take advantage of weekends to move forward in life

The bathroom remodelling has thrown my life into disarray, but it’s over now. As a result is this weekend I have done a lot of washing and ironing, now I have my new laundry appliances. I’ve also been shopping for fruit and veges, including strawberries and asparagus (yum!) and supermarket stuff. I pottered in the garden, weeded my little patch and watered the plants. I am happy to report that my strawberry plant has 3 tiny strawberries on it.

Yesterday I went to my usual Pilates lesson, and today I went for a long walk instead of going to the gym. It was a warm sunny day, so it was really great to get outside.

I’ve also bought a new camera, so I’ve been busy taking photos. Some of them are the fun sort, and others are the boring sort (stuff I want to sell on TradeMe).

Yesterday I went to the hairdresser and got some blonde streaks put in my hair for summer. This and the sunshine have improved my outlook on life a lot.

Major achievements this weekend were getting ready for the bathroom renovation starting tomorrow, and buying a vacuum cleaner.

I have emptied the bathroom cupboard, removed other objects such as the scales and the wind chimes, and done heaps of washing before the old washing machine disappears. I’ve also removed obstacles and potentially breakable items on the path from the front door to the bathroom.

I also braved the really bad weather yesterday (8 degrees or something – another 5 layers of clothing day) and bought a vacuum cleaner. Two lucky things happened. My mother sent me a cheque for $1000 because I’d sounded so miserable last weekend about the vacuum and the camera, and Briscoes had a half price sale on electrical goods this weekend. A fortuitous combination!

I’m beginning to think though, that it’s National Break Down Month, because my big heater died on Friday evening, we had a watermain repair on Saturday afternoon which meant they cut off water for about 2 hours, and we are still without street lighting after 10 days even though the council call centre assures me that an urgent job has been logged. The worst thing about the heater is that it’s impossible to replace it at this time of the year, because shops don’t stock heaters in spring – no market for them or something :(

On the positive side, Pilates yesterday really got me moving on a cold day, and I did cardio and weights at the gym this afternoon. Today has been a beautiful sunny day, and I have bought fruit and veges for the week, including asparagus.

Good stuff
Going to an ikebana lesson held as part of the Botanic Gardens spring festival. My moribana creation was a pretty creditable effort I thought. While I was in the gardens, I also looked at these guys competing in an arborist’s tree climbing competition. They raced up trees at alarming speeds.

The weather on Saturday was sunny and warm.

Continuing the Japanese theme, I went to see the movie Departures, which was an excellent movie.

I did weights and cardio at the gym yesterday, and a Pilates mat class today.

At Friday night’s AA meeting, 2 people celebrated their AA birthdays (6 and 7 years), and we went for dinner together before the meeting.

I did laundry and pottered in the garden. Weeded my little collection of pots thoroughly, did 5 minutes of pruning, and then planted the plants I bought last week. I have bought fruit and veges for the coming week, including asparagus!

I did not do any vacuuming.

Not so good stuff
I didn’t go to my Pilates studio class, because my mother was passing through Wellington on her way home, and was keen to catch up at the airport. I rescheduled the class for Monday evening, and then she rang and told me not to bother, she would only be there for half an hour so it wasn’t worth it. Families aaaargh!

My camera has malfunctioned (in between the tree climbing contest and the ikebana lesson), and I have a horrible feeling that I will need to get a new camera. I’ve been wanting to get a really good one for quite a while, but this is not a great time for this, due to the amount I’m spending on the bathroom.

I looked at vacuum cleaners. This is because my vacuum cleaner went kaput earlier this week. I do not like vacuuming, so you can imagine how I feel about shopping for vacuum cleaners when I’d much rather be buying a camera. However, I will probably need to vacuum up a lot of dust from the renovations in the next few weeks, so I’ve got to buy one.

Edit – have added a photo of my ikebana efforts!

mostly i was at home babysitting my nephew. i liked to bring him out for a walk in the morning. the air was refreshing and it was still quiet. i brought him back home again when he fell alseep 0n my shoulder. this way, he wouldn’t whine, nor make a fuss when he was about to sleep. this boy likes fresh air, a leisurely walk and looking around. when he slept, i either read or walk around taking some photos. i also brought home some translation works to do when i had spare time but they still remained in the car since friday night until sunday afternoon when i left home for songkhla. i barely touched it. py was away so i walked around alone to snap photos and had sometime for a cat nap too.

saturday morning, while phun was sleeping, i went out exercising with my sister. she biked while i ran. we did it 8k on the hilly road. it was tougher and took longer time than running on the treadmill. my legs got stiff and tired on the next day. so the next morning, i dared not running that far again, instead we played badminton.

it poured so hard on saturday night which made my sleep tighter and more comfy. i left the windows open, so i could feel the coldness from the rain and the fresh air seeping through the mosquito screen. i left home for songkhla at lunch time to visit my ex. he had an eye operation and was suffering from the pain. since the breakup, we talked and tried to make peace and finally become good friends. we’ve known one another too much and too long to let our friendship slip by. he wanted to get back and said he was so sorry for what he had done to me. i told him it was not that i wanted a new boyfriend after breaking up with him, but i want to enjoy being single and be just a friend to him. i don’t want to rush on a relationship and want to spend more time with my family and girlfriends… no more boy for now.. he keeps calling me more often but knows the limit. the visit was good. we talked about things that we hadn’t talked after the breakup which made us understand each other more. i bought him some food to stock in his room, as his eye was still painful and he was not so keen on riding out to buy food. the cloudy days between us has finally gone and it is pretty nice that we finally become good friends. the pleasant thing is that i managed to forgive and forget the hurtful part and move on…

before the visit when he called, sometimes i caught myself not wanting to talk to him and he asked why. i told him i was still angry when thinking of what he had done to me, but i was trying and learning to let it go.. as quickly as possible.. i’d never gone through a breakup before, so this was quite new and hard.. but i am glad i managed to work through it. i can say that my perspective in life has changed since then.. i’ve learned that my heart is stronger than i thought..

this week is starting to be a busy week again; with the translation works i got from last week and the day-to-day works. i need to get all the works done before i leave for a friend’s wedding in suratthani on this thursday morning. mod and i will drive there and leave home at 5 am to be there in time for the morning ceremony. the bride is a friend from uni and knowing that i go to her wedding too, she asked me to be her photographer. i am so thrilled and glad for the chance. i will do it for free but it’s a big chance for me to practice my photography.. after the wedding, on the next morning, my girlfriends and i will hit the road to samui island. we will be an islander for 2 nights. a bottle of red wine was bought and hopefully i don’t forget to bring it.. i really can’t wait!

This weekend the World of Wearable Art awards are on. Yesterday I went to a free half hour show, displaying some of the winning outfits from previous years (that’s one of them above). The also included some great local musicians.

Today I went to the garden centre with some friends and had a good catch-up. I bought chives, a strawberry plant, alyssum and petunias which I can plant over the next two days because I have annual leave.

I’ve also done the usual Pilates studio and mat classes, bought fruit and veges, went to an AA meeting and did some housework.

I gazed at paint colours and vinyl flooring some more, and I’ve now made decisions, with some help from my friends. I didn’t get around to looking at laundry appliances again, but I’ve still got some time for this.

Because I have 2 days annual leave, it feels like I’m only half way through the weekend – even better!

Exercise – Pilates lesson on Saturday, lots of walking and some weights at the gym on Sunday (plus a sauna!)

Bathroom – more gazing at vinyl samples. Bought paint testpots and painted patches on walls.
Edit – meant to say I spent ages looking at washing machines and dryers too. They’re a lot more complex than I thought.

Social – went to the movies with a friend.

Domestic – supermarket, fruit and veges, washing, killed weeds in courtyard

Other stuff
Took trophy to be engraved. One of my predecessors in office bought this special trophy that can’t be engraved by any old engraver, so I had to go to a somewhat distant suburb to get the thing done. While I was there I did also manage to pop into an Indian spice shop and buy some spices for far less than at the supermarket.

Read book

Avoided the rugby and its fans.

that a watched pot never boils. Marmalade-making was the method.

The reason for this most unfamiliar domestic behaviour was that last week at the training, I picked up some grapefruit that someone brought along because they had a tree full of them. I had visions of eating graspefruit for breakfast, being all healthy and that. However, am I the sort of person who will take the time to delicately cut around the edge of grapefruit segments for breakfast? Nooo! So it was plan B, make marmalade.

As I haven’t done anything like this for years, I searched for a recipe on the internet, and found one labelled basic, from a well-known New Zealand TV chef who has a reputation for being practical and reliable. It sounded like something I could do.

I gathered together the grapefruit, 3 tiny lemons off our communal lemon tree, and 2 oranges that were sitting in the fruit bowl. I chopped these up, soaked them overnight, and then boiled until translucent. So far, so good. Then I struck problem number one. My big saucepan was not going to fit the pulp and the sugar, so I divided the mixture into two.

I brought the first batch to the boil, and kept it on the boil for ages, and ages and ages. Every so often, I tested to see if it would set. After absolutely forever, it seemed ok, so I put it into jars. It’s ok, but not quite as set as I had hoped. I rang my mother for our regular weekend chat. She dispensed advice about needing to boil it for longer amid anecdotes about my granny’s jam-making habits.

Armed with sage advice, I then attempted the second batch. It came to the boil, and I left it there for ages and ages. Then I tested it for setting. Based on Mum’s advice and the earlier experience, I figured it was some way off ready, so I went upstairs and put a load of washing on. Ten minutes later, I came back downstairs to see the marmalade madly foaming over the the edge of the saucepan.

I took it off the heat and tested for setting. Yes! So I put what’s left of the second batch into jars. That brings me to the next major activity this weekend.

Unscheduled stove cleaning
A whole jar’s worth of marmalade had flowed into that tray thingy under the elements that’s %#%#$ near impossible to get into, which is why I haven’t cleaned it in ages. I used lots of newspaper to mop up the mess, and elbow grease and cleaner to scrub off the crusted on bits from earlier culinary mishaps.

Other stuff that happened this weekend
I wrote and sent off a job application.
Pilates – studio class on Saturday, and mat class at the gym on Sunday
A massage
Shopping for groceries, fruit and veges
AA meeting this morning
A walk this afternoon because it has been a beautiful warm sunny spring day
3 loads of washing done
Decided on the paint colour for the vanity

I have just spent one and a half days at a training course held in a 2 star hotel (see above) deep in the suburban sprawl of Auckland. I have not had enough exercise, but at least I managed to eat well by taking my own food. This training was all in aid of my service to others goal. Although it was useful for that, I’m glad the training is done now.

When I got back home, I went for a walk because it was a fine spring evening. I’ve also madly done housework and got ready for the week, so I feel semi-organised at least.

I took Friday off work which was great, otherwise I would have felt really rushed. This meant I could do my usual Pilates lesson on Friday, instead of Saturday. It was with a different teacher, which is good because I did a couple of different things and all teachers pick up on different areas for improvement.

Friday afternoon I had the bathroom guy come around and we talked about finer details, which was really great. I’ve got a few more things I need to follow up, like paint and flooring, so I’ll make a start on that next weekend.

i feel good today, as i managed to force myself to work on sunday afternoon. no guilty feeling takes over me today.. i’ve been a lazy bum for many weeks with so many different reasons not to open my shop on sunday… and this week, i don’t want to postpone it anymore. there are just about 4 weeks left and then i will be free for traveling again… that’s why i succeeded in forcing myself to leave my bed and open my shop..

saturday was great too. i went home on friday night. life was busy when i was home with py. i chased her around the house and she ran around screaming.. it was fun.. in no time, phun we will grow up and run around the house wrecking our nerves like py is doing now. but that is a family life; fun and full of laughter..

as usual, saturday morning, we walked around taking pictures. so good that we shared time doing something we like to do together.. i hope she will take up photography as one of her passions when she grows up..

sunday morning, i woke up before the clock alarmed. i tossed and turned the whole night. i couldn’t sleep bc i ran 5 miles (8k) on the treadmill before going to sleep and it resulted in awaking every nerve in my body. i couldn’t sleep and when i slept i had weird dreams. it was not so good at all. at 5.30 am, i gave in, got up and got ready to go out. this morning was the first day that i went out swimming at sport club. it is in a walking distance but i’d never been there for a long time.. i set my mind to do it every sunday morning. i don’t have time to do it on other days. so sunday morning is perfectly fit to my schedule. while running on the weekdays, i want to swim on sunday.. better than that i can drag myself out of my bed early and start my sunday actively and early..

after swimming, i had an appointment with mod. we went to the fresh market to buy 2 pairs of turtles and 6 eels. then we went to the hatyai public park to release them. it’s my way of making a difference to someone’s life. i feel good doing so. i feel good when seeing the turtles and eels swim freely in the water..

then we went into town to look for something to eat for breakfast. we ate not so much, mostly we talked. time run fast when you have your girlfriend around to do and share things together.. late morning, mod dropped me at my shop and left for her room..

i went up to my room. framed my photos, decorated it, got some works done, watched a movie, took short nap, went out to buy some food and got down to open my shop.. and i am going up to my room again for an early night.. ;]

Bathroom – I spent yesterday afternoon looking at washing machines and dryers, and I’ve been studying the details in the brochures tonight. I also picked up some formica samples and I’ve got them sitting on the windowsill, so I can look at them in different light. The bathroom guy is coming on Friday to discuss further details. It’s getting exciting!

Service to others – lots of organising. Competitions coming up this month, plus next weekend out of town. It should calm down a bit in a few weeks.

Exercise – Pilates yesterday, but only a little bit of walking today due to really windy weather.

Social – went to visit a friend yesterday to see her new double glazing and be a practice audience for her prior to a music exam.

Domestic – bought lots of fruit and veges at the market this morning. Also got more lemon and lavender jelly. That stuff is so yummy. Lots of washing and ironing. Did some more tidying up of the stuff that used to be in the garage.

Other things – started sorting out papers for the accountant to do my tax return. I’m lacking one item, so I’ve e-mailed to get that. Replaced the strap on one of my watches. Actually managed to do a bit of reading too!

Edit – meant to say that I rang a friend in Sydney and had a really long chat, catching up with everything. I need to remember to do this more often, instead of leaving it for so long.