Hello there. February has come along all at once hasn’t it? This lockdown has been a rollercoaster already and it’s only the second month of the year! I just thought I would give you a little life update as I’ve been fairly quiet and just haven’t felt like I have been able to fully express what I’ve loved these past few months due to personal circumstances at home.
Having the COVID19 vaccination
On January 23rd my mum and I had our first lot of Pfizer vaccine to protect us against Covid19 due to being part of Birmingham Children’s Trust. We had it on the Saturday and by the Tuesday one of the beasts were sent home from school to isolate as they had been in contact with someone who had tested positive. Within days mum, myself and Lewis all fell real ill. A post will be up soon all about my experience with having the vaccination!
Having Covid19
During the end of January, myself, my mum and Lewis all fell ill and tested positive for the Coronavirus. We were so poorly and bed bound some days. I slept a lot, ate little and felt so weak. Trying to look after three young beasties when you’re ill is very difficult so it was so tiring on top of already feeling extremely lethargic anyway.
I had to call 111 as my temperature soared up to 40, verging on dangerous levels and my body was boiling hot to touch, yet I was shivering. I was so cold and just so poorly. I called 111 at 2am after waking up feeling awful and piping hot. Lots of fluids, icy drinks and ice lollies were had alongside paracetamol.
I had a throbbing headache that made my eyes super sensitive to light so I couldn’t work and rarely was able to do anything on my phone. I had to wear sunglasses inside most of the time. It hurt to move my eyes and my head just was constantly aching. The tablets helped thankfully but I still felt so exhausted. Lewis and Mama Autumn were the same but between the three of us we pulled together. It took us about a week and a half to recover but we are still feeling the effects of tiredness now. Luckily we are all clear and life have gone back to normal.
My work and passions
This year so far I have done so much work it us unbelievable; To the point where I have actually stopped and wondered if I am genuinely ok. This time a few years ago I would’ve crumbled by now had I had this workload! I am currently working alongside my advocacy youth steering group called Think4Brum and we work to make positive change to the mental health industry in Birmingham and hopefully further too. We have started a fundraising partnership with Gymshark which has been insanely wonderful and they even sent us some gifted items!
I also work as a mentor with The Diana Award and adored the sessions but they have currently been stopped due to the National Lockdown and therefore the students will not be in school. However I was approached by the facilitator and asked to join the London group in a session with a set of students which I am soooo excited about. They asked ME! I’m buzzing.
I am now very much into my role leading on from last year as a member of Birmingham City University as an Expert by experience and also help write articles for the university website. As an expert by experience I have so far sat on panels for Social work students exams, had a say in whether they pass and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I have also been a role player in their mock exams and had to play the role of someone with sight loss which was such a great experience! Alongside this work I have also been writing ‘Covid Diaries’ for the university too each week since New Year. I have also been helping create a Masters Nursing degree course as an expert by experience which has been so incredible. I am so excited to see the modules come together.
Alongside my advocacy work, Expert by experience work, mentoring and fundraising, I also (as you know) am a content creator and have been creating content on social media, my website here and also I have recently rebooted my Youtube channel! I have been adoring creating content so much and cannot wait for the years to come.
Oh and how could I forget. I have also been writing my first ever Novel!
Fitness Fun
Since the start of January I have had a huge motivational boost and reinstalled the MindBody Online app on my phone. On the app you can find your nearest fitness classes and of course throughout lockdown, virtual ones. So I decided to sign up and just start registering for classes. I started doing yoga classes a few times a week and had to stop when I tested positive for Covid19 as I could barely lift my head, let alone transition into the splits! But as soon as I felt better I ventured back online, had my gifted Gymshark clothes at the ready and came across a deal from Sandstone Yoga. It was £15 for a 10 day pass and you can book any classes you like in that 10 day period. Well I jumped at it, paid and started booking classes. So far I have done two classes; Pilates and Hatha yoga and cannot wait for my classes this week. It is such a great deal and I hope they do many more in the future as I have fallen in love with them since not being able to go to the gym.
Valentines in Lockdown
As we all know, Valentines day hasn’t been very ‘looked forward to’ this year as the majority of us are in Lockdown (UK). Plans are limited, couples are apart and home isn’t always the best placed for some. That’s why I tried to brighten up the month by doing a Galentines virtual slumber party, promoting and practising some sexy self care and also making Valentines a lovely, calm day with my other half on top of my mums birthday too. It has been a lot to juggle but certainly a fun one to focus on. It was lovely having the Galentine’s virtual slumber party and LUSH Kindly helped us celebrate in style by providing us all with some Valentines bath bombs!
We celebrated Valentines for myself and Lewis and Mum’s birthday by exchanging gifts, relaxing, watching films and getting a takeaway which to be honest was perfect. Sadly the weekend wasn’t as planned due to an awful lot of news we had but we tried our best!
As I write this, I lost my auntie/ godmother two days ago. She passed away on my Mum’s birthday which also happens to be Valentines day. We are all absolutely devastated. If I’m honest I am feeling very lost and very hollow and hence why I’m slightly cloudy in my mind. I’ve drowned my sorrows in books, blog posts and tidying to help my mind stay occupied. Here I am, down but also trying to be productive and get things done whilst also supporting my family with many many phone calls each day, crying, helping with my families emotions and also being a parent to three beasties too. It’s been a hard year so far and this has just knocked us down hugely, but I know things will be ok. We just have to go through these emotions and allow ourselves to feel them. I talk about grief more during my ‘Coping with grief at a young age’ blog post.
It may only be February but I feel like I have personally achieved so much despite being ill and struggling with home schooling, mental illness, a huge workload and bereavement too. This past year has made us stronger and I truly believe that. Our resilience has built and we have had to face challenges some of us may never have faced before and it has been possibly one of the hardest year for a long time yet look at us all. Here we are, despite it all. I’m so proud of us all!
How has your 2021 been so far? If you’re struggling, I send you endless hugs. You got this! This may be a tough time, but you are tougher.
Stay wonderful!
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