This Week - W/E 9th September 2023

As already posted, this week got off to a great start on Sunday, when OH and I had a lovely day out at the coast. It felt like a mini holiday, which was all the more appreciated, as we haven't really had a holiday this summer, save for  a couple of days in Norfolk. It's amazing how just one day out can make you feel a whole lot better and can help you to get your head out of your a__e and just enjoy yourself.

Sunday, was also LB's last day at her summer job. I'm really proud of her, as she has worked hard all summer long and almost all of the money has gone to pay off her overdraft. It's been a long, tough haul and she's stuck with it, which is all character building stuff. She went out with her workmates after work and then met another friend later for a catch up. 

I think I've got one more week at my current temporary job. I'm not sure if the work will last the whole week, but whatever happens I'm good with it. I have seen another job that I want to apply for. I will try to do that in the next couple of days and see what happens. I have to be honest and admit that I am finding the rejection after job interviews quite challenging, in terms of my self confidence, but I just have to get over myself and keep trying to find another job, especially with Christmas and LB's 21st birthday on the horizon. I just have to hope and have faith that there is another job out there for me, that I will enjoy.

On Monday I was back at work. I cycled in again. It was very hot and I was a sweaty mess by the time I got there. Today's task involved a lot of telephone work, which would have been fine, but the telephone I was using was faulty and the people I was calling couldn't hear me, so I spent most of the day hot desking when other members of staff were out of the office. By 3.45pm there was nothing more I could do, as all the telephones and desks were in use, so I came home early. 

On Tuesday, I decided to go to work on the bus. It just felt too hot to cycle. I ended up running to catch the bus in the morning, as it was at the bus stop as I approached and then the same thing happened on the way home. So much for not getting sweaty on the bike!!

Work itself was okay. I was working on the telephones again, on a different, but similar job this time. It was quite interesting how many people put their phones to busy when you call them. I must be old, because I find it quite rude. It's probably common practice these days though. I don't even know how to do that on my phone.

Anyway, by 2.30 pm I'd all but finished the task I'd been given and was allowed to leave at 2.45 pm. I had it in my head that it was 3.45 pm, so just short of our normal leaving time of 4 pm, but then on the way home I realised it was still only 3.30 pm. 

When I got home, LB had been having a clear out in her room. She'd been focussing on her clothing and accessories first. She had 4 large recycling sacks full of clothes to donate. I went through them all and sorted out the recycling from the donated clothing and transferred them to stronger bin liners. She is so much better than me at clearing things out. I did find a few small bits that I decided to keep and use myself. I always do.

I spent the evening sorting some laundry and then put some washing on for LB, so that she can sort through that when it's dry and decide if there's anything else to go. She's got just this week left at home before she heads back to Uni, and as she's finished work, she's got a bit of time to go through her whole room and pare things back. We'll be sad when she goes back, but also we're happy that she's happy to go and enjoys her life in halls, living independently.

On Wednesday, I woke up to a notification that I'd won on the Premium Bonds again this month.  It was a £50 prize this time, which was a nice surprise.

I caught the bus to work again because of the heat and I was given a data entry task today which was okay. Very straightforward. I was asked if I'm interested in a job at the place where I'm working, as they are looking for admin staff. I agreed to being put forward for a job, for a maximum of 3 days per week. I'm not looking for anything full time. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of it. It might be nice to do an office based job for a while, have weekends and Bank Holidays off and not have a bun fight over Xmas leave.

I got some more good news today. LB messaged to say she'd found her passport in her bedroom while tidying up. I was so relieved, as I thought I'd lost it. Luckily, we hadn't yet notified the passport office and applied for a new one. That was one big job that we now didn't need to do. I still need to renew my passport though.

I left work at 4pm and came home. It was so hot when I got outside. I didn't feel the heat in the office, as I was sat in front of a lovely fan all day, but once I stepped outside I could feel how hot it was. I've been getting off the bus a stop earlier on the way home, to try to get a few more steps in each day.

Thursday and Friday, were pretty ordinary days, just getting up, going to work and trying to stay cool when I got home at night. On Thursday, LB did another clear out in her bedroom, so I sorted through everything she was getting rid of again. I kept a few more things to use myself and the remainder joined the big pile of stuff to go to the next Zero Waste Day which is in a week's time. I also made an Etsy sale, the first in a while, so I needed to pack it ready to post it off.

I've been sticking to my calorie deficit whilst working, by taking my own lunch, but I've struggled to do any exercise this week other than walking to and fro. If I stay working there, I may walk part of the way there/home, when the weather is cooler, to get more steps in. 

I'm working again next week, but I'm not going in on Monday, as we're taking LB back to her Uni halls that day. I'm going to try to book an early gym session before we go, as it will be the only chance I get to exercise that week, until free gym sessions start again on the Saturday. At least I will then be able to get at least one gym session in per week, if I continue to work 5 days for any length of time.  In spite of doing little exercise, my weight is still going down slowly, but I don't actually feel as energised as I normally feel when I'm exercising regularly.

On Saturday, I had long promised to take LB shopping before she returned to University. We'd planned a trip to some large out of town retail parks, near to where I used to work. There are lots of shops there that we like to visit, i.e. TK Maxx, Boots, H&M, B&M, Home Bargains, etc., so we were both looking forward to it.

We headed out at about 10am, starting off in Home Bargains. It's difficult not to spend money in this shop and true to form, both of us spent over £20. Next was the large Tesco superstore for the weekly shop. I had another £8 off an £80 spend voucher to use. LB found some bedding she really liked for her room in halls, so I used the voucher towards that and buying some foods she could take with her to Uni.

We then visited Boots, where we both needed to buy a few bits, followed by TK Maxx, where I bought her a  couple of small bits of kitchenware she needed. We stopped for lunch at Starbucks, where we appreciated the amazing air conditioning and very cold drinks, as it was probably the hottest day of the year, but the only day that we'd managed to be able to go shopping together due to work committments for both of us. We also had some wraps in Starbucks for lunch, which were really tasty and a treat. I never normally go here. (OH treated us on our day out!)

Feeling refreshed, I then headed to Lidl to get the last remaining bits of the weekly shop, whilst LB headed to B&M and then we met up and both visited the store I used to work at to get some bedding and a couple of kitchen items we'd not found anywhere else. It was a marathon day of shopping, but we managed to get everything we both needed and survived the heat.

In the evening, I was happy to chill at home and whilst LB headed out to a friend's birthday party. It was nice for her to get the chance to see her old school friends, before she heads back to Uni on Monday.

A busy week here this week, but there were quite a lot of positive moments in the week. I hope you had some positive moments in your week.