Pippi’s pulling up her stripey-socks for the final sprint towards the Good-Life……………

Lemon_Tree

glad to see you back Pippi, will be nice to catch up with you again.
What flavour cheesecake is DD making? i lurve cheesecake. will she share the recipe?

Pippilongstocking

LT here you go

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4653/strawberry-cheesecake-in-4-easy-steps-

Without the fruit - vanilla and choc topping!

Karmacat

Missed you too! How funny that Cheery trained the hens she has a great method for goal planning, maybe that has something to do with it!

I'm glad to see you back - now I can start reading your blog again - oh, if its included in your new goals. Speaking of which, what *are* your new goals?

Pippilongstocking

First goal

stop procrastinating!



Will post up a list in a bit *waves*


Thus far looks like this

Work type
Finish thesis
Learn to finish things before starting/committing to new things
Figure a new income
Consider writing something after finish this for *fun* but money a bit gardeny and make a plan to see how 'feasible that really is'

Green type
Once free of write up - eat from garden as much as possible - good life worked in surbiton - why not here - we've plenty room - finger out stripes
I want a zero waste household if possible - everything recycled - this will need thought!!

Fun & Family
Kids have tough years at school - they need a bit of focus
Keep up with daily blog (good for moral and to document garden etc)
Do up darwin as much as possible
Plan a fun family holiday - maybe a 'tour'
Learn a new thing everyday - for fun or otherwise
Do up OH flat ready to sell - put spare time/effort into that after write up
Back to yoga/bodybalance when feel upto it
Get out on bike
Learn more about plants

Money
Figure a money plan - but focus on finish write up first
Pay final penguin debt by 2011
Get on top of Overdraft living (still in both mine) each are £1000 and I dip into them heavily
Keep on top of cc - pay them off every month - although I might need a bit of a catch up with travel etc
Reduce cost of living by as much as possible - try get this really under <1000 pcm


Actually for any goal write the mantra (after write up.....................4 months to finish - needing to break this down a bit as it feels epic at the moment - time for a bit of cheery planning later)

I should have a fun life - but often I'm miserable - I need rid of the final part of the work write up - been dogging me all holidays (not that ANY of it got done - impossible really even to think I could have much really)

ETA - done budget - all income and outgoings accounted for - my word its a tight as a ducks bottom.

crazy having 'two' cars - even if one is a bit fun - need a think about how to juggle these I think maybe reduce expenses by using car less over summer? Maybe need take car off road in March for a bit - put darwin back on road in Dec - need make sure he's a/ok first.

Pippilongstocking

Phone package and BB changed - upped the package and should save £20 a month - was a bit hit and miss with the start of it all with OH being here working often

Now on option 2 - £32/month - but bigger usage which means no 'over' the limit charges. iyswim

Off to twiddle with budget

Karmacat

And thats the kind of twiddle that can make a huge difference - imagine £20 a month saved on each outgoing! Thats a lot of money.

I like the plans, Pippi, I can see the influence of Cheery's way of doing it, which I think is wonderful. The only tiny comment I'd make is that you're asking a lot of yourself to learn something new *every* day - unless you can do it by typing a random word into google or something

Sorry to read about you feeling so miserable ... do you know what it is? Partly, at least partly, the academic work, I suspect. Making a compartment in your head for the work can really help - but you have to do it, really get down to it, in the time you've compartmentalised out for it, as well.

I love the idea of you writing a book - I think you've found a niche for a gardening book that would sell brilliantly! In fact, I'd recommend being a bit careful how much you write about it on here, because ideas really do get nicked. And you'd do it really well.

Zero waste household: you know what I figured out about my rubbish? Most of it is food wrappings - the plastic the feta cheese comes in, the plastic the frozen veg come in, stuff like that. A lot of it is used tissues from clients believe it or not - the recycle now website said not to compost those, cos of germs, so not good. Quite a bit of the rest is tearing off the sellotape and the address window from envelopes before they're recycled, astonishingly - I don't throw nearly as much as I thought I did. I'm happy about that, at least.

lucielle

Happy twiddling.
L

pink68

Hi Pippi

glad you had a good break away. got caught into responding by your feeling 'miserable'. I spent the last five years doing my degree in my own time, and though I loved it it certainly gave me a stress i didnt really need. (especially as during that time i also lost my mother in law, then my grandfather, then my darling mother, then nearly got divorced with two small children).

As my hubby put it yesterday...'you're much more fun now you've given up your studies', after trouncing him for saying given up when i had actually completed them with honours, I had to agree.

Finish your thesis, put your heart and soul into it, but then let it go....lol... I am so glad I didn't sign up for another course out of habit.:T

Lemon_Tree

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

LT here you go

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4653/strawberry-cheesecake-in-4-easy-steps-

Without the fruit - vanilla and choc topping!

now that sounds like a cheesecake i can make

Lemon_Tree

well done for tweeking your budget to save you funds.

i think i remember a while back you were thinking of the posibility of hiring out Darwin for the summer, could that be a way for him to earn his keep? Obviously he would have to stop being a grump like he was with Cheery, i mean just because you went away and left him, that was him just being silly! You'd probably have to have a word and explain that it didn't mean you didn't love him and stuff like that but it could help.