As promised, the blog continues. Other than a bit of a sickness bug that I'm fighting through today, the last week has been a brilliant one. It incorporated an Easter weekend, so there were plenty of days off and plenty of time to spend time with the family and see some friends.
The news of a great start to last Wednesday came in the form of a mysterious package. I was on one of my now regular days off and taking a shower, when my flat buzzer rang. Thinking it might be one of the local kids buzzing it for a prank, I carried on with my shower. When it rang again 30 seconds later, curiosity got the better of me and I rushed to answer it... pretty much giving my hallway a wash with the dripping water of a half-showered me! It was the postman, informing me of a parcel, of which he was leaving inside the doorway of our reception. Curiosity got the better of me still...and putting on the bare minimum of clothes, I flew down the stairs to find a parcel, addressed to me, awaiting on the bottom step. I had no idea what it was, or who had sent it... Opening it up, I found it to be a Blurt Buddy Box...
A gift from someone who really cares. The box had a bath bomb, tea bags, a pin badge, a pencil
case and a book called "You Are a Badass", which is to help boost self esteem.
"A Blurt Buddy Box? What's that?" I hear you say. In fact they were the same words I used when I opened it up. I've seen many box gifts (such as Loot Crate and MyGeekBox) but didn't remember ordering one. Inside a card saying "Love you xxx" gave me a clue on who sent it. My wonderful girlfriend, Hannah. She had picked up on my phrase "I'm just Jason", which is a bad habit I have - picked up by how some people treat me as someone who won't matter regardless of what they do and say. This box set off a strong emotional pick-me-up and was definitely the highlight of my week. I'm very lucky to have found someone who knows how to cheer me up!
The Blurt Buddy Box is from The Blurt Foundation, who work on raising awareness about depression and helping those affected by it. It is a wonderful organisation and, although not currently affected by depression myself, I certainly had a real self-esteem boost from receipt of this box. I'll definitely keep them in mind in the future if I see a friend that is down or needing a boost. You can also support their work by donating to them online.
Thursday involved a very hectic day of work in Chippenham, with a lot of tricky cases to sort through. The thought of meeting Hannah in Gloucester that evening helped me battle through. I met with her and her mum and I treated them to a lovely meal at the Wagon and Horses Sizzler Pub. After tucking into a sizeable Surf 'n' Turf meal, the rest of the evening was spent relaxing, getting set for the Easter weekend.
Good Friday came quickly and most of this was spent travelling home and tidying the flat. I listened to what seemed like a dire performance from Bristol Rovers on their away game at Gillingham. It was a must-win game in order to keep Bristol Rovers' play-off hopes in tact. Sadly a 3-1 loss, with play-off rivals Southend and Millwall both winning, has really put the fate of the play-off race into the hands of the gods. It is still mathematically possible, but there is a better chance of me winning the Lotto. I embed the "highlights" of the game below.
"Highlights" of Gillingham vs Bristol Rovers on 14/04/2017 (Source: Official BRFC TV / YouTube)
As disappointing as this was, Saturday was the next on the agenda. More flat tidying (I still wonder how I managed to get the place in such a mess...) and a meet up with my friend Andrew for an Ingress meeting, I prepared for Hannah to arrive. I managed to undertake a big grocery shop (something I seem to have put off for a few months...) so actually had some food in the house. A quiet night in happened, in preparation for Easter lunch at my parents' house on Easter Sunday. Hannah had prepared a batch of cupcakes to bring along to the meal...she really has such a talent!
Bunny Bums - as made by Hannah. I think these were one of the highlights of Easter 2017
The meal was superb (thanks mum and dad!) and it was really nice to see the family - nan, sister and stepbrother (with partners included!). Mum had also arranged a fun activity that day too, one that took us back to being kids again... a full-blown Easter egg hunt! I wasn't particularly very good at it, but it was fun nonetheless. After a day of hunting for eggs and eating chocolate in unhealthy amounts, we returned home to prepare for the last big even this Easter weekend... Hannah's first Rovers game...
I was very shocked to know I wouldn't be going to football with just my uncle for this game, but it was a pleasant shock! Rovers were to take on Oldham at the Memorial Stadium, again, another must-win game. It wasn't the most thrilling of matches, but Rovers edged into the lead with a goal from Ellis Harrison. It sounded like Hannah enjoyed her first game and from what she said, it's looking like it may be a regular occurrence... The highlights (below) are much more enjoyable to watch than that of the Gillingham game.
Slightly better work from Rovers in their game against Oldham on 17th April 2017
(Source: Official BRFC TV / YouTube)
That concludes this week's bumper blog post - there is lots more happening this week and I aim to update this as soon as the week is over and I have time. But until then, enjoy the rest of your week!
Make A Comment
Comments (0)