Update

Saturday, November 7, 2020

August

It took me a bit longer than I'd hoped to post again because the readjustment of going back to work at the beginning of August was more difficult than I expected. A few staff went in the week before the shop reopened on August 10 to implement all the new COVID-19 guidelines, move the clothing stock so we could open with the summer season layout as we closed in spring, along with putting the summer sale on.

I treated myself to a new phone by upgrading two months early as a reward to myself for all the amazing work I did over lockdown in therapy. I did have the iPhone 6S but I now have the iPhone SE 2020. The one I had before the 6S was the original SE, and the 2020 version is my fourth iPhone. It's the same size as the 6S so I didn't need to buy a new case initially but I have since got some from Casetify and Loopy Cases.

I went back to church but not the one I joined pre-lockdown as it wasn't open at that point, but it felt good to be back with fellow believers in person as opposed to seeing them in 2D on my computer screen.

I began doing some self-shoots in my home to start posting my face on my Instagram because I thought it was long overdue that I showed my face over on there.

September

There were lots of adjustments being back at work and back out in the world five days a week after four months at home because of lockdown. The new work hours and new routines to find at home and settle into was more of an adjustment than I thought it would be. There was still a lot of unknown and uncertainty around the virus as well, which kept my anxiety at the forefront of my mind.

I had my haircut for the first time in seven months as my last appointment was February 25th. I tend to get it cut around every 6 weeks so I was next due to get a cut around April 6, but by then we were all locked down so I had to wait and my hair was the longest it had been in many years!

My car had its annual service and MOT. We had a stocktake at work. My church reopened for Thursday's coffee mornings as well as Sunday service for a limited number of people due to the social distancing rules. I had a week off work with stress after an incident at work. (I was okay, I just needed to take some time to calm my anxiety down as it spiked really suddenly)

October

I had my last CBT call so I had twelve altogether and that's the maximum you can have. I feel a lot better than I did in April when I started and my scores reflect that as they were halved after six months of therapy.

I tweaked my home routines and started to use my planners again.

My manager of four years had his last week with the company and the interim manager started, but as I know the interim manager that's helped with the transition for me.

I had a week off work taking some holiday time and mostly relaxed during that time.

I had my hair cut and I had to drive to it this time as the hairdresser who had cut my hair for the last few years, moved back to Italy to avoid a second lockdown here in the UK as the first one was quite tough on him. I messaged his former business partner on Facebook who I've known for a while to see if he was still cutting hair. He is and he's working out of a studio he's set up in his parent's garden. Hence the drive. It's the furthest I've driven in a while and was somewhere new for me to find, but I accomplished it and my anxiety was fine throughout the journey there and back.

November

Lockdown 2.0 announced in the UK and I've been furloughed from work again during that time. It's meant to only last four weeks, but we've heard that before so we will see what happens in early December with whether it finishes then or not. It's a very different lockdown for me this time though as I'm in a much better place mentally and my housemate is still home as he's still got work so I will have company at home this time around.

This is my first post being uploading on here after working on this new blog over lockdown and finishing it off and setting it live in early November.