Day Thirty-Nine – Saturday 25^th April

Today was sort of a write off because of my headache. It was particularly painful today because my hay fever was very bad and so was the heat. I did do some reading, I made headway with a couple of books I’m reading simultaneously but I didn’t finish anything. I spent some time downstairs, trying to piece together the puzzle I’m coming to hate so completely. I did have a nap with the dogs, but I don’t feel guilty about it. It was justified, there is only so much head pain you can go through before you finally crack.

I started to really crave/miss takeaway pizza because that’s what I usually get in the evening if I have a migraine as I find it REALLY helps. But currently, no one is doing deliveries near me. On the plus side, I had macaroni and cheese for dinner which is my all-time favourite comfort food and a carby meal that really helps my migraine lose some of it’s throbbing pain.

I hope the migraine has passed by tomorrow because I’d hate for this weekend to be completely wasted. I would like to at least finish a book or catch up on some journaling.

Day Forty – Sunday 26^th April

Migraine update, I still have it but I’m going to try and power through.

I set myself up in my workspace today, intent on doing some arts and crafts. All my new stamps have now arrived, so I spent most of the day making 15 new ‘happy birthday’ cards to sell on my Etsy shop. I’m actually quite proud of them, they turned out really good. I’ve also been working on ideas to make my purchases seem more personal, and things for that will be arriving next week. Obviously, this all depends on people actually buying from my site…which has been dormant since the Christmas rush, but I’m always positive.

I did manage to finish reading a book today as well, ‘The Mask of Shadows’ by Oscar de Muriel, which is the 3^rd in a series that I’m greatly enjoying. I have the 4^th book in the series on my tbr shelf and have ordered the 5^th in the series as well. It’s just such an interesting concept and the characters are unusual and different. I really like his writing style and there is always so much banter and humour to the detective series.

I started watching Sound of Music on Disney+. I was very confused for a moment, not realising that Disney now owned the rights for the Sound of Music, but it was fun to watch it anyway. I am a sucker for a musical and Sound of Music is one of the best. I did think about watching a ballet afterwards but decided my eyes had had enough focusing for one day.

Day Forty-One – Monday 27^th April

Today was dominated with the accident that Freddie – the elder dog – had. My Mum had taken them on a walk that is local to us and she came back shouting my name and in hysterics. Freddie, being blind, had fallen off a bridge and into the water. He sank all the way to the bottom before he remembered he could swim. He was quite traumatised by the accident but otherwise completely fine. I had to give him a shower, shampoo, and make sure his ears were clean of gunk. He’s very well behaved in the bath; he doesn’t mind the shower. I wrapped him in a towel and tried to dry him the best I could. He spent the rest of the day curled up in the basket besides me.

I also had to calm down my Mum who was understandably upset thinking it was her own fault. It was a period of chaos that I think I handled rather well. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the memento and become part of the problem rather than being someone to fix things.

Freddie now has the silkiest coat ever and his fur is softer than I’ve ever seen it. It makes his bad breath almost seem like nothing…

I had a rare moment of lost focus today when I realised it was payday on Thursday. I imagined all the nice things I could do and buy with my money before remembering we were in lockdown and most of those things couldn’t happen. But I’m not being doom and gloom, I promise. I’ll try and save as much as I can next month for my savings.

I’ve started to get back into obsessively watching NCIS. I’m now nearing the end of season 10. I tend to multitask and watch it at the same time as I’m studying. It sounds counterproductive but it’s more like background noise and it helps me. I just can’t listen to music when I study, or I’ll start to unconsciously write down the song lyrics instead!

I could tell you about the rest of the day, but it ended rather unpleasantly. Words were thrown. People spoke without thinking. People acted without thinking.

Day forty-one, what’s everyone else doing? Read anything good?

Day Forty-Two – Tuesday 28^th April

Today was hard because my headache was so painful. It was really a struggle to get through the day without collapsing into a heap. My knee has been particularly painful the last couple of days, so any time I’m sitting, I have to remember to keep it relaxed and not sit it at a 90-degree angle.

My new purple velvet hangers arrived today. I HATE velvet, I hate the way it feels. BUT, they’re good hangers, the clothes don’t slip off and they’re thin so I’m saving space in my wardrobe. My new black journal pens also came, so I’m eager to try those out. Also, two books – and that’s me showing restraint! – arrived, the 5^th in the Inspector Frey and Detective McGray books by Oscar de Muriel, and ‘Queens Shadow’ by E. K. Johnston which is based on Padme’s life after being Queen of Naboo in Star Wars.

So, my headache moulded into a migraine by lunchtime. This is because I had 2 consecutive panic attacks last night and I’m now riding through the aftermath. It’s particularly difficult this time because I have no access to junk food which would usually help me through the pain. I feel very lethargic and dizzy today. I’ll be glad when it is over.

Day Forty-Three – Wednesday 29^th April

I read three books today. I’m feeling so accomplished. I also managed to study for half of session 3 of my unit 3 assessment, so that was good.

I finished reading ‘Queen’s Shadow’ by E. K. Johnston and it was so amazing! I really fell for the concept and the characters. I hear there is another book coming out, so I’ll be keeping my eyes out for it. I also read ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ and ‘Esio Trot’ by Roald Dahl. The former I was rereading as I’d read it as a kid but the latter, I’d never read before and it was good to explore it.

I thought I’d be able to squeeze one more book out of April, but I don’t think I’ll get around to it! I have started to read ‘Trust Me, I’m Dead’ by Sherryl Clark, but it’s too soon to know what I think of it.

I have however, made a dent in my tbr now. There is actual space on the shelf. Granted the space is the size of two books, but still! Progress!!

I handed over the rights to finish the puzzle on the dining room table to my Mum. I couldn’t look at that puzzle anymore without getting feelings of loathing. It was such a difficult puzzle with two many different shades of brown and I just couldn’t get with it. Now I have to read the 16-page book and ‘solve the puzzle’ or, read the solution.

It was a sweatpants and jumper kind of day. It rained for most of the day. I had a terrible headache – nothing new! – and the day sort of passed in a quick haze of tasks and rambles. It’s funny that I no longer think of the days with the date they are, and days of the week mean little in the current situation. I’ve moved to call them the same as I name them here. Day Forty-Three. Not entirely sure what that says about me.

I know it doesn’t mean I’m crazy, because I’ve already been crazy for years!

Day Forty-Four – Thursday 20^th April

Why is it that the headache gets the most painful around 3pm? It’s like a buzzing for most of the day that you can kind of ignore but then it suddenly turns into this bludger, like Dobby is trying to kill you! I was going to have a nap, but somebody decided to start hoovering upstairs…so that was nipped in the bud.

I have almost finished studying for Unit 3 of my course. I ended up having to take a break from it today because the words were starting to blur into each other, and I couldn’t make sense of what I was studying. Also, my finger was hurting. Anyone else get that when they write too much? The middle finger of the writing hand gets a sore lump on the first knuckle. Anyone? Or just me…

It boggles me that I’m still being harassed by suppliers who don’t realise our office is CLOSED and has been CLOSED for 5 weeks. I’m being treated to unpleasant people who don’t seem to think COVID-19 is a thing and get angry with me because they can’t get hold of whomever they need. I feel like I’m dealing with a bunch of Karen’s!

I didn’t watch Boris’s update; I just got the highlights from my Mum, but I suppose I might tune into the speak next week. I think it’s unlikely that the lockdown will end now. I think it will most likely be extended till the end of May, but that is just my opinion/thoughts on the matter.

It has been raining steadily here, I had to wrap my dog in a straight jacket hug because he’s afraid of thunder and we had thunder for about an hour. He was shaking and howling. Not nice for either of us to experience. Anyone else feel like their pet is their lifeline?

Day Forty-Five – Friday 1^st May

Friday at last, although I’m starting to fall victim to labelling Friday as just any other day. Especially as the days seem to mold into one at the moment. Thankfully, and most surprisingly, I don’t have a headache today! It’s been cloudy, gloomy, and rainy but my head has stayed pain free. It’s like some kind of miracle!!

Over on Instagram, I posted my roundup for April. I’m quite impressed with myself. Between trying to navigate working from home, social distancing, and trying to keep happy, healthy, and stay on top of my mental health, I’m surprised I read so many books. The average books I read per month during 2019 was about 15. So far this year, I’d only managed reading 8-9 books a month, so I was definitely feeling the slack.

Through all the chaos and turmoil of April, I still managed to read 13 books and I feel strangely pleased about that. It kind of makes me feel like the month wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. I also managed to save £400 into my mortgage deposit savings, bringing me one step closer to my goal, which makes me very happy.

What am I doing this weekend? Probably sitting down to start the new puzzle on the dining room table. It’s called ‘I Love Gardening’ and it looks very chaotic and funny. I’m sure I’ll fit some reading in and some xbox as well.

I shudder to ask what everyone’s weekend plans are less I get a sarcastic response! So instead, I’ll ask, how are you all holding up?