Diary no 3 - Still MumblingTaff's Ramblings.....

mumblingtaff

Have completely run out of steam tonight and so am just going to write a list of things that need to be done tomorrow before the visitors arrive - might be a bit ambitious but I'll give it a go.....

Grocery shopping - done
Run - done
Mow front lawn weather permitting - done
Clean conservatory - done
Tidy spare room - done
Get some cash out - done
One load of washing- done
Put dry washing away - done

Will have to get up early.........

mumblingtaff

Morning all.
Was up at 6am, had a fairly good sleep but it ended with a horrible dream about having to put the dog to sleep . He needs to come home now.... Mum is bringing him back today thankfully. I do miss him, the house is so empty without him.

Have done a load of washing, put the dry washing away ( all swimwear, towels etc so no ironing - bonus), been to tesco for a smallish grocery shop and done a 30 min run in the park. Just about to cut the front lawn and do a quick tidy of the spare room ready for visitors and then clean the conservatory. Should only take an hour for the lot if I get a move on.

Might do a bit of work whilst I wait for the dog to arrive - every hour helps.....

mumblingtaff

Forgot to add that I spent £32 in tesco - will hopefully last the week with the stuff that's in the freezer. So, from a budget of £120 for groceries for August there's £88 left.

mumblingtaff

Well I survived the family visit unscathed - it was actually ok this time. My parents are ageing and I'm trying to be more tolerant as you don't know what's coming around the corner....

Gave my mum a £50 tesco gift card because she won't take any money from me towards petrol for all of the ferrying the dog around but did take this towards her groceries after a minor protest
Have also set up a standing order for £40 a month for my sister after I found out that her massage treatments at the day centre that she goes to are now going to be charged for (only £5 a time but it's a lot out of her disability allowance - she has cerebral palsy) whereas they used to be free. They really help her so I don't want her to go without. I can afford it so it's not a problem and has made her happy.

Just done a clean of the house - not sure how they can make so much mess in 24 hours - so it's back to normal again now. Its lovely to have my woofer back home with me - the house is too empty without him, even if all he does is sleep and eat these days when we're not out for a walk.

Not sure what today will bring yet - seeing OH later today but that probably won't be until about late afternoon . Think I'll start some work - looked at it briefly yesterday and it's a bit overwhelming with regards to what needs to be done so I'd better get cracking soon.

mumblingtaff

Morning all. It poured all night here last night and was really cold, our lovely British summer.....
Spent the afternoon and evening with OH but came home to sleep as I was really tired and needed a night in my own bed. Slept fairly well and got up about 6.30.

This week's it's all about getting a load of work done - I made a start yesterday so am back in the swing of it a little bit. Have lots to do if I want to be organised when I go back to work as I'm away all next week and then will be working the following week as its GCSE results week and then there's just one week of the holidays left. It's all going too fast!

Need to do a few things today as well as work .....
Walk the dog x3
Do a run
Do a face mask - skin feels really dry
Investigate the cheapest dry cleaners for my work suits
Check the banking
Sort the bins ready for collection tomorrow

Think that's it for now - dog walk no 1 coming up soon......

mumblingtaff

I'm off for a physical MOT for me this morning - a smear test first thing then the opticians. Haven't had my eyes tested since I was a teenager (30 odd years!) and my recent illness did affect my eye so I should go and get checked out. I have a free eye test voucher for vision express to try to minimise the cost but I really have no idea how much glasses cost so it will be a surprise

I managed to do almost 10 hours of school work yesterday and have written loads of lessons for the next half term. My aim is to get all lessons planned and resourced up to October half term - it seemed ambitious but I've probably finished two thirds of them now so I think it's possible. I have lots of reports and admin stuff to do too and then there's all of the GCSE results data processing and reporting when they're released.... So I'll be doing some more work this afternoon. Was in the groove yesterday, hopefully I can carry on in the same vein later today.

Spent the evening watching the Athletics followed by a fairly early night reading in bed - I did finish the Jodi Picoult book though, a tough read but a good one. Looking forward to starting summer holiday book number 4 later.

So, it's a dog walk first thing, then shower etc then the doctors followed by a trip to the Trafford centre for the opticians - will try not to spend on anything else while there......

mumblingtaff

Back home by lunchtime - doctors and opticians sorted, now the proud owner of new specs - it cost £129 in total but that's because of the frames I chose. The eye test was free (and very thorough) as I had a voucher and they gave me a £30 discount on the glasses because I was a teacher - never heard of that before but it was very welcome. I'd definitely recommend Vision Express - helpful, knowledgable staff and they happily accepted the voucher and gave me the discount without me asking for it.
Have transferred the cash from the refunded student loan to cover it, so the glasses were effectively free

Also popped to sainsburys for holiday toiletries and used nectar points towards the cost - £11 spent in total including suntan lotion so not too bad at all. Picked up more dog food for his next stay at his nana's so I think I'm all ready for the next jaunt away. Also bought more euros for the Ibiza trip at M&S (next door to the optician) funded from the holiday account which is now depleted to less than £100 but I won't need anything further and can start building it back up again from the next pay day at the end of the month. I'm quite pleased that I've managed to finance two holidays and spending money from the specific savings I've built up over the past year, nothing at all on credit cards

I "treated" myself to 2 new books from the bargain bucket at waterstones whilst waiting for my glasses - a huge spend of £2 both autobiographies so a bit of a departure for me but at a pound each it's not the end of the world if I'm not overly keen.

Contemplating doing a bit more work this afternoon - not feeling very motivated at the moment but I'll force myself at some point, I'm always ok once I get started.
Will have a little sit down first though......

Swash

Hi MT, great to see you back. Glad you had a good holiday. You're so motivated with everything, I don't know how you do it

mumblingtaff

Swash wrote: »

Hi MT, great to see you back. Glad you had a good holiday. You're so motivated with everything, I don't know how you do it

Hi Swash, not very motivated today! Have procrastinated all afternoon, even went blackberry picking in the rain to put off doing any work......

mumblingtaff

Afternoon all.
Had a fairly busy day - walked the dog then forced myself to sit down and do some work for the morning. Managed to get a load more lessons planned and resourced - still some to go but getting there, the end is in sight now, with regards to getting all of the lessons to half term finished.

Met OH for lunch then we went for a bit of window shopping for cars. Saw one I really like but will wait for the contract on the current one to finish before committing to a new one. Managed to get a parking ticket whilst out, we debated whether I could park in the spot we did and OH was adamant it was ok - apparently not £25 down the swanny.....have tried paying it online but they haven't updated the system yet.

Am having an allergic reaction to the new face cream - very itchy, bumpy and annoying. Won't be using it again - loreal laser revitalift - have looked online and apparently its quite common. Am taking antihistamines but it's still super itchy - popped to chemist to ask their advice and I just have to keep it clean, take the tablets and wait it out....

Going to stay in tonight and watch the athletics and perhaps do a bit more work, we'll see.....