"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

savingholmes

Just caught up on your diary - you seem to achieve ever such a lot!

greenbee

savingholmes wrote: »

Just caught up on your diary - you seem to achieve ever such a lot!

Thanks! It doesn't feel like it... mostly it seems as if I'm struggling to catch up.

Yesterday's attempt at a run ended in disaster as something went ping in my calf muscle about 2 minutes in. I'm hoping that it's a minor tear as I can still walk (albeit limping) and having RICE'd it (with added biscuits ) there is no swelling or bruising. I've had problems in both muscles in that calf for some time which suggest minor tears that I've been alternately ignoring and treating with massage. Looks like it's time to go back to the physio. I've emailed him and at least not had an out of office, so hopefully he'll have an emergency appointment sometime early next week. For the moment I'm carrying on with the RICE, have massage on Monday and if I'm feeling up to it I may swim tomorrow morning so I at least get some exercise.

As it's going to be a sofa day, I've got a list of exciting things to do ... starting with my tax return

greenbee

Tax return done, and it looks like they owe me quite a bit of money (all those last-minute additional pension contributions I expect!) which will be nice. Free money...

Must now sign up for work shares, after all, there is no obligation to buy them at any point. I can read the paperwork in more detail before I spend any money...

I've also told my boss I'm not leaving the house again until all my expenses are paid... which will be at least another 3 weeks

savingholmes

Great news about the tax return

greenbee

Lucky about the tax return...

Car service done, needs a new cam belt between now and Dec. so am having it done next week as I'm actually home (and have a meeting that it fits in with). Car insurance renewed (via the meerkats... not sure I'll actually get the benefit of the rewards but we'll see).

And as always happens at work, all the execs have just realised that need things for next week's board meeting. I'm thinking of putting a bidding system in place ...

greenbee

Bonus was paid yesterday, so did my end of month sorting out. I've moved all but my regular monthly salary out of my current account to try to get back on track.

I still have some reasonably large outstanding credit card bills due to teeth/mortgage reservation fee/car/expenses, so may need to shift a bit back to pay those off.

So a £500 mortgage OP - nothing to pension or ISA as I put additional regular payments in place at the start of the new tax year so will do lump sums again at the end of the year when I know what money I have left and what allowances I have.

Large lump into savings, hoping most of it will stay there. Not quite enough to do all the work that needs doing on the house, but enough to get started. So I need to make a list, make some calls and get things booked. Including the kitchen design so I know what to budget for. I hate having work done in the house

greenbee

Optician's appointment today means I finally have to give in and get glasses. Thankfully I can reclaim most of the cost on my health insurance when I have the detailed receipt (when I pick them up on Wednesday).

I should probably book a dentist appointment sometime soon, but was planning on changing dentists, so need to ask some questions and see whether I can find anyone decent locally.

It's stopped raining, but outside is damp and miserable, so I haven't managed to get anything done in the garden (and there's still the remains of the logs to split, as well as the weeding/mowing and stream to deal with), but have done some meal planning (I'm going to try to do a couple of weeks of the fast 800 - I need to lose weight, and it should save me money as I won't be eating as much!) and am getting through some reading. I have have a LOT of books that need reading.

greenbee

Checked HMRC and not only is the money due to be paid on Monday (so I expect to see it sometime next week), but my tax code has changed significantly, so hopefully there will be more money in the bank on payday from now on!

I'm hoping the diet will save me money - in theory I should be eating a lot less so unless I'm entertaining I should be able to make do with veg box plus stores and the odd bit of milk and yogurt from the milkman. There's lots of frozen fruit and meat, a bit of fish, plenty of tins and dry stuff. And herbal tea. At the moment, however, just knowing I'm trying to be good is making me hungry

Lawn has been mowed, compost bins sorted and two slow worms spotted enjoying the warmth. Hopefully they'll stay there - who knows, there may be babies . My calf is still uncomfortable, so running clearly won't be on the agenda yet, however, I do need to up the movement, so I'm going to try to fit in a reasonable amount of swimming (£6 a session) and walking as well as the pilates I've got booked over the next couple of weeks.

greenbee

Tax rebate is in, and I've put it safely away in my savings account.

Picked up glasses today, so I now have the receipt to claim back the cost from my health insurance. I must find out what the deal is at work for eye tests too. At least before the next one!

I've been swimming three times in the last week, and now have a physio appointment for Tuesday evening (via health insurance). I also went to Pilates three times and have stuck to the 800 calorie fast all week. I didn't weigh myself until Wednesday, and have lost 1.2kg since then. Hopefully it will carry on like that.

I did have to pick up a few bits and pieces of food on Friday, but now have plenty as I'm not eating vast quantities. I just needed a bit of variety. I'll need a bottle of olive oil at some point in the next week. So food is probably cheaper than it would have been... but not as cheap as when I'm away and work pay for it all! As we claim back costs rather than being on a per diem I won't benefit financially from the lower cost of eating while I'm away.

Lots done in the garden today - weeding, tying up climbers, deadheading and planting a whole lot of nicotiana send down from my mum via my brother. So the gaps are mostly filled and the main part of the garden is looking tidy. Drive needs weeding, stream needs work, so do both banks and the hedges, but I think it's important to keep on top of the stuff I've already done rather than trying to keep the whole lot under control including the out of control bits!

I have some work to do this weekend, which I might get done tonight - if not it has to be my top priority tomorrow morning. I also have some ironing that has been hanging around for far too long, and also need to change my bedding. Oh, and split the last of the logs as they've been cluttering up the drive since last summer!

It looks as though holiday will be damp, so I'm going to have to take lots of books - no bad thing as I'm behind on my work reading. And wellies and waterproofs so I get enough exercise. Foodwise we've all agreed to take the contents of our fridges plus anything useful from our freezers and anything we want to use up/get rid of. That way hopefully we won't be spending vast amounts on food while we're away. Or alcohol - we'll take that too, although we might have the odd drink in the pub. Mostly we'll be eating in unless it's sunny and we're on the beach.

savingholmes

Great exercise and dieting. Enjoy your time away.