Can you believe the weather right now? This is just the perfect stereotypical bank holiday weekend – blue skies, warm breeze, birds twittering in the air.

Saturday morning James & I had a glorious lie in until lunchtime – wonderfully lazy! It was lovely to have a good restful morning after such a hectic week – especially after the trials & tribulations of the dental hospital, as well as a few bad headache days.

After we ventured up & out, we headed to our lovely new Cotteridge Co-Op local shop and did our weekly shopping. The verdict was a good one, the fruit & veg are lovely and fresh, with a really good selection for such a small store. The prices seem to be about the same as Somerfield – so less than Sainsburys which is our main supermarket in South Birmingham. I think we’re going to use a combination of ASDA online shopping & trips to the Co-Op in future, the cheapest option & the most convenient option combined. Oh, what a boring subject for a blog post – my weekly shopping! Moving on.

We packed up a picnic & headed to the park for lunch, where we proceeded to pick a spot & people watch/talk/play with the dog for four hours in the sun. It was such a lovely day we just lay on the grass and chilled out – a thoroughly fabulous experience. We even had ice cream – how do you beat that?

The sport of people watching

Don’t you just love it? People watching is a fabulous way to pass the time, I adore it. I can happily spend hours sitting in a cafe or in a park and watching people go by, interact with each other, etc. It’s fascinating at times.

Teenagers in particular are hilarious to watch. In the park on Saturday, there were packs of the interesting species, watching the other packs from a distance. Any interaction between groups, such as kicked a football back to the lads playing, or walking past each other as they moved basecamp, merited giggles (on the girls side) and furious blushes (from the lads). The lads spent the entire time skateboarding/rollerblading/playing football to the best of their respective abilities, while the girls watched & critiqued from a safe distance. Meanwhile the lads were puffing out their chests and glancing in their direction every time they managed a trick, or kicked the football especially well… a goal score in particular was a big event; the victorious teenager would strut around his mates whilst the girls giggled their appreciation and even occasionally got up to kick the football back.

Productivity is the name of the game

Sunday was spent being very productive, but in a strangely relaxed & comfortable way! We got several chores done, and then had a relaxing meal outside on our patio – our very first one at this house! By the time we got the garden furniture after we moved in last year, the weather was too chilly to eat outside. Which is maybe why the garden furniture was so cheap – it was the very end of the bbq season! Fresh pasta in carbonara sauce & garlic bread outside in the sun with a nice crisp glass of apple juice (or in James’s case, a cool bottle of beer). Mmmm.

So far, it’s been a very good weekend – I hope everyone is enjoying their bank holiday weekend just as much

First of all, I apologise if this is a bit of a self indulgent post – but I think James is fed up of me moaning!

I went to the Dental Hospital last night to see the dentist there, after being referred there by my normal dentist due to my “extreme anxiety”. We were there for about 2 hours and they were really helpful & understanding. I’m going to have some teeth taken out & some fillings put in, over several appointments, while heavily sedated. We’re talking injections, no memory afterwards, don’t go home alone, rest for the remainder of the day sedated here. Oh the joy. But it’s better than lying there crying my eyes out, right? I guess so. I cried enough last night during the appointment! I really don’t know what it is, I just lose control and get really upset.. I’m pathetic!

In other news, my headaches have been getting steadily worse over the past six months or so.. it’s really affecting my life, more that I realised. A few days ago I did what is called the “Headache Impact Test” which is supposed to help you understand how much your condition affects your life. I knew it was a big part of my life – I can’t remember the last time my head wasn’t hurting or the last day I didn’t want to take painkillers just to get through the next few hours (most days I try not to, I’m wary of them). But I didn’t realise how much it was really affecting me until I sat down in front of this test and thought about the questions.

My score was 64 out of a possible 70. I figured, “Nah – it can’t be that bad, surely?” and took it again, making sure to be as honest as possible about each question, with no exaggeration whatsoever - because surely I must have over done it to get such a high score? My second result was 65. I don’t think that’s good!

I have an appointment with my doc on Tuesday anyway to discuss prescriptions & so on, so I will speak to him then about the possibility of finally referring me to a neurologist, because I’m getting tired of trying medication after medication with no-one bothering to try and find out why my headaches are even happening. Every time I’ve asked him about it in the past he’s resisted, but I’m getting fed up now.

I mean, if I have a headache every day, and about once a week it’s so bad I can’t concentrate – that’s not good. About once a month it’s so bad I have to stay in bed all day for about 2 days, with the curtains shut. I’ve missed so many days of work that they’ve requested a doctors report to check what I’ve been telling them all along. Just let me see a neurologist already!

Ok, rant over