Laura’s Diaries – 10th June 2022

I started writing a regular diary on here at the start of the pandemic in 2020. At the time they were called The Coronavirus Diaries and I wanted to record our life during an unprecedented time. Now the pandemic is slowing down (we hope), I find there are still things I want to talk about regularly that are going on in our life and the world. So in March 2022, I rebranded this Laura’s Diaries, this is about my family life, my views about what is going on in the world and the political landscape.

Birthdays and Holidays

Since my last diary update, we have entered what I like to class as birthday season in our house. May starts with my niece and nephew’s birthdays in early May, straight onto Aria’s on the 21st, followed by mine, Bodhi’s, then my sister’s and finally my husband’s. I have to say it can be a bit exhausting and feel a little bit like a second Christmas halfway through the year.

Aria’s birthday was fabulous fun with a pottery party. It is so nice to be able to have parties again with friends and see children playing together after such a long time. My birthday was a quieter affair as we were going on holiday 2 days after it, so we just had my Mum and Dad over for lunch.

On the Monday of half term, we went to Center Parcs which was something we have been looking forward to for a very long time as we originally booked in 2019. The pandemic meant we of course had to keep moving it. We went away with my husband’s cousin, wife and their little boy. It was great to be back at Center Parcs again, the kids absolutely love it. It’s all about the pool and the bikes. I had to hire a mobility scooter because I just wasn’t up to cycling or walking. I did have a wobble when I picked it up, wishing I was on the bikes like everyone else, but it was a God send in the end and enabled me to enjoy the holiday and get around. Plus, the kids thought it was great. While we were away my husband and I also celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and had a meal out on our own which was awesome.

We came home on Friday to an emergency vet trip (our friend looking after him had chatted to us and was already concerned) and a broken dishwasher. But thankfully the cat is fine now and the dishwasher is under warranty. Then we had to wrap presents ready for Bo’s birthday the next day. Bo’s birthday was a more sedate affair given that we had just got back from holiday. We took him to pick up his new bike and then went to McDonald’s and the park (his choice). My husband is also planning to take him to Legoland for a day out before the summer holidays in the week, just the two of them.

Politics and the Queen

The world of politics continues to be a crazy and corrupt place. The energy crisis has soared adding nearly another £200 a month to our gas and electric bill each month and filling up a family-sized car with fuel now costs over £100. There was a vote of no-confidence in Boris after him being spectacularly boeed at the Queen’s jubilee and being charged for partying during lockdown. I knew not to get my hopes up and I was right, he stayed but it was relatively close at 148 no to 211 yes. I’m still holding hope that he might go soon. The devastating war in Ukraine rages on and sadly I am beginning to suspect it’s going to be a long war and not over very quickly.

As I mentioned above it was the Queen’s jubilee – 70 years on the throne. My husband is not a royalist and I have some mixed feelings on the Royal family myself, so we didn’t really do anything to celebrate (we were away on holiday anyway), but I think the Queen is a pretty amazing woman still reigning at 96 years and giving service to her country.

My Back

Now onto my back, back in March, I had spinal injections to try and get my back fixed and to sort out the pain. Although I have had some improvement on the injections, the pain is really pretty awful and my mobility is very restricted. A new MRI showed that despite the injections my herniation has grown and so the next step for me is surgery.

In fact, by the time you read this, there is a good chance I will be either about to go, on the way or even having a procedure in hospital. On Friday 10th June I am scheduled to have a microdiscectomy and spinal decompression. When I first hurt my back I always said the surgery was the last thing that I wanted, and it really is. But I have got to a place where we have tried everything, I am on regular painkillers which I hate being on, still walking with a stick and I just want a way out of this pain. The pain is awful. The prognosis of the surgery is good as long as I stick to the recovery instructions and do my physio which I very much intend to do. I want to be walking again, take my children to the park and get back to my normal life which was whisked away nearly 9 months ago when I injured myself. So wish me luck and I will see you on the other side!