April Goals

Time to think about goals for April.

For this month, I’ve decided to keep it simple, I don’t have much on this month and I’m aware that I’m running a 5km at the start of June, so I need to put some effort into training for that. At the end of this month, I’m on holiday for a week in Amble (yes again, we love it there and there are lots of ruined things for us to see!). So for this month I’m keeping it simple.

Home

1) Paint the living room.

2) Paint the shelves in my bedroom

Fitness

3) Gym 2 x 30 minutes walk/run sessions a week

4) At least 1 longer run outside a week

What about you? What are you doing for April?

 

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Birthdays

Two of my favourite people have birthdays today..

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Laura

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Both of them in very different ways are important in my life and both of them are family.

Happy Birthday guys!

 

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Sunday Music

It’s Easter Sunday and I wanted something that felt Easter-ish. A while back Grace did an Easter Vigil and this is what we went out to..

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March Goals Update and 2013 Quarterly Review.

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It’s almost the end of March and time for a monthly update and just to add to the fun, a quarterly update on my 2013 goals.  Because of all the update fun, I’m not going to set goals in this post, I’ll either post them later today or sometime over the weekend (it’s Easter weekend so that’s anywhere from now until Monday night!).

Let’s start with March. It’s been a horrible month, the third cold of the year (what the hell is wrong with my immune system?) turned into bronchitis, it feels like I’ve spent most of the month at work, travelling to work or in bed trying to get enough rest so I have the energy to go to work. It’s been emotional (and if you can tell me the movie that’s from, you win absolutely nothing at all!) and frustrating. Other stuff, like the tooth trauma, which I’m still processing if the amount of dreams I’m having about losing my teeth is any guide (and I’ve been shocked to find out how many people I know are missing teeth) and people being away at work didn’t help make the month anymore fun. I missed updating last week so I’m catching up for two weeks! The results are not great.

Food

1) Coffee and alcohol, no more than 3 times a week.

Coffee – 15/12. I had a week of drinking coffee almost every day and I really don’t regret it because I would not have got out of bed let alone into work but I got back on track last week and this, so while I could have forsaken coffee this week to meet the goal, I decided not to and let it stand.

Alcohol – 15/12. I was one over for the whiskey as a mouthwash and I will admit to one G&T last Wednesday and drinks with Christelle on Thursday night. I’m not too bothered about this either, I’m not drinking every day and I’m not drinking excessively at all. So for me this is not so good, don’t let it become a habit but not terrible in a really awful month.

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Self care

2) No computer after 9pm on a school night (Sun to Thurs).

20/20 this has been easy, I’ve been keeping schoolnight rules on the weekend too because I’ve been so tired.

3) Paint my nails!

I slipped a bit mid-month, the combination of sickness and not looking after them for a week just destroyed my nails, so I bought some proper nail strengthener treatment stuff and am using that, my nails are painted but clear not coloured.

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4) Book an appointment with a dentist.

Done, see above note about the tooth trauma. I do have to go back next month other than the one tooth which is an issue the dentist says that they’re all fine.

Home

5) Sort out the DVD’s in the living room.

Done, still haven’t blogged about it but will take some photos this weekend and show you next week.

6) Sort out the pictures in the kitchen.

Sort of done, I need to print some photos and sort some frames, but it’s nearly there and I’ll blog about it soon.

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Exercise

7) Gym twice a week. 

Fail. Didn’t get to the gym at all in March but half of the month that was ’cause the doctor told me not to go! This will be a re-do for April.

8) 2 10k walks in March

Nope, another exercise fail. You see this picture below, this was taken last year and when it was warm. However, March has not been a month of spring like weather, whereas this time last year it was warm and sunny, this year it has been cold and sleety.  Not really walking weather.

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So it wasn’t a great month but there’s another coming up! Onto 2013 goals. How am I doing.

1.Run a 5km in under 30 minutes.

Not good.  I haven’t run properly this year at all. However, I have a 5km booked in June so am back on the bandwagon for April.

2. Run a 10km, no time target for this, but under 1h10m would be great.    

See above. No progress but plenty of time left in the year for me to achieve this.                          

3. Use the gym twice a week or give up the membership.

I’m not giving up the membership yet because in April, I’m back in the game!

4. Have a medical.  

I haven’t booked this yet mainly because I don’t think I can book the one that work gives us until later in the year.

5. Keep a record of my spending so I know what is or isn’t in my bank account.

I’m doing so well with this, I had a bit of a carefree March, but I knew where the money was and what money was coming in and going out of the bank account.

6. No credit card usage at all for 2013.                  

I cannot tell a lie, I have used one of my cards, twice. First to buy my yearly travelcard and then to book my flight to Washington in September. Most of it has already been paid off and although it’s not fantastic to use them, I’m happy with why and have a plan.

7. Set up a ‘Christmas’ account to pay for next Christmas, have at least £120 in that account. 

I’ve so done this.  I’m way over £120. This is mostly because I had a tax rebate but also because I’ve been putting all my change into the savings account and I just like seeing that total go up.

8. Volunteer.

I haven’t done anything about this yet. 

9. Buy no more than 12 books.

I’ve bought 1 book so far this year.  The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which I’ve had on order since last year. The rest I have borrowed off other people or have been in my house already.  I’ve found this both harder and easier than I thought. I can go ages without thinking I need a new book and it’s fine and then I wander by a second hand bookshop (cheap books) and have to remind myself that if a book is new to me, it counts! It’s tough and we’re going to be near Barter Books in a month’s time, help.

10. Painting.    

Living room painting is planned for April!

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Friday Links

Today is Good Friday so it’s nearly Easter and (in the UK at least) it’s a Bank Holiday. This week’s round up of stuff I thought was interesting.

1) Alan Rushbridger on Leveson and press reform. What’s really puzzled me about this is that a significant amount of the Press seem not to understand what has so outraged people. If you misuse your toys at some point someone will decide to take them away, the Press really needs to sit down and remember that with rights come responsibility, they can’t shout about press freedom and not take on the responsibility of reporting the truth without hacking into dead girls phones.

So, no one has the monopoly of principle. But this much is clear: the old system of regulation was feeble. Leveson uncovered much that was shameful about significant parts of the press – with more dismaying allegations doubtless soon to emerge in the courts. The most powerful newspaper group in the country was – on the kindest interpretation – out of control. The police and parliament were cowed.

We badly need reform. We also need a free press. Achieving both can’t be done at speed or in the dark.

2) Prayers and protests. I’m very pro-choice, which is not the same as pro-abortion and 40 Days for Life set up in Ealing this year, they drive me bananas because they lie and telling someone they’re a murderer is not helping..

A Marie Stopes spokesperson says that their main concern is targeting the “misleading information … given to [women] by protesters”. Flicking through a 40 Days leaflet, it’s clear that this is a problem. Saturated in emotive language about “your tiny baby”, its pseudo-medical statements imply that abortions often cause “serious physical complications” – a tactic that has earned them the moniker 40 Days for Lies among counter-protesters.

3) George Monbiot on the dividing line between public and private.

When the threshold is crossed, everything changes. Money spent in the private sector is deemed by politicians and the media to be a good thing. Money spent in the public sector is deemed a bad thing, even though (or perhaps because) it is more effective at distributing wealth. If you are on the right side of the line, the government will deregulate your business. If you are on the wrong side of the line (schools and hospitals, for example), it will subject you to ever more draconian regulation, with cruel and unusual punishments for the slightest resistance to its crazy targets and intrusive inspections.

4) A legal challenge about where Richard III’s remains should be buried. I thought York because that was where he wanted to be buried. However, for distant relatives (very distant) to claim that not being consulted on this is a breach of human rights is ridiculous, they didn’t know where he was buried at all until recently..

The licence stipulated that the king’s remains should be “deposited in [Leicester’s] Jewry Wall museum or else be re-interred at [the city’s] St Martin’s Cathedral or a burial ground in which interments may legally take place”.

That latitude of interpretation has stirred up a popular debate over the location of Richard III’s final resting place. Any site is likely to attract significant tourist business.

5) 100 rules of dinner. I like 87.

87. If you care about what other people thing about you and your parenting abilities, it is important that your kids only ask for their water “on the rocks” at home.

6) The problem with foodstamps/vouchers/payment cards. The only thing that kept me sane when I was unemployed was that I could control my household expenditure for the occasional treal, I could live on lentil soup for a week so I could afford a night out, not an expensive night out, just a couple of drinks with a friend.

I see those pragmatic arguments now as a Maginot line, and food stamps marched in over the undefended territory of human dignity. When you relegate people to a world outside money, you create a true underclass: a group of people whose privacy and autonomy are worth less than everyone else’s, who are stateless in a world made of shops.

7) The ultimate chocolate truffle.

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What I’ve Read – March 2013

How did we get to March already? I’ve struggled with reading this month, I started to re-read Paul Kendall Murray’s Richard the Third (it’s been about 20 years since I read it) but got too sick to concentrate so defaulted to easier books, but I still haven’t read much because I was in but trying to sleep at about 8.30pm each night!

10) The Sunne in Splendour – Sharon Penman

Because I couldn’t concentrate on the Paul Kendell Murray, I re-read this, I love this book and first read it when I was about 15, it fitted perfectly with my interest in medieval history. It was great to read it again having been to Middleham, which is my favourite castle, we’re going again in April on the way to Northumberland.

11) The Making of a Marchioness – Frances Hodgson Burnett

Tina gave me this to read as she thought that it was just the thing for a not very well person. It was. I didn’t realise that Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote adult stories. Emily Fox-Seton is a woman of a certain class who has no money and no family or friends to fall back on. Despite this she is a cheerful woman of about 34 and makes a living doing odd jobs for people, shopping, finding them servants and generally being useful and cheerful. She is an innocent and good things happen to her, then some bad things and then some good things. It’s a warm cuddle of a book.

12) The Clockwork Princess – Cassandra Clare

This is the second book, I’ve bought this year and I bought it on the Kindle. I read it in one day. It was fun and a nice ending to the series, I want to see how this will link into the   next Mortal Instruments book. Anyway, I enjoyed it and if YA is your thing, you probably will too.

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March in the kitchen

Another Wednesday without a recipe. I really haven’t been cooking anything new at all this month. Cooking this month has been about getting myself fed and the washing up done as soon as possible so I can go to bed and get some sleep.

However,  instead of worrying about the lack of new and creative food in my kitchen, I thought that I’d talk about what has been working for me in the kitchen this month.

Roast dinners.

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From the Mothers Day roast lamb, the two chickens that have been roasted, one for dinner with Ryan and the other for Ma on Sunday. Living alone it’s easy to get into the habit of eating whatever, last week I had cheese and biscuits for dinner because I just didn’t have the energy or enthusiam for anything else. This really isn’t a problem unless I invite someone over for dinner, because asking someone for dinner and then feeding them cheese, while not unexpected at my house, normally comes after you’ve fed them something else. Roast dinners work really well for entertaining, when I’m feeling sub par. Unless you’re entertaining vegetarians, no-one dislikes roast dinners, they don’t take a lot of creativity and because I’ve been doing them for years they’re pretty easy for me to throw together. I haven’t been up for the full roast effort and so cheated a bit, new potatoes because there is no peeling required, sauted leeks instead of traditional veg, no stuffing but where required for Ben, Lu and Ryan, yorkshires and proper gravy. It’s not the cheapest option but you get bones to make stock with and if you’re lucky (no such luck with my family and a leg of lamb!) there are leftovers to use through the week.

Pearl Barley

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I’m slightly obsessed with pearl barley. I love that it’s cheap, easy to cook and it has a slightly chewy texture. You can add it to stews and soup. I’ve been cooking it and adding it cold to salads (see above) or eating it hot like rice. It’s becoming the new pasta around here and while I’m not going to make any claims for it’s healthiness, it’s probably better for me than pasta..

Green Smoothies

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I’m back to having a green smoothie for breakfast. I wanted something quick to make, that I could take with me and I was feeling in need of as many extra vitamins as I could get. So I make a smoothie and most often end up drinking it on the way to work from my new travel cup. All I really need is a new toy to make a healthy decision stick!

Corn and Black Bean Tacos.

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I know that I’ve mentioned these before but they are a lifesaver. I make them for dinner and then get a couple of lunches or another dinner out of them. They are quick, easy, cheap and really good when I’m tired from work.

Mini bars of chocolate.

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I like good dark chocolate but I also have a trashy sweet tooth as well. This month I started buying a selection of small bars of candy and chocolate. I get one a day. This seems to be working really well for me because a small bar is more satisfying than a piece of a big bar. I don’t know why but it’s working for me!

Other kitchen stuff this month has been using my local butcher for meat instead of the supermarket, honey and lemon and smoked salmon.

What new stuff have you been cooking, eating, doing in the kitchen this month?

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Patience is bitter…

It’s really hard sometimes to stay in the here and now, all the good stuff seems to be about to happen.

Next weekend is Easter and the four day Bank Holiday weekend, I’m having a haircut, celebrating Laura’s birthday with her and the rest of the family.

In April, Jo and Ms T are over from Nigeria, so I get a day to catch up with them. There’s theatre that’s been booked for so long, I almost forgot about it, a living room to be painted, some time to catch up with Christelle and Mike.

At the end of April, Ma and I are going to Northumberland via Middleham, to chill out at Amble and hopefully do some walking.

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In May there are two more Bank Holidays and hopefully a bit more spring and/summer. Another theatre trip, training to run a 5km at the beginning of June.

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June and July are, apart from the 5km, pretty unplanned but there are birthdays and summer and maybe the Grace weekend away and Ma retires.

In August, there are birthday celebrations (mine!) and a week off and maybe Greenbelt.

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Then in September, another holiday, this time to Washington DC to see Matt and John and wonder around a city I’ve never been to and take photos and who knows what else.

All of the good stuff seems to be around the next corner. When I feel better from the bronchitis, when I’ve sorted the flat, when I have time to run, when the clocks go back, when it’s warmer, when it’s lighter, when I have the money.

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That could be depressing and over the last couple of weeks, life has felt like a trudge, something to get over and through. This time last year, I had turned the heating off and tights were optional not necessary, right now, it’s freezing cold and an awful lot of the country is covered in snow. It does feel that winter might never end.

This is the point that I’m supposed to make a shattering observation, something along the lines of “the best time to raise your game is when you’re feeling down”. While that’s true, I’m not going to do that. I’m not feeling miserable about waiting, experience tells me that life will get really busy soon enough and I should enjoy this quiet. I know that my daily life as it is now, is going to help when all that good stuff happens.

Yes, right now life is a little mundane, but the simple boring things, like getting up to date with the washing, ironing and housework are going to help when a busy weekend comes (and they will come!), being responsible with the money I have now, means that I’ll have more to spend when I’m away or throwing the ‘oh-no 4-0’ birthday party.

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So rather than be frustrated and cross about what hasn’t happened yet, I’m going to carry on with my daily life and use the Quote of the Day at the tube station last week as my motto, at least until the sun comes out!

Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.

How are you all coping with spring or the lack of it where you are?

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The Weekend

This weekend started on Friday afternoon, when work finished and team building began. We all went to lunch and then to Bounce for ping pong. I was really surprised that I was better at it than I thought I would be, I played five games and won four! However, I also dropped a pint of beer over myself, so spent the rest of the afternoon smelling quite yeasty!

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I left at 5.30pm because I was flagging and I’d already arranged to go and see Tina and Charles.  It was lovely to see them and we talked about the new house and painting, what’s going on with various people we both know and all sorts of other things. By 8pm, Tina was obviously flagging and it was time to go home.

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The weather this weekend has not been good, on Saturday, I awoke, with the rest of London, to snow. That decided me and I stayed indoors all day and read a book.

Of course the downside of a day doing absolutely nothing is that eventually you need to do things. So on Sunday, I did the housework (so much washing), did the shopping, did the prep work for next week and cooked lunch for me and Ma, who came round after her very cold morning on the piazza outside Westminster Cathedral, with CWO. She reports that the people going into church this morning were quite nice, even when they disagreed with them, which is not always the case!

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While I was putting out the recycling, the ginger cat ran upstairs and made himself (I’m assuming it’s a he) quite comfortable! I really don’t know what to do about the ginger cat, he seems to be well fed and cared for but he doesn’t have a collar. I often find him huddled on my doorstep in the porch in the morning which doesn’t seem something a cat with a home would do.  I don’t feed him and he’s very affectionate but also quite shy. I don’t know if he has a home or not. Anybody have any advice?

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That was pretty much the weekend. I’m feeling much better but I’m still very easily tired so early night and ready for work this week. I have a couple of short weeks, four days next week and three the week after, hurray for the Easter Bank Holiday!

How was your weekend? What are your plans for Easter?

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Friday Night Cocktail

Friday Night Cocktail is back! Blaming it’s absence on lack of new cocktail drinking and sickness!

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Today, our team is going out for lunch and then to Bounce to play ping pong (or whiff whaff if you’re Boris Johnson!). My ping pong skills are worse than my bowling, so it should be interesting! When it was being organised, we had a couple of options and the first thing I did was look at the drinks menu of each of the choices. I voted against the cocktail making class, because the cocktail menu of the bar in question didn’t have a negroni or a gin martini or a manhattan or even an old fashioned on the menu but an espresso martini, a porn star martini and a woo woo all made it on the list. I’m a snob so sue me!

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The Bounce menu is supposed to be a homage to a gin palace (although I counted three gins on the list, Beefeater, Beefeater 24 and Hendricks, I have more gin than that in my cupboard at home!) and the Gin Lane Spritz caught my eye. Gin, Aperol, Kamm and Sons, fresh orange, topped with prosecco. My love of the Aperol Spritz is well known as is my love of Kamm and Sons, it was one of those moments where I slapped my forehead and said “why didn’t I think of that?”. I have no idea if this is anything like the one at Bounce, I’ll know this afternoon but this is my take on it!

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What

2oz freshly squeezed orange juice

1oz aperol

1oz gin

1 oz Kamm and Sons

Just over 2 oz prosecco

How

1) Pour everything except the prosecco into an ice filled shaker and stir together.

2) Pour into a flute and top up with prosecco.

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