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Autumn has arrived

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Brrr...cold days and nights have arrived at last. I love cold, crisp, sunny autumn days. I love to sit by the window with the sun warming my face, drinking coffee and reading a book or a magazine. It is a delicious feeling knowing it is cold outside but feeling warm and cosy. I can while away many hours sitting, contemplating. It is my therapy. Autumn is my time to rejuvenate. As I watch the squirrels collecting nuts from the table to store away for colder winter days, I collect my thoughts and store them in boxes inside my mind. I have a 'reflection box' where I ponder conversations I have had that day, people I have seen, friends, family or just random people I have seen walking down the road. My 'feelings box' is where I store my moods, sensations, my impressions of people, sights and sounds. I also have boxes for regrets, aspirations and a final one, which I keep locked, is for all those thoughts that can darken my soul. Compartmentalising my thoughts in this way helps to keep them in some sort of order and not muddled up. It's a bit like keeping your socks and underwear in different drawers, it makes them easier to find and sort out.

Permalink 1 comment (latest comment by Gill Burrell, Wednesday, 10 Nov 2021, 13:31)
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Lockdown lunches

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The one thing I have really enjoyed working from home during lockdown is lunchtime. My husband has been furloughed but I am still working. Every day at 12 pm prompt, we meet in the kitchen and together we make lunch. We are fortunate to have a great butchers and deli near us. My husband rides up there on a Monday morning and comes back with ham, cheese, sausage rolls, quiches and anything else that takes his fancy and then through the week we devour it for lunch. When I worked in the office I never took a lunch break, I always ate at my desk and it is so refreshing to take time away from the screen and have a chat, a nice cup of coffee (I have a Nespresso machine) and lunch and just unwind. I will miss this time terribly once we are back at work. 

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The Menopause and Studying

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For the past few months I have been suffering from what I thought was anxiety. I would wake in the middle of the night and my chest would feel very tight and adrenaline would be coursing through the whole of my body. I would occasionally feel very hot and couldn't cool down even when I threw the covers off. I would wake up in the morning feeling like I had run a marathon. I've never really suffered from poor sleep, quite the opposite in fact. I could fall asleep even before my head hit the pillow and eight hours later I would wake up feeling refreshed. Now I wake up feeling like I have gone 10 rounds with Muhammad Ali. I've put on weight and my skin feels very dry. 

It has affected my studying to some degree. Because I work full time I can only really study in the evening and at weekends. Now when I get home from work all I want to do is get in my pyjamas and veg out. The last thing I want to do is study. I can't seem to focus for any length of time. I've made an appointment to see the doctor but I really don't want to take any tablets. I have also been searching the internet to find some natural ways to help with the symptoms. There is so much information out there it's really hard to know where to start. I will start with my diet, limit my caffeine intake and cut out other stimulants and see if that makes any difference. It will be hard to cut down on caffeine, I do love my coffee.

Hopefully the symptoms won't last forever and my body will get used to its new normal soon. in the meantime I will have to adjust how I do my studying, little bite size chunks in the evenings and more studying at the weekends. 

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Post Christmas Study

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Ok, Christmas is over, time to get back to studying. Mother-in-Law deposited back to her base in Brighton, number one son sent on his way leaving me £100 poorer, "just to tide me over" he says, "I'll pay you back", yeah right, I'll add it to the tab! Number two son still has another week of leave but spends most of the day in bed recuperating after nights out and, finally, husband has gone back to work. I now have time to myself. And yet, I find myself tidying up, hoovering, polishing, ironing and watching Netflix. Stop procrastinating Lisa, get you arse into gear!! Coffee first though with my new Nespresso coffee machine and milk frother, can't study without a coffee by my side. 

Does anyone study over Christmas? I had all good intentions of doing so but there was always an excuse, another mince pie to eat or a large glass of wine to drink. Visitors coming and going, phone ringing, grandchildren running through the house, how am I meant to study with all that going on. Order has now been restored and now I need to go through my study plan and put together a timetable for the next month. My 50th birthday is half way through January so I will need to factor in my celebrations too. That's one weekend written off, but you are only 50 once.  Best get a wriggle on. I'll let you know how the celebrations went. 


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