...the start of JanNo, so I'm not gonna be around as much until that's finished with. I'll see you all when I've written the final word... I'm gonna be in pieces, but it needs to be done to keep Mitzi's memory alive.
See you all on the other side of it.
Nitey nite nite.
...Steve used up all the hot water overnight "soaking the washing up" and washing himself this morning too, despite knowing that I was going to have a bath today... he even said "the water is lovely and hot for your bath today" when I came downstairs. That's one freezing cold and one barely tepid bath now, so I've decided that I'll just have showers in cold weather 'cos Steve doesn't reckon the emersion heater needs to be on for that then I'll have tepid baths in hot weather when I'm looking to cool down rather than warm up.
...no news on two of the three sites, just got my navigation and studying page news to see if there's anything, then I can start studying again.
Just done me squats and I'm really feeling it in my legs now, but needs must to get rid of my thighs.
...just one question wrong in the end of course assessment and my excuse for that was because I thought the correct number was smaller than it was - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 🙄 🤣
...took my Calcium just before lunch, ate the burgers and just finished the news for my homepage, so time to upload the page and put it into here, then it's just my navigation page news to sort out, then I can study a course and hopefully finish it before I head to bed tonight 🤞. Gotta remember to do me squats first though.
...caught up on 3 days worth of emails. The virus scan finished 36 minutes before I came downstairs but it restarted instead of shutting down for some bizarre reason. Not to worry though, it's all finished for another month, just the standard daily and weekly scans to do now, same as normal.
We're having veggie burgers for lunch today, but Steve couldn't work out what the tongs were from the picture on the box until I told him 😌 so we're putting C's Christmas gift to good use already 👍 I'm hoping for pasta 'n' sauce tomorrow so that he can try out the drainage spoon as well. We'll be able to christen the cutlery then too.
My FitBit has finished charging up now, so time to put it back around my ankle again. Gonna do my squats after I've done the news.
Steve's made us both a "posh decaf coffee" in the cafetierre so we're slowly drinking our way through that too. Wanna study again after I've done the three sets of news... we shall see if there's enough time left though.
It's only 2 days before JanNo starts and I'm gonna write the puppy's biography for it. I won't want it available to everyone, but I want paper copies for those who knew her. There will be tears and photos a-plenty, but it'll be my way of saying thank you and goodbye to her.
I'm gonna take the plates through to the kitchen then take my evening pills and head to bed I reckon.
I passed today's course with only one question wrong so that made me feel pretty proud of myself.
I've put the Fitbit email report on my homepage and I'm gonna go and do my sit-ups and leg raises tonight... hopefully my tea (fried egg rolls) won't be jiggled up so much that I'll feel sick, we shall see I s'pose.
The virus scan is still going after 37 hours and it's only done 1% in the last 24 hours, but I'm hoping that it'll be finished by the time I come down tomorrow... keep yer 🤞 fingers crossed that it finishes by then pretty please❓ TIA❗
Gonna shut my browser down now, so that I can have an early night tonight... nite nite orl.
...I'm all set and ready to meet the day head-on now.
The virus scan is still plodding along, so I'll have to have zoop for lunch today instead of the burgers 'cos I won't be able to put my laptop on the floor again.
I've just said to Steve about putting the electricity in my name so that I can deal with that debt and it's one less thing for him to worry about. He reckon's it'll just be a phone call, but I bet he doesn't make that call today. Again. I'm fed up of Steve getting the credit for things I do and pay for, so I want the electricity to be in my name, not his, just like with the groceries... bet he'll still take credit for it though, just like with the gifts!
Gonna try and study today, 'cos there aren't any visitors or deliveries due. I'm working my way down from the top of the list, so today's course'll be a 4 modular one that's text-based, so I'll be taking lots of notes today. There are multiple single module ones after that though, so I'll hopefully be able to remember what I've learnt without needing to take notes for those ones.
...I'm absolutely cream crackered, so I'm gonna head to bed now.
I'll be back again tomorrow when the virus scan will hopefully be finished, then I'll do my backups and check my email for the first time since last night.
Night night all.
...in the very nearly 18 years since I came out of hospital in mid-March 2003, I've lost 20kg.
No fad dieting.
No crash dieting.
No gym membership.
4kg off in the last 18 months alone.
It just took gradually moving more and eating less and healthier food choices.
I came out of the Neurology ward weighing 75kg and I'm now 55kg.
It's been very slow going, but I'm there now and just need to find the right weight for my height now. Don't give up and don't spend a fortune on unused gym membership or faddy diets - just take things slowly and keep pushing yourself and you'll get there before you know it.
Decided to attempt one of the Alison courses I wanna try and managed to pass it with a score of 90% which ain't too bad at all!
Gonna do my squats now and get ready for the groceries to be delivered. Gotta remember to take my Calcium this afternoon too.
Just a single piece of news today that's very important to me:
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"I received a letter that ended a long-term friendship. I realised, I am not good friend material." -
Amanda's comment: Yep, even though I'm not a mum and neither are the two friends who say to me
that I can talk to them whenever I need to, I feel exactly the same way as this mum. For the last two years (according to
a Facebook message I posted in 2019 and again this year), there are plenty of empty promises from friends... one of them
lasts, on average, 5 messages before things are back to them again, another friend it's 3 messages and on the forum I don't
get any replies at all when I'm suicidal yet they seem to expect me to be there for them constantly.
There was no glass in the third recycling box, so I've put our two plastic bottles into it ready for next week... I hope we don't drink so much pop this week as we usually do, 'cos we've never had 4 recycling boxes lol
Time to crack on with the news now, before I forget.
Just been to take the last mince pie box out and there's a fair-ish amount of snow out there. It's far from deep, but way more than a dusting 'cos you can't tell what colour the cars are that have parked in the street.
I'm grateful to the Green Man for waiting until the puppy had crossed over to Rainbow Bridge and after we'd got home on Christmas Day and put the rubbish and recycling out yesterday before he sent it down so that I felt confident walking in it.
Gonna sort out our third recycling box now, so that we can put the week's worth of plastic bottles in it before it's collected on the 4th. We're really good at sorting the recycling from the rubbish and only put out a single black bag of rubbish each week, but at least one full box of recycling and it'll be three next week 'cos there are already two out there lol
I've already taken my morning pills and had my breakfast (the last 3 mince pies of the season), put the Fitbit spreadsheet onto my site and set the deep virus scan going, so now I'll put the glass into a bag and use our third recycling box for plastic again, until it's collected next week, then do my squats and sort out the news. Not gonna study today, at least until the groceries have been delivered.
Been up for 13 hours and not made a single post all day!
I've taken all of my day-time pills, refilled my pill box, had my breakfast and lunch, taken delivery of my Christmas pressies from C that I only ordered yesterday and were supposed to be delivered on Tuesday, ordered a new bra in hopefully the right size, taken the rubbish and recycling out, charged up my mobile phone and cleared my browser cache's ready for tomorrow's monthly deep virus scan so I'll have to leave my laptop running overnight and do a total backup of everything on my laptop on Tuesday, as long as I'm still virus free.
Done my exercises and coded them into the appropriate page. Gonna do one more week of spreadsheets on the 2020 page then do the 2021 page. It was amazingly easy to put the updated spreadsheet back onto my phone for some reason today... I just saved the files from the email, replaced the ones that were there already, opened up each shortcut et voila!
Our groceries are being delivered tomorrow, so won't be able to study then, but hopefully I'll be able to crack on with it on Tuesday instead.
Taken my last two pills of the day now, so gonna scoff the final 3 mince pies of the season then head to bed for the night, in preparation for another early start in the morning.
Doubt there will be any more blog posts from me this evening, so I'll say goodnight to you all now. See you all at some point tomorrow... hopefully before I head to bed lol
Just taken the second course of the day and just got 1 single question wrong out of the 20 questions on the course and a total of 30 questions over both courses combined, which I can live with. I'd obviously have prefered to get 100% but I is only human, so I can live with getting 3% away from a perfect score!
Don't think I'll take another course this evening... gonna bask in the knowledge that I scored a huge 97% on this course, so gonna check my emails and Facebook then take my evening pills and head to bed. Not sure if I'll post again before I head to bed, so I'll say nite nite to you all now, just in case I don't.
Gonna do a 4 moduler now which'll hopefully only take a couple of hours if it's a video course - doubt I'll get another perfect score on it 'cos it's so much longer, but fingers crossed 🤞 I'll pass this one first time too. If I pass this next one first time too, I'll take my evening pills and head to bed with a proud grin plastered to my face.
...nowt interesting today, so we'll have another day off and you'll just have to put up with me all day instead 😏
So what's next then❓ It's almost 11.15am so it's not worth starting to study and having to stop so that I can have my lunch 🍴 and forget what I learnt before then, so I reckon I'll just lig around Facebook and catch up on my emails, then start studying this afternoon. Sorted. Need to do me squats first though lol
Taken my pills, virus scan was clear, checked my email, put in another order with Morrisons and got one started with Sainsbury's, but they're only doing a week at a time so I'll try to get a slot in a couple of weeks to see if I can get one then.
Time to get the news sorted again, then I'll watch a programme that Steve recorded for me, then catch up with Facebook and start studying again. 👍
Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it) everyone!
I'm not gonna be around today 'cos I'm spending it with the in-laws again. It'll be the first time in a decade that there hasn't been at least one dog in either house and that's sooo painful.
I've taken my morning pills and I'm taking my Calcium and Steve's painkillers with us so that we can both dose ourselves up while we are there.
Not sure if I'll feel up to turning my computer on when we get home, so just in case I don't, I'll see you all, as normal, tomorrow.
Stay safe.
...more relaxed, 'cos I've done the writing site news, there wasn't anything for my homepage (and therefore this blog) and I'm about to upload my navigation site news.
Steve managed half of what I asked him to do this morning, so I'm gonna let my lunch 'go down' a bit, then do my squats and have a bath, ready for spending the day with the in-laws tomorrow.
I've had breakfast (fruit), elevenses (porridge with sultanas mixed into it before it was dished up) and lunch (meat free burgers and fries), taken my pills, done the daily virus scan, invested in two more courses and now I'm burping like a good 'un 😄
Time to get the website stuff sorted now. BBS.
...it was a total waste of my time 'cos at least 95% of the time the "instructor" (and I use that term very loosely) spent at least 95% of the course going on about how successful his video's were and I just gave up after watching 12 video's and being taught absolutely nothing.
I reckon the New Skills Academy agree too, 'cos they were the same 30 questions in the same order on the end of course assessment. It took 3 attempts for me, but I scored 80% (the passing score) after watching 12 of the 76 videos. I really do NOT recommend that course at all and it'll be getting a single star from me in the review, purely 'cos I can't leave a review without any stars.
On a more positive note though, I can catch up on my email and Facebook now, then have another early night.
Just checked the YouTube course and it is a video course, so I'll check Facebook while the backups are underway, have my lunch, then study YouTube Marketing this afternoon.
...I'm gonna catch up on Facebook for the rest of the day now.
Or maybe I should find a video course to spend the rest of the day studying, so that I can make good use of the next 6-8 hours❓❔❓
Scratch that - the virus scan has just finished, so I'm gonna do the backups then have my lunch then decide whether to use Facebook or study this afternoon. Gonna have a look and see if the YouTube one is a video one now - if it is, I'll study that this afternoon 'cos video courses are shorter times per module than text ones, but if it isn't video then I'll lig around on Facebook I reckon.
Ten Great Last-minute Ethical Gifts That Give Back Revealed by Social Enterprise Scotland
Trolls and social media platforms face huge fines in Australia for failing to remove abuse material - Amanda's comment: WTG Australia... I hope other countries quickly follow your lead!
Grieving Greenock couple say anti-social behaviour is making their lives a misery
Man documents friendship with homeless woman on Skid Row on TikTok, buys her an apartment - Amanda's comment: WTG that man!
Breaking Up with a Friend: When It Should Happen & How to Do It - Amanda's comment: I was nodding throughout this!
Just added the news to my writing site, so it's time for my homepage and this blog next, then my navigation page then I can relax for the rest of the day.
...open my email, so managed to get the virus scan going first time, without needing to reboot this week.
Did my exercises in bed again yesterday and I reckon I'll go back to that again instead of down here, I just still won't record the steps.
Time to make a start on the news for my three sites and two blogs now. Not gonna be able to do it for the first couple of weeks (minimum) in January 'cos of JanNo (when I'll be writing Mitzi's biography this time) and November 'cos of NaNo. There will be almost daily news other than that though, hopefully.
I'm pondering on buying Steve a fitness tracker so that he can give the reports to his nurse so that she can see just how much he sleeps, how much he eats and how little he moves. It won't be a Fitbit and I haven't decided for certain yet, I'm just thinking about it right now is all. What do you reckon I should do please❓ Leave me a comment in reply to this blog post - you don't need to leave your full name if you don't want to, just your initials or even a fake name if you prefer❓ Thanks in advance❗
The chef has just said that "we'll have our porridge after Marie's brought the shopping over 'cos knowing my luck, she'll turn up with it and the porridge'll burn then burst into flames and burn the house down or summat", but that's OK, 'cos apparently they are gonna be here before 8am 🕗 anyway, which seems to be our usual breakfast time, so that's alright.
Time to get started on the news now.
22nd December 2020
Mornin' all.
I've taken my pills while the virus scan was checking my computer... they were really hard to get down this morning❗
Woke up at my normal time of 🕔 5am again so made an early start in the hopes of getting it all done and dusted quicker too, but we shall see.
That's all the news for all three sites done and dusted already❗
No stress, no hassle, not too many annoying pop-ups or ads covering my entire screen this morning, so I'm feeling pretty relaxed right now.
Sounds like our lunch has just been put into the oven, so I'll catch up on my emails and Facebook then put my laptop on the floor. TTFN.
21st December 2020
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...just got the news to sort out then I can relax for the rest of the day. Might study or might not, haven't decided for sure yet. Gonna spend this week of exercising really pushing myself, especially with the squats, so that the weekly graph looks more interesting and I can push myself to achieve more now that the puppy is waiting for us at Rainbow Bridge, so I'm not getting the twice a day walks. When the weather heats up and I've got permission from the nurse to maintain my weight instead of gain or lose it, I'll do the strolls around the house and back yard each hour again. Being sat on the sofa in front of a computer all day can't be good for my health, right?
...I'm just gonna have a read through Facebook until I take my nightly pills and head to bed.
...stuffed.
I had porridge and raisins for breakfast, 3 mince pies and more raisins for "elevenses", 4 eggs and 15 mini hash browns for lunch and now I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.
Was hoping to study this afternoon, but don't think I'll risk it, in case I go face-first into my laptop 😏 Maybe I should catch up on my survey invites instead❓ 👌
I've taken all my pills until tonight, so I'll see how many invites I've got and then decide on the studying... hold on.
Back now. I've got 3 invites, so I'll do those then see how I feel after that. I've already got the news sorted and to his credit, Steve's got most of the site stuff done, so we shall see if I really do go over to the in-laws or not on Christmas Day after all. He's got the site and a piece of software to finish in 5 days, so we shall see.
...a year now, 'cos I had to get Steve to open a new tub of both of 'em this morning, after I'd taken my pills and refilled the pill organiser like I do every Sunday.
I had 6 B complexes and a single Iron left, so I'm glad I put that huuuuge yearly order in a little while ago. It's about £75 a year, but for that price I get a years supply of Calcium, a year's supply of Iron, a year's supply of vitamin B complex and a years supply of multi-vitamins which is just under £20 for a year's supply of each of them, which you won't find anywhere on the High Street... that'd prolly be a couple of months supply price rather than 360 days.
I swear by Simply Supplements and have done for the last 20 years❗
I've just realised that I've been using the pill organiser for over a year (according to my account, I ordered it on 5th December 2019 so it was delivered on the 6th and started using on the 7th) now and for a cheap (under £7 and on Prime) plastic thing that I've used every day, it's done amazingly well❗ I'll definitely be investing in another one when the plastic starts to weaken... that'll hopefully be a while yet though, 'cos it's still almost like new after a year.
Moving on to other things now, my daily virus scan has just finished and I'm still free of nasties, Steve's making our breakfast and we're having raisins (or is it sultanas❓) on it instead of sugar today, so that's one of our 5-a-day before 9am which is good going by us, considering we usually struggle to get that a day❗
We've decided to make use of Morrison's as our treat shop 'cos their products are sooo good, just a touch out of my price range for our weekly shop or when we can't get a slot at Sainsbury's (for example, over Christmas and New Year), but their food is incredible quality - Steve loves their ham trimmings and can get two meals out of each box, their bread is gorgeously soft and their vegatarian stuff is incredible❗
Sounds like the porridge is almost ready to be dished up now, so I'll publish this then go and grab my bowl. BBL.
I've got a few pieces of news up on my writing site, but nothing at all again on either my homepage or navigation page❗ Its mainly about the Corona virus and literally 5-6 results in each section because of the URL of an American site❗ Maybe it's a gift from one of my Higher Powers so that I can be ready to go as soon as the groceries are delivered❓
I've done my squats, so it's just the sit-ups and leg raises to go now, then a very late lunch/early tea before I head to bed. I've taken my morning and afternoon pills, so it's just my nighttime pills to have before I shut down for the night, then it's all sorted. Gonna sort the last two lots of exercise now, so that they will hopefully be finished by the time the groceries turn up in half an hour or so.
Naughty Vegan 4 Pig Out rolls
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5
I've got a meat-loving husband but I'm semi-vegan for medical reasons so every meal involves meat replacements and no dairy because I can't have it and the hubby doesn't want to cook two things for each meal. I saw these on the Morrison's site and decided to give them a try along with the McCain fries. Wasn't expecting much flavour because it was vegan-friendly, but I was wrong.
So, so wrong.
They are absolutely gorgeous! We'll definitely be getting them again 'cos even my meat-loving hubby enjoyed them from the very first cautious mouthful!
I dunno if they are only available at Morrison's but we'll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for them again now that we know how scrummy they are!
A definite firm favourite and a regular buy for us now!
The passing score was 80% and I scored 80% so that's the programming courses officially over and done with now. Just got the YouTube marketing and Excel courses to take then all the others are short courses that I am, genuinely, interested in.
Our groceries are being delivered at lunchtime tomorrow, so as soon as that's been and gone, I'll start on the first shorter course, assuming that I've got the daily news for my 3 sites sorted out before we have our lunch... fingers crossed 🤞 there will actually be some news to put up tomorrow 😊
I'm pondering on changing the colour of the text 'ere in this blog, just to liven things up a bit, but I haven't decided for sure yet... what do you reckon❓ Let me know in the comments please❗ 👍
Reckon I'm gonna take my pills and have an early night after I've checked my email and Facebook for the first time today. Doubt there will be any more posts after this one tonight, so I'll say nite nite to you all now and I'll be back to pester you again in the morning. 💤
...I'm all ready and raring to go, motivated, inspired, the whole shebang, but there ain't nowt interesting (to me, at least 😉) on the entire interwebs so there won't be a news post today and it'll give me the opportunity to study instead... need to decide which course to study and where to study it on (New Skills Academy, Alison or OpenLearn) too - I'd love some feedback about it... you can see the courses I wanna take on my navigation page if you want to❓
...an update on what I've already achieved today:
I've taken my morning pills, set the virus scan going (still free of nasties, thankfully), had my breakfast and made a decision about the almost daily news on my writing site, that I reckon I'm gonna do for the other two sections of news too, 'cos it's far less stressful and more interesting instead of having to trawl through so many links.
Time to sort out the news on my other two sites and this blog now then the day is all mine to do what I want with.
...I woke up late and I'm just not feeling up to it today, sorry.
I've taken my pills, completed the daily virus scan and had my breakfast as well as updating my writing things with an opportunity, so I'm just gonna mess around online today I reckon.
I've already drunk 2 litres of liquid and started to charge up my FitBit and it's only just gone 10am so the hubby reckons I'll be in and out of the bathroom all day today and I reckon he's right about that 😀
Burgers 🍔 for lunch 🍴 today, as is normal for a Thursday for us.
It would have been my father's 79th birthday today but he died a decade ago, so didn't even make it into his 70's. I'm relieved he's gone, but the hubby is starting to be like he was and demanding I do things even though I told him back in September (and loads of times since then) that I don't wanna do it. 2021 is gonna be the year that I treat others the way they've treated me the entire time we've known each other. Doubt I'll have many friends left after a couple of months, but I've had as much as I can take of being used and blamed for things that aren't my fault now and nobody's gonna like me treating them the way they've been treating me but I'm just giving them a taste of their own medicine 🤷.
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Just done the news for one of the sites, so just got the one for my homepage and this blog and the one for my navigation page to get sorted now... hoping to be finished by lunchtime today, so that I can sort out the backups and groceries without getting too badly stressed out.
...the news for the three sites, then I'll bring the groceries in and put them away, then start on my weekly backups.
Doubt I'll get any studying done today, but we shall see... depends on how long the news takes to do.
I've been promising myself an early night for the last two weeks but I really am heading to bed early tonight.
Nite nite orl. Sea ewe in the morning.
...the news then studying again. What should I study today? I'm hoping that my FA will turn up today so that I've got enough to see me into 2021.
➰➰➰
Aksherley, scratch that. It hasn't even been prescribed yet so I won't be getting it any time soon after all❗ I've ordered more of my OAB pills though, so hopefully they will get here before Christmas 🙄
Time to get started with the news now I reckon... hoping to get all three sites done today, unlike yesterday.
...first time, with a score of 91% which I'm feeling pretty proud of❗
Gonna check my email and Facebook, put my lunch into Fitbit, then take my evening pills and head to bed for an early night I reckon.
Nite nite orl 💤
...Google went down and I totally lost all motivation to carry on with it.
However, I've managed to take all my pills, finish the daily virus scan, eat two meals and I've already drunk the best part of 2 litres today, even though it's not even 3pm yet❗
Might try studying a short course this afternoon, but if not then that's OK. Giving myself the day off today and doing things just for me for a change.
Just 5 pieces of news this afternoon, and they are all about friendship: