Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

I've now paid off the credit card, though I don't know if it will clear in time to avoid any charges.

Yesterday was my appraisal at work: I decided it was my opportunity to say it as it was so my written comments dealt with a few issues that concern me. Every colleague I've spoken to has said they made similar comments. I was careful to moderate my language and include positives and ways forward as far as I could. I've been told that the issue which I suspect only I have raised will be brought to the attention of someone senior, which is a relief as it's the reason I've decided to find another job, but I can't leave it to fester because of the possible effect on others.

Oddly, I now feel better about the current job!

Today H asked me for lunch with her parents, who return home tomorrow. We met in town, H's treat. Lovely to be getting closer to this branch of the family.

I've been on the late shift, which went quite well. My usual person wasn't in and I was asked to support someone I know a little. It turned out well as I'm reading a book by a young man with a profound disability who is very intelligent and aware, which made me listen better to the person I was supporting and of course I found he communicates a lot more than I had realised. It can be hard to judge how much someone can understand and I think sometimes I over-faced him but it was good that by really listening I was able to give him more choice.

I'm in again in the morning and on the cleaning team at church in the afternoon, then off on Saturday, back on Sunday afternoon then off for nearly two weeks.

Spending:
Household: £5 (window cleaner)
Housekeeping £5.81
Toiletries £1

Tonight I'm thankful for warmer weather, time with H and her family, the baby sleeping better/putting on weight and my feeling more positive about work.

Cherryfudge

A tiring day! I just couldn't get to sleep last night and in the end got up for a snack and went back to bed around three. I'd agreed to go in a tad earlier this morning. When I arrived at work everyone was out of kilter because transport had arrived much earlier than expected. Everybody was busy, busy, busy. Just as this was slowing down, the other service had a member of staff ring in sick and as I was by then expendable, I spent the rest of the shift with them. It was nice: the staff I was working with are easy to get on with and I knew all the people who came in for the day. In addition, we heard they are interviewing for more staff and I've reason to think the worst of our staffing crisis may be coming to an end.

I've also had a conversation that's made me realise I'm not the only one addressing the difficult issue I'd raised in the appraisal.

After work I went home for a coffee to keep me awake then DH, who was about to finish work for the day, offered to come with me and help out on the cleaning team. We've made a start on reopening the kitchen as well as doing the usual jobs, and it was fun. The person we were working with has a good sense of humour, and the building, which wasn't built to be a church, has lots of interesting doors and tucked-away rooms which make having the run of it intriguing and surprising. Today's highlights included me breaking Henry the Hoover and my colleague restoring him to new strengths (either that or Henry took fright because we were saying he needed to be replaced, but honesty, he went from being lacklustre and smelling of garlic bread - or it may have been overheated pine needles but it smelled like garlic bread - to effective and a non-smoker in moments).

DH and I decided on a takeaway instead of the planned pasta and I think it was a good choice.

This evening we've watched Martin's programme from the other day, the hour-long one. He goes so fast I don't think I took in most of it but it was helpful (and mindful) that he told people not to look at the big picture but focus on the individual decisions. We've come up with a couple of things to do - the working from home money is quite urgent as we are both eligible and it needs to be done by the end of this month.

Spending:
Housekeeping c.£7 (fish, chips and mushy peas) plus some groceries bought by DH.

This evening I'm thankful for a good laugh over the cleaning, Martin who does such a lot of good and helps so many people, the prospect of an improvement in staffing and milder weather again.

Cherryfudge

When I checked my F!tbit readings, I'd managed less than three and a half hours' sleep the other night, so no wonder I was tired! Last night was much better and today is a day off, to boot.

DH remembered the car boot sales start today. A car boot sale is a very good way to get me up and dressed, but even so we arrived as they were beginning to pack away, and there were only about half a dozen sellers there. Ever optimistic, we went to look anyway and I came away with an assortment of small balls of yarn for baby toy projects, and a multi cooker for only £20!

I'm excited about this. I think I'd written here about possibly spending £20 to get a slow cooker to use when visiting my sister's house where the oven isn't working. This does a lot more things, is more economical than heating a whole oven and is compact - and what's more I've saved £60-80 on buying it new. The instruction book and a book of recipes were included.

We always check the charity shop near the car boot sales as it's not in our town. I found a white linen shirt and a dark blue silk top today.

DH has been grocery shopping and I've been catching up on the washing as it's a good day for line drying.

Spending so far today:
Housekeeping: apples £2ish, marmalade £2.80 (treat for DH from hand made stall), fabric conditioner £3.34 £3 tins of apricots
Clothing £10.18
Hobbies £1

Cherryfudge

And by way of a PS: I threw out some running shoes that had been 'worn out' for several years but were as comfy as slippers! When the sole starts to flap and the heel is cushioned with sticking plaster and the supportiveness has long since reduced to the level of 'yes, dear'... however good they've been, it's time I moved on!  

DH has chucked out two pairs of worn out shoes, so I'm not the only one with this tendency.

Several pairs of socks have asked for honourable retirement too, I'll sort those out when I get the washing in.

We are starting to pack the car for our trip away and are taking spare bedding to leave at the place we are going to. It's stuff I bought to use when staying at me parents' old house so it's fairly lightly used and my sister's duvet mysteriously disappeared during lockdown (possibly taken for laundering but we don't know) so they can inherit this one.

The space will be very welcome!

Sun_Addict

Sounds like you had your money’s worth out of the trainers 😆 A fitness instructor told me that it’s time to replace trainers when the laces start coming undone, not sure if there’s any truth in this but it seems to tie in (pardon the pun) with mine being around 6 months old with quite a few miles clocked up in them. 

Cherryfudge

I'd not heard that! Presumably something to do with wear and tear?

I actually 'replaced' these ancient shoes about four or five years ago and replaced the replacements (of course I still have both those pairs!) but kept the originals because they were so light and soft and our work floors are horribly hard. I find if my feet are tired, everything is harder. By keeping them flexed and cushioned I get more mileage out of the rest of me.

Cherryfudge

Last day at work for a week and a half! And it was not only a quiet shift but I got time to pull together the documents that I knew were there but which hadn't come to light over the issue I've raised with management. I've emailed the relevant people with 16 attachments and photocopied 34 pages of supporting evidence, so it's as well they have plenty of time to glance through it before we have our meeting. Even looking at one or two should be evidence.

That said, I dreamed I had a row with the people I'm due to meet! I've told myself firmly that that's not happened, I'm just finding a way to tell myself I have pent up anger. I hope to drop the subject at least till I get back from our break.

We will be leaving about lunchtime tomorrow and internet will be sparse, but I'll be back from time to time.

Things I'm thankful for tonight: time off over the next week and a half, a bunch of flowers I was given that have lasted and lasted, a helpful talk at church this morning, getting the evidence sent to management.

in_need_of_direction

Enjoy the break. Well done in finding what was needed before you headed off

Sun_Addict

Have a good break away. Good work getting all the evidence together ready for the meeting.

Cherryfudge

We've had a good break: part of it was in my sister's empty house, so no costs apart from a share of fuel bills. The other half was a city break: we booked the hotel a while ago and got very good rates, and the train tickets to the city (which I'm sure I've mentioned already but can't see) were £7 off due to split ticketing. We spent mostly on eating out - two hotel breakfasts, Italian one evening, Greek the other evening, and two cafe lunches. I wrote approximate costs down but I'm not going to trawl through it tonight.

We did some shopping, the most expensive thing there being new work trainers for me, around £35 because I discovered a TKM axx. I also had to get socks as I forgot to pack them! Both buys have been really comfortable despite walking everywhere. Other buys included some bits and pieces at charity shops, entry to an exhibition, and groceries. On the way back we stopped at a small Sains and for some reason they were clearing a number of lines, all with over six months shelf life, so I've invested in some of those - seeds, sausage meat and coconut.

Our main entertainment was art galleries, which we love anyway and these didn't disappoint. The weather started off as rainy and rather cold. We bought logs for the wood burner - it's a very old house and, having been empty, took a while to warm up but was toasty after the fire was lit. By yesterday it was warm and gorgeous. This morning, back at my sister's palace,  we tidied up the house, did some superficial gardening and went for a walk by the river. It's so nice not to need a coat but be able to roll up sleeves instead!

Things I'm thankful for tonight: safe journeys there and back, spring having arrived, meeting lots of friendly people, having good meals, time away with DH.