Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

The weighted blanket is taking a bit of getting used to.  I am still not sleeping all the way through and when I wake through the night I feel it is harder to fall back to sleep but I seem to be getting better quality sleep, I am dreaming regularly and eventually I think I will get used to the blanket.  It is quite heavy and I am not sure if I want to get to the point I can only ever sleep with it as when we finally start travelling again with work it won't be practical to take it with me.  I am going to use it daily for a bit longer and then might try it every other day or at weekends when I don't need to set the alarm.

Work seems to be going ok, I am doing my best not to get overwhelmed which I think is working but getting a balance between work and my own time is a work in progress.

ajmoney

Spending is going well so far this month, £38.70 and 2 NSDs, I am aiming for 10 this month so already on the way.  I didn't necessarily need to go shopping today but I was going to run out of a few small things over the weekend so decided to go when it would be a little quieter and there is a strong likelihood of the weekend running away with me a bit.  I will do another bigger shop on Monday which should keep me going through the week.

savingholmes

Glad the weighted blanket is helping and that you are looking after yourself.

ajmoney

A bit of a breakthrough today on the home improvement front, I have found the wallpaper I want for the feature wall in my dining room. Next job is to decide on the paint colours for the other walls in here and in my living room. They are separated by an arch and I intend to decorate each room differently. I want to go back to b@q to look at their lights again and see if what I saw last week will work, once I have decided on the lights I will get them fitted (living room ones likely to be repositioned) and then get my ceilings plastered and then the decorating can begin. I want to replace the skirting and door surrounds in these rooms too. No idea what time frame I am working with but it would be nice to complete it before Christmas.

ajmoney

Being back at work is really tiring me out to the point that I am not always doing things I want when I get home. I like the idea of timetabling my day/week to fit everything in but I think I am approaching it the wrong way, a bit like setting a budget when you don't know what your current spending level is. I think there may also be an element of me not realising when I am doing things so I am going to try and keep a diary that I can use to see where I can tweak things. 
I have today off work (I am not timetabled for rehearsals so from a bubble point of view shouldn't really go in). I am meeting some tri club friends for a swim this morning, need to get a top up shop and I would like to clean my house. If time and energy levels allow I could do with cutting the grass.
I went along to the first of six confidence building cycle sessions last night. They asked at the beginning what we would like to achieve/get help with, braking is my nemesis or so I thought. After our warm up we started to practise cornering around a cone to change direction by 180 degrees, it turns out this is my nemesis so cue feeling sick and shaky. I bottled it the first time so tried to follow the line of someone who knows what they are doing and still mucked it up so she took me away for some 1-2-1 coaching, I am still not confident but managed to do it several times so it is a bit of a win. I am going to try and work on this through the week on my little cul-de-sac to try and get the most out of these sessions. I hate being one of those nervous, scared people but that is why I signed up for this.

Suffolk_lass

I think it is really quite brave to confront your cycling fears by taking the course. Good to hear you got a bit of 1-2-1 top up encouragement coaching. I'm sure you will get there, even if it isn't your favourite as you are so methodical in your approach. We have been looking at electric bikes for months and months. Finally made a decision and there is no stock in the Country! Hoping for a call today as the Raleigh rep is due in the local shop

ajmoney

Suffolk_lass said:

We have been looking at electric bikes for months and months. Finally made a decision and there is no stock in the Country! Hoping for a call today as the Raleigh rep is due in the local shop

I have a friend who works in an outdoor shop as a bike mechanic, they are still struggling to get stock and get on top of repairs after the craziness at the start of lockdown.  Some tri club members are looking at getting new smart turbo trainers for the winter period and are struggling to get anything for the same reason.

I didn't feel all that brave when the anxiety started up in the middle of the session but I was thinking about it this morning.  I was probably taught to ride my trike as a toddler but my parents never taught me to ride without stabilisers, I borrowed a friends bike and learned by riding between walls to stop myself.  Of course I don't know any of this because I have never been taught and my personality is such that I don't ask for help, I just soldier on and do it myself.  This is the only way I can think to work on everything but with the anxiety surrounding the bike and bad habits learned it will take more than 6 sessions!

savingholmes

At least you are getting out there and facing your fears. It's good that you have lined up support too. We all need help from time to time.

ajmoney

My $ky bill has shot up in price, I don't remember getting any correspondence to suggest this and when I went in to check my bill it sounds like it is an add on thing from me rather than from them and I haven't added anything.  I am unsure if I have time to do anything about this before Friday but I have that day off so it is top of my list for then.

Very long day at work and first night back at pool swim training tonight.  I was going to clean a room as soon as I got in but if I do that I won't have any time to myself so I will catch it up later in the week, my house is tidy and the world won't end if I leave it a couple of days.

ajmoney

The weather is meant to be ok here today but it is a bit damp and dreary so I hope it clears up soon.

I have had a productive couple of days, I have a clean house and have started weeding my flower beds.  I have hoped to finish this today and get some bulbs in the garden so I will have to see what happens as the day goes on. 

I have learned over the last week how crucial it is to meal plan and get my food shopping in advance while I am busy at work, this week is possibly quieter but I am not going to take the chance.  So today's jobs are meal plan, food shopping, ironing, see if I can sort the $ky bill on their online chat and if the weather is kind do the garden jobs and possibly clean the inside of my car.  I am going swimming at 4.30 so I will have a chilled evening after that.