Teetering on the brink

Cherryfudge

I do like hearing about your family! The games with the dogs sound fun - I'll pass that one on to my daughter as they have a dog and have enjoyed training her. And that's a real win over the not-a-takeaway!

It's mean of MBNA to change things and make you have to change your plans, but it sounds as though you've stayed level headed and found a good way forward.

EatingBeans

Oh how I do love dogs - even when they do wake me up at 4am! 

This morning I suddenly found myself awake at 4am with no clue why. Waking at this time is not something I usually do without being disturbed, so I just lay awake and listened for clues for a while. Nothing, not a peep, so I decided to try to go back to sleep. After quite a bit of tossing and turning I fell back asleep only to dream of being at the uni open day later today and dd2 calling me all panicked telling me Big Dog was having a fit. Clearly my brain was mixing things up and turning it into a dream because I woke up to a living room of carnage! Somehow Big Dog (who sleeps on his own loose in the living room), had managed to flip the very heavy/bulky dog sofa over (it’s designed to fit a human plus the two dogs, so it really is difficult to flip). But he hadn’t stopped there. My side table had also been turned over and was halfway across the room, water and feed bowls were overturned, all the seat and back cushions from our 3seater sofa were now on the floor - many now soaking wet. The base of the sofa was also sodden so I presume he’d peed on the sofa before dismantling it. Blankets, clothes and dog toys all strewn everywhere. Honestly, it was like I had been burgled! 

Big Dog saw me and rushed to the door to go out so I presume he was having a bit of tummy trouble and this was him trying to get outside, but why on earth he didn’t just bark to let me know is beyond me. Or maybe he did and that was what woke me up at 4am but then he presumably stopped when he heard me stir awake, only for me to fall back asleep and miss his pleas.

The good news is, no permanent damage done. I’ve striped the sofa and will shove it in the wash before I go out. Fingers crossed I can get the carpet washer working again so I can give the base a good clean, but that will have to wait as we leave for the uni open day in an hour and I’ve got to get myself ready yet. 

For now though, I’m sitting drinking my morning coffee with a very tired Big Dog on my lap. He’s clearly exhausted from his ordeal, so lots of cuddles and reassurance needed, especially since I am going to be gone all day. Poor thing. 🥺

What have I learnt? If I wake up and don’t know why, then go check on Big Dog! 

A silver lining is this will now force me to look at trying to fix my carpet washer. I absolutely love the machine but it mysteriously stopped drying when dd2 was using it and I need to have a proper look to see if I can fix it. I did have a quick look but no joy and I was too upset at the thought of losing it that I popped it in a corner and buried my head in the proverbial sand about it. 😕

The biggest challenge of the day is going to be limiting my spending whilst at the uni open day. I’ve eaten breakfast, so that’s a good start. I just don’t know how to get around paying for lunch when a packed lunch isn’t an option? Starve? Or maybe just ask dd1 to cover her own lunch at least? Oh the joys of trying to save money. 🙂

EatingBeans

Well, Manchester uni open day is now officially done. dd1 has a difficult decision to make about where she wants to go as Nottingham and Manchester are both great options. Tough call.

I think I did pretty good money wise tbf. dd1 offered to grab me a McDs breakfast en route as she was making me drive through to get her one, and later she bought me a drink. She got a Burger King on the way back (necessary as she had reached tired and hangry!), but I skipped it and came home to my easy blocks of home made chilli from the freezer. The only thing I paid for was £5.50 for parking, and £5 to dd2 for caring for the pups all day for me. Normally dd2 would just be expected to feed and let the dogs out for me without payment (everyone just chips in with all the animals when necessary), but given Big Dog’s antics last night (which was totally out of character), I wanted her to keep a closer eye on him all day rather than retreating to her bedroom etc. So in total, that’s another £10.50 from my £50. 😬 All I can say is I am glad the next uni day isn’t until November and that it is the final one! By the time it’s all over dd1 will have shelled out several hundred pounds just looking at uni’s! 😳 Still, it is a big decision as it will be where she spends several years of her life. I suspect it will be worth it in the end. 

EatingBeans

Weigh-in day.

201.5lbs today
201.6lbs average for this week
202.5lbs average last week

0.9lbs loss this week! 🎉

EatingBeans

Very tired today after such a long day yesterday - I have pretty much slept the entire day. It is also why dd2 and I didn’t make a Saturday Olio haul this week. 😱 It’s ok though, we are still going to go have an Olio night, I just wanted to get plenty of rest in first. We still both have food in so no immediate rush. 

Since my new weekly food budget starts afresh on a Sunday, I totted up what I had spent from my ‘food/household’ pot last week, and as planned put the unspent funds towards the debt. This week that meant a whole £2.50 was assigned to Olio/debt reduction! 🤦‍♀️ This vastly underestimates the value I have had from Olio but since there has been quite a bit spent on non-food shopping (shampoo, washing liquid etc), then I can see how the figure might be a bit skewed at the moment. I am going to continue along the same lines, resetting my weekly food/household shopping budget to £40 and I will see if it starts to even out over time. Failing that, I might keep a track of non-food related shopping next month and see if that is an area where I am possibly overspending/under-budgeting and need to focus on. I’d rather not separate my food from household if I don’t have to but if it helps me identify the really reason for overspending then I will.

Not much movement on the £5’s spreadsheet today (unsurprising since I have mostly been asleep), but I did play a game for a bit and in theory bagged £1.10 from Testerup. dd2 was unusually keen to help me list on ebay so I gave her £2.50 for listing 13 textbooks. I will need to go back and edit each listing but hey, they are technically listed and available for people to buy so that is better than just collecting dust.

Progress towards target figures are looking encouraging! 😁

EatingBeans

I am not a happy bunny this morning. For the third night in a row Big Dog has been messing with my sofa in the middle of the night. First night, carnage night, I let him off as he had never done anything before. Second night I caught him as he knocked one of the cushions on the floor, a firm no and he never touched a thing the rest of the night. Last night, 4am again, the little sod took the cushions off and peed on the base again! I am not amused. I have no idea how I am going to properly clean it with pee in all of the springs. 😭 

Big Dog will be going back into a crate at night until he has remembered how to behave. Not that he will mind because he actually loves his crate, but at his age he should be sensible enough to sleep loose! If he pees in his crate I’ll know there is actually something wrong and he will be off to the vets.  

EatingBeans

Big Dog happily snoozing in his crate, I am off back to bed. 

Nothing like going for a ‘painless’ hospital procedure that leaves you in agony. Yes, for most normal people lying down in a scan machine would not hurt, but the constant cool breeze through the tunnel for 7minutes is pretty excruciating with Trigeminal Neuralgia! So glad I am already off work. 

I did however come out of the hospital doors and find a silver lining. The pain had made me forget where I had parked my van, but the beauty of driving a van is you can look over a sea of cars and still spot it! I was so grateful it made me smile (then wince). 🤣 For all its faults I really do love my van. It takes up no more space than an estate car but its clever design means I get to sit up high and have oodles of space in the back, yet it still squeezes under height barriers. I can’t wait till I have got the seats out the back and I can go camping in it. 😁

Cherryfudge

I consider myself 'car blind' - not interested so don't notice. I've improved slightly since DH got his classic car and we somehow found ourselves part of a fraternity of enthusiasts, but ordinarily I have to look out for a sticker from a distant garage as that's the best way to pick out our car. However, we have friends who drive distinctive camper vans and even I can spot them in a crowd. Having a taller vehicle must save a lot of frustration!

The pain from the scan sounds awful, I hope it eases now you are warmed up. If you have it again, could they not provide some sort of buffer against the breeze? Obviously it would have to be suitable for the scan not to be affected.

EatingBeans

I literally don’t know what day it is now. Yesterday was a blur of pain and a drug induced state of sleep/semi-consciousness. I can’t stay on this new medication - the more I take the more completely out of it I become and it doesn’t kill the pain either. I can’t function like that. Back to the old stuff it is until the doctor comes up with a better plan. 

So today, I am in quite a lot of pain but at least I can think straighter. I drove dd2 to college and will be going to pick her up again shortly. That’s compared to yesterday when she had to walk the hour and a half home again because I wasn’t fit to drive in the afternoon. Normally she can use her emergency bus fare money but she has just received a new bank card and not set it up on her phone yet so walking was her only option (dd1 was at work). 

I have at least managed to get the carpet washer working again! 🎉 I can’t tell you how glad I am to fix it because it is up there with the dishwasher in terms of appliances that make my life so much easier. I love my dogs dearly but my gosh they are dirty creatures sometimes and the ability to easily wash the carpet and upholstery is a god send. 

Yesterday the smell from big dog’s peeing episodes started creeping in. Both daughter’s want me to bin the sofa and buy a new one, dd1 even offered to pay bless her. But, carpet washer to the rescue, I am fighting the urge to just give in and throw it out. I’ve given the base a quick go over but ran out of washer fluid. I know there was a fresh bottle somewhere so hopefully dd2 will be able to help me find it and I can go over it again. I just wish I had more energy. Trying to do something so physical when you are suffering with fatigue is an absolute killer. If I can convince her, I will try and get dd2 to help me but we still have shopping and an Olio trip to fit in too and I know she only has so much free time bless her. 😕 

One day I will be a fully functioning adult again. 🤞

badmemory

I certainly wouldn't get a new sofa until you can be sure it won't get peed on again.