I've Reached A Huge Milestone

My hard work is starting to pay off I normally write these posts by going through my week and what’s been happening, but I am far too impatient to write a whole post before I can get to my exciting news. Some of you may have already seen, that I have had my first article published on Medium. For some, this may not be a big thing, but for me, it’s pretty huge. Back in 2017 when I started writing this blog, I was too afraid to share with anyone other than close friends. Who would want to read anything I wrote? I certainly would not have imagined even having the courage to think about submitting my writing to a publication. Writing has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, so I’m feeling pretty bloody good right now. It’s been a good week overall anyway. The husband and I celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary last Friday and we went to Stratford Upon Avon for the weekend. Stratford Upon Avon is beautiful and our hotel was right next to the river Avon. The sun was shining and once we had unpacked our bags we sat by the river with a glass of wine.

We had booked a table at Loxleys for dinner and when we arrived, the staff were wishing us Happy Anniversary and had even written us a card, which I thought was a beautiful touch. We enjoyed scallops and chateaubriand which were delicious. Toward the end of the evening, I heard a song playing in the restaurant, which sounded like a version of the song we had for our first dance, we asked the waitress, who confirmed it was. This song isn’t very common and we always struggle if we request it anywhere so it seemed, to me, quite magical to have it playing on our anniversary. On Saturday, we took ourselves to Warwick Castle. The husband and I do quite enjoy a castle and I have to say, I was very impressed. The castle itself was huge, the grounds were beautiful and there were lots to see and do for all ages. We even saw some baby ducklings, although this year, we were safely on dry land — no boats for me after last year’s near-death experience. The highlight for me was the birds of prey show. It was amazing! The birds flew amongst the crowd and one, which just happened to be the biggest of them all flew right over my head as I sat on the grass, I had to lay down as it flew so close! On Sunday, we had breakfast, went on the big wheel, saw the stunning view of the surrounding area and then we went to the butterfly house, where you walk through a tropical forest with waterfalls and pools of fish and butterflies fly freely around you, they do like to land on you too.

Toby was very happy to see us when we got home later that day and got his revenge on Monday by coming into bed for cuddles several times. In the end, I got up and made myself a cup of tea and read my book, which I managed to read in a day. Between You & Me by Lisa Hall, it’s VERY good. On Tuesday I went to Essex to get my hair done. On the drive home I was thinking about how lucky I am and how grateful to have had all of this time off, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going back to working again. The universe must have heard me as a few hours later, I got a call saying my start date had been pushed back again, it would now be July. There was no meltdown this time and I am now beginning to wonder if this job is meant for me. On Wednesday, I woke up early again, I took myself off to the shops to buy some baking bits and set about making a Victoria sponge, some chocolate orange brownies & some biscoff fudge for my brother’s 10th-anniversary bbq on Thursday.

By 10 am it was all baked, the kitchen had been cleaned and I made myself a cup of tea. When I sat down, the early mornings finally caught up with me and I was shattered, but I had a counselling session at 1 pm. I had planned to walk, but there was rain forecast so I drove. Annoyingly, it didn’t rain! Just as I think I have nothing left to talk about in my sessions, something else crops up and I find myself surprised at how much I try to bury. I come home and discuss it with the husband and then run myself a bath and do my nails. By 7 pm my eyes feel like roller blinds, so after dinner, I put myself to bed.