Back and ready to crack on with life!

CJRyder

Good luck on your diary! For me the major area of work was the diet. I have a physical job and cycle to work, but came home and ate absolute rubbish. Lunch would be a pack of sausage rolls or a quiche, followed by the usual processed items for dinner in the evening. Alcohol wasn't too bad for weight, but it does really eat into disposable income.

With regards to books, depending on what you're into, consider getting a copy of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown. It's a native American history of the American West. It'll be an ebay second-hand find.

Moneyfordreams

Good to see you back
I need to control weight/exercise and wine too.. all 2020 goals

mumblingtaff

Hello CJ and Moneyford - great to see you! Thank you for the book recommendation too - I'm ploughing my way through the one I bought on the weekend but will run out of things to read in a month or two.

So, the early night didn't go as planned - the poor pup is poorly and we've been up most of the night. He has a very upset stomach (not pretty results ) and has been in and out of the garden all night bless him. He's trying his best to let me know but we have had the first indoor accident in about 6 months. He seems ok in himself - it's just the poo issue....
I had some stuff from the vet as a precaution from when he was little (I think it's a probiotic paste to help ease gut issues) that I started him on last night and he's had his second dose this morning so hopefully combined with a bland chicken and rice diet he'll feel better soon. I have a vet appointment booked for this afternoon as a precaution but we'll see how he fares during the day, I can always cancel it if he seems better.

So today will be limited by being on dog poo watch - not ideal but not the end of the world.
To make the most of the time and stop me from going round the bend with boredom I've decided to do a bit of a spring clean/sort out. I've just stripped the bed and have it all in the machine along with the mattress protector and have already washed the dog bedding.
Along with the usual dusting and hoovering I'd like to do the following .....
1. Declutter the study
2. Tidy out the bottom of the spare room wardrobe so I can store shoes/ boots in it - they're just a messy jumble at the moment
3. Give the conservatory a good clean, moving things and not just doing around the middle

If the dog seems to have settled a bit I'll hopefully pop to the gym for a shortish session too - don't want to leave him for too long.

On a different note, I browsed summer holidays last night. I'm thinking of going back to a place I visited in Turkey years ago. It seems fairly reasonable price wise and half board would be fine for me with just something to keep me going at lunchtime. I'll think about it today - very tempting though. XOH would never consider Turkey and always wanted to go back to the same place so it would be a nice change.

Right, enough with the procrastination.....better crack on.

mumblingtaff

Well, I completely got carried away....
Haven't touched the conservatory yet but I have decluttered two wardrobes of anything that isn't hanging up (sounds like a small job but took ages!) and have reorganised all of my shoes. I didn't realise - I'm like Imelda Marcos!! I have 9 - yes 9! - pairs of boots (2 pairs that are brand new Xmas presents) let alone shoes. All of the boots are now neatly arranged in the bottom of the spare room wardrobe and the shoes similarly done in my bedroom wardrobe. The shelves in the wardrobes are also now all sorted and neat and tidy. Clothes need doing again (seem to have done this recently but perhaps it was 6 months ago) but I then got into cleaning. The whole house (apart from the conservatory which is the next job) has been hoovered and dusted, moving all of the furniture etc not just round the middle, the bathrooms have been cleaned, carpets shampooed where needed, plants watered and the bins and kitchen cleaned.
As if by fate, the new curtains and cushions for the living room arrived at lunchtime and I'm really pleased with them. The cushions are out already and I'll possibly attempt ironing and hanging the curtains later on.

Just catching my breath before I tackle the conservatory - the dog seems much better so I've cancelled the vet appointment and will take him to the park when the cleaning is done

mumblingtaff

Am finally going to have a sit down !
The conservatory looks tons better, glad I tackled it now even though it was hard work - the dog uses it as a corridor to the garden and it's forever getting muck trekked back through it. Have chucked a few things that were in there too so it looks less cluttered. Been to the recycling centre with a boot full of stuff to get rid of, so another good job out of the way.
Then took the dog to the waterpark on the way back for a big walk for some fresh air and exercise - the light was amazing and the setting sun was something quite special. BUT, it was very muddy and therefore a dog bath followed.... Never mind, all done now.
I've decided not to go to the gym today but to go first thing tomorrow instead. After virtually no sleep, a mega clean and a big walk I'm quite tired and I don't want to demotivate myself by having a rubbish session. A good night's sleep and a potter round this evening should set me up for a much better session in the morning.

With regards to the rest of the week, here's a little list of things I'd like to/need to do.....
1. Gym minimum of 5 times. done
2. Clean the inside of the car
3. Cinema using free tickets
4. Group dog walk done
5. Women's group walk done
6. Hang new curtains - done
7. Sort clothes and do a charity shop run - done
8. Buy new black work shoes or try to revive old ones
9. Write assessment policy
10. Write review
11. Book summer holiday done
12. Arrange decoration of the hall and stairs - done
13. Declutter the study done[
14. Finish reading a book done
15. Watch Britney Runs a Marathon - done
16. Finish watching You done

I'm sure I'll think of other things too and will add them in as they crop up.
6 days of freedom left......

joeyjimbles

Great achievements already.
I have other wardrobes to do, and the understairs cupboard which I'm fairly sure was on my list to do last Christmas/New Year but if I did it - and I'm not convinced that I did - then it was a rubbish attempt and it needs to be done again. I'm slightly of the mind that I might just go in there with Charity donation bags and bin bags and get rid of the entire contents as clearly they are non-essential in the day-to-day scheme of things. Don't think either of the boys need the step for the toilet anymore given the youngest is 15 and almost 6ft!!

Pink_Butterfly

Blimey MT, I’m worn out reading all that!!!!

Happy_Monday

Oh my goodness MT you’ve put me to shame you’ve been so busy! Hope you sleep better tonight.

Glad pup is feeling better, that’s good news.

I didn’t realise there was a new series of You, I enjoyed the first series even if it was a bit dark in places.

Good call not going to the gym, if I work out when I know I’m too tired and have a rubbish workout it always really demotivates me.

Enjoy the rest of your time off and good luck working through the list! X

mumblingtaff

Hi Joey, Pink and Happy!
Joey, I think your idea of just binning stuff is a good one - I might use it in the study - it's all old work stuff that I hadn't looked at in years, old schemes of work etc, the bloody GCSEs have changed so I don't know why I'm keeping it, probably because it all took so long to do in the first place.
Happy - the second series of You is just as dark, I'm about halfway through now. Worth a watch.

So.... The big news.....
I've been to the gym this morning and had a really good session - took 2 mins off my 5km run time, did a good bit of cycling and a competitive 5 min all out rowing session with a bloke and beat him
But, the most pleasing thing is that I ventured back on to the scary fancy weighing machine and have lost another 3lbs . That's 6lbs in total since finishing work on the 19th. Well chuffed with that! I'm hoping to lose another lb by Monday to make it a nice round half stone over Xmas. The sweat and stiffness is paying off

Today's plans are...
1. Do a big dog walk later (done one this morning already)
2. Hang the new curtains
3. Pop to the shop for some bread and a couple of household things
4. Check the finances/banking
5. Phone mum
6. Start sorting the study
7. Do a darks wash
8. Stay in tonight and watch Britney Runs A Marathon (supposed to be very good)

Right, I'm still a sweaty mess so I'm off into the bath with my book for a soak.

mumblingtaff

Had a fairly productive day so far - have walked the dog (to the vets to pick up more anti dribbly bum medication, he's relapsed a little bit) and then again this afternoon to make the most of the sunny day. Have also hung the two pairs of new living room curtains with a bit of a struggle - it's a difficult job to do alone they look nice though. All the other little chores on the list are done too apart from starting to sort the study - might crack on with that in a bit.

I started watching the last couple of episodes of You with lunch and then had to see it through to the end. It's really good - especially the last two episodes - stick with it Happy and you won't be disappointed. A real twist at the end