Bang! And suddenly it was September!

I cannot believe how fast this year’s going by, even though at one point it felt like everything was in slow motion! Can you believe we are saying hello to September 20 and welcoming Autumn already?

Back to school back to work

I don’t know about you, but suddenly everything seems to be returning to normal. Ewan has gone back to school (yay!! I think space will be good for both of us!) and this week I am back in the office for one day per week (not so yay – I love WFH!).

So it’s back to queuing in traffic for the school run and back to the commute to work for one day a week.

I am actually feeling a little apprehensive and anxious about it all, to be honest…..

Chloe is starting the final year of her degree (unlesss she decides to do Masters), Ewan is starting his final year at secondary school and Tom is starting his Masters degree – so it feels like everything is changing.

Reflection on last few months

So whilst most people did not like lockdown, for some reason I seem to click with it. I think it was the fact it gave me more time to be active and enjoy my home life. As I have always worked two days per week from home, and as my job is always frantic; I often have to work late evenings and weekends at home anyway. So the things people didn’t like about having to create their workspace at home I had dealt with a long time ago. Staying logged on late was already a regular occurrence for me but the difference is I didn’t have to waste my time in traffic in-between times.

It also allowed me more time to enjoy making recipes and eating home-cooked food – partly because takeaways were closed!! but also because I had more time and nowhere else to be.

I think I have been and will always be a homebody – if thats even a term!!

The other bonus is whilst my electric bill is higher, I had hardly any petrol costs, no bus fares for the kids and generally I saved money! As soon as I go back to real life, its the coffee shops and little things that mean I spend more money.

September 20 Goals

So here are my goals for September 20 – I haven’t done one of these for a while, in fact, I think the last one was April. But I thought the focus may help with the anxious feeling I have with the return to normality……….

• Keep my bullet journal with a to-do list, food diary and general feelings
• Help my daughter set up her online shop – she is an illustrator and going into her 3rd year at Uni and has her own website, so she needs somewhere to sell her creations (she is brilliant btw – checkout The Artea Fox )
• Move Tom out to his University accommodation and help him set up home (😥)
• Start meal prepping again for breakfast and lunches at least
• Finish the 80 Day Obsession workout program and start a new program
• Write 2 blog posts
• Do something crafty!! So work doesn’t take over
• Try to enjoy going out – it feels stressful at the moment!
• Start thinking about planning for Christmas!! (Eek)

What have I been reading?

I did actually read a book whilst we went away to Kent, so technically in August 20, not September 20- it was just a light-hearted women’s fiction that was free with Amazon Prime ** reading (my Amazon Prime was just up for renewal and the free books is always an added bonus!). I did enjoy it though – it was this one.

The story is a little predictable in parts, but sometimes it’s nice to not have a heavy storyline, and with life being how it has been this is exactly what I needed. It’s all about Sarah, who has been in a “dead” relationship but then gets the opportunity to move back to her home town with a career change, where she sets about meeting her “Steven” the man that a clairvoyant said she would marry. I need to find a new one for reading this month, so if you have any recommendations let me know in the comments.

What have I been watching?

I have been watching The Last Kingdom on Netflix for what feels like forever – the worst thing is I am really really enjoying it, but as the episodes are an hour long and you really need to watch them, I only get through one a night! Alongside this, if I don’t have much time I watch other more light-hearted or shorter programs. I am on season 4 now though, so I think I will finish this in September.

The most recent series I have enjoyed is Cobra Kai – this started off as a Youtube Premium series but both of the first seasons are on Netflix and I loved it. I watched the whole thing over the bank holiday weekend. As the episodes are 30 minutes long I could fit them around making dinner etc.

I watched the original Karate Kid at the cinema a couple of times and loved it then. This series has the original cast and several clips from the old film – but it’s done in a brilliant way. What is strange is that I loved Daniel in the original, but think that he is a bit of an idiot (toyed with the idea of using the work Twirp or Prat lol) and I actually prefer Daniels enemy Johnny from the original film in this series. The series is funny and at some points annoying as you know what’s going to happen, but its actually really entertaining. Eddie is not a huge fan of the original (what?!? – I know!!) but even he enjoyed this series.

Thats it for now – hopefully I will be writing a post soon about my weightloss journey (what has happened in lockdown) and my Youtube channel!

Take care and see you soon in the next one

Julie xx

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