Pride and the common cold

Brighton Pride seems to have left everyone buggered (insert your own jokes…) the boys upstairs are knackered and two friends are also now needing a long lay-down. A couple of people said it actually wasn’t that good; expensive, less choice in the park and of course, the perennial problem – hotels and B&B’s putting up their prices. To be honest, you can’t really complain about the last one: just be more organised and book in advance next time! But as I wasn’t there I can’t comment. I thoroughly enjoyed myself last year when my partner and I went, but we were also staying in a lovely hotel with a room overlooking the sea. Very romantic and surprisingly restful for a Pride weekend.
So we have had a complete break from Pride’s this year not having been to a single one. Which I think on reflection is a good thing. They are all the same now; it’s like organisers buy a kit version off the shelf and then take it back to whichever town or city is hosting the next one. I would like to go to Pride Scotia or Cardiff Pride next year. That could be fun…

The book is finished! I even printed out a draft yesterday and my partner thinks it’s fantastic! Let’s just hope her goddaughter thinks the same…

On a completely different subject, I think there is a correlation – not that I would ever be able to prove it – between my getting ill all the time and my mum’s cancer. My immune system is completely shattered and once again, just after getting over a chest infection, I’ve picked up a cold. It seems faintly ridiculous because I've always had such an amazing ability to shrug things off and not so long ago I could be sat in a room full of coughing, spluttering flu victims and wouldn’t catch a damn thing. Now if there is bug passing within a ten mile radius I wave and tell it to jump right in because the water’s lovely…
My mum’s treatment isn’t going well and it’s putting enormous pressure on me as her only family. Consequently stress is lowering my immunity and I keep getting all sorts of weird and wonderful illnesses. Which guess what? Is making me very stressed and so I get ill and then I get stressed and then…
I would actually be really interested in doing some research into the health and wellbeing of carers through my work. Everyone is always saying sickness levels need to be cut, but people know very little about why people get sick in the first instance. Increasingly family members are being relied on to care for immediate and extended family and I think this is having a massive impact on the carers own health. However, being a determined and frankly resourceful sausage I am trying to help myself; I’m taking supplements, improving my diet, and I’m taking up a new hobby (not telling you what, you’ll only laugh, but hobbies are fantastic stress busters!) My partner and I are also going away for the weekend in September to do some walking in the country with the dog…
My exercise levels are good, I walk the dog for over an hour each day and then do another 40 mins walking on top of that, but I’m looking to do more sport as well.
Right now though I need to concentrate on what I get paid for, it’s not great for stress but it does pay for all these hobbies and vitamins!!