Making Plans - W/E 28th September 2024

This week started with a day off on Sunday, which I was very happy for. I had a good long lie in and then got up and made a breakfast wrap as a weekend treat.

OH's shoulder was feeling a little better. We began the day by starting to plan a holiday for a week of leave I'd booked in October.  We had a ferry crossing to use before the end of October, which we booked back in 2022 I think, but never used, so we kept carrying it over. It is now our last chance to use it, so OH started looking at potential ferry crossings to either France or Spain, possibly taking one to Bilbao and then driving back through France and getting one home from St Malo.

Despite hurting his shoulder this weekend, OH managed to finish rebuilding the decking this weekend, so it's now all laid securely and painted so that it virtually matches the part of the decking that was laid a couple of years ago. He's done a great job and here's a picture:

I'm so happy that it's all done and we can move our plants back. I may need to buy a few more roller platforms for some of them though.

On Monday, OH managed to book the ferries mentioned above, which is exciting. I went out in the morning to do the weekly shop out of town. I visited my favourite charity shop whilst there and bought a few things, including a blouse to wear for work, a thick winter sweater, a brand new winter scarf and pair of fingerless gloves, a dress and a PU shacket. I spent £20, but feel like I got very good value for my money and a few nice new pieces for my autumn/winter wardrobe.

I've managed to keep my spending much lower this month. With only a few days left in the month, I'd more than halved my expenditure this month, which I was very pleased about.

On Tuesday, I was booked into a class at the gym. The class was okay, but we didn't do much work with weights which was disappointing though. 

Our neighbour has started building work this week creating an extra floor on top of his house, so there's lots of activity and a bit of noise, which will be ongoing for a good few months. I'm hoping it's not going to be too disruptive.

After lunch on Tuesday, I spent the afternoon binge watching a new series on Netflix called The Perfect Couple, starring Nicole Kidman. It was quite entertaining. I then watched a British romantic comedy film which was quite good too. A very indulgent afternoon and evening, but sometimes you've just got to do it. I'm coming down with a bit of a cold, so I just wanted to put my feet up, before a gruelling 6 night stretch at work.

I have to come home from work a different way at the moment, as the road I usually take is closed due to  roadworks for the next 10 nights.

On Wednesday, I had a really slow start to the day. I pottered around upstairs sorting and putting away laundry, cutting up some old clothes to use the fabric for patchwork and generally tidying around which felt quite satisfying.

I then popped out to our local Tesco. I had a £6 off a £40 spend voucher to use before Sunday and I won't get the chance to use it later in the week due to work shifts, so I went today and stocked up on quite a few things that I would buy at some point anyway, just to use the voucher, rather than let it  expire.

I then came home and had some lunch before getting ready for work in the evening. Work was good, busy, so it passed quickly.

On Thursday, I had a lie in again. I'm trying to pace myself this week, as I've got a mild cold rumbling underneath the surface that I'm trying to stave off. I'm taking paracetamol, vitamins and eating lots of fruit to keep symptoms to a minimum, but I'm also trying not to overdo things and rest properly.  Having said this, I'm not sleeping well and often wake in the early hours feeling rough, hence the lie ins.

I've also been making a deliberate effort to slow life down this week. I've not been rushing around doing things, but taking my time, being self indulgent at times and just enjoying taking things slowly and not actually doing too much. Life seems to have speeded up in recent months, leaving little time to just be and enjoy, so I'm trying to do that now, inspite of work schedules and things that need doing.  I think it helps that it's mostly been raining outside, so I feel no guilt about staying home and amusing myself indoors. I've felt a lot better for it.

In this vein, I didn't go to the gym on Thursday, as I usually would. I just wasn't feeling it. I just stayed home instead. Some days, I just don't want to go anywhere.

I was working on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which was a struggle as my cold progressed. All I could do was just get my head down and do my best. Saturday was particularly tough, as I did quite a long shift and it was super busy. It felt like Christmas had come early in terms of how busy it was, probably due to it being a pay day weekend.

LB came home on Friday night before her final shift at the local pet shop. She was feeling a lot better after her bout of tonsilitis. She won't get home much now for the rest of the term, as she'll be busy at Uni, but we might try to meet up for a night to celebrate my birthday some time next month.

I didn't go to the gym on Saturday morning, as I was feeling rough. I stayed in bed instead as I had been asked to go into work earlier. I was glad to get to Saturday night, which meant that I was past the half way point in working 6 consequetive nights/days. Just two to go.

I knew it was going to be a tough week this week workwise, which was why I paced myself. What I didn't count on was getting the cold virus. I'm looking forward to shaking it off and getting back to normal life. We seem to have had a run of health issues in the past couple of months. Nothing serious, thankfully, but it has still been a bit disruptive.

I hope you've had a healthy week this week.