Thistle's Mission

Smolly

Afternoon Thistle - just checked - it is the afternoon now! Like you I'm usually on the pc first thing once DS has gone to school but I'm just going on for the first time today. I think I have slight withdrawal symptoms as I was starting to feel edgy! In a week's time though I shall be back at work and all that morning marlarkey will disappear and I'll have other stuff to do.

I'm so pleased that you had a productive time with your friend. Will you be the next Britain's Got Talent I wonder?? Don't be hard on yourself - you are doing stuff. Blimey you've got 3 new new songs this week and done lots of exercise from walking the dog, and we're only on Thursday. I call that putting lots of effort in, and if you still get stuff done in the afternoon then it's a bonus.

Try walking the dog a bit earlier if you think it might help. I wish my dog liked walks - he hates them! I have to half drag/half carry him to the park and then as soon as he's picked the scent up for home he's off again. He's only a few months old and he's nervous as anything of other dogs. A pigeon flew overhead this morning and he ran back inside! He's ok in his own garden though so most of his exercise at the moment is coming from me chasing him round the garden, usually because he's pinched something he shouldn't have! My peg collection (I don't really collect pegs) has halved since we got him.

Anyway, I must move as I have a huge mystery shop to prepare for. Don't want to get this one wrong as it's worth a bit of money and I need it to pay for my car!

Hope you have a lovely day. Take care xx

Thistle-down

Thanks Smolly, Dolly and Jess!

I fear I am not being hard on myself, I have truly been a lazy cow in the past. I was talking with my friend about lost opportunities caused by laziness. For example, I was contacted a couple of years ago by someone who was constantly being played on national radio to ask if I could open for them on a 3 month UK tour, as the person they booked to do it had to drop out. They heard me on the radio and thought I might be a good fit. Up to that point I had been dithering about the arrangement of my songs, not rehearsing them enough, I had no set list, no banter, no large audience experience, I was just not ready for such a big step. There was no reason for me not to be ready, this was exactly what I was working towards, I just hadn't gotten my behind in gear and done the actual work to become ready. I had to decline what would have been a huge boost for my career.

I finally sorted things so I wouldn't miss another opportunity like that, I have had a few lucky breaks but nothing quite on the same scale. Anyhow, I am now taking full responsibility for getting things done, and if they aren't done, I can only blame myself.

Tonight I dropped my DD off at cadets and went for a free coffee at McD's. I took a pen and notebook and wrote down all the things I need to do - some only need doing once, others are recurring. I laid out a rough timescale, week by week. I could actually have all of the non-recurring things finished before Xmas if I put my mind to it and stopped wasting time on the laptop. I won't know how realistic the timescale is until I've stuck to it for a couple of weeks. Tomorrow I will break the weeks down into days and see how I get on. It's something I've never done properly before - broken goals down into months, weeks and days. I've only ever had a rough idea of when I wanted to complete something and I almost always never achieved it. I am going to try and do things differently this time and see if I can get a different result.

Smolly, I will never be on Britain's got Talent! :rotfl: I am a very good songwriter but my voice is mediocre at best, I am far from young, thin and pretty (which goes a long way in the music business) but I do fit right into a certain niche where there are not a huge amount of authentic people doing exactly what I do here in the UK, so there is a bit of demand out there. I have a chance to take it quite a bit further in the next few years, and early next year I am recording a CD with a well-known producer which should open a lot of doors. It's all down to me getting my !!!! together, becoming as healthy as I can, and basically knuckling down and doing the work that needs to be done. If I can bring in £500-1000 a month from it, I will consider myself a huge success! :T

We are very lucky with our dog - he is a rescue that came to us ready trained. His previous owner (who sadly had a stroke and had to go into care) spent a lot of time socialising him, he's very gentle and responsive and walks well on and off lead. I would try to get your pup out if you can, Smolly, if he is not able to meet and play with other dogs, it can turn into a big problem down the line.

So, even though I had a big slap-in-the-face revelation today, I am quite positive. I guess it's the whole "admitting there is a problem is the first step" thing. Tomorrow I am going to take Thistlepup out for his walk first thing, and get straight to work on the dining room when I get back. Aside from checking emails on my phone, I aim to stay off the computer until afternoon at least.

Today I have accomplished:

1. I took the dog for a long walk
2. I sat down and organised my goals
3. I got out the extra duvet and put it on the bed

Today I am grateful for:

1. The support I am getting on this forum
2. The oppertunity to hang out and write songs with such a good friend
3. The free T-shirt I won that has arrived and actually fits me!

Smolly

Lovely post Thistle - thank you for sharing. Now if you've been 'good' you'll read this later on this afternoon. You can tell I'm not so good obviously - on here at 8am! Good luck for today xx

Thistle-down

Thanks Smolly.

I did take the dog out as soon as my DD went to school this morning. It was nice to be out early, and I did feel energetic once I came home. I got some housework done, bought more dog food, and did a little shop. By 10:30 I was ready to get stuck into the dining room, but instead DH wanted to sort out some finances.

This afternoon I needed to pick my son up from the train station, so l went early and had a look around the £1 charity shop. I bought £13 worth of clothes, all but two are for ebay. Mostly Next, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, and I am confident that I will make a decent profit. I will be picking up my son every few weeks so may as well make a point of going into the charity shop each time.

I didn't get any of the dining room done, but we did sort out some paperwork that needed doing, so it wasn't a completely unproductive day.

Today I achieved:

1. sorted out some financial stuff
2. buying things to sell on ebay
3. getting out early to walk the dog

Today I am grateful for:

1. The beautiful walkway along the river
2. Having the funds available to buy "stock" for ebay
3. My DH being on board for cleaning/sorting/organising the house by Xmas and bringing in more money selling things on ebay

Thistle-down

Today has a bit of a special feeling about it, like Christmas - not sure why, maybe because the whole family is here and it's chilly outside. Aside from walking the dog and basic housework/laundry, I have no plans to do anything. I feel ok about it too, rather than feeling guilty about all the things I could be doing!

[Deleted User]

Aw that's nice to hear my sweet.

Enjoy your day.

Dxxx

Smolly

Hi Thistle

Always find Next clothes go well on eBay - good luck with those. I also find River Island to be quite popular too if you ever come across any of those. I'm feeling envious now of your charity shop rummage - getting withdrawal symptoms even though I was only in there earlier this week!

Hope you are having a relaxing weekend. Take care xx

[Deleted User]

Thistle-down wrote: »

Today has a bit of a special feeling about it, like Christmas - not sure why, maybe because the whole family is here and it's chilly outside. Aside from walking the dog and basic housework/laundry, I have no plans to do anything. I feel ok about it too, rather than feeling guilty about all the things I could be doing!

That's a lovely feeling Hun, enjoy the rest of your weekend x

Thistle-down

Thanks Smolly, Dolly and Pmo2!

Today is another Christmassy day, it's really lovely. I think it must be because my son is home from uni.

I took the dog for a lovely brisk walk - it was so pretty with the leaves blowing all around. It was a bit too muddy to take him down the long track so we made do with the paved path along the river. It was nice to get my heart rate up a bit, I felt a real bounce in my step. If I can eventually build that up to two hours, 3 days a week (and just do the normal 30 min walk the rest of the week) I'm sure the weight will come off pretty quickly.

Tomorrow I am getting back to work, the dining room is calling and I want to get lots of things listed on ebay. I think having a couple of do-nothing days when I am feeling good (vs resting because I was sick) has renewed my motivation and determination that things will keep changing for the better and by Xmas my house will be done with the not-yet-bought welsh dresser in place. :T

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

Thistle-down

Today I achieved:

1. 1 load of laundry

Today I am grateful for:

1. clean sheets
2. my son being home from uni
3. my renewed motivation