Thursday 30 April 2020

Day 43

Day 43...

Today has been a pretty quiet day. There was not much happening on the work front just a return to complete and a couple of phone calls. So the majority of my day was spent online buying birthday presents as I have at least 4...or is it 5...birthdays coming up in the next couple of weeks! May is a busy month!

Despite another grey day we ventured out at lunchtime and are now pretty consistent in our 2 miles done in 39 minutes. It started to rain a little on the way back and I did comment that this time last week I was in shorts and a t-shirt while today the winter coat was back out and I had gloves on!

I was reminded this morning through Facebook memories that three years ago we took part in our first Star Wars Weekend at Legoland Windsor. This was an event held over the closest weekend to May 4th...because that's the official Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you!!!) and involved multiple costuming groups held over three days.

Back in 2017 we attended just one of the days as part of the Mandalorian Mercs, representing the UK clan know as the Vok'Chi. The event organised by Legoland involved Star Wars costuming groups from across the UK who provided screen accurate characters to roam their park and take part in daily parades as part of a weekend devoted to all things Star Wars. In return for the costuming groups donating their time Legoland donated £15,000 to a childrens hospice called Alexander Devine.

It was a great event and we met lots of people which ultimately resulted in our joining another costuming group called Joker Squad which enabled Simon to create his Stormtrooper and me to become Governor Pryce.

Here are a couple of photos from our first Legoland event back in 2017;

With our fellow Mandalorian Mercs
It was a fun and tiring day full of high fives, smiles and photos and a fantastic opportunity to help raise money for a very worthwhile cause.

The rest of today was spent doing a little more on my jigsaw followed by a home workout; Simon and Molly down the gym again with me doing a few kettle bell moves!

See you tomorrow,
xx

Wednesday 29 April 2020

Day 42

Day 42...

Feeling a little more motivated today and got stuck into some work first thing as lots of information to pass onto my staff and committee to keep everyone updated.

I indulged in some retail therapy online with a mix of buying some essential bits and some birthday presents.

And then despite a grey morning we took our usual couple of miles walk out at lunchtime although by the time we got back it was raining and pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the day.

I've been chatting with my friend Michelle on and off for most of the day and even got a sneaky little parcel in the post from her, as she had sent me some of her Disney toiletries. This was after I'd commented that my small supply is 'not for use' and only as decoration unless things got really bad. So as Michelle has a rather large supply she sent me a few of her bits that I am under strict instructions to use!
As Disney fans it is little things like this that help you to feel connected to the place you miss the most and the community that you become a part of.

The rest of the day was taken up with sorting the internet out as for some unknown reason we lost connection in one half of the house which just happened to be the half where Simon and Ethan were working! So after much back and forth the boys had to re-pair all of our wi-fi boosters and hey presto everything was working again...although this has now resulted in new boosters being ordered that will hopefully speed everything up - all a bit too technical for me!

Molly had another online karate class and I attempted to get a little more done on my latest jigsaw that I started the other day as I've not had chance to do much with it as yet. And that was our day today, a fairly straight forward day with nothing to really report.

xx

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Day 41

Day 41...

Well after a few weeks of glorious sunshine the British weather seems to have remembered it's April and has rained all day and turned rather chilly!

My day was pretty mundane today; a mix of odd jobs around the house, a bit of internet browsing (as I have a few birthdays happening in a few weeks time!) and then some actual work as it was pay day today so needed to make sure that I could sort all the wages out for my team.

Simon had another helmet sale to take to the local post office at lunchtime and then we made a point of going out for a walk...even though it was raining. Thankfully it wasn't raining too heavy but we certainly didn't hang about and we did our two miles at a pretty decent pace. Although we both had to change out of wet socks by the time we got home!

Simon and Molly had their first trip to the 'gym' this week while I managed to do a quick body-weight workout. I would love to be able to get back into moving weights again but I am still a little cautious about my left boob! So I will stick to squats, planks and a few lighter kettle bell moves.

My friend Michelle tested positive today for COVID-19, her partner was negative and her son has shown no signs of it. She hasn't been at work and has followed all the stay at home orders and only gone out for an occasional daily walk and to the shops. She doesn't know where she has picked it up from, could possibly be from shopping or she has genuine concerns with regards to neighbours having had friends and family around when they shouldn't have...but who knows?

Just goes to show that no matter how careful you are it is out there and could get any of us at any time. So let's sit this one out for as long as we need to, let's not go rushing back out into the big world until this horrible thing is done and dusted. Let's hope our government begin to get their arse in gear, stop telling us lies, be honest and open and treat us like adults who can handle the truth. If we know exactly what we are dealing with then we are more likely to accept whatever we need to do. Other countries seem to be getting on top of their outbreaks, look at Australia, New Zealand & Iceland so why can't we?!! Makes me so angry that we have to put our lives in the hands of politicians who seem to have other agendas at work. Perhaps more focus on this issue when the first cases started to appear could have saved us all a lot of heartbreak.

See you tomorrow,
xx


Monday 27 April 2020

Day 40

Day 40...

Welcome to Monday and another week of lockdown. Simon has been busy sorting Mandalorian helmets to ship out as the two he has made over the last few days are all ready to go.

Two helmets ready to go
I've been chatting with friends and everyone seems to be doing okay, getting used to this new way of life and swapping shopping stories. I have one friend who has just had a COVID-19 test and is waiting for the results so my thoughts keep turning to her and I keep checking in to make sure she's doing alright.

I think the strange thing at the moment is that we find ourselves settling into this new way of life and that it is quickly becoming the new normal. We are able to work from home; we are able to get out for a walk each day; we have sorted out the way we want to shop; we have minimised our physical interactions with the outside world and we now just accept all that.

But it can be so frustrating and confusing trying to figure out where all this is taking us. Trying to figure out who to listen to and who to believe. Wondering why our country seems to be doing so badly compared to other countries. Should we have acted earlier, should we have been stricter with our lockdowns, should there be restrictions on entering and leaving the country, should anyone arriving in the country go straight into quarantine - so many questions but getting answers is difficult and bewildering and can leave us with a sense of hopelessness. So by getting on with the new normal we find ourselves on an emotional rollercoaster moving from acceptance to worry to questioning to wondering if we will ever get back to the way we were...

As I looked at the calendar hung up in the kitchen today I realised that this was supposed to be a very busy week for us. Molly should have had her music school's annual concert yesterday; tonight we had tickets to see Nick Offerman in stand-up; I had a night out with my work colleagues pencilled in for Thursday; Friday we had tickets for The Gilded Merkin at the Spiegeltent (Burlesque show) and then Sunday we were planning on trooping Star Wars style with our fellow cosplayer's from the East Midlands Garrison at a local comic-con - wow, that's a lot of stuff to be missing out on!
Simon and I from last December, trooping at Nottingham Hospital's Children's Christmas Party
At the beginning of the year we decided to make sure we had things to look forward to after having had a year where we had not been able to do as much as we would have liked. So we had been finding events that we wanted to go to, putting them on the calendar, buying tickets and booking hotels...so to see a calendar with lots of things crossed out is really disheartening.

But we accept that for now we have to batten down the hatches and just see it through till the other side.

xx

Sunday 26 April 2020

Day 39

Day 39...

So our Sunday has turned out to be quite crafty and arty! Simon set to this morning demolding a Mandalorian helmet and then cleaning up the two that he his made this last couple of days so that they are in a position to get shipped.

This afternoon we then settled down for a couple of hours of life drawing. A couple of weeks ago we were due to attend in person Dr Sketchy's in Nottingham but as this couldn't take place it was re-organised to be an online event via Facebook live. Hosted by the lovely Scarlett Daggers, Dr Sketchy's is a combination of burlesque and art, and is a very relaxed couple of hours of drawing for all abilities.

After the success of the first online event Scarlett had organised another for this afternoon with the delightful Cherry Shakewell providing the poses as well as a cheeky little performance! The event consists of a number of 1 minute, 2 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute and 15 minute poses before concluding with a 30 minute pose. At the Nottingham event we have DJ Spike providing an eclectic mix of music everything from indie rock, retro tracks, random cover versions and the odd comedy track and today he was able to join us via Twitch.

2 minute poses
5 minute pose
10 minute pose
10 minute pose
15 minute pose
30 minute pose
Decided I would make the effort and dress up a bit as I would have done had we been physically going to Dr Sketchy's in Nottingham...
Now I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination but I have to say I was quite pleased with today's results and felt a little more confident in my abilities...looking forward to the next one on the 10th May. Check out their Facebook page - Dr Sketchy's Nottingham

It has been quite nice today to be doing stuff even if it had to be virtual...I think we all need things to do to distract us from the situation and from the noise of news media and social media. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and all opinions seem to be opposite of each other and I'm not sure how that is supposed to make me feel. Who do we believe? Who should we believe? Why is one doctors opinion better than another? At a time when we all want answers the answers seem to be some what confusing. In the meantime I am going to stay home, I will do my bit to give the NHS the room to breathe that it needs and to protect and keep safe those that I love and care about and that's all I can do at the moment.

xx

Saturday 25 April 2020

Day 38

Day 38...

And welcome to the weekend and yet another glorious sunny day that admittedly started a bit slowly in this house with a bit of a lie in and late breakfast.

Molly received her weekly guitar lesson via email so was to be heard playing new tunes. I got some household chores out the way while Simon set about making a Mandalorian helmet...in fact helmet number two as he had just received this week an order for two helmets after having been very quiet with orders. He has also been casting and 3D printing some more bits and pieces for the mouse droid he is also building.

Later this afternoon we hopped onto the Disney Dream Girls Facebook page and went live to show off some of Simon's work and skills. Simon was able to talk through how we became Star Wars costumers and how that then expanded out into making helmets and more.

Our usual walk took us to my dad's house so we could catch up and have a chat through his front door keeping the appropriate social distancing of course. Although whilst out walking I was once again struck by the number of people out and about in our small village. In fact at a couple of points I counted 18 cars parked where normally there would be perhaps no more than 2 or 3; I can only presume these cars belonged to people who had driven into our village to then go on a walk around the public foothpaths and bridleways within the village. I was also frustrated that yet again Simon and I would move to the furthest point we could when passing people but they would make no effort to move away from us so that the maximum distance could be achieved - really don't understand it!

We had a slight hiccup when Molly and I went to collect our grocery shop this evening as the locker system had a bit of a glitch and refused to recognise my date of birth which meant we had to venture inside the store!!! Thankfully everywhere was pretty quiet and despite having to wait a little while for someone to help us out all social distancing protocols were observed and it was good to see inside the store that the floor had markings, tills had screens up and systems were in place to try and avoid people being too close together. Although we did notice several shoppers not being as perhaps as observant as they could be regarding the two metre rule!

As we reach a death rate of 20,000 here in the UK I really can't see how we will be out of this lockdown anytime soon. We have no treatment, no vaccine and the ability to test, track and trace seems somewhat pathetic so I am really struggling to see a way out of this...and am convinced that this is going to go on for a considerable time and even when things do start to get lifted I think it will be a long while before we get back to anything like how things were before. I really feel quite desolate at the thought of what we had and where we might end up and sometimes that feeling of foreboding of what we may be moving towards can be quite overwhelming. Thinking about the stuff that we could have done but never quite managed that might now be a long way off, thinking about a potentially different way of living, of missed moments and of moments planned that may now never happen...some days that can all be a bit too much.

All we can do is just keep swimming, to get through each day and hope that each day makes us stronger to deal with whatever may lay ahead. We have our health, we have each other, we need to take solace in that and soldier on to meet the new day as best we can. It's okay to feel freaked out by all of this, it's okay to feel overwhelmed and it's okay to be angry and whatever else you may be feeling...it's okay.

xx

Friday 24 April 2020

Day 37

Day 37...

Well we have reached the end of another working week...and actually my work this week has been relatively quiet. Ordinarily the first week back at pre-school is all about getting newsletters published, invoices out and registers printed but instead all I have been doing is trying to budget and navigate through government and local council emails.

This morning my first job was to complete my online shop as it is scheduled to be collected tomorrow evening...really struggled to get a slot booked in and this one popped up so took advantage while I could. I think I'm getting more on top of what I need each week and ordering in one go. In 'normal times' I would be doing multiple shops over a week and just 'nipping' into my local stores to pick things up as and when we needed them. Going to be interesting to see whether my shopping bill has increased overall by shopping in just one place or whether only doing the one shop has curtailed all those little extras that can sneak into a shopping basket!!

I wonder if things like a change in shopping patterns and working practices are going to stay with us for the longer term after we are through all of this? The ability to get work done at home or over the phone rather than an in-person visit, time spent on one shop rather than multiple which can all result in the knock-on effect of having more quality time with friends and family. How often do we bring work home with us so that it eats into 'family time'? Have we become too focused on work that we have placed family, friends and loved ones in second place? Perhaps after all of this we will hold onto those moments of quality time together and make sure that they continue.

Simon and I had our usual walk out at lunch time completing another two miles in 39 minutes and we have said that even after all this is over we want to try and continue these moments where we get chance to have time together and away from everything else, if only for a short time. I also took time to sit out and soak up the sun while reading a book; onto Ted Naiman's The P:E Diet now, which is something I would have struggled to find the time to do before.

So who knows, perhaps this lockdown will have an effect on us and hopefully a positive one, one where we appreciate those around us more, one where we actually achieve a good work/life balance and one where we embrace life more and cherish every single moment no matter how small.

xx

Thursday 23 April 2020

Day 36

Day 36...

Today has involved quite a lot of podcasting; I started off doing some research, which always takes longer than you think, and then spent a couple of hours this afternoon chatting with Michelle to record a couple of segments for our Disney Dream Girls podcast. And between us we even managed to master technology and use Zoom so we could actually see each other which was lovely. We're hoping to use Zoom in the future to 'meet up' with some 'friends' of the show.
Recording time
We took another walk out around the neighbourhood at lunch time racking up another couple of miles in 40 minutes and after initially seeing loads of people around where we wanted to walk we seemed to avoid all of them and ultimately came across hardly anyone.

I managed to finish reading Dr Shawn Baker's The Carnivore Diet this afternoon and would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the correct diet that we should all be eating. This really does highlight how eating meat is what our bodies were designed to do and how beneficial it is for all of us to be consuming animal products. At a time in our history when a disease is causing so much pain and suffering it seems a perfect time to look long and hard at what we put into our bodies and how that affects us. I want to be in the best physical shape that I can manage, I want to be healthy and have the best chance of fighting off anything horrid that may come my way. Building up our bodies ability to fight off illness has never been more important. I have now started reading Ted Naiman's The P:E Diet; I know that Simon is really interested in this approach to eating and training so thought I would read this at the same time as Simon is reading it so we can learn about it together.

Having adopted a low carb/keto diet almost 6 years ago now and seeing its benefits has made me all the more interested in learning about what we should be putting in our bodies for the most beneficial results. Going low carb I lost weight and dropped dress sizes and have been able to maintain the loss and the new dress size! I no longer get on the scale or take body measurements I try to stick to what I know works; minimal carbs, protein and healthy fats.

Simon and Molly went 'down the gym' so I stuck to my own body weight exercises and then joined them for a few exercises...
Tricep pulldowns in our glamorous gym!
...I even got roped into throwing a few punches karate style under Molly's instruction!!


Don't think I'll make a boxer anytime soon...and definitely not against Molly as she can really throw a punch!!

xx

Wednesday 22 April 2020

Day 35

Day 35...

Well another day of this lockdown is complete and I'm finding that writing today's post is a bit on the difficult side...not sure why but think it probably has something to do with the events of the day being a repeat of previous days.

The day was a mixture of housework and pre-school work to just keep on top of things. We had our usual walk out at lunchtime completing yet another couple of miles in the gorgeous sunshine.

I sat outside this afternoon and topped up my vitamin D levels while I had a coffee and read some more of Dr Shawn Baker's The Carnivore Diet.

It was lovely to jump online later this afternoon to chat with my fellow Disney Dream Girl Michelle as we recorded another episode for our podcast, this time chatting with a fellow podcaster over in America.

Simon is busy working on a art commission for a retro game magazine and he has just had a couple of orders come in for the Mandalorian helmets he makes; pop over to his website to see what this is all about simonphipps.com.

So we are in this weird state of a new normal. Work life is carrying on as best it can. Home life has now found a new level where everything that we would normally have done now gets done from the comfort of our own home. 'Going out' is a simple walk in the fresh air around paths that we are becoming very familiar with. It is difficult to see when all this will end and when it does I don't think we will ever go back to how we were, at least not for a long while.

xx

Tuesday 21 April 2020

Day 34

Day 34...

First job of the day was to dig out my slow cooker from the back of the cupboard and figure out how to work it. Ashamed to say after initially using it quite a bit it got pushed to the back of the cupboard and forgotten about. But after asking for some input on meal suggestions this week and Molly repeatedly asking for Beef Bourguinon 'like you used to do' I thought I'd better make the effort.

So with that all set up and filling the kitchen with yummy smells I got on with some pre-school work. A few emails to chase and information to get out to parents along with some other admin bits and pieces.

We took another walk out at lunchtime, this time just under 2 miles in about 39 minutes. It was another bright sunny day but still battling against the wind for most of the walk and today we took a hillier route!

I made some more progress reading Dr Shawn Baker's book The Carnivore Diet while I sat outside with a coffee soaking up some more vitamin D. Definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve their health, speaks so much sense and is delivered in a very easy to read and easy to understand way. I've got two more books lined up after this one; Dr Paul Saladino's Carnivore Code and Ted Naiman's The P:E Diet. I figure at this point in time anything I can glean from these books that help to keep us healthy and bolster immune systems is a good thing!

A little at home workout later this afternoon while Molly and Simon went 'down the gym' preceded the eating of the beef bourguinon which I have to say was rather yummy and a success all round...will have to see what other dishes I can cook up.

A short post today as we become used to this new way of life; I started writing these posts to document the 'lockdown', to be a reminder of what we endured and how we got through it. We can do no more than just get on with and accept the situation that we are in. We can but hope that those in charge can come up with sensible plans to get us through this and out the other side. That they hopefully recognise that this is a marathon and not a sprint and that perhaps just taking things at a cautious speed may stop us from being in a cycle of repeated lockdowns. There is so much information flying around out there, so many different points of view that it's difficult to know how to react to it all. All I know is that the sacrifices we are making now by staying home must be worth something, they cannot be in vain.

xx


Monday 20 April 2020

Day 33

Day 33...

Today would have been the start of our Summer term at pre-school but instead we remain closed and are doing our part by staying home. We know the lockdown is in place for at least another three weeks, and I would guess probably longer, and when it does get lifted we have no idea yet how that is going to take place. Lots of unknowns and all we can really do at the moment is keep on keeping on.

The day started with a very productive morning of collecting the shopping, wiping it all down and packing it all away and that always takes way longer than you think it should. Although me and Molly are getting it down to a fine art...bit of Disney music blasting out and we just knuckle down and get it sorted!

It was another beautiful day so that meant another walk out in the sunshine with another 2 miles completed in 39 minutes; although it felt like it took us longer as we were walking into a very strong headwind on the way back which really took it out of us!

The afternoon turned out to be a very relaxed affair. We had coffee sat out in the garden and did some reading; I'm still digesting Shawn Baker's The Carnivore Code and Simon has just started reading Ted Naiman's The P:E Diet. Anyone would think we are interested in living the healthiest life that we can. Decided to take a few photos...


 I then received a delivery...

...so two new jigsaws to do, just got to decide which one to do first!

I also had another go at doing some drawing...decided to take a couple of 'toys' and use them as reference...
 ...the Donald Duck toy was from Disneyland Paris and was a special gift left in our hotel room the year we celebrated Ethan's birthday there...so this must be about 16 or 17 years old now!
Don't think I did too bad...Mickey probably came out the better, but at least I had a go!

So another day done in this bizarre situation that we all find ourselves in, but one that I think we are adapting to as the days go on, settling into a routine and accepting that this is just the way things are for the time being. It is going to be really interesting moving forward to see how this all unfolds, how it leaves us all feeling once we get to the other side and whether we ever truly return to life as it was before or whether we learn to live in a new evolved world...only time will tell.

xx

Sunday 19 April 2020

Day 32

Day 32 and the sunshine is back!

A nice gentle start to the day, as it would be most Sundays. My first focus for the day was to update my online grocery shopping as I am due to collect it tomorrow morning. With that done I thought I would see if a slot was available for the following week and was surprised to see that dates beyond what I was expecting appeared but they were all full for the next 2 weeks...eek! But I then re-looked and suddenly saw a chunk of free slots appear so I grabbed one, added a few items to my 'online basket' and checked out to secure the spot - phew! But bizarrely I looked again and the free slots I'd seen had all disappeared again...not sure what was going on with the system but at least I have my shop booked in.

Simon has been making more progress with both the mouse droid he is building and his R2D2...

We then took a bit of a longer walk out today and managed to complete just under 4 miles in about an hour and 20 minutes. It was a gorgeous day in some beautiful countryside and we are very blessed to have all of this on our doorstep.





And I only had one little rant today while we were out...walking down a small lane we moved over to our left and walked single file to give the couple walking towards us the appropriate distance...shame they couldn't repeat the same favour...I'm sure not holding hands for all of 30 seconds really wouldn't have been that much of a hardship!!

Having these moments most days to get out and walk gives Simon and I the chance to have some time just for us away from the noise of the internet and reminds us of the importance of connecting with those around us. We get the chance to chat, put the world to rights and just to 'be'; we have both said that we must try to make sure we steal these moments after all this lockdown malarkey is done with. To steal moments together without the need to 'go somewhere' or 'do something special' but just to take a small amount of time away from the noise of everyday life.

Perhaps after all of this we will all have a greater appreciation for a quieter, less manic and less materialistic lifestyle. One where we appreciate all that we have and those that we have chosen to spend it with. I'm sure for some the return to the hustle and bustle will be a great relief but I hope to come out of this with a greater appreciation for life, and for what I want from it regardless of what others may think or expect of me. I will definitely embracing 'me' and doing more of what I want, when I want and in the way that I want to do it.

xx



Saturday 18 April 2020

Day 31

Day 31 and this must be the first grey day we have had in a while, in fact we had rain for a good chunk of the morning and it seems an age since it last rained.

While Simon tinkered about with his droid building projects I decided to go through my cookery books and have a bit of a sort out. Over the years I have collected recipes out of magazines or printed them out from online and have stored them in a crappy orange wallet; so I thought I would go through them all and see just what I had got. Well suffice to say about 75% of it went straight in the recycling; most of what I'd kept went back a lot of years I was throwing stuff out from 2007!!

And most of the recipes were simply for things that I would no longer cook as they wouldn't meet the specifics of either low carb or keto that we follow now. Although I will confess to keeping some of the cake recipes and quite a few cocktail ones too...well they might come in handy for a special occasion!

I even threw out complete cook books after I'd gone through them and torn out any recipes that I thought I might attempt one day! Suffice to say the whole activity took me way longer than I'd anticipated and resulted in a complete re-organisation! From this...



 ...to this...
Two folders organised into sections...I just need to keep them that way now!

So the consequence of this lockdown malarkey is that I've completed a task that I hadn't really thought about doing, that was one of those 'if I ever have the time' jobs...guess what I had the time! And while it may seem a trivial task I at least completed it and feel as though I have achieved something and made the best of the day and I suppose that is all that we can do at the moment. Seize the day and make the best of it in whatever way we can no matter how trivial it may feel.

xx

Friday 17 April 2020

Day 30

Day 30...

Another bright day here today but definitely a cooler day. The day started with an impromptu podcast recording session with my fellow Disney Dream Girl, Michelle. We have a number of our listeners who support the show financially through Patreon and we try to record a special show just for them every few weeks. Today we chatted about online Disney shopping, Disney + and how this current situation is affecting our plans to visit the Disney parks.

Michelle has a couple of trips lined up for the early part of this Summer and so it is looking extremely unlikely that these will now happen. We had been in the process of thinking about booking to go to Walt Disney World. We had been chatting about when we should go, which resort we would like to stay at, whether the kids wanted to come with us and more, but had thankfully not taken the plunge to book anything. After 7 years away from Walt Disney World we are more than ready to get back there. It was great to get to Disneyland Paris last August but Walt Disney World is what I would call my 'home' park. The last few years have not been conducive to planning a trip; there were financial considerations, the impact of family members illnesses and demands and then my own brush with breast cancer all just added up. Finally we find ourselves in the position to actually book something and then this comes along - really?!

I know that going to Disney is not the be all and end all of everything and that us being together as a family all fit and healthy is so much more important but I still can't help feeling that someone is playing a cruel trick on us. I don't wish to sound all 'woe is me' but we have scrimped and saved and endured a lot over the last 7 years and we really didn't think it was too much to ask to just get to do something that we have been dreaming about for so long. I know will we get back there one day but at the moment that one day feels an awfully long way away.

This week we should have been having new wardrobes fitted in our bedroom so that's not happened and we have no idea when that will happen now. I had an email today to say that a concert we were booked to see in May, that had initially been postponed, had now been cancelled and a refund was being issued. We have also had a burlesque evening in May and a comedy gig in April cancelled as well. Oh and my latest tattoo's should have happened at the beginning of April so they are on hold too. I think seeing things that you had planned just get scribbled out on the calendar can be a very sobering moment.

The rest of my morning was spent doing some research for an upcoming Disney Dream Girls podcast and then we took our usual 2 mile lunchtime walk in just 38 minutes - beating our best time by 2 minutes!

I did some more reading today as I got further through The Carnivore Diet and took advantage while the sun shone and sat out on the patio while I read, figured best keep my vitamin D levels topped up!

There was also another little attempt at drawing...

So there we are, another day done with a new day tomorrow. The days may not be panning out as they were planned but we are here, we are healthy and we are together and that's all that really counts at the moment. Yes it can be tough some days, yes it can be repetitive and yes it's hard not knowing what the long term effect of all this is going to be but all we can do is keep on keeping on. We can support each other, we can stay home and support our health service, we can be on the other end of a text or call when someone needs it and most of all we can be united and know that by being united we can forge a way through it all.

xx

Thursday 16 April 2020

Day 29

Day 29 and I could get used to this blue sky and sunshine filled start to the day.

The morning consisted of getting a few mundane around the house jobs done like the ironing! Followed by a little admin work for pre-school; we received some more information today about our governments 'job retention scheme' which meant an email to my wages person along with some calculated figures so that we can move forward as and when the scheme goes live later this month.

We had our usual lunchtime walk and managed another couple of miles in just 40 minutes and only saw one other couple walking; the same couple we had seen a few days back with their dog in a pushchair!

This afternoon I should have been at Derby hospital having my first annual mammogram since my lumpectomy last year but due to the current situation this had been cancelled. So instead I thought I would make the best of such a lovely day and top up my vitamin D supply by sitting outside in the sunshine enjoying a book.
Sun's out so legs are out!
I am currently reading The Carnivore Diet by Dr Shawn Baker and it's absolutely fascinating and a great read. I'd started it a little while ago so it's been great to pick it up again and read a good chunk of it. I've also got The Carnivore Code by Dr Paul Saladino to read as well - anyone would think I'm interested in all this eating the right stuff and staying healthy malarkey. I listened to a great podcast today by Ivor Cummins talking about our immune system and how the standard western diet is leading to all sorts of problems with insulin resistance which in turn is affecting the ability of our immune systems to work as effectively as they should; which seems very pertinent at the moment.

I also had another go at drawing today with an attempt at a landscape...
This evening I became slightly distracted by watching Harry from White Lies live on YouTube as he hosted a session about playing guitar...no idea what he was chatting about but he was very nice to sit and watch for a while! I think Molly needs to sit and watch it now as she is a budding guitar player and as the supportive parent that I am I would be happy to sit and watch it with her!! Have I ever mentioned that I love White Lies...
That's Harry in the middle, next to me!!!!
It's times like this that being a bit daft and holding onto memories becomes all the more special. As the UK government announced at least another three weeks of lockdown being able to reminisce and enjoy those moments as well as being a bit silly at times is, I think, what will help see us through all of this.

xx