Progress is...

beanielou

Hope you have the lawyers visit in the diary 🤗

Cheery_Daff

Lovely to see you back RT, and hope today's visit went well. Glad OH is back cosy in bed, and I hope you're getting some rest too.

rtandon27

Well, today is the second day of the 'shiny-new' hubby bouncing off the walls.  Tomorrow he will be off the cocktail ingredient that is making him like this & hopefully he will be napping more 😉 so I can have some down time!

So first weekend of being officially married and I can say that it is no different than before we had rings and a piece of paper 🤣 I still have a budget to balance, chores to do, laundry overfilling the baskets, meal plans to make and a week to plan out. 

OH did remark that our entire wedding, including rings, new cloths, fancy dinner with friends, fees for the registration & ceremony cost less than a quarter of his first wedding and I retorted that is was also less than a 10th of legal fees to get rid of the witch!  So like everything in our lives, our wedding was within our means, didn't get put on credit and was budgeted for and paid for in advance.  A side note is that unlike everything else in our lives, this expense was one that OH had to foot the bill for in it's entirety!  An MSE event all round.

So as is my wont - a weekly list of things that will get done, things that may get done and things that can wait...

important tasks...
⏳ do bus pass application
 ❗ clean up of spare laptop sitting at the office, I've not cleaned it up yet! (Mon 17th)
⏳ new load of paperwork filing ready to be sorted
⏳ my savings need juggling - not started yet

routine tasks...
✅ YNAB juggling
✅ 3rd Saturday of the month - pay off credit cards
✅ 9/10 mortgage overpayment for the year
🔆 across the pond banking
✅ grocery order (later in the week)
🔆 meal plan - focus on fruit & veg! - lots of good natural nutrition needed
🔆 weekly digital planner
🔆 supplements
🔆 Weekly surveys & contests
🔱 laundry - last week's laundry folded & put away - 1 load washed & drying another being washed
🔆clean washing machine once laundry done for the week

non-routine tasks...
✅ two sinkfuls of dishes and pots washed and put away
✅ have sourced new mattress topper and mattress protectors - waiting to order for a day I'm home
🔱 have sourced weighted blankets - singles - Scandinavian style!
✅ downstairs vacuumed
🔆 kitchen floor needs a good sweep & wash
🔆 bananas need to be made into a traybake
✅ large cauli-cheese made - added cauli stems, mushrooms & lardons - 4 extra portions in fridge
✅ shredded pork made & eaten
✅ escaped to the coffee shop on my own! - free coffee, discounted capsules for work & discounted fruit cup!
🔆 need to make eggplant parma
✅ need to make roasted chicken
🔆 need to make beef pot roast with tomato and pepper sauce (next weekend)
🔆 repack OH's bag for next intervenus cocktail outing
🔆 check total of interest received last year
🔆 pay taxes owed so that tax code is not adjusted next year
🔆 home facial - implementing the joys of prickly pear oil!!!
🔱 still on the hunt for ballerina wedges that fit for everyday use!
🔆 Delay Repay
🔱 EHIC card - is old one valid or do up application
🔱 BFF across the pond - we owe each other money - neither of us is asking the other to sort out! 🤣

medical follow-ups...
🔆 register for follow-up medical appts from Monday
🔆 dental - new devices are ready - pick up when back in the office on monday
🔱 OH is on week 1 - day 3 of treatment - this is going to be a very long 12 weeks
🔱 ❗my dermatologist referral - have docs names - now need to book appt - insurance has authorized! - sigh - have to have this done in the city as decent onces in my area are scarce as hen's teeth!!!!!
⏳ follow-up on OT recommendations for work assessment - this can wait a bit, while the Cerberus is focussed on other things!
⏳ follow-up on private eye specialist for myself - after all the other bits!

epic list of garden things...
⏳ harvest last of the chilies - the are gorgeously ripe - and somehow the plant is still alive!!! - 15'C in Nov!!!
⏳ need to transplant two chili plants & bring indoors
⏳ autumn pruning needs to be done
⏳ start getting quotes for new felt for flat roof & summer house & shed (needs doing in autumn) - on hold
⏳ 4 bags cotswold stone - trip to W!ckes postponed - on hold
⏳ transplant remaining baby trees into their new pots - on hold 
⏳ trim down and rehome butterfly bush - on hold
⏳ new trellis needs to go up for the climbing rose in the front - OH has acquired the hardware! - on hold
⏳ finish taming climbing jasmine & add more supports for it to grown on - on hold

social calendar...
🔆need to organize a friends festive gathering
🔆need to organize ladies who lunch festive set meal
⏳ korean street food - on hold until December!

Meal Plan...
Last Week

🥬🧀🫓 Monday Nov 10 - Veggie Day - Cauli & pasta bacon cheese bake & side veg (my medical appt)

✅ 🐟 Tuesday Nov 11 - Fish Day - special occasion food

✅ 🍗 Wednesday Nov 12 - Chicken Day - hotel food

✅ 🍖 Thursday Nov 13 - Meat Day - bulk make McFake muffins for Freezer - freezer meal for dinner (OH's medical appt)
✅ 🍕🍟 Friday Nov 14 - Fakeaway - actual takeaway/delivery - lots of coupons made it cheap! 50% off

✅🫓🍜 Saturday Nov 15 - Easy Peasy Day - bagels - micro rice & chicken - leftovers - something effortless - haha  famous last words - 6 portions of cauli-cheese made 

✅🍖🥕🍠🍅🥔 Sunday Nov 16 - Roast Day - Brunch - Dim Sum - Dinner - Roast Chicken & veg & roasties

This Week

✅🥬🧀🫓 Monday Nov 17 - Veggie Day - Dim Sum & Cauli-cheese

🐟 Tuesday Nov 18 - Fish Day - Take-away Fish & Chips

🍗 Wednesday Nov 19 - Chicken Day - left over chicken & cauli-cheese

🍖 Thursday Nov 20 - Meat Day - Belly Pork cubes and courgette & rice

🍕🍟 Friday Nov 21 - Fakeaway Day - Thai Fakeaway

🫓🍜 Saturday Nov 22- Easy Peasy Day - bao - noodles with fish balls & pak choi

🍖🥕🍠🍅🥔 Sunday Nov 23 - Roast Day - Beef Stew with peppers and tomatoes & polenta or mash
Next Week

🥬🧀🫓 Monday Nov 24 - Veggie Day - Saag Paneer & Parathas

rtandon27

Bah Humbug...

So in theory I LOVE Christmas, not the Santa version or the commercialism, but the true meaning of Christmas, complete with creche and three wise men.  I also adore Christmas lights, not so much trees, but the pluralism of lights as they are put up around the world to chase away the dark days. Celebrating Yule, mid-winter, New Year's should be in Dec/Jan & NOT November!

I was in the city working yesterday and chanced upon a giant tree, decorated and lit at 4 in the afternoon, before it was dark.  It truly irked me!  Lent does not start until November 30th this year & personally I think lights should be relegated from the start of Lent Advent until Epiphany on the 6th!  Seeing these barely a week after Remembrance Day & less than a month after Hallowmas irked me to no end.  Somehow the bastardization and commercialization of the season has got under my skin this year, and I'm sure I will be very bah humbug come later this week, when I'm organizing my section's  70+ person Festive Gathering!

What more can I say other than...

You're a Mean One, Ms. Grinch!

Greying_Pilgrim

Love - whilst I wouldn't put it past the Ad-men (and women) to bring Lent forward by an excessive amount - I think you meant to write Advent.  But see your point.  A lit tree in the light isn't as effective as in the dark anyway.  Am I right in thinking that the '12 days of Christmas' starts on the 25th?  And presumably runs to Epiphany?

Fingers crossed with your workplace gathering - have you scope to make it a 'gathering', 'goodwill to fellow-humans', and all about breaking bread?  Or is it to be alcohol fuelled with a soundtrack of "its christmas" played at full bore? 

Sending you love .... and strength..... 👍😁

Greying X

beanielou

I think the whole bastardisation gets worse every year. Bah humbug indeed. 

rtandon27

@Greying_Pilgrim 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 - I did mean Advent - thank you for bringing me down to reality with a plonk - I was too deep in my rant to notice!

ETA - In theory I'm not even attending - she who rules the roost (aka my manager) decided to hold it on one of my wfh days.  It's a fairly docile event - no loud music, but the bar will be open, no drunkeness as it's during working hours on the property so that it includes everyone who will theoretically be in the office! (When it's big boss mandated, it's not optional!)

greenbee

That's what happens when things are overdone... you want a season of abstinence and self-reflection rather than celebration  

rtandon27

@greenbee - and that's just it, isn't it - back in my youth (and yes I'm getting on, hence the grumbling) - Christmas to New Year was the time of celebration - One week, that's it - 7 days of fun at the darkest time - in the week's leading up until Christmas it was all focused on preparing for Christmas through prayer and reflection.   The only even remote decadence was feeding the cake it's weekly tot after Church on Sunday, and we had to exist on alcoholic fumes until the Christmas week of excess!

Greying_Pilgrim

In more recent times I've taken to not worrying too much about having 'nice' things to eat in December.  We have food, we're blessed, and don't go without.  But I make a point of trying to keep it simple.  I get overloaded even with one or two days of nice food and leftovers.  If we were partying, or thinking 'because it's Christmas' for the first 20 or so days of Christmas, i'd be sick of fat, sugar and calories by the time the 25th rolled round.  And you'd probably have to 'roll' me around too!  I realise folks don't want to go the religious route, and that's fine, each to their own, but I think abstinence and reflection (thank you greenbee) are highly underated.  I like the Christmas 'season', but prefer to see that as the weather, the changing trees and plants, the colours (or lack), the need for lights, seeing your breath in the cold etc etc.  Not season as in '30 days of partying/excess'.  

But I'm an auld grinch, so I know I must appear to just be bah-humbuggy.  I don't think I am, I just think the things I value are less likely to be able to be "commercialised" or marketed 😉🤶

Greying X