Woody Wonders

Have you noticed that when you do something for someone else, it gives you a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside. How often do you do that for yourself?  Do something to brighten up YOUR own day?  I'm guessing not as many times as you do something for someone else right?  We're often that busy taking care of the needs of others, whether it's colleagues, partners, friends, parents, children, pets, that we often forget to do something to brighten up our own days. Well, this week I'm going to be doing just that, brightening up my own life with a little ME time.  I have a whole week off work - woo hoo, first break since Xmas so I'm in desperate need!!  Yes, there'll be times when I need to do things for others but on the whole I'm planning some ' be kind to me' time. No time like the present so I brightened up this morning with a run through some very colourful fields! So, what else am I planning this week? More running! Catching up on my reading Going fo...

Are you in need of some excitement in your life? This is going to sound bonkers I know, but hear me out. It’s only in the last couple of weeks that lockdown has hit me. Yep, I told you it was bonkers. Despite feeling optimistic about this year, I’ve felt quite flat recently. Why, I pondered?   We’ve been in this situation for almost a year so what has suddenly changed.   Then I realised what it was. I’m missing an adrenaline rush of doing something different. Until now I’ve been pre-occupied with other things.   In March we’d just bought a house so had lots of things to plan. When we could eventually move we then had lots of DIY and garden projects. The mornings and evenings were light so I was out walking and running at every opportunity. I was busy getting to grips with moving my fitness sessions to Zoom and trying to see people in person in-between lockdowns. When it got to around October time, my thoughts then turned to Christmas.   Throughout everything I’ve als...

All the gear, no idea! I have to admit that when lockdown part trois was announced I felt a bit like a deflated balloon and I’m usually a pumped up kind of gal.   Last week’s boot camp was such a beautiful morning against a backdrop of fabulous surroundings and I was looking forward to many more over the coming weeks. During the Christmas holidays I’d planned out all of January’s boot camps. Sadly, like everything else right now, they’re on hold for the foreseeable future.   However, the good news for me and my fitness family is that we can carry on regardless thanks to Zoom sessions.  It’s not quite the same but at least we can still feel like a group and support each other and yesterday's online session was no exception.  They're still smiling and it was the end of the session!   Sorry, I’ve digressed somewhat from what I was going to talk about so I’ll get back on track. The thought process behind this week’s blog started with me reading something that riled ...

Yes, because the secret to developing  habits is repetition As we count down the final few weeks to the end of the year, many of us are starting to think about our goals and aspirations for next year.  In fact, in light of the year we've all had, I would imagine that more of us than ever before at this time of year, are starting to look forward to the next.  I'll do more of a reflection on 2020 blog in a couple of weeks' time, in the meantime I'd like to do some groundwork for 2021.  2021?!!  Wow, 2021 sounds so ... well, futuristic.  I feel like we should be teleporting or driving around in cars that can also fly.  Sorry, I digress. Yet again, I'm going back to the subject of habits.  Classic start to the new year, we make promises to ourselves that we can't keep and a couple of months in, they've fallen by the wayside.  We instantly blame willpower, or lack of it, but the fact is that willpower is finite.  We use it up quite quickly th...

My life is still bonkers! Unless I get completely carried away, this is going to be a fairly short blog this week as I'm absolutely exhausted but in a happy, satisfied physical way rather than mentally exhausted which has been the norm recently. Following a mini-meltdown last week involving tears and tantrums with all the house issues, me and Mr Bob took ourselves outside, gave ourselves a good talking to and have attacked this week with complete gusto.  We finally said to ourselves "so what if the blah di blah falls off, so what if the so and so is not working, it's fixable, everything is feckin' fixable so why are we putting so much pressure on ourselves". We did have the opportunity to put this new found approach into action as we started the week with no hot water.  Deep breath, ok, it's fine, we'll just contact the boiler company.  They can't get to us for another two days.  Fine, just hose me down after my run.  Not a problem. Once the boiler was...

It's a great feeling when you're within  touching distance of the other side I was determined not to be a house bore this week but quite honestly that's all my life consists of right now, along with work and running.  Sad ... but true. However, after almost 4 weeks of what can only be described as 'challenging' to say the least, I feel like we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Having said that, it still hasn't been all plain sailing this week as we had to call a plumber out 3 times, yes 3 times!!  I feel like I've missed my calling in life, I can sniff out the smallest of leaks before disaster strikes.  Hopefully, we've seen the last of the plumbing problems and we can now move forwards with decorating. Saturday was a major breakthrough as we finally got the flooring finished in the hall (when I say 'we', I actually mean Mr Bob's son, highlight of his week coming round to help us on the weekend!!) and we sorted ...

The secret diary of Woody ... aged 50 years and 1 month I've been doing a bit of an experiment over the last week.  I've reverted back to being 14 years old and have been keeping a diary in a bid to find out what I REALLY do with my time and how I feel about things.  I suppose these days the buzz word to use is 'journaling', in fact it seems to be a bit of thing right now to write down your inner thoughts and feelings to discover your true 'authentic' self. Before you get too excited and settle down with your coffee thinking 'whoa, I wonder what juicy titbits she's going to reveal', it's all rather boring in comparison to my teenage one where "life wasn't fair", "my mum and dad never let me do anything" and "my plan as to how I was going to marry Simon le Bon".  Shout out to any fellow Duranies.  Hey, did you know that the word 'Duranie' is actually in the Urban Dictionary with a definition of "The n...

Sometimes we need to take the safety reins  off our minds and simply be Throughout the week I'm usually making scribbles on post-it notes, doodling in books, writing in journals.  In fact, it's a standing joke in our house that I have notebooks and journals for all occasions.  Mr Bob will wander in and say "oh, which notebook is that for?"  I then gather all my thoughts together and from there I'm able to create my weekly blog.   This week I had nothing, nada, rien, zero, zilch.  It's been such a busy week, mainly because I've been trying to condense five days into three.  Yes, I know I only work four days but let's be honest ... that usually isn't the case (entirely my fault I hasten to add)!!  Anyway, my brain power was focused elsewhere so this week I've had blank blogitis. As someone who is boringly organised for the majority of the time, and likes to know what I'm doing and when, this was somewhat new territory.  H...

Don't let your challenges become a mountain, tackle them whilst they're still molehills! I've felt completely overwhelmed this week, there's lots going on in my life right now and it seemed like all the balls I'd been juggling had come crashing down around me. It all came to a head on Thursday evening; I'd not completed half the things I wanted to at work, me and the lovely Mr Bob had still not decided on some big decisions for our new house and we needed to get things moving, I hadn't done any French practise, I'd not done the running mileage that I needed to do this week for my upcoming half marathon and I still had to complete my fitness planning for the next morning!  I felt like I was scrambling up the side of an icy mountain, getting so far and then sliding back down to the bottom.  It was time to flatten this mountain back down to a molehill. When faced with challenges, it often forces you to re-think the situation and ask the follo...

Keeping the holiday feeling  when you're back to real life It is with sadness that I am now writing about la fin de nos vacances 🙁 but ooh la la what a fabulous time we’ve had. It feels like we’ve been away for months rather than just a couple of weeks. We’ve had a brilliant balance of doing things, seeing places, relaxing and recharging our batteries. We’ve enjoyed the most delicious food and wine and had some culture too. The weather has been wonderful, late summer is my favourite time of year to visit France. It’s not too hot and it has that delightful autumnal glow about it.   We ended our grand tour de France 🇫🇷 in the region of Picardie, an area of France we’ve come to know and love very much. Our base was the chic little town of St Valery sur Somme on the Baie de Somme. It’s a fabulous place for walking, running, cycling, kayaking, sailing and bird watching. The French word for bird is oiseau (pronounced ‘wazzo’) which always makes me gig...