Jacqui Robbins was advised to stay away from all non-family members, and even to keep distance between herself and husband Jim, for 12 weeks when lockdown was announced in late March. Heres how they are getting on, nine weeks in...
I HAD great news this week, I have finally been discharged from the intensive care unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital and have been told that I can keep reducing my steroid intake so by the end of July I shall finally be off them altogether.
I will then have to think of a different excuse for all the weight gain although I think being in lockdown seems to be the new one.
In all honesty I have bucked the weight gain trend and have tried very hard to lose weight during this period.
I am hoping to emerge from lockdown like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This has not quite happened the split ends, bad roots and hairy top lip are not helping me. I have managed to lose half a stone though. I am not good at sticking to diets and I have tried many. I know a lot of people say about cutting out the carbs, but I just dont like having my food choices restricted.
So I have not removed anything from my diet I have simply cut down on the calories I have each day and track what I eat on an app called MyFitnessPal. I think tracking the food and tying to stick to a calorie goal naturally helps you make the right choices, but if you really want that bag of onion rings then you can.
It has been a hard week this week. Georgia has been very up and down emotionally. I really think she is struggling with not seeing her friends or having interactions with other people her age.
I hate seeing her get upset and angry and am sure the neighbours do not like the screaming either, being a young girl she really knows how to hit those high notes.
I feel really guilty all the time that I am letting her play too much on her Switch or watch too much TV/YouTube and just in general not doing enough for her. Social media really is a double-edged sword, it gives me lots of ideas of things to make and do with Georgia, but on the other I see parents doing loads of great things with their children and feel like an underachiever.
I am pretty certain as a parent its natural to never feel good enough.
For now though I will put it to the back of my mind and head out into the garden to enjoy the sunshine. Everything is so much better when the sun is shining.
Jims diary
Due to the lovely weather we have been enjoying, Ive been able to get out again with Georgia to play golf and enjoy our exercise.
We both managed to hit some decent shots and only lose a couple of balls.
Our new favourite place to explore is Plaums Pit in Rodbourne. Finding new places is certainly one of the fun parts of the lockdown and Plaums Pit is a lovely lake tucked away behind the Cheney Manor Industrial Estate.
My other new find was Buscot Weir, which was great as I could take Georgia swimming. This is an activity she has really been missing since the lockdown started.
I loved seeing her being so excited to be able to swim again despite it being absolutely freezing in the water. Hopefully the water will warm up over time if we go back during the summer and well be able to spend more time swimming there.
Since it is half-term, we have slowed down on the home-schooling this week, but we had a huge amount of fun yesterday making a kaleidoscope. This was surprisingly easy and led to lots of good learning.
As Ive been following the news, I was certainly a little apprehensive when I went out shopping this week.
Lots of the media coverage has suggested that people might start to give up on the lockdown after the Dominic Cummings scandal.
I was delighted to see that this wasnt the case in Swindon and that people were just as careful to ensure that they were social distancing and I felt just as safe as I have up until now that I can do my shopping pretty safely and minimise any chance of bringing home the virus to Jacqui.
All of the rules were being followed, which was great, and we had more good news this week, as Jacqui has officially been discharged from the care of the intensive unit at the Royal Brompton.
She will still work with the asthma team to monitor her breathing but the hospital are very pleased with her progress and wont need to see her again.
Recent council meetings held online such as scrutiny and the mayor-making have seemed to go well. Last night, we held the first virtual planning meeting.
It has been great to be able to have these meetings start up again and keep the business of the council running, so big thanks to the officers who make it all possible.
Read this article:
Week 9 of Jacqui and Jim Robbins' self-isolation diary for the Adver - Swindon Advertiser
