Level 42

Another day, another 4 am wake up. I've given up counting how many in a row this is. It's getting to something where my usual 5 am wake up is classed as a lie in, huh? I read a really interesting article this week, I think it was on Women's Health website, about a woman who increased her step count from 10,000 to 20,000 a day, and she gave her insights into the things that changed for her, personally. Sleep was one, getting an earlier bedtime and an earlier wake up. The quality of sleep, too. I know I'm not pulling in 20,000 a day by any stretch of the imagination, but considering how little I walked previously - other than around the house, of course - I've drastically upped my step count myself, so it's no wonder that my sleep pattern is changing. 

Yesterday didn't bring the promised rain, although it was a tad foggy and very, very cold. We did our shopping, brought it home, kept it all and then Mr G decided that he wanted to replace the tyres on his car. So, back to Bangor we went. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, while he was on Beach Road having his tyres replaced, I took a short walk on a long pier.

Christ alive, it was bitterly cold on that pier. It's probably the coldest I have ever been in my life. My poor fingers were red raw - I don't like wearing gloves. Needless to say I only did one walk up and down before I headed back to the car. I arrived just as he was phoning me ready to leave the yard, so perfect timing. Despite not getting a 'proper' walk in, I still managed to pull in 12,000 steps yesterday, and my tally for the week is 30,000 so I'm averaging 10,000 a day still. Hopefully today I will be able to add a few more to that. That's if, and it's a big if, the boss feels up to it today. If yesterday is anything to go by, he won't. 

Tea last night was Blackened Pork steak, homemade savoury rice and salad with a wrap as our healthy B. 

And! *Sad Case Alert* Finally, level 42 has been achieved. It took a lot of walking, a lot of incense and a lot of lucky eggs, but I finally hit it just before bed last night. The tasks for completing level 42 aren't so bad, I've already got the medals, that was marked as done instantly. 100,000 stardust is easily achievable, as is the supereffective charged attack task, I'm already well over a tenth of the way on each of those tasks. It's the legendary Pokemon one that I'm going to struggle with. It's ok if you have a lot of people taking part in raids locally, and you can join in, but when I tend to be out, in the middle of the day, in this small town? Nope. 

So I'm hoping that on Saturday when I go to Bangor for Community Day, the students and fellow Pokegeeks will be out in force and that I can make a dent in, if not complete this part of the levelling up tasks. I wish it wasn't on a Saturday, I would much prefer it to be a Sunday like it used to be. I like to have my afternoon at home with my football bet on a Saturday, so I will be against the clock. Probably set out to walk to Bangor at 10, so I'm there for 11 when it starts, and then try and get home for 3. 

Then it's only 9,000,000 XP I have to earn. Only. 

And yes, I'm perfectly aware that I'm far too old for this now, but right now, I don't care. It's really increasing my walking, which was kind of the point of the game all along, really! 

I have some lovely silverside beef to make a roast beef and onion roll to take with us today, a small slice of Genoa cake, and some fresh fruit to snack on as we walk. Raspberries, mandarins and melon chunks. That's if we walk. I hope he feels up to it, anyway, we've been trying to get there for months and months now. There's only so many places that we can reach on foot, starting at home and ending at home. I'd also like some new photos for my blog, as beautiful as they are, there's only so many photographs of the bridges that I can take and upload. Rainy bridge, sunny bridge, foggy bridge... if he isn't feeling up to it, then I will have to just go around the town solo. 

But it is a worry to me, and really upsetting too, to watch the man I love in constant pain and for there to be nothing that I can do about it. I too suffer with pain; sciatica and I'm starting to suspect arthritis in my left knee. And although it's acute pain, it's not chronic pain. Because I do get respite from it, I do get good days, and pain relief does take the edge off it sometimes. It doesn't take it away, but it makes it bearable. I know how exhausting this is for me, so to have it constantly, 24/7 and knowing that this is it forever. Every minute of every day, forever. It's really hard to watch. If I could wave a magic wand and transfer the pain over to me, I would, in a heartbeat.  

Now that he knows that nothing can be surgically done, and that no analgesia will work on that type of pain, he has stopped hoping for a solution, and just tries his best to get on with it with a smile on his face. But I can't help but think that there must be something, surely, there must be something out there that works. My first thought was marijuana, but Mr G is so anti drugs that he's known as Talk to FRANK in this house. I'm not saying that's a bad thing by any stretch, don't get me wrong, but I'm not suggesting that he starts shooting up or anything. I do know that it's a powerful pain reliever. And it's also illegal unless it's medicinal. Quite a few people now have suggested that he try CBD oil, and I think he is semi-open to that after reassurances that he won't be off his tits after using it. He said 'I won't start laughing at random stuff, will I?'. Bless him #boomer. The issue is that there's so many out there, so many mixed reviews, and the ones with the highest reviews, naturally, are the most expensive. It's hard to fork out a lot of money for something that you don't know is going to work. Especially when nothing else has worked, including surgeries, and every painkiller known to man, from paracetamol to pethidine. I'm going to have to do a lot of research and reviewing on this, I think.

Also had an email from the school yesterday to say that the kids might be back in school in a couple of weeks. Priority is being given to years 11 and 13, obviously, as they're the ones who should have been sitting important exams this coming year, but years 10 and 12, which my two happen to be in, will be getting some time too. 

My surprise find yesterday was Caramel Latte Daim bars! I'm a huge lover of coffee and chocolate, I'm still sulking that Quality Street got rid of their coffee cream, which was amazing (all the haters in the family used to save them for me from their Christmas tubs). The minute you open the wrapper, the coffee smell just hits. Lush. 

Tea tonight was meant to be something with prawns but I still don't know what that something is, so I am going to switch around tonight and tomorrow and make the Chinese Beef Curry with egg fried rice tonight.