Cheery's path to fulfilment - finishing the DIY, looking after myself, appreciating the garden 🌻

Cheery_Daff

Right, a list for over the course of the day! 

OUT & ABOUT
* swimming
* pick up retirement card for mum
* go to a new cafe (I'm aiming to try all the ones in town before the end of the year 😂)
* school fair & village Christmas lights switch on

ADMIN
* reply to stupid Halfords people
* text friend re building work he said he'd do
* transfer dosh to sister for mum's present
* reply re local group Christmas event
* banking
* fill in health survey
* reply re ecosystem survey

PLANS
* decide whether to visit dad tomorrow & ring if so
* make plan for December preparations

HOME
* general tidy
* clothes out of bathroom
* change sheets
* bit of decluttering in craft room
* deal with new chest of drawers Mr C picked up in charity shop yesterday

OTHER
* blog post
* encourage Mr C to do the two tasks he's been putting off

That's plenty! Due at the swimming pool in 20 mins, best get a wriggle on!

EssexHebridean

Happy Free Friday Cheery! 

Cheery_Daff

Morning MSE chums, where has the last week gone?! 

I did get most of those things on that list done, and had a lovely time at the Christmas lights switch on Also had a lovely time at my mum's little retirement party - just me and my sister, her husband and kids (and my mum of course!) I didn't visit my dad in the end - went to my sister's early for our monthly goal planning meeting. 

Then a busy week of work, out of the house every day, back late some days, an early evening event on Wednesday, and a last minute leaving do on Thursday. 

Friday now, and my only free day until 23rd December I am currently enjoying the peace and quiet, basking in the sunshine on the end of the sofa. I got up early because when I got home from work last night, Mr Cheery said it was too windy, and insisted he'd get up early to do it... Then for some reason I ended up setting my alarm, not his - but he decamped to the spare room in the middle of the night so obviously I'm the only one who woke up. Definitely doing it the night before next time!

Still, it's out, and it was super windy last night so it would have been a job to keep it in one place, whereas there's only a gentle breeze this morning. And it was very beautiful out there at 7.30am as I trundled up the drive in my dressing gown pushing the recycling in a wheelbarrow

So. Some MSE things: 

* I sent photos to Halfords (no opportunity before as there was only a phone number) and said if they were happy for me to post those publicly then fine, just refund my 10%. They have responded asking me what I think is a reasonable discount... I've not responded yet so need to do that today. 

* We had an LPG delivery the other day, and now the supplier has sent an email saying our underground pipes are metal, and liable to corrosion, and must be replaced. Apparently this will cost us £700. I've checked and technically we are responsible for their maintenance, and the government does have a policy of them being replaced with plastic ones, although I think this was all meant to be done by 2020. Why nobody mentioned this before I don't know - we've had 3 LPG deliveries a year since we moved here, and changed suppliers twice - they're meant to inspect the tank each time to check it's lawful before they take it on. Hey ho. Need to check myself but then will probably just agree to them doing the work - that bit's only £450 and I don't fancy messing about finding someone else, since the supplier will have to approve their work anyway. 

* Got a day out with my auntie planned next week using my free NT day pass

* must remember I have £10 on an a1di gift card - can't even remember how to get at that so need to get on the case! 

My mum's coming to visit tomorrow, although the weather forecast is currently dire, and local forecasters are saying don't travel, so we'll see. Need to do some tidying, although it's not too bad overall - I do need to make up the bed and do some sorting in the room she's sleeping in, as well as thinking about food and what we might do while she's here (we have an activity booked for early evening, but around that I'm not sure). 

Oh, and did I say I've found a new job to apply for?? Deadline in a fortnight, so I do need to get on with it. As always at this point, I start fussing about asking people if they'll give a reference... I don't mind my current boss, and the other people I've asked said yes when I asked them a year ago, but somehow I imagine they'll turn round and say no this time! Need to stop being a wimp.

Don't want to leave it to the last minute, so need to do some of that today - I can pilfer quite a bit of my last job application, but that's from a year ago, and it'll need considerable tweaking to meet the different requirements. Probably not much chance, but I did get an interview last time, and this is a bit of a different role and more manageable, I think. It's a step up, so would come with a pay rise, and would probably mean working full time at least to start with, so it would make quite a difference to our finances. We'll see. Won't be quick - interviews aren't til March

Right, banking while the sun is still shining on me, and then I should probably do something useful like get some washing on and outside while the sun's still on the garden! 

rtandon27

@Cheery_Daff - I've always presumed that once a person says yes to being a reference, it's a blanket yes, so even years later, I go back and make use of their offer - 🤣 - I have one lovely boss from years ago who sent me the questions and said - remind me of the answers, briefing notes was always your job!

Cheery_Daff

Ha, it's funny, it didn't occur to me to do that with these particular people, even though I have done in the past. I feel like it's only fair to warn my current boss, even though he's said yes in the past. One is a previous boss - I probably would make that assumption if it wasn't for the fact that they've retired 😂 so I do like to give them the opportunity to refuse work-related things. Another is someone I've never worked for, but who knows my work reasonably well and has done some work with me in the past - they will be super busy and because they have no particular relationship to me I like to give them the option to refuse too. 

I think I might just ask for general permission this time, given that I'll be applying for both this job and promotion in my current job in the next few months, and potentially other things too if I spot them. Sadly the dates don't line up at all - promotion applications will be due in before interviews for the new job (I should know if I have an interview, but that's no guarantee of anything), but then will find out about interview outcome well before promotion outcome. So I might just check if they're happy to use me generally, and are happy for me just to let them know if/when I'm offered something and they're likely to get contacted. Good plan that will save future fussing from me 😂

KajiKita

I think most people accept that reference requests, once agreed to, are an open needed thing. I was asking people in September this year before I left and they didn’t actually get asked formally for references until late November. 🤷‍♀️ One of them has become reciprocal as it was the colleague that got the boot after me! 😉

Good movement by Halfords! Get those photos over to them asap! 😉 I want them to pay you! 

Annoying about the LPG pipes, but a leak would be even worse. 

Glad you have some downtime planned between now and the 23rd, even if it is with auntie and mum! 😉 That did sound like a long stretch without any break! 

Brave effort on the recycling 😊 Your halo glows 😇 😉😊❤️

KK

LadyWithAPlan

Cheery_Daff said:

Exactly! No word from them yet... 

Today's main task might be finally bothering to figure out the timer on the boiler 😂😂 We never use it, just turn the thermostat up when we want the heating on, and turn it down to about 8 degrees overnight. The boiler in our old house didn't have a timer, so we never got into the habit, and we've only lived here 6.5 years 😂

Anyway, I stayed in bed far too long this morning because it was cold, and now I'm hanging out in my dressing gown waiting for the thermostat to say something warmer than 8 degrees 😂😂

More snow overnight, so things are looking lovely out there. Obviously not made it outside yet, but here's a picture from the other day



Taken from the front gate at 7am while I was clearing the car to go to work 😂 Fortunately not going anywhere today! 

Had a really weird dream after I drifted back off this morning though. I lived on a boat, I had a horse but it was mostly in a kind of small stable and I was very concerned about letting it out, the driveway was on the edge of a cliff and in the snow a large part of it had dropped into the sea. As I cam back into the house though (it was now a house, not a boat) there was an utterly fantastic tiled floor, blue and red and with star patterns on in glittery white 🤩 Never seen anything like it and was quite disappointed to come down this morning and find our normal floor 😂😂 (very glad not to be responsible for a horse though, and also that our drive hasn't collapsed into the sea - although I think if it had I wouldn't be the only one with problems given we're about 80 miles from the coast 😮)

Beautiful shot and I love the idea of living on a boat - just I have too much stuff. Your  tiling dream  sound amazing and the spied workspace ones are  gorgeous 

I will keep in mind this 'Tyres on the Drive from Halfords' nightmare... Hope they pay for their damage to your property

Cheery_Daff

KajiKita said:

I think most people accept that reference requests, once agreed to, are an open needed thing. I was asking people in September this year before I left and they didn’t actually get asked formally for references until late November. 🤷‍♀️ One of them has become reciprocal as it was the colleague that got the boot after me! 😉

Good movement by Halfords! Get those photos over to them asap! 😉 I want them to pay you! 

Annoying about the LPG pipes, but a leak would be even worse. 

Glad you have some downtime planned between now and the 23rd, even if it is with auntie and mum! 😉 That did sound like a long stretch without any break! 

Brave effort on the recycling 😊 Your halo glows 😇 😉😊❤️

KK

I last asked over a year ago, so it does seem reasonable to at least mention it 😂 What is NOT reasonable is me getting my knickers in a twist about it! 🙄

Been out for coffee and a perusal of the charity shops, only bought a £3 throw to act as an insulator over the stairs - we're using an old blanket at the minute but it's got several holes in and looks scruffy - this is at least similar in style to the one on the opposite doorway.

I've checked the pipework, it is indeed steel, so it will need replacing (apparently the government decreed in 2013 this was all to be done by 2020 so there doesn't exactly seem to have been a mad rush 😂)

Mr C had a cardiology appointment by phone this morning, then got home to a letter saying an appointment has been booked face to face in a fortnight 🙄 He's been on the list since January, but probably doesn't need 2 appointments with the same team in a week.

Right, cosiness beckons, starting with a nice cup of tea and some soup 😊😊

Cheery_Daff

Afternoon chums 

All change here - my mum was meant to be coming and staying over, but she's in the Amber weather warning zone and her route is very exposed so she's decided not to risk it. I've been lazing around with the IPL machine watching Sherlock Holmes 😂 and am just about to run a luxurious daytime bath.

And then I really must get on with something, the day is drifting away, and Mr C is encouraging me to take advantage of my mum not being here to go with him to his friend's birthday do, mostly so I can drive home, I suspect... I've already said a provisional yes, so I need to make the most of the afternoon! 

So. Bath and hair and nails etc, then:

* spend a bit of time on job application
* bit of flute practice
* tidy craft room
* bit of decluttering
* bit of exercise
* either do some batch cooking, or at least plan what to cook in the morning
* run round with the hoover

Got tickets for a short local event at 6 with my mum, so Mr Cheery will come with me if she's not here, then we'll probably go straight on to this birthday do.

Hmm, is there enough time?!

1.15-3.15 Bath & hair etc
3.15-4.15 Job application
4.15-4.45 Flute
4.45-5 15 tidying/decluttering
5.15 get read and leave at 5.45

Hmm.

Watty1

hope you enjoy the birthday do and the weather is good to you.