Living with Brain Fog

Due to my raging hormones, I spent last week in a hazy bubble; feeling (and looking) crap and being so bloated that I look like I’m 6 months pregnant is bad enough but it’s the brain fog that gets me the most.  Add into that a bit of blues and then you’ll know that last week wasn’t one of my best.  I’m going to the doctors this morning so hopefully they’ll do some tests and give me something to treat these horrible hormones.  I tell you, if there is an afterlife then next time I’m definitely coming back as a bloke.

As a result of all of the hormones, I didn’t really achieve much last week. I made it to the gym 3 times but all of these visits were bit lack lustre.  On Wednesday night I went to Sue’s for supper then we met with Jan at Woughton Leisure Centre for Ceroc dancing.  Me and Sue have been talking about going to Ceroc for ages and Jan fancied it too so last Wednesday we gave it a go.  Sue had been before but it was the first time for Jan & I.  I’ll admit I was nervous but actually it was fairly well organised and turned out to be quite fun in the end.  I didn’t realise I’d have to dance with so many partners some of which were a bit creepy and sweaty.  Unfortunately I wasn’t any good.  I was told by one of the instructors that I need to glide rather than bounce and that I need to let myself be led rather than try to lead.  Sue was good at Ceroc because she’d done it before but Jan & I both said we’d pay for another 2 lessons (it was buy 2 and get 3 free) and if we couldn’t do it after that then we’d probably give up.

On Thursday morning I weeded my front garden and Maurice’s back garden and in the afternoon I painted my hall.  There were a couple of scuff marks by the front door which have been bugging me for ages and also a bit of wall in the kitchen when the pedal bin scuffs.  The painting didn’t take me long and looked much better when it was finished.  Phil didn’t even notice when he came back from work but then he’s not anywhere near as anal as me.

I was up early and on the M1 on my way to Melton to see Phil’s mum on Friday morning.    I had a horrible journey, it started off with drizzle but it was really raining hard by the time I got to junction 16.  The rain was so hard at one point that I could hardly see in front of me and was only driving at 40 mph.  The traffic came to a standstill at junction 20 obviously due to an accident.  Sure enough, there was a 3 car pileup just before junction 21a and 2 and a half hours after leaving home, I eventually arrived at mum’s bungalow.  I am not the world’s best driver and I am beginning to loath the journey from MK to Melton with a passion.

Mum was okay; we had a quick cup of tea and then drove to the co-op so she could post a couple of letters then we stopped off at the Farmers Market for fruit and vegetables, then it was back home for lunch.  I did another coat of gloss on her pipes but other than that, mum didn’t really have any jobs for me to do.  Bet hasn’t been feeling very well of late, she’s recently had antibiotics for a water infection and whilst I was there the doctor phoned to say that her infection hadn’t cleared and he was prescribing another course of antibiotics. Bless her, Bet told me that she’d had a headache the whole week and was feeling tired all the time.  She also told me that she felt depressed which I’d already suspected.  I told her that it was probably grief and that we could get her some counselling or some anti-depressants.  But she wasn’t keen, things will get better but it is just a question of time.

I drove the back way from Melton to Overstone, and due to road works and it being a Friday, it took me an hour and an half.  Phil was already at the caravan and was in a good mood because he’d booked us a holiday.  Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling great.  I think it was a mixture of hormones; 4 hours spent driving and seeing mum so depressed.  It’s hard seeing someone suffer and so frustrating that you can’t do anything to help.

Phil wanted to go down to the clubhouse for a drink so this was what we did.  The sun was shining and it was quite pleasant sitting outside overlooking the lake.  We saw that there was a Bavarian night on the 20^th of Sept so we booked tickets for this.  It was a dull day on Saturday but we decided to go for a walk in the Woods.  Unfortunately we got lost and also got caught in the rain but the hour and a half walk would have done Phil some good.  He’s been really good on his diet last week and weigh in on Friday morning revealed that he had lost 4 pounds.  I think if he can keep on his diet and step up his exercise the weight will drop off.

Normally we go out for lunch when we stay in the caravan but with the diet in mind, Phil cooked us a chicken stir fry.  He’d cooked a soya bean curry the day before which I did try but I much preferred the stir fry.  It poured with rain in the afternoon so we decided to stay in the van and watch a couple of films.  The rain did stop and we did go to the club house for a drink but we didn’t stay for the entertainment.  

Phil is working Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday this week so we decided to pack up and come back to the flat yesterday.  I went to see Sue for a cup of tea and then Phil & I walked into Newport to get some lunch.  We had seen a flyer advertising an Indian buffet lunch at the Moza for £9.95 but unfortunately it didn’t open until 3pm and when we got there we realised we’d been before and weren’t that impressed.  We ended up having lunch at the Indian Cottage and very nice it was too, also great value for money.  You get a starter, a main, a side dish and rice for £7.95 pp.  We had poppadum’s and a naan as extra plus a pint of Kingfisher but it was still really good value.  I was surprised that we were the only ones in the restaurant but maybe this was because we dined late.  We shall definitely go back.

And that was my week and our weekend. Phil has just left for work, the sun is shining and I need to get myself in the shower and get ready to go the docs.  I have got quite a lot on my list of things to do this week and therefore I need to get a grip and get my arse into gear.  Focus is the key for this week along with a positive metal attitude.  I need to be able to see out of the fog.