Finally Friday!

I know that it has been a shorter week due to the bank holiday, but I feel that this week has been long! 

Thank you for all the supportive comments on my last post. It wasn’t an easy subject to talk about but I am glad I did. 

A few weeks ago Dave and I spent the day at Chester Zoo with a fellow wordpress blogger and her fiance. We have been talking practically every day for the past few months. Unsurprisingly, I was anxious beforehand. But I had nothing to worry about. We all had a great day. I know that I have a truly amazing friend in her. 

Walter had a little visitor this past bank holiday weekend in the form of Bella, Faith’s dog. We looked after her as Faith and her family went to stay with her auntie and uncle. The first night Walter was beside himself with excitement. So much so that all he wanted to do was play with her. We took the dogs on a number of walks and to see our friends who have a border collie. It was a fun filled weekend. We are looking after Bella again for a week in July when Faith and her family go on holiday. 

   
    
    
  
I am back in the swing of things in the gym. I did another charity event last Saturday. It went really well. At times I felt truly exhausted but I pushed through and I was glad I did. I had a real sense of achievement at the end of it. I am also a convert to Zumba. A few of us decided to try it out last week. I was expecting not to enjoy it at all. But I couldn’t be more wrong. It was a right laugh. The class went so quickly and I was sweating loads which is always a good sign.  

My latest blog post is up on Defying Shadows. You can read it here. I have submitted a post about autism awareness so I will share the link to it when it has been uploaded. 

Help and support

The NHS counselling I was having wasn’t working for me. I felt like I wasn’t getting anything from the sessions. The counsellor would speak to me like a child. As a result, I dreaded going. Not the usual anxiety filled dread. But rather the dread of having to spend an hour doing something unproductive. I have had counselling in the past and I found it beneficial. I think it was the counsellor that made me feel like this. 

After much messing round with different people through my local NHS services, I finally got an assessment appointment for CBT. I had it this morning. It went fine. I am now on a waiting list. This shouldn’t be an issue as I still have some sessions left with the private CBT counsellor I am seeing.  CBT has been so much more useful to my recovery compared to counselling. I feel more in control and have found strategies that help me. I want to build on this and CBT through the NHS will hopefully allow me to do this. 

I decided to cancel my counselling. The relief I felt after I had done it reiterated that I had made the right decision. Plus, someone else who is currently waiting for counselling can now access it. 

Walter loves going for walks. He gets so excited when he knows we are going for a walk. He is such a poser:

  
Beside the fact he takes ages to go on a short walk round the block, Walter is quite good when we are out. He is overwhelmed by all the new smells. Plus, he is super nosy whenever we walk past anyone. I have had so many people stop us when we are out. Walter loves the fuss that is made of him. 

Walter had a little play date with our friend’s border collie Fly. They got on well. Fly is so laid back which helped:

   
 

   

  

 

They played in the back garden and went for a quick walk. Walter was exhausted when they left. My godson absolutely loves Walter. He kept going over to stroke him. Walter loved it!

   
   

I have loved spending time outside in the garden and on walks with Walter. He is coming on loads. We’ve managed to get him to sit and put his paw up instead of jumping up on the couch. He also waits for his food now. When we first got him he would dive at his food like we were going to take it away from him. I enjoy having Walter to focus on. My mood hasn’t been as low since a few weeks ago. The only thing I am struggling with is that I’m not getting enough sleep. Walter wakes up at 5am each morning (regardless of what time we put him in his crate for the night) to go the toilet. He then wakes up each hour after that. Dave thinks the sun wakes him up. We are going to put a blanket over his crate and see if this has an effect. I think it will be just a matter of time before Walter can sleep through the night. He is only 14 weeks old and his bladder is only small. 

There is going to be another Fit for 5ive event at the gym in July. I am really looking forward to it. The gym is still helping me to regulate my mood. With having Walter, I really enjoy having some ‘me’ time that the gym offers. I am planning on increasing my weights in Bodypump as my fitness seems to have improved. 

This Friday = new series of Orange is the New Black!!! Dave and I absolutely love this show. We are planning on spending Saturday afternoon watching it. I have just started watching Misfits. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I have done (so far).