LOCKDOWN DIARY - DAY 18 ~ The blessings of friendship

13 April
I was in a little bit of depression slump since missing my daughter’s birthday last week and that added to yesterday, with it being Easter and all, and not being able to be with my family, especially my little Greek sister, Mira, and, as a result, I didn't get much housework done, so I ended up with tons to do today. Thankfully, my son helped me with quite a bit and things are feeling a lot better as a result. I spent the entire day, in-between a few work commitments, catching up on blog posts... or at least trying... I'm still not quite there. I should never have left it so long before blogging... EEEK!  The good news though is that I had hardly any problems with posting on Weebly today.  Thank Heavens.
 
Family Day here in South Africa today (a public holiday) ... I'm missing my family very much ♥
 
By bedtime, my brain was fried from all the blogging!  Blogging is exhausting… but at the same time, it is for me, cathartic. No matter what, I will be forever grateful to Nadine and her husband for setting me up for blogging.  Without their help, none of this would have been possible for me.
 
My Facebook friend Vee, wrote
Ditto, my friend. I think we all felt down yesterday - I've had the blues since Friday, what with worrying about my kids overseas - but feeling a bit better today. I even finished a toddler tracksuit top made with leftover tracksuiting and ribbing, which I will donate to our local shelter, once the pants are done - together with all the other stuff I've cleared out - once lockdown's over. It's Monday and the start of a new week. Let's do this! ♥
 
I responded
Thank you for the boost Vee! I often write something like this on Facebook... then when I get to my blog, I expand... like adding extras... today, I had a cool WhatsApp conversation with a friend which I hope to share on my blog... both of us started the day really FLAT... but we boosted and challenged each other and got so much done after that... What would we do without friends ♥ Love you ♥
 
WhatsApp conversation with my dear friend, Mary-Anne (Used with permission)
I sent a Good morning greeting to Mary-Anne, and she responded…
 
Mary-Anne
… I’m sitting on my bed and just don’t have the energy or motivation to do anything.  There are dishes to be washed, washing to do, house to clean and I can’t get going.  Love you so very much ♥
 
Panayiota (I immediately kicked into nurturing mode… but gradually realised that I was struggling with the same problem)
Oh no my friend… I must admit, my dishes have piled up also, and I’m lagging, but we have to keep going somehow.  I don’t think I even combed my hair yesterday! Sometimes we must just get up and DO it… once we start it gets easier… it’s just getting started that’s the problem.  I found that putting on dancing music quite loud helps… it blocks out our more negative throughs and motivates……. Now, I have to take my own advice… EEK!  I will go shower and wash my dishes immediately!  Unless you need me now.  I will let you know when it’s done my beloved friend, and I challenge you to do the same… Up we get… we CAN do it and we will feel better after.  Any bets I have 10 times more dishes to wash than you… Gulp! I love you very much too ♥
 
P.s. if you saw what I looked like right now and how many dishes I have to wash, I’d probably never be able to face you again! 
 
I wanted to share the Before and After of myself here, but felt too embarrassed. (unless you can understand the lack of motivation-slump that can lead one to look like I did, you might lose all respect for me).  Suffice it to say I looked terrible at the time that Mary-Anne brought my own shocking lack-of-motivation-appearance to my attention! 

I knew I had to do something about it immediately and I did!  I shared the Before photo with Mary-Anne though and she had a good laugh and responded…
 
Mary-Anne
… thanks for the pep talk.  I’ve made my bed so that’s a start.  Going to get washed and dressed now.  Will then venture to the rest of the house ♥
 
The fact that she’d already done that, really challenged me… I realised that I hadn’t made my own bed yet… so, I HAD TO MOVE!
 
Mary-Anne
You make me laugh.  Clean underwear folded and packed away, washed and dressed.  Now to face the rest of the house… bedroom door opened and away we go…
 
Panayiota
You’re doing a whole lot better than me.  I just made it to the bathroom to shower… but my bed is made! 
 
A while later I added
I’m good and clean and fresh tra-la-la.  Now to comb my hair… then find more motivation to move to the rest of the house!  I’ve managed to motivate my son to fold the pile of washing and I must do the dishes asap!  Seedlings need to be watered also.

Mary-Anne
Dishes washed and two loads of washing done.  Started raining so last load of washing tomorrow.  Had coffee and taken lasagna out of the freezer for dinner tonight.  Sweeping and mopping floors tomorrow.  Now… relaxing for the rest of the day.
 
Mary-Anne definitely did a whole lot better than I did, and I’m so glad she found her motivation for the day.  I’m also so very glad that my son and I found enough motivation to do what we were able to do.  We need to keep it up somehow!  We need to be there for each other, just as Mary-Anne and I were there for each other this morning.   
 
Today two BFF’s on lockdown motivated each other through WhatsApp… and that makes today a GOOD-GOOD DAY!  Thank you so much Mary-Anne ♥
 
~ Panayiota