New Years, Friends Together and Twycross Zoo!

I started 2023 off alone and miserable, but had a lovely friend date, some beautiful flowers, had a friend come to stay the weekend and then booked a holiday! 

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2023 started off with my alone at home and crying. I was initially planning on going to my cousin's after work on New Year's Eve but after finding out she was catering for people, plus finishing work late after a busy shift, I didn't really feel like socialising. Instead, I called at Domino's on the way home and picked up a takeaway. I took a warm bath and was in bed and almost asleep for 10pm. Of course, I was upset and feeling down as usual when I'm alone and can't hide it anymore. I woke up the next morning, feeling just like any other day, nothing special. 

I had a busy first week of the year, working lots and then spending my first day off undecorating for Christmas. I also received my first bouquet of flowers from my annual monthly subscription. I'll be sharing my new year resolutions soon on the blog, but I've decided my word for this year is "embrace". 

The day after my last night shift, my childhood best friend, Hannah came over to visit. It was her first time inside the new house, but I had forgotten that we'd driven past it last time she visited me in Nottingham. We did also see each other in Wakefield in between, but this was a lovely chance to catch up, especially as we're now both single and discussing love life. We had a very chilled evening in comfy clothes. We enjoyed a Papa John's takeaway and a games night. I'd never played the 5 dice game before but I loved it and quickly bought my own version too! 

The next day we decided to head to Twycross Zoo. I loved it the last time, I visited and it was recently advertised on Facebook as free for NHS Staff. I couldn't manage to get the free tickets but nevertheless it was really fun. We first headed to the Gruffalo Discovery Land and it was so cute to see the story come to life. I loved how they displayed animals linked to the story throughout. The disappointment came with the weather affecting some of the animations. 

We did end up stopping for lunch at one of the restaurants, which ended up being more expensive than the tickets themselves! It was yummy though and we both got fish and chips. I had an additional bread bun and Hannah had some curry sauce and mayonnaise! 

Of course, there were also lots of animals. Due to the weather, a lot of them were staying indoors but still fun to see. There were also a fair few restrictions on the birds due to bird flu, so flamingos and other animals were not even viewable sadly. Even though, it was still lovely!

We chatted and chilled for a little while when we got back and then Hannah set off home to Liverpool, whilst I quickly packed for my first trip of the year. I'll go into more details next week, but I booked a last minute adventure to Poland. It was originally for 4 nights and 5 days, but I had to rebook additional flights to make it back for other plans, which ultimately meant I had to drive to the farm and fly from Leeds Bradford instead.