lionheartedgirl promises to let it shine :)

lionheartedgirl

morning

well good news on the lodger - he moves in this coming weekend :j so that's a big relief for the finances!

I'm fighting a monster cold again as it's doing the rounds in our badly air-conditioned office but after a couple of early nights tucked in with a really good sporty book (one of my life coaching missions!), I am feeling that I should conquer it before it gets too bad....famous last words! Sleep hasn't been great lately but at least I am getting to bed earlier.

I've noticed a few little things popping into my head the last few days at odd moments - I saw hypno mentioning this on her thread so am probably a bit more open to them than I would have been. Nothing majorly earth-shattering, just stuff dropping into place.

I have a few niggly jobs to do round the house which I have been putting off, but the weekend with my dad has boosted my confidence and I feel ready to tackle some more adventurous stuff now. I haven't been this excited about the winter in ages as it means lots of time at the weekends :rotfl:

I'm putting together a halloween costume for Saturday night which is exciting and find myself in need of some lime green fairy wings and an outrageously short gold frock. I have found a substitute that will do for a tenner, but would prefer to go for maximum flamboyancy :rotfl:

lionheartedgirl

afternoon all long post alert.

well, just written a big fat cheque as a deposit for my windows so that's good to go and they will be done by Christmas :j I am resigned to having a house that is going to be a real state for some months, but it will be worth it in the end. Either because it will be a really beautiful home, all finished and looking fabulous and I will enjoy living in it, or because all of the above and someone else will want to buy it Who knows! My feelings on this one change daily as we all know by now :rotfl:

The windows and electrician are sorted and happening soon, the damp is quoted and in progress, just need to get in touch with them to arrange a date for them to do the work.

I'm waiting to hear back on the stairs but I may have found another solution to this - low cost but with some DIY. I will get in touch with my plasterer today and ask him to pop round and quote - but he can't come til the electrician has been anyway.

I also need the plumber to come and move the radiators to make it easier for the plasterer (plus they need replacing anyway) - will be a bit chilly without radiators but I'd rather have it done this side of Christmas than after brrrrrr!

The next thing to do is to plan the layout of what will be the new living room... and decide if I really do want to forego my big lounge to turn this into the harp room. I have a smaller room which I work in/use as a general dumping ground, which has a beautiful chimney breast and potential for an open fire. It could be really lovely and cosy.

This would then leave the bigger room for harp/music/desk etc and then I could still have a nice big chair in this room for reading and looking out over the garden, and could use it for yoga/pilates etc as well and have a nice view to contemplate :rotfl:

Alternatively I would put the harp in the smaller room and keep the bigger living room. Lots to think about and I will have to get busy with the graph paper/cereal box furniture cut-out technique to establish the best option :cool: how exciting. According to my feng shui book, the harp in the bigger room would be the best way round.

Money has been OK this month - I have knocked my OD right down and apart from holiday money, have hardly spent anything. Payday is Friday :j and I will be back to envelopes and cash and setting my JL card to clear in full every month. I will also be putting all my teaching money into a separate savings account so I can see it mounting up and use it towards nice finishing touches on the house when the time comes, and in the mean time it will be a handy buffer fund (a la Souk)

Christmas is coming up :j and last year's HM biscotti and fudge went down so well that I think I will repeat it this year. I was talking to my colleague about how much he spends at Christmas, it was eye-watering and he had come to his senses as his 10 year old son had said to him that there was nothing he wanted this year - helped my colleague really think about what they spent and why.

I had a lovely Christmas with my mum and dad last year, so think we will do the same again this year and concentrate our time, money and energy on enjoying nice food and each other's company. We will be 2 dogs down on last year (which makes my heart hurt) but who knows, by next Christmas, we could be up to 4 again if I have my way (muhahahahaha!)

It's my gran's 80th birthday just before Christmas and I need to think about something lovely for this. Her house is still lacking a homely feel so am wondering what I can do to make it feel nice for her.

I thought about knitting her a nice blanket in her favourite colours, have been wanting to knit again for ages and even I reckon I could manage a blanket :rotfl: That way she can keep it over her legs etc when she is cold and it will cheer her up when she feels low as I will knit lots of loving thoughts into it. Oh dear I'm welling up now. Off to do battle with some work....

lionheartedgirl

so....googled knitting blankets and found on the oxfam site that they sell stacks of 6 foot x 4 foot ones at festivals so that sounds as good a size as any! Means I will aim for 24 12"x12" squares which feels more doable that one large blanket

I am fighting the urge to go to the chippy this week - I haven't quite got enough in my purse without breaking into my teaching money from last night, and I don't want to get any more cash out to fritter away on unnecessary stuff. Normally I would just say sod it and get the money out, but I really am feeling so much more in control and focused on staying within my means. I've been reading lots of diaries lately, plus thinking about all the money I will need to spend on the house, and the money coming from my lodger - I really want to get my debt down as quickly as I can.

I talked a while ago about getting a loan to cover the harp element of the debt, to put a halt to the credit card shuffle every few months. But I'm not sure I want to now as it would be so much in interest, and so while I can still get good BT rates and keep things ticking over, I will see it as penance and do my utmost to get rid as quickly as possible!

Realised I won't get paid til Monday but it should be a cheap weekend - I have a haircut planned on Saturday :j and need a couple of bits for the party on Saturday night which will go on cc but be cleared straight off when I get paid.

My plasterer rang me back and is coming round on Friday to quote - he did a grand job last time for a good price, put me in touch with my electrician who I also really like so all should be good on that front. He has given me a couple of numbers for joiners for the stairs so I will try them - this seems to be the tricky bit at the moment. My stairs are going to be a bit of a beast I feel.

I am really fighting the lurgy at the moment - hope it goes soon as I have lots of tidying to do ready for my lodger moving in on Sunday :eek: Plus I am really sick of there being so much clutter around - it really has got out of control again......

Off to bed in a few minutes to get an early night in a further attempt to shift this bloody cold!

hypno06

Lots going on at your place!

Hope the cold doesn't amount to too much xx

lionheartedgirl

very low this morning.

the bloke thing is still really stinging, trying to just deal with it but ouch it hurts and will do for a while longer I think.

Rode bike into work which was fun despite the odd shower - bit chilly out but nice to be in the fresh air in my incredibly toasty jacket.

Marco Simoncelli's funeral is this afternoon - there will be tears before bedtime for sure.

I desperately need some direction in my life but am just not sure how to get it - feel like I am getting close but either I am expecting too much or not working hard enough to find it. Hopefully I will feel a bit brighter when the lurgy lifts a bit

lionheartedgirl

morning all,

still finding mornings hard work but am just getting on with it and dragging myself out of bed

had a busy few days but lots of nice stuff so all good.

had a rehearsal with my singer friend on Friday night, accompanied by Nigella's kedgeree risotto which was simply divine :j and has kept me in lunches and nibbles over the weekend - it's really nice cold too, that is probably wrong but I don't care! The rehearsal has got me back in touch with the harp again which is brilliant - and we are working on some fab songs!

Halloween party was brilliant on Saturday night - I was sober as a sober thing as I had to drive, but still had a good night and my friend was really glad I went. my costume worked really well, although I never expected to be sewing gold fairy wings on my living room floor with my mum, at the grand old age of 33! :eek: :rotfl:

my lime green sparkly eye make up worked well too, not a colour I'd normally choose :cool: but it looked fab and I felt a bit sad when I took it off and was just left with boring old me again :rotfl: definitely a prompt to be a bit more adventurous.

Married friend is turning up the heat which is proving hard to resist but am managing so far. I had quietly asked the universe if maybe someone else might appear on Saturday night, and surprisingly enough I got talking to a nice chap at the party on Saturday (and think I was being chatted up but he was very drunk so I wasn't quite sure) - he has added me on FB and promised to be in touch so who knows. He is a bit of a party boy and the way he was talking to me I thought he was a lot younger than he was - turns out he is a little older than me.

Talking to him made me think a bit about why I don't go out more etc - it has been a tough year on the finances and all manner of other things, but also I am not really one for going out on the lash every night and I am happy with that. There wasn't a huge amount of chemistry, but it could be nice to go for a couple of nights out and see how it goes.

It was my 2 year MSE/LBM anniversary over the weekend - I'm pleased I'm in a much better place financially :j

girlwiththesuninherhead

Hi LHG

It's sounding extremely busy at LHG Towers just now but it's gonna be just lush when it's all done!

I've been away for a while - well not exactly away but I have just refocussed (ie yesterday) and already started my new diary, the blog's still in the back of my mind so I will have to do a bit of research and look at other peoples for inspiration and ideas.

Keep smiling lovely lady!

I promise I will keep up with your diary - always good for motivation!

girlwiththesuninherhead (currently!)

lionheartedgirl

Hi GWTSIHH (hmmm catchy hey!)

great to hear from you and good luck with the new chapter :j

had a good day yesterday, long and tiring but good all the same. Lots of positive stuff from my counselling session, and I bought the new Florence album which is BRILLIANT - I've not got much further than track 2 at the moment as it is another anthem for a time in one's life but have skipped through the others and it sounds great.

When I got home I started poking round some websites and may have found a rather fantastic job to apply for.... my CV is going to need some serious work as it's quite a diversion from what I do now, but I am sure I could do the job and do it well. It's in London, but lately I have been surprised by the fact that this hasn't put me off when I've been contemplating everything. It's exciting though, and it won't hurt to work on my CV anyway as this is long overdue.

Money is a bit mehhhh - found a few things on my cc which I'd forgotten about :mad: so got to have a serious think about whether this is the best way for me to manage my spends.

I had a nice FB message this morning from the guy I met at the weekend about meeting up, so have replied and said yes please. So will see what happens even if it's just a couple of nights out with someone new, that has to be positive and after the emotional battering of the last one, that's about all I am after at the moment tbh!

I have my first harp lesson in ages this evening - will be interesting as I have touched the harp about 4 times since I did my concert. It was all very intense for a while and I really needed a break from it. But am ready to get back into it now on my terms though!

Oh and I've opened another savings account for my teaching money - I think this is going to be a brilliant tactic, it already has almost £200 in it from the last couple of weeks and seeing it there separately is motivating me already to keep it separate and not fritter it away as I get it :cool: With this in mind, I may open a separate harp gig account as well.

LittleBoots

Costume sounds great and happy facebook man news
And the new potential job stuff sounds interesting!!

redsquirrel80

Was thinking about you last night as Florence was on Jools Holland with a harp player! Like your 'on my terms' bit (had a bit of a meltdown after last flute lesson).. it's strange when something is so associated with childhood.

Lots of good things in that last post - exciting about the job and the FB guy