Apple muncher's number crunching

apple_muncher

The paperwork took 20mins to send in the PO - and that was with me using pre-paid labels! Ridikulus.

My blood test was super quick - called in as soon as I'd sat down to wait.

The buses were v obliging and dd and I were early to meet friend so had a chance for a little ch shop mooching beforehand - only spent 85p. C0sta took £2.55 off us, so not a hard hit. And dh joined us on his way back from earning a few extra pennies, which was lovely.

Dd managed to climb a certain tree today, with help from a friend, a small chair and 2 stools, all balanced rather precariously. She is well proud of herself.

The Santas are all sewn up and even have a pompom on the end of their hat. Now I need to turn my attention to completing the dolls I mentioned at the top of this page of posts. And then I can think about what to take away on holiday to do - has to be knitting and hand-sewing. Both are activities I still have to ration though, because of my hands...

I think dd needs a jama day tomorrow. I need to see my counsellor. And do a Sainz shop. And do shred before Ms Michaels knocks on my door to see why I am slacking. And work on the dolls. And fill in the passport renewal form. And do a wash, as I only have 1 clean sports bra left.

CathT

You're doing really well with shred, are you seeing changes? You will have a fab trip to North Wales, Llandudno will also be a really good base to explore the coast. Hope you get some good weather when you go.

apple_muncher

Have lost no weight with shred, as I eat too much, but I know that I am stronger. I think that my exercise substitutions have been tougher than the original ones - but then I would say that, wouldn't I?!

Anyhow, shred #20 done today. So exercise #24 for the month

Also NSD #15. Didn't visit sainz after counselling. Will go tomorrow and combine it with a library visit.

Dd and I had a lovely afternoon sewing (dd embroidering faces and me on the machine) and sorting the dolly clothing combos. It is still all spread out on the floor downstairs, as an incentive to finish at least some of them tomorrow (there are 10 of them...) before dh starts to step on them...

apple_muncher

Shred #21 done. I was a little gentler with the effort put in, as I have not manage to do it on consecutive days recently, it wiped me out that much.

Dh is out over lunchtime, so before he goes I need him to show me how to fix and unfix the rope ladder he made for dd + friend to use to climb a tree.

I only completed 2 dolls yesterday. Whoops. So that is today's priority (and passport renewal form...), to clear the floor.

Am fairly excited about soon doing the 'where and how did we spend our money on food audit' .

apple_muncher

Week 7/12:

Health: awaiting xray results of toe; also need to make appt re blood test results; far too little moving around this week - pitiful step count; shred level 3 done x4. Weight gained. Oops.

Wealth: 5 NSDs, food shop done, only about £4 spent on other stuff.

Life well lived: good counsellor visit; met up with a work friend (I do find her v draining, so try to limit my time with her, though I'm aware that she is lonely), lovely time pottering at home with dd playing out and happy; finally finished the dollys (dolly, top, skirt, nightie, teddy, bag for teddy, pillow, lavender bag for teddy, necklace, earrings, hair + eyes + mouth embroidered, bag to hold it all) and started on mice, owls and penguins; made gf/df lemon drizzle cake and hobnobs (hobnobs cost £2.50 fr 10, so I'm certainly making more of them for less than that).

apple_muncher

So, after a wander up to aldee - all on my own and in the sunshine, always a novelty - I was able to go through all the food receipts. Twas not a pretty task. I was gobsmacked by the total. Floored. And somewhat ashamed. I did some other adding up, to attempt to categorise the purchases. Here are a few that I am willing (ha ha) to share...

All figures are approximate:
90 specifically on gf/df foodstuffs for dd
12.50 on alcohol for dh
50 on choc/sweets/crisps/dried fruit/nut bars
11 on nuts
18 on drinks (coffee, teas, juices)
18 on fruit
13 on veg
76 on meat/fish/eggs/pulses/cheese
16.50 on presents and thank yous

Now, I may have added up some categories a little squiffy, and I could have further split the categories up, but I was rather taken aback by the first sum I did. And then I realised that my total does not include the gf/df stuff we get online. Yikes.

Therefore, August shall include another month of detailing all food related spends. It will be a busier month with all 31 days not at work - how blessed am I??!!

We have a couple of days trips planned (brighton toy museum and a walking HP tour in Lunnon [may be able to combine this with seeing niece + bf]) where we'll take packed lunches - there are so few eateries suitable for dd, it's not worth the bother /disappointment of trying to find them.

We are away for a week, self-catering. Usually we take a load of food and stuff with us, but it is a different approach when you have to carry it all yourself. We arrive late afternoon, so still have lots of time to visit the nearby 24 hour tosco. I really, really must do a meal plan of sorts...

Dd and I are travelling oop norf to visit big sis for 5 days or so. Any bets on how much dh will 'need' to spend on food while we are gone...? Actually, he is caretaking all that week, which is a physical and tiring job, so maybe I should make him some easy dinners and freeze them...

Anyhow, we have plenty of food in the house and I sincerely wish for August to be less foodspendy. Best get a plan together then... Planning meals seems to be the way to go. I just am utterly useless at doing it. Maybe I could plan a 7-day one. Then rinse and repeat... Also, I could stop eating rubbish, that would be a novelty...

Oops, sorry for the wittering and blethering!

apple_muncher

August has started with an NSD. Yay! And with a nasty diarrhea bug. Boo. But I am - oddly - pleased, as at least I wasn't being sick!

Going to Brighton was tough. I would much rather have spent the day curled up in bed... However, dd enjoyed the toy museum and we had a good time on the beach. It was rather breezy but warm enough not to matter too much.

Since getting home, I have slept! Dh woke me so that I would sleep tonight. I hope to wake up tomorrow without all the joint and muscle pain, or the hurting skin of today.

I claim a cheeky NSD for today, as I spent nowt. Dh paid for the travel, museum entry fees, some sweets for dd as a treat, and a coffee and sausage roll for himself - about £17.

I told dh how much we had spent on july's food and he was gobsmacked. I have mentioned that I want to break it down an analyse it further,so I hope he'll set up a spreasheet (scary things!) for me.

apple_muncher

Feeling much brighter after sleeping for 11 hours last night. The 'episode' lost me 4lbs :eek: Most of which will return as I start to eat more normally, no doubt.

Apart from opening both the front and back doors, I have had no outdoor experiences today. And that has suitedm me perfectly.

Dd announced this morning that she wanted to do some colouring with me, so we dug out a Tinkerbell colouring book and set to it. It was good to chatter away together. I've also done some eye and chest sewing on some owls.

Another NSD. Still no exercise, sensibly, not going to beat myself up about that - it'd be less of a beating and more of a tickling though, as I'm rather feeble!

Dh made me a spreadsheet which I have filled in with an itemised list of all of July's food spends. It is super interesting - I can see why people do it. It will hopefully keep us more conscious of what we buy in August, I hope... I woud love to knock off at least 10% in August...

Off to read...

apple_muncher

Gosh, still no 'proper' exercise yet this month...

Have had a good time with big sis, who popped down here for an overnight visit.

First shop of the month - up at sainz, as the money off voucher runs out tomorrow - to stock up on dd's gf/df stuff. We also nipped in to the library, so I now have books to take away tomorrow.

Dd is sooo excited about tomorrow, you'd think we were going somewhere exotic! We are mostly packed, but it is not an early start, so we can finish off in the morning. We spent a few minutes checking that the closing of Waterloo - plus many other routes and stations being affected - wouldn't affect us tomorrow and were rather relieved that it doesn't.

Dh has suggested - or rather, agreed to my idea!- that we do a meal plan on the train so that we can then do a sensible shopping list and not waste food or be left with a load to bring home or stuff ourselves with. Love him!

apple_muncher

We are on holiday, ergo it is raining. Heavily. Sigh. Doesn't seem to bother the seagulls...

If it is not raining tomorrow, I really want to get to Llandudno and get myself (plus dh and dd, preferably) up the Great Orme to see if the photo of me + big sis was taken on the top there or on top of the Little Orme.

I did shred level 1 today - proper warm up, no weights and took it easy. Also did 12k steps. So a great improvement on the last 10 days.