Apple muncher's number crunching

apple_muncher

Found a couple more things I'm doing in March. Oh boy!

Dd is struggling to get to sleep. Grrrrrrr. So am having to sit in bed with her. She's under pretty strict instructions to face away from me, not talk to me and to think happy thoughts! The poor thing is shattered, which is why she's finding it so hard to switch off. She has been trying to sleep for an hour already, so, to give her her due, she's tried hard.

My work were good, letting me come in late. Dh will do dd tomorrow morning, and I'm doing Friday - have arranged to be late again. Sch is hard work for my little one-armed munchkin, but a couple of her little friends are being lovely and are helping her do her coat up, and such like.

I've signed up for the March challenge and am really relishing the chance to be challenged again. Some aspects I'm good at planning, others are a wok in progress. The theme is basically be the tortoise who wins, not the hare who wastes time then makes a frantic dash for the winning line but fails. Bit like doing Tilly Tidies. Or 'just' a coupla rows of knitting (or embroidering one star!). Every bit edges nearer to the ultimate goal

One of the parts is to declutter the kitchen - gadgets as well as food. Dh and I were discussing the kitchen just last night! It's grimy and I sometimes just want someone to rip it out and replace it. However, after out chat, I feel able to give it a 'deep clean' - by my standards, anyway. Dh plans to find a replacement tall cupboard and sort new flooring. We also discussed decluttering the stuff we have both on top and inside the cupboards.

Another part is to cut food budget by £20. Last month I decided to include the veggie box bills under 'food' even though they come from our joint account, not the one I base the spending on. And we're under budget overall for the month. So I shall cut £20 off for March.

We're 'allowed' to set our own number of NSD so I'm going for a fairly modest 18. I was going to go for 20, but it's been a bit hard trying to get 15 in Feb and March is only 3 days longer, so adding another 5 was a tad daft!

March has no school hols in it, which I'm thinking should simplify things.... Time will tell!

Ooooh, need to add another personal challenge (as well as exercise and sugar/grain-free days and weight loss) and that is the KNITTING! If I am to maintain the momentum of 100 items in 100 days (ish) then I need to make 31 items. Apart from adding a smile and embroidered belt + buttons to a policeman, I've done nowt today. One of those days, especially with dd not sleeping.

But that has given me the chance to witter away here without distraction!

Grateful for sunshine, fresh air, dd's friend's mum for habing dd after sch at short notice, management at my work, the 'off' switch on the telly.

filia stertit so I'm off downstairs to chat to dh and possible do some stitching....

Habibiboo

:wave:

Wow, just had a catch up ... it's all been happening hasn't it?

Sorry dd ended up with a break. ittle advice tho, I know she might not want the sling on all the time, especially at school but it does help to support both the healing and to act as a reminder not to just do normal things which could "stress" the fracture. My no2 HbbbBobbin and myself have both had broken collar bones (separate accidents - you know what we're like) and both of us got told off by fracture folk for not using our slings - my boy still has a swelling where his fracture was, although his was a displaced bone. Certainly sounds like she's getting on OK though!

I know what you mean about sunshine showing up the grot indoors. I'm trying to have the energy to implement a more rigorous domestic goddess routine ... I'm using it as my rest breaks from working at the computer, to try to add a little exercise into the proceedings. Not sure it's working though ... dogs still trot mud through the house each time they wander up the garden and back in again!

Impressed with your March planning already. I just realised it's March at the end of the week so have organised a couple of things I must see to next month, but am now in panic over my mum's 70th which is now just around the corner. Must get together with my sisters and sort something soon!

Keep well A*M!

apple_muncher

Hi Hbbb, nice to see you.

Knitting is now up to 42. Dd has told me not to do any more Hello Kitty as they don't look right. That's me told!

Had a chat with her this am re not moving. She agreed with me, but it's hard to comply when you're only 6 and want to run around! She has very flushed cheeks, but doesn't seem ill otherwise, so we'll just keep an eye on her for now.

I've decided that not only does the kitchen need tackling, but that I need a clear list of how to do it so that I can cross things off! I've taken a leaf out of DDFW's book (I think) and split it up into small sections -each area to be sorted and cleaned. I've not considered stuff like the ceiling, tiles or floor yet. Nor the painting. But the current list is where I need to start and has 32 items on it ...!

I did my impression of a blue bottomed fly at work today, as I had a text from the friend who was to pick up dd. Basically, she couldn't do it because she needed to go to a doc, so not a whim. A lovely colleague agreed to cover my last lesson of the day so that I could scoot home and get her myself. That, coupled with not sleeping well again, has worn me out!! Dh has gone out to sort some PA stuff at church so at least it's a quiet evening, even if I end up sitting with dd to help her sleep.

She's playing with her Polly Pockets at the mo, so is winding down.

I got the trees decorated when home with dd - 6 or 7 of them - so just need to give them a light iron to flatten them, and work out how to make sure they stay stuck to the cards. Gloopy glue may not quite do the job....

Think I'm about to be called - heard a thump-pad-pad-pad!

apple_muncher

Today's payday :j:j:j ! I'm going to save the money shuffling until I get home, as my brain is currently too fuddled. Dd slept well eventually, but I didn't. Am having lots of odd dreams that wake me up or involve me getting out of bed for some reason - and then I wake up! I think my brain isn't having time to switch off properly.

Dd is sorted for the end of the day - so far .... So I'm hoping to be able to drop a bag off at the Sally Army and claim my £2. Then we can fill it again and take another bagful tomorrow.

One March tortoise challenge is to declutter 30 items. I don't have a fleabay account, so may try a few bits of facebay or gumtr33 before putting them in the Sally Army bag.

Dd's not going to ballet tomorrow - I've told her so! She'd be too tempted to move her arm too much. So we may just get a chilled pyjama morning.

Got one half of a hanging cmas tree knitted last night. Boy, was it a big effort to bother. I was desperate for the decreasing rows to arrive!

I've got 'money left over' this month. So may use it towards a summer break in a cottage. Oooh, now there's something to go and browse: a certain cotts4u site.

However, it's now time to go and prepare breakfasts. Money shuffling and cottage mooching will have to be delayed pleasures!

apple_muncher

I slept like a log last night! Much needed. Dd had chosen to sleep in the spare room (she's not in her room as she has a very high up bed and it just seems a bit dodgy with her sling on) so dh was back in his own bed which was appreciated!

Dd is going to ballet today, but not to tap. Then we're off for a bit of family time in a (whisper) coffee shop + charity shop mooching. I got a bag taken to Sal Army yesterday and have another one ready for today. One day I'll have to have a big spend there, I'm racking up so much credit with them! Ha ha. £10 on clothes is classed as a 'big spend' for me!

I hope to get started on the kitchen today. I might try the flylady 15 minute approach, or alternate it with 15 mins knitting. Dh is currently returning the ladder so I guess we should get dressed and ready to go out soon!

apple_muncher

Whites wash done, ballet danced, ch shops visited (+ bag dropped off), lunch eaten, top of 1 cupboard + fridge cleared and cleaned, colours wash put on.

We did spend just under £20 in ch shops oops! I won't list it, but in dd's words everything was a bargain, so that's ok!

Am pleased to have started cleaning the kitchen. dh immediately suggested buying 'proper' stuff to deep clean it, as I was using stuff that's good for the environment. I counter-suggested that I continue cleaning and see if the grime comes off first. He loves products and when I get to decluttering the cupboard under the sink, I'm sure I'll discover some gems!

Despite a good night, I'm rather pooped today, so am skiving off exercise and going straight for a bath! Shame there's no rugby on... It'll be on next weekend when we're out at show rehearsals . Oh well. There's always next year!

apple_muncher

Skipped church as dd wasn't up to it today, poor mite. Dosed her on ca1po1 and she improved until needing the next dose! Hope she gets a good night as last week wiped her out and she needs all her energy!

I was able to get on with some more kitchen clearing and feel very satisfied with the result. Any jobs I did today had to be ones I could drop at a whim when my presence was required by she-who-must-be-obeyed. For a while I despaired that we'd be able to use the kitchen at all! Only 1 more top of cupboards area to do, then all the results and space will be hidden behind closed doors. Is that reason enough to leave them all open...?

Got a workout done this morning, before dd took a downwards turn. Had to cut it a little short, but that's what you do when your little one cries, eh? May be able to get another done before work tomorrow, as dh is on dd duty before going to the dr.

Have finished a tree! 2 trees, 8 embroidered stars on one, blanket stitched together with a plaited hanger. Phew! 30 more march items to go...

Aha! NSD1 under my belt, 17 more to find.

apple_muncher

3 trees finished :xmastree::xmastree::xmastree:

apple_muncher

It's a grey day outside, but I'm not working, so yippee! And it's not (yet) raining... A nearby park is flooded and is a lake at the mo. It has a huge reservoir constructed underneath it, but that soon filled with the recentish rains. It is also the lowest point for a fair distance so continues to get all the run-off water. The fire brigade have been nearby, pumping for several days - I assume it's from there, anyway. There's a myriad of seagulls setting up home in the field, but no ducks yet, apart from a massive plastic one! Ther'es a foot/cycle path that runs the length of the park between it and the road, which is now under water for about 10m. The road is slightly higher still, so hopefully won't flood, as it is a major route! Enough wittering, eh?

A shorter list to complete today:
- return dd's books to library
- find a present for little friend
- visit Mr S
- visit Mr A and spend £40 to use voucher
- move £5 to mortgage - ie value of voucher
- knit and decorate 2 full hanging trees
- school runs
- parents evening once dh gets home
- wash up
- 2 bursts of kitchen clearing: last cupboards tops
- exercise
- tidy dining table
- make cakes + biscuits (dd has a party this weekend)

That'll do for now!

apple_muncher

apple_muncher wrote: »

A shorter list to complete today:
- return dd's books to library DONE
- find a present for little friend DONE
- visit Mr S DONE
- visit Mr A and spend £40 to use voucher DONE
- move £5 to mortgage - ie value of voucher
- knit and decorate 2 full hanging trees
- school runs
- parents evening once dh gets home
- wash up DONE TWICE
- 2 bursts of kitchen clearing: last cupboards tops
- exercise DONE
- tidy dining table
- make cakes + biscuits (dd has a party this weekend) DONE

That'll do for now!

Spent more than I wanted too. Grrrr to self. However, have sorted some insides of cupboards as I was baking, so :T to self too. Prob won't get tops done now, as need to wash up again and tidy kitchen up. And before I know it, it'll be school run time.

Note to self: must order breadsticks + bourbons today as it's a spendy day!