Building towards a complete life overhaul....might take a while but determined to do it

mumblingtaff

Good morning!
Up early as the dog can't work out that it's Sunday and gets up at his usual time regardless.
Been on stand by all night for my elderly neighbour - his dad is 97 and has been taken from his care home to hospital and he's been told that its very serious and they could call him anytime to go in to be with him at the end. My neighbour is in his 70s himself and has literally nobody else locally - he never married or had children and lived with his parents and really is quite vulnerable (he also has cancer himself). It's so sad - I've promised to take him whenever he gets the call as I don't want him worrying about taxis and getting there, finding the ward etc so have slept with one ear open for the phone. Nothing yet though - I'll ring him at 8ish to see how things are. He's shielding, and has been since March apart from hospital stays and appointments, and will chat in the garden sometimes but prefers the phone as he feels safer. There's always someone worse off than you.

Anyway, I have a few things to do today - here's a little list to keep me on the straight and narrow...

• Walk the dog x3
• Mark mock exam papers (half done so far)
• Dye my hair
• Ironing
• Clean the conservatory (or the dog corridor to the garden as it's not used for anything else!)
• Tidy the airing cupboard
• Sort out a storage box 
• Clean out the bathroom cabinet
• Try to tick off one or two small tasks from the giant list of work things that need doing

As I know now that I'll be moving next year. I've been tackling small jobs in the house - things like sorting through cupboards etc and getting rid of anything I don't really need or use. Did two kitchen cupboards last night - a rock and roll Saturday lockdown evening in! I really want to have a minimalist house by Xmas and I'm not a clutter lover now - there'll be nothing left......

I also managed to get rid of my old TV yesterday - I posted it on the Facebook group for my little estate and asked for a donation to the Poppy Appeal for it and it was snapped up in 5 mins and collected within the hour. £30 to the appeal too - a winner all round for everyone.

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Productive day planned. I'm amazed at how long it takes to spot stuff out- we did it over the summer but we still have a garage and 2 sheds to go through! I sympathise, l have a very vocal cat who likes to wake us at their breakfast time 🙄 usually about 4am!

Honeysucklelou2

Great to read your news MT. Feb half term isn’t too far away and amazing that you will be able to start the next chapter of your life in Spring 😀. Well done on making that decision.

mumblingtaff

Hello Daydreamer and Honeysuckle!
Have been busy all day - literally didn't stop until around 7ish.
Managed to get everything on the list done except dyeing my hair and sorting the airing cupboard - but in my defence I decided to leave the dye a few more days and use the root cover up stuff I have to try to dye it just once between now and when hopefully the salons open again (already have a provisional appointment made) and instead of the airing cupboard I sorted through a small chest of drawers, a bed side cabinet, a storage box and the bathroom cabinet. Found stuff I forgot I had including 5 pairs of varying colour leather or suede gloves, brand new hat and scarf sets and toiletries to get used up. Have also got a another charity bag to drop off at some point. A good job done.
Managed to get a load of school work done this morning too - all the marking done and loads of smaller jobs and admin sorted, about 4-5 hours in total this morning but feel more ready for the week now.

Also took the dog for a 5k walk to test how my knee is - it feels much better but I can't run yet so thought I'd walk the equivalent of a shorter run and see how it felt. Had a bit of a tired leg by the end but not too much pain thankfully.
Had another shorter walk after tea and it held up ok.

Made a casserole and dumplings for tea that turned out really well and there's a large portion in the fridge for later in the week. Not like me - I think I can't cook but everything somehow turns out edible and often quite nice ! Think its just the pressure of cooking for others that has put me off in the past.

Watched some more of The End of the F**king World on Netflix with lunch and tea - really like it and only watched it on a whim yesterday. Would recommend it if dark humour is your thing. 
Done a face scrub and mask, the ironing and got clothes ready for the week so I'm all set to go now. It'll no doubt be another long, hard b*gger of a time..... Onwards and upwards......

mumblingtaff

Just a quick one - work has been bonkers again so far this week - it gets worse with COVID cases and lack of staff etc.

But the good news is that I went for a physio session this evening and it has really helped. I have another appointment next Thursday and have "homework" to do but for the first time in ages I feel hopeful that I will run again! Its all muscular according to the physio and can be built back up and repaired and strengthened over time. I left feeling much better about it all even though I'd been well and truly pummelled!
Hurrah!

hoopergal

Gosh, it’s so exciting to hear about your plan! I just thought I’d pop in to wish you all the best! 

mumblingtaff

hoopergal said:

Gosh, it’s so exciting to hear about your plan! I just thought I’d pop in to wish you all the best! 

Thank you! Scary but exciting

Was starting to flag a little bit last night after 4 really long hard days at work and then saw DIY SOS which was from quite close to where I'm from. The accents, coastline and people gave me another spurt of determination to get this done.
Ploughed through another demanding difficult day at work today and now its the weekend at last....
I'm ready to leave tomorrow but have to bide my time for another 5 months before I can walk away and 3 months until I tell them that I'm going - can't wait!

One good thing is that its pay day - usually I'd do the accounts and moving money around straight away but I'm too knackered tonight so will do it in the morning when I can think straight.
Another positive is that I left school almost straight away tonight so managed to take the dog to the park for a run around in the daylight rather than a walk around the streets on the lead in the dark. The dogwalker takes him for a really long run every day and then keeps him with her for a hour or two and I walk him at 5 am and when I get home from work and another short one after tea but its good to see him out playing with other dogs during the week. Makes me happy

Have cleaned right through downstairs tonight so its one less job to do tomorrow - will no doubt do a list in the morning.....
Time for a bit of telly and wine then a big sleep .....

enthusiasticsaver

Fantastic news for you and your plans sound good.  I am sure your family will love having you back home near them again and to be out of a job you are not happy in and be mortgage free  with a buffer sounds wonderful.  What an exciting year 2021 will be for you. 

mumblingtaff

Thank you Enthusiastic!

Had a little lie in this morning until 7.30 - the dog was up a bit in the night with an upset stomach so we had an extra snooze. He seems ok, just off his food a bit. He has a bit of a delicate tummy so its not unusual for him. We've been for a longish walk and to Aldi and Pets at Home (his favourite place in the world!) and will make the most of the break in the rain to get out for a good walk and some sunlight and fresh air after lunch.

Have done the finances this morning and made the most of my back pay - have paid more than normal off the interest free credit card and its now at just £750 to go, paid more off the Next account (just £200 left now) and have put almost £600 into the savings account. I could pay more off the card but I want to make sure there's money put aside and will try to economise a bit more this month and whatever is left over can go off the card. It will be paid off before I finish work
The grocery budget is £180 for the month including all food, dog food, toiletries and household stuff. I didn't need anything other than the basics this week as I'm trying to use up bits in the freezer and there's plenty of toiletries and cleaning stuff etc left - I did go mad and splash £2.99 on some moisturiser from Aldi as mine has just run out but other than that there's enough smellies to see me through the next week or two. So £23 spent in Aldi and £6 at Pets at Home - £29 in total, leaving £151 in the grocery budget for the month.
I've put £350 aside for day to day spending but hope that I won't need all of that - I have no big plans (we are in lockdown!) so, fingers crossed, I can squirrel some of that away too. Petrol budget is £75 and I'll put some in at the supermarket filling station tomorrow so its a bit cheaper than the one on the way to work.

I have a few chores to do today - have already done a load of washing and changed the bed and done a bit of cleaning but also want to continue the "Great House Sort out" - so today it will be two underwear drawers, 2 kitchen cupboards and, hopefully, the airing cupboard. The cupboard under the stairs needs tackling too - I'll see how I get on.
Definitely no school work today though - having a day off from it - so there!

mumblingtaff

Had quite a productive afternoon - had a nice walk for about 75 mins with the dog - good to be out in the daylight for once.
Spoke to my elderly neighbour for 30 mins - his 97 year old dad is thankfully recovering from Covid in hospital and may return to the care home on Tuesday, all being well. Rang mum too - so duty done there.
Then had a tidying and sorting session and managed the 2 underwear drawers (am ashamed of some of the stuff I found and threw out - almost as old as me!), two kitchen cupboards and the dog's toy box (much to his disgust).
Found two bottles of spirits that I'll never drink and so offered them on my estate's Facebook group and they were snapped up immediately so walked the dog again and delivered them - better than them going down the sink then in the recycling
Oh, and also gave the bathrooms a good scrubbing and done another load of washing.
Haven't managed the airing cupboard - that's a job for tomorrow now.
Feel like I'm getting somewhere with the general sorting out now - it's quite therapeutic getting rid of things.

Going to have a quiet night watching a bit of telly and plan tomorrow's efforts - I'm rubbish at doing nothing and sitting down.....