Day 113

Day 113...

So today has been an in work, work day and work has centered around sorting small gifts for the children that are leaving our pre-school this year along with other prep work for September.

I was due to record a podcast with my good friend Michelle this evening but we cancelled as she wasn't feeling too good. Unfortunately Michelle had COVID-19 a while back and it has taken a long time for her to begin to feel better. I think being back in work these last couple of weeks has finally caught up with her and knocked her back a bit. Hopefully taking things a little slower and steadier will get her back on track soon.

I made a point of taking a little time to attempt some more of my current jigsaw and a little progress was made but only a little. It was gym workout night tonight and while Simon headed out to the gym (aka our garage) I decided to stay in the ladies room (aka my lounge) and just do a few body-weight exercises.

While dinner was cooking (Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Casserole - keto and very yummy) I decided to see if I could squeeze a few more jigsaw pieces in...quite happily moving pieces around when this bad boy appeared out of nowhere...

...now I am not a fan of spiders, especially big ones like this, but I did surprise myself by carrying on trying to put a couple of pieces together until good sense kicked in and I fetched Simon! Not only do I not like spiders I don't like getting close to them so getting rid of them is a bit of a challenge...thank goodness Simon was there to swoop in, scoop it up in a glass and throw it out the window. 

In years gone by when home alone I have been known to find the biggest book possible (Delia Smiths Complete Illustrated Cookery Course was often my book of choice) and drop it on a spider and then leave it. I would not be able to bring myself to move the book just in case the spider was still alive...ridiculous I know! But often I would leave the book lying in the middle of the floor until Simon was home to dispose of the remains which could be a few days because this was back when Simon used to work away from home during the week!! Although I am not quite that bad anymore I can be heard to scream and run a mile should one of a large variety appear; thank goodness Simon now works from home!

And today in lockdown news we got told that as from Monday nail bars and tattooists can reopen; which seems completely fair as I could never understand why they weren't allowed to open when hairdressers reopened last weekend. Although I was booked in for a tattoo just before Easter I won't be rushing to get booked in just yet, mainly because my tattooist is about an hour and a half away and at the moment I would have to visit on my own and while I have no problem getting tattooed on my own (most of my ink has been done that way) it is quite nice to have the option for Simon to come along and keep me company. My last tattoo in May of 2019 was a family affair as Molly got her first tattoo at the same time.

Mt pink ribbon tattoo - Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust

Molly's Lion King tattoo

The government have also given a date for gyms to reopen towards the end of this month but I really don't fancy getting back to a sweaty, crowded gym any time soon. Besides our little set-up in our garage is working really well plus there's no problem getting parked, takes just a matter of minutes to get home and you can always get on the equipment you want to use!!

I think as we start to re-open the country and are being encouraged to get back to some sort of 'normal' we are all, as individuals, going to need to make our own 'risk assessment' before we try something again for the first time. And I think everyone is going to view this differently; some will jump straight back into things and not worry and perhaps even appear not to be taking sensible precautions while there will be others that are quite happy to carry on keeping socially distanced until they feel the risk is minimal.

I must admit at the moment I am probably more in the second group and I think it's important for us all to realise that we are all going to approach this differently and that that is okay. If someone doesn't want to visit a shop or a cafe or a cinema or wherever it maybe, it's not that they are being anti-social it's simply they just don't feel ready or feel as safe as they want to...and that's no-ones fault but we all need to be understanding and not pass judgement on each other.

I will be taking things slow and steady for the foreseeable and that's fine and I hope that everyone else takes things at a pace they are comfortable with and that you all take care and stay safe.

xx

The Arachnophobe's Guide to WDW

So here in the UK it's early September and everything's starting to get a little Autumnal....misty mornings...slight chill in the air....leaves changing colours....all lovely....except for the influx of spiders!!!

Last year when we returned from our WDW trip we opened the front door and the house had been overtaken by spiders and their webs.  There is a lovely children's book called 'Aaaarrgghh Spider' and I think our house resembled the last picture in that book...here is Simon's interpretation of the scene we were greeted with, courtesy of 365 Mickeys;

'Welcome Home'

Now I confess I don't like spiders much....if at all, if I'm honest.  I have got better over the years, I used to scream and cower at the smallest of things but I can now deal with the small and even the medium sized ones but the big ones with long legs...no!

The advantage to living where we do is that we are close to two major cities, good road links, easy reach of lots of interesting places all with the bonus of living in a rural village, the disadvantage is countryside equals large horrible spiders!  Simon is really good he will pick them up, or use a glass and piece of paper, and throw them outside.  I on the other hand will scream and run away.  I have been known, when on my own and no knight in shining armour to save me (Simon - that's you!!), to stop what I'm doing, leave the room in which said spider has been seen and then purposefully close the door behind me, because as everyone knows closing the door will stop the spider from following me - see what I'm like!!  A grown woman and still scared of spiders (but only the big, hairy, long legged, mean looking ones!).

So faced with a rather large spider this morning who was blocking my way to the shower I had to 'man-up' and drop a rather heavy book on his head.....I know that's perhaps not the politically correct thing to do but it was either me or him!!!  But this got me thinking are there any Disney experiences that I either avoid or participate in with a degree of cautiousness?  So here's my list of attractions that need a health warning for those of us who just don't do creepy crawlies:

• Honey I Shrunk The Audience (Epcot) - my problem with this attraction is the '4-D' element, more specifically the mice related section, suffice to say I always sit with my feet well and truly off the floor.
• It's Tough to be a Bug (Animal Kingdom) - I really like this attraction, despite my jumping out of my seat more than once, so my health warning would be 'bugs can get anywhere, so be prepared!'
• Stitch's Great Escape (and it's predecessor - ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter) (Magic Kingdom) - Now my confession here is that I have never experienced either of these attractions, for me the thought of being 'held in place' and not knowing what is happening around me has never appealed.
• The Great Movie Ride (well the Alien section anyway!) (Disney's Hollywood Studios) - OK so this one is a bit of a stretch, but I really don't like the Alien films, I appreciate that cinematically they are great films (Simon assures me so!), but that Alien is just a bit too close to 'insect likeness' for my tastes. Still doesn't stop The Great Movie Ride being one of my all time favourites at WDW - what a conundrum I am!