Dilemma, Dilemma, Dilemma

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Sunday Morning Sunshine!

Well I must say I am loving today with all the London marathon vibes. I have a couple of friends running it for their chosen charities and also look back on this with fondness having completed the marathon in 2011 but haven't done anything on such as scale since. The minimum sponsorship puts me off tbh as i'd be concerned about having to raise a significant sum. Quite fancy doing one of those long walks rather than running. Not sure long distance running for a middle aged, obese woman is for me lol.!

Having updated the diary the other day i've got a bit of motivation to carry on. Poor OH, he was due to go to hospital on friday for routine blood work but he wasn't feeling well.. We spoke to hospital and they wanted to get him in for assessment and what ensued was a bit of a saga getting him to hospital. Long (dull!) story short he got to hospital for assessment and they have kept him in, run tests, etc and he's got nothing too serious but as he is clinically vulnerable he's getting the best medical care he needs & its been a kinda unexpected weekend of more hospital visits. We've found he's been in and out of hospital quite a bit this year so it kinda just feels normal in a sense and less of a shock factor.

I haven't had the chance to do anything too exciting this weekend, I did book another aspect of my summer holiday with the kids. We are taking the train from France into Italy, it'll be 3 trains in a day and a long day of travelling which for us is the holiday. We love train travel. I'd looked into getting the Interrail pass but actually as we only have one day of rail travel in our trip it wasn't worth us going down the pass route so instead I just booked using trainline. Next cc month we pay for part 2 of the flight home to blighty. I need to research the best international money cards. Man in seat 61 had some options and going to take a look on here too. We are flying on Ryan air one way, have paid to put one bag in the hold and have been thinking I should get myself and the kids rucksacks that fit the cabin bag size. The kids will have their school rucksacks but having not flown in years not sure if they will fit the size measurements. Hmmmm.

Was paid on Friday and spent a good hour moving monies around to the accounts they needed to go. I'm pleased to report I was able to top up a bit into some savings pots via my S&S ISA, this is pretty small change but I do generally be able to do this each month, plus paid a bit off my debt. Our joint bills account is looking healthy at the moment as OH is keeping it topped up as he in and out of hospital and we want to make sure no bills are 'left behind'. We have added jointly £80 to our holiday savings account (£40 each for April), we will add £50 for May each etc. It gets much harder as the year goes on but it'll be worth it once we make our trip booking. Not sure if others on here celebrate but I always give myself an invisible pat on the back on the 1st of the month, just knowing its another mortgage payment down and a small overpayment made. We chose to round up our mortgage amount to a whole number from the start and this is our regular monthly overpayment amount. Its £55.34. As we get closer to the end of the year we should have paid enough overpayments to have paid a full mortgage months worth.

The other MSE positive thing to report - I have a Nationwide account and qualified for the recent £50 bonus payment. Its been transferred into my LISA where it will get a bit extra on top and bit more in the retirement collective pots. In an ideal world I'd top up the full 4k to get the 1k bonus each year but am no where near this situation. I just drip feed a nominal amount in each month and its steadily growing. 

After writing this diary i'm going to take myself out for some exercise on a beach walk and a healthy breakfast of porridge, raspberries and blackberries. Trying to make some small mindset changes. There is a craft market and a food market going on in town today.

Queen_of_the_Hive

LadyWithAPlan said:

It’s completely natural you are not eating well with so much going on - I managed to finally start eating well by being really clear on what I wasn’t going to eat (crisps and sweets) and also really upped exercise and the healthy food - greens proteins beans etc 
it only took a week to feel so much better 

can you join a local arts workshop or a local choir for new people and creative fun ?

Yes I def need to do something, our town is lacking a bit in activities for middle age, working age group but there must be something on offer. Will get some more feelers out. I was going to join the WI but I keep clashing with the dates.

Queen_of_the_Hive

dawnybabes said:

Our hospice did a social group for the carers, was good to just meet someone going through it so they ‘got it’ 

Thanks @dawnybabes hospice feels quite a scary place but I totally understand they do a lot more than just palliative care. Its something to think about.

dawnybabes

Tbh I was dragged kicking and screaming by my best friend and I sat there for the first 2 hours just crying BUT it was an amazing place, so peaceful and so cathartic.

peb

Certainly worth trying, I do know a friend just can't - it's too much for her -.

Is there a different WI group maybe in the next town/village/hamlet?  

Otherwise if there's an area Facebook group then possibly one meeting up with people who share an interest.  I'm sure you've already looked into all this.

It's so difficult if you don't have a local network/friends

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello from a not as warm Saturday!

Absolutely loved the hot weather this week, as I mature I love the heat more and more so this was very welcome and have made a bit of time to enjoy the garden this week. The warm weather brought a bit of light relief from a heavy working week, am quite full on in a major project and was truly glad to stick on my out of office till tuesday next week!

The busy week continued into Thurs and Fri by a quick trip to the city to collect the kids for the long bank holiday weekend. It was a wonderful time filled with a bit of window shopping (wanted to linen trousers for the summer) but didn't find "the one", bumped into a friend i'd not seen in a long time and Friday brought some joy at my regular volunteering position. Unfortunately one of our train connections was cancelled last night so this meant a 2hr wait for the next one. We should get a full refund but would have preferred to just get home on time. The kids were very tired but behaved brilliantly! Money wise I didn't spend too much money in the city (its very easy to do!). I did though do something new, I used the Sprive app to purchase a couple of gift cards to spend on some food and groceries. This little saving was only pence it will mean we have a bit towards an addition end of year mortgage overpayment. Last year was first time I used Sprive and this year am hoping to overpay even more through the app.

This weekend i've been a bit inspired by a local flowerpot festival and the VE day celebrations to come up with my own idea for a flowerpot model on the VE day theme. I am totally unartistic but going to have a bit of fun painting and contructing my structure... if it turns out ok I may post a pic! Other than that, we are going to watch a kids themed movie tomorrow and just enjoy being home.

One final couple of good bits of news. We made another mortgage payment this week so our mortgage is now standing at 109k and 23% equity which is a couple of more baby steps to mortgage freedom...! 

And lastly, a bit of an update on OH. He's just starting to be able to enjoying more near to adult sized portions which is amazing given he was on painfully small portions just a couple of weeks ago. He still has a long way to go but onwards and upwards!

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello, happy VE day!

Must admit after a stressful week at work - mainly from boss who creates unnecessarily confusing progress trackers and a thug of work for current major project, am enjoying the relative calmness of VE day. Mum and step dad are coming over to enjoy a classic British treat of scones, jam and cream.

Finances wise - early next week is a day in the office back in the city so i've had to purchase return tickets plus accomodation. Total cost approx £100. Am also back in the city with the kids later in the week next week so tbh this is a very expensive week. Tickets and 1 night accomodation not yet booked. Normally I would just stay in the city for both visits but due to other commitments its two seperate trips. 

On the positive, we have plenty of food in at home so I don't think I will need to spend on groceries or very little at least.

Digging deep for a bit of motivation and trying hard to not eat after 6pm tonight... its 20:09 and would absolutely love to muller some snacks but nope, going to stick to it! Thanks to fellow MSE'rs for helping to show me the error of my ways

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Friday,

Small steps lead to positive changes.. stuck to my guns and didn't eat after 6pm last night, went to bed before 10pm but did go on my phone so not all bad habits broken but a little start. Feel a little spark of motivation this morning. For my health I have a good 20kg to lose. But for now going to try to get a bit of exercise in today, make some sensible food choices and again say no food after 6pm as this is quite a realistic target.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello beautiful Saturday,

We saw dolphins yesterday! Isn't that wonderful! Since EOP on Wednesday myself and OH have been out on daily walks just in our local area, which just happens to be by the sea! OH is still very much healing from all the medical treatments this year so for him he's in a wheelchair to conserve his energy which for a man who a year ago worked nights in a physically demanding job is a quite a mental shift for the both of us to adjust to, but we are loving that we can now at least get out a bit together. I'm definately getting some exercise benefits from pushing him around in the chair. We were 'gifted' the chair from a local friend, its a bit heavy and clunky but will serve us till we work out whether this is going to be a more permanent thing.

Today and tomorrow are expected to be low spend days as I really do need to catch up with some life admin for our side hustle. I've bought a couple of music books to encourage the kids with their music persuits. Books bought preloved. One of the books I'd already bought but it didn't arrive so I recieved a refund for it. Total spends £8.35. I also keep saying it but would like to give a bit of time to some match betting. Have totally fallen off the wagon with it earlier this year.

Day 2 of stopping eating at 6pm worked well, now on to day 3. I did invest some time yesterday getting some research in to how I can support OH with his weight gain challenge and how I can lose weight so going to continue the good work so far. Not worrying about being too specific atm. Focusing on getting into a better mindset first.

On a completely different topic, was very pleased to see the cut in the base rate. It doesn't yet impact me directly as we just a year into a 5 year fix. Am hoping once we get to remortgage time, the SVR and base rate are lower. Every little helps

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello beautiful Sunday,

Wow well I am on a diary roll! Woo hoo go me! Lol

Yesterday didn't pan out as we expected it to be but wasn't a bad day. OH had good Thursday and Fridays and as I say we went out and about a little bit but yesterday he was in a nutshell tired but didn't feel ill by which I mean he slept all day and all night which is very out of character. I did check his temperature just to be sure and he was in  normal healthy range so this may be a "new normal". From all the reading up on his try of cancer this can be normal and as I say he is still very much in recovery. I just used the opportunity to catch up on life admin for our side hustle which I say I feel I have made some more progress oh and had a DIY pedi whilst watching some nflix.

The diet / stop eating after 6pm didn't quite go to plan. Ended up eating post 6pm due to OH and his marathon sleep. We enjoyed home made sweet & sour chicken with steamed rice. Only spends yesterday were on a train journey next week which I needed to sort out. Note to self to make an extra CC payment to help to cover this.

Tomorrow is a day in the office in the city so travelling later today. Have a busy week ahead so I may not be as consistent but will try! For my 24hrs in the city going to have dinner at home before I catch the train down, will take some bits for breakfast / dinner tomorrow and lunch is provided at work. The only expected expenses are the tube fares and yogurt for the morning. Will take flask and tea bags. Tonight am staying in hostel with kitchen facilities. 

Apart from taking OH on a walk in the chair in an hour or so its just getting organised for the next 24hrs and tidying up ready for another working week.

Hope everyone has a nice sunday