Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

1. Lights out by 11.30pm five nights a week. OH is away at very short notice and the light went out at 11.00. Lovely.
   
2. Maximum of five mugs of real coffee a week. Cracked!
   
3. Five fruit and veg a day. Success; the summer fruit is just fab.
4. Get Kelpie to come to call reliably by the end of the month. Anti-barking things started. I have a very puzzled dog.
   
5. Give myself a couple of hours every day when I don't feel guilty about not doing more. This is going really well; everything sort of changed after my chalet break. It won't last, I'll get caught up in the hurly burly again eventually but it's lovely while it lasts.
   

Still missing Mrs Happy's updates and hoping that Mr Happy's healed and back to work.

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

1. Lights out by 11.30pm five nights a week. OH is away at very short notice and the light went out at 11.00. Lovely.
   
2. Maximum of five mugs of real coffee a week. Cracked!
   
3. Five fruit and veg a day. Success; the summer fruit is just fab.
4. Get Kelpie to come to call reliably by the end of the month. Anti-barking things started. I have a very puzzled dog.
   
5. Give myself a couple of hours every day when I don't feel guilty about not doing more. This is going really well; everything sort of changed after my chalet break. It won't last, I'll get caught up in the hurly burly again eventually but it's lovely while it lasts.
   

Still missing Mrs Happy's updates and hoping that Mr Happy's healed and back to work.

Sounds like everything is going quite well and very pleased Kelpie seems to be bouncing back.

Mrs HappyNow has been AWOL for quite a few days now. Hope she's ok. Maybe it's because Mr HappyNow has been home and he doesn't know about the diary.

Dolphin1

Update for yesterday...

1) None eaten.
2) Light off at 11.10pm.
3) Meal plan for the week already done.
4) No spends on other people.
5) Face and neck moisturised.

Honey_Bear

1. Lights out by 11.30pm five nights a week. Lights went out well before 10.30. Lovely.
   
2. Maximum of five mugs of real coffee a week. Cracked! I read up on caffeine addiction yesterday and some people report that leg cramps and lethargy go on for up to a month which would explain quite a bit. What I can't find is any information on the length of time of the imbibing on withdrawal. I've only had a couple of very minor headaches, it's the other things I'd like to know about.
   
3. Five fruit and veg a day. Success; the summer fruit is just fab.
4. Get Kelpie to come to call reliably by the end of the month. Anti-barking things carrying on; have an extremely puzzled dog.
   
5. Give myself a couple of hours every day when I don't feel guilty about not doing more. Stopped at 5.00pm yesterday. I'm getting to like this.
   

More healing vibes heading towards Mr Happy and coping vibes for Mrs Happy, because if he's not back to work they might help and whether he is or isn't, something's up or Mrs Happy would be around.

Dolphin1

Update for yesterday...

1) I had a twirl chocolate bar.
2) Light off at 11.10pm.
3) Meal plan for the week already done.
4) No spends on other people.
5) Face and neck moisturised.

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

More healing vibes heading towards Mr Happy and coping vibes for Mrs Happy, because if he's not back to work they might help and whether he is or isn't, something's up or Mrs Happy would be around.

Looking back over the thread, Mr HappyNow was making progress last time we had an update. I really hope everything is ok though.

HappyNow

Morning! Here I am! Thank you for missing me, much appreciated. And thanks to everyone who has posted and kept this diary going, that's such a lift . It's a week since my last update and I'm sitting here trying to think exactly why I haven't been posting and there really isn't a good reason. I love my diary, I love reading everyone's updates and adding my own, but I've been feeling a bit flat and 'cba' with life in general. I need a kick up the bum!

I'm going to be self-indulgent and list my worries on here. Not for sympathy (these are very 'first world' problems), but because my diary has taught me that I need the clarity of putting things on virtual paper. It helps me get a sense of proportion and also see the solutions. So:

• Mr H has been worryingly ill - BUT HEY, he's making a good recovery and is back at work now
• Miss H has needed financial help towards her rent this month - BUT HEY, she borrowed off me, not a credit card and she will pay me back from her bursary in September.
• Master H couldn't afford to pay me his board this week - BUT HEY, he's having it as a birthday pressie so no harm done, and it's taught him a life lesson about prioritising money
• Mr H and I both want to take early retirement but can't even start planning it until we've cleared our debts - BUT HEY, it's made me even more determined to crack this thing, and we are still in with a chance of being debt-free when we're 60 (me) and 62 (him) so that's still early
• From next month I lose my car allowance (about £60 net per month) - BUT HEY, they're paying out a year's worth as a lump-sum compensation so that will help me cover the next problems
• Our big tree is a real worry and needs expensive work, and our septic tank is the same - BUT HEY, I will have a bit of money from the lump sum above to go towards it and we will manage the rest because we have no choice!
• Our oldest horse is looking very, very old and thin and I think she's probably coming to the end. No pleasant solution to this one, but it could still be ages off. I have tweaked her diet and it's put my animal expenses up by £12 pw but it might keep her healthy and happy for a while longer. We will see.
• My back-ache keeps coming back which is very wearing - BUT HEY, there are worse health problems and ibuprofen does keep it at bay

There. It doesn't look too bad written down and very solvable! I've got to do some work now but I will be back later.

Dolphin1

HappyNow wrote: »

Morning! Here I am! Thank you for missing me, much appreciated. And thanks to everyone who has posted and kept this diary going, that's such a lift . It's a week since my last update and I'm sitting here trying to think exactly why I haven't been posting and there really isn't a good reason. I love my diary, I love reading everyone's updates and adding my own, but I've been feeling a bit flat and 'cba' with life in general. I need a kick up the bum!

I'm going to be self-indulgent and list my worries on here. Not for sympathy (these are very 'first world' problems), but because my diary has taught me that I need the clarity of putting things on virtual paper. It helps me get a sense of proportion and also see the solutions. So:

• Mr H has been worryingly ill - BUT HEY, he's making a good recovery and is back at work now
• Miss H has needed financial help towards her rent this month - BUT HEY, she borrowed off me, not a credit card and she will pay me back from her bursary in September.
• Master H couldn't afford to pay me his board this week - BUT HEY, he's having it as a birthday pressie so no harm done, and it's taught him a life lesson about prioritising money
• Mr H and I both want to take early retirement but can't even start planning it until we've cleared our debts - BUT HEY, it's made me even more determined to crack this thing, and we are still in with a chance of being debt-free when we're 60 (me) and 62 (him) so that's still early
• From next month I lose my car allowance (about £60 net per month) - BUT HEY, they're paying out a year's worth as a lump-sum compensation so that will help me cover the next problems
• Our big tree is a real worry and needs expensive work, and our septic tank is the same - BUT HEY, I will have a bit of money from the lump sum above to go towards it and we will manage the rest because we have no choice!
• Our oldest horse is looking very, very old and thin and I think she's probably coming to the end. No pleasant solution to this one, but it could still be ages off. I have tweaked her diet and it's put my animal expenses up by £12 pw but it might keep her healthy and happy for a while longer. We will see.
• My back-ache keeps coming back which is very wearing - BUT HEY, there are worse health problems and ibuprofen does keep it at bay

There. It doesn't look too bad written down and very solvable! I've got to do some work now but I will be back later.

:wave: It's lovely to see you back but sorry that you are feeling down. If you ask me (and I know you didn't ), you are probably feeling overwhelmed by all of the above which is why you are feeling down so listing them and dealing with one at a time is probably the best thing that you can do.

Who cares if they are 'first world' problems, aren't all problems on these forums 'first world' problems, they are still problems which are causing you to worry at the end of the day. The good thing is that most of these have been or can be sorted.

Remember, this is your diary, let it all out whenever you want.

Dolphin1

HappyNow wrote: »

My back-ache keeps coming back which is very wearing - BUT HEY, there are worse health problems and ibuprofen does keep it at bay

Oh, by the way, as someone who has had back pain on and off for the last 8 years and knows how exhausting it can be, have you been to the doctors to determine the cause of the pain and to learn how best to deal with it in the long term. I would definitely recommend it.

Dolphin1

Update for yesterday...

1) None eaten.
2) Light off at 11.20pm.
3) Meal plan for the week already done.
4) No spends on other people.
5) Face and neck moisturised.