Level 3 Lockdown Day #3

Wow three days of Level 3 already, the past couple of days have flown by, thankfully.  I was beginning to think that all the clocks had permanently stopped working, but happily this was not the case.  Was so good having a reason to wake up and get up on Tuesday, I hadn’t realised how much I missed that.  And going into work, wow, just so good, and knowing I could stay there all day was awesome.  Ken and I both had massive grins on our faces when I walked in lol.  I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have enough work to do as I was only doing half days at home and was keeping up, but it’s amazing the small things you can do at the studios that fill in a day.  Mostly recording and editing shows, and I’m not even mad at Ken for giving me all the ick or challenging to edit people, not yet anyhow, am just glad to be back and chatting with people.  Have also done some shows for NZ Music Month as that starts tomorrow.  We have a pretty good deal going where Ken aka Big Daddy is gonna do shows that feature the older kiwi music and me aka Everybody Loves Jill is doing shows with the more recent (mainly past 20 years) kiwi music.  Suits us both very well which is great.  You may wonder why I am called Everybody Loves Jill, well when looking for my theme tune the only song I could find that wasn’t Jack and Jill was called Everybody Loves Jill and yeah, it just went from there and now I am known as Everybody Loves Jill when I am doing a music themed show lol.  It totally doesn’t hurt that I think everyone should love me anyhow so it plays well into my personality as well lol.  I also made the kids show for Saturday, if you want to have a laugh either tune in at 8am on Saturday or look up Kidnappers Kidz on our website after 9am on Saturday and you will hear me as Penelope the Pixie, high squeaky voice and all.  It’s a bit of a laugh and lots of fun hehe.

Today I learnt something very very impt, apparently if you have more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day this affects (lowers) your immune system.  This is super impt as I always figured any alcohol would not be good for it, or at the very least it would be 2 per week, the 2 per day feels rather generous.  But since a nutritionist told me I think it must be valid and true.  Also do you know how many attempts at spelling it took to get spell check to realise I was trying to spell nutritionist???? So many, so so many.  Spell check is only good if you can vaguely spell a word to start which is sometimes so annoying, it should just know!  Anyhow, back on topic, doing that show over the phone was quite funny cos Heather couldn’t see me pulling faces when she was listing the vegetables we should be eating at the moment, yet she still knew I was pulling faces, cos I always do lol.  

So my week so far, Tuesday went into work.  Was really good.  And I figured out a fix to the computer issues my computer was having which was so good.  It was getting rather frustrating and if I had been at work and able to try things here and there I prob would have fixed it a week or so ago.  Tuesday evening I didn’t really do anything.  Wednesday, work again, yay.  Left early to go for a decent run.  Now that it is getting darker earlier I need to leave work a bit earlier to get in a longer run as the street lights aren’t that great around my area and as I don’t have company while running I just feel more comfortable being home when it gets dark.  The chances that anything bad would happen are slim, but they are even slimmer if you don’t take the risk hehe.  Today Ken and I both thought it was Friday, and we both were mega procrastinators, not that we had anything bad to avoid we just didn’t feel like being there.  Tomorrow should be interesting…. Tonight I plan to just chill, I have already had dessert, may have dinner later, or more dessert, the options are totally open hehe.

Glenny is enjoying not being an assistant anymore.  He says he is much more suited to ‘guarding’ my place than assisting me work.  And to be fair he aint that great at assisting so it wouldn’t be hard to be better at guarding lol.  I think he just likes doing his own thing and chilling out while I am at work, earning the money that lets us stay living here.  But hey I can’t really complain cos my stuff is always safe when I get home, maybe not where I left it but it’s still here so I can’t claim that he aint doing his job.

I have also started a quiz for my 35^th birthday, as my gift to you all :) Yes I may have been bored the other night and was looking for something to do, turns out this was it hehe.  If you would like to see a specific kind of question topic included just let me know and I will see what I can do :) It will be released on my birthday so you do need to be patient, however there is also plenty of time for you to do some study, 94 days to be exact hehe

Lockdown Day #33

Should’ve been at Lions tonight, with a dinner provided, instead I stayed home and cooked my own dinner.  Not quite the same really.  But we have made it to the last day of official lockdown.  Congrats to us.  I hope we mostly have our sanity intact, or in my case no less sanity than I started with, which may be questionable, depending on whether you think holding complete long conversations with a stuffed toy including laughing at stuff he says is sane or not.  I think it is sane enough which really is all that matters lol.  I said earlier this was the last official day of lockdown, I say official day as technically nothing much changes tomorrow for a lot of people, and I have heard level 3 being called lockdown with takeaways which is not far off really.  For me I’ll be going in to work, but to be fair that was coming anyhow whether the levels changed or not, I was already going in more often and for longer by the end of lockdown as I wanted the company.

For me the last day of lockdown was a pj day.  It started out as one, as many of my wknds do, and I was planning to get changed when I was going to go do something, however I never ended up doing anything, just reading in many locations and watched some tv, and did some baking.  I was going to go for a run but I really wasn’t in the mood at any stage and life is too short to do stuff you are not in the mood for I think.  So it was a pj day, till I had my shower just before and then guess what, I changed into pjs hehe :) 

I text Ken this morning to say enjoy your extra day off hehe, I know he doesn’t like lockdown cos he likes being out doing stuff so an extra day off for him is not something he would be a fan of, and I got a reply to say that today looked like a good day to make peanut brownies in Hastings lol, little did he know I was going to make some anyhow.  I thought it would be nice to make him some as a thanks for letting me come back into the office to work.  All the Access Stations have had one staff member working from the station and the other staff from home during lockdown, but I know that many of them are now letting another person work from work as they have people in single person bubbles that need the company, it’s kinda the humane thing to do really.  I do love how supportive we are all in this industry, I mean sure there are issues and politics like anywhere (actually more than some places I think) but when it comes down to it everyone is there to support everyone else when it is required.

I am not sure why, cos I mean I have been doing it for the last ages anyhow, but lockdown has exaggerated the fact that I am the only person that ever does the dishes here.  That chore has gotten more and more irritating as lockdown has progressed and has been done more and more reluctantly.  Maybe its cos it needs to be done so often, and things like vacuuming are done so less frequently, but whatever it is, I can’t wait till I don’t have to do them so often.  Probably doesn’t help that I am having to cook and use plates etc more than normal cos I would often eat out or pick up something from the supermarket that didn’t require cooking.  Atlst Jarks is open for delivery or contactless collection in level 3, wahoo, I can’t wait.  Have decided it needs to be a treat though, for making it through the work week.  Not yet decided if will order on Thursday so can have leftovers for lunch on Friday or if it will be a Friday treat, whichever way yay that I can order from them again.

Not quite sure what else to say, aint really done much worth noting these past couple of days.  I will be continuing this on into level 3 though, just if you were wondering.  It might not be quite as regular, guess it depends how busy I end up being at work and how much boredom I feel in the evenings.  But as life won’t even be remotely back to a version of normal I figure it will be worth writing about.  Also as I am going to have to learn to work without motorsport going on in the background that could be an interesting adjustment.  I am also going to miss The Sound, but shhh don’t read that part too loud cos they are kind of a competitor, a big giant we can swish you with our little toe kind of competitor really.  Good thing we are such a small fry and hit a totally different market to who they aim at that we don’t get on their radar lol

Lockdown Day #31

Happy ANZAC Day.  And happy start of bday countdown for me, 99 days to go :) I may not have a public holiday for my birthday yet, but the start of the countdown is a day off work so I know the universe knows its impt hehe.  I didn’t get up early this morning, I thought about it last night and decided that I would sleep in instead.  Ken got up early though and him and Neen stood by their letterbox, Ken said someone on the street started playing the bagpipes and then someone else joined in on the bugle which I think is pretty cool.  Can also say my neighbours are not the sorts of people that would do that so I didn’t miss anything lol.

Today’s post was going to be a bit of rant post as I was angry at the world earlier today, however I went for a run and about half way along decided that I needed to leave all my anger on the sportsfield and that it would be better for me to turn the negative thoughts into positive thoughts.  I must admit I had Carol Reid in my mind while doing this.  Carol does a show at work all about the power of positive thinking and how we think so many thoughts every day, many of them the same as the day before, and the day before etc, and that often the thoughts are negative as that is easier for some reason.  But the more you think negative the more you believe it and feel it.  To make things seem better all you need to do is change your thoughts to something positive.  An example she gives that I really like is instead of thinking ‘I am tired’ think ‘I am recharging’. With the first one at the end of the day you will still be tired, and probably worn out and unhappy, but with thinking you are recharging at the end of the day you will feel recharged and you won’t feel bad for not having done something as you needed to recharge.  So instead of thinking negative thoughts, I made myself change my thinking in the second half of the run, so now instead of being in a lonely bubble of one, I am in a loved bubble of one.  Instead of being angry that I can’t see my friends and family, I am happy that they are all safe and well.  You get the idea.  Yes you can call me new-agey or whatever you like, but if I had the money I would go on one of Carol’s courses as I think they would actually be very beneficial.  My head likes the negative a bit too much sometimes, it’s an effort to get the positive in there but hopefully some of it sticks for a while this time.

Glenny and I did our remembering and thanking those who fought for our freedom at morning tea this morning.  We concluded that while this is probably not the freedom they envisioned they were fighting for, we are still free, the majority of us have chosen to listen to the government and stay in our bubbles and respect others as that is the sort of people we are.  And atlst this sort of being told what to do is not a full time every day thing like it is in some countries.  It is sad though that there are still people fighting wars around the world.  I doubt there will ever not be a war or fight of some kind but it’s a nice thought to think that maybe there won’t be one day.

Other than that we aint done much today.  We caught up on recorded tv, we avoided doing anything much.  Oh I did make pancakes for lunch and I think I can now claim to be a pro, twice in a row without setting off a smoke alarm makes you a pro right…? Lol.  Oh did some crocheting as well today, and I finally managed to clean my bathroom.  I can safely say that a lack of time is definitely not why I don’t have a super clean place.  Also tidied up my spare room ystdy, and I did laugh when I was finished and realised what I had done.  This will probably make some of you laugh cos it is very typical me, and it is likely to make Doffy shake his head and wonder what he did wrong with me, don’t worry Dof I’m pretty sure it’s genetic hehe.  Anyhow cleaning my spare room, it was when I was done that I realised my cleaning of the spare room was actually just me putting stuff in the wardrobes and the sewing desk and shutting doors and stuffing stuff under the couch lol.  I mean it looks nice and tidy at first glance and I’m sure that is what other people are doing when they ‘clean’.  No one actually cleans and sorts stuff out, do they?

I have put it out to the universe that it has less than 99 days to sort this all out (atlst within NZ), I have not celebrated my birthday alone yet and I am not about to start this year.  I made my feelings on this very clear, so the universe knows what it has to do.  We tend to have a pretty good and understanding relationship and I did not get negative vibes from it when I was pointing this out so I feel confident that by my birthday we will be able to catch up again.  

Am semi watching MotoGP at the moment, a repeat from some previous race obviously.  I am pretty sure that I would not survive on a motorbike, they seem to fall a lot and the falls look very painful, and they have loads of padding and it wouldn’t be cheap padding at that level.  Knowing my awesome ability to not balance very well I think I would be a disaster waiting to happen.  That and the fact that my hands suck and can’t grip stuff very well, pretty sure you need them when riding a motorbike.  Lol couldn’t undo my hot water bottle to empty the water out ystdy so I couldn’t make a new one, it’s funny now but at the time it wasn’t quite so amusing.  Figure if I don’t learn to laugh at stuff like that now life could get more irritating than fun and we all know I like the fun stuff most, so laughing is what I shall do.  Plus I’ve been told by more than one person that I have a very happy laugh that lights up my whole face and it would be rude to deprive the world of that sort of amazingness, well deprive Glenny at the moment but hey he totally counts hehe (and look Fishy, you still aint been named hahahahahahahaha :p lol)

I’ve told Glenny that our boys will start playing at the end of May (NRL for those of you who are confused), he thinks I am being a bit optimistic and he says it will be delayed for a few weeks due to, you know, stuff.  He is probably right but that is not as fun as thinking we will get new sport to watch soon.  And no I’m not being totally unrealistic, I understand that my boys will probably still lose but hey new games to lose are way better than ones we have already lost lol.

Lockdown Day #29

Only one more day of work under lockdown conditions, and believe me it’s one too many in my mind.  I went into work this morning and I really could have just stayed there and worked from there.  So did not seem fair that I had to go home again instead.  But tomorrow is the last day of working from home (fingers, toes, everything crossed) and come next week will be back in the office.  Not sure if will be working a normal week or less hours as there is less work, time will tell on that one.  Did have a bit of a laugh when I got home though.  Cos I was running home I left my phone at home, and when I got home turned out Ken had rung me half an hour after I had left work, but I obviously wasn’t home yet.  Poor Ken thought I meant I was running straight home, but that would have been less than 2km, instead I ran around Cornwall Park a couple times, then up to the Sports Park, went round that a couple times, then back to Frimley Park and around that one.  All up was 14km, woot woot.  Super proud of my effort, and the fact that when I finished I wasn’t puffing super hard, my legs were dead and the rest of my body was super tired, but it gives me hope that with a few more runs my muscles will build up good and I will be able to run a few extra km on top of that.  My average pace is the same as my old average pace as well so no complaints there.

My assistant was a big fat meanie ystdy, he stole my book and wouldn’t give it back till I had finished work.  I found this rather annoying cos there was a tad too much work to do and I wanted to read my book but he wouldn’t let me :( He also took over the couch so I had to work from the table.  I must admit I am looking forward to getting my table back when I take all my work stuff to work on Tuesday.  My assistant was much more useful today when I decided to have a short nap around afternoon tea time and he co-operated by blocking the sun and making it dark hehe.  Am a little bit surprised that I have made it to day 29 before having a nap, it was worth the wait though hehe.

Today felt like it should’ve been the wknd, even Samara agreed.  We don’t know why, and it’s not like it even really makes much difference at the moment but today definitely had a wknd feeling about it.  Not sure what I am up to this wknd, but am sure I will find something to occupy myself, or I will stare into space and time will slowly tick by.  But whatever I do I will get through the wknd and eventually I will make it to next week and level 3.  There are things I could do if I find some motivation, some things I want to do as well, but I am not convinced that there will be any motivation lying around waiting to be used.  Hopefully I am pleasantly surprised though.

I am really enjoying the autumn colours that are making their appearance in the parks and streets at the moment.  I often seem to speed through autumn and not really appreciate the colours that Mother Nature gives us, even though it is my favourite time of year.  I mean I see them, and I think oh wow, so pretty, but I don’t stop to walk slowly and just appreciate.  So ystdy that is what I did, I went for a walk to just look and appreciate and be thankful that we live in a country that has so many parks and open spaces even in the cities and big towns and that we get this prettiness every single year.  Some of the trees were super cool cos they were a patchwork of green, yellow and amber.  I tried to take photos but they just didn’t do it justice so after a while I just walked around taking mental photos.

On the awesome as news front, my favourite bookstore is open from next week, delivering books within Hastings, Napier and Havelock North. YAY!!! I mean, I don’t really need any more books, but I do love this bookstore and the staff are awesome, and yes they order books to my sometimes very specific specifications (has to be a certain height, and a particular cover lol), but that is what makes them so awesome I think.  Plus they are super friendly, and in normal circumstances Lou delivers me any books I order to my desk at work when she comes in for her weekly radio show.  It’s a awesome but dangerous relationship lol.

I know lockdown hasn’t ended yet, and I know it technically continues at level 3, I’m mean it’s basically still level 4 cept you can go to work if you work in an industry that can work at a distance from the public and other workmates, but still I thought I would list some of the positives of lockdown.  We all know the negative aspects of it without having to think to hard I think, but the positive things can be harder to focus on and realise, yet thinking positive can apparently do wonders for mood and motivation, plus I like looking on the bright-side so here we go:

-       Glenny never would have let me put him in a jar had we not been in lockdown, and that is one of my fav pics – still making me laugh lol

-       At the start of lockdown I was barely run/walking 3km, now I can run 14km

-       Doffy’s list has gone down

-       My list has gone down

-       My bdrm is super awesome (ok so me and bro painted it before lockdown but I have had plenty of time to appreciate our awesomeness during lockdown hehe)

-       I probably never would have realised my kitchen could be rearranged without lockdown

I know there has been more but they are not coming to mind right at the moment so they are not being included at this moment in time.

And just before I go, did you know that you can put a virtual poppy on a RSA headstone by going through the Auckland War Museum website.  I think it’s pretty cool, and here is a link if you have someone you would like to give a virtual poppy to :)

https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/search 

Lockdown Day #26

So first off I would just like to say welcome to my 400^th blog post.  For those of you that have been here since the start, well done :) and thanks, and for those that have joined along the way, glad you were smart enough to find the awesome hehe.

Second, seems our lockdown has been extended, but not by as much as I was expecting, just till the end of the long wknd we have coming up.  Kinda sucks they have stolen our day off from us, but then since I was never a fan of ANZAC Day being Monday-a-nised in the first place I’m not actually that bothered.  Bit sad that I can’t go to a dawn service on ANZAC Day but thems the breaks.  Pondering going for an early morning run instead, not at dawn cos the lighting around my area is not very good and does not make this female feel safe when out alone after dark, but earlier than normal get up time.  We will see though cos I’m also not a fan of morning running, well running before I am properly awake and coffeed or tead.  Am sure I will do something though, even if it’s nothing lol

So from next Tuesday (28^th) we go to level 3 for a minimum of 2 weeks.  The skeptic in me says that will be extended.  And also not much changes really for me.  I probably should still work from home at level 3 but yeah I won’t be, I will be going into the studio as per normal times.  Ken and I have made sure our desks are atlst 2m apart so we figure we are safe hehe.  Plus we don’t use the same studio all that often so won’t be sharing that stuff either.  He prefers Studio 2, I prefer Studio 3 if I’m by myself, Studio 1 with others lol.  The main part of level 3 that I think is sucky is that you are allowed to include close family into your bubble however you can’t leave your region so you can only actually expand your bubble if you live in the same area as your close family :( Depending on how long we are stuck in level 3 depends on how tempted I will become to test how impossible it is to travel btwn regions.  Atlst Ken has already agreed that when we go to level 2 I can go visit Mum and Dad for a few days and I will just work from their place like I have been working at home so won’t need to take much leave, maybe just a couple hours a day so I don’t have to work as long :) is super nice having an easy-going boss like I do at the moment.  Sure makes it easier when you have to go out of the way for something work related.

Am currently watching the Billboard Music Chart Top 20, mostly cos I am feeling lazy and don’t have a remote for the radio (I did have one but it didn’t work how a remote should work in my opinion.  I can’t say it didn’t work cos it kinda did, in a way.  No matter what button you pressed it turned the volume up, that was all it would do, so I got rid of it.) and SkySport is being boring and this was the best thing on.  However I can safely say I am not missing anything by not listening to a modern music radio station, ever, these days.  This music is really not good.  I would have skipped everything so far.  The only thing it has going for it is that it is making me want to get up to turn on the radio.  And for those of you wondering the only radio stations I listen to are Radio Kidnappers (duh lol), The Sound, and occasionally Radio Sport.  I am definitely not missing out on anything.  

Assistant update…. Not even sure what he has done today other than get up.  Am sure he has done something… surely… oh he says he looked after my phone while I went for a run, that was nice of him, and he says he looked after my wallet while I pondering buying some gluten free bread online – not sure about where you are but here all the good gluten free bread is sold out every time I go to the supermarket and I am not quite desperate enough to buy the bad gluten free bread cos that stuff is horrific.  Now I know you are asking why don’t I just make some bread, well I don’t have enough flour left for that and the gluten free flour is also sold out here, and the brand I get you can’t get online from them so the making my own bread option is out.  The other option is I just don’t have bread for a while, it is doable as I often do it, the only issue is then I have to cook more and we all know I’m not so down with that.  Am running out of microwave meals, so I either have to face supermarket queues or cook actual food which I do technically have…. Bring on level 2 and Jarks being open again, I think I am having withdrawals…

Went into work today, moved a couple of files around and sent a couple emails to pretend that I had a reason to be there even though Ken knew I didn’t and I just wanted to say hey lol.  Told him that I would be back in later in the week whether lockdown was lifted or not.  Gotta love the piece of paper that says I’m allowed to go into work, not that I have ever been pulled up and asked where I am going as it is within 2km from my place, which I’ve heard is all good for us big town people to wander.  Also ran into Steph (from work, not friend) today, she lives around the corner from me and is also in a one-person bubble, though today she had her granddaughter with her.  She has been looking after her on and off to help her daughter out.  Was nice to have a catch up with her, at 2m apart of course hehe.  I normally get massages off her every 6 or so weeks, obviously had to skip my one during lockdown but have let her know to let me know when she is back and able to massage as I’m keen to go back.  She is a bit concerned that not many people will be wanting to go back and it is a luxury kind of spend but hopefully for her she has more than she is expecting.  

Oh by the way, you guys have read over 15,000 words in this lockdown diary, well except for Brudda who has skim read over 15,000 words but as he is skim reading he is likely to miss that comment, and if not well it’s not like he can come hit me cos we are on lockdown lol :) I think I have just found a bright side to lockdown lol totally leaving it on that high note :p :)

Lockdown Day #25

I feel like I have had a rather unproductive wknd, there has been a lot of reading and some DVD watching, however when I stop and think about it I have done a bit so it wasn’t completely unproductive.

I did some painting in the bathroom which is another thing off my list (note, my list not my slaves list, yes there are two lists of jobs for around here, I am not that evil that they are all the slaves jobs lol).  It’s been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but just never got round to it.  I am happy now it’s done though, kinda wondering why didn’t do it sooner cos it wasn’t that hard, well other than trying to get the ladder in there and then up in there, a few interesting words expressed during that lol.  The only stuff left that I want to paint at this stage I can’t till lockdown is over, for one it’s because I need to get paint I don’t have for it, and the other it’s cos I need Doffy to look at putting a different door handle on it before I paint it.  If I don’t paint it first then he’ll have no hassles with the new door handle, if I do paint it he will have hassles and I will have to repaint bits of it anyhow so I figure it’s easier to not paint it at this stage :) hehe.

I also went and got some petrol for Vee and Cleo.  Cleo now seems to think that since she saved me heaps of money I should buy her a present with the leftover money that I normally would have spent on her.  I spent ages trying to explain to her that I couldn’t buy her a treat cos all the shops were shut, and she just kept saying that she deserves one cos not only did she save me money but I have been neglecting her and not taking her out for drives like I normally do.  Somehow I don’t think she understands the concept of lockdown, so I may need to buy her a pressie for being a patient girl when this is all done.

I mowed the lawns, now that I have petrol for Vee.  Probably could have left them cos they weren’t really all that long but it had been two weeks so I figured Vee was probably bored and she deserved to get out and do some work.  After mowing the lawns I went and had a ‘chat’ with the lemon tree.  The chat may have been me going to ‘talk’ to it with a pruning saw… I think I left the chat feeling happier than the lemon tree, though I was nicely restrained and didn’t go overboard at all so the lemon tree shouldn’t be too annoyed.  Plus it owed me one from when it broke the truce so we are now even again.

I went for a wander in the park and took my phone with me hoping to get some photos of the rabbits playing by/in the hollow tree that I have seen heaps recently.  Of course now that I had my phone with me the rabbits weren’t out having fun, couldn’t even see them chilling in the tree so it was bit disappointing.  Maybe next time when I go and I don’t have my phone they will be back.

I technically did work this wknd, but not on purpose and not really.  Had to help Ken with loading the weather from home ystdy as he was having a few issues, easy enough over the phone though I did have to log in to check one thing.  But for a not doing any work in the wknd wknd I think I did pretty good.  We had a short catch-up chat as well which was nice.  And I had a nice chat with Aunty Susan today, though I did decide she was evil after the call as she may end up making me spend money thanks to a couple of things we talked about and websites she recommended I check out.  So evil in the loving kind sense lol.

Have also been doing a bit of crocheting and depending on what happens tomorrow and if we stay in lockdown or if we move to level 3 depends on how much more I can do on one project.  I am going to need more wool for one of the projects, I did suspect this when I started but didn’t think I would end up doing much of it before getting bored.  Seems I aint bored yet, or is it that I am so bored that it no longer matters….?  It’s hard to tell some days.

Am going into work tomorrow, it was going to be to discuss what Jacinda says but that was when we assumed that her announcement was going to be at 1pm, like all her others have been, but now that it is at 4pm I am just going in to catch up with Ken and to enjoy another person’s company.  Am so super thankful that I am able to do this, I have no idea how I would be holding up if going in to work every few days for a little bit wasn’t an option.  I don’t actually have anything to do at work tomorrow, can do it all from home, so it is literally going in to see Ken.  Oh and to collect my present, Ken got me a surprise last week but my bag was so full of groceries and I couldn’t carry it home, but at work I have a 1kg bag of jellybeans waiting for me yum yum :) :) :)

My bear (he is not an assistant during the wknd cos there is no work being done) was a bit of a pain last night.  For some reason he decided that we couldn’t share his side of the bed like we normally do.  I have no idea what brought this on as normally he is all good with us sharing but nope not last night.  I also have a random scratch down my side which I would blame him for but I am not quite sure what part of him could scratch me… it’s a puzzler that one.  Also 3 bruises on one knee, 2 on the other, no idea who gave me those but pretty sure it’s not something I have done… another puzzler

Lockdown Day #23

Well not really a lot to report today but that doesn’t mean I am not going to type a whole bunch of waffle on the off chance you read it cos you also don’t have much else better to do hehe.

I procrastinated a whole bunch this morning, successfully made it to around 1:30pm before I got round to opening my laptop with work in mind, though about half an hour of the procrastination was talking with a couple of my fav broadcasters so not sure if that is really procrastination, cos it could kinda count as work… kinda.  In the chatting with Norma I realised that Glenny and even Fishy and Big Ted have ages left of life in them.  Norma’s teddy bear is 80 years old, and he is currently sitting in her window, and although she didn’t say it was punishment I think maybe her bear got into her gin and is actually being punished but in a subtle way.  Both Norma and Johnnie are good, which is awesome.  Kinda funny the two opinions on the lockdown though, Johnnie thinks it’s cool that their groceries and pharmacy stuff is getting delivered to them, whereas Norma is annoyed cos when she went to go to the supermarket she was told she wasn’t allowed in because she is over 70 and that she has to find someone to go grocery shopping for her or she has to order online.  Sadly for Norma when lockdown eases she is likely to still not able to freely go out as she used to.

Work was work, was not in the mood at all today and the computer seemed to be extra slow and extra small and just plain irritating all round.  Bring on level 3 and being allowed back into the studios on a daily basis.  

Also went for a run, it was not the best run but atlst I got out there, or that is what I am telling myself.  My legs were not really in the mood to run and they kept slowing to a walk, and then my chest would be happy cos it could catch its breath and although my legs and chest are a fair chunk of me I didn’t think this was very polite or nice of them cos I wanted to be out running.  I also passed a police check point and me being friendly me I waved, said hello then checked that it was ok I kept running in the direction I was going.  Turns out they were just stopping cars and checking that they weren’t just out driving (that’s a no-no if you didn’t know).  I was told that I looked like I was enjoying my run and that I could run as far as I liked.  Nice that I looked like I was having fun cos it didn’t feel like I was, and awesome that I can run as far as I liked.  Did ponder on the rest of the run how long that would last as a defense if I get bored and lonely enough to try running to Rotorua… I figured probably not very long :( lol.

I also pondered the fact that apparently in level 3 you are not allowed to try a sporting activity you haven’t already done but you are allowed to do one you have done in the past (I say apparently cos I haven’t actually checked it, just seen it written and discussed a few times).  I was pondering this as if the reason is that if you have done it before you are less likely to get injured then this is a bit of a wrong assumption as I’ve tried over 20 sporting activities and have been injured in over 60% of them, and in one of them I may have injured someone else, let’s just say pilates is not for me lol.  But then maybe I am just uniquely talented like I am in so many areas of my life lol :)

It is the wknd tomorrow, did you know that???  Lol.  I am planning to not do any work work, but we will see how that goes.  If I do do work it’ll just be stuff that I want to do, not stuff that I need to do which I feel is different and not so bad.  Do have a couple good books to read though and one is the start of a series so I may not feel the need to do much work hehe.

Oh and my lawns need mowing if anyone is interested in coming to do them.  I promise to stay 2m away so I won’t pop your bubble.  Oh and if you could bring some petrol for Vee (my lawnmower) this would also be appreciated.  It’s not that I can’t afford the petrol or anything, it’s that it seems so stupid to drive to the petrol station which is so close just to fill up Vee’s petrol container, but it is also too heavy when its full to not drive.  Normally I tie getting her petrol in with a longer drive, like to Napier, but since that is out at the moment I would have to drive just for her.  Spose Cleo could be topped up at the same time but still seems like a bit of a waste of a drive.  Am sure I will get annoyed at the lawns sooner or later and make the trip though…

Lockdown Day #21

Well we have made it to 3 weeks, well done us.  Not sure about you but not much has happened in my world in the last couple of days.  I’ve gotten up each morning, getting more and more tempting not too though, done some work, then procrastinated plenty, done some more work, then chilled till dinner, eaten dinner then done not a lot else after.  So yeah, that’s about my days these days.  Oh and ystdy for some excitement I got to go to work for a couple hours to fix a technical issue, and I can safely say I did not fix it but I found a workaround which in my book is pretty much the same thing, it’s the same result so therefore basically the same thing.  Certainly helps keep the stress out of my life, well limits it and stops it getting too high shall we say.

Also finished painting the inside side of my front door, looks pretty good if I do say so myself.  Kinda makes me want to paint the ceiling though, but I have enough other things that are more higher on my list of wants than that, though I do spend a lot of time in the lounge so it may get bumped up the list at some stage.  Hopefully by the time it gets bumps up my slave can come and help do it…. hehe.

Glenny, it turns out, is not very good at looking after wool.  I have given him my cellphone instead cos he kept tangling the wool which is not cool, it does not make crocheting any easier if the wool is all tangled.  He is much better at looking after remotes and cellphones I think.

Finished watching Doctor Doctor if you care, and in the injustice that is this world so often it is not in stock with the company I normally buy my Aussie DVDs from.  I mean what else am I meant to do on lockdown but mission through TV shows so it’s a bit mean if I can’t even buy the next season of the one I was watching.  May have to buy the other show that I want that NZ doesn’t seem to be stocking instead.  Good thing I like a variety of shows aint it hehe.

Have you noticed that summer has left, I sure have.  It is definitely getting cooler at night and in the evenings and the days are not so warm.  I think I have fully acclimatised to Hastings weather too, I do not remember thinking these temperatures were this cold last year.  It does make the summers better though, with them not seeming so hot.  Spose you can’t win them all, or that is what they say, and I should just be happy with what I have.

In the achievement side of things, cos we still have to celebrate those, I made pancakes today without setting of a single smoke alarm, yup in my mind the celebration is in full swing with streamers and confetti.  Bro would be able to tell you that this is in fact a rather impressive achievement for me, sad fact but true.  And no, no one was here to witness it except Glenny and we all know how unreliable he would be on the witness stand so you have to take my word for it.  Promise I am telling the truth, however I will not ever promise to be able to do it again (I can set them off cooking eggs after all, I think mine may actually be a tad too sensitive, if that is possible…)

Tomorrow am going to head into work in the morning for an hour or so, for no other reason that I want to and I can so I will.  Then I dunno, might head home and do some procrastinating, or go for a walk or run, or be lazy and do nothing.  Who knows, the world is my oyster, so long as I stay in my bubble and don’t venture too far it is anyway lol

Lockdown Day #19

Well we made it through Easter, well done to all of us.  Not exactly the Easter I thought I would have at the start of the year, but then often this is the way as I like to change plans as things that appeal and ideas that sound cool grab my attention.  I won’t keep you in suspense about my awesome as outfit today, as I know you are all dying to know hehe.  Today I was Workman Jilly, wearing my fav boots (gorgeous steel capped boots that every sensible girl should have, and they aren’t even purple (mostly cos purple ones are nowhere near as cool as these ones)), and dad’s old overalls that are awesome and super comfy (and super painted and rather dirty).  And since I had the outfit on I decided I might as well prep and start painting my front door, just the inside side as I want it white not that weird green that is in the pic below.  And the wood bits around it (technical term that one lol) are also becoming white.  This was a job on my slaves list but hey I got bored and to do sewing I have to either clear the sewing desk or the table, neither of which is a fun job so painting it was.  And yes I still don’t like painting, but I do like the result so I will tolerate it for now.  Still got a coat or two to do and I’m sure I will find time to do them during the week.

Did some work work as well, yeah I know it’s the wknd but whatever, I was bored and I had a report to NZ On Air to be written so I worked on that for an hour or so.  The report is one that I have to do every quarter and there are bits that I could do each month that would probably make it easier but I never remember too and so at the end of the quarter I have 3 months’ worth to do.  Atlst the most time-consuming part I remember to do at the end of each month, otherwise it would prob take about a day to do the whole thing.

It has been super windy today, I have even yelled at the wind a few times to ‘calm the farm’ cos it was going a bit nuts.  Have not ventured outside much today because I am pretty certain that I will get blown away and if I am going to break lockdown rules it will be for something more fun than being blown away by the wind.  I was going to go for a run, that was the plan when I woke up anyhow, but btwn the wind and the painting of the front door I decided against it.  Sides there is always tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day…… lol

My super helpful bear is currently looking after my lollies and handing me one on a regular interval :) best bear ever!  Yes I know it’s dinner in an hour or so, but considering I think it should be more like 8pm right now and that the clocks have stopped, eating lollies makes perfect sense to me.  Plus it keeps the bear busy and a busy bear is much better for my health than a bored bear, just saying.

Not sure what I am going to do this evening, I don’t really feel like doing anything.  I can’t be bothered reading, don’t feel like crafting or colouring, don’t feel like watching anything cos everything I own seems blah… so yeah, no idea what I am going to do this evening, but I am guessing if the afternoon has been on a mega go slow then it is likely that the evening will be on one as well.  And we still have atlst 10 days to go, oh yeah those 10 days are going to be fun.  May have to leave a job or two for Dof so that he comes to visit and then he can entertain me in the evenings, and cook cos I’m bored of that too (aka he can boil the jug for either camping meals or noodles, we live the high life when he is here lol).

The one good thing that has come out of the lockdown so far is that I have perfected how I like my cup of tea.  Now this may sound weird seeing as I have been drinking tea for years, however I used to have milk in my tea but it has slowly been getting less and less (cheers body for not being able to handle dairy very well, just so kind of you), and earlier this year I was finding even a small amount in my tea was making me want to puke.  So the milk had to go.  Now came the challenge of figuring out how I liked black tea, I tried it with sugar and with honey, both were definitely no’s.  Turns out I like it just plain black, there is just a very specific time that it needs to sit for, too little and it’s not as good but is still drinkable, too long and it’s just gross and not drinkable.  So yeah, being stuck at home with time on my hands has atslt resulted in me figuring out how I like black tea lol.

Hope you all enjoy your short week :) I think I might do some work from home, prob go see Ken at some stage to make sure he’s all ok (lol), maybe go for a run or two, and prob be bored for quite a few of the hours…

Lockdown Day #18

Can’t believe it’s day 18.  18 days of being stuck without the freedom of doing what we want, when we want.  No going to see family, no hanging with friends, no getting together with any of the clubs you may belong to, no going out for coffee or food, no hugs, no freedom.  I know that what we are doing is saving lives but still, it’s not exactly fun every day being told you can’t do what you want or see who you want, yet having to entertain yourself so you don’t get too bored or go too insane.

Today I really would have quite liked to have gone out for food, but assuming that this was a normal week, not Easter or lockdown or anything, I could not have gone to the place I wanted to go cos they are not open on Sunday’s.  But since this is not a normal week that point doesn’t really matter anyhow, and all a girl can do is dream.  And dream for what another 10 or so days, then hopefully I will be able to go out for dinner and not have to cook.  And ok, so I am mostly microwaving, or adding hot water, or just chucking some kumera in the oven but it’s still counts as cooking which is more than I want to do some days.  Plus cooking leads to dishes needing to be done, and the one thing I am running out of is dish washing liquid, and I don’t really want to face the supermarket again just for that.  So less dishes is preferred, and no cooking would be the ideal.  Prob a good thing I can’t really go online shopping at the moment, will need the extra money for all the not cooking I am going to do when lockdown is lifted lol.

I was lazy productive today :) What is lazy productive I hear you ask, well simple, it’s when you are productive but you don’t do anything requiring much physical effort.  I managed to watch a whole season of Doctor Doctor, ok so it’s only 10 episodes but still, totally nailed that.  Also I started the day with three crocheting projects on the go, and now I am down to two.  Yup I finished one, and it’s even sewed together, mostly, needs a couple of domes then it is all done.  Am pretty proud of that.  Normally I leave the sewing up for ages, and the darning in of threads for even longer.  For example finally properly finished a throw I made a year ago this morning, yup I darned the ends in finally lol.  I did also work on the other two projects I have on the go, but they are bigger than the one I finished today, well bigger and not as fun which meant I kinda focused on the other one a bit more.  But that’s how things get finished isn’t it so there is nothing wrong.  Ps this paragraph made me go past 10,000 words in this lockdown diary, I have written quite a lot really haven’t I :) I think it’s kinda cool, in a something kind of way lol, cannot think of the word I want in there so feel free to insert your own lol.

Glenny has been very useful today, and we didn’t even do any work work.  I know, shock horror right, no work for JB for a whole day.  Well it is Sunday, and Sunday is the day of rest, and being Easter Sunday that means extra rest… right… lol.  Anyhow back onto how helpful my bear was today, he looked after many things for me throughout the day, my phone, scissors, dvd remote, needle needles, crochet needles, (I was alternating between two different ones), and sometimes he held up to three of these things at a time.  What a talented helpful boy I have hehe.

Today my outfit was Punk Rocker Jilly.  Bit harder to pull this one off with no make-up or nail polish, but since I no longer own either I made do.  And because I am me and I like to be comfortable I slowly exchanged parts of the outfit with items more suitable to lounging around, so am currently still in the stockings and t-shirt, but have on some short running shorts (that I never wear running lol), ex dads leg warmers, bedsocks and a ex dad hoodie, so super comfy clothing hehe.  And Glenny is still looking after my phone for me so he is still going strong :)  

Hint for my tomorrow outfit: I am going to be wearing my favourite pair of boots, and what is possibly my favourite item of clothing, I say possibly as sometimes I am in a mood where something else is more favourite but in general what I am wearing tomorrow is my favourite.  I know, super vague and not helpful but thought I'd give you a hint in case any of you want to guess what I am going to be.  Another not helpful hint is that the item of clothing I love used to be dads lol cos that barely narrows it down :p 

Lockdown Day #17

Well today started off nice and quiet.  I read in bed for a while, then got up and put a load of wash on so that if nothing else I could claim I had been semi productive because of that, then read on the couch for a while, had lunch and read on my beanbag in the sun for a while.  Once the book was finished though (it was a pretty crap book but still wanted to know how terrible the end was, not the best chick lit I have ever read but also not the worst so I kept reading, I mean I knew that the guy and the girl would get together and I was intrigued enough to keep reading, if the book is bad enough then I don’t care enough to keep going and then I don’t) my afternoon picked up.  

I played 18 rounds of golf (yes I still suck), some baseball (not a lot before giving up tho cos the game sucks), then did some ten-pin bowling, then some skiing and some snowboarding, then went to a couple of step classes then did some hula hooping.  So a very busy afternoon (playing the Wii if you are wondering).  Oh and I also made stew for dinner.  Not with my main recipe though, cos that didn’t work, I tried though but I don’t think it’s a lockdown recipe (it may say something along the lines of be busy and leave it to Dof to make hehe, he never turned up though).  So I made it myself.  I am not quite sure what I did wrong but I managed to burn it, it seems my cooking skills are almost limitless lol.  Considering I didn’t have any onion or carrot and I burnt it, it still tasted pretty damn amazing.  Yummy yummy yum yum.  I did add stock and herbs to it which probably made it the yumminess that it was.  Not sure I want to do the dishes though cos I also burnt last night’s stir-fry which means I now have a pot and a frying pan to scrub :( boo cooking, it so shouldn’t be required if one doesn’t want to do it. 

I also worked out today that Glenny and I both have a bald patch in roughly the same location, I think we have been hanging out a bit too long lol.  Not sure who got theirs first cos as far as I know he has had his forever and mine was already there the first time I shaved my hair so mine coulda been there forever too.

Today I wore one of my medieval dresses and was Medieval Jilly.  I normally wear the blue one when I wear one but today I decided to have a bit of a change up and I wore the other one.  The sleeves got a bit annoying for some things.  They were all good for things that required my arms to be raised, like hanging the washing, and were all good when it came to things like reading, but most everything else they just got in the way.  I did discover though, that varnishing while wearing a medieval dress does not make it smell any better, it still smells ick.  

And yes, if you were wondering I did some work today.  I know, I know, I am becoming a bit of a nerd during lockdown but it fills in time, and it saves time later on so it’s not too sad I don’t think.  My assistant was pretty assisty today, he musta been in a good mood.  I mean he didn’t go out of his way, and he wasn’t like a superhero assistant but still he was pretty good with what I wanted him to do :) I’m guessing he didn’t realise it was Saturday of a long wknd, or he will ask for something in return another time, but I don’t mind, I got what I wanted today which is all that matters at the moment hehe.

Oh, I also got a tad distracted this morning (in btwn all the reading) and watched a couple of my Scottish mates play Xbox online for a while.  It was rather addictive, I like watching them play, I used to hang out with them while they played some wknds when I was in Edinburgh.  Mark was doing it as a fundraiser for a charity, he was playing for 24 hours straight, that would have been hard I think.  And Ant was doing it to keep Mark company.  I only watched for about an hour, my connection kept cutting out which didn’t make it as fun and it should have been.  But it was still awesome watching them play again, and hearing them chat, there is just something about a Scottish accent…. mmmmm lol.

I have gotten my wool box out of the wardrobe as well, and I have started my next crocheting project.  Nope, not telling you what it is yet, mostly cos I don’t know if it is going to work or not so this way if it doesn’t work out right and I turn it into something else then I don’t have to admit that if I don’t want to lol.  If it works how I want though it should look pretty awesome, so got my creative fingers crossed that it all goes to plan.

Not sure what my plan is for tonight, but am probably going to watch some Doctor Doctor, if you haven’t heard of it, it is a awesome as Aussie tv show.  I have the first 3 seasons on dvd, and I think the 4^th is due out soon so thought it would be wise to re-watch them all so I know what has happened when I get the 4^thseason to watch.  Not that I would forgot as have watched them a few times but who would want to take the risk hehe.

Lockdown Day #16

Not much has happened in the last couple of days, feel like there is not much to update you all on or to say.  Pretty sure it was ystdy that I went into work, I needed some info from a folder that was there and going in was a much better option than getting Ken to drop it off to me hehe.  Was quite good fun, so good to see Ken, and he gives such a good welcome these days hehe.

Today I feel like I didn’t do much, I mean ok yes there was a lot of chilling involved but I also did do stuff inbtwn the chilling, just apparently not significant enough for me to really remember.  Did play with Lego for a while, and tried to read for a bit, did a few hours of work, tidied up a bit, went for a run, talked to Jo for ages, but yeah not really anything worth commenting on.  

Did dress up today, cos after all it is Easter and I wanted to make it more interesting than just another 4 days at home.  Hmmm maybe that is why I did a few hours work as well lol.  Today I was Cowboy Jill :)

Lockdown Day #14

Today was a good day, just wanted to start by saying that.  And I would say it was a good day based on normal day standards not just lockdown standards.  Dunno why, not like anything spectacular happened or anything, but it was just a good day.

Started with me reading my book while I decided if I wanted to start the day doing work or not, I figured while deciding it would be stupid to do nothing so read it was.  Then I did a bit of work, admittedly nowhere near a proper days work but I plan to work some over Easter so I figure its ok.  Also I did a fair chunk of what I wanted to do today last night so it wasn’t like I had heaps and heaps to do.  After doing some work I read some more.  Hehe can you guess what my day revolved around :) 

I then emptied out and cleaned the pantry, man I have a lot of stuff in there, not as much in there now cos some of the stuff I threw out instead of putting back.  Then I rearranged the kitchen, and I just want to say to all you male relatives out there I am annoyed at you, almost mad I would say but not quite that far, just a little bit shy of it.  Why am I annoyed with you I hear you asking, simple, none of you warned me how heavy a fridge is and how hard it would be to move it off its previous concrete home and onto carpet.  I mean sure dad gets most the blame cos he should know that at some stage my brain would go ‘hey, let’s rearrange the kitchen, wouldn’t the fridge be cool there and the pantry there, come on, it’ll totally work’, and therefore he really should have warned me.  But the rest of you have known me long to know that I might do something like this and that I should be warned so you all get a bit of the blame.  Bro gets the full blame for the pantry, I do not remember it being so heavy or tall when we got it and moved it in, man was that a mission to move without it falling over.  So yeah kitchen is now rearranged, and when I put the pantry stuff back in I rearranged that as well.  Not sure if things are better now than they were but it’s different which will keep me happy for a while.  And a side effect of the rearranging is that a job on dads list (which to be honest I’m not sure he was ever going to do, I feel like he didn’t think it was as impt as I did) now no longer needs to be done, so I’m saving him work.  Aint I such a nice daughter hehe.  Oh and I read inbtwn the emptying and cleaning the pantry, and the rearranging stuff, and the resorting the pantry.

After some more reading I then went for a run and it drizzled on the run so that was awesome.  I do love running in the rain, a bit more than we got today would have been nice but too little is better than too much so I’m not going to complain too loudly.  

Then I read some more, haha shock horror I know, but if I didn’t read so much I wouldn't be almost finished the book I started last night, so see it was a super productive thing to be doing.  I also made one of my favourite meals – fries, covered in coleslaw, then coated with garlic aioli.  It is very specific for me to love it not just like it though, it needs to be served in a bowl, with the salt added btwn the fries and the coleslaw, and just the right amount of garlic aioli on top.  Super yum yum yum.  

In the assistant update, he looked after my phone today which was nice.  I do need it kinda near so I can hotspot and then log in for work, and sometimes he does a good job at looking after my stuff like the phone, other times not so much.  Today he was in fine form, and he didn’t even msg anyone on behalf of me, that I am aware of, which is always a good thing.  He did say he is not working Easter though, and that I can’t make him cos working public holidays is not in his contract.  In all fairness I’m pretty sure he has signed no contract so I actually can’t make him do anything, but then in saying that he also pays no rent so he kinda owes me.

Now, I am either going to read some more or do some work, not sure yet but maybe a bit of both, work first then read till bedtime.  I want to get our monthly newsletter sent out tomorrow and if I work on it tonight then Ken has a chance to read the ‘test’ copy and add anything he wants to add to it before the long wknd which would be awesome.

Anyhow, hope you are having a good week and that lockdown is not getting to you too much.  I would offer to send a bear to you to keep you company but we all know I need mine to keep me sane and all the others have to stay as well so someone is witness and can tell the story when I do finally lose the plot lol.  Hopefully you have a bear of your own, and if it is sitting in the window I hope you are checking on it to make sure it isn’t bored or lonely.  My neighbours made me laugh today, they had a large toy gorilla hanging from their shade cloth watching everything that was going on.  And I was pleased to see they took it inside when it started raining, they obviously know that stuffed toys are not just stuffed toys…. Yes sir, that was a dig at you :p