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, COVID diary 2 and COVID diary 3.

Saturday 23 May

This week has been a blur. I woke up this morning and decided to buy something to celebrate getting through it; I bought some TOMS Paseo sneakers and Lumines. They should be arriving next month on the day before my next job interview (so, a good distraction from nervousness). I chatted with my partner all morning, and we did a crossword together. One of the clues bothered me for hours – I felt like I knew the word from a puzzle video game (and the memory nudged me to get Lumines). I eventually guessed the word after my partner mentioned guidance in a later conversation, so I had another letter to play with.

Last year I was getting ready to leave my university job. I laughed because in late May I wrote that it was my final day in Higher Education. A year later I’m months from reenrolling at University of Brighton and interviewing in the University for the Creative Arts. In fairness I did also write I am always reluctant to do goodbye posts, mainly because I often end up returning which is pretty accurate.

I told my partner that it has been a year since I left the higher education sector. And it feels so odd looking back because, at the time, I felt like I wanted a change. I am still working in academia, slightly, but there are lots of things I miss about university life. Some could say I made a mistake by leaving the higher education sector, but I think it’s just made me more aware of what I enjoy about working in academia. I thought I’d appreciate working part-time and freelancing more often. But in reality freelancing has been 30% searching for publications and 70% writing. Also, part-time feels too much like a holiday – I love it but I’ve felt myself get more lazy.

During this time I have learnt that work is not just my livelihood; it’s my social life and inspiration.

I had crumpets with peanut butter for lunch and then I visited my partner’s parents. We watched some birds in the garden and looked for pond life (really!). In the afternoon my partner helped me prepare for my upcoming interview by guessing some of the questions I may be asked. I spoke to my Dad afterwards; he sounded low – so I bought him some books on Hythe because he has memories of visiting there in the 1960s/1970s/1980s. The earth smelt great after a rain storm earlier in the day – I hoped we’d get another shower but it didn’t happen.

As I was brushing my teeth I felt an abscess in the back of my mouth near where my wisdom tooth was removed a decade ago. I accidentally poked it and it made me feel sick. I occasionally use interdental brushes, because some of the gaps in my teeth are so wide that floss doesn’t always help. At some point my wonky teeth overlapping pulled the bristles off the brush so I poked my gums with exposed wire. My partner bought me some mouthwash to use and wrote my name on the bottle so I wouldn’t avoid it. I have avoided thusfar. It’s so strong.