Thursday 7th July 2022

Although I decided that I wasn’t going to the gym today, I forgot to turn off my alarm, I did see if there were any spaces in the class this morning and there were but I’d already decided I wasn’t going…

I did a bit of work and then took my friend’s son to school as they had to leave for an early meeting and I was available to help out.

Once home I couldn’t get my head into any work as I knew that I had to get ready for a ladies networking lunch at 12pm, so pottered around the house & did a bit of tidying here and there.

The lunch was really lovely, I sat at a table with ladies I didn’t know so that was good to meet new people and eat a delicious lunch, the guest speaker was a young author who had recently published her own set of books celebrating successful women from our history such as Rosa Parks, Marie Curie and Coco Channel.

After lunch, I drove to a friend’s house for a catch-up, haven’t seen her for years, not just because of COVID but our lives got busy and before you know it years have gone by. I’d seen her daughters at the lake I swim at recently so made contact to sort out coffee.

I didn’t get home until gone 5pm and by this point, I was pretty hot and sweaty as it’s been a belter of a day today in the UK and I’d been wearing quite a tight dress, the weather is warming up nicely for the weekend & next week. YAY!!

Haven’t done much this evening apart from having a small supper and watching a bit of tellybox, my head is so full right now I will admit I’m not really watching the programme more just staring at the screen and in my own head/thoughts. On Saturday I’m going to another city local to me for lunch with a friend who I trust so am hoping I can have a good chat with them about my situation to help ease my head whirrings.

Wednesday 6th July 2022

Had planned on going to the gym today but thanks to my late night reading last night I got up, cancelled my place and went back to bed.

I know I probably sound like a broken record but I feel extremely tired once again, it’s the story of my life really!

Anyway, today was a pretty light day work-wise, I had to pop onto campus to see a colleague and then met a friend for a coffee and catch up.

Came home and made some progress on a conference I am organising for later this year as well as got some feedback on another little business venture that I’m trialling (And I wonder why I’m tired!!).

I had booked to go swimming this evening but in the end, I just couldn’t face even driving to the lake! And I spoke too soon about my knee as today it’s been really achy, to a point I’ve taken some ibuprofen to try to ease it a little (it has to be bad for me to resort to painkillers).

I was planning on going to Intervals in the morning but decided that with my knee playing up today it might be a good idea to rest it again! Went on the app to cancel my booking to find that I hadn’t even booked in and the session was already full so that helped my decision, if I wake up and my knee feels ok, I’ll do a session at home.

Off to bed now as my eyes are sore and red from tiredness. We go again tomorrow! xx

Tuesday 5th July 2022 (Written 06/07/2022)

Gosh, where is my head at, as I was heading to bed last night I remembered that I needed to write my blog post before I went to bed, that was when I was downstairs drawing the curtain, shutting the blinds & double-locking the door, by the time I got to the bedroom upstairs it had totally slipped my mind and I only remembered morning today that I didn’t actually do a post yesterday!! Gutted to lose my posting streak which was up to 181 days of posting!!

Anyway, this says a lot about my head right now! My folks left early yesterday morning to make their way home to France. As much as it was challenging while they were here, I felt guilty as soon as they left for being short/snappy with my mum.

I had a meeting with an old work colleague who is looking for a coaching client while they are doing a coaching qualification, I’m always willing to help people out like this as I know how hard it is to find volunteers to do coaching sessions. When I was doing my coaching qualification I had to do 100 hours of sessions.

Once home, I was on a bit of a go-slow as didn’t sleep well when my folks were here so the tired hit by early afternoon and gave up on work and sat and watched Wimbledon instead. I had planned to have an early night but ended up not turning the light out until 11pm as was reading a book and was close to the end & I didn’t want to put it down until I found out how it ended.

Monday 4th July 2022

Happy 4th July to any of my American followers xx

Another week beckons and just like every other it feels full on! My parents are still with me but haven’t been too challenging today.

I went to the gym this morning and when I got back they still weren’t up so had a coffee in peace. Did a movement that pulled my knee last time and it was all good so finally think it’s getting better properly now.

We had some breakfast then headed out to get a few things they needed before leaving tomorrow, which included fuel for their car which meant they had to drive! Now, I’m not a great passenger in cars generally and tend to be a bit jumpy, it’s not that I’m scared of others driving I just tend to drive myself a lot so just not used to being a passenger, anyway, with my parents driving a French car, I was sat where I usually would but as a passenger and my dad’s reactions aren’t as they were so it was a little hairy at times so I was glad to get home if I’m honest.

The rest of the day we’ve all been doing a few jobs here and there around the house, overall it has been nice to see them but I’ll be happy when they are gone and I get my home back and crack on with what I need to do to make my life successful.

Sunday 3rd July 2022

A bit of a lie-in this morning as it’s Sunday! And got some respite from my folks as went to the lake for a swim!! Did a 1km swim in 40 minutes, not very fast I know, but for me, it’s not about speed or distance really, it’s just about being in the water.

I’ve made the decision to not take part in The Hour event which is next Saturday as I’ve still not done any running on my knee and don’t want to cause myself a more severe injury by taking part in a competitive event. I’ve emailed the organiser to say I won’t be participating and they’ve kindly offered me a place at their next event in August but think I’ll have to decline that too as don’t think I’ll be ready to do it.

After the swim, I came home and set about cooking a roast dinner for us all. Roast dinners are one of my favourite meals and I usually cook one every other Sunday. My mum helped a little although it was a hindrance having her constantly hovering near me!

This afternoon, I escaped into my office to do some work, I’ve finally just about caught up with my client work, so this week I’m hoping for a quieter week and being back on track next week. I do have to tackle my office though as it’s a complete state right now with piles of paper and other bits everywhere.

My knee is feeling a lot better this week, although it is still painful during the night when I roll over in my sleep to a point it wakes me up so thing isn’t right.

Although I’m on annual leave Mon & Tues this week, I am counting down to my leave at the beginning of August as I’m actually going away for a few days which I’ve not done for year, not even due to Covid, I’ve just not been in a position to go away.

Saturday 2nd July 2022

Went to Intervals this morning, the first time at the gym this week! Was pretty tough but I did it!

Got home at about 8.30am and my parents had just gotten up, so we had some breakfast and watch some tellybox.

Mum decided that she was going to mow the lawn, although as she is used to a petrol mower I didn’t feel comfortable with her using my electric one in case she ran over the cord, so in the end, I ended up mowing the lawn as she did some weeding! To be honest, I much prefer the garden being wild as now with the lawn mown it looks soul-less but I wouldn’t have got any peace from her if I had said that.

She is so judgemental and critical of how I live my life and constantly makes digs about stuff, this hurts a lot as I always thought your parents should love you unconditionally but that’s not the case for me! I simply don’t live up to her expectations (she is in her late 70s and can’t understand why I’m not married with kids, I can’t understand that either!!). I’m just willing the hours away before they leave so I can get back to living the life I want without her comments.

Only 2 more days and they will be gone and hopefully, I won’t have to see them again for about 6-8 months! Some people might think that I should be grateful that they come and see me but I’m not, they make me feel like shit with their judgements & comments, I’m at a time in my life when I’m having to deal with their parenting through therapy & support from friends and quite frankly I could do without it.

Friday 1st July 2022

Yay, birthday month!!

A 4am wake-up from Sophiecat & I fed her but then I decided to cancel my gym booking and have a lie-in, eventually Sophiecat got bored of meowing and let me sleep gone 8am, which is good as I clearly need my sleep at the moment, I do feel mentally exhausted most days.

The first day with my parents, we haven’t done much really! Popped to the shop to buy some food which took hours and then this evening we went out for a meal at a local Indian restaurant which was delicious, I’d not eaten there for well over 3-4 years but it was as good as I remember.

I am doing my best not to get irritated by them and I’ve had to take some really deep slow breaths to stop myself from being short with them, my mum in particular. This is good learning for me about being tolerant of others!

I’m definitely going to the gym in the morning as I need some space from them as well as move my body for only the 2nd time this week.

Thursday 30th June 2022

Another month draws to the end and it’s just one calendar month until my birthday and I will have completed 365 blog posts! The transformation bit of this blog has kind of taken a back seat recently as I’ve been focused on purely just living! Am a bit gutted about letting thing slip but I guess if I look back at the end of this challenge I probably will be quite surprised how far I have come.

Today, thankfully after feeding Sophiecat at 4am, she let me sleep in to gone 7am so that was very much needed.

I was at home today working which was really nice as feels like an age since I was at my desk for the day.

I had planned to do some housework in preparation for when my parents arrived but in the end I didn’t get around to it as got stuck into work and before I knew it they were here.

They are with me until next Tuesday and I’ve taken annual leave from the uni to spend time with them although I’m not sure what we will be doing as when asked their reply was “nothing”, it’s going to be a long few days, perhaps I need to do nothing but I’m not that kind of person. I’m am framing it in my head that I’ll have a nice time with them but know it will be testing and challenging as we don’t have the best of relationships.

Wednesday 29th June 2022

I think all the long days are taking their toll on me as I’ve had a headache all day, nothing major just that dull pain that won’t go away, I don’t particularly like taking medication so have done everything I know how to stop it naturally but have just popped a couple of Ibuprofen to see help me sleep.

Another full-on day, I skipped the gym again today to get some work in before I headed to the uni, my boss is now on holiday for a couple of weeks so has left me a few jobs to do while they are away, I did offer so don’t mind at all, however, I am now also off until next Friday so I wanted to get a few things done before I finished too.

Then after work I went for a swim at the lake, I could have easily have skipped it with my headache but knew that I’d instantly regret it if I didn’t go, it was pretty quiet and I did 3 small loops lost in my own thoughts which was really needed and I find just being in the water cathartic.

On the way home I quickly popped to the supermarket as wanted to grab something quick for tea as well as getting a few other essentials! My parents are arriving tomorrow so didn’t want to buy too much as we’ll do a shop when they are here so I can get what they want to eat.

Got home, stuffed my face as was so hungry and then had a WhatsApp video message with a friend who lives down south!

Then I caught up on some telly as not actually sat on my sofa since Sunday really and then I don’t think I sat there very long on that day either! And now it’s 22.47pm which is late for me so bedtime is calling, I’ve called my intervals session in the morning as simply want to try to get a lie-in! Hopefully going to bed slightly later, Sophiecat might sleep in later in the morning too!! Fingers crossed.

Tuesday 28th June 2022

Phew, what a day!

Started working at 6am to try to catch on client work, then drove 45 miles to an event I was invited to about healthy communities & economic prosperity! I was given a stand space in their exhibition bit to sell my services to delegates so I never miss an opportunity like that.

The day was amazing, so many like-minded people in the room really makes you feel that change can happen, it won’t be easy but with strong wills and collaboration, I believe we can make a difference to the people in the county I live.

While I was at the event, a client emailed chasing some work so as soon I got home at around 4.50pm I was back at my desk doing that work and just about finished 10 minutes ago, haven’t even stopped for food, just grabbed something out the fridge and ate it at my desk as I’d still be here in about an hour if I didn’t do that I am simply running out of steam now to do anything productive.

After tomorrow I’ve got some time off my uni work with my parents visiting so am looking forward to having some downtime from work hopefully, although, I’m more likely going to use the time to catch up on admin which has slipped massively in the last few weeks and months. I also need to sort my office out as it’s a complete state, especially as yesterday I was looking for things for my stand today and have piles and piles of paperwork everywhere which needs sorting.