Life is a minestrone as the song says - my new diary

teapot2

Karmacat wrote: »

I was too slow to respond to Prolific for the first couple of things, and I don't get anything from them at the moment Now that SB is so appallingly bad, I might log on to the Prolific site and try and jiggle it up



Excellent use of bereavment money and attitude to invites, I agree - my sister decided the same when she was first widowed. And an elderly widowed lady, who'd also been widowed young, said to her "I've had a good life. Not the one that I imagined, but its still been enjoyable" - of course, that lady's husband had died more than 30 years previously, so that sense of perspective has gradually grown with time.


Teapot, was your OH employed or self employed? I know you said he worked from home, but that could still be either ... its just that if he was employed, maybe someone from their HR could help you about how to cope with his work stuff? Apologies if thats not appropriate.



Hope the check up goes well, but thats still a while away - you're still convalescent, remember

Thanks KC, good luck with the Prolific jiggling think I'll try and wean myself off logging on to the site for a while and then come back to it. Was a good earner though :cool:

Very true re life, I'm still adjusting I know. OH and I were definitely a team and I miss that. I know I'm independent and capable but am also aware that I'm now 'it' and being self employed have to be able to put myself 'out there' to support myself and that feels a bit daunting. That's not to mention the social side of life and working that out. We did do a lot as a couple although I also always followed some of my own separate interests as well.

OH was employed but left his work in 2014 then became ill in 2015 so all the papers just stayed there and we shut the door on his office and coped with everything else. The HR dept is in London and as its been 5 years since he left I don't think I'd want to approach them for anything. Good thought though thank you :lovethoug

teapot2

beanielou wrote: »

The other thing you could consider is secure shredding.
Collect the shredding as you go along & then you take it somewhere for them to deal with.
I have recently done this with confidential shredding for a charity.

Thanks Beanie, was it expensive to do that?

beanielou

teapot2 wrote: »

Thanks Beanie, was it expensive to do that?

No, where I sometimes take stuff is very reasonable.
( & I am mean!!)

teapot2

Well, as planned I did spend yesterday beginning to sort out some of OH's papers - to be fair its not all his, some is mine but the majority of it is related to his last job and general life admin [or lack of admin :eek:].

I think in the past my attempts have failed because mostly I've just put stuff in various piles ie to shred, to recycle, to put somewhere else, to investigate further, then because I found it so difficult I'd leave it for a few weeks and when I went back I'd have to go through the piles again and just ended up moving them around.

This time I was more organised and shredded papers as I went, put stuff away in other places at the the time. Put the recycling in bags as I went and filled up a box to go to a charity shop. I've managed to fill the two recycling boxes which will go out on Friday and I have about 6 bags of shredding and other paper which I can hopefully get someone to help me take to the recycling centre at some point. I made sure I took breaks regularly not least to give the shredder a chance to cool down :cool:

I can see the difference in the room, I've sorted a couple of piles from the desk, emptied a couple of boxes and cleared a side table which was piled really high. There's loads more to do but its a start and hopefully I can keep the momentum going.

beanielou

teapot2 wrote: »

Well, as planned I did spend yesterday beginning to sort out some of OH's papers - to be fair its not all his, some is mine but the majority of it is related to his last job and general life admin [or lack of admin :eek:].

I think in the past my attempts have failed because mostly I've just put stuff in various piles ie to shred, to recycle, to put somewhere else, to investigate further, then because I found it so difficult I'd leave it for a few weeks and when I went back I'd have to go through the piles again and just ended up moving them around.

This time I was more organised and shredded papers as I went, put stuff away in other places at the the time. Put the recycling in bags as I went and filled up a box to go to a charity shop. I've managed to fill the two recycling boxes which will go out on Friday and I have about 6 bags of shredding and other paper which I can hopefully get someone to help me take to the recycling centre at some point. I made sure I took breaks regularly not least to give the shredder a chance to cool down :cool:

I can see the difference in the room, I've sorted a couple of piles from the desk, emptied a couple of boxes and cleared a side table which was piled really high. There's loads more to do but its a start and hopefully I can keep the momentum going.

Well done :j :j

teapot2

This morning I did some emails, paid a CC minimum and transferred some money to pay a couple of DD set up to get a monthly reward. I ordered big, old, furry boy's meds for the coming month and will collect them tomorrow. Made a pot of soup then transferred all the shredding and paper into the shed until the recycling goes out. Did some surveys on Onepoll and had an email from Pinecone but didn't qualify for that survey When I was sorting out I found a book I'd put aside to list on Amazon and forgotten about It sells for a good price so was pleased to find it and put that on for sale :T.

I carried on with a bit of sorting out of papers and decluttered more stuff for charity. Packed my online sale and went out to post it. Also went to the bank to pay in £10 of change and a cheque. I'd forgotten my bank card but luckily know the sort code and acct number so was able to pay them in. Not quite a NSD as I needed some A4 envelopes to send something to a friend. I'd normally reuse one but couldn't find any at home - cost 72P for 4. As I was invited out for tea I also bought a pack of little fudge brownie squares which were on offer for £1.

Good time with the family, fed the baby and played games with her and her brother. We had tea and then I got a lift home after their bath. Just chilled out this evening, another online sale came through as well so pleased with that .

Busy_Mee1

It sounds like you are making good progress Teapot. I always find a good clearout quite cathartic. Baby cuddles are always good too x

Karmacat

teapot2 wrote: »

This time I was more organised and shredded papers as I went, put stuff away in other places at the the time. Put the recycling in bags as I went and filled up a box to go to a charity shop. I've managed to fill the two recycling boxes which will go out on Friday and I have about 6 bags of shredding and other paper which I can hopefully get someone to help me take to the recycling centre at some point. I made sure I took breaks regularly not least to give the shredder a chance to cool down :cool:

This is how the magic happens! Seeing it through, and getting it out of the door, good for you. It's so easy to think "right, I'll keep piling up the shredding, and do it all at once", but things don't work that way - if you were in an empty office, maybe, but you're in your own home! Hope it felt good last night to have accomplished so much.

teapot2

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

It sounds like you are making good progress Teapot. I always find a good clearout quite cathartic. Baby cuddles are always good too x

Thanks Busy Mee, yes it is quite cathartic though hard going as well, more for the emotional impact than the effort involved. Love a baby snuggle :kisses3::smileyhea she is such a cutiepie though I may be somewhat biased :rotfl:

teapot2

Karmacat wrote: »

This is how the magic happens! Seeing it through, and getting it out of the door, good for you. It's so easy to think "right, I'll keep piling up the shredding, and do it all at once", but things don't work that way - if you were in an empty office, maybe, but you're in your own home! Hope it felt good last night to have accomplished so much.

Thanks KC, yes it did feel good thanks and hopefully I can keep the momentum going and see the difference it makes. I'm certainly not the tidiest person around but the sheer volume of 'stuff' was beginning to get me down.