It’s Geth’s and my ninth wedding anniversary today! We are looking forward to a nice evening with some takeaway pizza. We used to go out for anniversary meals but home is the greatest place for both of us these days so takeaway is the preferred option.
It’s been a day job work day otherwise. I’m doing a lot of work for my civil engineering clients at the moment, which means I’m reading a lot about the scientific properties of concrete. Proofreading is most certainly a career where you spend your life learning about things you never expected to know.
We got some lovely cards in the post! I also couldn’t resist buying that ‘Happy Anniversary’ Toblerone – it’s one of Geth’s favourite chocolates.
I had hoped this upcoming week would provide a bit of a breather, but as ever there’s a lot to do. Today I did a bit of day job work and caught up with most of the housework, and the rest of the week will mostly be spent either working or studying. I am going to prioritise some evening downtime, though, as it’s badly needed at the moment.
Still hoping to have everything organised for Christmas by the end of November…
I made the Christmas cake yesterday, which is a big job ticked off the list!
It’s been a really productive week! Lots of work and game creation done and another interesting TechUp module finished. I also have a giant pile of parcels from various postal services that need to be opened and wrapped in Christmas paper this weekend!
Next week, if all goes well, I will be taking a bit of downtime. I’m well caught up with work and studying and will be blitzing as much housework and Christmas admin as possible over the weekend. My game is also now drafted and in the testing process, meaning I just need to finish tweaking and finessing it before the jam deadline on Sunday evening.
The main reason I’m going to be trying for a quiet week is that December is going to be non-stop. Mostly in a lovely way (proper Christmas celebrations with family etc.), but I get a bit unsettled when lots of non-routine things are happening, so it’d be good to have some mental recharge time beforehand.
Geth and I have both had head colds this week. I shook it off fairly quickly, but Geth has been feeling fairly rough and has decided on a strictly-indoors weekend in order to try and shake it off before Monday. This means that if I’m parkrunning tomorrow, I’m doing it by myself, and I still can’t decide where I want to go. Might end up making a very last-minute decision!
Some of the framed pictures in last weekend’s hotel room (it’s all super art deco in there).
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Duran Duran and Chai – ‘More Joy’ Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf’
Sunday
Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ Soft Cell – ‘Bedsitter’ Duran Duran and Tove Lo – ‘Give It All Up’ Irene Cara – ‘Fame’
Monday
Roger Miller – ‘King Of The Road’ Soft Cell – ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ Duran Duran and Tove Lo – ‘Give It All Up’
Tuesday
Roger Miller – ‘King Of The Road’ Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf’
Wednesday
Chris Rea – ‘Driving Home For Christmas’ Duran Duran – ‘Anniversary’
Thursday
Arcadia – ‘Lady Ice’ Traditional – ‘Deck The Halls’
Friday
Dr Hook – ‘When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman’*
It’s a week where I’m not leaving the house except for running reasons (pandemic recovery has been such that I’ve not had one of those for nine weeks 😯). This is a good opportunity to get things done and so far it’s going well – I got lots of day job work done today and have scheduled everything else in for the rest of the week. I even got back to my morning outdoor running after a few weeks of feeling a bit nervous and agoraphobic and over-busy and doing too many treadmill runs as a result. I didn’t have a good run (not feeling too well at the moment) but it does feel better running outside than plodding on the treadmill. I just need to build up the motivation every morning… I am definitely starting to remember why I used to have winter running slumps at this time of year. The daily run streak at least gets me moving every day.
A different reason to be busy every day this week, but at least it keeps things varied!
Another Christmas tree from Leeds city centre! I should investigate Newcastle city centre soon as apparently Fenwick’s Christmas window is up…
The to-do list doesn’t really stop at the moment – I’m back and forth between work and studying and house tasks and running and all the other stuff that seems to come out of nowhere… but it’s making life very interesting, as I’m basically doing something different every day.
Geth and I are doing our weekly parkrun volunteering slot tomorrow as he’s got a race on Sunday. The rest of the weekend will be spent doing all the stuff I didn’t have time for during the week!
It’s certainly a lot fuller than last year’s version.
Two weeks’ worth of earworm playlists:
Saturday 23rd
Ray Parker Jr – ‘Ghostbusters’ Edison Lighthouse – ‘Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)’ Bee Gees – ‘Stayin’ Alive’ Radiohead – ‘No Surprises’ Tracey Ullman – ‘They Don’t Know’ Duran Duran – ‘Anniversary’
The Power Station – ‘Some Like It Hot’ Dead Or Alive – ‘Something In My House’ The Beatles – ‘Drive My Car’ Revo – ‘Battle Against The Ones We Inevitably Confront’
Wednesday 27th
One Direction – ‘Little Things’ Rockwell – ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’ Shakira and Wyclef Jean – ‘Hips Don’t Lie’
I am still making my way through the TechUp course and learning a little bit more about Python every day. It’s a gradual process and some days I feel like it’s going in one ear and out the other, but I know from experience that it will sink in with practice! We’re moving onto testing modules this week and there was a really interesting lecture on it this evening. I still think I prefer the development side of things, but it’s given me some things to think about.
I’m still buzzing from making my four-hours-to-code-it Petite Mort game for EctoComp. It was so much fun to be able to squeeze in a bite-size piece of Adventuron coding in the middle of everything else that’s going on at the moment! I’m getting some nice feedback and some useful reports of bugs to fix for my post-competition release. I’m now hoping to do the same with a small PunyInform game for the jam they’re holding this month – I’m getting a tiny bit done every day and counting it as my NaNoWriMo this year! It’s so important to be able to spend a bit of time with my creative projects even when I’m super busy with other things.
As is standard for the autumn, day job work has quietened down a bit recently – which is absolutely fine by me, as I wouldn’t be able to fit all my studying in if business was as manic as it was in the summer. I’m still getting a chunk every week, but it’s at a nice manageable level.
Next door’s cat has been visiting us a lot recently. We think he just really likes our cosy sofa throw!
I’m not going to be writing long blog posts for a while, I don’t think. Work plus studying plus life admin is really all-encompassing, and so I’m just not going to have the time to write screeds and screeds over the next few weeks/months. I will do a short update every day to let you know how I’m getting on though!
I collected the car from the garage today and I’ve got another chunk of studying done. Tomorrow is a day for getting all of this week’s day job work done (hopefully!) and then I’ll be back to the course on Thursday and Friday. It seems to be taking a bit longer than advertised to get through all the work, but hopefully I’ll feel vaguely caught up by the weekend.
Lots to do this evening too!
Dance mural from a building in Whitley Bay when Geth and I were there a week and a half ago.
It’s been a manic week and I am so glad it’s the weekend. Studying and working at the same time is tough, especially with all the other things I need to do. I’m really enjoying the course though.
Tomorrow I’ll be parkrunning and game-creating and doing other active/productive hobby stuff, but I’m going to arrange another Shouldless Sunday for the following day. I’m really looking forward to a day on the sofa with my videogames! I just don’t have time for them otherwise at the moment…
Another of last Sunday’s cakes! I love red velvet cake and this slice was perfect.
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Tracy Chapman – ‘Fast Car’ Placebo – ‘Every You Every Me’
And a bonus track that Geth was humming that day:
The Power Station – ‘Some Like It Hot’
Sunday
Bill Withers – ‘Lovely Day’ The Running Channel – ‘Run With Me’
Monday
Japan – ‘I Second That Emotion’
Tuesday
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon’ Duran Duran – ‘Out Of My Mind’ Duran Duran – ‘Winter Marches On’
Wednesday
Elvis Presley – ‘Return To Sender’ Village People – ‘YMCA’ Bill Conti – ‘Gonna Fly Now’ Duran Duran – ‘Anniversary’
Thursday
Lady Gaga and Beyoncé – ‘Telephone’ Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – ‘Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy’ Ashbury Heights – ‘Suicide Anthem’
Well, I thought it would be a quiet week, but it ended up being pretty full-on with work and other things! I organised Geth’s new office on Monday, and we had a lovely visit from Mum and Dad yesterday and this morning as they were testing out their car to check a recent issue. Other than that, it’s been a fairly nonstop work week. I’m hoping there won’t be too much next week as I need to relax and prepare for the marathon! Nine days to go…
The Hallowe’en sweets are officially open! Picked this haul up at the train station in Birmingham last week and have finally tucked into it tonight after finishing all the ice cream in the freezer this week. Really hope I can find some Jaffa Cake Spooky Cake Bars this year…
This week’s earworm playlists:
Saturday
Andy Taylor – ‘I Might Lie’ The Power Station – ‘Some Like It Hot’
Sunday
Duran Duran – ‘Planet Earth’ The Beatles – ‘8 Days A Week’
Monday
The Beatles – ‘Drive My Car’ Yasumasa Kitagawa – ‘Great Cross-Examination (Moderato)’ Elton John – ‘Crocodile Rock’
Geth and I travelled back to Newcastle this morning after a family wedding yesterday. It was so lovely to be able to have a normal family celebration after everything that’s happened over the last eighteen months, and to see so many people I haven’t been able to see for so long. I really hope we can have another gathering soon.
The next couple of weeks are gathering steam and so I’ve spent a bit of time this afternoon making sure to schedule in some time to relax! The last few months have felt very non-stop and I know I won’t be able to do all the stuff I want to do over the next month if I keep barrelling along without a break.
Work is returning to a good level as well – there’s plenty to keep the business ticking over, but it’s not as hectic as it was in the summer and so I’ve got time to do other things too.
Should be a good month leading up to the marathon!
A slightly ominous-looking tree on the Quayside. I’m looking forward to exploring this route further during training for future marathons.
