NST April 2024: April appreciation

Toni'sfriend

NSD No 2

f0xh0les - I would love to win some tea bags. You know how I love a cup of nice tea. Unfortunately, it wouldn't do me much good at the moment. Everything tastes and smells horrible. I guess it's the medication and it will go away in time.

Didn't really achieve very much yesterday. I got Himself to move some furniture around to make it easier for me to reach things and I covered myself in some lovely body lotion. I guess it's a start.

Hospital appointment today so better get on with getting myself ready. xxx

apple_muncher

April to-do list:

Wake up with gratitude and joy.

Tell a joke that makes people laugh (good luck with that one, apple!!!)

Take time to wind down before bed.

Spend time on a hobby.

Do a brain dump for mind clarity.

OuMindfulLife.com

leftatthetrafficlights

Monday was a really busy day, yesterday I did the grocery shopping and today I'm having a day of total relaxation as I damaged my shoulder at the weekend - powering through on Monday and Tuesday hasn't helped!!🙄🤦‍♀️ 

So, my April plans: 

Appreciate what you have. I have a truly fortunate life - my significant relationships are loving, happy and full of real joy, I love my home and garden, I have enough money to live a simple but full life and I am in reasonably good health. I have no desire for any further material possessions, I am genuinely happy with my existence and I know how incredibly fortunate I am - I now start every morning with conscious gratitude and a 10 minute meditation which reminds me to appreciate all of this.

Pay to your debt/savings first. This is something that I have done for a long time now and has enabled me to have a safety net should I need it.

Plan, plan, plan. I have a grandbaby who I will have a couple of times next week so that my dd can work. We're going to sow seeds in the garden, feed the ducks, go to the woods and make sandcastles on the beach. I also have him one weekend a month (generally towards the end) and we tend to do the things I've mentioned but with grandad - he's very much an outdoor kid and grandad builds better dens and sandcastles than grandma 😉

Recognise the good qualities of other people and pay them a compliment. I try to do this regularly with my immediate family - not so much with others though so I'll try to be more aware of this in my other interactions 

Exercise. I've restarted my walking and increased my asana practice to twice a day - I like the way its making me feel and intend to keep doing it and building on it

Cheerlead your friends and family. I do this regularly - I'm very proud of them and let them know it! 

Increase your monetary value. I have no mortgage thankfully. I recently opened a new regular savings account with a higher interest rate and have set up a standing order from my normal savings account to make the most of the better rate. I don't really buy much but i could probably use more of what I have in my foodstores and reduce my grocery bill further 🤔 

Appreciation and gratitude -  I'll try to remember post daily! 

Think about others – I've got some things to donate to charity so I will get that done this month.

Increase your fruit and veg intake. I'm vegan and I eat an enormous amount fruit and veg! I also eat organic whenever possible

Out and about – I'm walking an hour a day now - I invested in some new wellies a few months ago so can manage the walk regardless of the relentless nature of the rain recently 🙄

Non-negotiables:

-15 NSDs please  - I'm aiming for 24. I don't count the grocery shopping on the NSD challenge but I assume I count them here 🤔 I only shop once a week though so it should be doable 😁 

So, today I am on NSD 2 - I shopped for groceries yesterday and came in over budget due to buying a few things that I don't buy very often but I should be able to stay under budget next week to balance it out 😁 

I cooked a lot of stuff at the weekend and we will be finishing off the leftovers tonight - I have a menu plan for the rest of the week using what is already in the house/garden. 

Today I am grateful for my dd sending me piccies and videos of my grandbaby as they are away this week; having food prepared so I don't need to cook with a damaged shoulder; the deer, pheasants, squirrels and birds in my garden which constantly bring me joy and finding a new meditation video on YouTube that I really like 😁

Shrewbie

Ooooh turtles... I'd bloody love a hot cross bun!

 I am grateful for a sunny day in Seville yesterday exploring new places, and for the nice people who let me into the city locker place when my phone had run out of battery and I couldn't access the code so almost missed the train!! oh and for the creme eggs that various people brought me from blighty :-) :-) 

I've plotted my savings budget into my calendar so a reminder will come up with how much should be in the savings pot... not sure if that's the best way of doing it but may keep me on track. 

lcc86

Thank you all for the well wishes for the interview, unfortunately I didn't get it, the person who is pally with the boss did. I'm not too fussed overall and I did get good feedback but I do have a lingering question over whether it was fully on merit but I'll never know. I don't want to be bitter about it as I actually really get on with the person who got it! 

Anyway, aside from that, last couple of days I have spent. Yesterday my tens machine started playing up, I tried new pads but that didn't work and it keeps shocking me so I ordered some new wires for it, am hoping that'll sort it as electric shocks are not pleasant  I also went for coffee with someone from work for a bit of a catchup. I got a payout from a voucher I sold so sent that to my savings. I also had to pay a vet bill too.

Today I went back to the coffee shop so lost a NSD again! Luckily I'm not in the office any more this week so there'll be no temptation for any coffee! It really is my guilty pleasure lol.

Nothing much else to report, close to the weekend now!

f0xh0les

Preferred candidate interviews are so frustrating!  They have to interview by law, but honestly it is just wasting everyone's time when they know full well  who they are going to give the job to.

Today is a frustrating day,  the boys are not co-operating.  Never mind, tomorrow they probably will not co-operate either . School starts back on Monday.

DawnW

Lovely day with family today. First time I have been with all 3 grown up kids for some time

DS and DD2 drove, too. DD1 lives a couple of hours away, and both OH and I will avoid driving long distances if possible these days. DD2 drove our car, DS his, and each car took one of the youngest GCs to avoid potential fights on the journey Little GS was a pleasure to have on board. Slightly stroppy (recently) GD, aged 10, enjoyed going in her uncle's flashy car along with grandad, and was no problem at all

Not a NSD as OH wanted me to order dust masks this morning. He does wood work, and also works with ramshorn, lots of sanding, so money well spent. So still 1 NSD for this month so far.

Grateful today for spending time with my children

laura_lau

Hello everyone, can I also join April, please, @apple_muncher? I'm a bit late and totally missed the end of March (didn't even reach my NSD goal!) as it went on full busy until literally today. 

I have accomplished a few things, though, so I'll list them here as a starting post, even if some (most) of them belong to the end of March, but I believe they will help me start April with the right foot (just corrected a typo here - I had written "food" instead of foot, makes sense, though!)

Finance:

• I paid £1000 towards my CC3, I still owe a big amount but I'm quite please it has gone down significantly!
• I put £1000 in my savings account (might have to chip in a bit from it before end of the month, but only a little, we will see)
• paid the water bill all in one go
• sorted out CC1 account from which I had been locked out since my trip to Paris

Home:

• did a bit of deep spring cleaning, cleaning all windows, window frames, took out some Spring decor and put away the Winter one (not much, I basically swapped penguins wearing scarves with bunnies, which will duly be replaced by a scuba diving bear comes Summer)
• organised the bathroom shelves which were extremely messy
• took out all sofa coverings and washed them all one by one, I'm quite pleased with my almost-new-looking light grey sofa!
• changed disposition of some kitchen stuff to make more space
• did the same in the living room
• went through my shoes and donated 6 pairs which are almost new but I don't really wear, either because of heels or not comfortable for the shape of my feet (counting this as charity too)

There's still quite a bit I wanted to do finish the Spring cleaning, but hopefully I will get to it before the end of the month.

My mum was also in the hospital for a few days before Easter, she's home now but still unclear what's wrong with her. they are doing all sort of tests and exams to exclude certain things and I suppose, if that goes well, they will try some medications. 

Had a lovely Easter, Stepson was here from Friday to Monday, and I felt quite sad when he left, the house felt suddenly empty and quiet! Hopefully we can get him to stay a bit longer in Summer (he lives in a different country with his mum, so it's not easy to get him here with school etc)

I read through all the posts just before I read this, and it was a lot to take in, sending a big hug to everyone.

Tomorrow I am going for my follow-up blood test, I am a bit apprehensive after it took half hour to do it last month since they couldn't find the vein, hopefully it will be better this time around!

ditty1234

f0xh0les said:

ditty1234 said:

 I am still off sick and by mistake I checked my email today, never do that. I got a bit upset over all of the stuff going down at work, but also feel even more relieved that I am on my way out.. 

You are exactly where you need to be when you have academic overload and burnout @ditty1234 .  

Sending .   You rock!

Thanks @f0x

ditty1234

DawnW said:

@Toni'sfriend please take care and don't attempt too much till you have had time to recover. How lovely that you have such helpful neighbours.

((Hugs)) @ditty1234 I too have had awful stressy jobs in further and higher education, so I know exactly where you are coming from. Hope you can find something else soon.

Yesterday was NSD 1. Today wasn't one, as it was shopping day. Apart from that, collecting my prescription and popping in to the shop where I work / rent my unit to collect my takings for this month, I have had a laid back day today. I did loads yesterday thinking we would be going out today, but that has been postponed till tomorrow.

I put some clothing and a pair of non-fitting shoes into the collection point for a local charity, so that is a few things out of the house. Also disposed of a piece of useless tech.

Finished up some fridge stuff - some mixed veg mash topped a fish pie for dinner, and a sad aubergine that was in a £1.50 L*dl veg box last week became a parmigiano (sp?) for another meal, using up tomato sauce and pesto from the freezer, along with mozzarella bought today (it is cheap in L*dl) and parmesan from the fridge. Also made a rhubarb crumble.  The rhubarb in the garden is ready and I still have some of last year's in the freezer.

Raining AGAIN today - really looking forward to some proper spring like weather!

Grateful for quick, use-up food, getting some unwanted items out of the house, and a good month's selling at my sales unit. The last monthly payout before the end of the tax year.

Thanks @DawnD
 I'm not the only one at my job, there is literally a queue to get out the door! Very sad.