My Journey

Jo_R_2

If it's any help I think the comment from your dad was well-meant, even if it did come out wrong. I often tell myself that if I want something badly enough, I can do it, but you also have to be realistic about what you can achieve with the circumstances you have around you at that time.

What I mean is, for example, with me, I know I am 'academic' and I thoroughly enjoyed doing my degree and then my Masters, both of which I completed whilst working, the MA I was working full-time as well as studying full-time and through a relationship break-up where at one point I stopped off at uni between counties with all my wordly goods in my rucksack and had a bit of a sob to my tutors:o

But the OU course I started last year that was 'only' 8 hours a week... I just couldn't manage it! I didn't bargain on just how much 3 kids, one very young (baby was 6ish months old) would take up my time and energy.

You as you say have a lot to contend with and people who don't have that don't always have the empathy to see what it is like in your shoes. Sometimes it's braver to say 'this isn't right for me right now' than to push on knowing it's not working.

That doesn't mean it won't work ever of course, and that's my point. Just because it's not right now (thus your decision to not go back to college), it doesn't mean that, say, in a year/two years/five years circumstances will still be the same because of course things change and you judge according to what you have to deal with at that time.

bevan840

That is exactly how I'm thinking Jo, I'm going to take the time to focus on getting another job and focus on myself for a change, until I can start to feel 'normal' again

Dad is actually a teacher which is why Mum asked him if he'd help me, I wasn't asking him to answer the questions for me, just to try and uncloud the sky sort of, explain how I might of been going wrong, Mum knows I am working my a*se off at the moment, and now Dad does too lol

Maybe in a few years I can go back and work on it properly instead of doing it mainly to get out of my current job *shrug* been looking at the DB123 on the OU website for ages, also because I might be able to get funding from MSE charity to do it, it's a lot less than college and accounting so might consider it next year, depending on situation etc

bevan840

Grocery Challenge = £262/£250 not bad

Didn't have the energy to go shopping but DH still not well and fancied scrambled eggs instead of soup tonight and I didn't have any eggs!!! lol
He's supposed to be away this weekend, wether he is or not I don't know yet, if he's still like this I don't think he should go as he can barely do a days work just up here, let alone driving half way down the country *shrug*

bevan840

Thank god this week and next are 4 day weeks, I'm shattered!! DH had a better night I think, temp was still up a bit when I went to bed so slept with window open to try and keep the room cool enough for him, I was feeling a little warm as well so didn't mind it being open. (Imagine that, opening a window overnight when there are forecasts for snow!! lol) He still doesn't like the soluble paracetamol but I was right (I love saying that!!) in the fact that the paracetamol works better than Day/Night Nurse He admitted that last night and I couldn't help but smile Luckily he's around the corner from home today so he had his paracetamol this morning with some breakfast, and said he'll pop home for a bit at lunch to have next lot Poor thing was all aches and pains when I got home yesterday, lieing on sofa half asleep watching TV, so took him up to bed and left him there while I went to get the little shop. When I left he was asleep, I come home he's watching TV in bed lol

Just won £5 on scratch Puts that balance up to £9, so by next Saturday I should be able to withdraw £10 Going straight into the ticket pot

Savings account is now closed and money is now in my ISA, waiting for March 5 so I can find a better one.

Got 2 shoots coming up on blackberry now and 1 of the pea's is starting to surface If it starts to get cold I'll be putting them in the shed but at the moment they are ok. Strawberries are starting to grow again, considering I took most of the leaves off all of them as they were all brown but we now have green bits again Rhubarb still doesn't seem to be doing anything but going to leave it and hope something happens *shrug* The roses are still alive and green, I cut all the flower heads off as they were all crispy (no wonder they were £1) but they are also still growing green bits so maybe I saved them Will see if I can get some photo's up eventually

Hope everyone is ok xxx

savingholmes

hi bevan - sorry didn't realise I had missed so many posts... Glad you had a good weekend... Makes sense about your suggestion about college..... Hope you have a good Easter and that your OH feels better soon

bevan840

:j:T DH was feeling much better yesterday but still feels like he's got something stuck in his throat so booked him into Dr's for 10am as don't want him to go away and then somehow get bad again, at least if he see's Dr before he goes they might be able to explain and give some medication if needed.

Sold both of my old phones last night on envirofone, went through TCB, one has tracked but not the other yet, I found the second after I had completed the first, should receive around £20 for first phone, £3.60 cashback already tracked Other phone it said £15 if it was working, and it doesn't work, I think there is something wrong with the battery as it feels like it's full of air *shrug* so will probably be much less, tried it with a different battery and it worked fine so seems to just be the battery.

DH's car insurance has tracked but still at £0.00, going to leave it a few more days before I contact them about it. His No Claims has been confirmed via email so he will now be insured when current company stop It's a pain in the bum when they still class you as the 'younger' driver even though you have 6 years of no claims!! At least on my birthday this year depending on what company I will be with, I might be able to take me off DH's insurance as normally when you are 25 you can drive someone else's car so long as it is insured and you have the owners permission. Will make sure with whoever I get insured with that I can do that before I take myself off the insurance.
There seems to be a problem with one of DH's front brakes on car so finding out what the problem is and how much it might cost if he can't do it himself, would of been nice to start the month without an unplanned spend! :rotfl:

SH you've been very busy it's lovely to see that things have finally turned around and you are able to enjoy what you do now

Jo I hope your feeling better today

Got gorgeous sunshine this morning and No snow DH on day off today as he leaves for Llandudno tomorrow morning, he's hoping to get home quickly on Monday and that way we can have a little 'us' time Haven't really spent much time together as he came down with this bug the day after I got home so he's been in bed all the time and I've been nursemaid glad he's feeling better now and so glad I have 4 days off as I think I need them Not planning anything as just want to rest and hopefully remove the aches and pains in my arms, hands and legs. Will also try and do as Dad suggested and do little bursts on the college work, ONLY do 20-30 mins at a time, he said 20-30 mins a day but if I feel I can look at it again later in the day I will have a look, can't hurt and I might be able to do a little more.

Can't think of much else, hope everyone has a nice day xxx

ETA Debt Update

Debt at worst £12,600.55
Current Debt £9,995.40
Paid Off £2,605.15
Percentage 20.67% Almost a quarter paid off

Jo_R_2

Good about the phones - I keep meaning to see if I have any hidden underneath all the bits of paper in my bedside table but just never get round to it!:o

I think that's a good idea about the study, doing it in bursts. I think everyone who studies has different ways of working things, I think it's a matter of ploughing away and seeing how it works best for you. I used to sit for a good couple of hours when I was at uni as sometimes I'd have a slow start but then would get right into it and not want to leave whilst I was on a roll. However I'm completely aware that when I go back into study at some point, I'll be more having to fit it around the kids so it'll be different, you just work it how's best for you.

bevan840

Morning All

Back to work again felt miserable last night just thinking about it

Had a nice relaxing weekend until yesterday, went to Asda as was having a blonde moment and thought with Saturday being crazy maybe the Monday would be quieter, err Wrong! Forgot that sometimes on Bank Holidays places do special offers etc Anyway, got there and was stuck in a queue for the car park, saw someone wanting to reverse, so stopped, indicated and waited for the car to move. Car moved, I parked, was in car sorting my bag and this bloke comes, opens my door :mad: and tells me to move my car :mad::mad: because it was 'his' space, he'd been waiting, as I had, said he had his indicator going, which I didn't see and he obviously didn't see mine and kept shouting I should move my car :mad::mad::mad: I of course said No, which angered him further so kept shouting I should move my car and went back to his, I got out of my car to yell at him but he was back in the car, so I just looked at him and said, I'm sorry, but No. So of course, he gave me the finger! Where do men like this get off??? I was literally shaking while trying to get my shopping done, I know the only reason he did it was because I was on my own, if DH or anyone else had been with me I doubt he would of got out the car and done all that, I just don't understand what kind of 'man' can scare a female just over a parking space! I saw him again when I was at the cashpoint, he found another space just after yelling at me, he walked past me glaring at me expecting me to what? Go back and move my car? I just looked at him back. My stubborness really can get me into trouble sometimes!!! So after a lovely relaxing weekend, it had to end like that DH got home abour 7pm, so not as early as we hoped, we had dinner and he fell asleep in front of Carry On Screaming, so woke him and took him to bed, shame I couldn't sleep as what happened at Asda was still going round my head!

Managed to get some Health & Safety work done, brought it to work with me today in case I get a minute to do some more, I'm typing and printing the answers out and will ask teacher to check them before I write them down, 1 to save the book as won't have enough space if I get the answers wrong again, and mainly because my hands are getting very tired holding the pen and writing It was much easier to type the answers *shrug*

Received one of the envelopes for the phone's, but forgot to bring it with me! :doh: 2nd one has tracked (TCB) now so expecting another envelope this week for the other phone.

Cant remember if I mentioned the latest letter from Roxburghe, they have now sent a letter with the details we were asking for, also wrote at the end that they had requested statements from the main company to confirm that it is DH's debt, still waiting on the statements, been a week now It's looking like this debt might of been his after all He was with 3 network before he met me, and was still with them when he moved out of his XW's house, we are thinking it might of been out of spite as it wasn't a happy split, or maybe she just forgot, misplaced etc but DH never saw any bills and just continued to pay his monthly payments until they stopped and thought nothing more of it as thought everything was paid when his contract ended, unfortunately that wasn't true and we now have to find money for a £417.01 debt :mad: His contract ended in 04/05 so why couldn't they of contacted him sooner!!!! No idea how we are supposed to pay this one as well as everything else

Tried looking on the directgov jobsite yesterday as the Jobcentre website has finished now, found that one much easier to use! You could select what kind of fields you wanted to work in, where with directgov you have to different searches for each field! Still no jobs going. Got an email from Rightmove this morning and there's a house on there I like the look of, doesn't mention anything about pets though so don't know about it, it's not far from where we are now, about 10/20 minutes. I've looked at the agents website and it doesn't state anywhere what the tenancy fee is *shrug* but we wouldn't need a deposit which would be a plus for us as we only have £1.27 :rotfl: but the rent is only £395 a month so would be a saving of £50-£80 pound Going to ring and enquire about the pets, see what they say.

Hope everyone had a nice easter weekend and haven't made themselves too sick with all the chocolate xxx

bevan840

Well, that was a little longer than planned

Sorry been a little MIA, don’t really know what happened, just lurking as didn’t have anything to say, just popping on today with quick update’s etc.

DH is feeling normal again now, my sore throat has been, gone, come back, gone again I’m thinking this one is more ME sore throat which is one of my ‘signs.’ So just trying to take things easy

Having our ‘Date Night’ tomorrow, going to the cinema to get the Orange Wednesday Can’t wait, it feels like it was ages ago that me and DH did something together.

Garden is still going well, got 20 pea plants now sprouting Strawberries are still doing well but now that Dad has seen them he’s said the one’s I get from these plants will only be little one’s so he’s going to find some runners off his, and plant them for me for when either he comes back up or I go back down. Rhubarb still doing nothing Not sure about that one, yellow rose bush is now budding White still thinking about what it wants to do I think hehe

Dad came over on Saturday He was staying with my Uncle, his brother, for a few days who lives over Cumbria way and came over for the day on Saturday, had a lovely afternoon and evening with him.

Just been looking on the job site again, seen a job which I’m going to apply for, better money, different job, different area, similar hours, still working 5 days but some weeks will involve a Saturday and I’m assuming you get a day off in the week if you work the Saturday. Printed my CV and a cover letter, put them in an envelope, now just need to post it Keep your fingers crossed I hear something soon It’s working in a Chemist, I will need to train in 2 NVQ’s, I’m hoping I won’t have to do them both at the same time, would prove rather difficult Might mean that I would have to give up on the AAT Foundation though as the working hours are different and also it’s further from college instead of on my way home. Would be something I would have to mention if I get an interview *please*

Didn’t do anything about the house in the end, still looking everywhere but not seeing anything that’s catching me, plus with only £1.27 it doesn’t exactly help.

Opened up an ISA with Santander, 3.2% for the first year, the one where it’s always supposed to be 2.7% above base rate, so if base rate goes up, so does the interest will swap it to something better next year when the rate drops. Got half of the paperwork through yesterday, they send it separately for security I think, really need to get to a HSBC soon to close the old ISA. Transferred the £105.90 into the new one from my bank account, need to wait for the last bit of paperwork before I can start e-banking on that one though to check it’s gone in

Managed to do some more on the Health and Safety work, not much, but it’s better than nothing. Go back next week so will give the teacher what I’ve already done and hope I get at least some of it right.

Can’t think of much else, finances are still moving along gradually, debts are slowly coming down. Last payment to Littlewoods next month, means I need to pay £50 instead of £40 but didn’t want to leave £10 there, just want it finished with so I can focus on the others.

savingholmes

Hi Bevan sounds like you still have a lot going on but that things are generally going in the right direction.

Sorry to hear about the roxborough bill that is a real blow... you will get thro this tho