It’s back-to-work for many after the Easter holidays today and, as always, I have an enormous sense of relief that I didn’t have to drag myself out of bed.

The Bloke took a few weeks off work to coincide with the holidays, so I took a break away from the blog. I still maintained my Pinterest and Twitter social media management and my Facebook group, but decided not to write any posts until I actually had something to say.

The plan was fairly simple at the start of the holidays – to spend some time with The Bloke, catch up with some friends, tidy up and relax. What I didn’t expect was to have a punch biopsy on a mole on the shoulder-blade area of my back, which resulted in two sets of stitches and because of where it was my movement was restricted on the upper-left side of my body, so that slowed me down. To be fair, the staff at the hospital were brilliant and really efficient – within two hours of arriving I’d seen a doctor and a consultant, had the mole photographed and removed and my back stitched up, along with an assurance that they were 99.9% sure it was nothing sinister, and I received a letter the next day for a follow-up appointment scheduled for May 2nd. Amazing. However, it meant that for the first few days afterwards The Bloke had to be my personal assistant – helping me pick things up, putting things in the oven for me, helping me put my laundry in the machine, even putting my socks on – which felt ridiculous considering the wound was less than an inch wide.

However, we did still manage to have some day trips out together – we went to Solihull for a wander round and to see Beauty and the Beast at the cinema (which was beautifully done), and he helped me get a few things together for some more flat lay photography ideas (something that I’m developing a real interest in of late). He also came with me to get my outer stitches removed (which was done in about 30 seconds and my scar is healing well), and we had a spontaneous trip into Birmingham during which he had the pleasure of waiting for me while I tried on a few pairs of jeans. It’s a good job he’s patient…

I also had the chance to catch up with some of my friends – I met up with one for lunch after not seeing her for months and we were then joined by another who asked us to go with her while she acted in a mystery shopper role at a cocktail bar. I’ve reviewed a number of bars and restaurants over the last few years, but never as a mystery shopper, so it was interesting to see if there was a difference in the staff when they didn’t know they were being reviewed, as opposed to when they did in the reviews that I’ve done before. There was, but I’ll save that for another time.

I also got the chance to meet another blogger in person. Donna, from Jot to Jot was in Birmingham for a few days so we met up and I took her to The Mailbox where we had tapas and cocktails. I’ve met a whole bunch of bloggers over the years and I never fail to feel nervous beforehand, but five hours flew by with nothing but good conversation, good food and a good cocktail! I love it when a plan comes together – it’s always nice to talk blogging (among a bajillion other things) without the eyes of the person that you’re talking to gradually glazing over… And, she’s coming to The Bash too, so it means I get to talk at her even more!

It also suddenly occurred to me the other day that the wedding is 6 months away, so perhaps I need to start getting a move on and actually doing something productive. My friend’s hen do and wedding are happening within the next month, so I’m hoping it will motivate me a little more!

What about you guys? What have you been up to over the last few weeks?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to follow my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks