Monday 24th February
17:13, London Home
Good morning. I mean, afternoon. It’s a strange day. I’ve both woken up extremely late but have been more productive since waking than I have been in weeks, so I’m not quite sure how to feel. The fact that my emotions are directly tied to my productiveness is quite telling though. Telling of what? I don’t know. We’ll leave that conversation to my therapist and future self.
When did I wake up? I hear you ponder. Around 1pm. Yes. I slept at 3am to be fair, but when you realise the reason why, all fairness is out the window. I discovered you can play Sims on a laptop. That was the reason. Lol. I amuse myself. Listen! The thing is, I was a total Sims fan back in my ‘youth’ (ugh), back when I had a limited edition pink Playstation 2. I had Sims Castaway, Sims Pets, and a bunch of other games. And then recently through my boyfriend, I was introduced to playing these kind of games online (should we question his influence here?) and so I’ve become a bit obsessed for the last 2 days. Sleeping at 3am is honestly not bad. The day before, it was 6am. Don’t tell my mum.
In other news, I woke up and realised it’s Monday and reading week has ended. Did I read anything? No. I suffered from serious food poisoning (although mum thinks it was a case of the Norovirus which has been going around) and was bedridden most of this week, then recovering in the latter half. That means I’ve had my rest, I’ve had my fun, and it’s time to dive straight into my second (and final, might I add) term of my last year of law school! We must be sharp! We must be vigilant! We must be on top of it! We must also pilate! More on that later.
After waking, I checked on my beloved and learnt he’s on his way to the dentist. Nothing unusual going on there. Then I wished my dad a safe trip since he’s going away for a few weeks. Bon voyage. Then I got dressed and decided to leave my vampire hermit lifestyle behind, daring to venture outside into what I can only assume was the sun. It’s a rare sighting to see sunshine in London so I was confused for a moment. It did start to rain 10 minutes later though, dissuading any notions of good fortune.
The rain was too late to catch me for I was already sitting in cafe Nero, sipping on my americano, chatting to mum on the phone, who’s network connection was really iffy but I was doing my part as a gracious daughter who is above expressing undignified responses, such as irritation and impatience. Shania’s gone to Canada for a month so her birthday has been extended another two weeks and mum threw her a dinner party last night. The flower arrangements were so lovely. Honestly, mum better arrange the flowers at my wedding after seeing that display. She also outdid herself with the food, as always. You can count on a Persian to make at least 3 main courses to choose from. There were around 20 guests so I suppose it’s partially justified this time. Bless her. I missed out but I’m so glad everyone had fun, especially sis, who definitely needs a break from work.
After the call with mum, I gave dad a quick call and wished him well. Then I got my book out, which was the whole purpose of this cafe quest, and read a few chapters. It’s Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, but not just any old copy. It’s this gorgeous hardback metallic lined version with a beautiful cover. I got it this Christmas at Indigo. That’s a book shop in Canada, for my wondering Brits. I’m not usually one for interesting limited edition covers because I never get anything else to match it, so it sort of awkwardly sits on my bookshelf, but this one is lovely in a demure way. I think it’ll fit right in.
I read around 5 chapters I think. It’s important I read it all in a few days because that’s the book we’ll be discussing this month in the university book club i’m supposed to lead. Dear me. I need to complete it so I feel I know what I’m talking about! Simply having watched the 2005 film with Keira Knightly a hundred times is not enough to qualify me. Ha.
On the way home, I detoured to Sainsbury and bought a few bits and bobs. I think I buy too many groceries and never know what I have, leading to things expiring and me always opting for the easy option. It’s really bad. I hate wasting food. So, I tried something new today. Basically, I emptied everything I had in the fridge, freezer and pantry, and laid it all out and took pictures. Now, in theory, I have a stock of everything I have in a permanently visual format. It truly seems like enough food for 2 weeks. I’ll maybe only need to top up on fresh protein and some veggies. I don’t know. If you subtract all the food I eat from boredom or addiction, I don’t actually eat a lot. And since the idea is to eat healthy, and only when I’m hungry, theres a good chance this should last me a while. In any case, I will see how long it will take me to consume all of it and keep a track of my progress, like a self experiment. Then I’ll have a good idea of what I need, how long it lasts and how much it costs. Gosh, you don’t know how much writing all this down is pleasing me. I love a good experiment. xD
Along the way, I cleaned the inside of the fridge, got rid of a ton of rubbish because everything has so much packaging, cleaned the stove and countertop, and proceeded to cook the item most at risk. That honour went to the pack of chicken. I had previously frozen it and left it to defrost in the fridge for a few days, so it was definitely time to use it. There were two skin on, bone in, chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks in the pack. I used some peri-peri chicken seasoning which was specifically for cooking chicken in the airfryer (what makes a seasoning air fryer specific?) according to the packet, and I added some chopped veg as well. I’m happy we used that up today, otherwise I’d have gone for a bagel sandwich and thrown away the chicken tomorrow from being uncertain if it was alright to eat. See, take stock of your stuff! It helps. Well, it helps me, anyway.
The day is definitely not done. I took out the trash. I still have to wash my hair, take an everything shower (ugh), paint my nails (I have this really cool brown I want to try but its not gel, which is annoying), and write my schedule for the next few weeks. I also might do a round of laundry. Plus hoovering. Alright, I better get to it. And once all of that is done, I can have a cup of tea and read some more Pride & Prejudice. Omg, I just remembered I have a seminar today. Jesus, I literally would have missed that if I didn’t just suddenly remember. Thank goodness you can take it online. Ok, the lesson here is go back to checking your daily schedule in the mornings, every single day. And potentially taking your ADHD meds. Ha. Term has started. Let’s activate big brain mode.
Also, chickens done. Go check that.
20:38, London Home
Hi. Alright so, I attended the banking and monetary law seminar online and took some notes. The assessment questions were released today and the professor spent some time talking about it. It’s basically a critical essay. Great. No really, I actually prefer essays. I hoovered the house but it died after the living room and bathroom were done, so I put that in charge. I also promptly did my eyebrows when I caught sight of them in the mirror. They needed some maintenance, like damn.
Next, nails. I just tidied them up. Can’t be bothered to waste time painting them. The professionals always do it better so I’ll go get that done when I have time. I finally decided to eat dinner. Since I’m not a fan of drumsticks, I decided to remove the meat from the bone and shred it, and that went into making two peri-peri chicken wraps. One drumstick isn’t really enough protein for a meal so I also ate one thigh alongside the wrap. I saved the second thigh and wrap for tomorrow’s lunch. Then I had to wash the airfryer, of course.
I’m happy with dinner today. I used a variety of fridge ingredients, plus I have leftovers. Note, all my cathedral sliced cheese is finished. I only had 2 slices left in the package. No worries though, I’ve got loads of different cheeses in the fridge including halloumi, mozzarella and truffle infused cheddar, the last of which is really more of a charcuterie type cheese. Maybe I’ll have those with the rosemary crackers one day as a snack. For dessert, I had an easy peeler mini orange. I’m saving my one Magnum ice cream in the freezer as a special treat. I’ve got plenty of oranges though.
Now, what do I need to do? Well, wash my hair. Not sure I can be bothered for an everything shower too, I’ll save that for tomorrow. Just essentials today. Then one round of laundry me-thinks. I can read while it’s running. Good? Good. Oh! Also, the most important thing today. I must make a study and fitness plan! We can do that during laundry time. Vamos!
22:21, London Home
Hello, it’s me again. I washed my hair and applied the heavenly smelling oils to the tips. I also had a fun dance session right before getting in the shower. Best time for it, really. As for laundry, I don’t know, I feel like it’s a bit late. Plus I sprayed the house with bug spray because those pesky little flies have popped up again. It’s hard to know where the source is. All these cracks and crevices from a terrible renovation job I’m guessing. They’re deinfitly not fruit flies. More like construction dust flies.
That’s why I ordered some peppermint and eucalyptus oil earlier today. Express shipping too so they get here tomorrow. Because this bug spray doesn’t seem to kill them and I hate breathing it in. I ordered some glass spray bottles from Amazon. What I’m going to do is mix the essential oils with water in these bottles and spray the house. A natural solution to killing bugs and spiders apparently and not such a hazard when breathed in. I’ll tell you how it goes later.
Fine. It’s decided then. I’ll do laundry tomorrow morning. I think I should make a cup of tea now and do some scheduling, maybe read a bit. Steve wants to watch a film with me (virtually, since he’s in Luxembourg) but I’m not sure if I would feel good doing that, knowing I have other stuff thats more urgent. I think I’ll go make that cup of tea, a Manuka honey and chamomile one, do my schedule, read at least 5 chapters, then if he’s still up for it, watch a film. Toodles.
23:36, London Home
My goodness. Just writing my schedule for tomorrow has taken an age. I did take stock of a few things so I don’t suppose it will always take this long, but I really don’t have time for anymore. We can take it a day at a time till I’ve got some more time on my hands. Now I need to turn to reading. My target is another 5 chapters for today. In case I don’t write anything else, goodnight!
