2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

mark55man

Thank you @Humdinger1 - yes we are coping OK and everything is organised.  Will cast a bit of a downer on our long planned city break this weekend, but on the other hand a bit of a break will be good for the soul.  

In other news, handyman will come in on Monday and do the downstairs room.  Which will be 2 out of 10 on the long term plan

KajiKita

Hope the break gives you a lift and that the works on Monday go well. 

KK

mark55man

Room 2 finished - the handyman did a great job, even if a week late and OH is very pleased.  Just need to relocate
the furniture and we can have a "new" space to enjoy.

mark55man

Going back to work is getting a bit real, have a return to work planning call in a week or so then going back late November.  Already got a queue forming for my services which is flattering but also a tad worrying !!.

Reporting back from Paris - we had a lovely if damp time - did a lot of art viewing, my favorite the Pompidou Centre's modern art - the Louvre and D'Orsay(?) were a little stuffy - lots of statues and sculptures in all which were very striking - although OMG they do love their nudity in their artworks even the religious ones - I was blushing

Averaged 10k steps over the 4 days so that's OK - did a boat trip and walking - we chose a central 3* hotel rather than a better but more distant one.  That worked, and more by luck than judgement we were close to a whole square and surrounding streets full of eateries.  Steak Frites, Tarte Tatin and Croissants were consumed and the cafe au lait went down well, although a pression (beer) or two was also consumed. 

Didn't really need cash money but was useful as a precaution although didn't get it till last minute and paid a bit of a premium.  Was just what OH and I needed!!

mark55man

Monday weigh in - spent last week losing the couple of pounds I put on during my break.  Will really try in November to get ahead of the December temptations

Steps - Now I have had my garmin device for just over a year so the yearly display is now adding new step but removing steps from a year ago.  My annual total was 1.49 million (4.1K daily average) , so my initial target is to get that now rolling average above 1.5m.  Fortunately this time last year was quite lazy so I should be able to do that by sticking to my 5K target.

Humboldt

@mark55man thank you for sharing your trip to Paris with us.  Even 'Paris in the rain' sounds lovely.  I continue to admire your determination with the healthier lifestyle choices.

savingholmes

It's good that you have return to work planning. Your head can start getting back in gear. The idea of having a queue after such a long break is slightly concerning but must make your feel valued too. 

alt80

I thought you’d retired mate, are you going back full time or part time?

We went to Paris last year as a family, it was great although it was dominated by going to Disneyland, luckily didn’t stay there, ha. Would definitely like to go back and spend longer in the city. 

mark55man

thank you SH & Alt

No not retired, that's next years plan just a sabbatical for health, political and financial reasons.

Will let you know how it goes when I get back into it

mark55man

So had our final weekend city break of the year. Went to London and spent the time eating or walking or seeing shows.  We were based near the Shard not an area I know well, but enjoyed Borough Market and the slightly edgier vibe.  Also saw youngest but 1 for a pub meal where her Uni friend was the chef - it was fabulous and better than one of the posher restaurants we visited as a treat

A busy week at work next week, back with a bang, but the money will be nice.  Ho hum where did 6 months go,  I will be back until the end of the tax year and then I might spend another few months working taxfree.  I approve of the budget changes, but working at Basic rate make pension contributions over what I need to get a matching contribution from the company only marginally more efficient, which means I will be taking more out as income but have not decided quite what to do with them.

Have half paid the debt I owed the social enterprise looking after my youngest so only £3K to go, also have peaked spend on 0% card to stretch my savings a little further until pay day.  It's not that pretty but will get back to normal before I tackle it, although we will be getting money from sale of FIL's house when that happens so its all covered in the long term

My rolling annual steps total is now over 1500000 thanks largely to London walking.  I will keep that up and set my next target as a rolling 1.75m.  Which is 250000 steps over the equivalent period last year.  I will aim to do 3500 steps a day over last year (about 7500 per day average) and I should reach target by early next year

I haven't had the courage to weigh myself since coming back from my break, I think I will put it off a week or two and try to be good in the interim