One of Those Weeks

Oh my, what a week. What. A. Week. Ok, so in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn’t that bad. Sometimes work just sucks at the same time as other stuff being rubbish too, and it all feels a bit overwhelming. That pretty much sums up this week.

I cooked once; a vegetable soup that I put too much kale in so it tasted gross. I gag just thinking about it. Then we had Pizza Hut. Ergh, always regret (except I don’t, it was greasy goodness that I had for lunch today and will have for breakfast tomorrow). My working out happened once out of three this week.

The main thing has been the house we’re venturing to buy. House issues, people. HOUSE ISSUES. The survey came back – it was not a good day. So many problems. Damp, boiler, electrics, the roof, joinery (what even is that?), windows…it was dire. I mean we knew it needed work, but that amount of work? And the valuation being £11,000 below our offer (which itself was below the asking price) – what’s with that?!

So it feels a bit like we’re back to square 1. If the vendor won’t drop the price to the valuation price (I have a feeling she won’t), then we are outta there. A few hundred pounds worse off (boo), but wiser because of it.

I’m a firm believer in learning from mistakes, so here’s a list of things that I have learnt this week.

• Cooking a proper meal will make you feel better. Choose a foolproof meal that has less chance of going wrong (steak and chips tonight – amazing).
• Sing some gospel truths to help set your mind and heart on Jesus.
• Moaning won’t make a problem go away (knew that one already, but it’s good to be reminded!).
• Spring flowers are good for the soul.
• When viewing a house, ask if any surveys have been done that you can look at.
• Eating greasy pizza and chocolate biscuits won’t make you feel better in the long run…
• …but sometimes you just eat them anyway, and that’s ok 🙂

And breath. Life will keep trundling along, and us with it.

We bought a…

Last month it was all about the pram, this time the purchase is slightly bigger, slightly more mental and a lot more exciting. This time, we bought a house. We BOUGHT a HOUSE. Whaaaaat?!

So technically we don’t own it. We haven’t quite bought a house. Our offer has been accepted. Which still feels HUGE. AHHHHHHHH!

Two weeks ago, we weren’t buying a house. I was going to work til the end of this academic year, then leave to either become a full-time foster mum or do a Masters in Translation. We then went to see a mortgage adviser who was like, “Yes, you can get a mortgage (even though my hubby is on a temporary contract)”, and everything changed. Suddenly, I’m looking for a new job that pays a little bit more and isn’t in a school because I’m going to be working for at least the next year, we’ve looked at houses, made a couple of offers. Say what.

It’s only overwhelmed me once, cue a lot of crying and reassuring words from my Mr and all was well. Which is a good thing, because the next day, one of the offers was accepted – boom!

It’s not in the best state, I mean it’s definitely liveable once it’s had a good scrub down, but there are a couple of things we’d like to do. Like tear off all the wallpaper and redecorate, as well as put tiles in the bathroom and replace all the windows (in the whole house). Oh and re-do the floors everywhere and put a new light in kitchen. That’s after we’ve taken off all the units, figured out where the damp behind the washing machine is coming from, sorted that out and then maybe remodel the whole kitchen. Not forgetting making the entrance to the kitchen wider my knocking down some of the wall. Not to mention all the doors that need either replacing or sanding down and repainting. Whilst we’re at it, we may as well re-do the bathroom and make the attic room larger once we’ve got central heating up there and added another velux window at the back. So you know, just a couple of things 😉

We love it though. Large, spacious rooms, a hallway (I am ridiculously excited about this hallway), outdoor space that’s secure, a bay window…exciting times..! Trying to stay at least a bit objective as it could all fall through (as these things do), but God willing, this will be the home where we will see through the next few years at the very least, maybe even have kids there. Now there’s a scary thought…

 

On the Road to Fitness: go go go!

Yes, that is a positive title, after a positive month! Having decided to get fit last year, there have been ups and downs, but mostly downs. My lack of self-discipline was my downfall, both in the areas of eating and exercising 😉 Back in October, I started cycling to work and actually kept that up for most of the half term, but much unhealthy food was still being eaten. I think I began to sleep better which is a bonus, so not all bad.

Come January, I decided to embark on a new routine. I blogged about it here, and I thought it’d be good to do an update just over a month in.

The big woop is that I’ve stuck with it! For a WHOLE MONTH. Partay. Three workouts a week (I only missed one when I was ill), and low intensity exercise most days in between. I’ll admit, I’ve not stuck to it religiously – in the first week I only did half the time I was supposed to as I just couldn’t do it, and I’ve changed a few exercises that left me collapsing on my face (my first attempt at a proper press up – hilarious), as well as missing all my in between exercising this week (just, you know, cos I’m a bit lazy 😉 ). My eating is still pretty atrocious (still not gone a day chocolate free since..I don’t know when..!), but hey, I ate salad for lunch the other week. Which I made myself. With avocado and beetroot and everything. Can I get a woop woop?!

I’ve just finished Week 1 of the guide, having completed 4 weeks of pre-training, and I’m ready to power on as far as I can. I’m sure I’m stronger than I was before – I can now do press ups so that’s progress 🙂 The workouts only take half an hour after work and they stop me from falling asleep on the sofa, which is always a bonus.

We’ve started going swimming early Saturday or Sunday morning, too. Me and my hubby go together, and I swim for about 40 minutes and my hubby does 10-15 lengths then goes in the sauna. I love swimming, having hated it for years, I’ve found I love it now. It’s great finding a new sport to enjoy, especially since running is probably still off limits for me.

All in all, January was a really great month fitness-wise. My focus now is on food and trying to ‘make better choices’ (can you tell I work with children?). Whilst I’m off this week, I’m hoping to tackle snacks and have bought plenty of fruit and green leaves to make smoothies in a bid to steer clear of the chocolate and biscuits. We’ll see how that one goes…