A huge heartfelt ‘I’ve missed you all, I’ve missed writing and sorry for not being about much’. I feel this is like being at church in the confessional, “Dear father, it’s been 8 months since my last confession…”.
Okay so maybe it’s no quite so, but I do feel guilty a little for not being in touch sooner. It’s been a mare of a year to date and I honestly think the only thing keeping me sane is my family (most of the time!) and my lovely supportive ladies in the style club I’m part of. It’s funny how we turn to particular people or groups when we need a little pick me up from time to time, of which I’m sure we have needed one more than a little often during the past twelve to eighteen months. I know I’m not alone in feeling a bit weird about how things have panned out but we’re in this together and many of us have hit highs and lows during this time.
I’m not going to dwell too much on what’s been going on with the pandemic but I will just sum up the past few months for you so we can move on and look forward.
I read through a few of my old posts on a whim, I just somehow felt the need to check in and I’m glad I did as it’s spurred me on to engage with everyone again. I had been feeling quite down and had been finding it hard to et out of that blah feeling. You may know the feeling, the one that is difficult to describe but blah seems to fit in many ways. I think I needed the pick me up from others in a small way.
At the start of the year I posted about resolutions and setting small goals. I both succeeded and failed in those that I set! I did lose the stone I aimed to lose and then put it all back on again and more (story of my life!), and I managed to save a fair amount of money but ended up spending a bit of it on a newer car as my old one was 13 years old and although still going strong, Nissan Notes are practically bombproof – well childproof anyway, it was getting to a point where I fancied a change. I went for a more funky car this time around although if my boy keeps growing the way he is he’ll outgrow the back seats in a year! Oh well, best start saving again!
Anyway, it’s been crazy with work, I’m now teaching four subjects back to back day in day out with next to no prep time except the time I have at home which as any parent out there will experience is next to none. Covid is going around the school like wildfire and if I’m honest it’s not nice. I’m wary of it being coughs and colds season as at the back of my mind there’s the ‘it could be covid’ thought. I’m jabbed and although this makes me less worried it doesn’t make me invincible. I can still get it, it could still hit me hard and I could still infect someone else with it without knowing, but I could also get hit by a bus (always ensure you have clean underwear on as my nan used to say). I am staying careful and still masking up where needed, I’m keeping my distance and doing what I can to keep my family and others safe. It’s about being sensible and considerate to others which to me is good manners and common sense.
I’ve been checking in to friends and family on Instagram and Facebook as I’ve not seen some for a while, even though we’ve been out of lockdown for an age now. Things are the new normal and I’m adjusting to it, but time seems so lacking for me to squeeze in all the things I need and want to do. I’m organised but still it just seems to fly by! I love seeing what people are up to and I class myself as an avid people watcher.
Myself and hubby have recently discovered this joy together – at the beach. We usually try to pick a slightly overcast day and when the kids are at their grandparents for the weekend, we pop out to the beach, grab some chips and a hot drink and sit in the car nice and dry and people watch. It’s funnier on a dreary day, but nicer on a warm and sunny one as we can sit out and swap chips for ice-cream! It’s great just sitting there watching the world go by. It’s a nice time to switch off (as much as we can at least) from the world. I find it very therapeutic.
I used to love sitting at a cafe with coffee and cake and just watching passers by. I enjoyed seeing how people interacted with others, what they wore and even what they said – Shh! dont tell.
Whilst it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I just find myself fascinated by others. Are you a people watcher like me? I have a friend who likes to sit in a café, notebook and pen ready to make notes on ‘life’ as it goes by. It gives her inspiration for her teaching and allows her to engage with her students on a more realistic up to date basis.
It’s been a bit of a hard couple of weeks recently. My mum fell and managed to break her hip. sadly she had to wait over four hours for an ambulance by which time she was in so much pain, I can’t imagine how she was feeling. I have to say the problems aren’t the poor ambulance staff, it’s the mismanagement of the NHS in general. We have a wonderful resource at our finger tips and yet it’s been abused for many years by so many. Dad is missing my mum terribly, he’s not used to life on his own, and not being able to visit her is really playing on his mind. He calls her every night and is happier after talking to her. We’ll have to see how she goes with her physio to find out when she can come home. Hopefully soon.
Hope you and your families are all safe and well. Time for me to sign off for now.
Take care, stay safe
Becks Xo
My life and style over 40 