Thursday:
Brrrr it's cold!
Yesterday we finally got the heat pump for our pool plugged in. We turned it on for a few hours (we have no intention of running it all winter, it's to extend the swimming season into spring and autumn) and it seemed very quiet to me. I went over to our neighbour's house and told him it was on so he could listen and tell us what he thought, let us know if the noise was a problem. I was in and out of the house all afternoon, digging in the garden, so if he came over to speak to me I missed him. And I was out all today. So still don't know his opinion or if we need to get the heat pump (huge thing, and plumbed into the other pool equipment) moved to further away from the fence.
The tiler broke his 50 millionth promise to come and clean up yesterday, it's been over a month now I think. I didn't want to let him off the hook but it's taking up too much valuable real estate in my head! I plan to put a bad review online but otherwise let it go. Aiden and I attacked the stains (I think it's concrete dust?) all over our new rockwork with a scrubbing brush and a bucket of water, and it comes off with a bit of elbow grease. Or we could hire a pressure washer from the hardware store, maybe. I'm stick of waiting for him and stressing about it. Let it go.
And the other ongoing thing is this skip bin still out the front. I think I've called four times and texted twice. Yesterday he said, 'oh didn't the guys pick it up on Saturday? It was on the list.' 'Well no, they didn't, it's still there.' 'Ok, we'll pick it up today or tomorrow.' Well guess what tomorrow is over and it's still there. I guess I call again tomorrow. It's kind of funny really, but a pain.
After two days when I felt the Duromine wasn't working as well, I then had two good days, but today it seemed to have no affect at all. Hungry, tired. I've eaten my calories for the day and haven't had dinner yet. And slept on the train this afternoon. And I'm very cold, but I can't blame that on the Duromine, that is just winter. I am really really craving KFC right now and I don't know if I'll be able to resist when I go and pick up the kids from sport. I think it's time to increase my dose up to 30mg, which is what the doctor suggested I do after a week (it's been more than a week). I can always go back if the side effects are bad or something, but I seem to need more than the 15mg. Most people do. I'll give it a try.
Showing posts with label clean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clean. Show all posts
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Saturday, August 5, 2017
A chat and some hard work
later Saturday:
Well, you'll remember this morning my stress about our neighbour's complaints. I spent the whole morning worrying about that, and stressing because Tim (wanting to get Aiden to his tennis lesson, already very late) told him we'd go over later to discuss the matter. Also waiting for the skip bin to arrive. It was actually supposed to come yesterday, but the guy called and asked if 9:00am today would be ok, I said yes. Waited and waited. Eventually texted him, he called back to say he'd be here in an hour. Ended up getting the skip at 1:00pm. He confessed when he got here that he'd forgotten us entirely and was doing some gardening!
So without the excuse of sitting waiting for the skip any more, we went next door and sat down with Craig and his wife whose name I can't remember. I was glad I hadn't invited them to ours because they have an immaculate home and ours is always a mess. But then we do still have children at home. Anyway, Craig started with very closed-off body language, crossed arms and constantly rubbing his chin and neck. But he spoke calmly and we spoke calmly, I think having the two women there might have helped diffuse things, and he ended up being quite friendly. We basically apologised and expressed willingness to explore options to resolve any problems, after waiting to hear what the heat pump sounded like once turned on, how difficult it would be to move etc. He seemed ok with that. So it all turned out fine. But I was a bit shaky afterwards.
So relieved.
Then Tim's dad and his partner Jo came over and we all did a solid three hours work (with a break for tea and a biscuit) filling the skip with all the rubbish from the garden demolition and pool construction. I didn't think we could do it all in one day or with only one skip but we did! Amazing what six people can accomplish.
Before:
And it only took one skip:
Well, you'll remember this morning my stress about our neighbour's complaints. I spent the whole morning worrying about that, and stressing because Tim (wanting to get Aiden to his tennis lesson, already very late) told him we'd go over later to discuss the matter. Also waiting for the skip bin to arrive. It was actually supposed to come yesterday, but the guy called and asked if 9:00am today would be ok, I said yes. Waited and waited. Eventually texted him, he called back to say he'd be here in an hour. Ended up getting the skip at 1:00pm. He confessed when he got here that he'd forgotten us entirely and was doing some gardening!
So without the excuse of sitting waiting for the skip any more, we went next door and sat down with Craig and his wife whose name I can't remember. I was glad I hadn't invited them to ours because they have an immaculate home and ours is always a mess. But then we do still have children at home. Anyway, Craig started with very closed-off body language, crossed arms and constantly rubbing his chin and neck. But he spoke calmly and we spoke calmly, I think having the two women there might have helped diffuse things, and he ended up being quite friendly. We basically apologised and expressed willingness to explore options to resolve any problems, after waiting to hear what the heat pump sounded like once turned on, how difficult it would be to move etc. He seemed ok with that. So it all turned out fine. But I was a bit shaky afterwards.
So relieved.
Then Tim's dad and his partner Jo came over and we all did a solid three hours work (with a break for tea and a biscuit) filling the skip with all the rubbish from the garden demolition and pool construction. I didn't think we could do it all in one day or with only one skip but we did! Amazing what six people can accomplish.
Before:
And after:
Now we can do some proper gardening whenever we like!
I'm so tired though. I'm not a fit person but I pushed myself today. 8,000 steps does not tell the story of all the broken tiles and buckets of rubble I carried! I wonder how sore I'll be tomorrow.
Definitely a roller coaster day.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Heatwave
Friday:
I got up this morning to a freezing house. Tim had left the air conditioning on all night, and then closed our bedroom door so we were nice and warm, but as soon as I left our room my toes started to get frostbite. I had to put on socks and a dressing gown. But I quickly came to miss that chilly air. We had heatwave conditions today. I was fine inside, but when I went to pick up the children from school (much too hot to ride their bikes) I could feel my nose-hairs crisping up. I can be very grateful that our new house has excellent air conditioning! I feel sorry for everyone who had to be out in it, including all those poor school children in hot classrooms. In Aiden's class they were doing experiments with water displacement, putting their bare feet in trays of water to see how much the level would rise. Excellent idea!
My task today was to work on getting the house in order. We still have plenty of boxes still to unpack, but I'd also been letting general tidying and maintenance slide. I worked on the lower house today. We have a split level, with four steps up from the mainly carpeted lounge/dining/master bed/ensuite bathroom and garage, up to the mainly tiled rest of the house. I tidied and vacuumed and folded laundry (I always use our bed to fold clothes on) and unpacked a couple more boxes and rearranged the garage a bit and took all the empty flattened boxes out to the garage. The original plan was that the boxes were a loan from the removalist company but now they say they rarely come this way and I might as well keep them. I don't want 148 cardboard moving boxes! I will advertise them to give away once we've finished unpacking.
And I paid some bills and sewed a spare button onto Aiden's other school shirt (yes, already) and looked at wallpaper online and basically felt like I had a very productive day.
I also found plenty of time to read. I borrowed a random book from the library the other day, from a shelf where the librarian displays some interesting books to tempt you, completely different to what I usually read, but I could hardly put it down. It was a crime thriller called "Eeny Meeny" M.J.Arlidge about a policewoman tracking down a serial killer who traps two people together and starves them and only released one if they kill the other person. So one is dead the other traumatised. Maybe not ground-breaking literature, but it was very exciting. I stayed up too late last night and then finished it after lunch today.
Cool change supposed to come through tonight.
I got up this morning to a freezing house. Tim had left the air conditioning on all night, and then closed our bedroom door so we were nice and warm, but as soon as I left our room my toes started to get frostbite. I had to put on socks and a dressing gown. But I quickly came to miss that chilly air. We had heatwave conditions today. I was fine inside, but when I went to pick up the children from school (much too hot to ride their bikes) I could feel my nose-hairs crisping up. I can be very grateful that our new house has excellent air conditioning! I feel sorry for everyone who had to be out in it, including all those poor school children in hot classrooms. In Aiden's class they were doing experiments with water displacement, putting their bare feet in trays of water to see how much the level would rise. Excellent idea!
My task today was to work on getting the house in order. We still have plenty of boxes still to unpack, but I'd also been letting general tidying and maintenance slide. I worked on the lower house today. We have a split level, with four steps up from the mainly carpeted lounge/dining/master bed/ensuite bathroom and garage, up to the mainly tiled rest of the house. I tidied and vacuumed and folded laundry (I always use our bed to fold clothes on) and unpacked a couple more boxes and rearranged the garage a bit and took all the empty flattened boxes out to the garage. The original plan was that the boxes were a loan from the removalist company but now they say they rarely come this way and I might as well keep them. I don't want 148 cardboard moving boxes! I will advertise them to give away once we've finished unpacking.
And I paid some bills and sewed a spare button onto Aiden's other school shirt (yes, already) and looked at wallpaper online and basically felt like I had a very productive day.
I also found plenty of time to read. I borrowed a random book from the library the other day, from a shelf where the librarian displays some interesting books to tempt you, completely different to what I usually read, but I could hardly put it down. It was a crime thriller called "Eeny Meeny" M.J.Arlidge about a policewoman tracking down a serial killer who traps two people together and starves them and only released one if they kill the other person. So one is dead the other traumatised. Maybe not ground-breaking literature, but it was very exciting. I stayed up too late last night and then finished it after lunch today.
Cool change supposed to come through tonight.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Stress
Tuesday:
I'm having a really hard time with stress. I feel anxious and a bit nauseous a lot of the time. Only 48 hours to go now before we auction our house. I'm scared it won't sell, or not for a good price. We have timed it with impeccable bad luck. We bought right at the peak of an 18 month housing bubble, and now a couple of weeks later things have slowed down as a million people have chosen Spring to put their house on the market. It's gone from over 90% clearance rate (how many sell) to under 70%. So I'm feeling very worried and my body is reacting to the constant stress.
Today was another hot day, we're actually having a heat wave here that is supposed to end tomorrow, so I chose the indoor activity of going to see a movie, something we hadn't done yet these holidays. We saw "Oddball" which is the true story of a naughty dog who ends up a hero protecting endangered fairy penguins (the littlest penguins) from foxes on a tiny island off the coast of Australia. It is a kid's movie, and mine loved it. I am always surprised when they enjoy happy little films like this rather than big budget animation (which they also like).
Another house-cleaning session (did I mention I am over it?) that ended in a bit of disaster. The kids had helped clean but were having a short computer session before we were kicked out of our own home again. Aiden was watching something he found so hilarious and distracting on YouTube that he wet his pants laughing so hard. Did I say wet his pants? More accurately, wet the carpet like a un-trained puppy. Big puddle. Ten minutes before people were coming to look over our house again. So that was fun.
We went to the library which had just shut for the day so we sat in the park. It was nice in the shade, late in the day. The kids rolled down grassy hills and only later remembered that this always made them both horribly itchy. So they did a bit of tree-climbing. I couldn't face cooking so I picked up a couple of pizzas (proper ones) and came home.
Only four people through the house tonight, with three having been through before. A good sign, that they were interested enough to come back. I think quite a few people are coming to the auction, whether they bid or not (or bid high enough) remains to be seen.
I'm having a really hard time with stress. I feel anxious and a bit nauseous a lot of the time. Only 48 hours to go now before we auction our house. I'm scared it won't sell, or not for a good price. We have timed it with impeccable bad luck. We bought right at the peak of an 18 month housing bubble, and now a couple of weeks later things have slowed down as a million people have chosen Spring to put their house on the market. It's gone from over 90% clearance rate (how many sell) to under 70%. So I'm feeling very worried and my body is reacting to the constant stress.
Today was another hot day, we're actually having a heat wave here that is supposed to end tomorrow, so I chose the indoor activity of going to see a movie, something we hadn't done yet these holidays. We saw "Oddball" which is the true story of a naughty dog who ends up a hero protecting endangered fairy penguins (the littlest penguins) from foxes on a tiny island off the coast of Australia. It is a kid's movie, and mine loved it. I am always surprised when they enjoy happy little films like this rather than big budget animation (which they also like).
Another house-cleaning session (did I mention I am over it?) that ended in a bit of disaster. The kids had helped clean but were having a short computer session before we were kicked out of our own home again. Aiden was watching something he found so hilarious and distracting on YouTube that he wet his pants laughing so hard. Did I say wet his pants? More accurately, wet the carpet like a un-trained puppy. Big puddle. Ten minutes before people were coming to look over our house again. So that was fun.
We went to the library which had just shut for the day so we sat in the park. It was nice in the shade, late in the day. The kids rolled down grassy hills and only later remembered that this always made them both horribly itchy. So they did a bit of tree-climbing. I couldn't face cooking so I picked up a couple of pizzas (proper ones) and came home.
Only four people through the house tonight, with three having been through before. A good sign, that they were interested enough to come back. I think quite a few people are coming to the auction, whether they bid or not (or bid high enough) remains to be seen.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
More outside
Saturday:
Yesterday was not very exciting. We did the grocery shopping and walked to pick up the old car Nugget in the afternoon. The engine is sounding much better.
This morning we cleaned house for two hours ready for yet another weekend of inspections - the auction is on Thursday! Then we went out to another park on another sunny day.
We started by the lake (that is a pelican in the background, there were also lots of ducks)
Aiden wanted to show the others the lovely creek so we walked back to the start where it bubbled out of the ground and played "Pooh Sticks". For those of you whose childhood didn't include the books about Winnie the Pooh (a teddy bear) and his friends in 100-Acre Wood, Pooh Sticks is where you each put a stick (or leaf, or piece of bark, or whatever you find) in a fast-moving stream and then run along beside shouting in excitement and dislodging it when it gets stuck in an eddy and then see who wins.
It was lunchtime so we had pizza by the lake at a place we hadn't tried before but was really good. Sriracha pulled beef! Yummy. By then everyone would have finished looking at our house so we went home. To find big black marks all over the kitchen floor lino!? Someone dragging a freshly polished shoe? A kid in roller skates? Luckily the marks came off easily enough. I'll have to ask the real estate agent.
In the afternoon Jasmine went to a birthday party at SkyZone (trampoline place) and then both children went to their irregular semi-weekly kids' Dungeons and Dragons session at a friend's house.
I had the silliest conversation with the real estate agent. While chatting, I mentioned that I was born in the city of Melbourne. He asked which part, and I said "Geelong". He immediately said his family was from there and launched into talking about the suburb, its pros and cons, and which bit his ancestors were from and how they moved there in 1933 etc. Now firstly, we moved away from Melbourne when I was one year old and I have rarely visited any part of that city since then. And secondly I am not from Geelong. I have no idea why that name fell out of my mouth. I have no association with that suburb at all, and don't know why it was even in my brain. So I sat there wondering why I had instantly said Geelong, and listened to him talk about it. There didn't seem to be any point I could break in and say "Actually I'm not from there, I don't know why I said that," without embarrassment, so I kept silent. Completely unimportant, but I felt a bit silly.
Yesterday was not very exciting. We did the grocery shopping and walked to pick up the old car Nugget in the afternoon. The engine is sounding much better.
This morning we cleaned house for two hours ready for yet another weekend of inspections - the auction is on Thursday! Then we went out to another park on another sunny day.
We started by the lake (that is a pelican in the background, there were also lots of ducks)
then Aiden and I followed the creek upstream to its source. I suppose it was only a few hundred metres but it twisted and turned and was interrupted by little ponds and miniature waterfalls and we hopped over stepping stones and it was very nice. Then we met up with Tim and Jasmine again and the kids played on the flying fox thing.
It was lunchtime so we had pizza by the lake at a place we hadn't tried before but was really good. Sriracha pulled beef! Yummy. By then everyone would have finished looking at our house so we went home. To find big black marks all over the kitchen floor lino!? Someone dragging a freshly polished shoe? A kid in roller skates? Luckily the marks came off easily enough. I'll have to ask the real estate agent.
In the afternoon Jasmine went to a birthday party at SkyZone (trampoline place) and then both children went to their irregular semi-weekly kids' Dungeons and Dragons session at a friend's house.
I had the silliest conversation with the real estate agent. While chatting, I mentioned that I was born in the city of Melbourne. He asked which part, and I said "Geelong". He immediately said his family was from there and launched into talking about the suburb, its pros and cons, and which bit his ancestors were from and how they moved there in 1933 etc. Now firstly, we moved away from Melbourne when I was one year old and I have rarely visited any part of that city since then. And secondly I am not from Geelong. I have no idea why that name fell out of my mouth. I have no association with that suburb at all, and don't know why it was even in my brain. So I sat there wondering why I had instantly said Geelong, and listened to him talk about it. There didn't seem to be any point I could break in and say "Actually I'm not from there, I don't know why I said that," without embarrassment, so I kept silent. Completely unimportant, but I felt a bit silly.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Land
Tuesday:
I wrote this post at three different times during the day. It is clear my mood was different each time!
morning
Not quite so frantic this morning! Although our real estate agent was coming to have a proper look around, things were still pretty good from yesterday. With children (or, indeed, anyone living in the house), nothing stays perfect for long; but I only had to pick up some clothes, make the beds, wipe down the kitchen, stuff like that. It's looking pretty good here. Apart from the dining table, which is covered in stuff we still need to deal with, and a few things like cleaning the outdoor furniture, we're feeling close to ready for our house to go on the market Saturday week.
Also today the window guys came to deal with our bathroom window which needed some work. Another thing done and dusted.
afternoon
I've been dealing with mood swings a bit lately. Probably a combination of stress, not enough sleep, and poor diet. I'll go from feeling confident and relaxed to depressed and overwhelmed for no obvious reason. I know I feel better when I've achieved something in the day and eaten well, but it's hard to do either of those things when I'm feeling low. It's easier to sit around and feel sorry for myself.
evening
I spent a couple of hours at a friend's house after school and we looked at houses online while the kids played. She found a block of land I'd somehow missed, in the area we want to move into and apparently within our price range (taking into account the cost of building a house on the land, which we are still looking into). It is going to be auctioned on Saturday - which means of course the price is only a guide. I have looked at land before, but it was either too expensive or on a sloping rocky difficult block which would make building the house a lot more expensive. This block is relatively flat and has already been cleared - someone bought it a year ago and had housing plans approved but it seems they don't want it any more - it is not a huge block which has its downside of course but also makes it more affordable.
My friend and I looked at some builder's sites and I found a house plan that I love, hopefully they will contact me soon with prices. I know the price can vary a lot depending on a lot of factors but it would be nice to have a general idea so we know how much we could spend on the land.
Having to rent for a while, while the house is built, is a bit of a hassle, but it would solve some problems. It would give us time to sell this house (we'd need some money to buy the land, but not as much upfront as if we bought an existing house), we'd know what area we'd end up in so could settle the kids into the correct school straight away, and we would end up with a house that suited us perfectly! I am quite excited by the prospect. But there are many hurdles to jump yet. I can dream, can't I?
I wrote this post at three different times during the day. It is clear my mood was different each time!
morning
Not quite so frantic this morning! Although our real estate agent was coming to have a proper look around, things were still pretty good from yesterday. With children (or, indeed, anyone living in the house), nothing stays perfect for long; but I only had to pick up some clothes, make the beds, wipe down the kitchen, stuff like that. It's looking pretty good here. Apart from the dining table, which is covered in stuff we still need to deal with, and a few things like cleaning the outdoor furniture, we're feeling close to ready for our house to go on the market Saturday week.
Also today the window guys came to deal with our bathroom window which needed some work. Another thing done and dusted.
afternoon
I've been dealing with mood swings a bit lately. Probably a combination of stress, not enough sleep, and poor diet. I'll go from feeling confident and relaxed to depressed and overwhelmed for no obvious reason. I know I feel better when I've achieved something in the day and eaten well, but it's hard to do either of those things when I'm feeling low. It's easier to sit around and feel sorry for myself.
evening
I spent a couple of hours at a friend's house after school and we looked at houses online while the kids played. She found a block of land I'd somehow missed, in the area we want to move into and apparently within our price range (taking into account the cost of building a house on the land, which we are still looking into). It is going to be auctioned on Saturday - which means of course the price is only a guide. I have looked at land before, but it was either too expensive or on a sloping rocky difficult block which would make building the house a lot more expensive. This block is relatively flat and has already been cleared - someone bought it a year ago and had housing plans approved but it seems they don't want it any more - it is not a huge block which has its downside of course but also makes it more affordable.
My friend and I looked at some builder's sites and I found a house plan that I love, hopefully they will contact me soon with prices. I know the price can vary a lot depending on a lot of factors but it would be nice to have a general idea so we know how much we could spend on the land.
Having to rent for a while, while the house is built, is a bit of a hassle, but it would solve some problems. It would give us time to sell this house (we'd need some money to buy the land, but not as much upfront as if we bought an existing house), we'd know what area we'd end up in so could settle the kids into the correct school straight away, and we would end up with a house that suited us perfectly! I am quite excited by the prospect. But there are many hurdles to jump yet. I can dream, can't I?
Monday, September 7, 2015
Clean carpets
Monday:
When I told Aiden it was time to get up this morning, he asked for a day off school because we'd had such a big weekend. I totally empathised, although I couldn't allow it. Tired though we may be, we all had duties for the day.
The carpets were being cleaned this morning so as much furniture as possible had to be moved into the kitchen and bathrooms. Tim went to work leaving me with that job! I cursed him a few times as I dragged heavy things around by myself. (When he got home tonight he said he thought it was just the normal cleaner coming not the carpet cleaner, so I guess I'll forgive him.) At least the house was pretty tidy and uncluttered already. But I was still tired from the day before, and as usual I'd been awake since about 5am, so it was hard work moving everything around.
The two courses of antibiotics reduced my pelvic pain by a lot, but not entirely. I hoped it would then get completely better on its own but it had remained as a dull ache that bothers me in the early hours of the morning or if I stand too long. I need to get a blood test to see if I've been successfully absorbing the Vitamin B12 tablets that I started three months ago, so I'll be seeing my doctor soon and I'll ask her then about the continuing abdominal pain. I'm still having no other symptoms, which makes it hard to diagnose.
The carpet cleaning guy came and did his work as I sat and looked at houses online. As usual the carpets came up pretty nice. It's only been three months since the last clean. I don't think of myself as much of a house-cleaner, but the various people that come to steam-clean always seem quite relieved at the state of the carpets here and tell me horror stories about soaked-in dog urine and people who don't vacuum for decades. I guess I'm not so bad!
After that I did the grocery shopping, only for three days because I was too tired to plan any further ahead than that! Then I had a bit of a rest before moving all the furniture back. I'd put some chairs outside because I'd run out of non-carpet floor space. They were under cover and not particularly near any flowering trees, but when I went to bring them in they were covered in yellow pollen! So many wattle trees in full flower at the moment.
I seem to be keeping other aspects of my life under control at the moment, but not my diet. Still turning to the wrong sorts of foods to get me through the day.
When I told Aiden it was time to get up this morning, he asked for a day off school because we'd had such a big weekend. I totally empathised, although I couldn't allow it. Tired though we may be, we all had duties for the day.
The carpets were being cleaned this morning so as much furniture as possible had to be moved into the kitchen and bathrooms. Tim went to work leaving me with that job! I cursed him a few times as I dragged heavy things around by myself. (When he got home tonight he said he thought it was just the normal cleaner coming not the carpet cleaner, so I guess I'll forgive him.) At least the house was pretty tidy and uncluttered already. But I was still tired from the day before, and as usual I'd been awake since about 5am, so it was hard work moving everything around.
The two courses of antibiotics reduced my pelvic pain by a lot, but not entirely. I hoped it would then get completely better on its own but it had remained as a dull ache that bothers me in the early hours of the morning or if I stand too long. I need to get a blood test to see if I've been successfully absorbing the Vitamin B12 tablets that I started three months ago, so I'll be seeing my doctor soon and I'll ask her then about the continuing abdominal pain. I'm still having no other symptoms, which makes it hard to diagnose.
The carpet cleaning guy came and did his work as I sat and looked at houses online. As usual the carpets came up pretty nice. It's only been three months since the last clean. I don't think of myself as much of a house-cleaner, but the various people that come to steam-clean always seem quite relieved at the state of the carpets here and tell me horror stories about soaked-in dog urine and people who don't vacuum for decades. I guess I'm not so bad!
After that I did the grocery shopping, only for three days because I was too tired to plan any further ahead than that! Then I had a bit of a rest before moving all the furniture back. I'd put some chairs outside because I'd run out of non-carpet floor space. They were under cover and not particularly near any flowering trees, but when I went to bring them in they were covered in yellow pollen! So many wattle trees in full flower at the moment.
I seem to be keeping other aspects of my life under control at the moment, but not my diet. Still turning to the wrong sorts of foods to get me through the day.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Leaking
Wednesday:
Bit of a hectic morning. I was expecting the cleaner at 8:45 and the handyman at 9:00, but I was still in the middle of a hurried breakfast of peanut butter on toast (no time for eggs today) when there was a knock on the door and it was the guys here to do the floor out in the studio/junk room. Who I was expecting tomorrow. I checked the paperwork, definitely tomorrow. But I decided it didn't matter, get it all done today. So they got started prepping the floor.
And then I realised it did matter. Because one of the handyman's jobs was to replace and paint some damaged plaster in the ceiling out there. And he was bringing someone to help him with specifically that job. And they were on their way and would be here any minute. And if the underfloor was still drying he wouldn't be able to access the ceiling. I had a bit of a panic but after speaking to the floor guys they said the prep stuff was only going on the uneven bits, not the whole floor, so it would be fine. Whew. Until they called me out to show me the roof was leaking.
The ceiling had been damaged by rain a few years ago and I'd had the tiles fixed then. Or so I thought. I don't go out there much so it could have been still leaking every time it rains. Right now it's been raining heavily for a couple of days. And the damaged spot is dripping. And it's probably a lot more damaged than it was originally.
So I called my insurance company to get them to organise getting it all fixed. In a way I guess that is a good thing because I might get the whole thing done for only my excess instead of paying out of my own pocket. They are coming out Friday to look at it, don't know when it will actually be done.
I told the handyman he wouldn't be doing that ceiling now but there was plenty of other work for him and also for the other guy so it worked out ok. Having the cleaner here just before the handyman probably wasn't the best arrangement - in fact he's coming back on Friday to finish the bits the handyman messed up. I didn't even ask him for that, he just said there was no point doing the floors now and he'd come back on Friday. How nice!
And he cleaned up my gravy disaster. Did I mention that? Whole pan of gravy upside down all over the oven and floor? Obviously I cleaned up at the time, but there were still yucky bits like the oven drip tray. I am enjoying having a cleaner! I have to tidy up before he comes, but then he does kitchen and bathrooms and it all looks lovely.
You know my big problem today? Access to the bathroom! Either there was someone actually in there cleaning or fixing, or in the hallway doing something and blocking my way with a ladder or a dismantled door or something, or I was called over to discuss one of the jobs or I was on the phone to someone. Did a lot of holding it in.
The handymen were here all day and I now have working doors and gates and tiles re-glued and everything. Then the floor guys came back, once the underfloor was dry, and laid the vinyl floor. So that is all done. Now I am only waiting on the curtains. Oh, and the leaky roof... there is a bucket out there at the moment protecting the new floor.
And our TV has finally died after weeks of shilly-shallying. Don't know whether to try to repair, or buy a new one, and will at least wait until we hear about the job. We have a tiny old TV to watch.
Tim had his job interview for Norfolk Island today. He said it went well. He was able to ask some questions, and the main new-ish thing he learned was how little we'd be able to take with us. I think it would just be one standard airline suitcase each! Anything else would go by sea and take a couple of months to get there - and I don't know how much that would cost so obviously we'd need to be really minimal in what we'd take. The rental houses are furnished, so we wouldn't have to worry about furniture, but I think we'd have to go digital for books and most games! I'm still keen, it would be an adventure!
It's a bit hard to tell if the new CPAP settings are helping, because I think I am slightly unwell which doesn't help me sleep. I had the upset stomach for a couple of days, and now a sore throat. I'm maybe sleeping a tiny bit better.
Report card:
Diet: Ok.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Poor.
Sleep: Poor.
Mental health: Ok.
Bit of a hectic morning. I was expecting the cleaner at 8:45 and the handyman at 9:00, but I was still in the middle of a hurried breakfast of peanut butter on toast (no time for eggs today) when there was a knock on the door and it was the guys here to do the floor out in the studio/junk room. Who I was expecting tomorrow. I checked the paperwork, definitely tomorrow. But I decided it didn't matter, get it all done today. So they got started prepping the floor.
And then I realised it did matter. Because one of the handyman's jobs was to replace and paint some damaged plaster in the ceiling out there. And he was bringing someone to help him with specifically that job. And they were on their way and would be here any minute. And if the underfloor was still drying he wouldn't be able to access the ceiling. I had a bit of a panic but after speaking to the floor guys they said the prep stuff was only going on the uneven bits, not the whole floor, so it would be fine. Whew. Until they called me out to show me the roof was leaking.
The ceiling had been damaged by rain a few years ago and I'd had the tiles fixed then. Or so I thought. I don't go out there much so it could have been still leaking every time it rains. Right now it's been raining heavily for a couple of days. And the damaged spot is dripping. And it's probably a lot more damaged than it was originally.
So I called my insurance company to get them to organise getting it all fixed. In a way I guess that is a good thing because I might get the whole thing done for only my excess instead of paying out of my own pocket. They are coming out Friday to look at it, don't know when it will actually be done.
I told the handyman he wouldn't be doing that ceiling now but there was plenty of other work for him and also for the other guy so it worked out ok. Having the cleaner here just before the handyman probably wasn't the best arrangement - in fact he's coming back on Friday to finish the bits the handyman messed up. I didn't even ask him for that, he just said there was no point doing the floors now and he'd come back on Friday. How nice!
And he cleaned up my gravy disaster. Did I mention that? Whole pan of gravy upside down all over the oven and floor? Obviously I cleaned up at the time, but there were still yucky bits like the oven drip tray. I am enjoying having a cleaner! I have to tidy up before he comes, but then he does kitchen and bathrooms and it all looks lovely.
You know my big problem today? Access to the bathroom! Either there was someone actually in there cleaning or fixing, or in the hallway doing something and blocking my way with a ladder or a dismantled door or something, or I was called over to discuss one of the jobs or I was on the phone to someone. Did a lot of holding it in.
The handymen were here all day and I now have working doors and gates and tiles re-glued and everything. Then the floor guys came back, once the underfloor was dry, and laid the vinyl floor. So that is all done. Now I am only waiting on the curtains. Oh, and the leaky roof... there is a bucket out there at the moment protecting the new floor.
And our TV has finally died after weeks of shilly-shallying. Don't know whether to try to repair, or buy a new one, and will at least wait until we hear about the job. We have a tiny old TV to watch.
Tim had his job interview for Norfolk Island today. He said it went well. He was able to ask some questions, and the main new-ish thing he learned was how little we'd be able to take with us. I think it would just be one standard airline suitcase each! Anything else would go by sea and take a couple of months to get there - and I don't know how much that would cost so obviously we'd need to be really minimal in what we'd take. The rental houses are furnished, so we wouldn't have to worry about furniture, but I think we'd have to go digital for books and most games! I'm still keen, it would be an adventure!
It's a bit hard to tell if the new CPAP settings are helping, because I think I am slightly unwell which doesn't help me sleep. I had the upset stomach for a couple of days, and now a sore throat. I'm maybe sleeping a tiny bit better.
Report card:
Diet: Ok.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Poor.
Sleep: Poor.
Mental health: Ok.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Clean
Saturday:
I managed to get out for a walk today. I don't draw, but I took some photos. I looked up into an autumn tree:
And I walked past my neighbours house being renovated (this is the side/back).
We had the cleaners here this morning and the whole house is sparkling. I love having a clean oven and clean bathroom! I'll have to get them here regularly. And in the evening my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and niece arrived so we'll have them here tomorrow.
Good night all, have a great sleep.
I managed to get out for a walk today. I don't draw, but I took some photos. I looked up into an autumn tree:
And I walked past my neighbours house being renovated (this is the side/back).
We had the cleaners here this morning and the whole house is sparkling. I love having a clean oven and clean bathroom! I'll have to get them here regularly. And in the evening my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and niece arrived so we'll have them here tomorrow.
Good night all, have a great sleep.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Purple
Friday:
This morning I drove the car to the mechanic to be serviced. Instead of walking straight home, I first went to a huge office supplies store nearby then walked the long way home, adding about 6,000 steps to the day, carrying two bags of goodies as well as a backpack. It was a cool day but I was practically carrying weights uphill. I got up a good sweat.
I love office supplies! Pens and paper and things to keep pens and paper in. I had one specific item I was looking for, and found it, but then bought some other matching stuff and a few extra things I suddenly realised I couldn't live without. The check out lady commented that she knew what my favourite colour was. Not only were the in-tray, pen holder, document folder, and miscellaneous desk-stuff box all a lovely purple, but my backpack and purse were purple AND I happened to be wearing a matching jumper. Yes, ok, I quite like the colour (but I do like other colours too). She commented that they had the pink clipboard folder in purple and I told her I already had that one so I needed a different colour for a different subject!
After doing some financial paperwork at home for a couple of hours, I spent at least half an hour cleaning my desk. I moved all the bits and dusted and cleaned behind them. I trimmed the dead leaves off the pot plant and added new potting soil and gave it a good watering. This is what my desk looked like before:
Then I laid out my new desk furniture. It's much cleaner and neater! The pot plant looks a bit bare because it is turned around the other way and there are less leaves on this side.
I've tried to tidy most of the clutter away and only have essentials on my desk. Some loose notes and scrap paper are in the box. I love the new look. And I love my new stuff. Now I just need to do all the drawers...
After the kids got home and had afternoon tea we walked up to get the car, or rather I walked and the kids scootered. Turned out it was nearly two kilometres, not one as I had thought, I made my 10,000 steps on the way. They couldn't find anything wrong with the car but just gave it a general service which it was due for anyway. It is another thing ticked off my list.
And it's the end of another week. So how am I doing?
Well I (very nearly) fulfilled my promise to use my CPAP every night in April, there was that one night without it when visiting Sydney. I've gone from struggling to keep it on for the required four hours, to averaging six hours a night then taking it off for a final sleep period without it, to now going right through to when I have to get up in the morning. I still feel a certain amount of resentment towards it, that I would like a break from using it; but physically it is fine, I am totally used to it. My sleep seems smooth every second night or so, I am still not a great sleeper but my nights have greatly improved.
I have been carb cycling for nearly two weeks now, since last Monday. I've stuck to it pretty closely with only a few extras on a couple of days. Progress not perfection. My weight went down sharply for a few days but then has been pretty steady for a week. I still have nearly a week before the end of this month's dietbet, which is when I'll re-evaluate whether I'll stick to this particular plan. I'm hoping my weight will start going down again when the time of the month is over, I'm likely retaining water right now.
I've done well with water, eight to twelve glasses most days (I include water-like substances in my count, but most of it is water with a squeeze of fresh lemon).
Exercise is where I've fallen down, metaphorically. Some days I do, some days I don't. It will be the next thing I need to tackle. I need to decide what a reasonable promise to myself is. Should I start Monday? Am I ready for the next step? And then mental health. But I feel I've got three of the five online.
Report card:
Diet: Good. Stuck to the plan.
Exercise: Good. Got my steps in with two decent walks.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Good.
Mental health: Good.
This morning I drove the car to the mechanic to be serviced. Instead of walking straight home, I first went to a huge office supplies store nearby then walked the long way home, adding about 6,000 steps to the day, carrying two bags of goodies as well as a backpack. It was a cool day but I was practically carrying weights uphill. I got up a good sweat.
I love office supplies! Pens and paper and things to keep pens and paper in. I had one specific item I was looking for, and found it, but then bought some other matching stuff and a few extra things I suddenly realised I couldn't live without. The check out lady commented that she knew what my favourite colour was. Not only were the in-tray, pen holder, document folder, and miscellaneous desk-stuff box all a lovely purple, but my backpack and purse were purple AND I happened to be wearing a matching jumper. Yes, ok, I quite like the colour (but I do like other colours too). She commented that they had the pink clipboard folder in purple and I told her I already had that one so I needed a different colour for a different subject!
After doing some financial paperwork at home for a couple of hours, I spent at least half an hour cleaning my desk. I moved all the bits and dusted and cleaned behind them. I trimmed the dead leaves off the pot plant and added new potting soil and gave it a good watering. This is what my desk looked like before:
Then I laid out my new desk furniture. It's much cleaner and neater! The pot plant looks a bit bare because it is turned around the other way and there are less leaves on this side.
After the kids got home and had afternoon tea we walked up to get the car, or rather I walked and the kids scootered. Turned out it was nearly two kilometres, not one as I had thought, I made my 10,000 steps on the way. They couldn't find anything wrong with the car but just gave it a general service which it was due for anyway. It is another thing ticked off my list.
And it's the end of another week. So how am I doing?
Well I (very nearly) fulfilled my promise to use my CPAP every night in April, there was that one night without it when visiting Sydney. I've gone from struggling to keep it on for the required four hours, to averaging six hours a night then taking it off for a final sleep period without it, to now going right through to when I have to get up in the morning. I still feel a certain amount of resentment towards it, that I would like a break from using it; but physically it is fine, I am totally used to it. My sleep seems smooth every second night or so, I am still not a great sleeper but my nights have greatly improved.
I have been carb cycling for nearly two weeks now, since last Monday. I've stuck to it pretty closely with only a few extras on a couple of days. Progress not perfection. My weight went down sharply for a few days but then has been pretty steady for a week. I still have nearly a week before the end of this month's dietbet, which is when I'll re-evaluate whether I'll stick to this particular plan. I'm hoping my weight will start going down again when the time of the month is over, I'm likely retaining water right now.
I've done well with water, eight to twelve glasses most days (I include water-like substances in my count, but most of it is water with a squeeze of fresh lemon).
Exercise is where I've fallen down, metaphorically. Some days I do, some days I don't. It will be the next thing I need to tackle. I need to decide what a reasonable promise to myself is. Should I start Monday? Am I ready for the next step? And then mental health. But I feel I've got three of the five online.
Report card:
Diet: Good. Stuck to the plan.
Exercise: Good. Got my steps in with two decent walks.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Good.
Mental health: Good.
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