First off, sorry that I forgot to post for almost 4 weeks. To say it has been hectic is an understatement. This has been partly due to the effects of COVID in my area but also related to increase in workloads and preparation for my new property. I know I haven’t posting much book related stuff recently, but I promise I am getting back into the habit of reading again and there should be some reviews coming very shortly. Love you all ❤

Day One Hundred and Eighty-One – Saturday 12^th September to Day One Hundred and Eighty-Nine – Friday 18^th September

To be honest, the last three weeks kind of got away from me and I dropped the ball a little because life has been so busy that I didn’t have time to sit down and write about what has been happening. It seems that the cloud of ‘COVID’ has been chased away by the short spell of returning hot weather. The attitude of people around me is bordering on ridiculous but not unexpected. From those that believe COVID is a hoax, to believing it’s the governments way to ‘track us all’, to those who have become hermits to those who feel stifled at home.

I am not particularly leaning to one side or the other in terms of my life during COVID. I do think the experience is a great opportunity to closely watch the behaviour of humans and as you know, I’m fascinated by the way the human mind works.

I’ve been so busy with organising myself ahead of my move. I have probably spoken about this in varying degrees of vagueness, but I can now confidently confirm that I have bought my first flat and am fast approaching the exchange.

It has been a particularly stressful and overwhelming experience but not something I have shied away from. I will admit to being a little on edge because moving into my first flat seems more finite than the four years I spent in student housing. However, it is also a new and exciting thing and a great step into independence and future life.

I have seen a lot of my sister recently and it has been nice to connect during such a troubled time.

Day One Hundred and Ninety – Saturday 19^th September to Day One Hundred and Ninety-Six – Friday 25^th September

I was starting to feel a little ridiculous with my title of ‘living through COVID-19’ when rules were relaxed, and the world was slowly turning back to normal, but it seems that the predicted second wave is slowly coming to our shores. I am not surprised by this but then I find myself more knowledgeable about this virus down to my Dad.

The headaches have come back with more force this week, mostly due to the change to low air pressure but also my hay fever has been particularly high. I have recamped from my ‘work room’ and have started to work from my bed as my sister and her partner are frequent overnight visitors. While working from my bed improves my back and the severity of my knotted muscles, but it does make me feel sleepy and more inclined to stay in my pjs or lounge sweats instead of getting properly dressed.

Sometimes listening to music can make me extra sleepy, so, to keep myself awake and focused during the work hours, I’ve started to put criminal TV programmes on my TV and the despite how ridiculous it sounds, my work productivity has increased. I guess the sound of talking in the background is replicating the normal hustle and bustle of the working office.

I had to have a blood test on Friday. I have a hysterical fear of needles and because of COVID, my Mum couldn’t come in with me. I usually rely on my Mum in these cases to be my eyes, ears and voice as I cry hysterically and flinch away from the needle. I took one of my sensory toys with me and it actually helped quite a lot. I did still have a panic attack and cry hysterically, but I was able to push much of my anxiety into squeezing the sensory toy. So, that’s an improvement for me and I’ll start taking a sensory toy with me when I know I’m going somewhere that is going to cause me massive anxiety and panic.

I have only read 1 book this month and I feel like I probably won’t get around to reading anymore this month. I do feel the strain and stress of not reading more this month, and by extension, last month, but I have been too busy.

Prepping my small business for Christmas is taking up a lot of time, especially because the act of painting for long periods of time is more likely to seize my muscles up in a most painful way. I also had SO MANY ideas that I wanted to make for Christmas, but I had to dial myself back to make sure I didn’t overdo it or strain myself too far.

We’re so close to the beginning of October and while everyone around me is starting to get their Halloween decorations out and I’m sitting on a bench singing Christmas songs!

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Seven – Saturday 26^th September to Day Two Hundred and Three – Friday 2^nd October

I’m so close to exchanging that I’m starting to feel all the emotions as once and I’m not really sure how to get away from them or release them safely. Bottling things up is not something I want to do, so I might just have to use a distraction technique to let out all the emotions that are building up. It is going to be very weird when I am out and living in my own place and don’t really know how I’ll feel about it till all the dust is settled and I am standing there alone.

I pushed my shoulder too hard this week and knotted it very badly. I meant I couldn’t do any watercolour painting, designing or sketching, nor could I read or sit without feeling the pain. It made me feel very sad and vulnerable.

Day Two Hundred and Four – Saturday 3^rd October

Went to ikea today with my sister and although ikea was very good with its social distancing and taking of temperatures, it seemed to have sacrificed signposts and made the inside of ikea more like a maze than it usually is. It was actually very confusing and did cause a little bit of anxiety.

However, I did have a good time and did get a few things that I needed for my new flat. It was a good chance to spend time with my sister, who I have not seen one-on-one for some time. We had a good lunch out as well, despite the miserable weather.

The only downside to the day’s adventure was the driving because the weather was so terrible – windy and bad rain – and my inflamed knee didn’t appreciate the somewhat hard driving down to ikea and back.

The house is now looking more like a hoarder’s nest than ever before! But as I keep telling my Mum, she will have her house back to normal when I have access to my flat. However, announcing the fact that I would soon be in my own flat seemed to remind my Mum that I soon wouldn’t be living at home which made her a little upset. So, seems I cannot win.

Day Two Hundred and Five – Sunday 4^th October

So, I actually spent all of today in bed. Mostly sleeping to be honest. I was active for nine hours yesterday – according to my fitbit – and I definitely overdid it with my muscle condition.

Today was spent in much pain and that obviously made me incredibly grumpy. Even with muscle exercises and a bath, the pain is still terrible, but I know how to handle myself when I am in this predicament, so I shall just cope the best I can until my body gets back to normal.

I did try to read today but my body just wanted to sleep so I abandoned it quite quickly.

Day Two Hundred and Six – Monday 5^th October

Monday again and I am back into studying for my course in Lean Management. I have rested my hand long enough to be able to write up notes again – I get terrible cramp in my hand when I write or paint for a significant amount of time, so I have to be careful to take breaks and do exercises to make sure that I don’t strain my hand too much.

I managed to study my way through 7 pages of notes today, which took me to the end of session 2. I now only have to study sessions 3 and 4 before I’ll be able to take the assessment and quiz of unit 2. I passed unit 1 without issue, so that was good. I am learning a new skill that will be incredibly helpful in my job and help in my career progression, so I am pleased in that sense.

Day Two Hundred and Seven – Tuesday 6^th October

No excuses here! I just forgot to write up today! I was so busy with work that I didn’t get a chance to still down until late in the evening, yet alone remember to write this segment post!

Day Two Hundred and Eight – Wednesday 7^th October

I had an incredibly traumatic, unpleasant and vivid nightmare last night. I woke up at 4am and was awake for quite a significant amount of time before I managed to get back to sleep again. I can only remember bits of the nightmare now but that is still enough for me to not want to remember any more of it.

It’s kind of effecting the way I’ve worked today and my mood. But, between mountains and lakes, I’ll get on with my work and try to banish the nightmare from my mind forever more.

It’s hump day again, although Wednesday has almost completely lost the ‘hump’ title. The weeks seem to start and end quicker and quicker than humanly possible, but I suppose that is partly due to the uncertainty of life at the moment.

I’ve started to re-watch Bones now that I have finished watching it through once. I always like to re-watch TV series that I have greatly enjoyed because then I get to revisit and catch parts of the series that I missed the first time around. I like dissecting TV series the same way I like to dissect a film.

Day Two Hundred and Nine – Thursday 8^th October

I was productive today. This week has actually been quite busy workwise and the increase in workload has been an exciting opportunity and an interesting way to spend my time. Truth be told, I was getting a little bored with the amount of free time I had, and I was eager to take on more work and gain a bigger workload.

Between the two courses I’m currently taking and the project I’m not working on, I have much less free time than I would usually do, and I have found this to positively affect my mood.

The house is a little fuller now with my sister and her partner staying with us for a week. Only a slight shift to working from home aspects and we are all able to continue working while still able to be in our own spaces.

It looks like the UK is heading towards a second lockdown. The area I live in has been on a warning and it might be that this coming Monday, more restrictions are put in place. To be honest, I’m not particularly surprised that this has happened. The possibility of a second wave was always certain, but I have come to realise that England has fallen in terms of restricting themselves and keeping social distancing. I saw a TikTok video of a young woman singing about how Boris Johnson needed to stop blaming young people for the spread of COVID but from my own opinion and experience, it is the young people and the old people who have decided to behave badly and not help to reduce the spread of the virus.

Day Two Hundred and Ten – Friday 9^th October

Oh, I am so glad that it is Friday again. I did not sleep well last night and this morning my head is banging, and my eyes are so itchy and scratchy. I’ve been working on my HR Fundamentals course today, which means a lot of screen time, which has not made my eyes any happier. However, I kind of forgot about the course last week, so I do need to get it done this week.

I did manage to get out of the house this morning, as I had to pick up my prescription, but it was so cold and windy outside that it was definitely a morning wakeup call.

The weather here is so unpredictable at the moment, sunny then rainy, warm then cold. It’s in that space between autumn and winter where the earth doesn’t seem to know what kind of day it wants to give us. I suppose it’s ok, I’m still working from home, so the weather doesn’t affect me as much at the moment.

I have FINALLY, got back into reading!

I am currently reading The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths and I have The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman lined up to read next.