Sunday 22 January 2012

Sunday night chit-chat


What are you… 

Reading?  “Money Drunk, Money Sober” by Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan. A 90-Day program to get you “sober” about your money. You first identify your particular money addiction and acknowledge it, then work through the program day by day to repair the issues. I picked it up (at the library) because I thought it could help me focus a bit better, but it’s just okay. I’m going to read the whole thing, see how I feel about it, and then see if doing the program will actually help me more than I think.

 “The Girls Who Went Away” by Ann Fessler. This was a book that came through the library as a request from another library. It looked interesting, so I bought it from Amazon with a gift card I got for Christmas. It’s about girls in the years before “Roe vs Wade,” who were made to give up their babies for adoption and the shame, guilt and societal backlash they got in exchange – as well as well-meaning but misplaced advice like ‘move on and forget about it.’ The author is herself one of those babies and it was a conversation with another woman – once one of ‘those girls’ – that got her thinking that no one had ever asked these women how they felt about this. The focus has always been on the children who were given up. This book is Ann’s way of coming to terms with her adoption, the reasons behind it and meeting her birth mom for the first time.

“A Beautiful Blue Death” by Charles Finch. A Victorian mystery set in London concerning a servant who dies after ingesting a very unusual, but particularly deadly, poison. The (unofficial) detective is an upper-class gentleman who uses his connections to help solve the case. I’m only about a third of the way in, but it’s beautifully written and very engaging.

Watching? DIY/HGTV. I love most things that concern construction (which, yes, includes cute tradesmen…*ahem*…sue me). I still have the Jackie Chan movie to watch as well as “Bridesmaids.” I bought the latter off Amazon for $10 with the gift card I got for Christmas.

Listening to?  My usual “Top 25.” I am not brave when it comes to music, however, I’m glad I made the choice to purchase Adele’s “21” from iTunes last year. She’s simply amazing and hugely talented. I haven’t heard a voice that beautiful for many years.

Cooking/Baking?  I made apple cinnamon bran muffins (a mix), so I will have a snack at work for the next week or so. Otherwise, I’m trying to attack whatever is in the fridge and empty some containers and shelves. Not leftovers, per se, but stuff that needs to be eaten and done with so that I can refresh a few things after payday.

Happy you accomplished this week?  My first English assignment (which wasn’t difficult) plus I was one of a few to get an extra mark because the instructor had posted to wrong assignment on the wrong week. J Despite quite a spendy week, it was all – apart from my visit to Timmy’s – necessary stuff. I am finding I spend a HUGE amount of money on food, so I need to look at that. I have, however, been shopping (mostly) to my lists, so that’s an improvement. Menu planning would help, but I’m hampered by the fact that I have a small fridge freezer (already stuffed) and it’s just me. A small, separate freezer would help, though, as it means I could cook less, which would be great because I don’t like to cook anyway.

I’ve started looking at things to declutter again. There’s a little murmur out there about this right now, and I figured I’d add my voice to it. I did really well on this during the late summer/early fall last year, but bit by bit, I’ve started “collecting” stuff again and I can really use the motivation to get myself going again. I started with my fridge and got rid of a few things, but there’s still much to do there. This morning I cleaned and deleted a few things off my computer that were cluttering that up. At the beginning of the month I went through my emails and unsubscribed to quite a few things, helping keep that much tidier as well. That felt great!

Looking forward to next week?  More of the same. Paying more attention to where I’m falling down with my intentions as well (eating better, spending, making time for things I enjoy, etc).

Thankful for today?  That my diabetic cat seems to be doing a bit better. After her vet visit on Friday afternoon, she’s up to 2 insulin injections per day to see if that helps the glucose levels balance better. Also, the other diabetic food that she was on – which was making her vomit (TMI?) – has been switched back to the original stuff and there have been no problems so far. She’s even eating her proper diabetic tinned food again, which is a real relief. So while it was an additional expense I wasn’t anticipating, I’m thankful for the skilled and caring vets and staff at the clinic I take her to. There’s a reason they’re quickly becoming the “go to” clinic in town.

That I met a good friend for coffee this afternoon. I treated myself to a tea and a breakfast Panini (which was disappointing) and spent an hour or so in excellent company. She’s a lovely woman and I value the time she takes to spend with me; she’s very inspiring and full of great advice. I passed along an item of mine that I thought her 5-yr old son would like. When I was down south last year I went to IKEA (DANGER! DANGER!) and picked up many things, among them this item, which I thought would be really fun on my wall. Only it’s a ceiling light (they had it up on a wall at the showroom, hence my confusion). At any rate, it’s been sitting in my living room ever since, so I passed it along to my friend who said her son will love it.

5 comments:

Gill - That British Woman said...

I had Adele's "21" cd as well and love it. She is a great singer. Glad to hear she'll be back singing soon.

Gill

Unknown said...

Ooh, IKEA is a weakness for me. So many great things at good prices. Probably a good thing I don't live very near one.

Glad the kitty is starting to feel better!

Jane said...

I bought Adele's CD as well!! Isn't she amazing? Oh, and you'll love Bridesmaids, I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time!
Enjoy your week!

Anonymous said...

I love Adele too and really want to see Bridesmaids - it's on my list.

Unknown said...

I love Adele's voice and the fact that she is so normal!

Have a great week.

Sft x