Well, not much to report today as I’ve literally done nothing!! I did another lateral flow test this morning and the positive line appeared instantly and was clear as day.
Slept ok considering, and then got up around 8am! Then moved from the bed to the sofa and stayed there for the rest of the day, only getting up to make some food, fill up my water bottle to stay hydrated and go to the toilet. I’ve done less than 2,500 steps.
I feel rough as fuck, phlegmy, coughy & got a thick head! Managed to sleep a bit this afternoon but it’s hot & sticky, normally in this kind of weather I’d be in a bikini soaking up the sun all day but right I don’t even want to go outside at all.
My friend very kindly bought me some groceries when she did her shop today & dropped them off and another friend sent me a “get well soon” box from amazon with lots of treats & things to help with my symptoms which was lovely.
I will stay at home until I test negative even though here in the UK we no longer have to self isolate, I think it is my moral duty to do so now that I know I’m carrying the virus.
Just wish I could turn my head off a little bit as it’s been whirring like crazy today…
Woke up feeling rough as this morning and my cough has gotten worse, I had already cancelled my gym session as felt like I needed a lie-in. As much of a lie-in as I can get with Sophiecat around.
As I had client work to do today, I got stuck into it thinking that once it was done I could take it easy.
Firstly, I had a zoom call with a friend who is helping me with the social media for the conference this year as that’s their specialism, had a bit of a catch up too.
Then I messaged another friend saying I felt rough and they suggested that perhaps I should test for COVID, they offered me a kit as I gave them my last box a few months ago, so I popped over for a coffee in the garden while doing a test and I thought I’d got away with it as no double line, so we carried on chatting then I checked it again some time later & there was the faintest of line to indicate a positive test – bugger!!
Although, it is probably a blessing as it gives me permission to rest and take it easy, just a pain in the arse! Thankfully, I’ve got supplies & it’s the weekend where I didn’t have any plans apart from gym & swimming so that’s all been cancelled, told my boss at the uni that I probably won’t be on campus on Monday, but will keep testing each day – my friend is going to buy me some tests & a few groceries tomorrow when they do their shopping.
Have messaged a few friends who regularly check in on me & posted on SM too as I post regularly and didn’t want people to worry if I’m quieter than normal.
These late nights & early mornings are starting to take their toll on me. I woke up with a bit of a tickly throat and throughout the day it got worse and worse. This is an indicator for me that I’m over-tired & my body telling me that I need to rest…
Started the day at the gym for intervals, then straight to the uni for my day there! Today was all about writing assignment briefs for next year’s modules, I’m teaching a few new modules so was getting my head around the module itself & the learning outcomes to then write an appropriate assignment brief, it’s not something that comes naturally to me but I strive to give it a go to help me improve my skills.
I attended 2 events today, both were really interesting and met some new people, unfortunately, this meant I was out of the house for over 13 hours so now I’m completely spent, will attempt to have an easier day tomorrow at home catching up on admin & a quiet weekend too as really need to catch up on sleep at some point before another heatwave hits next week.
Not done badly on barely 5 hours of sleep today! I usually aim for 7 but at the moment I’m generally hitting about 6.5 hours!
Gym first thing and OMG it was a sweaty one, but got it done.
I then headed to the uni for the day there, this was mainly planning but I also sat in on a few misconduct panels, if I’m available, I will always offer to sit in on these if they are not my subject area as I find them fascinating. Today we had 2 for plagiarism and then 3 were linked together for collusion. In these panels, the student gets a chance to answer to the misconduct claim, we ask them some questions and at the end of it as the panel, we come to a decision about the outcome of the misconduct. There is a person who chairs the meeting and 2 academics and administration to ensure the process is followed as it should.
My colleague came into the office this afternoon so it was good to catch up with them.
After work, I headed to the lake for a swim, I haven’t been for about 10 days so it was lovely to get back into the water & just focus on being in the water and sunshine. I did 1km (5 small laps).
Got home and made some food as I was famished and now it is this time again that I’m writing the blog and off to bed!
Today has been an interesting day, started slowly as no gym today as my rest day and also not a uni day & Sophiecat let me sleep in after I fed her at 4am!
This morning I had a coaching session with friend who is training to be a coach, I’ll always offer when someone asks for coachees as I know what it’s like trying to find people to coach when you are doing these types of qualification, I did mine over 10 years ago now.
We had a really good session, however, it did make me reflect on my life as we spoke about lots of elements of it & then I felt kind of overwhelmed with the things I’ve got going on right now, all my own doing I know as I seem to create stuff for me to take on!!
Right now I am:
Working 3 days a week at the uni
Running my business, doing client work & everything else that goes with a business
Just launched a conference I’m running later in the year
In the early stages of planning a corporate charity event next year
In the early stages of starting another business
Running & maintaining a house & garden (failing on this one, as both are in a right state, the house needs a jolly good tidy & clean & the garden needs weeks worth of work)
Working to stay fit and healthy – going to the gym & eating good food
Stay connected with friends and family
No wonder my head is all over the place most days, need to work out a way forward so I get some kind of balance… don’t ask me what that is right now as I don’t have a clue but I’ll find it, I always do!!
I was hoping this week I’d get a few more early nights but yet again it’s twenty to 10 and I’m still up & can’t go to bed just yet as after writing this I need to get all my bags ready for tomorrow as I’m gyming & swimming before I come back home in the evening.
Surprisingly, Sophiecat slept in until just before 5am this morning which is so much more tolerable than the 4am wake-ups I’ve had for the past 6-8 weeks!
It actually helped me as left me plenty of time to prep for my day as I was going straight to the uni after the gym session and was feeling very smug as I drove off my drive on time and with everything I needed for the day! Got about 2 miles from home to realise I’d left my shoes for work at home! Not a massive thing really as I could wear my gym shoes just a bit annoying.
Didn’t do the gym last week so was nice to be back but boy it was warm! I’m loving the hot summer weather right now, however, I don’t like working out in it as I’m a woman of a certain age who now sweats a lot from her head so it stings when I get it in my eyes. But I was there doing it so that is all that matters to me.
Once that was done, I headed to the uni for a day of admin & planning. Thankfully our office is in an old building so really nice and cool and my colleague was in today too which was lovely to catch up and work collaboratively.
An exciting thing happened today – I released a press release about an event I’m running later in the year which got quite a bit of interest so fingers crossed it is successful.
Got home as soon as I can as I’m a bit worried about Sophiecat in this heat, she completely disappeared this morning & I couldn’t find her anywhere & had to leave for the gym but had been worried all day that she was stuck somewhere in the house.
When got home she was still nowhere to be seen, but once I shook her treat jar she came out from under the bed in the spare room, must be the coolest place in the house!
This evening, I popped to a friend’s house to help her with an assignment she is doing for a short university course which needs to be handed in this week.
And now it’s bedtime all over again, the days and weeks are going so fast at the moment.
A very low-key today! As so tired from the week and my late night drinking!!
Had a phone in the drawer kind of day, and didn’t get up very early as knew I needed sleep after going to bed at midnight last night and falling into a drunken stooper!
I had some work to do today so decided to just crack on with it before I got even more tired.
Mid-morning, I walked to the shop to get my Sunday paper before it go too warm.
Finished off my work while watching Wimbledon, I love sport so watch it at any opportunity I can, I especially like the big events such as Wimbledon and can’t wait for the Commonwealth Games to start later this month. Not just seeing it on the tellybox but actually going to watch some of it live.
Once, I finished my work and then snoozed on the sofa watching the end of the Men’s Wimbledon final.
Cooked some tea, and watched a bit more Tellybox, I’ve got so many programmes I’ve recorded over the last week or so that I’ve got lots to catch up on.
And now it’s bedtime! Need to start focusing back on my normal routines as lately my bedtimes have been slipping which is making me over-tired! As well as getting back into exercise too.
As it’s Monday tomorrow, I’m planning on wiping the slate clean and start again tomorrow!
Halfway through the year already, in a blink of an eye… where is the year going! As always the month of June has been a whirlwind of activity.
At the uni, the semester has now finished so no lecturing for me until the beginning of September but that doesn’t mean it gets easier as we are now in full-on planning and prep mode for next year.
During the month I did manage to get back to the gym a little bit as my knee still isn’t right but is a lot better than it has been, I’m taking things slow & steady to ensure full recovery over time.
At this time of year, many people are talking about summer holidays & time off work, I’m often asked if I’m having a holiday… I kind of dodge the question really as I get emotional about it. For years I’ve not had the budget to go on holiday so it wasn’t even in my consciousness to think about it and the other reason I don’t generally go on holiday is that I don’t have anyone to go with. And yes I could go on my own and I have done that before but ultimately it would be nice to have company!! I want to be able to escape my head and thoughts & which only really happens when I’m with others and I’m not willing to spend money on something I can do at home.
For quite a long time I’ve had to work a lot of hours to ensure that I earn enough to keep a roof over myself, as it’s just me who is responsible for paying all the bills so got used to being in hustle mode. And now that maybe I don’t need to hustle so much I could stop but in all honesty, I am scared to stop peddling, I work a lot as it silences the ache I have in my heart for something I desperately want which seems beyond my fingertips right now. The fact is a really love what I do both at the university as well as my business so often I don’t like feel like I’m working long hours, but recently a few people comment about how much I work which made me start questioning the hours I do.
I know that this type of working isn’t sustainable but right now I’m not quite sure how to change my mindset to allow me to get past these blocks, also feel like I’m not being true to myself at the moment, however, I’m not sure that that looks and feels like anymore so I just keep going in the hope that at some point something will change & life will feel a little easier.
Or perhaps my mindset will change & the world around me will change, I am a believer in the universe and how thoughts become things, it’s just so easy to say this and in practice, it is much harder to do so I shouldn’t really be surprised that I’m in this position.
The first thing to say is that I better get a move on with this post as I’ve literally got 10 minutes before the clock strikes midnight, well make that 9 minutes!
I didn’t go to the gym this morning as I felt like I just wanted a lie-in! Got woken by Sophiecat at some ungodly hour but that’s a given now.
Once I was finally up and awake I headed to the supermarket to do a food shop, very quickly as I needed to be back home by about 9am to get ready to go out.
And I managed it as I was on the bus into town at 10.07am! I met my friend and we went for a coffee before catching a train to a local city for a chilled lunch & a few drinks.
It was absolutely delicious, some of the best food I’ve had in ages. After lunch, we had another drink and then got the train home and very kindly my friend’s husband brought me home.
I did just feel like crashing on the sofa, however, my friend who lives near me asked if I fancied coming around for a drink as her partner was over & they were having a BBQ, so I thought I’d go for one and then come back, well it’s now 23.55 and I’m half-cut so more than one drink was had!! LOL
I’m getting used to Sophiecat’s routine now of the 4am wake up and going back to bed! Today I decided to sleep in a bit as still feel tired from the week.
Today I was at the uni, presenting our team at our open day. With the sun shining, the campus looked beautiful and welcoming. Overall it was a great day, I love talking to prospective students and their families about why choosing our university is good for them as well as an opportunity to meet other lecturers in different subject areas. However, after the event I did see a photo of me on social media, at first, I didn’t even realise it was me as I didn’t recognise the person in the picture, but once I did realise it was me, I honestly felt physically sick about the way I look and I know that sounds really shallow. I need to get a grip on it and work out a plan to shift the kilos of weight I’ve put on as just do not feel comfortable in my own skin.
I got home in fairly good time after work, I had planned to pop to the shops to get a few groceries but my shoes were rubbing my feet so didn’t fancy walking any more than I’d already done.
Once home, I thought it would be a sofa evening for me but my friend texted to ask if I fancied a G&T so popped to theirs for a couple of drinks which was lovely just catching up & putting the world to rights. Do feel a little bit squiffy if I’m honest! Have drank plenty of water so hopefully, I won’t feel too hungover in the morning.
Still got a lot of things playing on my mind, but have booked a therapy session in for the end of July so if I can just hold out until then I think I’ll be able to move a few things forward and break some of the mental blocks I’m having right now.
Lincolnshiregirl 