Bounce

Thankful for the people I know, &being able to keep in touch with them.  

For a friend's offer of help, & for other friend who's been helping too.  

For catching up with a friend I rarely chat with.

For getting to the workshop on time, & managing to shower & dress & eat breakfast beforehand.  

For husband cooking yummy dinner for me, & for offering to come to the beach when we get our freedom back. For always being sweet & caring.

For the game we play & that we stuck with it & tackled a hard scenario tonight & won.  That we have plenty of room to play & keep the board set up.

That I feel loads better than yesterday, & tomorrow is a new week, the old one is history.

For being 

Weekend

Thankful for a long lie-in, for it being the weekend, & a day off. For friends to chat with & for books on the phone to read in bed.  For the libraries & ebooks & plenty to read.  For the kindle & amazon & wifi to download more books.

That husband got what he wanted & while he was shopping I got more hay.  There was one on top, easy to grab.  

For the hoover & washing machine, & devices that make tasks easier.  For freeing up time for eg reading & relaxing.

For remembering the washing and hanging it the same day it was washed.  For having room in the bathroom for the airers, & for having plenty of room in general.

For having a house to ourselves, & heating, & clothes, & bedding & everything we need.  For husband being sweet & caring, & there being two of us. 

Weekend

Thankful that I can take it easy on bad days, that I get enough done during the week to cover me.

That husband sorts out dinner, & does the ordering etc. for take aways.

That we got through to BT to cancel the phone & broadband, & that the conversation was painless.

That I figured out paypal & sorted out my entry.

That it's easy to cancel volunteering too, & I can always pick up extra as I feel like it.  That husband sat through a film with me.

Sleep

Thankful boss came to the meeting & we managed to get our document agreed.  

That I spoke up in the team meeting, & he knows what I need his help with, 

That I was able to reach out to someone & ask for help & they gave it willingly, & I figured out how to use the new software.

That it'd stopped raining by the time I went to see to the bunny.

That I made it to Pilates, & resisted chocolate tonight.

That husband does the shopping so I can sit in the car & message friends while he's in the supermarket.  That I feel it balances out him doing the cooking so I don't feel guilty.

That it's nearly the weekend

Calm

Thankful I can get to the woods on a lunch time, & that it's quiet then.  That I got onto the exercise machines & enjoyed messaging friend & reading.  

That I have friends to chat with & that I had an easy work day so I could chat & not have to concentrate.  & that I have things quietly ticking over so it looks like my work is under control.

That my boots are arriving soon so I have something to look forward to.

Boiler is sorted & friend found me some of my music books & is posting them.

That husband looks after me, & we have food & treats in the cupboards, jobs, & a house, & the things that we need, & extras to enjoy.  

That I'm happier after being at the woods & chatting with friends.

Food & warmth & shelter

Thankful to have got up early & done a bit of time stamped work & then gone back to bed for cuddles.  Thankful to have a home & a comfortable bed, & central heating.  That husband came for a walk with me at lunchtime, even though he was sore from the machine.  That it was dry & sunny & we live in a pleasant neighbourhood.  That workmate was on site & he scanned me the document I needed to save me going in.  That I have a job & usually it's straight forward.  That a conversation webex with someone today saved a lot of trying to explain by email. & that I made my point succinctly to my boss.  Am also still making baby steps of progress with a few other things.

That I've got friends, & internet & messaging means it's easy to stay in touch & I've had a pleasant evening chatting with friends.

Thankful to friend & neighbour who both keep an eye on the house for us, & for friend for sorting out the engineer when the heating was broken.  Thankful too for the coach check in today about the volunteering.

That husband helps me compose work emails. & that I got to ask my question in the meeting.

Working from home

Thankful to hear from a friend, & that she's ok.  That I have plenty of work to keep me occupied, & a little pressure now is a useful reminder not to get too comfortable.  Thankful that I'm part of a team & we have a good laugh.

That I tried a different programme & listening to an audiobook (rather than watching Netflix rotated) and managed longer on the exercise machine.  That being able to have one longer go means less switching between accounts.  That I found a nice new little notebook to track progress in.

Thankful for a reminder I saw today, 2 reasons to love working from home:  you have work, you have a home.  Both things I am very thankful for, & for husband too.

That we made it out for a walk today, and it was dry & sunny, & the frost was gone.  That I enjoy talking with husband.

That I made it to Pilates, & am thankful I didn't get an answer about I sent just beforehand because that meant I wasn't tempted to go back to the computer & work more, useful for reinforcing my boundaries.

That when I woke up & saw the frost I could stay home, & stay safe from the ice.

Quiet Sunday

Thankful when I dropped my kindle the landing railings stopped it falling onto the stairs.  For husband buying me the kindle & being able to instantly get books for it.  For the library ebooks & audiobooks too.

That it's a quiet night for volunteering, and I'm chatting with friends.

That I enjoyed the workshop, for zoom and technology and ways to keep in touch.  For the sound people I know.

That husband cooks for me, & we had a lovely dinner watching tv.  For Netflix & prime & access to interesting shows, and things like Youtube, that there are so many ways to be entertained.

That I found a game I know how to play online so can start organising an event now.

That husband got me a better sharpener so my wrists don't get sore or my fingers blistered when I'm sharpening pencils for colouring in now.

That the exercise machine is easy to hop on & off & can be left out permanently ready for use.

That I noticed the shower tray getting manky so I washed it.  

That we have plenty, & comfortable lives.  That there are plenty of techniques in my toolkit & I can keep a reference guide for when I need help / cheering up.

Really thankful I remembered the bunny after volunteering & now she's safely away for the night.

Weekend

Thankful we got lunch out the way before volunteering. That husband managed to get bread and the juice that I asked for.  That he cooked me a lovely dinner with plenty of veg.

That I can get Netflix on the tablet for when I'm on the exercise machine.  That we have room for the exercise machine & husband's set it up.  

That we've brought the table up so I can do the jigsaw while I'm volunteering.  

That we are both healthy & reasonably fit.  That it was sunny today & I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine.  

That I love the weekends, I had a very enjoyable hour or so this morning reading in bed with husband's arm around me.

For my friends, & for catching up with a couple today.

Friday!

Thankful it's Friday, that it's the weekend.  

That most of the tasks my boss has given me are in progress, & he's pleased with my work.  That I hosted my meeting well, & managed to take enough notes to send out the minutes with actions attached.  That this is a fresh start & I control the narrative, just getting on with stuff & being good at it.  That I can put my experience into practice & go with whatever I think best.  That I'm enjoying relative freedom at work, without the pressure & isolation that accompanied the autonomy of my last job.

That husband has built the exercise machine and we've both had a quick go, that I can see me using it.

That my mentee is happy to give me a LinkedIn recommendation for the mentoring, and that one of the book club members sent me an email to say she enjoyed my review.

That I had a pleasant phone call with my parents.

Friends

Thankful for my friends and network.  For blogs and records and being able to access happy memories, & for knowing that I've made a difference in people's lives.  That feedback is shared with us so we can see how appreciative service users are.  & the supervisors can give us shout outs too.

For people I got to know before leaving England, & still being able to access events through zoom etc.  That as much as I miss the scene over there, I can still keep & I know I am better off here with husband & the new life, new job etc.

For being able to keep in touch via Facebook & email, and for calls as well as messages over the internet.

That I braved asking latest mentee for a recommendation which means I can brave asking boss for a recommendation when my contract ends.

That I had a taste of frustration & it's help me appreciate how well off I am in my current job, & how the working culture is much healthier than my previous one.  That mostly I am unconcerned about things and I am good at my job & conscientious and not overly invested in it.  

Friends

Thankful I have friends, & that we can send messages ranging from silly to venting to check-ins to thought provoking conversations.  That friend was happy to delay tonight's phone call half an hour since I was running late.  That I enjoy chatting with friends, & have a good laugh with them.

Husband being caught in a meeting meant I had time to finish a task I was on so the boss can see me making progress.  Things are slowly progressing and he recognises that I'm getting things done.  That the day husband wanted to go shopping after work was one I didn't have Pilates so 

Thankful the one made redundant got another job, & that I was able to help her look forward to it.

That husband shared his treat cookies with me, they were still warm & gooey & lovely.

That I have plenty, and was in a better mood today.  That my part of the audit was painless.

The week plods on

Thankful that I got a lie in, that I work from home & can get up (within reason) whenever & start work whenever.

That I got a nap at lunchtime, & a snackbar & headed into work.  That I get to work from home and can go in when I need to, it's good to have the flexibility.  I also figured out how I'd misconnected my laptop to the docking station & managed to get the external monitor working.

Thankful for being able to quit for the day when I've had enough, & that I sorted out my mistake.  That tomorrow I can start again, & there's plenty of time to get done what I need to.  That I can relax & breathe & everything will sort itself out.

That my tower fell onto the table (rather than the floor) and survived it undamaged.  

That husband has a stash of chocolate that I can help myself to, & he ordered take-away for dinner & knows what I like.

No blue Monday for me

Thankful I remembered the bookclub meeting & we had some interesting conversations.  That work have things going on to help with socialising during lockdown.

That I got to catch up with the boss today, & he's pleased with my work.  I even remembered to thank him for giving me the job.  That there is plenty of work going on & no worries about deadlines.

That I made it to Pilates, & that I managed to get to the shops after the last lockdown & get some exercise bits to use in class.  For zoom & the Pilates class, & that even after lockdown ends we're likely to still do it on zoom so I can still attend.

That I'm in a better mood these days.

For Netflix, & the internet & ways of keeping in touch with people.  For books and computer games and entertainment. For being able to read and write, and enjoying blogging.

Lazy Sunday

Thankful for a lie-in, for being able to read in bed.  That it's fine & dry outside, & that husband remembered to get greens for the bunny.

That we had a quick game of Gloomhaven, & I think we've been playing on the wrong difficulty level, maybe things way harder than they needed to be.  Glad husband bought it & that it's fun to play.  Also I'm enjoying the storyline & it doesn't really matter than I'm not on top of my half of the game admin.

Thankful friend got in touch & is ok.

That husband set my second monitor up & got it working for me, & that'll be better for volunteering, (using the second screen).

For a warm safe house & cosy bed where I'm headed now.

That I remembered to get the towels from the washing machine & hang them.

Weekend

Thankful the group seem to be taking distancing more seriously.  That I can see that it's for the best that they declined.  That the woods were empty and I was on the way home before it started raining.  

That we had dinner eaten before friend rang, & it was good to speak to her.

That I made a decision about some of the decks I like and am going to keep, and another that I think I won't.

That the spare reading was an interesting enough question for me to take it, and that it's helped me decide to quit reading.

That I seem on much better form these days.

That I've decided my usual Saturday volunteering slot is better for me, & that I've reached my halfway point. That I got nice feedback from the other day, when I had a tough shift.

That husband & I had an easy game & it was me that got the treasure for a change, & it was actually treasure rather than a trap.

That I remembered to go to the pharmacy and collect my tablets.  That they sell make-up so I know for if I do decide to get some.

Happy

Thankful that I got agreement on my documents, & that my training was cancelled.  

That I made it to work & had a good chat with some team mates.  I enjoyed the drive out to the doctors and back and my prescription was there, & they emailed it to the local chemist for me.  That it was sunny today & that cheered me up.

That I left at a reasonable time for my drive, & it was an adventure cos I've never been there before. & I passed a local outdoor monument so that's somewhere new for me to go.

That someone organised a game for tonight & it was a decent social with the chat.

That husband organises dinner, & made me hot chocolate.  That he is sweet & caring.

Calm

Thankful I got some work done, & there is plenty enough to get on with and still no urgency.  That I'll get to the doctors tomorrow to collect my prescription.

Someone else answered the tricky questions so I was spared that.

Husband bought me bread, & milk & made me hot chocolate.  He's doing a lot more cooking (fewer take aways) & I'm slowly losing weight.   

He remembered to get me lighters when he went shopping so now I can light the candles from the Christmas hampers & they come in a pot so there's no need for a separate candle holder.

Glad I made it to Pilates & that I stuck with rather than quitting in the middle when I was bored.  That we have enough room for me to have a Pilates space, & that I have the equipment I need.  That I can feel the calm arrive as I lie on the floor at the start.  For a job that I can enjoy and that I can leave behind at the end of the day.  That I have good boundaries with shutting down the laptop at the end of the day.

Tablets

Thankful I thought to email the doctors, and that I got a reply and my prescription's in progress.  Thankful that was easier than getting through on the phone.  That it occurred to me to ask where to collect it, & to ask if I can pay for it online & collect it locally instead.

Thankful that I can still get onsite at work when I need to.  That I met the people I needed to so didn't need to go into the lab.  That the printer behaved while I was using it.  That just as I was thinking to go to the big office & ask for a spot there the manager came up & I asked him then.

That I've got plans to meet up for a walk with one of the others, that I happened into her today.  Glad of fortuitous meetings.  That colleague agrees with my thoughts on something & we'll make a plan together.

That husband does the cooking & it's yummy, & reasonably healthy.  

That it was dry today.  Thankful I took my calculator & got to show calculation to reviewer.  & that I use a rucksack instead of a shoulder bag for the laptop, much more comfortable for the walk.

Woods

Thankful that I made the decision to go to the woods, & that I can take last minute holidays.  That the woods is within range, & it's a feasible lunchtime trip. That it was empty & there was plenty of parking and it was dry while I was on the swing.  That I'd ha the foresight to take a raincoat.

Thankful to an old workmate for cementing me a swing into my garden at my house, & to husband for providing the meal to pay him 😆

For feeling brighter after the woods.  

That I made it back in time for the meeting.

That someone has organised a game for Friday, & I remembered to tell friend, & that we had a quick phone call.  That he seems brighter these days.

Movement

Thankful for my friend doing the Pilates class on zoom, so I'm still able to go.  That I tidied up & have the room to do the stretches now.  That I have the basics for the class, a mat, weights, band...

That there's a spot for the scales on the tiled floor so I should be getting a consistent reading for monitoring.  

That husband let me nick some of his chips without complaint, & that he cooked nice tea for us.  That he made me a hot chocolate (unsolicited treat!) and shared his chocolate.  That he is sweet & caring & has agreed to find somewhere nice for us to walk (local).  That he comes for walks with me.

That we succeeded on the mission we were stuck on, & now can move on.  That my character will level up & I can pick a new skill.  That we have room to play & leave it out.

That I have medication & plenty of time to ring the doctor for my repeat prescription.

Sundays

Thankful we went out for a walk, that I got some exercise & fresh air & chat with husband.  That it was warmer out today and the ground was free from ice.

For remembering my purse for the supermarket trip, & reminding husband that the shops are open different hours here so we knew we were heading out to the shop.  Thankfully I got him past the supermarket to do a loop of the houses behind it.

That I phoned a friend & we had a good chat.  That he's rearranged an appointment he's dealing with for me.

That husband does the cooking, & he saved bits for the bunny.  That he remembers to buy her treats too.

For remembering to ask a friend for boxes, & there's plenty of time to collect them before we need to do any packing.  Asked for solvent boxes so we know they'll be strong.

For having a lie in.

That the bunny was easy to catch tonight & didn't mind being held.

Remembering the washing & hanging it up so it wasn't left wet in the machine overnight.  

Chatty

Thankful friend organised fixing my heating & was there to let the repairman in.  That the heating is working fine & a neighbour keeps an eye on the place for me.

That I checked the address before I stuck the letter back in the post & saw it was a neighbour so I dropped it off.

That I was back at the car before husband when we went shopping, & it was warm enough in the sun.  That the carpark was well de-iced and fairly empty.

That I remembered to phone a friend, & tell her we got the voucher she sent.

Am thankful to be warm and dry.  The the carpark was well de-iced and it.

That volunteering was busy & I stepped it up a notch & survived.  That I remembered to submit the supervisor feedback.  That I resisted chocolate in my break & had an apple instead.

Snooze

Thankful there were plenty of us volunteering & that chat was lively.

That I've remembered grats.

That I was able to have a nap this afternoon.  That I'm awake for volunteering.  That there is plenty around me to enjoy, & am currently sat with a scratch book, rediscovering how much fun it is.  That the book is a handy size for sitting at the pc with.

That it's been a sociable day, conversations with some people I haven't spoken to in ages, & I remembered to phone my dad for his birthday.

Am thankful for my fluffy PJs, & a warm house with heating.  That friends and family are safe and well.

Friends

Thankful friend got a job, & another friend got a promotion!  

That it's nice keeping in touch with people, & internet etc. makes that easy.  Thankful that I have friends & people to chat with.  That being in lately with another team mate has given me the chance to get to know him & have a laugh & he's added me to the WhatsApp.  That team meeting was a laugh.

That I spotted a few errors, & that was appreciated & now they're fixed.  That colleague has finally accepted my document revision.

That I have time to indulge myself in my hobbies, & that I have space for them.  That I have manage to drop the drama people from my life and so my life is calm and enjoyable.  That I've learnt to say no to things.

That I'm making the effort to do things that're good for me, like the Pilates & eating fruit.  That cutting down on chocolate isn't the same as giving it up so I can still enjoy it.

That husband cooked a nice dinner, using the cabbage that I was supposed to fry up for myself.  That we've got tv to enjoy watching together.

Company

Thankful for husband, that he looks after me & we have interesting conversations.  That we know enough about each other's jobs to have useful technical discussions.  That he's home now, & I get to spend plenty of time with him.

For an old acquaintance who pointed out how much happier I seem now.

For chocolate, and fruit & veg.  For having a healthy diet and some treats.

That I found a show I like on Netflix with 20 min episodes which are perfect for lunch times.

That my next library book is ready for download.  That I have access to plenty of books to keep me entertained.

That even though I'm missing home & friends, I can still keep in touch with them.  & that I'm happier here with husband than I would be at home on my own, even with access to the beach & friends.  That eventually I will be able to get back over. 

Home

Thankful that I only slid on ice on empty roads, that I got to work & back safely.  That I got done what I needed to while I was still at work.

That I remembered my tablet, and can now see what effect taking it late has.

For husband, that he cooked the cabbage a different way & puts the effort in to make food for me.

For my friends, for having people to chat with & share ideas with.  For access to books and websites and more ideas.  That husband & I share hobbies, & have interesting discussions.  That I've brought him into a work discussion.

That I have warm dry clothes, and heating, somewhere safe and warm to call my own.  That I have a reliable car to get me places.  That husband is around & we get on well.  That the people I know are safe and well.

Work

Thankful that the road was empty where I slid on the ice, & that I got to work & back safely.  

That team mate was in & we had a good chat, he's fun and I'm in a good team. That he came to lunch & we sat with some of the others I know and it was as social as possible given current distancing.

That hopefully I can get in tomorrow and finish a chunk of work, & then I won't be on site for a while.

That I was brave & made it to the sandwich counter for a toastie for lunch.  

Thankful that husband cooked the red cabbage for tea, & it was quite nice.  That we have a couple of ideas to make it even nicer, & maybe I will do it tomorrow.

To an old contact who got in touch & it reminded me how lucky I am that we moved, that husband is home all the time (not working away).  It reminded me how I suffered in my previous workplace & I'm able to look back objectively now.  Thankful to have escaped and also to have learnt better.

Decluttering

Thankful to make some progress with the decluttering.  To give up Facebook and do something more productive, & that husband started hoovering while I was at it so the hoovering's done for the next while, & that he's moved the rubbish out of the office.

That he came out for a walk with me, & braved the ice.  Thankful for these holidays, to have spent time sleeping & relaxing.  That I managed most of a workout and am starting better habits.

That I found my purse & keys starting to hide so I managed to rescue them rather than panicking when I couldn't find them in a hurry.

Thankful I've made room for Pilates & am looking forward to the class tomorrow.  That I found one of the crystals I'd lost and forgotten about.

Thankful for friends.

Cosy

Thankful we got back in time for my volunteering.  That I got a new level & we had a little celebration in the chat.  For the sense of community & support that comes with volunteering, & that I was finished for the end of my shift.  Thankful for the constant reminder of how lucky I am to have people in my life, and things that I enjoy doing.  For safety and security, shelter and resources.  And for friends.

That the website husband was looking at has been updated & he can order exchanges now.  That the shelves have been restocked since the last time we went shopping.

That we've finally ordered the exercise machine husband chose, & have the money to pay for it.  Looking forward to exercising on it.  Thankful for the space to be able to have it.  For having a nice house and space for the things we want to do in it.  For being healthy & reasonably healthy.

Also glad we brought the hoover and keeping on top of the cleaning is easier starting from fresh. 

Thankful for the internet, for easy access to information.  For being able to buy fruit & vegetables, & being able to find recipes for them.

Day 1....

Thankful for being able to lie in bed this morning reading as I was snuggled into husband.  This is my favourite part of the day & I'm glad I was awake.  Thankful for library access & ebooks, & for the phone etc. more comfy than reading actual books in bed, as much as I love them.

Thankful for my friends, that there are people I can reach out to if I'm struggling or feeling down.  And even better than there are people to share being happy with, & small wins, & things that make me smile.  Glad of the technology that makes it easy to keep in touch with people, and send photos and emoji.  That there is plenty to do besides actual talking.

Thankful for a friend who asked for a reading today, that she knows she can ask, & that it's one of the rare times that she accepts support.  That I picked the perfect deck for her & she was happy with my choice, & that she got a positive reading.

That I avoided a buzzkill, and the guilt about someone else suffering it was short lived.  

That I took the time to ask husband about his game & he spent nearly the whole walk talking about it.  Glad that he's talking more than he used to.  That he comes for walks with me, & that he cooks healthy food for us.