron rich and carby dinner to help with what my body needed and then I watched drag race episode 7. I turned off all screens at 10pm, tried to read a bit, failed and then began my nightly ritual of not sleeping.

Day Twenty-Seven – Monday 13^th April

So, last night was the worst night of sleep I’ve had this entire bank holiday weekend. I was awake from 10-12:30am. Then I was up from 4:14am-5:50am. I found it very difficult to get to sleep because my head pain was so bad. There were many moments in the night where I woke for 15 minutes or so because I had my window open and the wind was making my door rattle.

I feel very grumpy, dizzy, and pained today. I would much rather go back to bed, but I think that will just count against me at this point. So, I’ve taken some paracetamols and I’m praying the headache will finally leave me.

In the meantime, I’m reading Grace is Gone by Emily Elgar.

Day Twenty-Eight – Tuesday 14^th April

Was in the office this afternoon again and it’s a nice change from the routine of working from home. It’s a reminder that life is still moving, and nature is still changing. Every time I go into work something about the landscape outside has changed and it reminds me to be positive and keep hope in my heart.

It was cold on the walk today. The sky may have been blue, and the sun may have been out but when that wind blew, phew! It was chilly!! I was only walking in a t-shirt, so I definitely suffered more than the dogs or my Mum. I will definitely be bringing a jumper with me just in case from now on!

So far, studying for Unit 2 of my course has been really easy because I’m essentially learning about jobs I’ve been doing every day for 4.5 years, so I kind of feel that if I failed this Unit it would prove that I’ve been doing something seriously wrong in my job for those 4.5 years!!!

I’m trying to stop all screen time by 9:30pm at night. Whether that screen time be TV, Xbox or my iPad, I’m trying to move myself away from that in an attempt to make myself more relaxed for bed. From 9:30-10:30pm, I’m trying to stick to that hour slot for reading a little of whatever book I’m on. Reading can make me really sleepy so I hope that this counts in my favour and I can work on making getting to sleep an easier routine.

Day Twenty-Nine – Wednesday 15^th April

My Dad was up in London today filming for CBBC ‘Operation Ouch’ which will be coming out at the end of the month, so that was super cool. I had a busier workday but still suffering from a bad headache that, at this point, is just super annoying and unneeded. I’m over it!

I’ve had both dogs with me today. Luca has been particularly clingy and keeps wanting to be on my lap, which isn’t beneficial when you’re trying to work with a laptop on your lap! I made the mistake of bringing some more dog treats back from work yesterday and both Freddie and Luca have made it their mission to sniff out the treats from atop the chest of drawers in my workspace. They have barked, howled, cries and scratched in desperate attempts to get at the treats. I’m not heartless, they did each get one yesterday when I brought them home with me! I have moved these treats to multiple places throughout the house, but they always seem to sniff them out.

As I write this, Freddie has just decided that it would be a good idea to sleep sitting on top of Luca…I’m not sure how long this sleep will last…Freddie is quite heavy, and Luca doesn’t like to be confined without an escape.

In all my work meetings over video, my colleagues keep asking me questions on COVID-19, on account of my Dad being who he is. I am not a scientist. I don’t retain that sort of knowledge easily. I keep referring them to the Horizon programme my Dad was on last week, which was very informative on COVID-19, but it is amusing how people think I’ll be able to answer all their questions and keep them feeling safe.

Actually, it’s not amusing. It’s kind of irritating now. I cannot compete with the common sense of some people. I’ll still give out the advice and knowledge I know but I wish my colleagues would understand that I do not house all knowledge of COVID-19 and am actually in the same boat as them during this situation…

Day Thirty – Thursday 16^th April

This seems to be the week of the headache that never fades! Although, I remind myself that EVERYDAY seems to be a headache day, so why am I not more surprised? I feel like I might die in shock if I wake up one morning and don’t feel any pain. FYI that hasn’t happened in 20 years, so I’m not holding my breath.

So, today’s headache has been pushed into migraine territory. Honestly, it’s a wonder I have managed to do anything today. I’ve taken 6 paracetamols and have had a kool aid forehead strip on my forehead for the past eight hours. I couldn’t even wait for 5pm to come, I gave up working at 4:45pm, I was in so much pain I was close to tears.

I needed a nap. I slept from 4:45pm-8:45pm!! I could have happily slept through till morning, but my stomach was hungry, so I literally went downstairs for dinner and then came straight upstairs again to get some more sleep.

I’m writing this just before I go to sleep for the second time, and I wish to the high heavens that I wake up tomorrow without a migraine. Wishful thinking, I think but no harm in asking for it.

Day Thirty-One – Friday 17^th April

I’ve almost forgotten what it means to be ‘TGIF’ anymore. It’s fine when you decide to have a lazy weekend and stay in but when you don’t have the option of doing anything else, it becomes boring and claustrophobic. Here in the UK we have been told that the lockdown will continue for another three weeks before being reviewed again. I kind of expected we’d be in lockdown till at least the end of May, but some people are talking about things being opened again once the next three weeks are up. So…I guess we shall have to wait and see. Maybe it’s just British optimism thinking we’ll be fine in three weeks’ time?

I must admit, I was a little lax on work this morning but only because I knew I’d be in the office from 1-5pm and would be busy with lots of things then. I am definitely missing my big desktop screen. I love my MacBook, but nothing beats the size of a big screen.

I managed to get quite a lot of work done while in the office. It’s easier to do some of my spreadsheet tasks on the bigger screen where I can see everything without scrolling. Also, as I do have a MacBook, Microsoft Office doesn’t always work or it lags, etc. so it is just easier doing stuff from work.

I also managed to do a lot of studying today. In fact, I’ve now filled one notebook of notes and am now starting on a second one. The first notebook was A4, but the lines were quite far apart, which I usually don’t like, whereas the second notebook is narrow lined which I love, so I should be able to fit the rest of the course studying into this second notebook.

I decided to try one of my miniature Zinfandel Rose wines tonight. It was not nice! Actually, the first sip was nice, but it was one of those wines where the taste got worse and worse the more you drank it. That’s why I only got a miniature taster!