I don’t know what’s going on lately but life feels as though it’s going faster than I can keep up with. I even chose this week’s artwork based on how I feel right now – like my brain is splattering out of my head like coffee overflowing from a cup (never one to be dramatic, am I?!) I do wonder very much whether the fact that lockdown is lifting has something to do with this, as I’ve managed to juggle my full-time and part-time job pretty much without issue for the last 4 and a half months, but suddenly now is when I start losing control? Hm. I wonder.
Anyway, at least I made it on time this week, hey?! So what have I been doing this week?
Reading
Despite how chaotic life feels right now, I have done well at making time to read this week. I just love Libby Page and she writes the most perfect switch-off-from-the-world books. After reading The Lido, I was so excited for her next book. I bought it a while ago but as I’m working through a backlog of ‘must-reads’, I’m only reaching it now. It was great to automatically be hooked on something after not having much luck with The Alchemist. I’m halfway through it (see – when I’m enjoying a book, I somehow manage to carve the time to read it and don’t fall asleep when I do!). I’ll report back next week when I will have finished it, but I’m almost certainly going to be recommending it!
Watching
After finishing Sweet Magnolias season one (which is amazing by the way – I mentioned it in a previous post!), I really felt like I needed something to just throw on whilst eating, or if I get a spare hour and want to watch something that makes me laugh or feel good. I didn’t want something too heavy, but as I sat down with some breakfast one day, I also didn’t really want to sit and scour Netflix whilst trying to eat. I recalled how much I loved Glee whilst in my second year of university, and seeing as it keeps popping up in my Netflix feed, I figured I’d have a go at rewatching it – maybe even finish it this time! I never did make it through all the seasons, but I really did love it. Maybe now’s the time I’ll finally do it! After all, thanks to Coronavirus, I do need to make some changes to my 30 by 30 list ahead of my looming birthday in a few weeks, so maybe I should add ‘Finish all seasons of Glee’ to it? Watch this space.
Listening
My father-in-law recently showed me how to use a hoe to get rid of weeds in the garden, so I figured I’d spend some time tidying up the garden a little, as weeds had started sprouting and it was looking a little overgrown, even for my liking! I find gardening so therapeutic (yes I’m 30 next month, not 60!) and it was exactly what I felt like doing after a stressful week. I played a random Spotify playlist through my portable speaker, and off I went to do some hard graft.
Soon after, I was sweating and out of breath, caught off guard by how arduous de-weeding a garden actually is. I was wiping rogue strands of hair and bits of twig out of my face, wondering what exactly it was about gardening that I thought was therapeutic, when a bus must have gotten stuck in traffic outside my house. I was so busy trying to not get bitten by yet another bug (they are feasting on me this year and I’m having adverse reactions to each one!) whilst wafting my top around my head to cool down (like an un-sexy version the Diet Coke advert!), when I noticed that the whole top level of the bus could see into my garden and also see me looking like a literal hot mess. Feeling mortified that I’d just flashed my upper body to the entire top deck of the bus, I wanted to hide away in my shed until the bus left, but I decided to front it out (I mean, really, what option did I have?!). As I was stood dying of embarrassment, the most fun and catchy song started playing through the speaker and it immediately made me feel better – I was able to shake it off, have a laugh at myself, and ended up thinking who the hell cares?! I do really hope nobody managed to get a photo though – or worse – a video!
I’d heard of Crystal Fighters but never really heard any of their songs. I’ve never heard the word ‘plage’ but wondered what it meant and whether it was linked to Spanish or Catalan in some way (playa means beach in Spanish). After researching, I found that the word is French for beach, and the band is an English/Spanish mix. I love learning new words, and I loved hearing this song for the first time. It’s so catchy and fun, I’d recommend giving it a listen if you haven’t heard of it already – especially if you’re having a bit of a bad day or also managed to flash your parts to a load of randoms on a bus.
Word of the Week
Oooh. Just as you thought I was finishing up, what’s this?! A new section?!
Yes! Yes it is.
Inspired by learning the word ‘plage’, I thought about how much I love learning new words, and how at the minute I seem to be learning a lot of them that are so good that I just have to share. Voila – the new feature! I’ll share my favourite word I’ve heard each week (and of course – please do fire some right back at me!) I’ll also include a brief description, and we can all learn more of the wonderful English language together. How exciting!*
*Unless you’re my 10 year old niece who told me that words are boring and I need to stop trying to make her sit and read a chapter of her book because reading is also boring and nobody likes the English language. Right then.
I hope your week is going well and I’ll see you next week!
Reflect and Introspect 
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