NST May Challenge Living on the planet of the teddy bears

mothernerd

Done a little totting up and am on £194.14/ £400 Food and £55.99 Miscellaneous (today's spending has gone down as miscellaneous although some was food). I am on NSD 8 and will still be on 8 at the end of today - went to do the plastic tat order for mum, realised phone wasn't charged (on list but not done) so found a charger and set it off, put mum's details in and when payment was redirected to her bank it failed because the phone wasn't sufficiently charged for the OTC to get through. Left the order on one side, then tried again when phone was nearly fully charged, had to put details in again (and it turned midnight as I did that) - went straight to an error page. In the end I paid with my card so mum owes me £59.24 (plastic tat plus parts of today's shopping when I paid but it was things for mum). Plastic tat has not been added to my misc total because it was a whim of mum's after I'd decided on my budget for the month - we received a copy of the catalogue in the post and I put it straight in junk mail bin, but another was included with her tv guide.

ldee2111

Liked the quote you shared @mothernerd. I’ll need to use this.
“When I struggle I just say I'm having a character building day”  Hal Newball

ditty1234

Morning all, after a serious review I have had to acknowledge that I am aspiring to too many hobbies, and other non income activities. I am not sure how to prioritise. But I think an important factor are1 things that helps my concentration on just being good old me, and the other one things that keep me social and supports the dwindling extrovertness in my life. And then both do byte size and more dedicated timeslots on the weekends. Problem solved. 
So this morning I started by getting up, do my journal, made a to do list, vacuumed the whole house and some bits, so I can now get on with all of the fun stuff. The vacuuming was after spending over an hour on just basic tidying - mainly after myself and the week gone by. 

So here is my list:
Tidy - done
Clean - done
Laundry - two first batches done
Do a 60 min writing meditation(my ongoing project - identifying themes I am interested in) -
Walk dog - done
Do some editing of a previous text - done
Plan food for next week -
Delete emails - 
Glass recycling - 
Cook dinner - 
Gardening (a bit wet for now) - a bit
Book indoor and outdoor swim - 
Plan a day out in Cambridge next Saturday - done
4 miles wake up run after 2 week break, and yoga/strength/stretch - done
Book holiday in July - 
Work on CV/job things  and plan (the rest of) my life - 
Find and join local art/textile/conceptual art group and a writing group - 
Catch up on work things - 
(Oh forgot: driving instructor - take ds2 out for a spin, as his test is this week - fingers crossed) - well I booked the insurance and then he fell asleep the poor thing!

So as you can see once I have done all of the things on this list it will probably be Tuesday. But I will probably get a few done. And obviously all of these tings must be done on the cheap, sustainably and when possible with other people. 
I am not managing many NSD days and my budget is stretched and worn, but luckily I still have work coming in so I am still paying for stupid stuff like speeding awareness course (Oh boy do I want to get a local job, so I don't have to drive) a passport and a take out when I went to see ds 1 and a takeout yesterday when it was suddenly ds2 's last day of school ever - and no celebration in place. Grateful he wanted to celebrate it with me and grateful for a lovely quiet weekend to do mememe* things. 
*I think I want to start doing some volunteering, but I will do that once boys have moved out completely. So far I am still out there working a bit to keep us all warm and happy. 

Buffythedebtslayer

mothernerd said:

Weather has changed and my mood has lifted. Not very mobile and felt overwhelmed by all the things that 'need' doing so sat making lists (outdoor jobs, things in town, at my house, shopping needed and everything else). Plumped for going to town and doing what I can. Phoned for a taxi and took the walker so have deposited more than half the charity shop items. Went to Wilko for various diy bits, washing up gloves (only a single in the cupboard), sticky labels to help with the filing. Bought a meal deal from B**ts (sorry but it was nearly 3 pm and I hadn't had lunch) and medical masks for mum as she finds those easier, decided in favour of buying my puzzle book rather than going to put money in the bank and everything else can wait for another day. Ate my sandwich on a bench in a quiet part of the bus station (nice little outing altogether). 
Put the washing out on the line before I went and locked mum in so she didn't do anything daft - she's ahd two days resting to recover from chair gardening (she chopped all the daffodil leaves off but I didn't bother arguing about it) and is feeling a lot better today so normally she starts charging around  and then is back to square one. I'm back on the bed, stretching my back, waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in, will rest awhile then tackle the filing if I'm not up to anything more strenuous. Will tot up figures later (quite a bit of I owe mum for abc, she owes me for xyz) and still have to do the plastic tat order.
Grateful for reducing the amount of stuff to go to  the charity shop, a good afternoon, achieving quite a lot when i didn't really feel up to it.

Mothernerd, you are really impressive you know. You get so much done. Mum and I constantly owe each other money and her filing.........makes me cry! I need to do the list thing too. Our garden is a nightmare. 
Hope this finds you well with nice food XX 

lcc86

@facethemusic I have decided to commit to not working over my hours from now on. Whether that's starting late, long lunch or leaving early, I will be more strict about taking time back! I will mention the reduction in hours to OH so that it's out there but will see how I go.

No NSD here, I needed petrol as going to visit parents tomorrow afternoon. OH has treated us to a healthy-ish takeaway tonight. I also didn't get called in to work so managed to get loads of housework done too.

ldee2111

Still on NSD 3/15.

£44.19 on groceries and £6 on ice creams after a 5 mile walk through woodland and village. I was so impressed with DS managing it. The ice cream definitely spurred him on in the last mile. 

Grateful for grocery deliveries and the folk doing the job of delivering, seeing family, a dry day and a great walk. 

f0xh0les

NSD 10 over here in the land of 50% of the FA Cup final.  Honestly, there is hardly a person driving on the roads or walking the streets. Ghost Town.

Housewifery stuff achieved. Massive tray of roast veg made and will do for quick and tasty salady lunches during the week.

Menus  for the week  planned, very very tiny shopping list made.  Lost a lb.

Gave blood yesterday - it is cold with those doors open so take a cardi pr a warm coat if you are able to donate. They were running late, so I got cold sitting for 40 minutes beforehand, then cold whilst being drained in a draught, then cold whilst having a pint of squash and a biscuit. I was very happy to escape to my nice warm car but took ages afterward to feel 'normal' again. Booked for next session in 4 months.  Good deed of the week achieved. 

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for getting out for an early walk, for good coffee, for a great video chat with step ds + dil + gs, for discovering a 2nd hand book selling place at a nearish primary school and all of us getting several books, for dh cooking awesome steak and chips for tea.

Thrifty_Taylor

Still on nad#9
Went for a 3 mile walk with hubby, then headed to town. A whizz round the supermarkets with mum, then listed some things on a local FB page. Took her for her second vaccine, then when at home I moved the trampoline frame & assembled it all ready for use. A bit of sewing for work after tea, then finished hand stitching the paw pads & ears on a bear. Have quite a few sewing jobs to do for people next week in the evenings, so  will keep me busy. Had a letter through with an appointment to see the anaesthetist at the hospital, so looks like my wisdom teeth removal will be very soon!
Grateful for helping mum put, a sunny day, another job on the garden completed 

Toni'sfriend

Another couple of NSDs so now I'm on 12.

Sorry for not checking in as much as usual. I don't seem to be 100% this week. OK one minute and really ropey the next and I feel so tired that I have to have a nap. Feeling a bit off at the moment but I hope I'll pick up later.