IN REARVIEW // June 2016

Aberdeen sunset - June 2016

Can you believe we've crossed the year's half-way point already? I can't quite fathom where the first half of 2016 has gone! 

It pains me to say it, but June was a second month spent entirely as an inpatient in the hospital. It was a month of highs and lows, facing some significant personal battles and dealing with all the difficulties that come with an admission this long. It's been hard going at times, but I'm hopeful that it's been worthwhile. In my previous admissions I've always been discharged after two or three weeks and gone home feeling like nothing has changed. I'm (hopefully) being discharged on Monday and this time I'm going home with a new medication regime, a group set to start on Thursday, a referral sent to a third sector organisation, and a CPN on board to lend some extra support. It's been a lengthy, difficult admission, but I'm trying to be positive and see these things as making it worthwhile!

Corridors of shadows and light - Cornhill hospital aberdeen

On the plus side, I have been out and about more this month. The staff have encouraged me to be outside of the hospital during the day; have organised the odd overnight pass so I could spend some time both at home and at my parents' house; and even permitted me to head to Edinburgh (under my mother's supervision! paha) one particular weekend. 

That particular weekend - right at the start of the month - just so happened to be my sister's hen weekend. She gets married 5 weeks from today (eek!) and we hens decided to treat her to some time in the capital having some good girly fun. 

Edinburgh hen weekend

We met for breakfast on the Saturday before heading down on the train together, equipped with Prosecco, nibbles, cheeky goody bags and some cheesy 90s tunes. The weather was great all weekend and we got to spend time sunning ourselves in St Andrew's Square before an evening locked in a room at Can You Escape?, followed by dinner at Gusto and drinks at the rather lovely Copper Blossom

On Sunday morning Christy, mum and I were up and raring to go! We headed to Lululemon for a spot of free yoga, before wandering down to Stockbridge for breakfast at Hamilton's and a browse around the market. In the afternoon we caught up with some more of the girls back in St Andrew's Square and headed over to Harvey Nichols for an all-important visit to the Chocolate Lounge. Oh. My. Word, it was gooood! 

The rest of the ladies were staying on - and being joined by more hens - for a bit of a Sunday night sesh, but mum and I left them at this point in the day, departing from chocolate heaven and catching the train back home and to the ward. 

It was a fun weekend - though I'm glad I left early as I think any more would have been too much - and I hope Christy found it an enjoyable landmark on her wedding run-up. 


Sneaking up after that was a day generally known as my birthday Tuesday which - for a bunch of mixed-up personal reasons - I found particularly tough. It seems silly now, but I really found it a struggle and wouldn't allow anyone to acknowledge it; unable to open any cards or presents and leaving  my poor, ever-patient family to hang out and "celebrate" without me. Tied up in all of that were some, er, issues that I won't go into, but it's pretty safe to say that the day just sucked! 

I've since stopped being such an ungrateful sulk and opened my cards and gifts to discover that I was - as always - spoiled over and beyond what I deserve. (Thanks!) 

Later in the month it was Father's Day and I was able to escape the hospital for the day, fitting in a wee visit to church in the morning, spending the afternoon with my parents and joining them at my sister's in the evening for a barbecued feast. Yum!

After that came my brother's birthday (June and July are busy months for us!) and we spent an enjoyable evening in their flat, playing with my slightly-hyper nephew, eating vegan chocolate cake and generally catching-up.

The rest of the month was interspersed with little trips to the park and visits to various foodie joints across the city. I've been back to the ever-tasty CUE Barbecue; developed a bit of an addiction for Muchacho's Mexican offerings; introduced my house-mates to FoodStory's delights; discovered Bubble Tea Banter up on Union Street; and continued working my way through all of the ice-cream!

My mum and dad brought the dog for a visit one day and he coped remarkably given how nervy he can be. We spent a fun afternoon walking and picnic-ing in Duthie Park, then took him over to Cafe Cognito where he was treated to his own doggy ice-cream! There's definitely something to be said for this "pet therapy" theory. 

And I think that's about all there is to be said for this particular month really. I might have spent it in hospital, but June certainly wasn't empty. It had its ups and downs, but in the end it feels as though it balanced itself out!

I walk into July with a lot of apprehension, knowing that discharge and all that comes with it will make it a different sort of month, but there are things to look forward to throughout and so I plough on, ready to see what comes.

I hope June was a good month for you. Here's to an enjoyable, hopefully-sunny July!

xo

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4 Comments

  1. I won't wish you happy birthday, then...! Sounds like a busy month, despite everything; I hope July turns out exactly how you need it to. x

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    1. Ha, probably best. I appreciate the sentiment though - thanks! :) xo

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  2. Well you accomplished far more that I did in June!I think I would find two hen nights in a row a bit much too but I am old! ;-)Someday I will get to try FoodStory, it's always had a line out the door when I've tried to go and my stomach cannot deal with that! All the best for July. xo

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    1. Ohh, you should definitely go. The queues definitely move a lot faster since the expansion and the food is well worth waiting for! xo

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