Blog date...

I have now been blogging for over two years and still going strong. I have previously spoke about how I have made some very good friends and finally made the big step with my bestie at Forever after Undecided.

Rebecca is the type of friend every girl needs. In the past couple of years our friendship has devleoped into something more than just 'friends' we're 'best friends'. I know, adding best on to it sounds very childish but it's the best way to describe us. Last year she was there whenever I needed and sometimes when I didn't even realise I needed her. We share happiness in our lives and support each other through the bad. Here's the thing - she's in LA and I am in the UK.

We began our friendship leaving messages on each other's blogs. Then we progressed to Facebook. The next step, what's app. We would be in contact every day to the point where to not hear from one another at some point is just weird. Lately we made the next step of Skype. Don't you just love Skype? It gives us all a way to stay in contact with those we can't be around in real life. For me and Rebecca it allowed us to not only speak but also backed up the fact that we had actually found a special friendship through blogging.

If I gain nothing else, I have found a friend for life. Someone who can check me, help me and can share the same craziness. Next step, hopefully an LA rehab this Summer! Who knows?

Don't we know it? [Source]

If you want to check out her awsomeness then click below and show some blog love!

A day like no other...

Today is the 25th March. 

There is nothing to make it stand out from any other day for most people in the world, but for me this is a day that has changed. Today would have been my big brother's birthday - he would have been 44 years old. But instead he has been out of my life for nearly 5 months. Instead of celebrating and sending a witty, funny card, I am sitting thinking about the fact that I will never get to celebrate anything with him in person again - or even see him again. This time last year, I spent with him and my brother, ordering take away and talking about how well he was looking and how he was making good progress in the recovery from cancer.

Little did we all know that it was terminal. A fact he did not share with anyone except our Dad, for fear of us stopping our lives for him. That takes bravery - something he was very good at for the whole year. I will cry and I will feel sad but I need to find a way to celebrate his life - because for 27 of his 43 years he was my big brother and I love him. That is something to celebrate and be happy about. I had him in my life and I am proud of the man he was.

I'll always remember him, with some sadness of course, but as each year passes I will find more peace with it. I will raise a vodka to him and try to keep a smile on my face.
 

To my big brother, I love you always - Happy birthday! x x

Men of the world...

I have seen the screening premier photos for the new Mad Men and I am more than excited for its return. I wanted to share something I found on Pinterest which I love... not just for Mr Draper but the message it holds.

[Source]

Now this does not apply to all men, I am aware of that but I know that some of the men I have encountered could do with some of this advice. It would be nice to have a man try date me sometime soon - suit and all for special occasions. Maybe after 6 series I will find my very own (faithful) Mr Draper.

Survival

It has been a long time coming but I am finally on the mend. I have spent a week literally on bed rest and sofa time but it is starting to pay off and I am now beginning to realise how unwell I have been now I am feeling better. This morning I was advised (and signed off) by the doctor for another week to get fully better. My stomach was in knots thinking about informing work that I wont be in. As I've stated in previous posts, I am a little bit of a workaholic and the idea of not being in the workplace makes it difficult due to lacking control.

I have finally made the decision after the past couple months that I need to look after myself, something I am not very good at. More often than not I am too concerned with everyone else that I put myself second.

The need to give often outweighs.... [Source]

After doctors, calling work and sending in my sick note I came home and went to bed - 3 hours after leaving it. It was that moment when I realised that I was not doing the wrong thing. I awoke 4 hours later, still unable to move myself out of bed so I did what any sick person does. I lay in bed, surfing Pinterest. I stumbled across something which made some things extremely clear:

Survive... [Source]

The pressure we put on ourselves, in our daily life to be perfect sometimes takes the focus away from ourselves. In my job I always urge the kids to "Focus on yourselves" and I know this is not something which I have practised myself. The guilt which I have felt for not being in work was immense but now I am seeing things clear I have realised that I have done the right thing for sure. I am surviving and this is something I forgot to do after the challenges of the past year. I lost myself. It's time I find me again and begin surviving and then living.

Have you ever had that 'Eureka' moment when you realise that you haven't been taking care of yourself?

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Unintentional break...

While moving home - into my very first home which I actually own! - I had to wait 3 weeks for the internet to be linked up. That in itself was difficult especially with work as I have to use it for lesson planning and emails. But also in my little blog world, it made things particularly difficult.

However, I have not been able to do much lately which has made my break from blogging even more unintentional. After being diagnosed with severe anaemia (not just the normal - the type which nearly saw me hospital bound) I have been working hard to get myself and my body back on track. The one thing which comes along with that however is a severely lowered immune system. That made sense with all my germ friends hanging around... and it was something which I thought I'd dealt with. Unlucky for me, I hadn't.

The past two weeks have seen my sinus issues come back massively and then to top it all off I was diagnosed with tonsillitis at the start of the week. Talk about catching everything going. I have never had this before and it absolutely sucks big time. I has even, shock horror, made me take time away from work. After days of being told, "Wow, you're looking awful today. Are you ok?" I am sure people will be pleased I have taken my illness and germs away from them.

What has that meant for me? Well- sofa, naps and soup. Sounds good but to be honest, I would rather just be healthy at work than deal with the pain of this. As of yet, I have not seen too much improvement and still on pain killers. Any tips for tonsillitis would be greatly accepted! I have had found warm is better than cold and surviving on toast at the moment. 
 
I hope I have not lost you in this rather self indulged rant into being ill - I know it could be worse but at the moment I am feeling pretty frustrated with it all. I will be back in the land of blogging very shortly and hopefully I can have some more positive experiences to share with you all.