Day Sixty-Seven – Saturday 23^rd May –

So, I actually didn’t go to Sainsbury’s today, thought I’d try to survive with what I had for a week, so I got to enjoy a lovely lie in this morning. I didn’t put my alarm on, so I slept in till 10:30am and enjoyed every second of it!

Today I committed my time to watercolour painting a load of unfinished cards I want to put in my Etsy store. I started downstairs in the sitting room, with the French doors open and the cool breeze coming in but after a couple of hours both my back and my knee started to complain…So I had to move upstairs to my bedroom where I could lie my knee flat and rest at an angle so as not to further pain the base of my spine.

I didn’t paint as much as I wanted to because I got stuck into the design idea and had to sketch it out until it left me alone BUT I still made significant headway. I am starting to feel a little proud of my Etsy shop. When I started it, it was just a way to make extra money for my mortgage savings and I thought my decorated boxes were passably good. Since I started to make my cards however, I have felt myself grow in confidence and it’s filling me with more joy than I expected.

Of course, there is the downside of waiting and willing someone to buy a £1.50 card BUT I could walk that road till the cows come home and never feel any better, so I usually ignore it.

It is quite hot in England at the moment, and the weather keeps going in and out of muggy clouds. Today was relatively good until the late afternoon. Of course, it is tradition now for me to get the 3pm hay fever headache from hell and it came knocking once again today. I distracted myself from a nap by watching various National Georgraphic programmes on Disney+ which I seem to have become quite obsessed with.

I have now watched:

The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great

Treasures of Tut’s Tomb

Titanic 20 years Later

What Happened to Easter Island

Ancient Treasures of the Maya

Day Sixty-Eight – Sunday 24^th May –

Today was going to be a reading day. I decided when I got up that it was the perfect day to read because I was already feeling grumpy and angry at the world. The people who live at the end of my garden seemed to have a loud, drunken, definitely not social distancing sanctioned party last night into the wee hours of the morning and it kept me awake long into the night.

I read one book today – Matilda by Roald Dahl. It was great to revisit the book because my memory of reading it + the film had sort of twisted in my mind and created something that was far different from what the book and the characters were actually like.

I did start to read another book but then the headache and the tiredness caught up with me and I ended up napping for several hours! I had one dog curled up against my back and the other curled up behind my knees and it got very hot very quickly!! Neither dog seemed to appreciate me kicking them out from under the duvet and claiming back some of the coolness.

Day Sixty-Nine – Monday 25^th May –

Today I painted and I sketched, and I imagined. I pretty much did this for the whole day. I was on a complete roll. I had so many ideas bubbling away in my head that I really didn’t know which way to turn but I had to make a conscious effort to work on the half-finished projects first before I started anything new. It was a battle that was almost lost!

I did most of my painting and sketching on my bed because my knee has been playing up and it is most relaxed when it is straight and because I didn’t want to hurt my lower back.

Day Seventy – Tuesday 26^th May –

I thought my work computer might have fixed itself since Friday but alas, I still couldn’t connect to the internet, the servers, printer or scanner. So, I basically couldn’t do any of the work that I’d come in to complete. It left me in the office only for a short time before coming home again. It’s slightly irritating because there is this weekly job, I do that involves putting data into a spreadsheet. It’s something I’ve been doing when I come into the office because it is easier to see on my big office screen. However, with my computer at work still broken, and the end of the month coming, I’m going to have to attempt it at home, on my small MacBook screen and hope for the best!

Outside of work computer frustrations, I finally finished studying and making notes on the course I’m taking and submitted my last assessment. I’m not confident at all on the level of understanding I gained on the last unit because it was all about budgeting and I don’t mix well in maths. I feel for sure that I’ll have to resubmit some questions in the assessment review, but I shall just have to wait for that time to come to pass. For now, I’m relieved to be at the end of the course which has taken up most of my time since the 27^th March. However, I am also wondering what I am going to fill my time within the meantime!

Today has been a ‘cheering up day’. My Mum has been feeling a little low in mood, so I have tried to cheer her up and make her view the world with a little more positivity again. It is hard to manage your mental health when you’re sitting in lockdown and that’s across the board, whether you’re a long-term sufferer or new to the game. We all work in different ways but I try to cheer people up the best way I can and, having such a deep experience with mental health, I feel I have the knowledge to help those who are suffering around me.

Day Seventy-One – Wednesday 27^th May –

I painted all day today. I painted till my hands started to shake.

I was hoping that the problems with my work computer would be fixed today and that I’d be able to return to work on Friday but unfortunately, I have to wait till Tuesday now, when everything should hopefully be working again. It has really cut my work in half at the moment. I can’t do what I need to do in the office and what I have to do while wfh needs to be stretched out more to fill the days!

As I handed in my last assessment yesterday, I don’t even have my course to study to fill the time. I’m not usually this free with work time. I did have two projects that I was leading but unfortunately, these projects are ones that have to be conducted within the office and so they have been put on hold since lockdown.

I have noticed a spike in calls today. For the most part, the main switchboard line – which is currently diverted to my mobile – has been silent since the end of March. However, today I noticed a spike of about 8 calls from machine operators looking for jobs. I’m incredibly lucky to have a job in a business that is still thriving in this uncertain time and I can’t imagine how many businesses have been phoned my machine operators desperately seeking alternative employment.

It is still hot as hell here which I have now decided I loathe! Hot weather when you’re on holiday is fine but any other kind brings out my hay fever and my head pain, so I’ve decided that I hate all hot UK weather. I’ve always been more of a jumper and winter girl anyway.

Day Seventy-Two – Thursday 28^th May –

I feel like it shouldn’t be Thursday already! I know I’ve been saying this a lot recently, but the weeks keep going by quicker and quicker!!!

I have fared surprisingly well this week with my headaches and migraines. So far, the only bad day was Wednesday, when I had to go to bed early to escape the pounding.

Today has been pretty easy going. On Thursday’s my Dad goes up to London to visit his lab, so it is just Mum and I in the house. We walked the dogs early at 9am because it’s very hot at the moment and Freddie doesn’t do well in the heat at all! I think we timed it quite nicely for it was warm but there was shade and a lovely breeze.

I got the fantastic news today that I PASSED my Business and Administration Level 2 course, so that’s amazing. I only submitted my last assessment on Tuesday and I was convinced that I’d got some questions wrong – as the unit was on budgeting and I don’t mix well with numbers – but I managed to pass it first time and in doing so, passed the course. I now have to wait 12 weeks for it to be externally evaluated before I get my certificate but I’m super proud of myself.

I don’t have an educationally inclined brain so putting myself back in that setting was very daunting and caused me a lot of stress. The course was free and there was really no downside to taking it. I feel very accomplished at the moment and like I could do anything!

I got a phone call yesterday from a colleague checking up on me and an email today from another doing the same thing. I’m grateful that people have taken the time to check on me but also slightly unnerved because, out of everyone I work with, I seem to be coping the best during lockdown. However, I was still grateful to be thought offer and I offered advice to those who contacted me to help them through their own struggles.

I won’t reach my goal of all the books I wanted to read in May. Partly due to sudden procrastination against reading, changing my mind on what books to read and the terrible head pain I’ve been experiencing. I’ve still managed to read 7 so far this month, which is really a good number of books to read. However, as is the way my brain works, it will always remind me that I wanted to read 13 books in May and failed!

Day Seventy-Three – Friday 29^th May –

Friday was an unusual day for me because I didn’t go into the office in the afternoon. My computer – fingers crossed – won’t be up and running till next Tuesday! So, there was no point in going in. It was quite nice really because it meant that after the dog walk, I could just sit in sweatpants and be comfy for the day. It is unbearably hot outside, but wearing loose sweatpants is somehow cooler than wearing shorts (don’t at me).

In my workspace – which has got a little untidy – I have a stack of books staring at me, which is only a small selection of the books I have to read in my house. I also have a very high pile of ‘cards to be finished’, that I need to paint or colour for my Etsy shop. Ironically, painting is the longest part of the job, especially with watercolour paints as you have to wait for the colour to dry before beginning with a new colour, unless you want the colours to run into each other.

I get stuck with all these ideas and I make up card sets that I want to do in a certain pattern or freehand drawing, and suddenly I end up with a pile of unfinished cards and no time to finish them!! It’s my own fault really, when I get creative with ideas, I need to map them out till the end, if I don’t my OCD and anxiety act up and I end up feeling stressed and sick. It’s a problem that has kept me up well into the night before.

It is Friday again. This week went super quick. Even quicker than the last, I think! I don’t know where all the time goes, it just seems to be carried away into the night without a warning or a goodbye.

I must remember to update my Goodreads challenge over the weekend, because I’ve read far more books than I’ve logged for this year’s goal. I am planning to read over the weekend, primarily on Sunday as I think Saturday will be busy enough. It’s my turn to cook tomorrow, so I shall be up bright and early to visit Sainsbury’s and hopefully there will be no queue and they’ll have my ingredients.

I think my reading roundup for May will either end up being 9 or 10 books. How about yours?