Mojo Recovered

So in the past few days, I have Done Some Stuff™ and while each of them is actually ridiculously minor, collectively I have been kinda busy. At least busy enough to legitimately declare that I've got my mojo back, at least for now.

I have:

• Emptied two kitchen cupboards, discovering five exploded lager cans 🤢 (which have effectively destroyed the under-sink shelf). I also poured out five more which were years out of date. I don't even like lager, they were free from my old work and I never got around to giving all of them away. That's what I get for not wanting them wasted! This level of "rescuing things" has got to stop. 
• Found and corralled loads of cleaning supplies 
• Sawn down a black tub to make an under-sink recycling bin - hey, it works well when the shelving is fubar'd! 
• Painted a door frame and skirting board
• Moved a wardrobe and chest of drawers (making space to move the bed, to paint behind) 
• Disassembled and given away a desk
• Listed my office chair to give away
• Disassembled and listed my cage shelving for sale

Unfortunately, I've now got jelly arms, so I'm going to have to give myself an evening off. 

I also deleted more than a thousand emails and unsubscribed from about 20 market research firms. I have earned money with them in the past, but I've had far too little interest lately, and it was just noise. They will all have me back if and when!

I'm going to try a "self-care" app to see if it helps me keep motivated. It lets you includes "paint a wall" as a daily task 😁 so let's see.

Spendy McSpenderson: £8 on some toys for Little X. 😘

Kitchen Triumphs

My kitchen did look like a war zone temporarily, but that's because I batch cooked spaghetti bolognese sauce. I decided to try it with added red lentils for the first time, to stretch my mince out, and I used one jar of sauce plus half a tin of tomato soup. It ended up making 6 portions.

Verdict: young Miss Fussy Pants ate an entire bowl without stopping. 🎉 I was pleasantly surprised at the texture. It needed to be a richer sauce (I will use tomato paste instead of soup next time). But it was definitely nice and I'll make it with lentils again in future.

I also bought three new things to try, since the aforementioned MFP needs more variety and more vegetables. She ate spring rolls exactly once 😒 so I wasn't expecting much from veggie gyozas but to my surprise, she ate them. She turned her nose up at Chicken Moneybags 💰 but between you, me and the internet, they were awful so I'm on Team MSF in rejecting those. Then we had a win with mini Steak Bakes. 👏

Frozen Supermarket has loads of party foods so we may just go for a wander one day soon.

I officially have enough saved to sell this place even though I'm still not able to do so - because, boringly, I still need to amass enough to pay a deposit for a future rental. 😒 Oh well, at least now it feels less depressing. 

Ruminations And Relocations

The redecoration has sat still for a week because I've been preoccupied. My son, Jay, finally lost patience with the miserable job market in Finland and is currently on a plane back to Australia. There's a small part of me that's sad about this, he has three family members there who will miss him dearly and it's a pity that he wasn't able to build a life there. But given how hard he has studied and tried, and just how demoralising it's been for him, I am really excited for him to start afresh in Australia with my sister and aunts. ♥️

My War Chest (or lack of) is the more pressing reason for my downer mood of late. It isn't enough to do the bare minimums which all compete for my attention - renewing the lease (£800), paying the service charge (£1100) and moving costs after I sell (£1800). Not renewing the lease could cost me five figures on the sale price, the sale might be blocked altogether if I don't pay the service charge up front, and I can't go anywhere with nowhere to go. It's like coming to a crossroads but all directions are dead ends. And staying where I am isn't appetising at all, winter in this dark flat is not fun.

I did at least order samples of flooring for the living room. I fancy myself as a vinyl floor-fitter, since I can't afford to buy carpet or have anything installed. I've also cleared my desk and I will get rid of it this week - I don't use it and less furniture to move will make flooring more doable. 

Expenses list redone... The emergency fund seems pointless while everything springs up in front of it. And my maintenance charges mount each month (I have £62 left over each month and fuel needs to come out of that... I don't want to think about my insurance renewals in the new year). 

Must muster more mojo.

Procurements and Concoctions

Oops: I thought I had published this post, but here it sits in Draft land. A lot has been going on and also, a lot hasn't happened. Anyway... 

Lose: having to resort to really crap nappies for a week because I refuse to buy a third pack. 

Win: a three pack of saucepans and one frypan which altogether cost the same as the 1+1 from the Middle Aisle and I'm very pleased with them. We also got a sieve and a grater. 👏

Lose: My carrot cake was so disappointing, it's a recipe I remember enjoying 25 years ago but this time the icing was awful. I am the victim of low fat cream cheese and not-butter. I ate it all, but spent every bite reevaluating my life choices.

Win: Little X actually eating peas, carrots and courgettes in other foods again.

The nice weather is disappearing far too quickly and it's easy to give in to a low mood. Sigh.