Day 839 & Day 840

Day 839...Wednesday

The day started with our usual early morning walk and another 1.9 miles in 38 minutes.

My morning was then taken up with a visit to the hairdressers. It was time for a change so out with my blonde and in with a lovely dark purple.

I was home just in time for lunch. We have been making lunch our first meal of the day for a few weeks now and seem to have adapted to it really easily. We start the day with a coffee before we have our walk and then lunch has become our breakfast. It is so much nicer eating our first meal of the day at lunchtime as it is no longer something that is rushed to facilitate getting out of the door at a certain time but can be enjoyed and savoured.

The afternoon saw yet more cleaning and tidying around. Having sorted the vast majority of paperwork over the last few days I just had a few bits left lying around that needed new homes before I could start cleaning. And as Molly and Dan will be using the room as their bedroom when they visit at the weekend it needed to be done before then.

The day was then finished with a workout and while Simon stuck to the exercise bike because of his broken wrist I headed out to our gym and moved a few weights around.

Day 840...Thursday

And yet again we started the day with another 1.9 mile walk in 39 minutes. It is so great to be out and about in the fresh air so early in the morning and really starts the day off with great positivity. We are blessed to live so close to open countryside and to be able to experience it on a daily basis.

Next up for me was a trip to Lidl, I needed to re-stock on some fresh bits and pieces as well as make sure I'd got some extras in for the weekend...as we have visitors!

Back home and armed with coffee I braced myself for the task of cancelling my dads Sky (broadband) account! After my dad had died the broadband account was in credit and so we had left the service running but transferred it into my name. This meant that whenever my brother or I were at my dads house we could access the internet should we need to. This turned out to be the right thing to do as my brother was able to work from there a few times while we waited on things to happen. But now that the house is about to go up for sale, and the credit has run out, we needed to get the account cancelled.

Well suffice to say it wasn't as easy as it could have been. The online account hadn't been set up correctly but once I'd sorted that myself I was able to pay an outstanding small balance but it still wouldn't let me cancel. The online chat option wouldn't let me cancel as it couldn't identify me! I then found an email address and started to compose an email to them and all the while trying to call them. I was cut off at least three times, had weird voice prompts that made no sense and scolded me for not answering questions that hadn't been asked. But finally I found a different number to try and after about 20 minutes I spoke to the lovely Stuart who had been in a similar situation to me when his dad had died a couple of years ago and we were able to get the account cancelled...sort of. Basically it takes them two weeks to cancel it all and then there maybe a small amount to pay but I won't know that until it happens which means me having to remember to check the online account on a semi-regular basis! Argh!

With perfect timing I put the phone down and deleted the email I'd been writing just as Simon broke for lunch.

Over the course of the afternoon I enjoyed a coffee outside in the sunshine, did all the ironing, cleaned the bathroom, caught up with the laundry and did a little online retail therapy. I've ordered some new shorts that I should be able to collect tomorrow along with some gym gear and protein bars which should arrive in the next few days.

I then had a lovely phone call from my good friend, and podcast co-host, Michelle. We have agreed to hook up tomorrow to record a show and so the remainder of the afternoon was spent doing a little research in preparation. I did sit outside in the sunshine for a short time while I used my phone for some online research, but it didn't last long as the sun was too hot and too bright for my poor phone!

And as Simon finished work for the day we opted for another walk, this time of 2.8 miles in 56 minutes. Because we tend to walk very similar routes each day we have noticed that some of the walkways at crucial points, like crossing over stiles, have become a tad overgrown with nasty nettles, brambles and thistles. So Simon now carries with him a small pair of pocket secateurs so that he can clear the way of any nasty bits to make our life, and hopefully that of other walkers, a little more pleasant!

And with that I will see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 821 & Day 822 - The Weekend

Day 821...Saturday

It was a relatively early start for a Saturday morning but there was no walk to be had as I was playing taxi driver for the men of the family as they had appointments at the barbers.

Back home and we had a mid-morning breakfast which was slightly earlier than of late for Simon and I. Next on the agenda was to order a new paper shredder as I have a lot of mine and my dads paperwork to go through, sort and re-organise and I know there will be a lot to get rid of. I also had to order some suspension files for the new filing cabinet that I've yet to use. I had ordered some files when we'd bought the cabinet a couple of months ago but unfortunately I'd ordered the wrong size which I didn't discover until this morning - oops!

Simon and I then headed out for a coffee; it was a grey and drizzly day and not overly conducive to going out and about, so we opted to stay dry and hydrated! We stopped by a DIY store on the way home as we wanted to check out some options for putting extra shelves in the new cupboards in our study/craft room.

The day was brought to a close by watching this weeks episode of RuPauls Drag Race All Stars season 7.

Day 822...Sunday...Father's Day

The day started with the giving of gifts from the 'kids' to Simon; Spiderman No Way Home on BluRay, some Deliciously Guilt Free goodies and an on-trend black bracelet.

With just a coffee to fuel us we headed into Nottingham for the day. We needed to exchange a shirt that Simon had bought last weekend as the sleeves were too tight and we also popped into Primark to pick up another pair of jeans for Simon as the ones he'd bought last week were so good he thought he'd get an extra pair. 

We then headed for a coffee before our main reason for visiting Nottingham; to attend Dr Sketchy's. This is a regular life drawing event that makes use of burlesque performers as their models. Hosted by the lovely Scarlett Daggers it is always a great way to pass a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. Although, today we decided that after the first half of the event we'd had enough and decided to head home. Simon was battling with his left hand being a little sore and simply wasn't enjoying the event as much as normal so having enjoyed what we'd done we called it a day and went home.

By the time we arrived home we were feeling a little peckish and so broke our 'fast' with some scrambled egg. This is the longest we have fasted for so far, managing about 21 hours.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Simon doing some of his own personal digital art while I caught up with the online grocery shopping. My brother popped by as we had some paperwork from the solicitors that needed signing so that we can finally get my dad's estate sorted. It is taking them so long and we are beginning to think it would have been quicker if we'd done it all our selves. But we can't change that now we just have to go with the process and hope that the end is in sight.

And that was my weekend...see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 797

Day 797...

The middle of the week and as I am typing this rather late in the day I think this will be a quick post.

My morning was spent in work and I was able to put my skills to good use and create a couple of posters for upcoming events as well as construct an email regarding some grant funding. I was also able to go over the forthcoming academic year's long term plan with my deputy. This is where we layout all the various events, special occasions, fundraisers and key dates for the year ahead which we then use as the basis for our planning. My deputy had already completed a good chunk of it and it was simply chance for me to go over it with my 'manager head' on to make sure nothing had been missed.

On my way home I had a quick stop by my local Lidl to get stocked up on a few essentials, as well as a few treats for my last day in work on Friday.

Back home and after a catch-up and a coffee with Simon I had a few of my own emails to deal with, a payment to make and some spreadsheets to update. But with that done I was off to see my fabulous hairdresser Kim who worked her magic, as always, and has updated my hair with a pink-ish twist...

And it was then home to cook dinner and put my feet up!

See you tomorrow.

xx

Day 756

Day 756...

We have reached the middle of the week and it has been another full day.

My first task today was to begin to get together various bits of paperwork for our solicitor. Whilst I'd made a good start on sorting things out now we have a solicitor on board they are going to take over and get everything sorted for us.

I then headed out to the hairdressers as it was time for a refresh of my colour and cut. It was a couple of hours well spent as my hairdresser and I had a good old natter; the benefit of knowing Kim for a lot of years.

I was back home just after lunch and finished gathering together all the bits and pieces that I needed for the solicitor. I was then able to drive out and drop everything off with them so that hopefully things can get moving relatively swiftly.

And once back home again it was time to sort out the butchers order that had been delivered earlier today; 100 sausages, 5kg bacon, 4kg steak mince, 5kg chicken and some steaks! By the time that was all done it was time to sit down and enjoy a coffee before starting on the next thing.

We still have some of my dads paperwork to go through and so I took an hour or so to sort it into things that I think would be worth keeping and then stuff that can probably be thrown away. We have discovered some fascinating documents; old wills, birth certificates for my grandparents, marriage certificates, an old telegram sent during the second world war, a police warning notice issued to my dad for improper use of fog lights (?) and more. But we also have old bills and invoices for accounts long closed and no longer relevant and that hold no historical or sentimental value. I have at least been able to organise what we have and now me and my brother can go through it all together and decide what to keep and what not!

And with that all done it is time for this weeks Moon Knight episode, a cup of tea and some dark chocolate.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 722

Day 722...

We have reached the middle of the week and as is the new normal for me at the moment it means a day at home.

I had a few minor tasks that I wanted to get done this morning. First I wanted to do a little re-organising on my laptop as I seemed to have an inordinate amount of webpages bookmarked and whilst some were still useful there was more that were not. So I set up a couple of new folders so those that I do want will be easier to find...hopefully!

Next I took the time to do a little research on leg exercises. I was pleasantly surprised that the ones I currently do (and some I used to do!) all appeared in the most recommended...as a result a few more bookmarks were added!!!

Throughout the morning I was able to get up to date with the laundry and a few more household chores before stopping for 20 minutes to complete my latest jigsaw.

As it was a lovely sunny day Simon and I were able to take one of our lunchtime walks. It was a little windy but felt deceptively mild and we did 2.4 miles in around 46 minutes; it was lovely to be out in the fresh air and blow away a few cobwebs.

After a spot of lunch it was back to the laptop but this time it was for shopping. I needed to place an order with the online butchers we use (Rendalls) as we are running scarily low on bacon...but not to worry delivery is all booked for Friday!!

Next on my shopping list was a new jigsaw. I used to have a massive collection of jigsaws but decided a couple of years ago to streamline my collection, some were sold and some were donated. I kept a few Disney ones and a couple of Christmas ones that I'd not completed and since then I've adopted an approach of do and donate! This however means I have no jigsaws to do...which obviously meant I needed to buy one. Thanks to Amazon I've found a Disney Parks Disneyland map jigsaw which should arrive sometime tomorrow.

Before I headed out the door for my hairdressers appointment I thought I would get ahead of the game by prepping for this evenings dinner! How organised am I?? But it paid off as after a couple of hours at the hairdressers I returned home with new hair and within 20 minutes dinner was served.

Wednesday is done, TV awaits and I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 688

Day 688...

And for the third day this week I had a normal day, split between work and home.

The morning in work was pretty standard with phone calls, emails, banking and forward planning with my deputy manager.

I made a quick stop at my local Lidl on the way home and for the first time ever I actually won a prize via the scratch card on their app. Although the prize is 50% off something I wouldn't ever buy...so not really a win then!

I had a couple of hours at home before heading out the door to pay a visit to the hairdressers. Time for a colour refresh and a much needed cut!

And that was Thursday, short and sweet! See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 643

Day 643...

This will be a very quick post today as it is now very late in the day!

But today has been my last day in work before Christmas and I can now say that school is out for the holidays.

We had a very relaxed day at work ending with a Christmas party for the children. I wasn't able to stay for the party as it clashed with my longstanding hair appointment!

But I had a productive day in work getting all that I needed to get done completed before we finished for the term. 

After a quick stop at home I headed back out the door for a couple of hours of chill out time as I had my hair refreshed; keeping it blonde and extra short (which may be advantageous if lockdowns are looming again!).

And that was today and tomorrow will be the first day of my holidays and will start the mad rush towards Christmas!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 611

Day 611...

The end of the working week and I think this will be a quick post today.

I had a full day in work and as is the norm for a Friday it was a day split between a morning working directly with the children and then an afternoon spent catching up on admin bits and pieces.

Once work was done it was a quick stop at home to get changed out of my work uniform and then straight back out the door to the hairdressers.

I decided that as much as I'd loved having my pink hair these last few weeks it was time to go back to being an icy blonde. And also time to go back to my extra short hair...I'd attempted to grow some of the length but found myself getting bored with it so back to the cropped look it is!

And after having a lovely couple of hours chatting with my hairdresser and being forced to do nothing it was back home for the evening.

A quick dinner of steak and burgers followed by an evening in front of the TV with a glass of red and some extra dark chocolate.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 567

Day 567...

So it was the middle of another week and another day split between work and home for me.

The plan at work this morning all revolved around our annual school photo morning. We have an outside company visit, they take lots of lovely photos for parents to buy and the preschool benefits with a little commission. But by 9am the photographer had not arrived and things were not looking good.

A phone call to our contact was met with a 'this phone is switched off' message which meant we then had to contact the head office. They couldn't tell us straight away what was happening but that they would refer the matter over to the local area management team and get back to us. About two hours later we received a call back...and it was not good news.

It transpired that the company had become victim to the impact of the last eighteen months or so. They had lost staff either through redundancy or simply by them leaving after months and months of not being able to work despite the furlough scheme being in place. This had left our local area without staff to look after us and consequently meant there was no-one to send out to us at all. And whilst they were very apologetic it did leave us rather annoyed that the company hadn't had the presence of mind to inform us that our photo session would not be happening. We then had to get in touch with all our parents to explain the situation and apologise! I appreciate the difficulties that they have faced over the last year or so but that does not excuse poor administration practices. I will now have the job of looking elsewhere and figuring out if, and when, we could possibly host another photo morning.

On the plus side the lack of hustle and bustle that comes with a photo morning meant I was able to get caught up on a few admin tasks of my own that I had not been expecting to do.

My afternoon at home consisted of the ever so exciting sorting of laundry along with the ironing of clothes...whoop! But around mid-afternoon I headed off out to the hairdressers as it was time for a new colour and cut! I hadn't got any firm plans of what I wanted doing today...so this happened!

#pinkhairdon'tcare

So while Simon helped Molly get to and from her kickboxing lesson...she drove of course...I enjoyed a little 'me time' and spruced up my hair colour.

Molly did really well with her driving again and had her first experience of driving in the dark which involved driving down some unlit country lanes. But as always she took it in her stride and coped admirably with it all.

So it's time to sign off for the day as it's late, I have a glass of wine that needs drinking and the final episode of Marvels' 'What If' to watch.

See you tomorrow.

xx

Day 526

Day 526...

Today has been another quiet day and I don't know if I handle quiet days very well...I am so used to having things to do that to be faced with a day where I can do what I want is very strange and difficult for me to accept.

So this morning I decided to 'do my nails' which for me translates as a file and clear polish! I edited some of the photos that I had scanned yesterday before downloading them to my laptop; although I still have to go and add all the date and time information onto them. Then it was time to go to the hairdressers, and it was just a cut today. My hairdresser gets married in a week or so's time and is taking all of September off so I had booked in today for a cut to keep me going until the beginning of October when it will be ready for a bit of a colour refresh.

I arrived home right in the middle of Simon's lunch break so we headed straight back out the door to have a quick walk, managing 1.9 miles in just 35 minutes.

My afternoon saw me bake some keto sesame bread which I haven't done for a long while. I know for some people adopting a keto way of eating can be difficult as giving up bread can be a big deal. For me it has never really bothered me...occasionally the smell of toast can be tempting and I always used to enjoy a fruited loaf or teacake but since going keto I have always been disappointed when allowing myself a 'treat' of these types of bread so now I simply don't bother. But every now and then I will bake this sesame bread as it's a nice treat with some cream cheese or pate or simply just butter.

The rest of my afternoon was spent cleaning...see I told you I don't handle not having anything to do very well! So out came the hoover and the wipes and I got a couple of rooms done, in between a couple of coffee's to keep me going.

When Simon finished work for the day it was time to head down our gym and throw a few weights and ropes about for a short while. And after the gym workout I carried on hoovering...I know I'm mad!

Well I will sign off for tonight and see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 497

Day 497...

Well I think this will be a relatively short blog post today as once up and about I had a day of two halves.

My morning was spent at the hairdressers and the great thing about heading to the hairdressers is that I am forced to stop for a couple of hours. It was lovely, as it always is, to catch up with my stylist Kim, as I have known her for a fair few years. I decided to have a colour tone added to my ash blonde today and came home with a fresh extra short cut and a splash of purple!

 

Once home my afternoon was spent working my way through pre-school work, and today the focus was to update the accounts. Pleased to say that the accounts balanced almost first time and the slight error was found within about ten minutes. I was then able to update a few documents ready for the new school year in September. 

But before I knew it the afternoon was done and it was time to get Molly to her kickboxing class, which meant Molly driving us there. And with Molly collected a couple of hours later that was Wednesday all done.

See you tomorrow.

xx

Haircut Friday

Day 457...

Well I'm a little late writing this today so I think it will be a quick post!

The day was spent in work and was mainly spent attached to the computer generating emails. I needed to formulate individual questionnaires for each of our families at pre-school and then email each family a link to their own questionnaire which they could then complete online.

I took a little break to catch up on some admin tasks as there was the usual banking to do as well as updates to our online learning journal system. There was also the weekly newsletter to generate, and schedule for distribution over the weekend, along with the corresponding posts on our website, social media and learning journal.

Then it was time to send out the next lot of emails; this time it was the next set of invoices for all our families. So it was a productive day, just one where I seemed glued to the laptop.

I had intended to stop by a local supermarket on the way home from work but as the weather had turned rather wet and quite chilly I decided to head straight home to warm up with a coffee. Once home and changed out of my work uniform I had a quick half hour to spare before I headed out the door again so I decided to do a quick bit of research on crowdfunding. We are hoping to organise something to raise some money for pre-school as due to the past 15 months of restrictions we have not been able to hold our usual fundraisers and are in need of raising some more pennies to keep us operating in the manner to which we prefer!

Then it was time to spend a couple of hours in the company of my lovely hairdresser, Kim. And once again she has done an amazing job, plus she is always a pleasure to spend time with and we enjoying putting the world to rights together!!

And with hair refreshed it was time to get home, see Molly and her fella as they had returned home after a week away, cook dinner and then settle down with a glass of red...and maybe some Star Wars TV by way of The Bad Batch (p.s. the jacket I'm wearing in the photo is an official Star Wars Kylo Ren jacket - I know I'm such a geek!).

Oh and I managed to get the little bit of supermarket shopping completed by sending Molly and her fella out this evening - win!

See you tomorrow, take care.
xx

Say Goodbye to Lockdown Hair

Day 421...

Today was the day that I got my hair back and said goodbye to my lockdown look!

But that was later in the day. The morning was spent in work and a big chunk of it was spent in a video call with a local speech and language therapist as she helped us with one of our children. I will admit to being a little sceptical with the video call approach but it actually worked really well, and the good thing was the call backed up everything we had been doing so far and pointed us where we need to go next.

I had a quick catch up with banking, admin and emails before heading home at lunchtime via a local supermarket. As Molly is having her 'girls' around on Saturday there were a few 'party nibbles' that needed picking up for the belated birthday celebrations.

Once home and shopping packed away I had time to get changed, grab a quick bite to eat, a couple of coffees and a few more emails responded to before heading off to the hairdressers to get rid of my lockdown locks! So I went from...

to this...

Yay the old me is back and I feel sooo much better for it!

And well after three hours at the hairdressers it was home to cook dinner, write this blog and drink wine!

Take care.
xx

Laundry and Hair

Day 189...

Today was a non-work day and the first job of the day was to get on top of the mountain of ironing that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere! And just for good measure I put on multiple loads of washing because I obviously want more ironing in the future!

Next job was to package up some more Ebay sales. I'd got a couple of awkward shapes and had to 'make' my own boxes...thankfully due to some recent deliveries we had plenty of strong cardboard and lots of bubble wrap. Once packaged it was a quick trip out to the post office and sods law by the time I got back home some more sales had been processed and now need posting!

Once home I set the coffee brewing while I measured up all the furniture that once lived in our bedroom but now presides in our garage and needs to find a new home; my intention is to try and sell it all online, fingers crossed.

With coffee in hand my next task was to assemble my new nail varnish storage system that arrived today. Lots of tiny screws, washers and bolts...all very fiddly but I only lost one washer under the cupboard - oops! Good job they sent one extra of everything.

Then it was off to the hairdressers for some 'me time'. Time to get a colour refresh and sharpen up my cut. A big thanks to Kim at Shine Hair & Beauty for looking after me so well as always.

New colour and extra short

By the time I got home it was get the dinner cooking and check my Ebay account as a couple more sales had come through! Think tomorrow it will be more packing and posting!

Now it is time to stop for the day with a glass of red and a little TV time (last episode of The Umbrella Academy to watch).

Take care out there, stay safe, keep your distance and wear a mask.

xx

Day 139

Day 139...

The plan this morning was to get outside and stain our decking as Simon had managed to get it all jet washed yesterday but the weather had other ideas. And while it rained only very lightly we decided to divert our efforts elsewhere.

So we spent the majority of the morning starting to assemble the wooden box/cover that Simon is making for our cosplay kit box to live in. We had to trim the planks to size before we could plan out how to attach the planks to the framework that we had made yesterday. Simon managed to make a template so that he could drill holes for the screws in each plank so that the screws are all spaced evenly.

It was then time for me to jump in the shower and get changed as I had a very important appointment to attend...the hairdressers! So last time I had my hair cut and coloured was way back on the 6th March when I decided to try and get back to blonde!

6th March 2020 - going blonde

So it was great to get back today and I decided that I needed to get my short hair back and maybe try a different colour...

Before photo - photo doesn't really show just how long it had gotten!

After photo - a two tone affair, and nice to get my extra short hair back

So from blonde to black with a flash of pink! A lovely couple of hours to brighten me up and in a very safe environment. Masks worn by all, limited numbers of people in the salon (in fact just me and my hairdresser), hand sanitiser, cleaning down between clients, disposable aprons/gowns, no magazines and no drinks - all very safe.

As I got home Simon had just left to go in search of more decking stain as while I was being pampered he had managed to fix his 3D printer and then decided to paint the decking but had run out of stain. So my first, and very important, job was to put a pot of coffee on ready for when he got home.

We were then able to get the rest of the deck stained in super quick time followed by a little more assembly work on our storage box project.

Another very full day and tomorrow is going to be another busy day as we are having a skip delivered to our 'other house' as well as just under a tonne of gravel!

Take care out there, stay safe, wash your hands and wear a mask.

xx

4...

4...days to go!

It's getting closer...and my mind is now in overdrive.  The excel spreadsheet on my laptop is open all the time so that I can note down things to pack, jobs that need doing or new items to our itinerary.

Speaking of which we have today received confirmation that Simon and I will be parasailing this time next week at the Sammy Duvall's Watersport Centre at Disney's Contemporary Resort.  I have to admit that I am both excited and nervous but really looking forward to it, something neither of us have ever done before so it'll definitely be something to remember.

The day started off though with a visit to the hairdressers for my daughter; nothing major just a good cut to get it all neat and smart.  I even had a little trim off my fringe...even though I'd had it cut last week I just knew my fringe wouldn't last till after the vacation so took advantage of being at the hairdressers to have a little more removed!

This afternoon has seen me getting together everything we need to take with us; the toiletries, the clothes, the raincoats, make-up etc etc. So hopefully when we do the packing in a day or so everything will be ready to just go in the bags.  And a first for this vacation has seen me pack my running gear...something I never ever thought I would be doing for a vacation.

We have just rounded the day off with a quick trip to a local sports shop to take advantage of knocked down prices on surf shoes so we are now all kitted out ready to hit the water parks.  And as both Simon and our eldest, who has been working for Simon's company this summer, officially finished work at 6.00pm this evening we thought what better way to start the vacation than a visit to McDonalds - we know how to live ;)