A Busy and Reflective Week W/E 20th April 2024

This week, I was only scheduled to work two shifts towards the end of the week, so I was looking forward to having a few days to catch up on things at home.

As usual, the week started off with a dog walk on Sunday morning, but I didn't need to go to work afterwards, which was a treat. We dropped into the allotment on the way home and I did a bit of pottering. 

There are three vacant plots on our site at the moment. Apparently, inspite of there being a long waiting list for plots, no one has yet taken them. They would prefer plots elsewhere in the borough. Seems a shame. I hope they find someone to work them soon, as they are going to seed and it seems such a waste.

When I got home, I made a nice weekend lunch and did a bit of sewing. It wasn't long, however, before I started to feel very tired and ended up going back to bed for a nap. I think all the working last week took it's toll and I was pretty exhausted. I felt better for it though.

Anyway, later on Sunday, I applied for another college course starting in a couple of weeks. It's the same course I applied for a few weeks ago, but it is being run at a different campus. It's a bit further to go, but if I want to do it, I don't see the point in waiting, I may as well just get on with it and do it now. I'll need to see what happens and whether I get offered a place first.

On Monday morning, I woke up to find that I'd been given a couple more shifts at work this week, starting that afternoon. It meant that I couldn't go out of town to do the weekly shop, so I had to stay local. Before heading out to do the shopping, I did my first Couch to 5K run of the week. I was a bit nervous about whether I'd be able to run for a full 3 minutes, as I'd never done it before. In the end it wasn't too bad. I had to do two 90 second runs and two 3 minute runs, alternating between the shorter and the longer runs.

Once I'd done the shopping and unpacked it, I just had time to make some lunch and then had to get ready for work. Work was okay. I don't usually work in the afternoons (save for on Sundays), so it seemed a bit quiet at first, but got busier.

On Tuesday, I went to my usual class and then after lunch, I headed out of town to get some bits that I couldn't get locally. I got an email from the college I'd applied to telling me I needed to attend an enrollment day on Wednesday afternoon, to enrol on the course I wanted to do

As a consequence, Wednesday was a busy day. I did my second Couch to 5K run in the morning. It was the same format as the run on Monday, which was okay. When I got back from the run, I had a shower and got ready for work later in the evening. I needed to go to the college enrollment day and thought I might have to go straight to work from there if it was busy, so I decided to go there dressed ready for work.

I took public transport to the college, as I didn't know what the parking situation was. It was a bus and then a tube journey, which took approximately an hour. I got enrolled on the course, which starts next week. I will need to attend for a few hours one night per week, on Tuesdays. I also found out about the parking whilst I was there and applied for a permit for the duration of the course (it's an 8 week course). Parking is free and it will only take me half an hour to drive there, so that will be a lot easier. 

Work on Wednesday night was quite steady, but busy. We got to leave a little earlier, which was good.

On Thursday, I had a day off, which I was happy for. I took the dog out for a walk and then went off to the gym for an hour or so for a good workout. It was nice not to be at work. I could get on with a few jobs around the house, that I hadn't had time to do in the previous few days. I also ended up taking a nap, as the busyness of the week so far had taken it's toll on me. I felt a lot better for it.

OH ordered the new shed today. There's a 3 week wait for it to be delivered, so he will need to finish the fencing and prepare the ground in readiness in the next couple of weeks. 

In the evening, OH and I watched some TV, we're currently watching the new series of Race Around the World, which starts off in Japan and is really interesting.

On Friday, I was working in the evening, so I got up and got out for an earlyish run. It was my last run of Week 3. The runs were the same format all week. I thought they changed up this week, but I think it must be next week where you do different runs within the same week. I ran for an extra minute on the last run, making it a 4 minute run, as I know we'll go up to 5 minutes next week and I wanted to see how it felt to go for longer. It's made me a little less apprehensive going into next week. 

I am now thinking of buying some running trainers. At my age, I don't want to risk injury, so I think it might be the best thing to do.  I'm not spending silly money, but hope to find something that does the job and gives me good support. I tried on OH's expensive running shoes and the cushioning was amazing. I won't be spending as much as he did on them though.  

Although I struggle with running, I do like the sense of freedom I get from going out running and going wherever I please, often changing direction if a path looks too busy or the whim takes me. I also like looking around me at nature whilst I run. It's very energising. I just wish the weather was a little better.

Just before I headed into work on Friday, I got a call from the college telling me the course wasn't going ahead next week, as not enough people had enrolled. I may still be able to do it in September. I figure it's probably for the best, as I currently have a lot going on with training to do the 5k run and work. I was disappointed though, as I was looking forward to it.

I enjoyed work on Friday night, as I was working in my favourite section, so it passed quickly. There were a few things that happened through the evening that I didn't enjoy so much, but I won't go into them here.

On Saturday, I was due to start work at 3pm. OH did the dog walk before he had to go to a cycle race for most of the day, so I was able to get up slowly, do some weights and just generally have a chilled morning. I needed it really. Life has been a bit hectic lately and I needed some time just to reflect and process some (not mentioned here) stuff that has happened in the last couple of weeks. There's always stuff going on in the background of our lives and it's good to get time to actually think about it.

I had a long shift at work on Saturday, which qualified me for a break, so I made a baked potato with tuna and sweetcorn mayo filling to heat up in the microwave on my break. It was much appreciated when I did get my break.  Work was super busy, but it passed quickly which was good.

I was glad to get to the end of the week this week and I am hoping for a slightly less busy week next week, in which I can get more done at home. I hope you've had a good week.