Prosperous soul, mortgage neutrality & creativity Year 2

mark55man

Love Banksy.  If you are ever in Bristol you can do a Graffiti tour which includes a good number of his early ones.  Was £20 for 2 very enjoyable hours of walking and pointers to a range of good looking pubs

 

savingholmes

Thanks EH, Humdinger1, Mark and Jwil. I know someone I could visit near Bristol so it could be something we do together.

I made up some time today which was good. I owed 4.5 hours but back to 3 now. DD being away made it so much less distracting. I am getting back on top of the kitchen too after she returned all the crockery and cutlery and kitchen knives she had been holding ransom! I have been slowly removing the xmas decs. The tree is now down and all but one thing from the living room. I just have the outside lights left to do now. I then need to give them a home and put them there.

I've ordered some new door latches in the hope my fantastic cleaner can fit it in the kitchen for me where it is just refusing to behave. My patio door will lock and unlock from the outside but is now refusing to unlock from the inside. That feels like a fire hazard to me so I am finding that stressful even though it only started today. Utube thinks it's an easy fix though so I'm hoping she can resolve that as well - preferably without me buying anything new for that. I'm trying to put off having my handyman back for another month or two if I can. Will see how it goes.

One of my siblings wants me to go and visit her in her new house so debating whether to do that the weekend after this one. However, as per TU discussion - there's a lot going on at work at the moment so I may need to delay that until Feb if I wanted to take an extra day off to compensate.

I've been pondering what BM suggested before Xmas as to whether or not I really want to lose the weight and say start dating again or whether the weight is a useful barrier to feeling obligated to do so. Discussed that with my counsellor too. I came to the conclusion that it is just a comfortable barrier that I now need to start eroding - regardless of whether or not I then decide to date or not. My main reason for wanting to lose weight is health. However, a load of £2 choc seashells jumped into my trolley at Asda. At that price it felt rude not to! I'd like to tell you they'd make useful gifts for others but the chance of them surviving that long seems remote... I had to do a last minute prescription plea today but thankfully it worked hence my visit to Mr A that resulted in me spending £12 on said seashells and about £3 on milk and some sweets.

I made a mini list of things I could do to improve my health and wellbeing which includes finding a chiropractor/osteopath. I can reclaim up to £375 on that. I'm also considering going for a series of massages as part of dealing with long term tension knots. I know in theory massage can be nice - I remember it as quite painful when I last went years ago as the knots were so ingrained. I can't reclaim those but could see someone I've seen before for £25 for half an hour or £45 for an hour. 

Hope you are all doing well.

I did my gas read today - and I think even with the higher use in December it's going to be below £215 which given I budgeted £230 each for Dec and Jan (on top of elec) doesn't feel too bad. BG still haven't produced December's elec bill which is annoying given they only do it quarterly anyway! My new smart meter seems to be about right for the time of year so that's something at least. 

WelshmansDaughter

I've had a similar problem with knots and massage, def don't go for deep tissue! 

Blackcats

Amazing photos - looks like a wonderful exhibition.
It seems right to focus on health and well-being in a holistic way rather than just seeking to diet.

lucielle

I find a sports massage works though it can be painful the day after, I’d describe it as a ‘good’ pain. 

L

SandyShores

Another one here that finds the deep tissue massages too painful, but I've also had massages where there's been an almost total lack of pressure.  I've found a good one now, who does aromatherapy massage.  When I need a treatment I see a chiropractor who uses a variety of treatments including massage and acupuncture. 

MovingForwards

Perhaps think of a better reason for losing the weight, a smaller goal to begin with and the overall reason is for health. Maybe there's a spectacular item of clothing only going to the size below what you are. As with most things though it requires a lot of willpower, which combined with a stress event is a bad mix for pushing us off and not returning until months later.

Acupuncture is great for relaxation, I wonder if you'd find a few hours at a spa or something beneficial and a starting point.

savingholmes

Thanks all started with moisturising. Baby steps.

This morning hung my clothes up. Made bed. Took some masking tape down.... Little things that add up.

Told family member about laptop today and they are thrilled. Just need to arrange to get it wiped and then across to them. 

Pay day Friday. Looking forward to that.

skint_spice

Good start towards self care. 

greent

A good Massage of knots is almost guaranteed to bring on some pain the next day - but, as Lucille says, it's  a 'good' pain. If it's a bad pain it's been done badly (I once had a student massage me so badly I couldn't then massage anyone myself for a week, meaning I had to cancel all my clients)  and if there's no pain at all with relieving knots it may not actually have been effective enough - what I call an 'airy fairy'massage 

That's good of you to help out with the laptop x