How is it last week I was the queen of motivation and finished 4 posts and had another 2 ready to be completed in my drafts and then this week the effort of dragging myself to my computer screen felt like too much all week?
Actually, I know why I’ve not been motivated to blog and that’s because I’ve been in a bad mood and bad moods bleed into my whole life lately because I’m not seeing people often enough to help kick me out of it. Does anyone else have that? The more I’m forced to interact with people the more my mood will improve because I hate being that person bringing everyone else down and I really hate taking my bad mood out on other people. Unfortunately, when you’re stuck in lockdown only seeing people during video chats you don't really get the push to get out of the funk that you need.
Don’t worry, no more work drama this week bringing me down. This time it was house drama. I’d not properly met either of my neighbours before this week. I know I should probably knock on their door or something but honestly, I’m not that person, the thought of knocking on a stranger’s door makes me feel a little ill with nerves. I normally only will if they have a parcel of mine and even then I’ll wait a day to see if they come to me first. Anyway, I’d not met either neighbour before this week and then Monday happened. No one was at work, it was a bank holiday in the UK so we were all stuck at home going extra stir crazy. I was getting comfy to sit and watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I’m fifteen minutes in and then my neighbour starts blasting music, heavy on the bass. I turn the volume up on my TV but to no avail. It’s too loud and I can't concentrate. Annoying, but I take the time to play my own music and clean the bathroom and the kitchen. It’s a weekend, let my neighbour unwind. But then she does the same thing Tuesday at 11am. I’m sat working at my desk in my spare room/office and her music is blasting in her living room and I can hear (and feel) that bass a whole floor away. I had to go knock on her door and ask her to turn it down. She turned it off (totally not what I asked) but I could tell she wasn’t impressed by my request. Honestly, I’ve been obsessing over this drama ever since. I feel like I’m in the wrong even though I know I’m in the right, neighbourly consideration is necessary. After all, I could hear her music on the street as I walked round, that was obviously too loud. But I still find myself feeling like I shouldn't. I don't know if it was her response. Or the fact that once I was back in the house I could hear her kids shouting hello. Who knows?
I’m pretty sure that neighbourly interaction set the tone for my week. I’ve been walking around my house paranoid my music is too loud. I’ve been able to hear the voices of the woman next door and her kids for a while (I know her son's name as she shouts it that often) but that’s bearable but loud music? No. I’ve been turning the volume down on my TV, my radio. Everything. Hell, I had a phone conversation the other day and then realised that maybe they could hear that. It’s very uncomfortable but I’ve not had too much noise since (not anything that I wasn’t hearing before anyway, seriously, her son does not listen to her at all by the sounds of things). And I’ve already got plans to get some bookshelves in my living room behind my sofa as I’ve heard having something large like that can muffle sound slightly and I always need more room for books, right? I also invested in some noise-cancelling headphones so at least I can blast the music while I'm working. They'll just have to suffer through my singing instead. I won't feel as bad about that, though. I just have to be careful I don't miss any parcels because I can't hear the front door.
My mom took my neighbour rage as a sign I needed to get out of the house more often. I have been known to get a little obsessive about things and as I live alone I am much more aware of noises around me. I’ve really noticed it when it comes to cars coming along my road. Since we’re all in lockdown every time I hear a car or person passing the house it sets me on edge and I know it’ll be people doing normal trips out of the house but it’s amazing how quickly my brain has adjusted to ‘you must stay home’. Don’t worry, I’m not one of the crazies attacking folks leaving the house (honestly, I’ve read horror stories of people leaving notes and starting on people saying they’re not wearing a uniform so it’s not essential travel and honestly, it makes me despair at people). I’m struggling though, I’ve really only ever gone for a walk with other people or when I’m walking my dog. Anyone got tips for going for walks by yourself? I'm not great at walking without a destination in mind. I did think maybe an audiobook or podcast and then going on a walk?
Enough about negative things. Let’s talk about one really good thing I’ve been doing this week. I’ve been needing a new show to watch after the terrible season finale of The Good Doctor (I am giving that show a wide berth and may not carry on watching after it, especially as I’ve seen some of the abuse one of the actors has had after being on that show). I was in need of a new show, though, and I wanted one which was short but still would give me the feels. So I decided to start watching Crash Landing on You on Netflix. I have no regrets. I’ve got two episodes left to finish at the time of writing this so that is my Saturday night but it’s so good. I am head over heels in love with Hyun Bin after watching and I have totally been googling all of the outfits the MC Yoon Se Ri wears in the show because I need them. There were so many cosy looking cardigans, I’m a sucker for an oversized cardigan, who cares if we’re approaching summer? If you’ve not watched it already I definitely recommend Crash Landing On You. I’m stuck trying to find more good k-dramas to watch now, though. Give me all your drama recs.
What I’ve Been Reading
Sorry, it’s been a slow reading week this week. Two of them are short novellas, and that’s partially because I wrote a list of some of the shortest reads on my Kindle so I could try and clear my digital shelf a little bit by reading these shorter reads. Thankfully, both of the novellas I’ve enjoyed. The full-length book? Not so much. To Have and To Hoax had one of my biggest romance pet peeves, miscommunication, featured within it. I knew there would be some miscommunication. I mean, it’s literally in the title. But I guess I thought it would be a touch more playful than it ended up being (for me, anyway). I ended up DNF-ing because it was just too frustrating for me, but I am getting ready to write a whole post inspired by it so that's a good thing.
New To Me
Yeah, still not doing great at buying fewer books. We all cope in different ways during this pandemic. I shop, now just to get reading these. I got Wild Invitation at Veronika’s instruction as she said that one of the novellas would come up later in the series so I wouldn’t have purchased otherwise but it wasn’t that expensive. I was an investment in good reading.
What have you been doing this week? Anyone else had to contend with noisy neighbours before? And please, tell me what you do if you take walks alone because I think I need the regular trips out of the house. And don't forget the k-drama recs! Have I asked for enough stuff at the end of this post or what?
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