A few people I know in the care leaver community have started a project called Care in the time of COVID. It’s a diary project, and one of the prompts is to write about your Saturday. I started writing, and then I deleted my entries because I felt like it was boring/sad. But then I decided to restore the entries because they are a reflection of the time (though they are very dry reading).

I have to declare that these entries are not part of the project, but they have been inspired by the project.

This is a follow up to COVID diary 1.

Saturday 9 May

I woke up early today. I was very anxious and couldn’t stop pacing. I ended up rereading No Big Deal. I don’t know why I ordered it; it’s a young adult novel (the genre makes me cringe a little bit, but I think that’s because I felt too mature for these books as a teenager) but I am glad I did. I read the book yesterday, but I wanted to go back and revisit sections today. I remember being inspired to read the book because I saw a thread in an internet forum where members were asked which celebrity they are most like, and Bethany Rutter was the first person who came into my mind. I don’t think I look like her, but I like to think I have her colourful vibe and I’d love a smidgen of her writing ability. I was going to write about Bethany Rutter for the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation writing competition, but I couldn’t concentrate.

I ended up writing a lingerie review. I sometimes do fit modelling for a company that occasionally throws freelance writing my way. I reviewed some high-waisted knickers, which I happened to like. I find this element of my writing difficult to talk about because, I guess, people feel awkward thinking about lingerie – and it’s something that stopped me appearing on the front page of this site! But the process of being a fit model is fun; I’ve always been interested in fashion design so I like seeing the products. I get to try on clothes I wouldn’t necessarily buy myself, and by reviewing the feel/build/texture of clothing you start to see clothes in a different way (not just style, but the sensation of clothing too). Fit modelling is one of my favourite side hustles, and it keeps me writing which I am thankful for.

Another thing about fit modelling is that my feedback influences future design. A couple of years ago I reviewed a range of clothing that was only produced in dark colours. Over the following year, one of my most common pieces of feedback was I’d like to see more ranges in lighter/brighter colours. Obviously, dark colours are favoured by lots of people because they find them more flattering but I was excited to find out that this range I really liked two years ago is coming back in pastel colours.

I redesigned my college SharePoint blog (it’s a private blog which I won’t share here) and gave it a cute background. I forgot how much I used to like faffing around with blog design/layout. I know I have mentioned this previously, but I take part in daily wellbeing chats with Efe – this week I found them extremely helpful. As it’s a bank holiday weekend Efe asked us to think about what we have learnt over the past couple of months. I decided to free write an answer, and I wrote solidly for ten minutes without hesitation! What a result. I can’t remember the last time I was able to free write without self-censorship.

For lunch I had a veggie sausage muffin. My local convenience store does Richmond meat-free sausages. I was a bit suspicious of them at first because there are very few veggie sausages I like. I find most veggie sausages are too dry, or bland, or have a boring texture. These Richmond meat-free sausages were lovely. In fact, they may be my favourite veggie sausages right now (just because they have a more traditional sausage taste which makes them perfect for bangers and mash, toad in the hole, and sausage sandwiches!).

I played Minecraft most of the afternoon. I was trying to tire myself out, but a bat flew into me as I was in a cave and it made me jump. So I quit and watched some TV with my partner. We watched some renovation programmes, then I looked online for flats to buy (I like this one in Sandgate). I flicked through the Postgraduate Research Handbook and listened to some Early Eyes. I trimmed my fringe and then decided to trim it some more. It looks ridiculous now. I skipped dinner and went to bed very early listening to Downriver. I got up a few hours later and played Minecraft into the early hours.