Keeping up appearances.......

HappyNow

Hi HB, I agree. Laying out clear goals definitely helps achieve them. Especially the healthy eating/no alcohol - that all starts in the supermarket.

Sounds like you're after a very specific kind of dog. You mentioned deafness earlier but I couldn't work out whether you are keen to get a deaf doggy or avoid one. Or did I misunderstand completely? Good luck with your search, there's a very lucky doggy out there somewhere just waiting to be found, and I don't think you should necessarily limit the amount of time you spend looking for him/her .

Right, yesterday:

• No spends at all
• No alcohol
• Tinned peaches, beans, fresh orange juice, vegetable chilli (probably 2 portions in that), an apple
• Four glasses of water
• Hmm, two sweet treats...:o. Chocolate and the last of that cheesecake
• House presentable-ish
• WAY too long on Words with Friends, but only played with Miss Happy and my mum, so in part it was Family Time

Completely out of healthy food (well out of most food really) so I am going to take an early lunchbreak and go to the supermarket. YNAB tells me there is £46.13 to last the next nine days until payday, so that is all that will be spent.

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

Sounds like you're after a very specific kind of dog. You mentioned deafness earlier but I couldn't work out whether you are keen to get a deaf doggy or avoid one.

We live on Plymouth Hoe and there are masses of long firework displays all year round what with one thing and another, so deafness in a dog is a pre-requisite as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know anything about terriers or sighthounds (and we have a cat) so I avoid those breeds but I've been around collies on and off all my life, so I'm fairly breed specific although I'd prefer a cross again. And I like older dogs. Oh, and a female dog, please, while we're at it. So, although I don't think I'm picky, obviously, I am! I've found three to date, one after the other, so she's out there somewhere. I would be flexible for the right dog though, and I've got my eye on a particular rescue organisation that is assessing some. *chews nails*

Honey_Bear

Sugar really is your Achilles heel, isn't it? Cheese is mine. We no longer have an aging lump of stilton, a quarter of a tub of crème fraiche, a full yoghurt pot and a full bag of M&S sour cream and chive pretzels. It tasted lovely!

• Technically money was spent, but it was only postage so I'm dead chuffed. I had planned to spend a bit on travelling and treating myself while I was out to lunch as a motivator, but in the end I did the work at home.
• No booze.
• Sultanas, apricots and broccoli. Not one of my better days.
• Two fruit teas. Must try harder.
• Tick
• Did a load of washing and dried it outside. Swept the kitchen and swabbed a bit of the floor that needed it. Not brilliant, but something.
• Thinking seriously about offering to foster a particular dog for a rescue centre that doesn't seem to do fostering. Will see how much of a good idea that appears to be in the morning.
• Pushed myself right out of my comfort zone and am very happy with what I achieved. It may not bear fruit, but it was a huge achievement for me.
• Comfort-Spider for waaaaaaaay too long.

Not one of my better days, but the work I did was something I have been meaning and needing to do for a year. When I look back on the big leaps forward the tiny business has taken, it was always days like today that made all the difference. In three months time I won't remember what I didn't do today, but I will remember what I achieved. That counts as a brilliant day in my book and considering how low I was feeling, it was amazing.

HappyNow

HB - rather off-topic because you're looking for an older dog, but just for interest. I took my dog to Puppy Club for the first year of her life. Amongst all the great things they did, a brilliant one was to have a CD of loud noises - fireworks, gunshots, sirens and thunder - which they played every week, starting off quietly then gradually building up until no-one could hear themselves speak. All the time it was on, the pups were playing together and having fun. They all 'graduated' completely fearless of noise - brilliant. I've got all my fingers crossed for the fostering - it's a great way to make sure that any dog is 'The One' before you completely open your heart to her.

Yesterday sounds very intriguing! So much so that I stalked your 'elsethread' posts (sorry ) for clues, but I'm still no wiser! Well done anyway for whatever it was that you achieved and you are forgiven for copping out on the vegetables and tea!

Sugar is most definitely my Achilles heel (although I do like rather a lot of cheese too)! Rather an epic fail for me yesterday:

• £32 at supermarket, but all essential
• No alcohol
• Two portions of F & V (we ran out of everything and I was later than planned going shopping, so ate mainly bread and rubbish instead)
• One glass of water :cool:
• Far too much rubbish eaten, that won't happen again today
• House not too bad but I'm pleased there were no surprise visitors!
• Up until midnight playing Words with Friends. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!

Honey_Bear

• Kept the purse tightly shut
• No booze
• Sultanas, broccoli, green leaf salad. Fail.
• Two, I think, possibly three although I can now add two mugs of cocoa which is progress because I really, really enjoyed them, and had them instead of coffee. I drink far too much coffee, far too strongly and I think some of yesterday's stressy feeling may have been exacerbated by caffeine.
• Hobnob raid again
• Shower room sparkly, one load of washing washed and dried
• The dog I was thinking of offering to foster is a cat chaser, so I can't take her. Websites checked with the realisation that not all dogs that are Reserved go to the home, and some rescues take second reserves. Come to think of it, I got two of my three dogs as a second reserve. There's also another I think I might offer to foster, locally. I'll ring them tomorrow morning, although I don't find them their approach that flexible.
• Nothing new to report on new business
• Too much spider

All in all, not one of my better days, but better than it would have been if I hadn't been doing Magic March.

HappyNow

Sorry to hear about the dog HB. The right one is out there and worth waiting for . Hmm, cocoa. Might give that a try. I drink mainly tea but I do have a Tassimo Americano each morning just to kickstart me.


Magic March Day 5 done - better than yesterday but still not managed a full house.

• Spent £10 at the local pub meeting an old friend for a catch-up
• The pub involved two BBs and a bottle of fizzy water. Didn't miss the booze at all, and nice to know there'll be no hangover tomorrow
• Four portions of F & V. Still below target, but twice as good as yesterday
• Four glasses of water
• 75g of Thorntons Continental, two squares of Galaxy and two McVities chocolate digestives. Bit of a theme there.....
• House a bit untidy, best go to bed and turn the lights out!
• No candy crush and only one game of Words with Friends.

Aaleigha

OK here are my targets for March
due to depression the house and 'stuff' has got on top of me

• start to work on decluttering this month clothing
• cook from scratch daily
• work on things raised in counselling (Fridays)
• have at least 15 no spend days
• no icecream (that will save some money)
• serve myself smaller portions (I really need to lose weight)
• weight target 3lb not much but with meds that would be good
• walk at least three of the dogs at least 5 days of the week

OK not a huge list but its MY list and it will do for the first month
thank you for the welcome to the March challenge - will give me something to work for

HB have you look at safe rescue dogs needing homes of facebook
My friend with a committee runs this rescue from norfolk and we have fosterers all over the country I am doing a dog run tomorrow from north mimms (dog will be bought there I collect) I take to Bristol and meet the fosterer and she will take the dog on home to south glamorgan - so a lot of work is put in to match the dog with the potential fosterer

OK here are my targets for March
due to depression the house and 'stuff' has got on top of me

Aaleigha

• start to work on decluttering this month clothing one drawer sorted
• cook from scratch dailysame as yesterday so that is easy
• work on things raised in counselling (Fridays)counselling today really hard session but a real break through and will give me plenty to do during the week
• have at least 15 no spend days 3/15
• no icecream (that will save some money) gave the ice cream to daughter to make it easier
• serve myself smaller portions (I really need to lose weight)will weigh at bedtime
• weight target 3lb not much but with meds that would be good
• walk at least three of the dogs at least 5 days of the week 1/5

HappyNow

Aaleigha wrote: »

• start to work on decluttering this month clothing one drawer sorted
• cook from scratch dailysame as yesterday so that is easy
• work on things raised in counselling (Fridays)counselling today really hard session but a real break through and will give me plenty to do during the week
• have at least 15 no spend days 3/15
• no icecream (that will save some money) gave the ice cream to daughter to make it easier
• serve myself smaller portions (I really need to lose weight)will weigh at bedtime
• weight target 3lb not much but with meds that would be good
• walk at least three of the dogs at least 5 days of the week 1/5

Hi Aeleigha, good luck - plenty to go at there . Love the idea of giving your ice-cream to your daughter to remove temptation. Maybe I should hand over my chocolate stocks to Miss Happy. Hmmm, not a chance!

HappyNow

Day 6 complete.

• Bought four of the mini bottles of red wine at Tesco on the way home from work - cost £6. Theoretically that should last four Saturdays, but I drank one tonight . I did enjoy it, but my pledge was to only have one bottle per week so I won't have another tomorrow.
• Four F & V again. Unless red wine counts as grape juice? No?
• Four glasses of water
• Two Thorntons chocolates and one choccy digestive
• Emptied/refilled dishwasher, no other housework
• No Candy Crush or Words with Friends, although while typing this my mum has just popped up to start a game!