Nite nite orl

Just taken my night-time pills and I'm gonna head to bed straight away after I've done the adding up of care provided by me today.  I won't be complaining quite so loudly on Sunday 'cos I got the minimum daily quota of care today, so we've both just gotta take it easy for a while as we recover from today.  I'll be stiff as a board in the morning but I'm not gonna overdo it until Friday's appointment then I'll be able to spend the next 10 days recovering properly before my next appointment.

Time to head to bed now though.

Nite nite orl

The weekly virus scan...

...has finished and found nothing nasty lurking in my laptop, so I'm gonna check my emails for the first time since yesterday, deal with any that need to be dealt with, drink my freshly brewed mug of decaff tea then take my pills and head to bed I reckon.

My current to-do list for tomorrow morning, hopefully in pretty much this order, reads like this:

1. wake up (obviously)
2. set the backups going
3. do the watering
   
4. make breakfast for me an' im
5. have a bath
6. do the washing up
7. hopefully my backups will have finished so I'll put it away then
8. relax/recover for a few hours
9. make lunch
10. do the lunchtime watering
    
11. relax/recover for a few more hours
12. make Steve's tea
13. do the evening watering
14. head to bed.

 

In amongst that will, of course, be caring for my carer, just like every other day, but it won't be my sole focus tomorrow, like it usually is.  Just for a very rare change, I'll be looking after me and my body before Steve.

He's just woken up again and wants his tea, so I'd best go and make it for him I guess.

TTFN

Cupboard rearranged slightly...

...and I've put the two cans of soup right at the front now so they are easy to grab hold of tomorrow.  

 

I've also had a look at the nutritional information for the smoothie and the bottle contains about the same calories as a bowl of granola and soya milk, so I'll have that for my breakfast without needing to find hundreds more calories out of thin air.  I just hope the backups have finished in time for me to put my laptop on the floor so that I can put my bowl of soup on the table.  If my maffs is right and I set the backups going before 9am tomorrow, I should hopefully be on track for it finishing at around 12 o'clock noon mid-day, then I'll be ready to either cook the soup myself (most likely) or set it all up for Steve to look after, assuming we both stay awake for long enough of course lol

Gotta do the washing up after Steve's finished eating his breakfast and I've had my bath too, otherwise there won't be any clean bowls or spoons.

Back now and...

...in absolute agony, my legs could give way at any moment and I'm absolutely exhausted, so I definitely won't be having a late night tonight.

The weekly virus scan is underway and I somehow managed to clock up 15 active minutes on my FitBit and I've had a packet of crisps, a can of Rio and a litre of cream soda since I've been back which is far from ideal but needs must and after not eating for 26 hours, my body was screaming out for help so I had to do *something* so that it would keep on keeping on.

It's a gorgeous soup for lunch tomorrow, so I need to remember to find the two cans before I go to bed tonight.

I actually got 5 hours of care out of my carer today for the first time in literally years, so I might even approach 8 hours of care this week!

I'm just gonna do the virus scan today then set the backups off as soon as I come downstairs tomorrow, then I'll make my carer's breakfast for him and go and crawl into the bath when I've taken his bowl out for him.  I don't care how cold the water is tomorrow, I won't allow myself to be rushed and I'm hoping for at least an hour rather than the 30 minutes I'm usually allowed every few months. I've done so much to care for my carer today and I'm seriously paying for it now, so I'm gonna be a bit selfish tomorrow and I don't care how much my carer whines about it... it's not often that I'm selfish, but after today and in preparation for Friday, I need to be selfish for that hour tomorrow.

 

I've got a couple of smoothies that I can have one of for my breakfast tomorrow 'cos I won't be able to put my laptop on the floor 'cos of the external hard drive, but after so few calories today and needing to put weight on this week, I need to give my body calories at every opportunity and it'll just be through thick liquids tomorrow instead of solids which is far from ideal, but better than nothing, right?

 

This blog post is waay too long again, so I'm gonna publish it then go and find the soup ready for tomorrow.

 

BBL

 

Plants watered now, sooo...

...gonna close the browser until I get home now - the less I have open, the faster it'll be to shut down after all.

Mornin' all

I've decided against running the weekly virus scan this morning - assuming we get back before it's too late, I'll run the scan when we get home and do the backups tomorrow, but if it is too late to do the scan, I'll just delay it until tomorrow then it can be running while I'm in the bath and I'll do the backups when I get out.  Thankfully today is a rare occasion for me, so just pushing it back for one day is fine by me and it'll be back to normal next week.

I've already taken my pills and I'm pondering on a few squirts of the B12 spray to keep me going today.  I'm gonna be absolutely wiped out when I get home after not being able to eat or drink all day.

I'm charging my phone up but I'm gonna leave it here today 'cos I'm not taking my bag with me so I won't have anywhere to put it.

Absolutely cream-crackered already so I'll be moving around as little as possible today and I'll definitely have an early night tonight.  My legs are already wobbly so I hope I manage to stay on my feet today 'cos if they give way on me, there's no way I'll be able to get back to my feet again.

To give him credit, Steve's boiling the kettle so that he has warm water to wash at the kitchen sink with, so hopefully there will be enough hot water in the heater for me to have a warm bath tomorrow, which'l help my legs and help me to recover from today.  It's not often that I ask Steve to not use the hot water, but he always "forgets" then wonders why I get out of the bath or shower shivering, ask for the heater to be on full blast and totally unable to warm up for literally days afterwards, even in the middle of a heatwave with 3 layers of clothes on!

It's nice and light out there now, so when Steve's finished getting washed, I'll go and give the plants their morning drink.

I'm hoping I'll be able to get a few "active minutes" on my FitBit today 'cos of walking from the car, into the station, onto the train then in reverse when it's time to come home.  I'm not gonna focus on that today though - today I'm gonna be focussing on my in-laws and staying on my feet so that I don't embarrass Steve and his family if my legs give way underneath me.

This blog post is getting too long now, so I'm gonna publish it.  Not sure if I'll make another post before we get home, so just in case, I'll say TTYL now and I'll be back as soon as I can.

Nite nite orl

Already cared for my carer for over ⅔ of the minimum required for the week, so I'm gonna have a very rare early night tonight.

I'll be back for a couple of hours in the morning but I'll be out of reach all morning and prolly a good chunk of the afternoon too.

Signing off for the night now.

Nite nite orl.

Dosed up for...

...the last time today, so I'm just waiting for them to kick in now, then I can head to bed for an early night.

Forgot to say that...

...I gave the plants their last drink of the day before I made Steve's tea for him, so I've just gotta wait for Steve to finish his tea, then support him while he's asleep before I take my pills and head to bed for the night.  I'm determined that I will actually get an early night tonight otherwise my body won't be able to cope with tomorrow.  There's a slight chance that I might get a little bit of support out of him tomorrow 'cos I can't get on or off kerbs or up or down slopes which there will be lots of tomorrow, so I might get a few hours of care out of my carer this week instead of the usual 2-3 hours for the entire week.  Assuming I do, I won't hear the end of it for weeks or even months on end!  He's yet to reach double figures of care for the week, but there's a chance that I'll get a few hours out of him tomorrow, with any luck.

He's almost finished eating his tea and I'm predicting that he'll be snoring his head off before 6.30pm.  I've only got 34 minutes of care left to provide for him to hit double figures again today, so there's a pretty good chance that I'll hit 11 or even just about scrape through another 12 hour day again today.

4-1 to me

So far this week, I've made 4 of Steve's meals and he's made 1 of mine (I did the 2 breakfasts yesterday and today, his lunch yesterday and tea today and he made lunch today).

Tomorrow is gonna be an up in the air day 'cos neither of us are having breakfast and if we get home in time I'll make his lunch and then his tea in the evening.  I'm not gonna be able to eat anything at all tomorrow so may have to rely on the 403 calories from a drinking chocolate when we get home.  Far from healthy, but it's the last time until Friday when I might have a late lunch, depending on what time I get home from my medical appointment.  Steve'll be eating 3 times and I'll potentially only eat once, if that.  Basically I've gotta consume as many calories as possible on Thursday and the weekend so that I don't become underweight... I was only 200g away from that happening on Monday, so it's a very real possibility unfortunately.  If we get home before 5pm then I'll have a packet of crisps and a smoothie that came today and potentially the same again on Friday if Steve doesn't fancy cooking.

So much for making all my meals and drinks for me eh?

Plants watered and...

...one of the mammoth weeds that I've been nurturing for the majority of this year has finally given up and died.  I know it was a weed 'cos it was in one of last year's tomato plant tubs and I didn't plant anything in those pots and didn't wanna reject the Green Man's gift so that I stood less chance of Him rejecting me in Summerland.  I'll still keep watering the pot, but the entire weed is dry and brittle and very dead now, but there are some smaller weeds in the pot, still going strong, so it's their turn to be nurtured now.

Next task for this afternoon is putting the FitBit email report on my homepage.  It came in while we were eating lunch, so I wanna get it sorted before I forget about that too.  Other than that, I've done everything that needed to be done today until early evening when I'll go and do the watering again, then make Steve's tea for him, take my pills and head off to beddy-byes.

Today's (30th August 2022) lunch photo

T'was just a simple pasta and roasted vegetable pasta sauce today (Steve grated some cheese to go on his too, but I can't have cheese 'cos of my allergy) but it was especially yummy for some reason!  I'm easily pleased, me lol

 

There won't be any photos tomorrow 'cos of the family thing that's happening and I get travel sick, so won't be having any breakfast or lunch and rarely eat in the evenings 'cos it makes me feel sick when I go to bed.  Things'll be back to normal on Thursday, not sure about Friday yet but things'll be normal at the weekend and next week, then I've got another medical appointment the week after that (if it can't be done at Friday's appointment) then everything is back to normal after that.

Here's today's lunch photo:

Lunch eaten, pill taken...

...need to remember to water the plants after I've put my lunch photo up - we both ate just the right amount today - any more and we'd've been bloated but by the same token, any less and we'd still have been hungry!

Gonna put my lunch photo up now, before I forget.

Groceries been, gone and put away

We're all sorted for another week with our groceries, Steve says he's still up for cooking lunch and I've got a drinking choccie on the go so I'm at the top end of being in the green on today's graph so far and I'm hoping that lunch and maybe another hot choccie this afternoon will send me into the red.  As long as I don't lose any more weight this week, I'll be happy.  Ideally I'd like to put on 1kg, but as long as I don't lose any then that's fine by me.  I'd love to be able to find a way to maintain rather than lose or gain each week, so I guess I've just gotta keep on experimenting until I find the solution.

I've just ordered the basic groceries for 4 weeks time... can someone remind me to add burgers, buns and pizzas to it when I get around to sorting out the menu for that week please?

I'm gonna go and grab myself a glass of water in preparation for a hopefully early-ish lunch.

TTFN

Today's (30th August 2022) breakfast photo

I need to raise my calorie count as much as possible this week so yesterday's lunch (bread 'n' spread) took me into the red yesterday and I need to get as many calories as possible into me so that today's graph is red to.  Tomorrow's graph will be blue I reckon 'cos of barely being able to eat and drink until we get home, but the crisps that are due today should help, as long as we don't get home too late for me to eat tomorrow.

I used waaaay too much soya milk on my tropical fruits granola this morning but that's OK every now and then, right?  Certainly better than not enough milk!

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Plants watered, coffee drunk...

...so it's time to go and make my carer's breakfast for him now.

BBIAB

Out of the shower now...

...hair and me washed and dressed and it was considerably less stressful than it is most other times 'cos I got the temperature just right so that my hair doesn't instantly go greasy but at the same time I'm not so cold that I'm shivering.  I managed to wash my armpits without getting anxious about falling off the shower stool like I always have in the past and my hair wasn't that knotty when I brushed it either.  Today is gonna be a good day.

Even better, all of our groceries are in stock so I'll be able to fill up on vegan crisps and smoothies when I get home tomorrow after not eating for at least 24 hours (assuming Steve cooks lunch for us today) so my stomach will be growling/making me ill with hunger and my throat will be absolutely parched.  I don't mind that though, 'cos of the reason behind it (and being told yesterday afternoon "you're NOT gonna jip out of Wednesday, no matter what") then I'll have about 12 hours to recover in, ready for my bath on Thursday then my medical appointment on Friday.  It's a busy week this week, but the two medical appointments are only once a year and tomorrow is a one-off, hopefully for a long time yet.

The grocery totals break down like this:

My stuff:  £16.41
Steve's stuff:  £25.26
Joint stuff:  £5.55

I would have prefered there to be considerably more joint stuff on there, but we don't need too much this week 'cos of everything that's happening, so that's OK as a one-off and I'm sooo proud of myself for standing firm about not taking any of my stuff off.  I've been giving myself a mammoth guilt trip about it all week, but I didn't take any of my stuff off, so I won't go hungry on the days Steve doesn't fancy cooking this week.

 

Time to go and do the watering before the groceries come and I forget again lol  Need to remember to make Steve's breakfast for him when I come in too.  I'm not gonna have any breakfast this morning 'cos I just wouldn't be safe enough on my feet after standing up for so long doing everything else, so I hope Steve really does cook lunch today.

Today is definitely gonna be a good day.

Mornin' all

Just a very quick first post of the day 'cos I'm gonna clamber into the shower so that I can wash my hair and body before the shopping comes, so that my hair has more chance of drying completely before I head to bed and then it won't be so knotty in the morning which'll put me in a bad mood and I wanna be a calming presence rather than a ball of anger on the verge of exploding.

I've taken my morning pills so I'm sorted until lunchtime now, just gotta wait for Steve to come out of the bathroom and start off the daily virus scan then I can get washed all over and hopefully be ready for when our groceries turn up.

TTFN

Nite nite orl

Starting to close down all my computer programmes in preparation for finishing my caring duties at 8.15pm on the dot, so I'm gonna say nite nite two ewe orl and start to shut down.

I'll be back, same as normal, in the morning.

Nite nite orl.

Pills taken, plants watered...

...and I'm only 5 minutes away from having put in an 11 hour day today.  I'm hoping I'm wrong but there is the potential of this being a just about 12 hour day, depending on how quickly my carer eats his second foot-long sub of the evening then falls asleep... also depends on how quickly my APs kick in too, of course 😜

Very nearly...

...10 hours of care provided for my carer compared to his 6 minutes this morning doing the washing up.  Before 6.15pm tonight I'll have supported him the same as he's done for both of us PLUS double the minimum required support to be recognised as a carer.

This is gonna be a weird week, but there's a very remote chance that I'll get 5 hours of care out of him on Wednesday for the first time EVER but I can pretty much guarantee that it'll be an over 10 hour day, possibly even approaching 15 hours for me.  We are gonna be exhausted, but only one of us will be able to recover before I head to bed and that person won't be me.  I just hope my carer doesn't want any hot drinks in the afternoon 'cos that'd be downright dangerous as opposed to my usual unsafe after what I'll be going through.

I'm gonna have a shower as opposed to a bath tomorrow, so that I can wash my manky hair 'cos I won't need to remove any of my clothes tomorrow like I will at the medical appointments, so I won't need to shave until the day before the first appointment, so I'm gonna use my time wisely instead of looking for relaxation.  I'll be having 1 shower and 2 baths in 2 weeks which hasn't happened for a very long time.  I usually have a shower every 6-8 weeks (if I'm getting my hair cut) and I only have baths if I'm leaving the street for a medical appointment so that I don't stink the doctors surgery or hospital out.  Basically I've had 14 baths or showers in 19 months and won't be having any more for months after the second doctors appointment with any luck.

I've now cared for my carer for double the minimum required each day, plus over the 6 minutes my carer spent doing the washing up this morning.

Let's do a breakdown of what we've each consumed today, to start the week off with, shall we?

I've consumed:

1 bowl of granola for breakfast
2 ends of bread and dairy free spread for lunch
1 mug of decaffeinated coffee
1 mug of drinking chocolate
1 can of Dr Pepper
1 mug of decaffeinated tea

My carer has consumed:

1 large bowl of Shreddies
4 sandwiches made with dairy free spread and
1 jar of crab paste
1 large portion of hash browns
1 large portion of potato wedges
2 x foot-long Subway subs
2 x pots of garlic aoli
1 mug of drinking chocolate
2 mugs of decaffeinated coffee

Guess which one of us needs to put on weight this week and will be eating even less on Wednesday?  Hint:  it's not my carer.

Guess which one of us has made all the meals and answered the door to my carer's tea this evening?  Hint:  it's not my carer again.

Guess which one of us is going to bed hungry tonight?  Hint:  you're right, it's not my carer.

Today has been weird with the no editing thing... I woke up and I didn't immediately find which book needed to be edited again, like I did last week.  Didn't even touch my short stories folder!  I'm gonna leave off the editing this week and potentially next week then crack on with it again the week after as I start to recover from a busy couple of weeks.  Gotta remember to update the list of the times I've left the street this week and next week too... you watch me forget though lol.

Gotta remember not to start the weekly virus scan or backups on Wednesday otherwise I'll literally get psychotic with worry the whole time I'm out and won't have access to my regular coping mechanisms which'll make it even worse and harder to cope with.  I'll run the virus scan as soon as we get home and the backups first thing on Thursday morning before I do anything else on the computer... it'll only take about 3 hours, so that can be running while I'm making my carer's breakfast, taking his bowl back through to the kitchen then caring for him as he spends the rest of the morning fast asleep.

Just had the reminder come up for taking my last two pills of the day, so I'm gonna finish draining my mug then turn the light on and pop 'em.  Gotta remember to water the plants before it gets too much darker too.

TTFN.

Today's (29th August 2022) lunch photo

I made the second meal of the day again because it didn't involve anything sharp or hot.  Steve (my hubby and carer) had crab paste sandwiches and I had the two end bits of the previous loaf and dairy free spread for my lunch.  Gotta eat at least another 99 calories today so that I don't lose any more weight, so I'll go and make a drinking chocolate when my carer wakes up enough to decide if he wants one too.

Here's today's lunch photo:

Lunch made and eaten, plants...

...watered, carer asleep again, so time to take my lunchtime pill and put the photos up on here and Instagram.

News on 29th August 2022

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29th August 2022

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Meghan Markle’s close friend assures complete support to Duchess

 

Today's (29th August 2022) breakfast photo

Just my usual tropical fruits granola and soya milk for breakfast again this morning.  

 

T'was my weigh-in day today and I'm only 200g away from being underweight so there will be a lot of vegan spread meals this week so that I can get more comfortably into the zone ready for next week's weigh-in.  

 

There's a family thing on Wednesday so I won't be eating or drinking until we get home 'cos I won't be able to check ingredients for my allergen on the food and drink that are available while we're out.  If I get too hungry or thirsty then I'll be reliant on tap/bottled water until I get home so that I can fill up on me-friendly things to raise my calories again.  Far from healthy, but such are the joys of being me.

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Breakfast eaten, rubbish sack...

...brought in, so that's sorted for another week now.  I'm gonna put my breakfast photo up now, then carry on with the news 'cos there are definitely a few bits and pieces this morning.

BBIAB

Spreadsheet sorted for another week...

...and my legs are hopefully stable enough for me to go and make my breakfast now, then I'll stay sat down until the rubbish and recycling is picked up so that I can bring the bags and boxes back in... the recycling has just been collected so that usually means that the rubbish will go soon after, so I'll wait until that's sorted before I have my breakfast.

Gardening sorted for...

...this morning, so I can take Steve's empty bowl through to the kitchen and hope that it's safe enough for me to make my own breakfast this morning.

Just weighed myself and...

...in the last 7 days I've lost 2.2kg so I'm only barely in my healthy weight range again now and because Steve's having crab paste sarnies for lunch, I'd best have breakfast and lashings of spread on the two end bits of bread from last week for lunch that Steve doesn't want because "it's not the soft white bread that I like" so it's the only way for me to regain another kilo this week.

Best go and take Steve's empty bowl through to the kitchen, do the watering and I'll have to hope beyond hope that my legs are strong enough to hold me up to make my own breakfast then.

BBL

Mornin' all

How are you all getting along this morning?

I've gotta remember to phone the pharmacy at 9am and ask them not to deliver all my prescriptions on Wednesday 'cos it'll be a wasted trip.  Gotta find out the dates of my two medical appointments too so that I can have a bath and shave the day before both of 'em 'cos I'm sure the nurses don't wanna see hairy armpits!  lol

I've taken all my supplements - gonna leave off the prescriptions until tonight so that I don't run out before the new ones are delivered... definitely take them tomorrow and Wednesday though!

The virus scan is underway so I'd best go and make Steve his first meal of the week before I go and do the watering and my own (assuming there are enough bowls and spoons of course) so that I get to eat my only meal again today.  Pasta 'n' sauce is what's on the menu, but we had pasta yesterday so Steve doesn't want it two days on the trot so we are swapping today and tomorrow around, so Steve's the only one having lunch today and Wednesday 'cos of me not having anything I can have in sarnies today and I can't eat on Wednesday either 'cos of getting travel sick, so today is gonna be yet another low calorie day, so I hope I haven't lost too much weight after barely eating last week too.

 

The daily virus scan has already finished and didn't find anything that shouldn't be there, so that's reassuring.

Time to go and make Steve's breakfast for him I guess.

Nite nite orl

It's a late night tonight, but after the last couple of nights of around 10 hours sleep each night, that ain't so bad.

I'll be back as normal in the morning.

Nite nite orl.

18-2 to me

Just made Steve's 18th and final meal of the week for him and he's only made 2 for me, the other meal was a take-away, so neither of us get credit for that 😜

That's the editing finished for...

...the next 2-3 weeks 'cos my heart is in bits after today's editing and I've got a family thing happening on Wednesday, then two medical appointments that I wanna focus on now, then I can get back to it in the middle of Sepember.  When I've got the editing sorted, I'll give myself some time off to prepare for NaNo and JanNo and get ready to be in my own head instead of those of the fictional characters I've written until 1st November when I'm back into the fictional world for a couple of weeks again.

Rubbish and recycling...

...sorted and taken out for another week, so my carer has signed off for the week's caring now at only 1 hour and 21 minutes for the entire week whereas I've just gotta put in less than 2 hours this afternoon to hit 80 hours for the entire week.  I've already more than doubled the minimum, but my own personal target each week is 80 hours.

Time to crack on with finishing the editing now I reckon.

Today's (28th August 2022) lunch photo

After a big bowl of granola this morning, I was already full, but we stuck to the menu and had penne pasta, vegetable pasta sauce, fried onions and vegetarian chicken pieces.  I'm totally stuffed now.  lol

Here's today's lunch photo:

Cor lummy

I'm not so sure a big breakfast was such a good idea knowing that I would, potentially, be stuffing myself silly a few hours later lol

I've eaten both times today though and my stomach is kinda going "what the..." so I think I've overdone it a bit today.

I decided against taking my lunchtime pill today, so that I didn't run the risk of it coming straight back up.

Gonna put it into my FitBit app then resize and put up the photo for you all.

BBIAB

I really am...

...eating twice today and Steve really is cooking for us without any kind of nagging or pressure from me!

Apparently there's a Grand Prix on this afternoon that he's desperate to watch 'cos "a lot of the fastest teams have changed engines for this race, so they will be starting at the back of the grid so they'll have to dodge and weave through all of the slower cars... should be good!" Doubt he'll be awake for more than a couple of laps this afternoon though lol

We're gonna do the rubbish and recycling after the race, so I'll be able to spend a good few hours editing in peace this afternoon.

My monthly virus scan has finished and it was the deepest one available (like every month) and it didn't find any nasties on my laptop, so I'm safe until tomorrow's scan now.

Today's (28th August 2022) breakfast photo

After a day of only picking at things like peanuts, sultanas and my Graze box yesterday ('cos the washing up needed doing and it wasn't safe enough for me to make anything for myself after I'd made my hubby's lunch), I had a proper breakfast of Tropical Fruits Granola and soya milk this morning and we'll hopefully have a proper lunch today too... I'm already drooling at the thought lol

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Mornin' all

So far this morning, I've:

• Remembered not to open up my emails
• Set the monthly virus scan running
• Took my morning pills (gotta remember to refill the box when I've taken my lunchtime pill)
  
• Made Steve's breakfast for him
• cared for my carer for an hour and 3 minutes

My to-do list for today looks like this:

• Water the plants
• Have breakfast
• Take the empty bowls through to the kitchen
• Sort and take out the rubbish and recycling
  
• Make a variety of drinks according to what my carer wants when
• Hopefully start editing my last three books of the year
• Keep on caring for my carer

Time to crack on with the watering and my breakfast first I reckon.

 

BBS

 

Nite nite orl

Just gotta put in another 11 hour day tomorrow and I've hit the magic 80 hours after all. 

I'll be back, as always, in the morning.

Look after each other and stay safe.

Nite nite orl.

Gardening...

...done until about 6pm and Steve is fast asleep after eating his second meal of the day (I haven't eaten at all), so I can slowly start to recover until he wakes up and wants a drink then falls asleep again before I bring it in for him.

I'm gonna go and get myself another glass of water to see me through this afternoon first though.

Washing up done at last, sooo...

...time to give the plants their lunchtime drink, then keep caring for my carer all afternoon.

BBL

Lunchtime pill taken, so now...

...it's time to do the washing up that Steve's been promising he'd do for the last 4 days and we've got no clean plates, bowls, spoons, knives, forks or pans left now so it looks like I'm doing it and hoping that I'll be able to stay on my feet for long enough <shrug>

15-1 to me

I've just made Steve's 15th meal of the week and he's only made one meal so far.

I've eaten 6 proper meals (the other times that Steve's eaten, I've either picked at things like biscuits or peanuts or my Graze box or gone hungry) this week, only one of which was made by Steve.

Tomorrow's lunch will have to be made by Steve 'cos it involves multiple things on the go at the same time and things needing to be timed appropriately so it'll be 18-2 to me by the time I head to bed tomorrow, which is pretty average for him cooking.  His other meal was a take away tea a couple of days ago that I couldn't have 'cos it was too late at night for me to eat before I went to bed and he decided he didn't want his usual tea of meat sandwiches made by me, so I had to stay up to answer the door and bring it all in for him.

My lunch today, after I've taken my lunchtime pill, will be a can of pop and that'll have to do me until tomorrow morning when I have breakfast.  Good job that I was slightly overweight on Monday really, eh?

He's just finished eating his lunch, so I'll take the bowl out, take my lunchtime pill, then do the washing up so that there's a clean bowl and spoon for my breakfast tomorrow.

BBL

That's the last...

...book in that particular folder edited and it's made me feel a warm glow of pride that I wrote every single word and it's made me a bit tearful again.

Gonna go and make my carer's lunch for him now, then check my emails for the first time today and hopefully crack on with a short story or two this afternoon.

Another thing off...

...my to-do list for today, so I can work out which manuscript needs editing next while Steve's eating his breakfast then make a start on it when I've taken his bowl out to the kitchen for him.

Steve's been...

...fed now, so I'm gonna drain my first drinking chocolate of the day before I start on the watering and editing.

Mornin' all

Looks like there won't be anything solid in my belly again all day today 'cos the washing up that's been hanging around for the last 3 days still hasn't magically been done, so there's only one clean bowl left that Steve will have his breakfast in, I won't be stable or safe enough to make myself anything for lunch after I've made Steve's SuperRice and I won't eat this evening but will be expected to make Steve's tea for him too, so I'll have to get my calories purely from drinking chocolates again.

I've already taken my morning pills and started the daily virus scan, so I can go and water the plants then make Steve's breakfast for him then make an early start on the editing.  I'll hopefully finish a couple of hours earlier today now that it seems I'm not allowed to eat.

BBL

Nite nite orl

I've cared for my carer for over 11 hours today, so I've only got 21 hours and 46 minutes left to go at the weekend to hit the 80 hour mark after all... it'll be a tight run thing, but I'm trying to remain cautiously hopeful that I'll make it, especially if I'm up at my usual time tomorrow!

Nite nite orl.

Editing finished for the day now

Just finished editing for the day, so it's time to go and make my carer's third meal of the day for him now then come back to reality again.  These early manuscripts are considerably better than I thought, thankfully!

Today's (26th August 2022) lunch photo

Feeling particularly proud of myself right now 'cos I made this meal (veggie lasagne for me and meaty lasagne for Steve) totally alone.  T'wasn't hard 'cos I just had to take them out of the freezer, pre-heat the oven, take 'em out of the boxes, peel the plastic off the top and bung them in the oven for 45 minutes, then take 'em out, plate up and eat!  If there's another deal on the lasagnes at the same time again (this was 3 for 2 I think) then we'll snaffle more of 'em and I'll try and do it totally alone next time.  If it's been a few weeks, then I'll still want Steve to hover, but I wanna try and do them myself with Steve sat in here next time.  

 

I'm beginning to grow in confidence ever so slowly again... as long as it's something simple like the lasagnes or something that can be done at the same time and on the same tray (like onion rings and chips or hash browns or whatever) then I'm starting to feel OK about cooking them alone... anything that has more than one tray or needs constant monitoring (like pasta and sauce or curry) is a bit beyond my comfort zone atm, but I'm taking it very slowly and not pushing myself too hard or fast with this cooking lark, or I'll lose all my newly-found confidence and it'll all be down to Steve again and us potentially going hungry for the several days a week that he doesn't feel like cooking.

Here's today's lunch photo:

Gardening sorted and...

...the Green Man is smiling at me 'cos the plants that had been seedlings for months before someone told me that they could just be small plants, has, since this morning, started flowering too!!!  Just waiting on the middle pot now before I declare it a 100% successful growing season!  66% success is pretty good going though, considering it was 33% first thing lol

I really am gonna put my laptop on the floor ready for getting our lunches out of the oven and onto plates now though, but I'm in a very thankful/grateful mood right now - thank you so much, Green Man!

Editing started and...

...I'm definitely eating twice today 'cos I've just put both lasagnes in the oven and they'll be done in just over half an hour, so I'm not gonna risk re-starting the editing in case I have to stop mid-way through a chapter, which would be soooo frustrating.

I've taken my lunchtime pill, so I'm all dosed up until tonight now... my bladder isn't thanking me for this morning though lol

Gonna put my laptop on the floor now, so that it's one less thing to do when lunch is cooked.  Need to do the watering too, so I'll go and do that now I reckon, so that I don't forget after we've eaten and I kill them lol

BBL

Today's (26th August 2022) breakfast photo

After barely eating yesterday (I had 8 biscuits and a serving of peanuts for the entire day), I'm gonna hopefully eat twice today - the breakfast that I've just had and hopefully vegetarian lasagne for lunch.  Shouldn't have had the bottle of Pepsi Max Cherry so soon after I'd eaten though, 'cos I'm now bloated and burping like a good 'un lol

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Mornin' all

I had a very early night last night and didn't come downstairs until just after 7am today!  Hopefully my body has caught up with all the sleep it needs now though, but I maybe won't make the 80 hours after all.

I've already taken my morning pills, made Steve's breakfast for him and watered the plants, so now it's my turn to eat I reckon.

Just a short morning post today lol

Nite nite orl

I'm not tired yet, but I've taken my last pills of the day and Steve's tucking into his tea, so I'm gonna use the opportunity of him being awake to have a very well-deserved and much-needed early night tonight.  I've cared for him for exactly 47 hours so far this week, so this could potentially be another 80 hour week for me but as long as I hit 70 hours (ie double the required minimum) I'll be happy with that.

See you all again in the morning.

Nite nite orl.

Busy afternoon while...

...Steve was at his medical appointment 'cos I finished reading and reviewing the book, watered the plants and made myself a drink, just as Steve got home.  I put the top-up groceries away and listened to him talking about his appointment.  Just waiting for our take-away tea to arrive now (my first meal for almost 36 hours), but I can go to bed tonight knowing that I can get stuck straight into the editing when I come down tomorrow morning.

Just taken...

...my lunchtime pill, so I'm all dosed up until tonight now and can concentrate on keeping reading and reviewing this book.

10-1 to me so far this week

Just made my carer's second meal of the day and all I've consumed today is a glass of water, a mug of drinking chocolate and 8 biscuits.  Apparently my hubby/carer makes all my meals and drinks for me though <shrug>

 

I was wrong, I'm sorry

Just made Steve's breakfast for him and because the washing up didn't get done overnight, there was only one clean spoon left for Steve, so I won't be having breakfast after all, so unless I fill up on drinking chocolates, today will be a calorie-free day.

Mornin' all

How's things in your world this morning?

So far today I've taken my morning pills, run the maintainance on my laptop, run the daily virus scan, started charging up my FitBit, rebooted my laptop and phone 'cos I didn't have an internet connection no matter what I did and cared for my carer for 63 minutes already this morning.

By the time I was allowed up to bed last night, I'd put in a smidgen over a 14 hour day of care for my carer and it was a spectacularly late night 'cos I didn't get to sleep until 10pm according to my FitBit so I've had under 8 hours sleep so I'll be wiped out all day now.  That's alright though, as long as my carer gets 20-odd hours of sleep in each 24.  He's got a medical appointment today so he'll only get 15 hours of sleep and will be expecting me to listen to him talk about his appointment for the best part of an hour when he gets home.  I'll also be making all his meals again today and only eating one (breakfast) myself again.  If I get too hungry I've still got half my Graze box and a few biscuits to have, so that's OK as long as my carer gets 3 meals a day, right?

I've got a medical appointment myself first thing, but that's only over the phone and will only take a few minutes, then I can keep on caring for my carer until lunchtime when I'll make his lunch for him and miss my first meal of the day, he'll then fall asleep until it's time for his appointment and I'll make his tea for him when he comes home.  I'm thinking today will be an 8-10 hour day of caring by me, depending on what time Steve leaves the house and what time he gets home.

My FitBit is at 99% charge now, so I'm gonna publish this then put it back around my ankle when it's fully charged so that I can go and make breakfast for Steve and hopefully be able to have something for myself too.

I won't need to do the watering this morning 'cos the Green Man and Gaia sent the rain overnight, so I can relax until lunchtime with that now.

OK, my FitBit is fully charged again now, so time to go and make breakfast for my carer and hopefully myself, assuming I can stay upright for long enough of course.

Nite nite orl

I'm starting to shut down all my various programmes now and I'm hoping I'll be in bed and asleep before 8.30pm tonight, but we shall see.

Nite nite orl.

8-1 to me now

Just made my carer's third meal of the day and all I've had all day is a bowl of granola for breakfast and 4 biscuits for an afternoon snack, while I was reading a book.  It'll be the same again tomorrow - me making all 3 of my carers meals and me only having breakfast for the third day on the trot... good job that I need to lose weight this week and that I seriously over-did the calories yesterday, innit?  I just hope that I haven't lost too much weight again on Monday is all.  I was 400g overweight on weigh-day this week and I can lose 1.5kg and still just about be in the healthy weight range for my height, so I'm not too worried yet, but if I keep on only having one meal a day then there is the potential that I swing the other way again.

I'm only 18 minutes away from putting in a 12 hour day again and I've only just taken my pills, so that should be pretty easy to achieve I reckon.

7-1 to me in 3 days

Since Monday morning, I've made 7 meals for Steve and he's made one for me.  

 

Nope, I haven't got the numbers wrong and I'm not mis-crediting the person who has made each meal, I've made 3 breakfasts, and 1 lunch for both of us as well as 1 lunch (today's) and 2 teas just for Steve.  He made Monday's lunch for both of us and the only time he's got out of his chair since then is to go for a wee or poo - apparently he "make[s] all her meals and drinks for her" though <shrug>

He wants another hot drink now, so I'd best go and make that for him now, even though it's been literally years (nope, not an exaggeration) since he last made one for me <shrug>

Carer fed, lunchtime pill taken...

...so I'm all dosed up until tonight now.

Blimey Charlie!

The backups have just finished and the hard drive has been put away now and it's not even 11.15am yet!  The virus scan alone has normally just about finished by now, but it's all done and dusted for another week already!

I've done a bit of fiddling with the groceries that are due on Tuesday and my favourite, me-friendly crisps are back in stock so I've added 6 packets to the order as well as two punnets of blueberries and 2 me-friendly fruit smoothies, so my part of Tuesdays order is about £15 atm which is a very very rare occurance and I'm already giving myself a guilt trip over it!  If Steve wants to add something just for him (meat or cheese or milk or whatever) then he'll just have to take something of his own off 'cos all the joint stuff is staying 'cos they are all needed and on the menu for the week after the delivery and I'm fed up of going without so that Steve can have stuff.  I'm getting a lot next week that's just for me and it's gonna stay on there too, unless I decide otherwise.  I refuse to be guilt-tripped into going without 'cos I had absolutely nothing on yesterday's grocery order and it's not gonna happen again.

Rant over for a while lol

Weekly virus scan...

...finished and it didn't find any nasties, so I've set the backups going for another week and I'm hoping that they will be finished earlier than usual 'cos the virus scan finished sooner this week.  If it does, I'll be able to go and make Steve's lunch for him earlier too.

Today's (24th August 2022) breakfast photo

Just my usual breakfast today - tropical fruits granola and soya milk.  There was a huuuuge slice of banana in today's bowl, so that was an unexpected treat!

 

Mornin' all

How are you doing this morning?

I've just taken my morning pills, started the weekly virus scan, been for 2 wee's and cared for my carer for 44 minutes.

I didn't get to have an early night yet again after all last night 'cos my carer fell asleep just as I was shutting down, so I had to put my caring trousers back on and care for him for an extra hour.  Only got 11 hours and 7 minutes to go to hit the minimum, so there's a good chance of that ticking over just before I sign out of caring tonight then working overtime for the other 4 days, so there's a pretty good chance of hitting the 80 hour week and might even scrape through 85 hours again.  My carer has cared for me for 34 minutes which is considerably less than I've done for him this morning alone (55 minutes).

When Steve wakes up I'll go and make his breakfast for him, then do the watering, then take his bowl through to the kitchen then have my own breakfast.

He's just woken up and gone through to the bathroom, so I'd best publish this so that I can be ready to give him his breakfast as soon as he's finished in there.

BBL

Nite nite orl

I can barely believe it, but it's looking like I'll be in bed before 8pm today!!

I'm absolutely shattered so I'm gonna say nite nite two ewe orl now and I'll be back, as always, tomorrow morning.

3-0 to me again

Just made my carer's third meal of the day and I've only eaten once... I'm sure you can guess what the rest of the rant is by now.  Means that I can hopefully have an early night tonight now though.  You can prolly guess the rest of that rant too lol

'Tis my weekly virus scan tomorrow so I won't be editing and there may not be any news again, then there's the medical appointment on Thursday morning so it'll be the same with that too, which takes us to Friday which might be my first opportunity to do the news and editing this week... it's not a regular thing though and I'm hoping to get at least one set of news sorted between making the first two of my carers three meals tomorrow.

Time to sort out and add up the caring I've done today now... hopefully it'll be around 8-ish hours by now, then another couple of hours after my carer has eaten his tea.

TTFN

Another 38 Degrees flower that...

...I thankfully haven't killed yet!  This one is about 5cm from side to side and bright yellow.  Just a single flower that is holding its own atm and it points pretty much straight up rather than flopping over like the other ones do.

I don't suppose there are any gardeners out there that fancy attempting to identify it for me are there?  Please?

Just had the groceries email...

...with the substitutions etc on it and it breaks down like this:

My stuff:  £0.00
Steve's stuff:  £30.07
Joint stuff:  £15.73

So Steve's stuff is almost ⅔ of the entire order and I've got absolutely nothing on it, despite paying for it all.  I should be used to it by now I guess <shrug>

Today's (23rd August 2022) breakfast photo

Just had my usual tropical fruits granola and soya milk for breakfast again.  The bowls (for my hubby/carer and me) were considerably easier to handle than our previous bowls 'cos they were so much lighter and the milk wasn't at risk of sloshing out of Steve's bowl so much 'cos the sides were considerably higher than his usual bowl too!  It's gonna take a little bit of getting used to with them being so much more lightweight but initial thoughts are positive.

This is supposed to be about my breakfast instead of the bowls though lol

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Mornin' all

Had a pretty productive morning so far!  I've taken my morning pills, made breakfast, watered the plants and cared for my carer for 80 minutes so far this morning.  The virus scan was still, thankfully, clear and I had over 9 hours of sleep again, so just waiting for the groceries now, then I'll put 'em away and make lunch.

By the time I clocked off from caring last night, I'd put in an 11 hour and 26 minute shift, whereas my carer only achieved 27 minutes.  He'll hopefully help with the groceries today, so I'll get maybe half an hour of care out of him today - although if he pulls his usual stunt, the help he gives with the groceries will be taking the bags from one side of his body to the other at the door and then suddenly being desperate for a wee that'll take him the 15 minutes it takes me to put it all away... he's usually out of the bathroom and asleep within 5 minutes the rest of the time though!

We used our new bowls for our breakfast this morning and it was considerably less stressful than with the usual heavy ones 'cos I could concentrate on my walking as opposed to not dropping the bowls this time.  Steve approves too but he "do[es]n't like the pattern 'cos it'll make them look constantly dirty" even though he was the one who bought them... it's my fault that he didn't read the description properly either apparently - he thought they were ceramic pasta bowls when he ordered them even though it says, quite clearly that they are "unbreakable plastic cereal bowls" in the description!

Time to put the breakfast photo up then I'll go and make Steve his first hot drink of the day.

BBIAB

Nite nite orl

I'm gonna head to bed soon-ish cos I'm absolutely wiped out and in a lot of pain, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to sleep through it.

Nite nite orl.

2-1 to me

I've just made the second of Steve's three meals today and I've only got 38 minutes to go to hit my first 10 hours of the week.  There's a chance that I'll hit 11 hours, but that would be a bonus hour and not what I'm aiming for.

Garden given a small drink 'cos...

...it started spitting with rain just as I was leaning over the second pot.  I hope it's more than the lunchtime spattering, but we shall see.

Gardening done and...

...it looked like there had been a tiny spattering of rain, so I used even less water than this morning.  I hope that there is more rain this week and early next week 'cos we're sending a family member on their last trip on the Wednesday and the ground needs to be able to safely carry the steam train on the journey.  Not one big downpour, but several showers between now and then would be ideal.

Tomorrow's grocery order...

...breaks down like this:

My stuff:  £0.00
Steve's stuff:  £28.22
Joint stuff:  £20.98

So yet again, Steve's stuff is the most expensive by quite a way, at the expense of my stuff and the joint stuff.  I'm predicting that a lot of his stuff will go to waste yet again too, but it's not his money getting wasted so he doesn't care 😡

Today's (22nd August 2022) lunch photo

Cor lummy am I full after the veggie spag bol we've just had!  It was all down to Steve today - I just got everything out of the cupboard and freezer for him.  T'was vegemince, tomato and vegetable pasta sauce along with frozen sliced red onions and frozen veggies, along with a plateful of spaghetti of course.

We're going to be burping all afternoon now and we'll have to roll each other to the bathroom and back lol

My FitBit says I've still got 179 calories to consume today, but it's gonna have to come from drinks 'cos I can't force anything else into my stomach without feeling bloated now.  I might have sultanas or peanuts (or both) later on this afternoon, but I'm not going to force myself to eat or drink anything other than liquid this afternoon and definitely nothing thick like smoothies or drinking chocolates.  I'll just take things as they come and listen to my body telling me what it needs.

Here's today's lunch photo:

Schmoozing session 2 completed and...

...Steve ordered plastic bowls instead of china ones, so we've got enough now and we'll use the china ones for soup and today's plastic ones for cereal, which is fine by me 'cos they are considerably lighter!

I'm definitely gonna get lunch today 'cos Steve's doing the veggie spag bol now, thankfully.

I've taken my lunchtime pill, so I'm all dosed up until tonight now.

BBL with the photo of my lunch 😊

News on 22nd August 2022

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

22nd August 2022

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Schmoozing session one is...

...complete, 'cos our rubbish has just been collected and the sack was handed back to me instead of thrown onto the pavement like everyone else.  All I do is say good morning and thank you to them, but it can't be a pleasant job for them, especially in hot weather, so a little bit of gratitude doesn't cost a thing and might make a gross job just a touch less gross for a few seconds/minutes!

Just got our recycling to be picked up now, so that I can schmooze with them too, then that's it for another week.

I've had my last banana and chocolate soya milk smoothie this morning so that I could take the last two banana peels and the soya milk carton out, so I'm all chocolated out for the day now.  Did I peak too early though??

FitBit spreadsheet...

...is sorted now, so I can breathe and get ready to flirt while I sip my decaff coffee.  Steve's raising his legs on his chair, so he'll be snoring soon and I'll spend the morning looking after him again.

Today's (22nd August 2022) breakfast photo

Finished off the granola with a small bowlful this morning.  I thought I'd put too much soya milk in, but it turns out that there wasn't quite enough after all.

Here's the photo:

Mornin' all

Had a huuuge 9½ hours of sleep last night and I feel so much better for it.  I didn't go to bed as early as I was hoping again, but I didn't wake up until 6am this morning, which is how the extra hour slipped in - I'm usually up and at 'em by 5am so that extra hour has made all the difference, thankfully.

I'm the only one who has had breakfast so far this morning 'cos of one of Steve's pills making him feel sick again, so he's had a can of ginger beer and gone for a poo, which means I've only cared for him for 54 minutes so far this morning.

I've watered the plants and they only needed 2 litres between all 5 pots, so it must have been a pretty cool night last night.

I've taken all my morning pills this morning and remembered every single supplement last week, so it's no wonder that I was able to put in a very nearly 84 hour week last week.

I'm not gonna do any editing until Wednesday this week 'cos I've got a busy start and don't wanna stop my train of thought mid-sentence, so I'll edit one book on Wednesday then have Thursday off 'cos I've got something happening then too, edit Friday to Sunday then have Monday to Wednesday (inclusive) off again then I can really knuckle down with it after that.  I might slip in the odd novella or short story in during the afternoons so that I don't totally lose my motivation, but the full length novels will be here and there this week and next.

The daily virus scan was reassuringly clear, so that's good.

 

I did my weekly weigh-in and spreadsheet download that I've gotta code and upload after I've done the breakfast photo, but I'm 400g overweight now, which is more reassuring than being as close to being underweight as I was last week.  I'm not gonna exercise this week or next 'cos I don't wanna lose too much ready for next week, I just wanna maintain is all.  I'd be OK with losing up to a kilo over the next 2 weeks, but definitely no more than that.

 

Time to get the breakfast photo put up, then my FitBit spreadsheet and I'm all set for my weekly flirting session with the rubbish and recycling collectors then 😉

 

BBIAB

Nite nite orl

I managed 83 hours and 11 minutes of care this week, my carer has been fed, the plants watered, me dosed up for the final time this week, so I'm gonna use the opportunity to head to bed while my carer is actually awake tonight.

Nite nite orl.  See you next week.

Might just about crack...

...an 84 hour week this week, which ain't too bad at all considering the start of the week only just hitting 10 hour days.  Friday was the best day so far, at a 13 hours and 44 minutes, but I think that was the most supportive day this week.

I'll hopefully hit 84 hours and my carer hasn't even managed 3 <shrug>

Yumsk

Just indulged in another absolutely gorgeous banana and chocolate soya milk smoothie which has pleased my sweet tooth and thankfully sent my calories through the roof even more - over 900 calories over budget so far today, helped along, pretty significantly, by the drinking chocolate I had this morning.

That's the...

...rubbish and recycling sorted and taken out ready for its collection tomorrow and my carer's caring complete for the week at 2 hours and 17 minutes.  Gotta remember to get the sheets sorted ready for next week before I forget, so I'll go and do that now - hold on please!

OK, sorted.  Steve wants some ice to go in his pop, so I'd best go and get it for him while he's awake, hadn't I?  lol

BBL

Today's (21st August 2022) lunch photo

T'was another simple meal again - hash browns, onion rings and tomato ketchup.  Our stomach's are definitely shrinking 'cos I had to polish off Steve's leftovers so that they didn't go to waste!

Next time we do them, it'll be half a bag of hash browns, half a bag of onion rings and either baked beans or peas, according to Steve's suggestion.  I'm all for getting more veggies into our diet, so you won't see me complaining!

 

Garden watered, editing finished, food...

...cooked and eaten, so it's time for me to relax and do the forum stuff and catch up on my emails after I've put the photo up.

Washing up done, drinking...

...choccie made as a reward and to significantly increase my calories after not having any breakfast, so now it's time to re-crack on with the editing again.

 

Have I already said that I've done the gardening?  I did that after I made my carer's first drink of the day and took my morning pills is all.

Gotta remember to take the rubbish and recycling out after we've had our lunch too - our paper and card bag is crammed with stuff this week so that desperately needs to go out ready for being picked up in the morning.  I've gotta somehow find space to cram in the toilet roll tubes from the bathroom bin too!

Drinks made, carer fed...

...plants watered, so now I can carry on with the editing until my carer has finished eating, then I'll go and do the washing up ready for lunchtime.

Mornin' all

I've already decided that today is gonna be a good day.  There might be things happening that usually send my mood through the floor, but today I'm gonna smile through it and let it wash over me.

As predicted last night, I was awake too early, desperately needing a wee and I'm not gonna take my prescriptions this morning so it'll be even worse than normal with my bladder.

I've already run the virus scan which was still clear and taken my morning supplements, so I've just gotta take my lunchtime pill and I've had an entire week without missing a single supplement!

When Steve wakes up for longer than literally 5 seconds, I'll go and make breakfast then water the plants then carry on with the editing again.  It's a novella again today, so I'm hoping that'll be finished with by early afternoon then I can carry on with the short stories.  Hoping to get through one full-length manuscript a day so that it's more manageable.

I'm really cold this morning, so I'm gonna go back upstairs and put my cardigan on again then put the rubbish and recycling out after I've made our lunch so that it's ready for collection tomorrow.

BBIAB

Nite nite orl

I've drained my mug, which will prolly mean I wake up at 3am desperate for a wee and spend all of tomorrow desperately trying to stay awake, but it's all my own fault after having that drink after my 6pm cut off time.  Means I can have an early night tonight though, so I'll hopefully fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow tonight.

I've only gotta put in 9½ hours of care to hit the 80 hours that I was hoping for and if I wake up and stay down here then I might even be able to just about squeeze a huge 85 hours out of the week, but I'll be happy with 80 hours if I manage it tomorrow.

I'm heading off to beddy-byes now though and my carer will just have to look after himself for the extra hour that I'll be in bed for.

Nite nite orl.

Evening pills taken and...

...I'm about half way down my mug of decaf tea, so as soon as I've drained that, I'm orf to beddy-byes hopefully for the early night I've been promising myself all week.

So far this afternoon, I've...

...achieved a pretty decent amount:

• eaten me lunch
• taken the empty plates out
  
• watered the plants
• taken my lunchtime pill
• re-started caring for my carer

I'm gonna jinx things now of course, but I haven't missed a single supplement so far this week!

 

My to-do list for this afternoon is pretty simple:

• edit my short stories
• charge up my FitBit
  
• keep on caring for my carer

It's gonna be a sleepy afternoon for my carer, but that's totally OK with me 'cos I'll be doing the editing while listening to his breathing as he sleeps.  This morning's late virus scan was still reassuringly clear, so I'm still protected from viruses and malware, thankfully.

 

Gonna grab another glass of water first though!

 

Today's (20th August 2022) lunch photo

Just had my lunch, made by Steve (my hubby/carer), which was a gorgeous veggie spaghetti bolognaise with added onions and even a few bonus frozen veggies too!  He wasn't kidding this morning when he said he was planning to push the boat out at lunchtime!  I'm nicely full without being bloated now, and the two drinking chocolates I had this morning, as well as this lunch, has sent my calorie count significantly through the roof, thankfully, so I'm hoping that I'll have at least maintained if not, ideally, gained weight on Monday.

Here's today's lunch photo:

Aaand...

...relax.

I've managed to chop the penultimate thing off my morning's to-do list, so all that's left now is caring for my carer all afternoon.  I might spend the afternoon editing my short stories 'cos the editing took less than half the time of my last novella editing.

We're definitely having spag bol for lunch 'cos Steve's gone out to cook it and we've got both frozen onions and frozen veg in it as an unexpected bonus!

I'm already drooling at the thought of having my second meal of the week cooked by my carer, but he'll be asleep all afternoon "to recover from doing it" so short stories are the way to go this afternoon I reckon.

Gotta update the list of available food before I forget too - hold on while I do that now...

OK, done, and I'm officially drooling 🤤 lol

Just been given the 10 minute warning, so I'm gonna publish this then put my laptop on the floor in preparation.

BBL

Already achieved...

...3 things off my to-do list, so I can concentrate on the editing until lunch time now while my FitBit is charging up.

My to-do list now looks like this:

• put my breakfast photo up on this blog and Instagram
  
• sort out the forum
• bring in the top-up shop and put it away
• edit my next book
• keep caring for my carer as necessary

 

I'm hoping to get the book sorted by early evening, then I can wind down and have the early night that I wasn't allowed to have yesterday after all.

 

Today's (20th August 2022) breakfast photo

You'll never guess what I had for my breakfast this morning!  😃  Yep, just my usual tropical fruits granola and soya milk.  I had a sneaky banana after I took the empty bowls (Steve's as well) out to the kitchen too and I've just drained my first drinking chocolate of the day too.  I need to seriously increase my calorie count today after yesterday's blue day on my FitBit... I can't lose any more weight or I'll be underweight, which I really wanna avoid.

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Mornin' all

Been awake and down here for about 2½ hours and in that time, I've been able to care for my carer for over an hour, taken my morning pills, made and eaten breakfast, supported a couple of friends, watered the garden and make a hot drink.

My to-do list for this morning looks like this:

• put my breakfast photo up on this blog and Instagram
  
• sort out the forum
• bring in the top-up shop and put it away
• edit my next book
• keep caring for my carer as necessary

I've decided against doing the news while I'm doing the editing or they will both be rushed and poor quality.  I'm gonna give myself a break next week 'cos of the final trip for someone so need to be able to support the family as they say their final farewell to this person then I'll do the news for a little while then start back with the editing again.

Apparently Steve's gonna go all out with our lunch today and use the veg as well as the onions and the vegetarian mince with our spag bol today, so I'm hoping that'll help to send my calories through the roof today as well as drinking as many drinking chocolates as I want/can manage so that I can send the graph well into the red to make up for yesterdays blue (under budget) day.  I desperately need to increase my weight instead of losing it is all.

I've just started the virus scan a couple of hours later than usual, but it's underway now so it's better to be late than not run it at all, right?

Need to charge my FitBit up too, so I'll do that after I've sorted out our top-up shop... you watch me forget though lol

Nite nite orl

My body is begging for sleep, so I'm gonna head to bed after caring for my carer for almost 60 hours already this week.  I was awake and down here, caring for my carer at just gone 4am after 7 hours and 7 minutes of sleep so I'm in desperate need of sleep tonight, more than usual.

My carer is asleep but I need to go to bed before my body shuts down from pure exhaustion and refuses to move so I'm heading off to beddy-byes now.

Nite nite orl.

9-0 to me in 3 days

My carer is just chomping through his 9th meal made by me in 3 days and I've eaten 5 times in the same amount of time.  Tomorrow is likely to be 11-1 and Sunday 14-1 to me.

"I make all her meals and drinks for her" my arse!

I've just taken my last two pills of the day and I'm 16 minutes away from caring for my carer for 12 hours today.  I'm desperate for an early night, but I've already put in a 57 hour week this week, so if I can hit 12 hours on one day and 11 on the other at the weekend, I'll have worked the equivalent of 2 full time jobs this week and haven't had a single penny or word of thanks for it 'cos apparently I don't do anything to support my carer and he "does everything for her" despite rarely hitting a 3 hour week since the start of this year <shrug>

Plants watered for...

...the last time today, I've had a gorgeously sweet chocolate and banana smoothie and I've currently got a drinking chocolate on the go while my carer carries on snoozing after his lunch.  Even if I have another drinking chocolate before I go to bed tonight, I'll still be well under budget with my calories today 😞

Today's (19th August 2022) lunch photo

Today's lunch was cooked and plated up totally by yours truly, with Steve (my hubby/carer) there just in case I had questions or needed reassurance or whatever, but lunch was made totally by me today.  I know a veggie lasagne ready meal may not be considered a big deal to many/most of you, but this time last year I wasn't even allowed near the oven when it was on so it's a huge step for me!

 

Here's the photo of today's lunch:

Busy early afternoon!

So far this afternoon, I've cooked and plated our lunches, edited another chapter while it was cooking, taken the empty plates back out, watered the plants and taken my lunchtime pill all within the last two hours, which is pretty good going I reckon.  I'm significantly under budget with my calories though, so I'm gonna have to have at least one smoothie and two drinking chocolates this afternoon, just to make the graph green!

I'm gonna spend the rest of the afternoon (and possibly early evening) finishing off editing this book, then I can breathe until bedtime.

I've got an iffy internet connection today, so I don't know how many more blog posts I'll be making before I head to bed tonight.

I'm gonna attempt to download, resize and upload my lunch photo now but I'm not sure how long my connection is gonna stay up for, unfortunately.

That's...

...our lunch in the oven for the next 40 minutes and it was easy enough - t'would have been even easier if Steve's chair had been moved out of the way first though lol

We're definitely having lasagne's for lunch today, so that'll boost my calorie count and will mean that I've eaten 5 meals in the last 3 days, so that ain't too bad.

I'm doing well with the editing too... just over half way through and going strong so far.  It's not as good as a couple of the others and has needed a touch more editing but it ain't too bad at all!

Grocery order edited and now...

...Steve's got meat, cereal, milk, cheese and bread coming on Tuesday and all I've got is 2 litres of soya milk 😞

Today's (19th August 20220) breakfast photo

Just my usual tropical fruits granola and soya milk for breakfast today again.  Need to add more of Steve's Shreddies to our groceries along with his lactose free milk 'cos he started his last box this morning so I'll have to find room on the order for another couple of boxes and his milk for him.  I've got another bag of granola and 2 litres of soya milk so I'll have to be OK and just not have breakfast (as well as potentially lunches) for a few days next week if I can't fit the soya milk (and vegetarian food suitable for dairy allergy sufferers) on as well as Steve's stuff.

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Carer fed, garden watered...

...pills taken, so now I can sort out my breakfast photo and crack on with the editing.

Mornin' all

How are you all doing this morning?

So far this morning I've been for 2 wee's, made myself a drinking chocolate, completed the virus scan (which was, thankfully, still clear) and cared for my carer for 87 minutes.

On my to-do list for today is the usual caring for my carer and editing another manuscript.  I'm hoping that I'll eat twice today, but it could be like yesterday and I only eat once again.  It's lasagnes for lunch today, so I'll prolly be making all of my carer's meals for the third day on the trot and he's only likely to make a maximum of 2 of mine all week.  Gotta do the watering when it lightens up a bit more out there too.

Time to take my morning pills then crack on with the editing until my carer wakes up and wants his breakfast now.

BBL.

Nite nite orl

I'm within touching distance of 45 hours of care provided so far this week, so with 3 days to go of caring for my carer, I've already gone well over the minimum and a 75 hour week should be pretty easily achieveable.  I doubt I'll hit 80 hours, but that's OK 'cos I've had a couple of late starts (6am instead of 5am) which my body has been in desperate need of, so as long as I hit 70 hours (ie double the minimum) this week then that's OK with me.

I'm heading off to beddy-byes now.

Nite nite orl.

Well timed by me

I managed to put away the dry washing up then do the washing up, come back in here and sit down with literally a minute to spare 'cos my legs are wobbly, my knees are killing me and the only place it's safe for me to be is bed now, but I've gotta keep caring for my carer until he decides otherwise.

I've drained a tepid hot drink, so I can see me waking up in desperate need of a wee at 3am now... if I do, I'll stay down here and put in an extra couple of hours of care for my carer instead of going back to bed and waking up with a cotton wool head which wouldn't be safe when I make my carers 3 meals tomorrow too.  Assuming I stay safely upright while the food is cooking, I could potentially eat twice tomorrow, but we shall have to see closer to the time.

Busy afternoon and early evening

While my carer was at his medical appointment I finished editing another manuscript, watered the plants and made myself a hot choccie.  Since he's been home, I've put the groceries away, supported him as he talked about his appointment and made him his third meal of the day (I've eaten once today).  I've just taken my evening pills and I'm gonna do the washing up now so that I can have breakfast in the morning 'cos there's only one clean bowl left that Steve'll have his breakfast in.  I've made him 6 meals in 36 hours and he's made one for me this week.

Time to take my watch off, roll up my sleeves and get on with the washing up now I guess - I just hope my evening pills don't kick in before I've finished doing it otherwise I'll end up on the floor unable to get up and my carer won't give two hoots as long as I'm not blocking the gangway through to the bathroom.

BBIAB.

Woops!

Forgot to say in my previous blog post that I'd watered all the plants after I took everything back through to the kitchen.  That's it until about 5-6pm now though.

No photo of my lunch today because...

...t'was the last Graze punnet and a chocolate soya milk and banana smoothie, so you would just have seen a brown smoothie container.

Gonna crack on with the editing I started this morning now, then celebrate the end of the novella by doing the washing up while Steve's at his medical appointment then make his 6th meal in two days for him, compared to his one meal this week for both of us.  I'll potentially be making all his meals again tomorrow and Sunday but I need to persuade him to make Saturday's lunch 'cos it's too many pans that are too heavy for me to juggle.  Assuming that I make tomorrow's lunch, that'll be 9 meals in three days and I'll only have eaten 6 of 'em... apparently he makes all my meals and drinks for me though <shrug>

I've just taken my lunchtime pill, so I'm all dosed up until tonight now.

Carer fed for...

...the second time today, so I'm gonna finish off my mug of decaff coffee then go and do the watering before I finish off my Graze box for my lunch, in preparation for the new one coming on Tuesday.  Gonna make myself another chocolate and banana smoothie to increase my calories as much as possible this afternoon too.

Plants watered and me...

...having my first caffeinated drink of the week - a gorgeous Lift peach tea.

 

Today's (18th August 2022) breakfast photo

Just my usual tropical fruits granola and soya milk for breakfast again this morning... it's filled me up considerably more than it usually does though - prolly helped along by the early morning drinking chocolate I had before it though lol

Here's today's photo:

I'm now...

...working overtime for the rest of the week 'cos I've worked 97 minutes so far this morning which is already less than my carer has cared for me all week combined (86 minutes).  When I've finished my drinking choccie I'll go and make the breakfasts then do the first watering of the day.