NST January 2023 Best Possible Me

grandmanerd

Sunday 8th January 2023

A Month of Positivity
31 Treats to Beat the January Blues ( a bit late so maybe pick 3 to schedule in, now or add to your me time in future)
1    Have a cathartic clear out
2    Treat yourself and buy winter blooms
3    Write a letter to a friend
4    Make your own hot chocolate
5    Take a canal or riverside walk
6     Buy a new blanket or resurrect an old one
7    Mix up your photos and paintings
8    Go out in the rain
9    Fill your home with candlelight
10  Make a date and meet a friend for cocktails
11  Pick up your camera (or phone) and take beautiful winter shots
12  Put aside time to watch a film you've wanted to watch for ages.


I'm going to take care of myself now. I'm going to practice saying NO without feeling bad about it. I'm going to make time to exercise, create, meditate and just be. I'm going to take better care of my body, my soul and my nerves and I'm not going to apologise for it
(Brooke Hampton)
 

grandmanerd

I spent £11.30 on food (tagged onto their order) and so I'm on 7 NSDs. I want to book a hotel for this funeral I'm going to - I have one picked out but can't bring myself to pay just yet. I need to, if I'm going I need to look after myself which means having somewhere to rest after travelling and somewhere to sleep after the funeral before making my way home.

Very weak and feeble yesterday. i went down for drinks and food later on (tin of soup, tin of baked beans, 2 tins of drained fruit. Finished off the fancy cheese and second pack of beetroot this morning. Chopping up a whole load of veg would be helpful but not sure I can manage (I have a craving for an omelette but not confident about standing up for that long - ah well I haven't run out of soup of beans yet - and there are prawns in the freezer if I feel ambitious). Lots of ideas, no get up and go so I'll stay here for a while (I still have the last of the large fruit yoghurts). I've had a shower, will smother myself in various creams and read a bit more of my book.

My next major effort is Tuesday when (fingers crossed please) the bungalow sale completes. DS3 has agreed to go with me and he'll walk back with the last 3 pieces of polytunnel frame and the mopping bucket. I'll check the post, do the final meter readings and drop the keys off at the Estate Agent's and if I have to taxi hop everywhere I will do so. Art therapy restarts (more funding came through) and I'd love to go but will see how I feel.

Grateful for my bed, peace and quiet (might be my ears, traffic is a quiet wash in the background), good books and a good series, simple easy food 

Toni'sfriend

Doing nos 2,4, 9 and 12, Grandmanerd. Will start concentrating on the others now.

NSD No 7

I have been wondering why the side of my nose was itching terribly and my eyes were streaming. I've lost the nosepad from my glasses and I'm allergic to the metal underneath. Himself is taking them to the optician tomorrow to be repaired (luckily I have a spare pair) whilst I wait in for the gas safety check man. Let's hope he turns up this time or, at least, lets us know he's not coming so I don't empty cupboards for no reason.

Made a huge sweet and sour chicken for dinner. The Boy is supposed to be coming for dinner but said to me last night he might not manage (he's got a new girlfriend! Pleased for him so don't really mind). There will be loads left. Oh well, it'll be another few easy dinners.

Spending the afternoon watching the Ale Guiness version o Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. So good!!

f0xh0les

Be kind to yourself on Tuesday mothernerd, oops, sorry, @grandmanerd (shut up apple!!)  There is something about locking up a house and knowing you will not be going back, that is strangely emotional...even if it is not your house.  It really surprised me, so plan something nice, just for you, for later on that day. Something properly comforting and indulgent.   You deserve to give yourself a reward, because selling a house is no small job on your own, don't forget to say 'well done' to yourself. I have everything crossed for a Tuesday completion for you.

Just made a pie and roast veg for lunch, as I was making pastry anyway, I made loads and have made a rectangle mincemeat and apple pie as well, with the last jar of mincemeat ( micemeat??) for this afternoon, and that can go into lunchboxes tomorrow too.  Decluttering and  forward planning.  Found two lost bags of 19p Xmas potatoes from before 'C-word', at least they were somewhere dark!  Will make a roast veg and sprout bubble and squeak tomorrow or Tuesday with the leftovers.

Today will be NSD6 as I am not leaving the hoose.  I am clearing and decluttering (a la today's instructions!), I have  also deployed the candles for the last 2 nights and am loving it, tonight I will have a hot chocolate surrounded by candles.

I am calm, I am in control, I have a plan.

facethemusic

8/1, still on NSD 5. 
Had to buy bread, and picked up YS veg for the rabbits (they rarely get full price veg), so decided as I'd lost the NSD I'd also sort out school dinner payment, swimming lessons and other bits like that. All in the budget but 😱 at paying them all at once! 
Makes sense to get them all out of the way, and the dinner payment should last beyond the February half term depending on how many packed lunches happen. 
I've recycled some glass, which I've been driving about with for a couple of weeks as the last time I tried the recycling skips were full and people had been piling bottles on the ground around them. I chose not to do that, but did mean the bag of bottles probably covered a few hundred miles before landing in the right place. 
The toiletries declutter has started- DD in the bath with a mass of bubbles and some bath bombs. I'm buying nothing unless I'm sure I'm on the last one of something. It's ridiculous how many bottles of bubbles/shower gel and soap we have. 
Hope the house sale completes as planned @grandmanerd, and everyone who has been unwell recovers quickly. 

DawnW

NSD #6 today. I am doing much better than usual, but that is probably only because I don't feel up to shopping

Not done much at all in fact - OH and I did find the code for the leaky velux window that needs replacing. OH went up the ladder while I relayed instructions on where to find it, wrote down the numbers and letters he called out, and then emailed them to the company, along with the other info they needed to give a quote. It was a bit of a mission because an old game rack with hanging pots and pans had to be removed first. I have left it down for now. I would prefer not to put it back after the skylight has been replaced, as the kitchen is much lighter without it, and I have rehomed the jam pan and other utensils in the larder, but OH disagrees. He may change his mind when the work is done, we will see.

I also cancelled my optician's appointment for Tuesday as I am sure they won't want me coughing all over them. I will remake when no longer coughing.

We are running short of some things and will need to shop either tomorrow or the next day, and before that I need to empty the car, as I brought back a lot of stuff from my sales space. It will want putting away properly too, which means carrying it from the garage at bottom of the garden to the top floor of the house   

We had cheese, biscuits and grapes for lunch, and shared a bit of chocolate orange (leftovers from Christmas) and OH made fishcakes for dinner. No parsley for them though, as it was decimated by the snow and freezing weather before Christmas. The chard and kale also look pretty dead. Not sure if anything will sprout in spring, or if they are properly dead.

lcc86

Evening turtles 

Yesterday OH and I drove to London, paid £15 for parking but that's probably still cheaper than paying for the train (plus trains weren't running properly yesterday either). We had fun at our pre-paid activity and then had lunch at Franco Manca (would recommend). I took some pizza home too as couldn't finish it so had that for dinner. Did a few jobs around the house in the afternoon as well.

Today I went to see my share pony, managed to dodge most of the rain. Didn't ride as my legs were aching from yesterday's workout, but we did go out for a walk.

Came home, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom including floors, emptied the bins, did three loads of washing, and cleaned the aquarium. Got everything done that I needed to do today. I accidentally pulled a curtain pole out of the wall so have dug out the filler and started patching it up. Will continue that tomorrow once the first coat is dry. Tomorrow is my non working day, I'm glad I got everything done already so I can just relax tomorrow. 

NSD's - up to 4 

Healthy food days - 5

Workouts this week - 8

grandmanerd

I will go cautiously f0xh0les  and thank you all for your good wishes. I have made some progress this afternoon - various sacks taken out to the bins, laundry moved on, made myself lunch of spicy bean burgers and veggie fingers - decided to cook them all and the ones I didn't eat will be reheated with a can of beans. However when I start to fade, I go down quickly. DS3 came down at 4 pm and wanted the couch back so I asked him to bring my suitcase and another large bag of clean washing upstairs first. 

Going to turn off the laptop and read in a minute. Will hang on a bit to take my last pill of the day but will soon be asleep.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for having my morning coffee in bed, for finishing some dregs of marking and emailing the relevant people with their marks, for dc enjoying bouldering, for my needle felted rabbit looking vaguely rabbity, for having a good book on the go.

firsview

Evening Turtles. Another one here keeping everything crossed for grandmanerds completion!
NSD today and a bonus as Dad has ‘too much money’ again so has given me the money for a handrail for my stairs. He has to go down backwards when he comes round (we live in a 3 storey townhouse and the living rooms are on the first floor) and I must admit I feel a little unsafe when I am carrying shopping up and there is that scary moment when I get to the top and feel I am going to topple backwards!
In other news DS2 has been sacked from his new job. He was sent a work computer which never worked, so they replaced it and when the old one got back to them they accused him of breaking it. Last job he got sacked for having more than 5 days off in the probation period (he had Covid). However they have jobs going again and have invited him to reapply as he hadn’t done anything wrong, just had the bad luck to get Covid.
Today I am grateful for my lovely woodwick candle that DD bought me for Xmas, finally getting to see operation mincemeat (what’s not to like about getting Colin Firth and Matthew McFadyen in the same film!) and Dads generosity