Sunday Snippets - 11th December 2016

Two weeks today will be Christmas Day…how the hell did that happen?! I’m most definitely nowhere near being ready for it, after using all my energy on Uni, getting work done for deadlines and going to numerous medical appointments. I am trying to get in the Christmassy spirit a bit more by watching festive classics, listening to Christmas music and gradually putting decorations up, but for some reason I just keep feeling really sad about it all. I think part of it is because we lost my Gran this time last year, so it’s always going to be a difficult time. But also I find it hard with not having a partner, and seeing lots of other people do nice things with their other halves. But I’m trying to concentrate on enjoying time with my family, which is always nice.

It was good to have more of a lie-in last Sunday morning. After sorting out my medications for the week ahead, I spent the morning writing and uploading my Sunday Snippets blog post. The Polar Express came on a bit later, so I watched that and wrote another blog post about the Lush Christmas range. After all that blogging, I curled up on the sofa, watched Miracle on 34^th Street and did a bit of Uni work. I didn’t do as much as I’d hoped to, but I guess it was better than nothing. And it was nice to get on with blog bits and watch Christmassy films.

I had to be up pretty early on Monday morning so my Dad could take me over to the hospital for an appointment with my jaw physio. She did a couple of exercises with me and then did a bit of soft tissue massage, which seemed to help the pain a bit. My Dad then drove me to Uni, where I grabbed some breakfast in the canteen before going up to the classroom. Our lecturer talked to us for a while about audio features and techniques for making them. Then we were sent out to record some audio for our own little package. First, I went to Costa Coffee with Megan, Amber and Ife so they could get some lunch. After that, we went to a few shops to record some background noise, interviews and narration for our piece. We also went into Barkers and I bought some antlers for Alfie and Freddie. When we got back to Uni we edited our audio, and I also spent some time talking my portfolio article through with my lecturer. When I came home, we tried the antlers out on the dogs. I think they look adorable, but then I am biased!

Tuesday morning was my second attempt for getting some blood out of me! Thankfully my usual lady was back, and after three attempts we finally got what we needed. My Dad then took me over to Uni for another news day. I’d already got my footage, so I spent a lot of the day editing it all together, writing a script, recording my voiceover and putting it all into a package. Once that was all done, I wrote a piece to go up on the blog before we watched the final programme. Unfortunately, something went wrong with my package so it was all out of sync, which I was disappointed with. When I finally got home I felt absolutely awful, so crashed out on the sofa. I did open a couple of Christmas cards though, including one from my friend Charlotte, who’s all the way in Australia at the moment. I miss her a lot, so it really made my day.

I was up ridiculously early on Wednesday morning so my Dad and I could get a train up to London. When we got to Waterloo, we went to Costa Coffee for some breakfast, before my Dad pushed my over the bridge to the Houses of Parliament. We met the others outside, and then got taken in through security. First up we were shown around inside – we saw the House of Commons, House of Lords and also where The Queen comes in and sits to have her robes put on. After our tour, we met with an MP and asked him lots of questions. My Dad and I then went up towards Victoria and got some lunch. I had hoped to do a bit of shopping or go to Covent Garden, but I was shattered so we just made our way home instead. I rested for a bit on the sofa and then managed to do a bit more work on my Uni article.

I tried the Toasted Marshmallow (Soya) Hot Chocolate when we went to Costa Coffee for lunch. How awesome are the glittery marshmallows!

The Christmas tree at London Waterloo was really pretty and made me smile.

I slept until really late on Thursday morning, which definitely wasn’t what I had planned! I didn’t really do an awful lot before lunch. But I definitely needed some chill time after the last few weeks. My Mum and I went over to Tesco so I could get some essentials and also a few bits for Christmas. The store looked very festive and they had these cute reindeer bags. I was hoping to go into Marks and Spencer as well, but by the time we’d done Tesco I was too exhausted and in so much pain. I rested for a bit when we got home, and then finished my article for my Uni portfolio, which I was really pleased about.

Friday started off with making my way over to Uni. Unfortunately, hardly anyone turned up, so in the end my lecturer decided not to do the lecture he had planned. Instead, he chatted to us for a while about dissertations, which is always a scary word to hear! Then he let us go early, so I went over to the library and did some Christmas planning on my laptop. My mentor came to see me for a quick chat, and was happy with how I’m getting on with my work. My Mum then picked me up and brought me home. After resting for half and hour and having my Fortisip, my Mum took me over to Frimley Park Hospital. I saw my hip surgeon, who said that he couldn’t do anything surgically for me. It’s good in some ways but frustrating in others, as it means we can’t make my symptoms any better. He advised me to keep up with my physio, but that it’s just a case of putting off the inevitable, as having EDS makes me more prone to osteoarthritis. He said it’s pretty likely I will need a hip replacement at some point, but hopefully by strengthening my muscles I can put it off for as long as possible. On our way home we popped into ASDA and I picked up my Christmas DVD for this year – Elf! I also got some Christmas stamps, as I’d run out.

I had a pretty long lie-in on Saturday morning, but didn’t feel too guilty as it’s been such a busy week and I don’t have any Uni work to do at the moment. I spent the morning doing some blogging, as I wouldn’t have time to do it on Sunday. I then curled up on the sofa with Freddie for a while and watched a few episodes of The Coroner. I wrote a few Christmas cards that need to be given out next week too. Nativity came on the TV, so, of course, I had to watch that! I also wrapped up a few Christmas presents for next week, as well as a few to be posted. My Mum got out a few of our Christmas decorations including these gorgeous trees. I keep getting these really weird dizzy spells – it feels like when you turn your head but your brain and eyes take a while to catch up, except it happens even when I’m not moving my head. I have no idea why it keeps happening, but it’s making me feel really ill and also a bit worried.

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What have you been up to this week? I always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!

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