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The Best of You

I write a lot about mental health, menstrual health, and chronic illness.

💜 I write a lot about mental health. That's it.

18/05/2026

If I make it through this week relatively unscathed, I'll call it a success.

We are getting new windows fitted so my house is in uproar.

There's no curtains or blinds up anywhere so I'm feeling like a goldfish.

I held a p*e in all day because upstairs got the windows first. Upstairs is where the bathroom is and I had no idea if the bathroom was finished so, instead of being a grown up and asking, I just held it in which, given , is pretty impressive!

Not advisable though!

My bedroom is full of tools which, being married to a man of many tools, you'd think I'd be used to - but he's never brought them into the bedroom (easy, now! 😜).

And, to top it all off, my first assessment is due on Thursday - which I thought I'd have loads of time for 3 weeks ago but, somehow, it has escaped me.

So that's why I'm running a bath at 10.30pm.

It could easily have been a gin!

16/05/2026

Husband: When are you going to read them?

Me: Not a fu***ng clue.

Husband: Why did you buy them then?

Me: Because buying books and reading books are two separate hobbies!

Anyone else just like being surrounded by books? (as well as crystals, candles, and houseplants! 🤭)

13/05/2026

The wellbeing industry is awash with advice about what supplements we should (or should not) be taking and, over the years, I have tried soooo many to help alleviate symptoms of my struggling mental health, my fibromyalgia and, now, my perimenopause.

None of them have worked. Literally none of them.

So, I've pretty much stopped taking anything other than my HRT for perimenopause (which does seem to work) but everyone tells me to persist with Magnesium to help my sleep (or lack of).

I've tried a spray.

I've tried a cream.

I've tried several forms of capsules (because I was taking the "wrong" kind...who knew?)

None of it helped anyone other than the companies I was funding.

Then I spotted these at the weekend and I'd never tried patches before so, I'm giving magnesium one final chance and sticking one of these to me at night to see if it will help.

There's 30 patches in a pack so I'll keep at it until I'm finished, then I'll give a review of them because I know there's a lot of you also struggling with sleep for whatever reason.

My poor sleep is 100% the worst symptom of all of my ailments (it's a common symptom of all 3 so I'm nothing if not efficient!) and the subsequent exhaustion every day really gets me down.

I have made myself believe that, if I can get on top of my sleep, all will be well with the world again.

Here's hoping I am right! 🤞🏻

11/05/2026

I've got Fibromyalgia. Most of you know that by now.

So, that means, on a good day, I'm in discomfort.

On a bad day, I'm in so much pain, I can't get out of bed.

I've not had a bad day in a long time.

But, every day, I'm in varying degrees of pain or discomfort. That's just how it is.

The one thing you're told to do if you've got Fibromyalgia, is to exercise which, when you're in pain, is the last thing you want to do.

It does help but it's the getting going that hurts like Hell.

At the moment, my exercise is causing my shin splints to flare up.

My shin splints are naff all to do with my Fibromyalgia. They are a football injury from when I decided it was a great idea to take up football in my mid-30s. 😏

The universe scowled at me, said "WTF are you doing, you muppet!?!" and decided to stop me by setting my shins on fire.

I forgot all about how painful it was until this weekend when I had the ball at my feet and the ground was pretty hard.

The universe scowled at me again and said:

"You just don't learn, do you!?"

Maybe not - but I still have my ice pack shin guards! 😂

09/05/2026

A rock n roll Saturday night.

I woke up early this morning with a migraine.

I did not have time for a migraine today, so took 2 ibuprofen, then went back to bed. When I got up, the migraine had downgraded to a headache, so I managed a sugary mug of coffee...then threw it back up again.

Still a migraine then. 🙄

I somehow got through the kiddo's football and an impromptu trip to Dundee to the fluorescent lit Hell that is Sports Direct to buy her new shorts that she needs for Monday but I don't have time to get tomorrow.

That became a trip to Superdrug, Primark and Mooboo - because shopping is thirsty work when you are 10 and you are spending your mum's money! 😏

Glad to be home for some food, a soak in the bath, then bed with a mug of tea and, because the headache remains, 2 ibuprofen.

Ending the day as I started it.

The life of a perimenopausal mum with a chronic pain condition.

Good times. 🤪

08/05/2026

There's a lot of heaviness in our feeds today because of the elections.

I am politically engaged. I have very strong views about the future of my country. I know it can be better than it is now, if we fight for it.

That's why I vote.

As a woman, I am eternally grateful to the women who came before me who fought for the right for women to vote, so I do not take it for granted.

That's why I vote.

I worry that my daughter may have that basic human right taken away from her by parties who are not for equality or human rights.

That's why I vote.

But I would be lying if I said it didn't come at a cost. And the political landscape just now is very exhausting.

So, I'm going to share a "glimmer" - a wee moment of respite that reminds us that there's still a lot to smile about.

My kiddo is growing a sunflower. She planted him (because he's a he according to her) outside, but was worried he'd be lonely on his own.

So she had me buy him his own solar light buddy, who she has named...
..Charles Duckins!

🤣

03/05/2026

May the 4th be with you!

Happy Star Wars Day to all who celebrate.

Love from me & R2 x

01/05/2026

I am firmly in my houseplant era! 🪴

So much so that I bought some fleece gloves to help clean their leaves (much to my husband's initial amusement, but he now concedes that they are a good idea).

I used to be a bit crap at keeping plants alive but, through trial and error, I've realised some plants just don't like me (orchids), and others do (peace lillies).

I guess, much like with people, I am an acquired taste! 😏

That's okay though - I don't like most people either! 😂

The older I get, the more I realise that I am happiest at home, in my gloves, dusting my plants.

28/04/2026

When your kiddo asks you to make bracelets with her, but you're still working.

What do you do?

a) tell her you'll do it after you finish work?

b) clock off and make bracelets with her because it's 4.30pm, you have a bit of flexi time, and you've had more than enough of work for one day?

You find out very quickly that you are just a number at work. If you died, there would be an email sent round, some people might be sad for a while but, ultimately, you can and will be replaced.

Business as usual.

The same cannot be said at home.

So, when your kiddo asks you to make bracelets with her, you make bracelets with her.

Even if they are fiddly little bastards that make you want you want to launch them out the nearest window!

27/04/2026

Good days at work are few and far between nowadays, but today was a good day. 😊

I attended a trauma informed practice training session, delivered by the awesome Shumela from which looked at how we identify trauma in our community, and how we can support the people living with it in our professional capacity, but also in our personal lives too.

We need to look after ourselves in order to look after others - but our workplaces have a duty of care towards us too if we are carrying out work on their behalf that may involve traumatic experiences of clients which may stick with us when we clock off at night.

The world is a heavy place just now, and I worry that we are losing our empathy and our humanity in terms of judging how people behave without really trying to understand why they behave the way they do.

All behaviours are just forms of communication. People who are struggling may not be able to articulate that with their words, but they will be able to show us through their actions and behaviours.

Sometimes we lose sight of that - I'd like to hope we do this through fear and uncertainty rather than cruelty.

Because, as my Granny would say, "we're aa Jock Tamson's bairns"

(I'm quoting Granny a lot just now, aren't I!)

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