It’s been a couple of weeks again since my last update. Last weekend ended up a washout when I got a migraine at 9am on Sunday! That took me out for the day, I had to take a sick day on the Monday to recover and I’ve just been exhausted all week. I don’t know if I’ve had some kind of bug or if it was just usual pre-menstrual stuff but either way I’ve been good for very little for over a week!
Movement 🐌
The migraine and then the low energy week tanked my walking challenge stats! I only did 868 steps on the migraine day and didn’t break 4K for three days after that, so my average daily steps has suffered. It’s not too bad, though, I’m still above 7K at 7,397. On the walk to Modor we’re on a long stretch, so currently still in Amon Sûl (Weatherotop) at 315 miles.
My last run was 11 days ago, so I’m slipping on my Star Trek: Locutus of Borg virtual challenge too and because I forgot to pause my Garmin Coach I think I’ve made a mess of that training plan… if I have to restart it though, it’s fine. I’m not actually trying to run a 5K race in 12 weeks, I just wanted the guidance!
After I was feeling amazing in my last digest following my first 4K, and running all the way around the lake, this week has felt like a failure because my lack of energy has killed my progress. It’s reminded me why I decided that habit trackers and daily challenges don’t work for me. This always happens! I have 2-3 good weeks and then something happens (either my period or I get unwell) that collapses the routine (or breaks the chain), and I feel defeated because I still have that lingering “all or nothing” programming in the back of my brain.
I’m getting better at ignoring that, though. I’ll get back out running this week (tomorrow hopefully) even if I have to do more walking than jogging, and I’ll feel great again! I can also finally get back to my strength training now that all the bathroom stuff is back in the bathroom! It’s been nearly 2 months since I last did that!
Meater
Today I cooked a Mother’s day meal for both sets of parents and some siblings (7 of us), so I’m currently very worn out from that and it’s taken the whole day.
It was a good opportunity to test our new Meater wireless thermometer! We got sick of replacing cheap ones (I also have a bad track record of melting the plastic digital ones!), so we decided to splash out on a fancy one in the hope it’ll last longer. This one you can put inside the oven or the air fryer and it talks to an app so you know exactly when your meat is cooked and can take it out right away!
I tried it out on the roast chicken today, and it worked perfectly! The app notified me when it was ready to come out and rest, so the bird got to 74c and no hotter, and was perfectly cooked!
Now we need to test it in the air fryer!
IRL Shopping
Thursday, I had off work to go shopping with my Mum and sister for their wedding outfits. This was the consolation for buying my wedding dress online without involving anyone! It was a very tiring day, especially given I’d just got my period, so I wasn’t in peak condition for this kind of activity (physical, emotional and mental stamina all low!), but it was successful!
We got them both dressed in John Lewis, and I actually really enjoyed shopping in there. It has been years since I last went clothes shopping, and I’ve never been John Lewis shopper before. If I were going to a department store, it’d always be Debenhams (RIP) because it was more affordable and in a more convenient location, but John Lewis has so much lovely stuff that I can actually afford now (thanks to sharing living expenses now!).
I am getting sick of buying things online these days, and especially with the decline in the quality of clothes, I’d rather go to a shop and be able to look at the fabric and the stitching. We had been into Zara before and I find that shop so depressing (maybe more depressing than Primark?). It smells like chemicals in the shop, the fabric is nasty with shocking quality control, and the prices are not exactly cheap either! At least Primark has low prices so you expect the low quality.
John Lewis, in contrast, was clean and pleasant and full of beautiful clothes from high-quality brands. Whenever I finally do my ruthless wardrobe clear out (I have a pile of jeans to put on Vinted and bags to take to the charity shop) I think I’ll take myself for a shopping day in John Lewis for some nice pieces. I don’t mind spending more money on clothes if I feel like it’s worth it!
I did end up buying myself a new crocheted cardigan (I didn’t get the matching trousers!). I spied it when we went into the shop, and was still thinking about it on Saturday when I went into town with Fiancé to try suits again, so I popped back in and got it. It was £49 but it’s heavy and feels solidly made, it’ll go with many outfits, and I know I’ll wear it for years. I love it!
Fiancé successfully found a suit this weekend, too! He’s got a nice sage green one that matches the embroidered leaves on my dress, and the one in the shop for him perfectly, without needing alterations! So that was nice and easy!
Somehow getting my wedding dress was the easiest and the cheapest outfit so far (thanks to 30% off Black Friday sales!), though I do still need to get shoes so that’ll push up the cost.
I now need to order my wedding ring. After wading through pages of Etsy crap and AI generated images, I’ve found one hand-engraved with a celestial design by a real goldsmith that is exactly what I wanted. And I still need to practice my makeup and hair skills some more, but the wedding is still coming together nicely now.
Another success of the shopping endeavours is that I drove us in the new car and I managed to park it without too much drama! The reverse parking camera still confuses by brain, but I’m getting more used to it. I am very grateful they recently built a brand new car park in the city centre, which is large enough to accommodate bigger vehicles! There is no way we’d get the Ioniq 5 in any of the older multi-stories! The car park we used to use felt tight in my fiancé’s old Nissan Leaf, I don’t think you’d physically get the Ioniq up/down the ramps!
What else?
- The bathroom is finished! I will share some photos soon. It is everything we dreamed of, and we all love it, including the cats!
- Season finale of Severance! Holy moley… am I right?!
- I’ve watched more of Daredevil Born Again, the last episode was good because he did some Daredevilling at last, but otherwise I’m finding it quite dull… I don’t think I enjoy his broody schtick!
- We have been watching Westworld, which has been interesting. I never saw past the first episode originally, I find the premise of the park too disturbing, and I didn’t think the writing was particularly great… I still stand by this having watched 1.5 seasons (I don’t love the convoluted narrative technique!), but I am interested to see where it goes and I am more into the sci-fi element than the rape and violence in an Old West setting anyway, so relieved S2 has moved away from that!
- We’ve been into Westworld, so haven’t watched as much DS9 recently, but the other night we did watch the episode where Odo meets Holodeck character Vic Fontaine (the fantastic James Darren), who teaches him how to relax and finally go on a date with Major Kira! It was a very sweet episode, and very Star Trek! There really is nothing else like Star Trek!
- I finished a couple of books I need to review – Kala (fucking great) and My Lady Jane (also fucking great!). Currently I’m really enjoying on audio Witchcraft For Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix, and on Kindle I’ve got The Man With One Of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell, which is also really fun!
- I spent Saturday afternoon out in the garden doing some tidying up, moving my little plastic greenhouses to a sunnier spot and sowing lots of seeds to start indoors. Next week I think I need to get out and do some weeding, and probably try to dig out some of the Bears Breeches that are starting to grow again (which per RHS has become a nuisance because it was not managed well for the last 9 years…)!
- Still not touched any embroidery since Christmas! I am really getting the itch, I must make time!
Ugh, sorry to hear about the migraines. As if they themselves are not bad enough, the hangover that follows…
I’m impressed that you managed to get moving in the days after the migraine. I hate to think how low my daily steps are, even without a migraine. I’m hoping to be able to turn that around this month. You are inspiring me, but my energy (and sleep challenges) are not quite cooperating.
Debenhams is no more? What a shame. I did love John Lewis though. If you’re looking for another good option for clothes shopping, try Hobbs if there is one near you. If there isn’t, they do have some of their pieces in John Lewis too (or at least they did when I was still living in the UK).
My cat does that with drawers too. Except she is tiny, so by the time I got my phone to take a pic, she would have already been fully in the drawer with just her nose poking out, or would have jumped behind the drawer into the cupboard below 😆.
Thanks Nic, I don’t get migraines a lot.. like one a year feels like a lot but I’ve had a couple this year. I think it’s light that triggers me and the low sun this time of year. I think because this one hit me so early, as soon as my vision went spotty I could take a painkiller and get myself back to bed right away before it got really nasty. The hangover definitely had been feeling sensitive and wiped for a day though.
I’m happy I’m inspiring you! I’ve learned the “trick” is to try to do something, get outside for a walk but let yourself off on a shorter or easier walk if you just don’t have the energy, especially if you’re still struggling with sleep (trouble with the snorer?) at least you tried and you did something which was better than nothing at all!
Yeah Debenhams went under a couple of years ago, it still exists online but all the shops are gone.. so now every city centre has a huge empty building. House of Fraser shut a lot of stores too, but John Lewis is still hanging in. I think I did see Hobbs in there, they had a lot of bands I didn’t realise actually.
I have a photo of Kitler inside the drawer. There is a gap in the top drawer where the plumbing should go (but we only have a sink on one set) and she climber down that so I’ve just got her little face poking through 😂
Lucky you could kit that migraine so soon after the warning signs hit.
Yes, the trouble is with the snorer. But not always from snoring. He goes to bed late, gets up super early, doesn’t realise how noisy he is or doesn’t realise that it’s a bigger deal for me than for him because of both the type of work I do and because I can’t spend all day friday or all afternoon Saturday sleeping to recover. And honestly, I wouldn’t want to if I could. Thankfully I got a decent sleep last night, but after three nights in a row of disrupted sleep (starting with him coming home at 1am Monday morning, then having his alarm continually going off from 4.45 – 6am because he was feeling too tired to get up and go to work) I’m still feeling shattered and am almost at the point where I’m going to have to tell him this isn’t working. Our sleep patterns are just not compatible, even without the snoring.
That’s a shame about Debenhams. I hope John Lewis makes it through.
I have a photo like that of Shadow. I should dig some fun photos out of her and share them in a dedicated post sometime. And turn on block comments so that you guys can upload pics into your comments too 🙂