Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Thanks @in_need_of_direction, it's good to have an objective perspective and yes, you are right, I could always go back to this sector if I didn't think a different one suited me. I've got experience and qualifications and there are 45,000 vacancies across the country...

I do feel regret that I'm thinking of getting out when the need is so huge and I have the skills but there is another issue in the background with this particular job that I can't write about here, and it looks as though this may come to the foreground in which case there would be days when I could never relax, and that's not good. There's also a senior manager who seems to dismiss staff concerns and overload team leaders: basically also a stress-spreader by their manner and actions.

You are very right that I don't need to make a decision unless  I get an offer! I might not, especially as I've not sent off for details yet!

Cherryfudge

It's DS2's birthday today so we are going out for a meal this evening. Meanwhile DH is dry lining a section of kitchen wall where the plaster had degraded, preparatory to tiling, whenever that might happen. He's got the waterproof dry lining as it's worked well in the bay window and the other bay really needs some too.

He is also mugging up for his interview: he put the application in over the weekend and the interview is tomorrow!

My main tasks for today are to make a birthday cake for DS2 and get my PCR done at work. Still testing negative on the flow tests, and I have to test daily till 28th because a contact has Covid. I think between the minimal contact, my wearing PPE and my being double-jabbed and boostered, the chances of Covid are fairly slim but you really can't be sure.

The grey jumper is finished and DH has worn it! I need to tidy up my knitting project bags as I can pack away the remnants from this one and need to make some notes before packing the blue jumper away for a while. I need to focus on the baby blanket.

DS2 has entirely failed to give a birthday wish list but did mention he's wanting to save for a particular watch so we'll give him money towards that.

Cherryfudge

We had a lovely evening yesterday: gave DS2 money and some cider for his gift and paid for his and his girlfriend's meal (DH did that bit so I don't know what the cost came to).It was good to meet his girlfriend too - she comes from the same part of the country as I do - and find she can cope with my brood's sense of humour.  

'Everyone' came to the meal so we had a bit of a catch up with H and A as well and both seem to be doing well at present. Only five weeks till the baby is due!

Most people came back to ours later for cake but we didn't stay up late: I was shattered after all the baking and trying to get the kitchen straight. For once I had an outfit sorted and was fairly happy with it but I think I need to put some effort into losing a bit of weight (last night won't have helped but I didn't go mad). I also need to put in more work on the house - there's nothing like having guests to make me aware of that! DH's work on the kitchen has come out well so far and so did my oven cleaning (part of the reason I was tired). DD gave me some help with drinks and cakes and both of us can smell something funny in the larder - I think it's from the pickles that got split last week! Some of the vinegar must have got under the lino!

This morning I've been chatting to J who is havering about the wedding dress... it made me think I need to stop prevaricating about the job I've seen so I went online for a closer look and it's disappeared, along with the two other jobs the company was advertising. I'll have a further look but I'm wondering if I somehow found an archived page?

Work has asked me if I'll do a weekend shift on 11th December. I couldn't do one of the options as I'm going out with J but I've said I'd do the other. I'm wondering if I've been asked on my weekend off because they're desperate or because they now feel they can ask as there's an ex gratia payment we can claim for this, and which we'd not known about. I do feel a bit downbeat over the future where I work. 

I've done a bit of housework - the dust shows up in the sunlight! - and am waiting for A to collect his piece of birthday cake but other than that today is a shift at work and DH's interview.

Cherryfudge

Thursday's work was a bit of a downer: some very discouraging comments from management which proved they have missed a major factor in an ongoing issue. My colleague and I are looking through vacancies in the hope of spotting ways out of the current situation, but I'm being strict with myself and not allowing myself to jump into (or out of) anything as this is in so many ways my perfect job.

We have a date for the funeral of my colleague but I don't know yet if I can go. I want to do something for her but I don't know the family at all.

Yesterday's shift was much better: just a fairly unremarkable stint followed by the sleep in, with rather an achy back from doing too much cleaning before work then getting an emergency lot of heavy shopping to see work through the weekend. Of course overnight Storm Arwen arrived and the waking night staff woke me for advice when she heard tiles smashing off the roof. Of course we couldn't go out to investigate but we had as good a look around as we could, and she texted a colleague who was working in a nearby building for advice. There was nothing we could actually do apart from stay put and ensure everyone was safe. Eventually I went back to bed but had to get up to assist with a client later so I didn't get much sleep. When it got light the morning staff reported the damage and amazingly the contractors arrived within hours and cleared as many broken tiles as they could. They (tiles not contractors) had fallen in a semicircle around the front door as well as elsewhere, and there were broken fragments right across the other side of the road. Fences are down locally, and some trees: I was so glad we'd had the extra height taken off our tall but bendy trees at the beginning of the year because they would have endangered the neighbours last night.

Tonight has been another quiet shift and the wind died down about tea time. I went home over a thin, crunchy layer of snow.

I got grocery shopping yesterday morning and some takeaway coffee/tea for Dh and me.

This evening I'm thankful for safety through the storm, enough rest to get through today without feeling too grim and ordinary shifts without the extra stresses that have been happening recently.

Cherryfudge

A steady fall of the most miniscule flakes of snow falling through sunshine right now. Advent Sunday so I should be stirring up a Christmas Pudding but there isn't time before work so that can happen early in the week when I have days off.

I watched church online this morning: the speaker had travelled down from Alnwick and says it's devastated up there. They probably caught the very worst of it as they are near where the winds reached 98mph.

Roast chicken with roast veg and new potatoes in a few minutes - looking forward to it! I might just make cranberry sauce this week too.

Cherryfudge

Another quiet shift but the night shift had a crisis: at one point my colleague and I thought we would have to cover it between us but one of the other night staff has filled in at the last moment, leaving her day shift, which happens to be tomorrow, in need - so I've stepped into that one as the other two people on shift tonight are already on tomorrow.

I still get two days off - I was already covering an extra on Thursday.

DD's chosen wedding dress is no longer going to be available so there's been a certain amount of WhatsApp-ing going on. She still has seven months to find one but at the moment she's disappointed about this.

A fresh layer of miniscule snow again this evening. The Tan Hill pub, the highest in England, is entering its third night cut off, though Mountain Rescue has got through to them and by all accounts they are having quite a jolly time. Friends further north than us are still without power. DH has lit the fire so the house is cosy and smells of wood. I got cake and hot chocolate when I got in.

I had intended to do some Christmas shopping tomorrow but I think that will get moved to Tuesday now.

Tonight I'm thankful for pretty snow (sparkling in the lamp light on the way home), for having power AND a fire, for edible treats.

Cherryfudge

Work didn't need me in the end so I've had an indoor day (unless you count putting the washing on the line - very cold but it dried a bit and is now on the airer or hanging in upstairs doorways).

I did spend an hour at a work meeting but it was online so I stayed in. Must remember to find the details for claiming for WFH tax back or whatever it is: I did a full day's training from home in September which is apparently enough to qualify.

It's really been a pretty lazy day: DH had his volunteering so he was out this afternoon and collected my prescription and some shopping on the way home. The second prescription on the run that's not been available when wanted, they are very busy and sometimes they haven't got all the drugs. I think I need to order ten days early not a week.

DH has moved the hall bookcase because he was righty worried about damp from the outside wall. It's a design problem with the house so that corner has an air brick close to a down pipe and we've already replaced a joist once. He's peeled some paper off and is letting it dry out but think he needs to take the plaster off and redo it with yet more dry lining. I'm saying the outside needs attention as we will still get too much water through the bricks... we had someone to dryline the bay window at the other side and the work has held good but DH is resistant to having him back... at least it's not getting any worse now.

Dinner was chicken pie using the leftovers from Sunday dinner. I haven't got round to making Christmas pudding or doing any Christmas shopping but DH and I have chosen what to get for our older two. DS2 and DDiL risk getting cash if we don't hear from them and apparently J has sent us L's wish list but I can't find it.

DH didn't get the permanent job, which is a bit disappointing on one level but apparently a lot of people went for it and I think it will have gone to someone who wanted more hours. Still, his contract runs till March (I think) so there's time yet. He's asked for feedback anyway.

I've done another three rows of the intarsia on my latest project... not sure it will be finished by the time the baby arrives but it should be nearly there.

The snow has gone round here and the forecast is a lot better for tomorrow. I really ought to get more shopping done... don't really want to go out in the cold though!

Tonight I'm thankful for warmer weather on the way, progress on the knitting and not having to work this afternoon.

Sun_Addict

I hate it when management stick their oar in when they don't know really have the full picture. 

Claiming the WFH tax back is super easy link to the form is here. I claimed for last year and this year, it's worth doing.

Cherryfudge

Thank you for the link, @Sun_Addict. I've had a look and it doesn't look too complicated!

I woke up at 20 past five this morning, thinking about that annoying manager - came downstairs for a cuppa and a bit of knitting and went back to bed two hours later in a better frame of mind. Then I slept till eleven!

DH has further investigated the damp in the corner of the hall: someone has attempted to solve it decades ago as there's a layer that looks like concrete over the bricks, then what could be a roof slate on the inside of that! The whole thing is wet to the touch even now the plaster has gone. Next door has similar on his side of the wall. It's such a solid patch that it can't be broken off. DH is having a go with A's bolster chisel (this chisel is a family joke: A and his grandpa had an animated conversation about bolster chisels once and nobody else even knew what they were).

On a completely other subject, I didn't really know what to suggest on my Christmas list so I went into my Kindle account to look for books that would be better in paperback. I've found three among over 700 books and samples! I've since deleted 47 unused Kindle apps and around 258 book samples. I say 'around' because the app shut down on me twice so I can't be sure I got rid of all of them. I have rediscovered a few to read in the evening though.

Cherryfudge

We went Christmas shopping this afternoon - we have made inroads and had a 'Costalot' too which was nice. I also had a conversation online with my sister, having been reminded by DH that we ought to do something with the rest of Mum's estate. We've agreed on a gift for the lady who kept things going in our absence, and also on my sister's travel expenses when dealing with the estate. I'm putting off dealing with mine as I've claimed some but not by any means all so I need to go back through five years of calendars and bank statements to find when I travelled and how much it cost as well as whether I've claimed or not. I wish I was more on top of these things but I haven't always been able to cope with tying up the loose ends.

We heard from A and H that there is now a planned date for the arrival of Little One, though I suppose Little One may have ideas of his or her own. For some reason that imbues me with a sense of urgency - yet there are weeks to go. 

Still haven't made that Christmas pud or cut DH's hair...

Spending:
Housekeeping 18.31
Household £2.00
e-book 0.99
Entertainment (coffee/tea) £5.20
Gifts £76.46 + £7.99 of a gift card. More than half of this was a major present for one of the children.

Tonight I'm thankful for time spent with DH, managing to make progress on Christmas, positive news on the baby's development, planned due date being on a day off for me (though I don't think that will necessarily correspond to him or her arriving at a convenient time - labour could go on longer!), milder weather today. being able to catch upon sleep this morning.