Apple muncher's number crunching

Karmacat

Good grief, double smug face please!  Thats a **lot**!

apple_muncher

Ha ha. I have realised that I have the knack of making routine and normal things sound quite extraordinarily important!

Glad to have missed the downpour today. Dd also missed it. But dh did not. His stuff has dripped a lot!

Due to have our gutters replaced tomorrow - yay! And a new downpipe fitted - currently there is 1 downpipe for 4 houses. Twit designers. We're having an extra one installed at the back and it'll run down to the one outside drain we have. Can't fit one at the front as there is nowhere for the water to go.

apple_muncher

September was just plain odd. Weird. Strange. Like our local aldee - closed for 2 weeks or so for a refurb, then once open, you knew everything was in there, but couldn't find it as it was all in different places from before. Returning to school routines was like that - you knew everything and it was kind of familiar, but it was equally unfamiliar and different.

I gained a paltry 13 nsds in Sept - possibly my lowest in y e a r s. So the sense of constantly spending was unsettling. And getting clothes for dd. Then for mum. And starting to shop for dd's food in tesc0 (big one near her ballet class) as well as our usual aldee + sainz with the occasional foray to liddle, felt like 'spend, spend, spend.'

So, October is here.  A chance to re-set. It contains 2 weeks of half term. Phew. Dh is also very busy. I just feel like we need more planning but he says he doesn't like to do that. Cue headless chicken impressions.... However, I can set plans for me, and secretly plan a rough idea of meals - he gets in from locking up at 6.15-6.30pm, and 2 nights a week, dd + I leave at 6.15 for her stuff, so we don't eat together and have both ended up scrabbling around for something fast and easy.

In other news, eating better and exercising consistently seems to be paying dividends. Yes, I have lost only  a little weight, but today I measured and have lost a total of 6 inches in Sept, which is not to be sniffed at

In more news, dd had her train track braces fitted today - I am so totally impressed with the place. Everything is just excellently well done.

greent

Ooh - well done on the inches and weight loss! Xx

apple_muncher

Thanks greent!

Glad the guttering got finished and although the rain is still heavy, we are no longer aware of it as it overflows the gutters or goes through the splitting joints to splatter on the windowsills/flat roof/patio and then back onto brickwork.

The forecast is totally soggy. And I have to go to work. On the bus and walking. And look good when I arrive... We have a virtual Open Day and I was asked to be on the panel. It is a big privilege and I've been practising my mini talk. But also pretty nerve-wracking as the spotlight is on me and me alone for my bit - no room for mistakes...

Afterwards I need to find some jamas for mum - I was planning to go and look before work, but it just makes the timing so horribly tight and stressful.

Dd had me up several times in the night. She'd been out to youth and they'd watched a film so she was an hour late to bed anyway. Then she called out a couple of times, and also came through and woke me. I didn't ask why, just put her back to bed. But I think the braces still hurt a lot. Sigh. It doesn't help with looking good for work...!

apple_muncher

The forecast was wrong and I didn't get soggy - phew. My 2 mins of fame went well - phew. I decided not to shop for clothing as the queues were large and it was all too overwhelming, being a Sat afternoon in town - phew. Got some f+v form the mobile g/grocer - I know we pay a lot more but I like the produce and it's nice to buy just 1 or 2 of an item, rather than a cellophane wrapped bundle.

Dd has many pieces of hwk - not all due at the same time, fortunately, but when looked at all at once, it is overwhelming. So we have pottered on with a few bits together. I am her German dictionary!

Karmacat

Heavens, I can't imagine trying to shop for *anything* on a Saturday afternoon, way too crowded for oldie me

Congratulations on losing those inches!  That means fat is replaced by muscle - only natural with all the work you do, I'm so impressed.

apple_muncher

Absolutely, karma! It was simply 'a scenario to avoid at all costs'. I've emailed mum's keyworker and asked her to measure mum for me. Then I'll order from m+s.

Late this morning dd and I ventured to aldee as we really did need a fair amount of stuff. Ooh, it got busy. We were lucky to have a choice of parking spaces when we arrived, but had a queue of a dozen people to get inside. However, their traffic light system is brill, cos people follow it and it therefore is never too crowded inside. When we left, there was a queue for the car park. And that is why we don't food shop on a weekend if we can help it...

I've moved on to doing Zshred workouts for a bit now. I'd been through the kettlebell dozen or so workouts a couple of times or so, and needed a change.  And some yoga with Adriene too. Hope this will still bring inchloss...

apple_muncher

still waiting for the measurements... So sent a 'I'm looking forward to getting mum her clothes!' email...

Some messy stuff going on at work. We all feel anxious and quite aggrieved (sp?) at how it is being handled. Not nice, so I need to look after myself now as I'm heading for a slump/ dip/ wobble.

To that end, I went to the gym and did a great zshred workout that took 24 mins, so about 40 mins with warm up and cool down. I'll go again tomorrow, and do some meditation too. I've sent a long-overdue email this evening and hope for a reply in the next few days. I might also clear some of the garden tomorrow, do some laundry, go to sainz + aldee after taking dd to school, double check all the info I have (often, a second reading brings more clarity and a clearer vision of the issue...hopefully), and maybe start some planning to the end of term.

Or curl up with a book and a fleecy blanket...

apple_muncher

Got 1 load of laundry done today - any more doesn't dry at the mo; took dd to sch and met her afterwards; dropped some clothes in the clothing bank; shopped at sainz; and icyland; and aldee (!!); remembered to wear rubber gloves to peel the beetroot when making red velvet chocolate brownies (I think that's what they're called); prepped one class to the end of term; fed us all; did a feeble workout; walked over 10k steps; kept out of the rain; meditated; watched some tennis; read my book.

And, in money matters (just so the sensitive filters don't consider me spammy), if I can save £700 per month (which all depends on how much dh earns), then by the time I'm 60, I should have about 60k. Not including any paltry interest. Yes, I'll get my teaching pension. Yes, I'll get a state pension at 67 (currently). But who knows what might suddenly change... And I also want to keep saving for dd.

So, back to some number crunching... And finding somewhere to pop my savings into. Previously, it all went to paying down the mortgage but that is no longer an option. Must get dh on the case!