Life in Isolation Land

Oh Coronavirus... you are such a pain in everyone's arse.

Holidays postponed. Events cancelled. Daily life interrupted. Financial Struggles. Parents becoming teachers. Employees being furloughed. Unable to get essential supplies due to Supermarkets being raided for Toilet Roll, Flour, and Pasta.

There is not one person on the planet that has not been effected by one of these things.

The biggest disappointment for me has been my family not coming over. For 3 weeks in March-April my mum was due to come back to the UK with my brother Greg and his wife and kids to see the sights and so they could meet baby Henry.

Sadly due to Corona virus, Trump grounded flights to the UK and Europe about 2 weeks before they were due to fly out to see us. In some ways I'm grateful because it means that they can stay home and be safe, but I can't help but be disappointed.

Two of the three weddings we were meant to attend have now been cancelled, and a third one still being classified as 'maybe' going ahead in August as planned.

Both hubby and I had had several events that we were meant to attend- 10k races, concerts, comic cons, etc that have now all been postponed until 2021.

Not to mention that all of the plans we had surrounding Henry have gone to pot. We had an appointment to check out a Nursery in April and that got cancelled because childcare establishments closed, so we have no childcare set up for when I return to work after Maternity Leave. I haven't been able to take him to baby classes; we regularly attended baby yoga, and we had plans to sign up to Baby Sign, Baby Swim, and other development classes while he was still under the 1 year mark. Also socially, he isn't able to meet people-- other babies, friends, family, etc.

I swear when this ends he is going to be so confused as to why people other than mommy and daddy exist. :(

Who knows what is going to happen with the coming months? Who knows what state the world will be in when we go back to 'normal'. Will the global economy be in tatters? Will people finally start listening to the Extinction Rebellion about climate change knowing that while the world was in lock down, nature actually was better for it? Will we still be in lock down and I start working from home come September when my Maternity Leave is over?

There are so many uncertainties but all we can do is focus on the here and now. Be in the present moment.

I have resigned to the fact that this is the way life is now: Stay at home. Wash your hands. Wear PPE when you go outside and stay 2 metres away from people.

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change"

I can't change the government regulations to stay inside so I'm just gonna ride with it until this whole thing blows over. In the meantime, I am enjoying the life I have, at home, inside my own little bubble. Here are some of the things I've been doing:

• Writing: Getting back to my love of writing (or ranting) and using this time to express myself with the written word. It keeps my mind sharp, it documents my thoughts and feelings and it fills up the time with something productive
• Crocheting: Since my baby shower when I was gifted a 'Crochet your Own...' kit I have been obsessed with learning to crochet more and more things. I have thus far created:
1. A family of Jellyfish
   
2. Two baby Blankets
   
3. A full size adult blanket
   
   
4. Comfort Hearts for Corona virus victims & thier loved ones
   
5. A Tote Bag for all my DnD stuff
   
6. Teething biscuits
   
7. Baby Mittens
   
8. Several Baby Hats (for sale!)
   
9. A Yoda Hat for Smush
   
10. A baby headband for my newborn niece
    
• Scrap-booking: Ever since I recovered from giving birth, I have been making a 'YEAR 1' scrapbook for Henry. I've been ordering prints online from Bonusprint, they come in the post and I do a bit of scrap booking on occasion. I have no intention of carrying on scrap booking because I know life will get busy, but while life is a little quieter I have committed myself to doing a book just for his 1st year.
• Quiet Book: I had in my head that I could make Henry a quiet book/activity book/sensory book made mostly of felt for learning when he grows older. I saved loads of ideas on Pintrest, picked up supplies from Hobbycraft, and picked up bargain bin items whenever I saw something on sale that I could use later. Luckily I had enough supplies stocked up from thrift shopping before lock down commenced and so I have that to work on too.
  
• Catching up on Sleep: Believe it or not, it's been a big help to be able to sleep off those tired nights when Henry has been teething and in pain, or won't go back to sleep for whatever reason.
• Catching up on my Reading List: I have soooo many books that I've bought and never read and books that are still on my 'to buy/to read' list. I also signed up to Audible and other audio book services so I've been listening to books while my hands are busy working on crafting projects. Here are a few that are in my queue at the moment to buy/download/stream:
1. The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (I currently have 7 and 1/2 more of these books to read in order to have caught up on all 17 currently available...but there are still 4 more soon to be published in the series hahah)
2. Surrounded by Idiots (The Four Types of Human Behavior or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot be Understood) by Thomas Erikson
3. How The Hell Do You Write A Book by Vicky Fraser

• Catching up on my Watch List: ALL OF THE STREAMING SERVICES. Now TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime....there's alot to watch out there and sooooo much time to waste in Quarantine.
  
  
  

  
• 
• TIK TOK: Yes my 30-year-old bum is on tik tok with the children. But hey, I enjoy making funny little videos. It helps my need to be creative in terms of acting and improv, which I haven't done in nearly a decade.
  
• Video Calls for Social interaction: Being so far from my family I normally make a point of Skyping with my mum every Sunday. It's been a ritual of ours for nearly a decade since I moved to the UK. But now I'm video calling a lot more due to Social Distancing. I make it a point to create time in my schedule each week for these social encounters so I don't go mad: An exercise class on Zoom once a week, DnD Wednesdays, Saturday Pub Quiz, and the odd just chit chat with a friend. :)
  
• Yoga: Yoga has been my saving grace during lock down. Not only is it my only form of exercise at the moment, but it gives me time to meditate and focus on nothing else but how my body is feeling. This acts as my reset button, to check in with my body and reassess what I need in my life, what would make me feel good and happy. 

I know I had lots of time before the COVID-19 outbreak because I was on maternity leave, but now that Rob is furloughed and is home all the time, it means that I have more time to do things for me because I have someone to co-parent 24/7. It also means that Rob gets more time with his son to witness all the firsts that he might have missed if he was still at work during Henry's 1st year.

I see these as blessings in disguise and try to focus on the positives in this situation because there is no need to get worked up over things I cannot change.....Unless I need a healthy rant about something to get those rotten feelings out of me. Which I do alot. haha #SorryNotSorry

Controversial

We about to get political up in here...but with Memes.


With what's going on in the world, I see some pretty funny stuff on Facebook and alot of memes to express the funny in the world's dire situation. I've collated them here, with some feedback for fun.

What prompted this little rant blog was the Thursday Clap for Your NHS/Carers/Key Workers event that took place this evening. It has become a thing with Brits that every Thursday night at 8pm we clap for key workers in appreciation. I love this. Great idea, if not a little bit hypocritical in some cases because outside of a pandemic loads of people moan about the NHS, etc. But the thought is great overall.

This has been going on every Thursday and I'm kind of over it by now--not because I'm over the thought of it, but I'm over the competition of it all. It's gotten to the point where it feels like a 'mine is bigger/better than yours' scenario and everyone is vying for the title/award of biggest boner for the NHS. It started off with clapping. Then enthusiastic clapping and cheering. Then banging pots and pans. Then honking horns on cars. Fireworks came into play after that. I hear so many strange and new additions now to the 'clap for key workers' bit at 8pm on a Thursday, I'm worried that it's going to wake up my sleeping son.

*Sigh* Rant on THAT particular topic over....and with that I present to you the first of my topical memes:

Classic. 

This next one I will thank my mate Simon for posting on Instagram: 

There has been talk of Boris taking measures to lift lock down and that we will hear the final decree on Monday I believe. Simon had this to say in his post: 

"Working as a key worker I am feeling a lot of anxiety about the possible announcement regarding the easing of Lockdown. Considering the response to COVID was slow at best I don't see how they've managed to figure a plan when there are massive gaps in terms of schools and providers of support.

This picture sums it up. In my opinion the easing is being pushed by pressure from the wrong place: economic, not health"

I could not have said it better myself buddy. Boris could give a flying &£*k about the health of the British people. All anyone is worried about is the Economy. Hey guess what...the longer this goes on the harder the economy is going to tank and I hate to break it to you Boris, but alot of the world is in the same boat. Maybe if the UK had responded quicker to this pandemic and locked down sooner, we would be better off by now. People are already taking advantage of lockdown now, who knows what chaos will ensue when restrictions are eased. 

Which leads us right into the next part....i wouldn't say these are memes really (although somewhat comical) More like a slew of idiotic behavior I see on facebook, but it needs to be mentioned....

Can people use their effing BRAIN right now?!?!?! Either that or, Darwinism--do your thing and let Natural Selection take these morons away from us. Is this how the Rapture happens? Does half the population get wiped out from sheer stupidity?!  

"Live Free or Die"!?! ...okay then. *Cue death march*

Aaaaaaaand I think I've had my quota of ranting for today. Thank you and goodnight. 

My First Mother's Day (gifts)

Today I received two packages from my mother...one for me and one for little mush mush man. The first to arrive was a 'Happy First Mother's Day. You're the best mummy xx' baby grow for him to wear. The second was a delivery of flowers for me.

And they both came just in time for American Mothers Day (British Mothers Day was in March...don't ask me why there are two dates for this).

I had this realization in March, but I still haven't gotten used to the idea yet. Like many of the other mothers out there, I now get to celebrate Mothers day ever year...as a mother. It still feels foreign to me. I realize that I am a mother, and that I have a beautiful, healthy, baby boy --I can't exactly forget that when he's starring me down 12 of the 24 hours a day -- but something is still so surreal about it.

I mean...once a day, or at least once every other day, I find myself starring lovingly at this beautiful angel and thinking "How the £*%& did you come out of my vagina!?" and "I'm so glad I don't have to try pushing you out now. Look at the SIZE of you!"

In all seriousness...i do wonder how i birthed this child. It's one of those facts that still baffle me and until i think back and try to remember every detail, it almost seems like a dream because i can't remember how it felt being in the hospital. But then thinking hard the details come flooding back to me and I remember, 'oh yeah I did do that...weiiiiird.'

Other mums -- Does that strange sort of surreal feeling ever go away?

My Life in Pictures

Recently, I've been spending some of my Quarantine time going through old files on my computer. Clearing out duplicates & files I don't need anymore as well as organizing my files into folders so I can actually find ones I'm looking for! I've been going through my thousands upon thousands of pictures and came across loads that I had forgotten about.

I thought I'd share some of them for lols:

 A rather Grainy picture of Issy, Louise and I having SUSHI in Birmingham for my birthday one year. It's kind of become a tradition for me to want to just eat good food surrounded by my friends on my birthday and more often than not it's Sushi, because I LOVE sushi.

My Dad giving the kids 'Flying' opportunities. I want to say that's my niece Kaylee in the picture but I'm not 100% sure. I remember dad doing this for me when I was a little kid. He also used to take me (when I was little) and the grand kids 'surfing' when we were on vacation. When we went to a swimming pool, he would dive under water, we would 'stand'/float on his back while he coasted along the bottom of the pool. 

Rob giving my niece Hailey a ride on his shoulders. This was when we went home for Christmas one year and he kids were helping 'Uncle Rob' find clues during the Christmas game.

Another time we were in California, Rob reenacting the Lion King with my poor old kitty Twister. Still funny to this day.

One of the things I found adorable when moving to England was the idea of a 'kissing gate'. It's just a swing gate that lets people through fields but prevents livestock from getting through. The kissing thing is just because the gate doesn't latch and only 'kisses' one side of the gate post or the other depending on which way it swings. Still...I couldn't resist this artsy 'Kissing Gate Kiss Shot'.

 Me and my fellow High School Thespian Society Officers: Shawnie, Victor, Rachel and Ryan.

Me Performing The Box monologue from 'Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead' at an acting festival in high school.

 Me(In red) as Emilia from Othello I remember the actor who played opposite me as Iago was SCARY good. We did just the one scene for a festival in high school, but his energy was unbelievable. I felt exactly how Emilia would have...terrified and yet so in love with him.

One of my absolute favorite scene performances. It was a scene called 'Sure Thing' and I spent a lot of time yelling into this poor guy (Robert)'s face when rehearsing one monologue bit in this scene. In the script, we were 2 people on a date and whenever either of us said something the other didn't like we tapped a bell in the middle of the table and the scene would reset as if nothing ever happened. The scene would keep playing out further and further as we got 'better' at saying the right things.

One of the things I miss most about theatre besides the acting and crazy shenanigans was tech. I wish I had done more of it because I really did enjoy that side of the theatre. Although I think I found my true theatrical calling when I was Stage Manager for our 'kids' show in High School --orchestrating taking a whole show with sets and equipment to the local primary/elementary school was a Mammoth task that I will never forget.

 What I see as my crowning achievement in Theatre...when I auditioned for and got the lead role of Nancy in Oliver!

 It may come as a surprise, but I was not the best dancer when it came to musical theatre and not the most musically trained when it came to singing either. Although I auditioned for local musical productions, I lacked the training to even get into the chorus. :(

There was a production company that did musicals for under 18s that someone told me about. I didn't think they'd allow me to audition since I was a senior in high school and turned 18 that year. I auditioned and low and behold, I got in. The production company always double cast roles, since it was a cast of all children and the production would run for a whole week's worth of shows--6 shows total. When I auditioned, they ended up triple casting the role of Nancy BECAUSE OF ME. The directors said that my emotion when singing the audition song was so good they had to give me a shot.

There were 2 other girls who got the role, Valerie and Francesca, who were both FAAAAAAAR more technically trained than I was so it was a real confidence booster to be told that I had something special. Valerie was on the rise to becoming a pop singer so her voice was phenomenal and Francesca was one of those stereotypical theatre girls who ALWAYS, and I mean always, got the lead role that they wanted because they were a powerhouse triple threat.

Funny Story...the week leading up to the show, we were running blocking on stage for the show and because we were short on time, all three of us Nancys needed to run through a number at the same time on stage. At one point we had to walk up a set of stairs to the top of the platform, stand and sing our part, then continue off the other side of the platform and back downstage centre again. The platform rise was at the back of the stage and probably 12-15 foot high. 

Since the three of us were all walking the stage at the same time during this song there wasn't much room. I was so afraid of getting in Diva Francesca's way that I took a step back when we were at the top of the platform to let her walk past me to exit the other side and I stepped OFF the platform!!!!!! Luckily I fell onto the crash mat that was behind the platform, used during the 'bridge' scene in the actual play, so I walked away uninjured but it was something I have never forgotten. 

I think I've gotten away with story time....But it was fun having a walk down memory lane. Let me know if this was fun, if you want to see more random pictures from my life. Until then...here's one last one. Circa 2013....