A Stab in the Knee

I've been preoccupied with my ridiculous knees this week. On Tuesday I went back to the hospital to have them looked at again. The doctor decided to give me a cortisone injection in my left knee (the worse one of the two); I agreed because anything that might help me not be in pain is fine by me. Basically this big ol' needle gets poked under your kneecap and injects into the joint; the cortisone is a steroid-based anti-inflammatory that's supposed to help soothe pain. It was the most traumatising thing ever. I'm cool with needles and injections, but having one in the joint was the grossest feeling, and it hurt. It's not a permanent fix, but it's all they can really do. It turns out that my cartilage is soft and rough because of my hyper-flexible joints (I can bend them backwards slightly, it's really creepy), so basically my own body has screwed up my knees. Rad! Here's a photo of me looking miserable before the doctor returned with the biggest needle I've ever seen:

My knee felt so weird for days, like it was hollow and full of liquid. I had some pretty crap side effects, especially when I defied doctor's orders to rest and went to work on Thursday. I kept flushing (my cheeks went red, and my face was really hot), so much so that my boss actually sent me out back to sit down and have some water. My knee was killing me after standing on it for hours, and swelled up. I also had some pretty bad chest pains, which wasn't worrying at all (lie). I'm feeling much better now, but my knee is still hurting on and off. When it doesn't hurt though, it's bliss. My knees have been paining me since I was 15, I can't remember what not being in pain feels like. It's bloody weird.

On Wednesday, I baked some Easter nest cakes to take to work on Thursday. They've gotten positive reviews so far, so I'm happy with that. They were delicious, if I may say so myself! Mum has gotten me some Mary Berry books as an early birthday present, and I'm currently perusing those to decide what to bake next!

On the most adorable nephew front, Ethan has figured out how to get onto his hands and knees, and is beginning to learn how to shuffle forward (he could only shuffle backwards before). So he'll soon be crawling around, and his parents better watch out! I can't believe how fast he's growing - he's over 8 months old already. Here's a gorgeous photo of him looking very pleased with himself:

I've also finally made a start on the travel scrapbook I bought after my two months in America, in 2014. Yes, it's taken me this long to be bothered to do it. My problem is that I want the scrapbook to look as beautiful as all the ones I see online, but I know I'm not talented enough to make it that way (and I can't afford all the materials/equipment). So I end up putting it off because I don't want to spoil it by actually doing it. Does that make sense? I'm sure most of you understand unless you're ridiculously creative, in which case I hate you a bit.

Today, I also started my Yearly Purge. I only did a little bit, but today is the official beginning of the Purge, and I will do a little every time I have a moment/the motivation. I sorted out my toiletries hamper, first aid box, and expanding file for all my documents. I plan to be ridiculously brutal this year, get rid of everything that I don't need or will never use/wear.

It's 10 days until my 24th birthday. I can't believe how quickly that's come around this year. 2016 is flying by with horrifying vigour. I have embryonic plans to go to London and stay at Lana's for a weekend, a Bristol trip with Susie, and I'm planning to ask Mum and Caz if they want to do lunch/dinner/something with me around my birthday. It's gonna be gooood.


P.S. My Iwako collection has grown - I now also have a hamster, panda, and pig:

Post Berlin

Tomorrow, it will have been three weeks since I came back from Germany, and I can't believe how quickly that time has gone. I was struck down with the lurgy pretty much as soon as I came back; I don't know what it was but I've never had such a horrible, aggressive virus. I managed to do my first shift back at work but was then bedridden for three days. I'm still not completely right now, it's insane.

We all got a payrise at work, so that was a nice turn up for the books. Aside from working I've done a few things, and caught up with people. I saw Ashleigh and Ethan a couple of weeks ago; Ethan is sooo heavy now, and just a darling as always. He's good at leaning forward and grabbing things now, and he had a good play with my phone (by 'play' I mean sticking my phone in his mouth and dropping it on the floor). Liam and Ashleigh recently did another photoshoot with them and Ethan and here is my favourite one of my lovely nephew - isn't he just flawless???

Susie and I went out for a dessert date and a catch-up. We delighted over Leo Dicaprio finally getting the Oscar he's deserved for years, talked about how crazy Tom Hardy looks, and updated each other on our lives and happenings. It was so good to see her, as I hadn't for literally 5 weeks, and that is unacceptable. We plan to go to the cinema at some point to watch Hail Caesar, and we're also going to go out for Prosecco and giggles. We still need to plan going back to Bristol, which I'm hoping to do around my birthday (which is suddenly only a month away, what the hell??).

On Saturday I got Mum some flowers and baked her a cake. I was also loving life when I popped to Asda for ingredients because they have 8-packs of Pepsi Max Cherry on offer for £2 - NICE.

On Mother's Day, I also gave Mum a box of chocolates and a cute card, and Nan came over because Mum was cooking lunch for her. We had a prawn cocktail starter, macaroni cheese with bacon and leek, and trifle - it was absolutely delicious, and the Prosecco and wine flowed. We also tried the cake I had made, and it was divine if I do say so myself.

I also helped Nan to print, sort, and file a bunch of her legal documents etc and she gave me £20 for doing it, which is really sweet of her. I would've done it for free, but she felt I deserved to have an incentive because it was 'boring' (her words, I quite like organising documents - which is weird, I know, but it's strangely therapeutic).

Today, I'm taking Mum to Ed's Diner for lunch as another Mother's Day treat because I lurve her, and Ed's is our favourite place ever. I'm so ready for some cheesy fries!

I have decided that I must make some kind of plans for my birthday - I'm tired of never doing anything fun for it. And I'm beginning to think about my Yearly Purge. Basically, every year since 2011, I've spent a good week or so completely gutting my room, sorting through everything and chucking stuff out, rearranging, reorganising, etc. It's long and sometimes tedious, but at the end of it, I have decluttered and my room is tidy, and it really is very good for one's mind to have a tidy space. I will probably start doing that after my birthday/towards the beginning of summer. That's when the Yearly Purge usually happens, and I find I have a lot more energy and motivation when there's more daylight (I mean, who doesn't?).

Just a last note on something ridiculous that I bought because I found it cute - this Iwako eraser that we've been selling with our Easter products at work. You can even take the chick out of the eggshell and I simply had to have one. I'm a sucker for cute stationery. Iwako also do a hamster eraser, and I am determined to get that too.

P.S. Bonus Sirius (eating cupcake crumbs):