Moving on

Cherryfudge

I've had a very lazy morning! So nice to have a quiet house for a few hours, though I'd struggle with it for longer than this. I've already had one of the leftover muffins for an early lunch and now I need to get myself hydrated and off to do the church cleaning.

Cherryfudge

The stint at church was shorter than expected - it turns out my colleague is back and the message hadn't got to me! It did give me the opportunity to check on some stuff for the pre-schoolers, though, and mop up a couple of jobs that I found.

It's been hot again so I didn't do one of the errands I had in mind: a call to the eco shop for a couple of ingredients. Then this evening I saw on Facebook that the owner is retiring and the shop will be shut! So where will I get my lovely fresh spices now? I haven't been going there often as it moved to a different area of town, but I'll still miss it.

The other errand was buying crayons for DGD1 in case she wants to draw when they visit.

Meals today have been more of the curry (still about three portions left!) for me and baked potato for DH, no idea what he had with it. I've also used some of the tuna for a late tea after work. (Work was two hours).

Expenditure:
Gift £1.50

Cherryfudge

August is getting close - I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it because I'll have less to do.

The Monday church cleaning was coming to an end from today anyway, and my colleague will get it back from September. I'll still do alternate Friday mornings.

Alternate Wednesday mornings will be the debt advice centre, so I need to spend some time on my own budget to get familiar with what we were taught on the course.

My Tuesday group is more hit and miss than usual in August as my friend's employers keep getting her to cover for holidays, sometimes at what seems to me like short notice. Last summer we didn't see her much and this one is shaping up similarly.

The Wednesday evening group is on hold till September though we have plans to have a barbecue in a few weeks.

There's not a lot I can do for the pre-schoolers apart from one planned day of sorting out resources with the senior person, who's currently on holiday.

Thankfully paid work seems to be happening more often than not. Also DH is visiting his auntie mid-month, then she's coming to us for a few days. 

There are quite a few things I could be getting on with if I can make myself: painting the lounge door, for instance. There's a lot I could be getting on with in the garden too. It's not growing as fast as it was so perhaps I can eventually make inroads into the bits I've neglected. I did notice a few ground elder leaves encroaching further into the lawn so I need to be vigilant again. At least it's only growing slowly now.

I still have various courses I should be getting on with, seeing as I've paid for them, and it's time I looked into whether I can get on the foundation course for digital skills that I couldn't do in January because of when it was run. If I'm honest, I also wonder about doing the equivalent maths course, which would be useful if they wanted a classroom assistant on that course in future, but I do have doubts I could keep up with it.

I also need to make a couple of decisions on involvement in some other church things. I'm on lists for things that I'm not getting involved in, or am uncertain about further involvement.

I suppose what that adds up to is I could use the time (if I can get myself motivated) to get the next academic year off to more purposeful start. 

P.S. I also have lots of unfinished craft projects - let's see if I can get some of those done and dusted.

Cherryfudge

Oh dear, a late night. I've discovered this always means there's something I'm avoiding. However, I've paid off my CC in good time - there wasn't much on it either - and sorted out the variable standing orders ready for pay day. I'm pleased to say there will be a bit more in the kitty than last month as I worked more hours in June, and the same will apply in August as I've had plenty of hours in July.

I like working - would be better off if it were all paid, LOL. I've been thinking of using some of the un-booked hours in August towards CPD. After all, the relief work was supposed to provide one of several sources of income (others being self-employed and a little from invested savings). At the moment it's not the only work but it's the principle income and only I can change that.

I do get a lot from the unpaid things though - social contact, a sense of value, new skills, structure to the day and week...

WelshmansDaughter

What about the proof reading? Have you shelved that or is it a possibility?

Cherryfudge

WelshmansDaughter said:

What about the proof reading? Have you shelved that or is it a possibility?

This would be my option for self employment - the trouble is demand avoidance and a fear of not succeeding have kicked in! The initial study is only about ten hours so that's not insurmountable, but getting started needs a clear head. By the time the ADHD side of me has quietened down enough to get me settled, I'm generally too tired to start things.

It sounds from that as though I need to break it into tiny stages and tackle one at a time.

Edited to add - and don't overthink.

WelshmansDaughter

I believe the answer to that is to do it in such a way that it is low stakes. Perhaps try a game where the skill is used? 

Cherryfudge

I'd be reducing the stakes by divvying it into little bits, I guess. I'm not sure what game I could invent: proofreading the Beeb, perhaps? They don't have quite as many errors as first past the post-type reporting, where it can be wrong enough to be funny...

For now I have two lists and have done some work on them today.

The first list was things to do today: so far I've done the five easiest of ten. One I'm glad I've got done is an email to a friend who always sends newsy Christmas letters and hasn't had one from me for a couple of years. I decided not to attempt to explain all that's going on, just caught her up on family news and jobs and asked after hers. 

The second was the church activities I'm linked with. I think I'm going to drop out of one that looks as though it will be more structured than I expected, and for which I'm not sure I'm ready. There are others where I've already drawn limits and that's working out fine. The debt advice centre and the pre-schoolers will be priority. DH has pointed out the cleaning is virtually therapy for me and I think he's right! I'm now wondering if I should offer to help on that team more often, at least for a term to see how it goes. It would help them out of a shortage. I need to make sure I'm not overdoing it, but it's less than I've been doing recently... one to mull over.

I had yet another portion of the curry for lunch! It seems that however often I have some, there are still three portions left. Magic curry. Later we went out for coffee to a countryside café. We'd been there a few months ago when it was virtually empty but today it was buzzing, with an all-day children's activity and lots of tea drinkers. Nice to have time out, and the sun was so hot and bright that we moved to shelter. We also discovered that neither of us really likes the hot drinks we get with the garden centre membership, so that probably won't be renewed next year. The food there has really improved but service is rather chaotic and drinks are indifferent. I wonder what we could put in its place?

Right, time I got my act together and made things ready for this evening's meeting.

Cherryfudge

I had a nice quiet morning today and eventually got my act together and went down to the debt advice place for a handover as the manager is away for the next couple of weeks. We had a chat then I went for (possibly the last?) visit to the eco shop - I can't not say goodbye! The lady who's retiring has good plans for the future but for now she's having to smile at people like me who are telling her how much the shop will be missed. I bought some of her marvellous smoked paprika - very fresh, so very tasty - cornflour and granola.

On the way home I browsed a couple of charity shops and spent £1.75 on a book I'd wanted and a book for the grandkids. I was tempted by very good prices on a Remoska cooker, a single-portion slow cooker and an ice cream maker, but where on earth would I store them? Lastly I popped into the supermarket for sugar to make marmalade (they don't seen to have large bags of it recently for some reason) and oatcakes.

Pay should be in, so I need to make my regular saver payment and I've sent a friend the balance for a weekend away in October.

Expenditure:
Housekeeping £5.70
Books £1.75
Holiday £98.20

Cherryfudge

I am kicking myself - I made the regular saver contribution, not thinking that payday is at the end of the month, not the beginning. If it goes through today, they will send it back as an overpayment and I'll have to pay the cheque in and send the money out again. Oops.

Work tonight was three hours.

I think it's cooled down after another hot day: last night we ditched the duvet and just used the cover, which was enough. Upstairs was hot and stuffy earlier. I know I should make the most of it as we spend most of the year wishing it were warmer!