Climbing

So, climbing is taking over my life! Or has the Miracle Girl already surreptitiously taken over my life ... hmmm.....

My weekend:

Saturday:  get up - clear up - sort various kitchen machines - practise Lion King audition for part quite obviously destined for much older child - drive Daisy Fay to Performing Arts group - go to tutoring job - come home - peg washing on line - make packed lunch - pack change of clothes - pick up Daisy Fay - drive to climbing centre in Warrington where the rest of her climbing team are in the last round of the North West qualifying for the national championships ( and some of them did! Yay!!) - spectate while child goes off to socialise - spectate with child - drive home - express relief that Paul has sorted out home-made pizza for movie night - fall asleep halfway through second film!

Sunday:  get up - clear up - sort various machines (the hamster wheel of life) - plan food for week - lament lack of time for weekly shop - entrust cash and limited shopping list to Paul, knowing he will not be as frugal as he should be! - make yet another packed lunch - pack climbing kit - pack still as yet unread reading book - drive to climbing centre in Liverpool (reading book on the way) - pay entry, hire ropes etc. - buy coffee - contemplate need to learn to belay whilst watching Miracle Girl's squirrel impression - text Paul that we will be too late to buy wine at 25% off at Tesco so he will need to go - drive home - sort stuff for Monday for me and Miracle Girl - eat (very good) Sunday dinner - clear up - sit down - fall asleep!

The Miracle Girl has passed her Level 1 climbing qualification - she now has her own harness and belay device - and there's a chunk of money I won't see again!!

                                                

This is not going to go away ...


                                                    

Square One

The campervan fund has taken a bit of a hit - so has the deposit for a caravan in Cornwall (in lieu of having a campervan) fund.

It all started with the scrambled egg ...

Actually no, it all started when I was pregnant ... at that point we finally conceded that we ought to do things to the house so that it would be suitable for a small child - up until then it had gone: house - holiday, house - holiday? Err ... holiday!! One of the things we did was the kitchen, which so needed doing. Avoiding the attached long story, we ended up getting two of those tall pull-out larder cupboards. Mistake. They are pants! They don't take any weight, and we are big on kitchen stuff. Also you can't stack anything higher than the wire trays because they slide off when you pull it open, and ... well, just pants ... and over time start to lean open. So, we decided to get shelves put in and the doors hinged instead. Very nice man has a workshop in the old farm buildings at the back - builds kitchens - wish he'd been there when we built ours! So far, controlled expenditure ...

Then came the scrambled egg ... the Miracle Girl has learnt to make scrambled egg on toast all by herself.

 It went: I'm going in the shower - Mummy, Mummy, can I make scrambled eggs for breakfast? - Yes, but I'm going in the shower.

Shower - conditioner - door flies open - child erupts through door sobbing! Large drawer containing pans (for scrambled eggs), jars and some chutneys etc. has pulled out too far, plummeted to the tiled floor ... well, you can guess the rest.

Towel, dripping hair, examination of broken glass and scattered contents ...

Actually, once I had rinsed my hair and put on something more substantial than a towel, there wasn't that much broken, but the little wheels that hold the drawer in had sheared off, and the drawer side was warped - this involved the making of new large drawer, and refitting of rails - not too big a kitchen job has turned into something altogether more expensive. Ho hum ....

On the plus side, my cupboards are now fab, the drawer is beautifully made of wood, and feels a whole lot more solid than what we had before, I have reorganised most of the cupboards and can find everything easily. Would heartily recommend Phil ( the very nice man).

Minimal savings, though, are gone.

Again, being positive, when we have a campervan I shall have scrambled eggs on toast made for me for breakfast...

Back to square one ...

Good Intentions

I'm full of these - I shall : clean my house, declutter my house, sell my clutter, do yoga, organise my stuff, file things where I can find them, advertise tutoring, be healthy and whoosh fresh juice regularly, lose weight and become a shadow of my former self ... and here is where we we enter into reality - in January, flushed with New Year's Resolution frenzy, I listened to my cousin.

I love my cousin - she is fab! She is my much younger cousin, now I think about it. Let's do a run she said, in London she said, exciting and fun she ... inferred! Yes said I, I can do that, said I, how hard can that be...

Very hard!

January - flushed with enthusiasm, I started training, did ok, thought : this is not a problem - slow but steady wins the race!

February/ March - nasty bug, Daisyfay's half-term and social whirl, too much work for the last halfterm, tutoring, cakes ... confession: no running!!!!

I used to run, in my former life I ran a lot, and did yoga ( and even aerobics during some slightly deluded life phases) - I did the Great North Run, twice!! But now ...

So my latest distraction is ... I must run.

Thus we have the plan - prongs 1+2. We now have the sub-plan, as I attempt to get somewhere with preparing to run 10 km on the 27th May - don't laugh, it is not funny!!

Let's be positive ...

Happy holidays...

Easter holidays - much needed! Last half term was mad busy - worked nearly every day - obviously good on the earning side, not so good on the clean your house/ write your blog/ declutter your stuff/ diversify your life front.

Jobs to do :
*  reassess plan - organise!

*  check bank balance - transfer money - pay money off!!! Yay!! (There'd better be money there after all this work - haven't had chance to check yet!)

*  see if we have enough money to put a deposit on for caravan in Cornwall (always assuming it's still available!)

*  hope we have something, however minimal, towards the campervan fund.

Okay - so these are initial jobs - I have such a long list ...

Does everyone have a list, I wonder...
Do other people get through their lists?

We saw a gorgeous campervan today - vw, dark pink, flowers - Daisyfay was impressed.

I don't want much, basic will suit - bit of make do and mend, I don't mind.
Still dreaming ...