Iesus Non Amat Me

On Saturday I travelled on a train for the first time in about 16 months! I also met up with friends, again for the first time in about 16 months. And I'd say it was the first time I've gone anywhere for fun in that time too. I have had hair cuts and did some Christmas shopping in town last year, but I wouldn't really classify those things as "fun" in the same way, so this was rather exciting!

It was great to see people again. I do worry that I was awkward and weird and probably annoyed them, but then I always think that. Paul and I went for drinks on Sunday too. It wasn't as strange or restrictive as I thought it might have been and I now think that it probably won't be too long before the country gets back to normal once the pandemic is over.

I did mention possibly taking a short trip somewhere later this year, just for a few days, cos neither of us are really prepared for anything more than that. I'm not sure how enthusiastic he was though. Maybe it's best to leave even that much for next year. I just don't want our trips to become a thing of the past. I know he has a lot more going on in his life now and our holidays can't be exactly the same as they used to be, but I still want to go places with my best friend. But sometimes it feels like everything I suggest is a burden to him and I don't know if that's because he doesn't want to go and is just being too polite to tell me or if it's my own anxiety making up problems that don't exist.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Boris has just announced that restrictions are going to be kept for another month so it's probably not the best time to be planning anything anyway.

Today marks a year since the UK went into its first lockdown. A lockdown anniversary, if you will. I remember going into work and not knowing what was going to happen but still thinking that this would probably all be over in a matter or weeks or months at the most. It was such a weird and eerie time back then. Almost everything shut, long queues for people to get into the supermarket, people panic buying pasta and toilet paper, customers decked out in gloves and aprons. It felt so different to this lockdown. Back then you could really imagine the world was ending, but there's a lot more normality this time. Still a far cry from normal, of course, but closer to it.

I still don't know how long it will be before things get back to truly normal, if indeed they ever do.

And I don't know when I'll get back to normal, or what that will even be for me. I was never hugely sociable before but I did love the trips that I did take and I worry that I won't even have those any more.

But who knows. No one can say what's going to happen. Things might go back to normal and I'll be posting about my upcoming holiday this time next year. Or we could have a third wave and I'll be marking a second year of lockdown. Who knows?

And so November draws to a close. Not much to report on my end. We've spent most of the month in lockdown after all. I did built the Lego Haunted House on my week off work, so that was fun. And then went back to work to get shouted at by many people who didn't seem to realise there even was a lockdown.

The main news of the month, of course, was America correcting the terrible mistake they made four years ago and not re-electing the ridiculous orange man-baby to a second term of office as President. Well done, America. I'm proud of you. If only we were allowed to correct the terrible mistake we made four years ago when we voted for Brexit, but alas we don't have that option.

Christmas is rapidly approaching, but like everything else this year it doesn't feel quite real. Obviously I'm not going to be able to do my usual Christmas trip to London, which does make me very sad. It's something I really look forward to cos I love going up, spending time with Paul, and seeing the pretty lights and browsing the Christmas Markets and drinking mulled wine and singing along to Muppet Christmas Carol with a whole cinema of people. I even enjoy braving the crowds at Winter Wonderland in order to win small cuddly toys on the shooting games.

Another thing that's different this year is the Christmas tree. I've always been an advocate for a real tree. I love the way it smells, filling the whole room with the scent of Christmas so that when you come downstairs in the morning the very air in the house feels festive. But normally Rob drives up and we pick out the tree together, which is not an option this year cos we're in Tier Two so can't mix indoors. So I've gone for an artificial tree. Hopefully it will still look nice, and maybe I'll pick up a small potted real tree from the supermarket to try and get some of the Christmassy smell I so love as well.

Hey! Sorry, it's been a while since I've been here but then with lockdown still going on not much has been happening. I had a week off work near the end of June during which the original plan had been to go to Denmark, but obviously that didn't happen, so I just sat at home and melted in the heatwave. I also made pizzas from scratch which turned out pretty well, although the bases rose a bit more than I'd have liked (a combination of making them too early and the weather being so hot, I think.)

I've been doing a few online escape rooms with friends over Zoom and that's been fun. A lot of the puzzles are the type that I love doing anyway and have a lot of experience with, so I'm usually able to solve quite a few of them. I like that. It makes me feel like I'm actually of some use to the team!

Also, the LJDQ is back as the DWDQ so I've been playing that every week and basking in the quotage. I got a full house not long ago, which I was very proud of! It's a lot of fun so I would highly recommend people come along and join in. (And if you're European you can become a member of the DWDQEU. All are welcome. Even the English!)

I've started a rewatch of Once Upon a Time and am very much enjoying season one so far. I'm a bit worried about what's going to happen once I get to the seasons where things started going off the rails, but maybe knowing where it all ends up will allow me to enjoy it more. And if not, there's always fanfiction to turn to when it gets bad.

Something I had been particularly looking forward to was the Hamilton film coming to Disney+. Originally it wasn't supposed to be released until October next year, but I suppose that since no one can see it in the theatres now anyway there was no point holding it back. Part of me was worried that it wouldn't live up to my high hopes, but I shouldn't have doubted. It was brilliant. I loved seeing the original cast in the roles after hearing them on the soundtrack so often. And it was great to see close up shots and catch all the little details that I hadn't been able to see when I saw it live cos I was too far away or focusing on something else at the time. Also all the things I did see but forgot about!

And finally, I think we have bees living in the roof of the side passage. Looking online seems to indicate that they're just using the space that's already there and not doing any damage, so I'm inclined to just leave them bee. (Sorry, I'm no good at puns...)