NST February Forgiveness

DawnW

Morning all

Got some things done this morning:

Dog walk

Washed up / cleaned kitchen worktops

Mixed up a batch of shortcrust pastry, currently resting in an old bread bag in the fridge (I try to reuse plastic bags instead of using cling film)

Sorted out GC's craft box, and lots of rubbish went into recycling / refuse bins. Found an extra pair of scissors in there that I had forgotten about. Now in the bureau for when I can't find scissors.

I might buy seed compost this afternoon, had a walk round the garden and started to get enthusiastic. It is much too early to sow anything outside, but I already have parsley seedlings in the mini greenhouse, and have sown some broad beans in pots. I can do some aubergines and chillies on the windowsill indoors. Too early for tomatoes yet, as mine have to live outside once the frosts have passed. No point sowing those till the end of March or they get too big while it is still too cold for them to go outside.

Better get on and do some more housework before I lose enthusiasm  

f0xh0les

Inspired by your post I just went outside, and I think my Xmas gift grapevine might not be dead !!  I think there are a couple of tiny tiny buds, maybe..... optimistically....well, if I turn my head to one side and squint    If I can will it into life, then it is alive....

DawnW

Well, I couldn't be bothered to go out in search of seed compost, so it will be NSD #6 for me. Spent the afternoon transforming my bag of pastry into 4 small chicken pies, a quiche and a lemon and lime meringue pie. Some for us, and some for my brother.

Fingers crossed for the grape vine @f0xh0les ! 

I love seeing everything start to come back to life at this time of the year, And I have dark purple crocuses, and big and little daffodils in bloom

ldee2111

Grateful today for waking to beautiful birdsong, for OH leaving me a box of my fav chocs to find on my bedside table, for the reappearance of my motivation to get stuff done, and for OH making dinner.

Thrifty_Taylor

Thanks @beanielou. Hope you are doing ok x

Had a better night's sleep last night thankfully. Did some Norwegian, then made a vegetable stir-fry for my dinners today & tomorrow. Was at work early, so could get things prepped before the bell. Didn't have a good morning, but the afternoon was better. Stayed at school to help at a disco, so including travelling time I was there 10.5 hours!!! Shattered when I got home.

Had tea, did the ironing. Not fit for anything else, so think I'll head to bed with my book.

One more day to work, then a long weekend 🎉

Grateful for hugs from 2 of my DS's, very supportive head teacher & staff, a beautiful spring-like day

weenancyinAmerica

Had my heart stress test today. Think it went well. Imagined walking in Belfast while heart cameras were rolling. Managed not to move so got finished faster than expected. Realized that this was NSD 10. Tomorrow will be a spendy day - will pay a couple of bills and do some grocery shopping. Need to get cheese to make a cat happy - roommate made pizza and used her cheese. She is pouting now. Also need to make sure I get milk and bread as we are expecting rain for 5 days beginning on Saturday. I don't like to drive in the rain. 

Today grateful for health insurance covering stress test, for book to read while waiting, for one roommate finally paying part of his overdue rent. These days it is sometimes hard to be grateful. But I do have a roof over my head and the weather has been good for the last few days and the car is still running. 

grandmanerd

Had a bit of a blip on Tuesday. I was on the phone at 8.05 am and have secured a date for the collection of broken beds and mattresses. Felt really good and decided I could have an extra snooze (had been awake for about 3 hours, trying not to miss the phone call time). Didn't get to sleep and when I turned the laptop on, I received some bad news. Didn't fall into the depths of despair but spent the day rethinking things in the light of new circumstances (need a couple of days to process things before I talk about it).

Yesterday I was determined to start tackling the kitchen but did a lot in my bedroom first. This meant that by the time I went downstairs I could barely walk and my knees hurt too much to stand for very long. I brought the bin back but had to sit on the concrete block in front of the car park before making the return journey. Crisis was resolved (for now) so messaged people to update them. Ds3 came down and eventually took my bag upstairs.

Today more bits of me ache so what I did yesterday definitely counts as exercise.  I've had my pills,  showered and eaten and will monitor my creaky knees and other bits (feel like I've been doing squats for a fortnight). Still having trouble with my eyes but they are improving (listen to your body and heed those early warning signs).

Grateful for better news and a crisis averted, feeling the benefits of looking after my body with particular emphasis on my skin and eyes, responses from the family members I contacted.

grandmanerd

Thursday 15th February 2024

A different way of 'giving up' for Lent - 40 bags of clutter out in 40 days. You could make it one a day if that's too much or do the 'Reverse Advent  Calendar' giving away one t hing on day one, 2 on day 2 etc.

Forgiveness
Forgive yourself for not knowing better at the time
Forgive yourself for giving away your power
Forgive yourself for past behaviours
Forgive yourself for the survival patterns and traits you picked up whilst enduring trauma
Forgive yourself for being who you needed to be
(Audrey Kitching)

We're all messy
We're all struggling
In some ways flying high in some ways 
and falling flat on our faces in others 
Nobody has it all figured out
It's our job to cheer each other on, 
lift each other up 
and push each other to keep giving it our best
It matters who we surround ourselves with.....
We need to be better to each other
We're all we have
(Amy Weatherly)  

Even though the world is in chaos right now
I am grateful to have
..... a house, food, water, warmth and love
may I never take those things for granted
(Tiny Buddha)

laura_lau

Had to be in the office 2 days in a row this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) which meant leaving the house at 7am and being home just before 7pm, and both nights I had to rush straight to crochet club (Tuesday) and the line dancing (yesterday), so apologies if I've been rather absent! Also I find being in the office so draining, always found it that way, but it's even more obvious now that is not a daily occurrence anymore.

At the weekend we did a big shop, and I'm very pleased as I stuck to my list 100%, no extras! Making a detailed meal plan for the week helped a lot to keep me focused, especially as I had very little time, and we have been eating overall more healthily than we would have if I hadn't planned it. I am also using up a few things we had in the pantry cupboard.

I also made a point of listening to my body and going to bed earlier starting from Sunday, which has definitely helped to maintain energy levels these past 2 days, and I didn't feel completely depleted today. I woke up early, went out with the dog, made pancakes for breakfast (as we missed pancake day on Tuesday because I was in the office) and then I watered the plants, tidied up the kitchen and started working. Made a nice pasta with courgettes, capers and leftover bacon and then had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice with OH. Did 2 loads of laundry, and have already hung the first one, which is by far my least favourite chore, so I'm feeling very accomplished here. 

Now I'm going to finish work, then I will prepare dinner and tidy up a bit while it cooks. For the rest of the week I have planned to declutter a couple of corners of the flat that have been bothering me for a while and take pictures and put up some listings on vint*d and a few of the hand crafted things on the shop on et*y. I also would like to finish cataloguing my yarn as I still have a whole box and a few bits and pieces around the place that I want to put in my stash list ahead of the yarn festival I will be attending on the 24th, as I want to only buy, if needed, yarn that complements what I already have and for projects I am already planning.

Now that I see the list of things I want to do all written down, I realise it might be a bit ambitious! I will probably have to prioritise, however the yarn cataloguing is something I have been doing in the evening while watching TV, so in theory it doesn't take too much time away from the other tasks. 

Today I am grateful for being home and having a bit more energy than I have had since Christmas, for having made (and sticking to) a meal plan, and looking forward to an hour or two of knitting tonight for the first time since last Saturday. Today is NSD #9!

I have caught up very quickly with the last few days of posts, so apologies if I just send big hug to everyone who needs it!

DawnW

@grandmanerd do give yourself time to process the bad news - and thanks for the lines on forgiveness, as I am rubbish at forgiving myself, frequently suffering bouts of guilt over the way I dealt, or failed to deal, with things many years ago. Stupid I know, particularly as I never have a problem with forgiving others.

Busy day at work, then had to walk the mile or so home as OH had to use the car to take my brother to a hospital appointment, He had kindly volunteered to take him to avoid my having to take a day off work. He keeps getting random appointments at very short notice at the moment. It is what it is I guess. Then I had to walk the dog, then cook dinner etc etc. So I won't be late to bed tonight. I had a rubbish night's sleep last night, woken up by a silly, but very vivid and disturbing dream about a haunted bed of all things   Ridiculous, especially as I don't believe in all that stuff anyway, but it didn't start the day well.

Still on NSD #6 as I bought a couple of things on the way back from work. Also ordered some foreign currency for my son's upcoming birthday. I had no idea what to get him, so decided to give him some spending money for a trip he and his GF are taking the weekend after his birthday.

Grateful today for not getting too wet on my way home!