February Challenge

Last month, I decided to follow in my mother's footsteps and make 12 changes over the year to help me overcome my depression. Last month, my challenge was to manage my time so that I could keep busy.

This only half worked.

I started off well at the beginning of term. I was getting up early every day, going to bed at a reasonable time so I had lots of energy. I was trying to schedule my time so that I worked more productively. Then I fell behind a bit in my plan to write up my lecture notes in neat each week to keep on top of revision. This made me feel like I didn't deserve to do anything that wasn't work related, but I was in too bad of a mood to be motivated. The boyfriend and I also had some issues with communication that were causing us problems.

Despite the lack of motivation, I feel like I am in a better place in terms of my degree than I was last term. I am (mostly) on top of my assignments, and even have enjoyed doing a couple of them. I like Number Theory. The assignments I've had marked and handed back to me have been quite well graded, so I'm pleased with that. Most of my modules are fine, there is just one that I am really struggling to get my head around.

Another thing that has gotten me down is that I have had to stop running. I have a recurring problem with my knee that means it actually hurts to run, and hurts for a few days after I have done so. I went to the doctor, and I have a referral for a physio , but the earliest appointment I have been able to get is at the end of March... I have, however, been trying to do some exercises anyway to keep the strength up. I actually completed my 30 day challenge, which I am really pleased about - the furthest I've gotten previously before forgetting/giving up was about day 8. I bought a pilates set with a yoga ball and some weights in to hopefully spark some more interest for myself. I didn't manage to keep up with yoga, but I feel like I have been working on strength quite well, so I'm counting my exercise challenge as a job well done.

This month, as well as trying some new ideas with the boyfriend to get our schedules back up and running and effective once more, I want to focus on music. Music is a massive part of my life, but recently I have not felt in the mood for singing or playing. I don't go to Glee anymore, partly because of an awkward timetable, partly because I spend all of my time at archery, but also because I haven't been in the right frame of mind for it. This month, I want to change that.

This challenge was actually the boyfriend's idea. After I let him take my ukulele to Uni with him to try and learn, he came up with the idea of trying to learn a duet together, him on ukulele, me on guitar, that we can practice over skype. This should be interesting because he isn't the greatest singer (although admittedly, he is getting better) and when I play guitar, the sound on my skype goes really quiet so I can't hear him anymore.

As well as the duet, I want to learn some new songs for myself. I have done some googling to find the supposed best song of each decade to find inspiration. I want to learn songs that either I wouldn't normally sing, or I haven't played already. This is my list so far:

1: 1950s, Johnny B Goode



2: 1960s, Save the Last Dance For Me



3: 1970s, Heart of Glass



4: 1980s, not sure yet, but maybe I Want To Know What Love Is



5: 1990s, again not sure. Best I could find was Baby One More Time



6: 2000s, Hey Ya



7: 2010s, The Words



(Excuse me while I get distracted by the yummy-ness that is Colin o'Donoghue)

And for our duet, Up



Let me know if you have any other suggestions for songs :)