A new royal start

Bluegreen143

@QueenJess can you not phone in sick? That’s what I’d do tbh. You can’t do anything about kids and sleep, but you can take sick leave when you’re dealing with illness in the house!

QueenJess

Well what a nightmare. I reached breaking point last week dealing with everything and once DD was asleep (and DH was in the house looking after everyone), I just left and drove around for a while to just get out for a while. 

After DH got the same sickness bug as DS which took him out for 3 days, I was so careful the whole time. Moved into a different room, didn’t share towels etc, washed everything, cleaned my hands a billion times, but I started to feel sick in the early hours of Friday morning and it completely took me out. I have done nothing but lie in bed since and DH is doing everything and taken the kids out. I am still off work today and I didn’t eat for three days so am really weak now and struggling to eat much even today. I’m so run down it’s impossible to fight this off. It’s very frustrating.

MagicCat

So sorry to hear this @QueenJess, hope you're feeling a bit better today.

There's some horrible things going round, we all had a stomach bug at the end of last week. DH (who is not good with illness) is still lying on the sofa finding it hard to move or eat, telling me I 'can't imagine how painful his stomach cramps are'. Why, yes, I can - both because I have a) had the same bug and b)given birth 3 times, which I can safely say is far worse.

QueenJess

I’m pretty much all better now, although not eating quite as much as I used to. After a reasonable rest in that time, I did have time to think (like you do when on holiday) and I definitely need to refocus on a bit less stuff to do day to day and having time to relax/enjoy. I would love to have a bit of a simpler life with less to do day to day.

Anyway, I am attempting to take things a bit easier at the moment and keep a focus on how I feel before I get swept up in the usual day to day things.

One thing I have been doing for years is decluttering and it really is saving me time. When I was ill, DH was just trying to keep everyone alive. Although the place wasn’t immaculate, it really didn’t take long to tidy after all my years of decluttering. So I will continue to target any problem areas (no timeline.. just whenever it fits in). I think the next up will be DD’s bedroom as I need to resort all her clothes again and get rid of the ones that don’t fit. It’s getting a bit of a mess.

Lots to do and I am actively not thinking about it and just concentrating on one thing at a time. Definitely more relaxing. Currently I am very slowly working on getting my inbox under control and once that’s done I will start something else. There’s always something to do anyway. We did book a very short 5 day holiday in the UK for August. It was so awful with DS we haven’t been for years, but I’m hopeful DD will be ok as she at least sleeps on her own! I’ve also booked a couple of day/half day things in with DS so far. I will keep looking for nice things to do.

Very surprisingly, I am no longer expected to be made redundant next year as they are changing their plans. Probably still not a forever job, but this is very unexpected. I don’t think this changes my plans, but there is a potential to ask for part time next year now (I can still stick with the plan and leave if they say no). Something to think about, but no rush as I can’t hand my notice in until March.

So today I am currently ignoring the fact that I’m likely to have to throw food away from the fridge given my long illness. It just is what it is and just couldn’t really be avoided… just one of those things. To avoid being overwhelmed, I am going through it little by little as I work through using up what I can. I now plan to try and use up the freezers, cupboards and fridge and start again. There’s too much lurking around the back! Will take quite a few months I am sure!

Food for today… breakfast was porridge with fresh raspberries and blueberries from the fridge. Lunch was a salad using things found in the fridge/cupboards (spinach/salad leaves, tinned mackerel, new potatoes, boiled egg, radish, chives from garden, sun dried tomatoes) and I will find some frozen mango/pineapple to have with some yogurt as a snack later. Dinner is pizza with carrot and cucumber sticks. Pudding is the orange and apricot loaf cake that is currently in the oven and I will drizzle with orange icing later (I had both apricots and oranges to use up).

themadvix

Glad you’re feeling better Jess and really glad you’ve realised you need to cut yourself some slack - there’s only so much time in the day and you’ve got to enjoy some of it as well as get things done.

 Good news about work too- at least it might give you options.

QueenJess

So this is the second day of a more relaxing day whilst still somehow managing to get things done.

DS had an inset day today, but I had lots of work to do. In the morning I changed the beds and got all the washing on, then started work for the morning. In breaks I hung out the washing and then when I finished for lunch DH, DS and I went to the local farm shop cafe for a lovely relaxed lunch and DS loved his new activity book (I have a stash of them I bring out for holidays etc). It kept him very quiet over lunch. We also bought a couple of treats from the farm shop, including a steak and ale pie for dinner over the weekend.

Somehow I managed to finish a huge amount of work this afternoon whilst I packed DS and DH off to one of their favourite destinations together in the car (they love driving). They picked up DD on the way home and then we all played with DD and she stuffed herself with the cake I made yesterday. Then DH took DD to bed and I made dinner (fish and chips). Whilst I was waiting for it to cook I took some tomato plants to a neighbour that I’d promised and sowed some micro greens for the kitchen window sill. We had a lovely relaxing dinner and now are all sat down together watching a recorded TV programme together on the sofa whilst we work up an appetite for cake for pudding.

Aim totally complete today. No, not everything is done, but huge work frog swallowed, washing done, beds changed, other plant jobs completed and spent lots of time with family. Job done! Just need to manage this everyday now!

MagicCat

It sounds a well deserved lovely day!

QueenJess

I’m still trying to try and relax more, but it is definitely not an ingrained habit yet. Been out at a summer fair and in town today for lunch and then the park, which was nice. I haven’t been doing loads of household chores and just quickly doing what I can in a spare few moments (like when dinner is cooking), but actually all the washing is done and away and the house is a bit tidier than usual. So clearly it does work for me.

Dinner today was tofu teriyaki stir fry with veg I discovered in the fridge (carrots, peppers, summer greens, sweetcorn and kohlrabi) and rice. Pudding was cake, which has nearly gone thanks to DD who absolutely loves it! Her little eyes light up when she sees it.

DH is complaining he feels ill like food poisoning, but we’ve all eaten the same thing and feel fine. I really hope that goes soon as I really need a normal week. All these illnesses and other things are stressful and chaotic and I’ve only got 3 weeks left to get all my work done now. I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’m now putting my feet up and will be able to watch what I want on TV (probably McDonald and Dodds).

Kids are all clean and now I have more time I’m trying to get DS to be more independent. He just needs some encouragement as he is a bit lazy otherwise. The last free sample bath bubbles have been used up and we are now onto zero waste bubble bars instead. DS is very excited that he just had a bright pink bath 😂.

I picked two full breakfast bowls of red currants today and I’m not even halfway through what was still there today. It might take me a while to pick the rest and even longer to eat our way through it! Sadly the peas don’t look like they survived a bit of a drought whilst I was ill, but the rest of the garden is looking good and I just found two cucumbers! This is brilliant timing as DS has just decided that he loves cucumber and wants to eat it all the time.  I still need to go out to tie things up, deadhead, sow salad/herb seeds and a million other little jobs. Might use them as little tasks to do when I have natural breaks from work in the week. 

QueenJess

Oh - I still am two months behind on checking finances to budget. It might take me a while to catch up there, but I’ve made a start. Gave me something to do on my phone whilst I was stuck with a feeding baby at random times of night. 

QueenJess

It’s been a long week. I’ve got a big project to finish before I go off for 4 weeks and I only have 2 weeks left now, so I am working quite intensively to get it done. I’m trying to retain some work life balance by getting washing done in the day as well as spending time planning and making nice food. With only two weeks left it’s getting slightly stressful now!

Not been up to much apart from that. I desperately need to get into the garden to do a few things, but just don’t have the time at the moment. I have booked DS into a holiday club for the end of the holidays and booked his after school club for the autumn term. A big expense, but it’s another thing off the list of things to do.

I’ve also spent a bit this week. I got some fun activity books for DS to do over the holidays, including some to help with maths/English so he doesn’t forget everything over the holidays. I’ve also bought myself a new to me rucksack as mine was too big and annoying to get things out of for days out (every second counts when you have an impatient shouty baby!). I also bought a lunch box bag as it contains the kids snacks much better and makes it easier and quicker to get out of the rucksack. You can also put ice packs in and as DS needs to take a pack lunch for holiday club, it can double up for that. Seems silly, but these tiny things whilst seemingly frivolous improve my life quite a bit! I also treated myself to a day to day bag.. technically not needed but I do love it and will use it - it was 2nd hand and just £5.

Lots of cooking/baking this week as I’ve been trying to eat really well and also use up all the stores I have so I can start afresh with a clean slate and probably defrost the fridge freezer. Highlights were definitely an epic salad I made for lunch during the week (feta, beetroot, mixed leaves, micro greens, home grown cucumbers that were brilliant, cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, radishes, red onion and probably other things that I’ve forgotten!), cheese and spinach pasties that everyone likes and ate (we have some left over for tomorrow’s lunch) and an apple, raspberry and red currant crumble served with vegan cream.

Friday seems to be my official baking day during my lunchtime so I can be prepared for the weekend.

Today we popped out this morning to the garden centre to feed the massive fish. We are sheltering this afternoon because it’s a bit hot for the kids (and me!). I’m not looking forward to having to go to work on Tuesday as DH is away and I’m on child duty, but it’s also going to be really hot and I’ll be in a room with lots of people and no air con. I might melt away..

Anyway, everything is relatively under control here and the kids have started eating way more fruit and veg which I will definitely encourage! Lunch was the cheese and spinach pasties with a salad (cucumber sticks and grapes for the kids), followed by hm chocolate chip cookies. Dinner will be salmon stir fry with rice and as much veg as I can use from the fridge! Pudding is the crumble and cream or ice cream for the kids.

I hope everyone is surviving the heat.