Day Thirty-Two – Saturday 18^th April

I was hoping for a lie-in, but my body woke up at 8:30am and I couldn’t get back to sleep again. It is a horrible gloomy day and it keeps raining. I’ve set myself up in my bedroom, a sort of explosion of pillows and dogs to have a day of reading. I picked out 5 books to read over the course of the weekend. I read 2/5 today, which were, Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza and Darkwhispers: A Brightstorm Adventure by Vashti Hardy. The latter being part of a series of children’s books and the former being a new series from an author I love very much.

As the day is so gloomy, the air pressure has come in very close and it is quite muggy and dense outside. I get air pressure migraines from the low pressure, so the afternoon was pretty much a right-off for me. The pain in my head got so extreme that I just had to pull my blackout curtains closed and try to sleep the pain away. I slept for about 2 hours, it didn’t really touch the headache though and I remained a grumpy gremlin! (E.g. not pleasant to be around!)

Day Thirty-Three – Sunday 19^th April

I am so grumpy this morning! I started to feel sick late last night and had a series of hot flushes. I decided to stay up until I didn’t feel sick anymore because I can never sleep when I have tummy troubles. The sick feeling went away around 11:30pm, but because my body is extra and likes to be mean to me, I was awake until 2:30am (at least that’s when I last checked the time). I tried EVERYTHING to get to sleep. Listening to sleep music, listening to bedtime stories, opening my window, wearing a sleep mask, emptying my mind, spraying sleep mist on my pillow, and using my de-stress pulse point roller. Nothing was going to shut my brain up!

Yes, I did buy some books in the wee hours of the morning but honestly, I’m not mad at myself, I’m just pleased I eventually managed to fall asleep.

Unsurprisingly, I didn’t wake till 10:45am ish. It was a lazy lunchtime. I had a bath and washed my hair. Dried it and brushed it out of looking like swamp hair! Today I devoted my time to making the Felting Bunny my Mum got me for Easter. Not going to lie, this is probably the most hysterical thing I have ever made. I can’t look at it without laughing. Clearly, I don’t know what a bunny is supposed to look like! (See below!)

I was going to do some reading afterwards, I had started to read Cop Town by Karin Slaughter, but I was finding it difficult to get into and benched it for the moment. I was going to start reading Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel, but my eyes started to feel a little tired and my headache began in earnest.

I’m trying to avoid napping in the afternoon because I think it’s making my headache/migraines worse and not better. So, I try to steer clear of reading in the hot afternoons as it just makes me sleepier. I’m playing Xbox instead because, while it is staring at a screen, I’m usually playing a game that requires focus and that keeps me alert and distracted from my head pain.

I’ve moved different books into my workspace. I wanted to bring in books that I was going to read – or try to read while in lockdown – and it’s an impressive bunch! (35). I always seem to give myself impossible tasks, that way when I fail them, I don’t feel as bad!

Tomorrow I’ll be back to work and back to studying. I had to give my hand a rest from writing because I was getting a sore patch on my finger! But I am ready to jump back into Unit 2 of my course. Still waiting to hear back from my Unit 1 Assessment and whether I passed or not, but fingers crossed!

Day Thirty-Four – Monday 20^th April

I kind of can’t believe we’ve come back to Monday again. The weekend seemed to go by too quickly and though I spent most of it reading, I don’t feel very accomplished. I walk around the house a lot. I try to eat outside if the weather is good. Sometimes I do a jolly dance as I listen to music. I try to keep my brain active and my mood distracted. Some days it’s as easy as pie. Other days it’s harder than walking through thick mud. But we’re all in the same boat with how we’re coping and the hope that we’ll all come through the other side keeps me going.

I have a headache again – unsurprising. It hurts. I’ve taken some paracetamols and I’m hoping for the best. I spent most of the day studying which actually helped because it meant I wasn’t starring at a screen continuously for 8 hours and writing notes helped to keep my mind focused and also distracted from the pain. If I can keep up this pace, I should be done with Unit 2 by Thursday – which is exciting and rewarding.

Mum and I walked the dogs around the field and wooded area behind the house. It was pleasant in the sun and the cool breeze. Freddie was a little monkey not wanting to walk though, and Luca got scared by a barking dog! He also ate horse poo and was suitably told off.

I have started to read again in the evenings. This is to help the headache, stop myself from napping and to keep me focused on something. It doesn’t always work. Sometimes I fall asleep with the book on my chest! I’m just not sleeping well at the moment and if I do manage to sleep for a long period of time, it’s broken down by the random wake ups through the night. I feel like a helium balloon that’s slowly losing air! At some point, something has got to give right?

All of my craft essentials have now arrived. So, I can start on my new craft idea for my Etsy shop. Though I’m not getting much business at the moment, which is understandable, the lockdown is a good time to get some stock growing on new ideas. I like being creative and getting to sell my creativity – even if it’s not much – is very rewarding. All the money goes straight into my savings account for my mortgage deposit, so it’s kept away from my spending hands.

Since the lockdown started, I’ve been able to save more. I only have £3,500 left to save. I know that probably sounds like a lot but I’ve already saved over half of what I need and I’m proud of the progress I’ve made. It’s not easy for a bookworm to save money!

Day Thirty-Five – Tuesday 21^st April

I have had this tab open on my iphone internet for about 2 months now. It’s for a gin called ‘Mermaid Gin’ that is made by the Isle of Wright Distillery. I thought it would be a good present for my Mum. I ended up buying it today. (A) because I wanted to close the web page and (B) because I wanted to cheer my Mum up and Gin is a great way to do that!

It should arrive before Friday, so that’ll be a nice treat to get in the post. I also ordered some clothes today, after much research and they should come late this week or early next week, so that’s also something to look forward to. I did a lot of research – I usually do – before I got the clothes as they came from well-known sites but sites I had not used before.

I still have a headache, so no surprises there but I am trying to work through the pain and distract myself. I was back in the office this afternoon but as my colleague didn’t come in, I managed to be in and out in just over an hour, which suited me just fine. It was a sweatpants kind of evening.

I had a bath. I watched some funny animal videos. I ignored all news. I got several messages from friends and colleagues who’d see/heard my Dad. It already feels like the weekend was ages ago. To be honest, even with working from home, the days are blurring together. Soon I won’t be able to tell left from right!!

My clothes from Sainsbury’s arrived today. I got some more sweatpants and two tops. One of which is a t-shirt that says ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ which I am so excited to wear.

I’m enjoying revisiting a love for Star Wars atm.

Day Thirty-Six – Wednesday 22^nd April

Hump day is not hump day anymore when the days have no meaning. I overslept! I didn’t get out of bed till 9:05am. I wasn’t situated in my workspace sill 9:30am, but unlike being late to the office, no one noticed I was late logging into my computer. In my defence, I slept atrociously bad last night and have a thumping head this morning. If I could get away with it, I would have gone back to bed but instead I heaved myself up, dusted myself off, and headed across my hallway to work for 8 hours.

Today I have been writing like a mad woman. I only have 2 units left to study/make notes on, before I can finish answering my unit assessment questions and hand the paper in. I was determined to get it all finished today so that I could have a little time off to relax before the next unit. The Unit 2 assessment isn’t due till the 8^th May, but I like to be prepared. This way, if there are any issues, I have time to fix them before the deadline reaches me.

There were only 2 questions that tripped me up this time. These were purely just because of the way they were written. It really screwed with my ability to process and I had to get help to work out what the question was asking and what it needed. I hope I got it right in the end.

I’ve had two very clingy doggies by my side all day. I don’t know how they can be covered in a blanket in this weather! But they both seem to like being as warm as can be. I suppose the wind is quite chilly today, but the sky is a beautiful blue and the sun is shining.

I didn’t watch the news today either. I just asked my Dad for his highlights and his opinions. It was way better than watching the news. He gave me the facts and that was all that was needed. No need for fear or worries!

Day Thirty-Seven – Thursday 23^rd April

This morning I walked the dogs with my Mum bright and early when it wasn’t too hot. We walked them around a nice wooded and shaded area near out house. Freddie appreciated the shade, as he can see more shadow in shade rather than sun. He was still unbelievably slow on the walk though, stopping to sniff EVERYTHING or just stopping altogether for no reason. I think he perhaps got a little too hot. I kept having to pick him up and he’s not light.

He spent the rest of the day either out in the garden getting sunned or curled up in the basket besides my work chair. So, he was proper tuckered out after the walk.

I had a busy-ish work from home day. There are always things to do and when I don’t have work to do, I can make work to do from one thing or another.

I did find it hard to work today, my hay fever was very bad, making my eyes watery and itchy and my nose snotty. The heat also contributed to a headache. Though I felt like I was drinking lots of water, I still feel a little dehydrated.

I managed to read three books today, almost in an attempt to keep myself awake in the evening. I read:

• Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
• Elevation by Stephen King
• Mask and Shadow by Oscar de Muriel

I wish I could say that reading these three books has put a dent in my tbr pile, but it has barely made a difference! I need to read a lot more before my tbr pile will start looking used.

I ended up having a bath and washing my hair pretty late into the evening. (A) because it was too hot to do it earlier and (B) because I thought it might help to relax me enough to sleep. I was yawning so much in the evening that my jaw started to click with every yawn I made.

I could hear my Dad watching the news downstairs and arguing with what was said! I guess that’s scientists for you! I didn’t go down to see what he was annoyed about, but it was amusing to hear it from upstairs. I did not watch any news today about COVID-19, I just couldn’t bring myself to take in any of those facts. Although I did read that we’ll probably be social distancing till the end of the year. This mostly just made me think that the 4 theatre productions I still have booked are going to be cancelled!

I think it was kind of dirty that ATG (company that owns a lot of theatres in UK) isn’t giving money refunds on any tickets bought. Instead they’re offering ticket exchange up until 31/03/2021. I wasn’t particularly impressed by this because I haven’t seen the show yet, and I’ve paid between £90-£170 for the tickets of shows I’m scheduled to see…and they won’t give me back that money.

Hey ho! Can’t do anything about it!

Day Thirty-Eight – Friday 24^th April

Ok, so we finally made it to Friday! Woo! I’m wearing my new ‘Empire Strikes Back’ t-shirt and a pair of shorts because it’s really hot in the UK at the moment. I fell asleep pretty early last night. I was exhausted from not sleeping well all week and managed to get a 9 hour sleep out of 10 hours in bed. That’s extremely rare for me and was well needed.

Unsurprisingly, I have a headache today. It was quite mild when I woke up but is now intensely throbbing. I spoke to my Mum about my increase of headaches. I think that when this is all over, I’ll book an appointment to see my GP and talk over my concerns about the increase in number of headache and the increasing intensity of the headache and see if anything can be done. It’s really not fun having them, so, I’ll take whatever is offered to help ease the pain.

 I’ve picked a stack of 5 books to read for the rest of April. Using a method, a new friend suggested, I have a mix of short and long books in the pile. I won’t tell you what’s in the pile because I might end up jinxing it and not reading anything!

I finished studying for my Unit 2 assessment and handed it in 2 weeks before it was due – so I’m quite smug about that. I’m giving myself a few days off before I start work on Unit 3. My finger needs a rest more than anything else! It gets very sore when I write for long periods of time!

Yesterday, in the early evening, Freddie – my elder dog – had quite a big epileptic fit. I had to carry him downstairs and lay him down while he was comforted through it. He actually ended up having two consecutive fits and we ended up having to take him onto the grass so he could be sick. He hasn’t had a fit in a while and it’s always distressing when he has one, both for him and for us looking after him.

He was back to his usual self in the evening, but it was clear that the fit took a lot out of him.

I have to go into the office this afternoon to sort out the post and do some more scanning. I know it’s going to be hot as hell there! The building is made of wood and has no air con!

If my headache continues/gets worse, I’ll probably just read tonight or go to bed early. What’re your plans for the weekend? Reading or?