Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

doingitanyway

Missing your posts and hoping all is well.

Sunshine_girl2

Have a good weekend and half term . 

HairyHandofDartmoor

Hello. Sorry I've been quiet lately. School has been horrendously busy with changes in management, lots of staff meetings and excitable children. My TA cover will finish at the end of this school year 😥. The head teacher wants to keep me but doesn't have the budget to create a job for me. So I need to start applying for jobs or I'll only be earning £200 a month from my lunchtime job in September. This is hugely disappointing but not unexpected. On the plus side I'm fully qualified and have some good on the job experience 🙂. 

I'm so thankful it's half term as I felt exhausted physically and mentally 😞. Everyone at school is worn out and stressed out. On Thursday night I developed a sore throat which had developed into a head cold by Friday 😔. I always catch a cold when I get run down. I felt unwell all day Saturday, a bit bit better Sunday and much better on Monday morning.

So I decided to go ahead and have my second covid jab on Monday afternoon 💉. The weather has been warm and sunny since I broke up and after my jab I suggested we go to the sea and have a takeaway coffee before the vaccine side effects kicked in. DH, DS1 and I went and it was very pleasant. It was baking hot and heaving with people, but  we managed to get a takeaway coffee and find an unoccupied bench looking out to sea ☕🌊. I felt myself unwinding and realised how tired and stressed I've been this half term. I love working with the children but it's all the politics among the adults that's stressful 😕. I found being by the sea very soothing despite the crowds ⛱.

Late last night however my vaccine side effects kicked in and I felt hot, unwell, achey and nauseous, so I slept really badly. Also a fly kept landing on my face can you believe 😫. It feels good to be fully vaccinated though 💉💉 .

I'm going to rest today, but I've put some summer clothes in the washing machine to freshen them up as I was too hot in my jeans yesterday.

Tomorrow afternoon we've arranged to go to a nearby beach with aunt and uncle, plus my cousins and their children. I'm hoping I'll be better by then and I'm really looking forward to seeing them 😀. On Friday we're seeing stepdad and wife at an NT place 🙂.

I want to fit in some gardening this holiday too as the front and back gardens are full of weeds and I want to put some flowers in pots now that the spring flowers have gone over. My daffodils, tulips, clematis and azaleas were looking really stunning in March, April and May. There's not much flowering at the moment though apart from the lavender and a geranium that has miraculously survived from last summer. My philadelphus has lots of buds on and will be covered in beautiful white flowers soon and my hardy fuscia has buds on it. But I want to buy some petunias, pansies, lobelia and more geraniums for my pots to fill the garden with summer blooms 🌹🌻🌺🌸🌼.

I also need to buy some clear waterproofing treatment for the two bird boxes so that we can hang them up in the garden finally 🕊🦅. My bug hotel is proving very popular with bees and when we had coffee in the garden yesterday we kept seeing them buzzing around it flying in and out of it 🐝🐝🐝. I find sitting in the garden very soothing too. May has been so rainy and miserable that that was the first time we'd sat in the garden since the Easter holidays and I could feel myself slowly unwinding. For the past six week half term I've gone to school and been at home and not gone anywhere else or seen anyone else, which may explain why I've been feeling stressed lately.

I've been missing DS3 too 😥. He's only been gone for a month but it feels like much longer. He finishes his course soon and unless he gets a job straight away he will come home at the beginning of August 😀. I'm hoping by the end of the holiday the garden will be more tidy, I'll have seen some relatives and I'll feel more rested.

I hope everyone in Diaryland is well and enjoying some sunshine ☀️.

Sun_Addict

Great to hear from you. What a disappointment about the TA cover ending but I’m sure you’ll find something else, hopefully very soon. I’m glad you’re enjoying your garden now the sun is finally out.

Seasidegal58

Good to see you posting again. 😃
Yes what a shame about the TA cover, but hopefully something will appear soon. 

Sorry to hear that the politics at work are annoying too. Isn't it always the same? - one enjoys one's actual job but it doesn't stop one's colleagues acting like overgrown schoolchildren and ruining the working atmosphere. 😡

Glad to hear though that you are still finding so much pleasure with your garden. 😀🌸

Onebrokelady

Good to hear from you but sorry to hear about the TA job 😟 I hope you are having a nice relaxing holiday xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict said:

Great to hear from you. What a disappointment about the TA cover ending but I’m sure you’ll find something else, hopefully very soon. I’m glad you’re enjoying your garden now the sun is finally out.

Seasidegal58 said:

Good to see you posting again. 😃
Yes what a shame about the TA cover, but hopefully something will appear soon. 

Sorry to hear that the politics at work are annoying too. Isn't it always the same? - one enjoys one's actual job but it doesn't stop one's colleagues acting like overgrown schoolchildren and ruining the working atmosphere. 😡

Glad to hear though that you are still finding so much pleasure with your garden. 😀🌸

Onebrokelady said:

Good to hear from you but sorry to hear about the TA job 😟 I hope you are having a nice relaxing holiday xx

Thanks all of you

Chrystal

I don't post often, although I always read, and must admit I felt a sigh of relief when I saw your post that you and the family are OK.
You must be extremely disappointed about the TA job.  Maybe one of the established TAs will take sick leave or something before then, but even if that happens I think in your situation I'd still be applying to other schools.  You need some certainty in your income to relieve the stress.
Politics in schools is a BIG stress factor, much more so I think than teaching the children.  I suppose it's the same in any work place where there's some kind of hierarchy, but when working with kids we expect the adults to have a bit more common sense than the kids do!
Try to take some 'time out', enjoy doing your garden and seeing your family.  As my Dad used to say 'sufficient to the day is the evil thereof'  In other words don't borrow trouble.  (((hugs))) XX 

HairyHandofDartmoor

Chrystal said:

I don't post often, although I always read, and must admit I felt a sigh of relief when I saw your post that you and the family are OK.
You must be extremely disappointed about the TA job.  Maybe one of the established TAs will take sick leave or something before then, but even if that happens I think in your situation I'd still be applying to other schools.  You need some certainty in your income to relieve the stress.
Politics in schools is a BIG stress factor, much more so I think than teaching the children.  I suppose it's the same in any work place where there's some kind of hierarchy, but when working with kids we expect the adults to have a bit more common sense than the kids do!
Try to take some 'time out', enjoy doing your garden and seeing your family.  As my Dad used to say 'sufficient to the day is the evil thereof'  In other words don't borrow trouble.  (((hugs))) XX 

Thanks Chrysal. Sorry I've been awol, I didn't mean to worry people, I've just been feeling really tired and stressed.Yes I do need to apply to other schools, but I feel nervous and stressed about doing it and not many jobs come up for infants anyway, but I need to make myself look for jobs and apply for them. Yes I think all work places do have some politics.

I am going to try and spend more time in the garden now all the rain has stopped as I find it very soothing.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I'm still feeling tired and a bit nauseous, but I think it's wearing off a little bit. I've managed to wash my summer tee shirts and chinos and put them in the garden to dry. I've also washed the kitchen tablecloth in the washing machine. It's meant to be wipe clean but the dirt just wasn't coming off so in desperation I put it in the washing machine. It looks a lot cleaner and it doesn't appear to have got damaged so it was a good call.

I wish I felt up to doing some gardening but I still feel quite rough so I'm better off resting. It seems a waste of a lovely warm sunny day though. I wish I could afford to retire as I wouldn't feel tired and stressed all the time then, but unless I win the premium bonds there's not chance of me retiring before I'm 67. It's my own stupid fault as I should have got a proper job and a pension earlier instead of being self employed helping DH for fifteen years.

It's been really nice to read people's diaires and see they're getting out and about more and resuming normal activities. We got used to lockdowns and restrictions but it has put a strain on all of us I think and meant we couldn't do some of the things that help to make life worth living for us. I really enjoyed having a takeaway coffe yesterday by the sea and seeing lots of people out and about enjoying themselves .