The last three weeks in the life of Rachel has been pretty pants. I didn’t blog because a) I couldn’t be bothered and b) I didn’t want to bore you all with what would blatantly have been a rant about how rubbish everything was.
The main reason for rubbishness is that I have been ill. Although I was still going to work I basically just did nothing except sleep when at home for two weeks, which isn’t great for life morale.
Other lowlights have included issues at work, upsetting news, awful weather, saying goodbye to two of our closest friends and oh yeah, did I already mention staring at my bedroom wall for two weeks?
Annnnyway, I’m feeling mostly better now, both physically and emotionally so you don’t need to worry about this being a rant (I hope).
Other positive things…It was our first wedding anniversary on the 4th and it’s my birthday next Tuesday (so very excited even though we don’t have much planned and it’s always an anticlimax – why do I build myself up to it?!).
Re. simple living – well things have been a bit up and down. Helping our friends move house inspired me to sort out our own house, so I spent one of the evenings I wasn’t feeling sick sorting out all the junk and mess that was left in our flat. We are now the proud owners of a clutter free abode!
On the down side, we have been having long chats about our future and what we want to do with our lives (this isn’t the downside!) and realised that many of the reasons we are often frustrated and unhappy are because of the ways we’re trying to go about simple living.
We’ve been to supermarkets quite a few times in the last fortnight, and bought products that are probably from naughty multinational companies because a) it was the only thing I felt like eating after being ill for so long and b) we just got so frustrated with not having any food in the house.
This really annoys me as it’s just a result of laziness, but there we go, things have been hectic lately. I don’t plan to shop in supermarkets every week, and neither of us wants to go back to eating non-organic/non-local fruit and veg, but I think we need to lighten up on ourselves in our buying for the sake of our sanity! Hopefully that way, we can get back into the rhythm of buying from local shops, and cooking inventive meals from local ingredients without feeling bound never to go to supermarkets, and then ending up not eating at all!
Dreaming of the Country 
Oh dear.
Don’t fret too much – things always seem worse when we are ill. Food, housekeeping, state of the world ….. sometimes I find it necessary to stop thinking, because my mind just finds one sad state of affairs after another.
I have a ploy though. I make sure that I always have a small supply of ‘light’ reading, something that I know will cheer me up. I don’t touch these until I feel unwell or in pain – then I happily let myself be absorbed into them until I feel better.
As you get older you find that all things pass – good as well as bad, and that sometimes you just have to get through them. Years ago people were more into ‘pastimes’ than we seem to be now, but I think they knew more too, that the things you cannot change just have to be got through.
I hope you’re feeling much better by now.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
Linda