Hello you lovely lot.
It’s the Thursday before Christmas (Christmas Eve Eve) and I am officially home for the holidays. But boy did I have an interesting journey to get here. When I say that, I don’t actually mean the train journey or the drive home. Instead I mean the lead up to it where I was ever so lucky to get Covid.
Yes, I managed to avoid this pesky disease right up until I was supposed to be travelling home. I would say it sounds like I am getting some sort of Karma for something but I can’t say I deserve this one. So our original plan was to travel home last Wednesday (the 15th) but we unfortunately had to delay the trip until the Saturday (18th) as I caught covid on the previous Monday and my sister got it from me on the Tuesday.
Do I know where I got it from, no. Is it bothering me, yes! There’s a 90% chance I have been told that it was Omicron and from what I have gathered it is definitely easy to catch – I had no close contacts get in touch and I hadn’t been pinged by track and trace.
Obviously I am extremely grateful that it hasn’t hindered my plans for Christmas in any way and isolating isn’t the end of the world when it means I would definitely not be taking anything home. I feel eternally sorry for those who can’t travel home for Christmas and have to isolate on their own – if you are one of them, please look after yourself and I promise it gets better!
If you start with cold symptoms or have a cough I urge you to take numerous tests, when my symptoms started I tested negative so please be cautious!
Anyway, enough about covid. Term has officially finished which means my head has more room to think and I have more time to spend looking after myself rather than looking after my assessments. I’ve got dissertation work to complete, which is going to be difficult at home but it is quite nice having the time to mentally recuperate and catch up with family and friends.
I am home for three weeks so I should have one to two weeks in Edinburgh before going back to uni but with all these mini lockdowns etc. I can’t say there will be much to do. However, with Christmas comes a lot of good food (one of the main things I am always very excited about). If you can’t stuff your face full of delicious, rich food at Christmas then when can you? I’d love to know what’s on your dinner table at Christmas – let me know in the comments! We have Turkey and Roast Ham (although I have never been much of a fan of turkey), Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and veg, cauliflower cheese and red cabbage.
On the other hand, being home means I am reunited with my dog which is a very happy day. There’s nothing like seeing someone who loves you unconditionally, gives you numerous hugs and gets extremely excited every time you come through the door. Plus, the dog is a good excuse to get regular exercise and a good dose of fresh air, especially when she guilts you every time you leave the house without her.
This time of year, especially this year, is particularly tricky because a lot of ‘firsts’ will be happening in the Summer and I am not going to lie, it is terrifying. Christmas and New Year marks the halfway point to this crisis which is nerve-wracking. In 4-5 months I will have finished my degree, set to graduate, on the hunt for work, possibly moving and needing to adult properly for the first time. When you have very little answers for any of the questions that will probably arise it provides very little reassurance that it’s going to work out. But I am hoping that by the end of it things will align and I will be okay. I don’t have to have it all worked out and I have a *tiny* bit of self-belief to know that I’ll get it done.
So over the holidays I will be reading a book for my dissertation – which I explained in my latest dissertation diary – and I will be carving out my plans for my next dissertation chapter while also catching up with family and friends. Freshers week starts on the 17th and I’m planning heading back to Edinburgh around the 7th so I should have a decent amount of time to prepare for this and get ready for next term (hopefully).
All in all it is nice to be home and away from somewhere that I associate with isolating and work. To be honest I think it couldn’t have come at a better time, hopefully when I return it will be with a better headspace and no covid.
What are you looking forward to over the holidays?
I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and if I don’t write anything before then, a very happy New Year!
Thank you so much for all the support this year, I know I have been sporadically posting and I appreciate you sticking around!
See you soon,
much love,
Sophie x
Sophie's Edit 