Day 18 - Marmie

It's my Marmie's 71st birthday today.  I've called her that for a long time, don't know where it came from but it's stuck.  This time last year, I was just coming out the other side of a nasty virus that had put me in bed, but I had organised a small party for my Mum and her friends and I wanted to decorate the room nicely for her to celebrate.   I put up tons of photos, some balloons and a nice cake.  It took me an hour and half to complete but I was so pleased with how it turned out.

When Mum entered the room she didn't even notice anything! It took her a good few minutes to work out that there were balloons, then she started noticing photos and her cake and then she became so overwhelmed she didn't know what to say, this never happens. 😉

Once everyone had arrived I had planned to leave after taking a few photos but I kept being asked to stay, so I did. 😊

Think the smiles speak for themselves 😄

The whole thing was a brilliant success and was enjoyed by everyone.

Obviously this year is very different.  I had arranged for flowers and a card to arrive today and me and the boys sang happy birthday over Facetime first thing.  Not Ellis as he was still in bed.  I also spoke to her later on in the day too and she seemed happy. 👍

I'm known for being a bit loopy, crazy, mental, loud, different or however you want to put it and if you wondered where I get it from, look no further. 😂

Miss seeing you but can't wait to get out the other side of all this and go for that afternoon tea I've been promising you for about a year!  Stay safe, stay home! 💕

I think I mentioned yesterday that Leo was a bit off.  That continued today too.  He was so tearful and unsettled this morning and didn't really know what to do with himself.  Everything was kicking off with his brothers.  At one point Leo sat outside the front of the house so I used the opportunity to have a chat with Ellis and Oscar.  I just explained to them that clearly Leo is struggling and not coping well and that we need to help him and look after him rather than tease or mock him.  They took the little chat on board.  Oscar apologised and Ellis was very kind and helpful.  Calm restored.

Leo came back in the house saying he'd experienced what it had been like to be homeless!  Bless him.

Each day I am trying to put together a short list of things I'd like to achieve that day.  I put at least one chore, speak to someone, listen to podcast, read a chapter of my book, sort paperwork, play outside with boys and a workout.  The Jo Wicks thing was on again this week but I decided to get out and try having a run (jog).

I didn't have any expectations of how well I would do but set off quite quickly and felt okay.  The weather was perfect, not too hot, cold or windy and I managed to do a 5k run in half an hour which is great considering I haven't ran since June!  I hate running though, and it hates me just as much.  I end up with sore everything! Hip flexers, back, shin splints, knees, ankles, boobs, you name it, it aches.  I think I'm going to keep it up though as I enjoyed being out in the fresh air and it gives me a break from the noise at home and should keep my fitness up for when we get back to finish off our netball season. ✊👏

Jogging along the cycle path I spotted a couple of familiar faces.  It's so unreal to see people in the flesh!  It feels like years! They were cycling in the opposite direction to me but we reached out to each other (way more than 2 metres away) and it almost felt like we'd met 😂  See you soon Nic and Harry x

I spent most of my afternoon chatting to a couple of friends on Facetime.  It was really nice to have a proper catch up but in the evening I had a niggly headache.  I think probably not enough sleep, keeping my sports bra on all day and lots of talking (which I'm usually pretty good at) had taken its toll.  Also the noise at home today was a lot.  I'm going to sort that out tomorrow somehow as I can't cope with it.

I learnt today that I can still jog a 5k in half an hour, yippee!  I'm missing, shockingly, the boys doing the after school activities and I am grateful for flowers and the blue sky.  My favourite colour. 💙