Friday 30 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I'm absolutely shattered, so I'm gonna head to bed for a late night just for a change 😞  I very much doubt I'll get the restful sleep my body needs, but not to worry eh?  I've got thousands of calories on the menu for tomorrow, so it doesn't matter that I'll only be getting about 6 or 7 hours of sleep, assuming my carer doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night wanting me to get a toilet roll for him of course 😮


Nite nite orl.


Pills taken...

...carer's tea made and I've been approved to read an ARC of a book, so I'm gonna be spending the day editing tomorrow and celebrating with the ice cream as long as it's not too late in the day to eat, then I'll spend Sunday reading and reviewing the book and hopefully be having a proper lunch of pizza at lunchtime which'll be my first lunch of the weekend.


I somehow managed to organise it so that I finished off Steve's chicken and the bottle of mayonnaise at the same time, so it's back to ham and pickle tomorrow and the only things I'll be eating are the granola for breakfast (assuming the washing up is done) and hopefully the tub of ice cream in the afternoon, then Sunday will be granola for breakfast and hopefully pizza for lunch (if Steve cooks it or nothing for me if he doesn't).


I've added 3 more boxes of instant tomato soup onto Tuesdays order, in preparation for NaNo, so I'm hoping Steve'll keep his hands off them so that I get more calories into me each day than just the celebratory J2O in the evenings - it'll only be for 10 days, but it's far from safe to be expected to live on 275 calories every 24 hours.  Steve always gets what he wants though, so I'll just have to put up and shut up if he decides he wants one or more of them like he did last week 🤷


He's almost finished eating now, so I'm gonna publish this and start closing down all my programmes so that I can hopefully go pretty much straight to bed.


That saves me...

...a job for today then.


Just been out to see if the plants need a drink and it's pitter-pattering with rain so the Green Man and/or Gaia have saved me a job for today - thank You (both) so much!


Today's (30th September 2022) lunch photos

Cor lummy am I bloated now!


Had 13 onion rings and a pud of an entire can of fruit cocktail in pear juice with waaay too much Oatly single cream so basically, in one meal, we've had our entire recommended daily intake of 5 portions of fruit and veg.


I don't intending on moving far from the sofa this afternoon and I won't be having a drinking chocolate for a good few hours either lol


Here are todays two lunch photos:



News on 30th September 2022

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30th September 2022

Maybe we aren’t so different after all - what my interracial friendship taught me

Today's (30th September 2022) breakfast photo

Take a guess at what I had for breakfast this morning?! lol  I seriously overdid it with the milk this morning 'cos it sloshed out of the carton a lot quicker than it usually does!  I had a Dolce Gusto chocochino after I'd taken the bowls out which has messed me up a bit, so I think it must have had my main allergen (milk) in it.  T'was very gentle on the chocolate and there was no discernable coffee in it either, but there must have been, right?


Here's this mornings breakfast photo:


Mornin' all

My carer was actually awake when I came down this morning and still is even now, so I stand a chance at being able to actually have a conversation with him that lasts longer than a minute today!


He did the washing up overnight and filled up the Dolce Gusto water tank then tried it with a cafe au lait so maybe the caffeine in that will keep him awake for a little while this morning?


I've already taken my morning pills, had my breakfast (photo will, as always, be in the next blog post) and had a chocochino which has messed up my belly a bit so it must have cow juice in it.  I haven't thrown up yet, but I'm feeling decidedly ropey.  We've got onion rings for lunch today so I'm really hoping that I'll be feeling well enough to eat by then otherwise I won't be able to keep my 4-6 rings in my belly while Steve has the other ¾ of the bag of them.

 

Gonna make a start on the news when I've put the photo up on here and Instagram.  Gotta remember to start my daily virus scan when I've posted this too.


TTFN.


Thursday 29 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I'm gonna head off to bed now so that I don't wake my carer up with my rumbling tum.


Nite nite orl.


My mood has gone through the...

...floor and my blood pressure/anger through the roof since Steve got home.  I've made him his 6th meal in two days and I've eaten 2 breakfasts and a mug of instant soup in the same time... all of them made by me.  Of the 12 meals that he tells everyone that he's made by now, he's only actually made 2.  It's onion rings on the menu for tomorrow and I'm predicting that I'll be cooking those too and I'll get maybe 4 or 6 of them, if that so I'll be reliant on drinking chocolates to get my calories up for the third day in a row.


I've just had to edit Tuesdays grocery order to add yet more food for Steve and the totals now break down like this:


My stuff:  £0.00
Steve's stuff:  £34.08
Joint stuff:  £10.36


So yet again Steve's got the vast majority of the groceries, I've got bugger all and literally the only things that are on there for both of us are toilet rolls (Steve uses literally ¾ of a roll per poo but the same roll would last me the best part of a month so our fortnightly pack of 18 would last over a year, even if I had diarrhoea), hash browns, bread and waffles - literally everything else is Steve's stuff.


Time to go and take his empty plate through to the kitchen while my belly rumbles with hunger again.  I won't even be able to have breakfast next week 'cos I had to take my soya milk off which means that when I've got through what's in the fridge, that'll be it until the end of NaNo, then I'll have to wait until Steve begrudgingly takes his stuff off so that I can get the bare basics for me again.  The weekly groceries (as well as the electricity) comes out of my money but I rarely get above £3 of stuff and there are usually weeks, like this, where I've got absolutely nothing.


I'm not gonna make it to 10 hours of care today, but that's OK 'cos I'm already over 45 hours.

Yep, I'll be shocked if...

...I haven't put on at least 1kg by the time I weigh myself on Monday.  I've just done the maffs and I'm already 1,957 calories over budget so far this week, so another couple of drinking chocolates this afternoon (because of not having any lunch) should see me going over 2500 calories over budget in the last four days, then I'll keep having at least 3 drinking chocolates on the days that my carer does cook to see me over budget and at least 4 on the days he comes up with excuses (like today) so that I can put on as much weight as possible in the next 3 weeks.


Carer fed and...

...my delivery has arrived and been put away, so I'm gonna drain my coffee and start on the drinking chocolates now - it's days like yesterday and today that I'm grateful that they are 405 calories per mugful 'cos I only need 3 a day to just about get the calories I need.  They will be my go-to calorie topper-upperer of choice during NaNo and JanNo while Steve eats proper (meaty) meals throughout both.  I can guarantee that he'll still want me to make his breakfast for him, so he'll just have to put up and shut up about what he gets and when for those 7-10 days.


Looks like...

...I won't be having lunch today after all, 'cos my carer has just said "I don't wanna eat too close to going to my appointment" so he wants "another mug of soup instead, and an extra sandwich tonight or summat" so I'll have made all six meals for him in 2 days and only eaten three times myself in the same amount of time - apparently he "make[s] all her meals and drinks for her" though, which is total bollox 'cos other than 2-3 bottles of squash a week, he hasn't made me a drink for several years and only usually cooks a maximum of 3 times a week and the rest of the time it's down to me.  I'm gonna have to fill up on drinking chocolates this afternoon so that I can increase my calorie count to safer levels than they are atm (640 calories atm and I've gotta consume at least another 647 calories to turn the graph green as opposed to blue).  Good preparation for NaNo and JanNo though, I suppose 🤷


News and a comment on 29th September 2022

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29th September 2022

How To Deal With Toxic Friendships In A Hyperconnected World Such As Ours? - Amanda's comment: One friend in particular is very toxic in our friendship and I've tried setting boundaries with them and laying my cards on the table in straightforward terms but the changes rarely last for more than a couple of hours before they are back to sucking the life out of me again

Today's (29th September 2022) breakfast photo

Just my normal Tropical fruits granola and soya milk today.  I've also had 2 mugs of decaffeinated coffee and 4 choccie biccies though 'cos I was still hungry lol

 



Mornin' all

Well, I did put my foot in it last night 'cos I only got to bed about 10 minutes earlier than normal so I've officially given up on having early nights now.


I've already cared for my carer for almost an hour this morning and I'm working overtime as of 7.07pm last night.  I've got a decaff coffee on the go so that'll hopefully heat me up a bit and keep me awake to care for my carer and I've gotta remember to charge up my FitBit later on today so that it keeps on working for me and tracking my steps and sleep.


Gonna use the opportunity of my carer being deeply asleep to take all my pills now.


This next week is gonna be sooo hard for me 'cos today and 6th October are when I lost my twins 26 years ago.  I know some of you will be rolling your eyes, but my twins were my only chance of becoming a mum and I will grieve for them this week and the start of April (their due date) every year for the rest of my life.  I don't need your approval to grieve.  If you need support this week, you'll just have to find it elsewhere - you don't support me so why should I support you?


Gonna set off my daily virus scan while I'm taking my pills, then wait for my delivery of J2O's then make our breakfasts when my carer wakes up for longer than a few seconds at a time.

Wednesday 28 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I'm actually having an early night!!  Is the moon blue tonight??


Nite nite orl.


I'm about to put my foot in it, but...

...I'm hoping that I really will be able to have an early night tonight 'cos 12 hours is prescisely 7.38pm and I'm intending to shut down soon after that and head off to beddy-byes for the night 'cos I'm absolutely shattered.


Last pills...

...of the day are now down the hatch and I'm still on track for hitting 12 hours, but don't think I'll make it the extra half an hour, but that's OK 'cos I only needed to put in 11 hours and 29 minutes today to hit the weekly minimum which I'm only 6 minutes away from hitting now, so I'll definitely be working overtime before I head to bed tonight.


2 minutes now so I'm gonna start closing down all my programmes so that there is less to hold me up when I eventually crawl upstairs.


Just got...

...53 minutes of care to provide before I head to bed and then I've hit the magic 12 hours today and will already have smashed the minimum weekly total of 35 hours - already done 34 hours and 38 minutes so I'll definitely be working overtime before I head to bed tonight then I've got 4 days of overtime.  I doubt it'll be another 85 hour week, but it should be a pretty easily achievable 80 hours and reckon I'll have hit double the minimum by Saturday lunchtime at the latest.


So much for not doing anything to support him eh?


Stand a chance of...

...just about scraping by 12 hours of care for my carer today.  My carer has only achieved 1 hour and 23 minutes of care for me so far all week.  I've gotta make his third meal of the day (the 7th of the week so far) when I've quenched my thirst a bit more but I've had two meals today for the first time in a while so I'm not worried and it'll hopefully mean that I'll be able to fall asleep sooner when I'm allowed to go to bed tonight because I won't be going to bed hungry tonight.  Gonna have a couple of slurps and aim to get into the kitchen by about 6pm tonight.


Hopefully...

...I'll have put on a good amount of weight by the time it gets to Monday 'cos I'm already over 1500 calories over budget thanks to having the peanuts this morning (609 calories) and the 3 mince pies (1101 calories) just now takes me up to 2894 calories so far today.


I've still got a tub of oat ice cream, 3 packets of high calorie crisps and 4 packets of high calorie biscuits to get through too lol.  The sensible me is saying to keep the crisps and biccies for NaNo so that I can get a few hundred more calories into me, but I'll maybe have the ice cream tomorrow then be a good girl the rest of the time.  I'm gonna stock up on the crisps and biscuits whenever my budget allows 'cos they don't need me to put my laptop on the floor to eat them.


Today's (28th September 2022) lunch photo

My second quick and simple meal of the day was a mug of tomato instant soup.  I had some chilli peanuts for elevenses too, so I'm well and truly into the red on my FitBit graph now and can get away with only having a drinking chocolate if I want it this afternoon, rather than needing two of 'em just to tip me over the edge.


I'll sleep well tonight lol


Here's today's lunch photo:


Afternoon pill is...

...down the hatch and the lunch post is in the process of being written, so see you all in a bit.


BBFN

I was wrong, I'm sorry

My monthly virus scan has just finished, so that's several hours quicker than I was thinking!  I'm gonna set the backups running now and I'm hoping they will be finished by about 1-2pm kinda time, then I can check my email.


I'm hoping I'll be able to take a photo of my lunch now that the virus scan has finished, but if my carer wants his lunch before they've finished then I won't be able to.


I've got a hot multi-vitamin drink on the go now too, so that'll hopefully keep me going for a couple of hours too.


BBL


That's reassuring then

Just made a drinking chocolate for me an' 'im, put it into the FitBit app and I've only gotta consume another 285 calories to take me up to the day's entire calorie intake, so the instant soup for lunch and the soya yoghurt for pud should pretty much get me into the green, then a couple more drinking chocolates this afternoon will hopefully see me significantly into the red, calorie-wise, which'll hopefully mean that I've put on more weight when I weigh myself on Monday, then it's just a case of keep piling on the kilo's until NaNo starts and I'll be living on just soup and J2O's until I've completed it.  It's only for 10 days, but ideally a week if I can manage to write 7,200 words a day, like last year.  I'm gonna push myself but not to breaking point - as long as I get 5,000 words written a day then I've earnt the reward and any other words are just a bonus.


This'll be my 12th or 13th year and I've won all of them except my first one, so I know what to expect and what works for me now.  Steve usually shuts up after a couple of days too, but I'm gonna be wearing my headphones permanently (except for bathroom breaks, obviously) and refuse to do answer the phone or door or whatever else until I've finished. It's only 20 days a year, so I don't reckon it's too much to ask not to be disturbed just for those 20 days, right?


My monthly virus scan is at 30% so I reckon it'll be finished at around the 2-3pm kinda mark, then it'll be a couple of hours for the backups, I'll download my email for the first time today, make Steve's tea for him, take my pills and head to bed for the night.  

 

As I think I predicted yesterday, I didn't get an early night after all, same as usual, but it won't stop me from hoping that it'll happen.


Steve actually turned the heating on a tiny bit so it must be cold today 'cos that doesn't usually happen until well after NaNo!


I've just snaffled one of Steve's boring biscuits and put it into my FitBit app so I've only got 224 calories left to eat to take me into the green today, so it should be pretty easy to turn the graph pretty significantly red, even though it's a virus scan and back-up day today.  Tomorrow is gonna be a low calorie day 'cos I've gotta make Steve's lunch so I dunno if I'll be able to stay upright for long enough to make my own too.


There was no news on any of my three sites this morning and I've already sorted out the forumy stuff, so I can spend the day on Facebook and doing surveys today, in amongst caring for my carer.


Gotta remember to go and do the watering at some point today... might check on the wetness of the compost before I fill the jug up with water today though!  😆


Today's breakfast photo

Just my usual tropical fruits granola and soya milk for breakfast this morning, but after about a week of only having one meal a day, it really hit the spot.

 

It's an instant tomato soup for lunch today, but it's only 90 calories and I need to get at least another 800 into me today, so I might have my last soya yoghurt for brunch 'cos I think it's about 200 calories, so that and another couple of drinking chocolates this afternoon will hopefully see me into the red on my FitBit graph.

 


Mornin' all

Had a pretty productive couple of hours this morning 'cos I've started the monthly virus scan, actually eaten breakfast for the first time in about a week, taken my morning pills, made myself the first drinking choccie of the day and I've just ordered myself 8 bottles of J2O in preparation for NaNo and JanNo for under a tenner, so I wasn't gonna turn my nose up at that!


It's instant soup on the menu today so I should hopefully be able to have a mug at lunchtime 'cos it only takes a few minutes longer than a hot drink, but it's only 90 calories so I definitely need to load up on the drinking chocolates today!


I remembered not to open my emails first thing and I remembered that I needed to do the monthly scan instead of the weekly one so it'll prolly take a couple of hours longer to finish it and get the backups sorted, but it's only once a month and it's only every 7 months that it falls on a Wednesday and I haven't got any plans for today, so that's OK.


I've cared for my carer for very nearly 2 hours this morning which is already more than he's cared for me all week combined, but I refuse to get ratty about it so early in the morning.


Gonna save, resize and upload the photo of my breakfast now.


BBIAB


Tuesday 27 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I've closed down most of my apps now, so I'm gonna head off to bed for a well-deserved early night I reckon.


Nite nite orl.


Pills taken now, sooo...

...I'm gonna start shutting everything down now, so that I don't have to do it in a rush when the side-effects start to kick in.


I've gotta remember that it's my monthly virus scan tomorrow, so that'll take longer than my usual weekly one, so doubt I'll be able to open my emails until considerably later than normal 'cos of the weekly backups too.  It's not often that it happens like that, but hopefully it'll mean that I can stay upright for long enough to make two mugs of instant soup for lunch.  I'll need to crack open the biscuits and drinking chocolates too, so that I can try and get my calories above 1,500 rather than less than 500 which is far from healthy.


Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be able to clock off the caring and be able to head to bed before 8pm tonight please!


Steve's been...

...fed for the third time today, so he'll be asleep again any minute now, I'll take my pills and wait for them to kick in and hopefully have an early night for a change - I doubt I'll get to bed before 8pm though, and will be back down here before 5.30am tomorrow too, same as always.


I've asked him to decant the granola for me again, but I'm predicting that he'll conveniently forget again, 'cos as long as he eats at least 3 meals a day, that's all that matters, right?


Well, I tried to...

...do the watering, but there was still plenty of wetness left in the pots, so I decided to leave it for another day and made myself a drinking choccie instead.  I'm over budget calorie-wise now, but barely, so I'll see if I can squeeze another one in before I take my last pills of the day, 'cos I remembered why I need to be overweight until the New Year - because of NaNo!  

 

I'll be living on instant soup and J2O's for the first week or so, so I'm expecting to lose a pretty considerable amount of weight purely through lack of daily calories and being too focussed on what I'm writing to sort out full meals for the first 7-10 days of November and January, so I'm not gonna deny myself high calorie foods and drinks between now and the middle of January.  I'm already overweight, but I wanna get about a kilo or two overweight so that I don't rapidly become underweight accidentally.


It'll be drinking chocolates whenever I fancy 'em for the next few months without giving myself a guilt trip about it.  I'd prefer to be overweight than underweight 'cos I can just re-start doing my laps, if necessary, to lose any extra weight I end up carrying.


The Bourbon biscuits are really high calorie, as are mince pies (the ones that we got delivered today are 225 calories each) and the vegan crisps are like 500-600 calories per bag too, so I'll just stock up on the biscuits and crisps each week between now and the middle of January.


My carer...

...was awake for a couple of minutes, so I made him a hot drink and he fell asleep as soon as he put his mug down again.  I've cared for my carer for 7½ hours so far today, so putting in another 12 hour day should be pretty easy I reckon.


I'm gonna go and water the plants then make myself a drink before catching up with Facebook I reckon.


BFN


Today's (27th September 2022) lunch photo

Our groceries turned up an hour late and we couldn't have lunch before they arrived 'cos our lunch was in the order lol


T'was just a simple meal today - hash browns and brown sauce so I'm well under my calorie budget after not having breakfast either and I've gotta save the bread and soya spread for Steve's tea... I've got biscuits and an oaty ice cream that I can have, but I need to keep those back for the next two days that is just instant soup (tomorrow) and nothing on Thursday 'cos Steve's having his usual MugShot and there isn't enough for both of us to have them as well as not being able to stay on my feet for long enough to make more than one, so I'm gonna have biscuits and ice cream for Thursday's lunch.  A couple of drinking chocolates this afternoon should send me nicely over budget though and I can just about stay upright for long enough to make 2 drinks.


Today's photo is pretty blurry, but by the time I took it, I hadn't eaten for 24 hours and my patience with my wobbliness was wearing a bit thin by that point lol


Here's today's lunch photo:



Mornin' all

How are you all doing this freezing cold morning?


I've already taken my morning pills and cared for my carer for 41 minutes this morning, which already beats what he's provided for me all week combined!  By the time I was allowed to go to bed last night, I'd put in 11 hours and 45 minutes of care for my carer, compared to his 30 minutes when he made our lunch, so I'm on track for hitting the minimum on Wednesday morning and my carer is already 4½ hours behind shedule which takes the minimum daily care required to just shy of 6 hours a day to hit the minimum required on Sunday.  I reckon this'll be a 2 hour week, if that, this week whereas I should pretty comfortably hit 80 hours.


My daily virus scan is underway and I'm gonna go and make myself a hot drink so that the icicles hanging off my nose and ears can start to thaw until my carer wakes up and decides he wants his breakfast.


Our groceries are due to come this morning and I'm predicting, at 6.40am, that I'll be doing the majority of putting away again, like every week, because my carer is "too wiped out" after literally swinging the bags from one side of his body to the other then going for a wee/poo while I'm taking the bags from the front door through to the kitchen and putting all the groceries away.  Happens every week 🤷


He's awake now and wants a hot drink, so I'd best go and make it for him before he has his breakfast, hadn't I?


BBS


Monday 26 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I'm heading off to beddy-byes now, but I'll be back hopefully bright but not too early tomorrow.


Nite nite orl.


Carer fed for...

...the third day today and I've taken my last two pills of the day so I'm just waiting for Steve to finish eating so that I can take his plate through then keep caring for him until my pills and body tell me that it's time to clock off for the night.  Already put in over 11 hours of care today compared to my carer's 30 minutes while he was making lunch, so I think I deserve an early night if that's what my body tells me it wants and needs.


Tomorrow's grocery totals break down like this:

My stuff:  £4.94
Steve's stuff:  £23.66
Joint stuff:  £19.10

So that is a lot better than it usually is, but I'm not sure Steve needs any more milk 'cos there are already 3 in the fridge!!


OK, I've taken the milk off now and he wanted more meat slices for his sandwiches he has for his tea every evening, so the totally final totals look like this:

My stuff:  £4.94
Steve's stuff:  £24.34
Joint stuff:  £19.10

So Steve's stuff is significantly the most expensive yet again (as in pretty much half of the total spend), but as long as he gets what he wants then that's all that matters seemingly. 


He's finished eating and he's got his legs up, so he's seemingly settled for the night now, so I'll take his plate out and hopefully be able to head off to bed myself.


BBIAB


Today's (26th September 2022) lunch photo

We had a big lunch today so we're both gonna be burping like good'uns all afternoon now.


T'was a yummy veggie pasta bolognaise with added peas, made from scratch with Linda McCartney vegemince, penne pasta, diced onions and a tomato & garlic sauce.  Totally yumsk.


Here's today's lunch photo:


I was wrong, I'm sorry

I was wrong to doubt Steve cooking lunch for us today - he went out and started it just before mid-day and we've both had a big meal now.


I've got another photo of both of our lunches - see if you can work out whose is whose again?




Schmoozing has been...

...finished for another week now, so I can sit back and relax until lunchtime now.


Got my...

...Covid Autumn booster jab booked in now.  I had a text from my surgery with a link to book it and it was at the same place I had the first 3, on a day that Marie was available and a time that she could make.  There were multiple time slots available so Steve's mum said to him to say to me to book the last one which is fair enough, but it's done and dusted in time for NaNo now.


Judging by the available appointment times, they are only using the Pfizer one this time, so hopefully I'll only be riddled with any side effects for a couple of weeks rather than the 6-10 weeks of the first two that were OAZ ones.  There are 10 cans of ginger beer in the kitchen as well as a couple of small pots of crystalised ginger in here so hopefully that'll be enough to ease the nausea that I had the previous 3 times.  I'm gonna have a tiny amount of breakfast and potentially no lunch on the day of the jab 'cos having something lining my stomach seemed to help as well... I'm just gonna take it as it comes and listen closely to what my body is telling me after I've had it done again... my body knows what it needs and I've learnt to listen to it, so I'm hoping that things will be even better this time.


Hopefully it's just a once a year thing like the flu jab now.


Just edited...

...tomorrows groceries so that I could make sure I had enough of the high calorie crisps and to add another 2kg of cereal for Steve to the order, so it looks like it's gonna be another day of purely drinking chocolates if Steve finds another excuse not to cook for lunch again.


It's hash browns on the menu for tomorrow, so I'm predicting that I'll get a maximum of 4 and Steve'll get the rest of the bag (averages about 15 per bag, so he'll have 10 of 'em) so it's gonna be another low calorie day tomorrow.  It's my monthly virus scan on Wednesday so it'll be soup for Steve and nothing for me again, Thursday he's got his regular medical appointment and it's instant rice on the menu so I'll be going hungry on Thursday too.  On the menu for Friday is onion rings, so I'll maybe get 5 or 6 and Steve'll be getting about 20, Saturday is MugShots and there aren't enough for both of us to have them each week, so it'll just be Steve eating on Saturday too, which takes us to Sunday which is pizza, so at least I'll be able to eat a proper meal that day, for only the 3rd time in 7 days, but Steve'll have eaten 21 times by the time I head to bed on Sunday... apparently he makes all my meals and drinks for me though 🤷


Recycling has...

...just been picked up so I've brought the containers in and done my first schmoozing session of the week, so just waiting for the rubbish to go so that I can schmooze with them too, bring the sack back in and keep on caring for my carer for the rest of the morning.


I'm sooo hungry after barely eating yesterday and not being able to have breakfast this morning, so I'm seriously hoping that Steve'll feel up to cooking at lunchtime or I'll be forced to crack open either the ice cream or a packet of crisps so that I don't lose too much weight this week.


I've had a drinking choccie and bar of chocolate for my breakfast, so I've got 535 calories inside me so far which is far from ideal, but that doesn't seem to matter to my carer.


Will the bar of chocolate be the only solid thing in my belly today??


Just...

...made my carer's breakfast for him and remembered to weigh myself - I've put on 1.5kg which is reassuring and I'm now 400g overweight, so missing a few meals this week won't do me any harm, thankfully.


I'm gonna load up on drinking choccies this morning though, 'cos I won't be allowed any breakfast, as I think I predicted yesterday.


I also took some last minute recycling outside for Steve and it's rained overnight so I won't need to do the watering until tomorrow now, which is reassuring and gives me more time to recover from last week too.  

 

I've got some sultanas that I can have for breakie if I get too hungry this morning and I can indulge in the ice cream for lunch if my carer doesn't fancy cooking today and I've got some really high calorie crisps that I can have if it's too cold for the ice cream - far from healthy, but I've gotta eat otherwise I won't be able to care for my carer for 12 hours a day!


Mornin' all

How are you all doing this morning?

 

I've already taken all my morning pills and cared for my carer for 56 minutes.  I managed an 86 hours and 20 minute week last week, by the time I was allowed to go to bed.

 

Steve wants his breakfast now and he hasn't put my granola into the jug so it'll be the first meal I'm missing today, if he doesn't cook at lunchtime it'll be my second missed meal and I rarely eat in the evenings, so it looks like today is potentially a low calorie day again.

 

I've gotta remember to weigh myself and download the FitBit spreadsheet for last week this morning too, so I'd best get cracking on it all now.  Gotta remember to ask Steve to phone up about my Covid booster when my GP surgery opens up too.


The virus scan was still thankfully clear, which is always reassuring and means that I can get on with making Steve's breakfast for him straight away.

 

BFN.


Sunday 25 September 2022

Nite nite orl

My body is telling me that it's time to head to bed for the final time this week, so that's where I'm going now.


Nite nite orl.


That's...

...my last pills of the week, popped and I'm hoping to head to bed at 7.32pm (assuming my carer stays asleep of course) which'll mean I've put in exactly 86 hours of care mainly for my carer alone this week.


To give credit where it's due, he's made 5 meals for me this week and I've made 16 for him, so that's pretty good going and double the number he usually makes!


According to next week's menu, there are only 3 meals that I can't make so I'll potentially be making up to 18 meals for my carer and won't be able to have breakfast until my carer decants the granola into the jug for me... he'll be eating 3 meals and a packet of biscuits along with multiple hot drinks a day, courtesy of me and I'll be getting a maximum of 2 a day and I'm predicting that I'll be going hungry several times and eating precisely nothing because either Steve doesn't want to cook or it's not safe for me to make my own meal after I've made Steve's.  I've got an oaty ice cream tub in the freezer that I can have if I get too hungry towards the end of the week, but I wanna save that for future weeks when I can make even fewer of the meals than next week.


It'll be interesting to see what the scales say tomorrow though!

 

I've reminded Steve to phone up about getting my Covid booster at home but I'm predicting right now, at 7.23pm, that he'll conveniently forget.


I'm gonna publish this now 'cos it's already too long lol

 

That's...

...my carer fed for the last time this week and things are pretty much back to normal now.


I'm only 20 minutes away from hitting an 85 hour week which is the eqivalent of 2 full-time jobs innit?  My carer has achieved 2 hours and 43 minutes of care mainly for both of us this week (he's spent literally 8 minutes caring for me alone this week and that was by making me 4 bottles of squash and leaving them on the kitchen sink for me to bring in here with me) but I'm sure you're all fully aware of how I feel about that by now, right?


He's got one sandwich (out of 4) left to eat then I'll take his empty plate out for him and I'm predicting that he'll be asleep less than 5 minutes after I come back in and sit down.  I'll take my last two pills of the week at 7pm and see what time I'll have to struggle to stay awake until tonight.


Gonna publish this now so that I can take the plate out straight away so that he doesn't drop it when he falls asleep before I make it back in here.


BBL


Well now...

...that hasn't happened in a looong time.


I've taken every single one of my pills this week.  I usually miss a couple of my lunchtime pills each week, but I haven't missed a single one this week and I've seriously noticed the difference too!


I'm gonna refill my pill organiser ready for next week now, then totally veg out and relax until bedtime.


Today's (25th September 2022) breakfast photo

I finished off the jug of granola this morning, so it was mainly dust with the occasional slither of coconut or the odd raisin/sultana here and there.  I also finished off my soya milk so it was a very milky bowl for breakfast too.  I can't have any breakfast now until a new bag of granola is poured into the jug and because Steve has his breakfast first every morning, I'll have to wait until he's finished eating his breakfast and I've taken his empty bowl out first, then I won't be stable enough on my feet to make my own breakfast after that.


Here's today's breakfast photo:



Mornin' all

I hope I'm wrong, but my body seems to naturally wake up at about 5am no matter what time I went to bed.  I only managed 7 hours and 59 minutes of sleep overnight and woke up at 4.55am and wouldn't let me go back to sleep so I came down and Steve was in his chair, snoring his head off so I've been caring for him ever since.


I'm determined to get my NaNo21 novel edited today, then my JanNo22 novel sorted tomorrow, then I can relax until I get my Covid booster sorted and recovered from.


I've already taken my morning pills and almost finished my first hot drink of the day.  Gotta remember to refill my weekly pill box after I've taken my lunchtime pill, so that I don't get in a flap about it just as I'm about to go to bed or first thing tomorrow morning.


I've drained my mug so I'm gonna go and get my breakfast now, then make a start on the editing until lunchtime, then make Steve's lunch, do the rubbish and recycling (almost forgot last week - woops!) and hopefully finish off the editing before I head to bed.  Just remembered to start off my daily virus scan too - would have forgotten if I hadn't been choosing the labels for this post!!


Saturday 24 September 2022

Nite nite orl

My body is starting to crumble, so I'm gonna head to bed as soon as I've shut down my laptop and say nite nite to you all.  I'll be back again tomorrow with less than 11 hours to go to hit the magic spot.


Nite nite orl.


Food made for...

...my carer, last two pills of the day taken, carer cared for for over 10 hours today and I'd like to get to 11 hours or even 11 and a half before my pills kick in so that I'm on track for hitting an 85 hour week this week.  Depending on what time I wake up and come downstairs tomorrow depends on how easy it will be to achieve, but if I can make it to 8.15pm then I'll have achieved 11½ hours of caring for my carer and I'll just have to put in the same again tomorrow to have hit the 85 hour week.  I'm still listening to my body though, so if it tells me to head to bed before then, that's OK too.


Gardening done and dusted

Just given the plants their only drink of the day, so of course it's gonna rain now, innit 😉


Today's (24th September 2022) lunch photo

Cor lummy am I stuffed now!


Had a gorgeous Pasta Bake between us for lunch and it's been too long since we last had such a big meal that neither of us are used to it!


My calorie count is through the roof today (1,309 calories just from lunch) so I'm hoping I've put on a pretty considerable amount of weight ready for Monday.  I'm not planning on moving far from the sofa all afternoon now lol  Glad it's just beans on toast (for Steve, just a couple of slices of toast for me if there's enough dairy-free spread left, otherwise I won't be able to have anything).


Here's today's lunch photo:


Lunchtime...

...pill taken and our lunch is in the oven so I'm gonna have 5 lunches this week which hasn't happened for a looooong time.  It's gonna be a heavy and calorie dense lunch too, so that should hopefully help me to put on more weight on Monday's weigh-in, along with the 2 drinking chocolates that I had this morning and the 2 diabetic biccies I had which were more calories (by 3 each lol) than the hot choccies, so I'm already significantly over my calorie budget and lunch will be about the same again so I'm gonna be significantly in the red by the time I go to bed today, thankfully.


I've just put the ingredients into my FitBit app and I'm already 1,823 calories over budget today, so hopefully a couple of drinking chocolates tomorrow will definitely have made me put on a good amount of weight.  Just gotta increase my liquid intake this afternoon (which'll be helped along with a glass of water with my lunch) and I'll be happy.  I'm hoping to put on about 2kg before the start of November so that it doesn't matter too much if I survive on just water and J2O's for the first 10-ish days of NaNo, then I'm gonna aim to do something similar in preparation for JanNo then I can get my sensible trousers back on again and keep within my healthy weight range without going to either end of it again.  It's only for about 20 days a year, the rest of the time I'm considerably more sensible.


Steve's just gone out to put the cheese onto the Pasta Bake so it'll be ready in about 20 minutes, so I'm gonna publish this now, in preparation.  I'm hoping I'll have a good plateful today after relying on biscuits so heavily on Thursday - I'll put the photo up as soon as I've taken our empty plates back through to the kitchen and Steve's fallen asleep for the afternoon.


News on 24th September 2022

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

24th September 2022

When Friends "Break Up" — The Psychological Damage After Friendships End

You be the judge: should my friend stop disappearing without telling us?

Keeping old friendship in new marriage

Friendship Deepens After Lifesaving Gift

‘A Very Sad Moment’ – Rafael Nadal on Realizing Roger Federer’s Friendship Depth Was Much More Than a Rivalry

Today's (24th September 2022) breakfast photo

Just my usual breakfast again this morning, but half the amount so that there's enough left for tomorrow... not sure when my next breakfast will be after that 'cos I rely on my hubby/carer to decant the granola from the package it comes in and then into the airtight jug that I pour it from each morning.  I always make my hubby/carer's breakfast first and he's usually asleep within a couple of minutes after he's finished eating it, so if I don't time it just right I'll be missing two meals every day and all 3 on a Thursday which is far from healthy, but it is what it is.


Here's today's breakfast photo:



Mornin' all

My body is slowly starting to recover now 'cos I got 9 hours sleep overnight and I feel a lot more awake and with it now.


Steve's had his breakfast and so have I (half the amount I usually have so that I can hopefully have breakfast tomorrow too but that'll be it then) and I've taken my morning pills, so I'll put the photo up in a bit, then start on today's editing.


I managed a smidgen under 14 hours of care for my carer yesterday after waking up at 4am, so I've just got 22 hours and 59 minutes of care to provide for him before I head to bed tomorrow and I've hit the 85 hour week again.  My carer has managed 2 hours and 6 minutes of care for me in the same amount of time.


Just a mini rant there to start off the weekend lol

 

I had an email about booking my Covid booster yesterday and Steve said he's gonna arrange for me to have it done at home 'cos he doesn't wanna impose on his sister more than he already does, so I'm predicting, at 8.51am, that he'll conveniently forget to do that too.


Currently charging up my FitBit and I've got a decaff coffee on the go.  I wanna put on as much weight as possible between now and the end of October so that I don't go dangerously underweight in November when I won't be eating anything solid and my only calories will come from soup and J2O's so I'll prolly be surviving on less than 500 calories a day and the same again in January.


I doubt I'll do any watering today 'cos I don't wanna over-water and kill them all.


The virus scan was reassuringly still clear this morning, so I can safely stay online again today.


I'm gonna resize the photo and put it up on here and Instagram now so that I don't do a huuuuge rant and start the vicious cycle again.


BBS


Friday 23 September 2022

Nite nite orl

Just popped my last 2 pills of the day, so I'm gonna shut down straight away and head off to beddy byes.


See you all at some point tomorrow morning.


Nite nite orl.


Did a couple of...

...fairly interesting surveys this afternoon and opened up my NaNo21 novel which is exactly 50,000 words, so my to-do list for tomorrow is to attempt to do the news as soon as I come down, hopefully have breakfast then spend the rest of the day on editing my NaNo novel.  It'll hopefully be doable, but I'll be listening to my body closer than normal tomorrow and I'll be stopping and going to bed as soon as it tells me to.  Plan for the rest of the day is to keep doing surveys as soon as they come in and heading to bed pretty much as soon as I've taken my evening pills tonight so that I can give my body a chance to catch up on the 2 hours it was short of today.  I'm not gonna push myself at all and my body will get what it tells me it needs otherwise I'll end up seriously regretting it.


Plants have now...

...had their watering for today.


T'was a really bad experience today 'cos I wobbled and stumbled and almost fell several times, so I'm gonna leave it at that for today and hope that I have a better time of things tomorrow.


I've made myself a mug of decaff coffee, which I need to remember to put into my FitBit app.


I've also taken my lunchtime pill and haven't missed a single one so far this week, which is a rarity for me.


Gonna go and pop the coffee into FitBit now, then recover from only having 6 hours of sleep overnight.


Today's (23rd September 2022) lunch photo

We had a gorgeous lunch today of sweet and sour vegetarian chicken pieces and rice - my 8th meal of the week.


Here's today's lunch photo:



Take a guess at...

...which plate is mine?




Today's (23rd September 2022) breakfast photo

Nothing out of the ordinary for breakfast today, just my usual bowl of Tropical fruits granola and soya milk was all.

 



That's the...

...editing done and dusted, so I can relax for the rest of the day now.

 

Time to put my breakfast photo up for you all before I forget lol

 


Mornin' all

After a very late night (didn't get to bed until after 10pm) and a very early start (just after 4.30am), and a hugely disturbed night (I was awake 4 times and restless 6 times), my day has started now.


I'm hoping that I'll post more today than I did yesterday 'cos I've got less than 10 chapters to edit, then the synopsis, then the rest of the day is mine.


I'm gonna take my morning pills now and give myself a couple of squirts of instant B12 relief, so that I can hopefully function today.


Not gonna do the news again so that I don't get out of the editing headspace, but hopefully things will be back to normal again tomorrow.


TTFN


Thursday 22 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I made great progress with the editing today.  Still got a few more chapters to go, but it's waaaaay past my bedtime, so I'm gonna head off to bed and crack on with it as soon as I wake up tomorrow.


Nite nite orl.


I was wrong, I'm sorry

I've only got one more manuscript to edit then that's the folders finished and I can have a rest for a week or so, then I've just got my 3 most recent manuscripts to edit et voila.


Mornin'

How are you all doing this morning?


I managed 8 hours and 46 minutes of sleep overnight and I've already taken my first 5 pills of the day.


I'm determined to edit another manuscript today 'cos I'll barely be eating, so I'm gonna crack on with that now so that I don't constantly find excuses like I did yesterday.


Not gonna do the news today so that I can totally immerse myself into the fictional world I've created.  I've only got about 5 more to go that I'm hoping to have got through by the time NaNo starts.


BBL


Wednesday 21 September 2022

Nite nite orl

First time in 12 days that I'm back to saying goodnight to you all and I'm ever so gradually getting back into the habit of regular blogging again.


I'm off to beddy-byes now so I'll see you all upon the morrow... or summat like that  😉


Nite nite orl.


It's been weird today 'cos...

...I'm back to the blogging but I've promised myself and all of you that I wouldn't rant and rave until the weekend.


I've taken my last pills of the day and I'm hoping for an early night tonight.


Tomorrow is soup day for lunch so I'm gonna have a packet of high calorie crisps and a tub of salted caramel oat ice cream for my lunch so I'm seriously hoping that my calorie count will be through the roof tomorrow, as well as my breakfast too, should take it to around 2000 calories tomorrow instead of the 1300 that it should be to turn my FitBit graph green.  It's sweet and sour vegetarian chicken on Friday which I'm gonna be attempting to cook, hopefully with close supervision for safety reasons.  Pasta Bake on Saturday and beans on toast on Sunday.  There's only one tin of beans left, so Steve'll be having that for his lunch and I'll hopefully have a couple of slices of toast as long as I can still safely stay on my feet after making Steve's lunch for him.


Time to take Steve's empty plate back through to the kitchen then start shutting down for the night when my pills start kicking in.


BFN


That's the...

...plants watered and my pills taken until this evening now.


Today's (21st September 2022) lunch photo

Oooh that was a yummy lunch!


A vegetarian Balti with vegetarian chicken pieces, rice and added wonky peas and frozen diced onions went down a storm.  I'm just nicely full now and I've hit my calorie target according to my FitBit app, so I'm happy with that.  I might indulge in a couple of drinking chocolates to try and send my calories through the roof so that I can get up to the top (or ideally, just over) my healthy weight range so that I'm padded out ready for NaNo and JanNo which are low calorie weeks 'cos of spending all my awake time writing and I'm currently right at the bottom of the range, so I wanna put on a couple of kilo's this week.


That's beside the point of this post though!  lol


Here's my lunch photo for you all:



Looks like...

...I'll be having lunch today after all then.


My backups have just finished for another week and it's only 11am, so I can put my external hard drive away and check my emails for the first time today.


Today's (21st September 2022) breakfast photo

Aaand I'm back to taking photo's of everything I eat again.  Just my usual Tropical fruits granola and soya milk today, which I'm rapidly running out of now, but hopefully my MIL will be able to get some more for me today.  It might be my only meal today 'cos of not being able to put my laptop on the floor while the weekly backups are underway and the virus scan starting a couple of hours later than normal too, but we shall have to see.  If Steve doesn't want to wait then I'll have a mug of soup or drinking chocolate or something that doesn't need the table for... we shall see though.


Here's the photo:



Aaaand...

...I'm back.


Gonna start with the photos of my meals today but leave off the news until the weekend.  I'm gonna leave off my rants for as long as possible but they will be back eventually too.  Basically it'll be a slow re-start after nothing for the last 12 days but I'm hoping that I'll be back to normal again by the weekend.


I've gotta take my morning pills now then go and make breakfast and hopefully remember to take the first photo.  Not sure if I'll be able to have lunch today 'cos the virus scan started 2 hours later than normal so everything is pushed back by 2 hours which means it'll be about 3pm before the backups have finished and I can put my laptop on the floor, which I can't see Steve appreciating, so it'll either be no lunch for me or bread and spread again.

 

I think the plants are past their best now, but I'll still keep watering them until the last plant dies.  I've got it down to once a day 'cos it's been so cold and wet that they haven't needed watering the three times a day that I was doing before.

 

OK, I've taken my morning pills now, so just gotta wait for Steve to wake up then I'll go and make his breakfast for him, put my laptop on the floor and go and make my potentially only meal of the day.

 

He's just woken up and by the sounds of it, gone for a poo (yes, I really can hear him pooing from the other end of the house), so I'll publish this then make a start on making the two lots of breakfasts.


BBS.


Wednesday 14 September 2022

Normal service will resume on...

...21st September 2022 'cos that's 13 days since our late Queen passed away and I wanna make sure I give it the full 12 days which is the official period of national mourning for a member of the Royal Family, right?


Thursday 8 September 2022

Thank you for your service for the last 70 years

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has passed away.


I've never known what to say at times like this, so I'm not gonna post any more for a little while so that the country, Commonwealth and world can grieve such a major loss without me messing things up.


RIP Your Majesty.


Today's (8th September 2022) lunch photos

I shouldn't have had the Chia seeds after breakfast this morning 'cos we had the Subway a few hours earlier than I thought and now I'm verging on bloated.


I had the 9 hash browns, garlic aoli and a Veggie Delite wrap for lunch and I've still got 3 vegan cookies left that I'll save for my breakfast tomorrow.


I think I'll be sticking to water for drinks this afternoon too lol


Here are the two photos:



Today's (8th September 2022) breakfast photo

Just had my usual breakfast again - Tropical fruits granola and soya milk.  I've got a bottle of water-soaked Chia seeds to have to increase my protein today, but I'll wait until Steve (my hubby/carer) has finished getting washed at the kitchen sink before I have that, so that I can let my breakfast go down and settle a bit.


Apparently Steve's treating us to a Subway early tea tonight, so I'll have mine while he's at his regular appointment so that I don't feel sick when I go to bed tonight.


I had a significantly red (over budget) calorie day yesterday, according to my FitBit app, so hopefully that has off-set the two blue (under budget) days at the start of the week.  I wanna try and work out what my body needs to maintain my weight this week.  I'm not gonna deliberately go under or over budget and I'm not gonna deny myself treats (like yesterday's drinking chocolates), I'll just listen to what my body tells me it needs and take it from there.


Here's today's breakfast photo:


Won't be doing...

...the watering this morning 'cos the pots are still wet enough and I can't find the quarantine for my virus programme so I'm not gonna worry about it.  I've stirred up the Chia seeds and my belly is rumbling, so I'm gonna go and make myself some breakfast while my carer is still asleep then make his for him when he wakes up.


BBS.


Mornin' all

It's gonna be another high pollen count day today 'cos I'm already sneezing and it's gonna be another mammoth day of caring too 'cos I've already cared for my carer for an hour this morning.


The caring total for yesterday, by the time I crawled up to bed, was 13 hours and 35 minutes, taking me comfortably into the overtime before I headed to bed yesterday.  My carer has cared for me for 2 hours and 4 minutes so far this week, so I doubt we'll hit 3 hours again despite him telling anyone who will listen that he "does everything for her" and that he "makes all her meals and drinks" which, to give him due credit, he has made 3 of my meals and 2 bottles of squash for me this week.


I've taken my morning pills and I'm gonna go and give my Chia Seeds a bit of a mix before I drink them around lunchtime.  It's only soup today so it's a quick and easy meal for me to make... I wanna try and make myself one this week, but it all depends on how stable I feel after making my carer's for him.


Just set the virus scan running, so hopefully that'll be clear... gotta remember to somehow clear out the quarantine when it finishes.


The virus scan has just finished so I'm gonna give my Chia seeds a quick stir then work out how to empty the quarantine.


BBL


Wednesday 7 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I'm heading off to beddy-byes now, and hoping that I don't wake up at 4.44am again tomorrow morning.


Nite nite orl.


For the first time in a while, I've just...

...got another half a serving of Chia seeds ready for tomorrow.  I'm gonna have them with my lunch as opposed to before breakfast so that they don't mess me up, but tomorrow will have an added protein punch just to fill me up what with it being a soup day ('cos of Steve's medical appointment) tomorrow so wanna be sure to get as many goodies into me at every opportunity.


Assuming Steve's still up for the Subway thing in the "late afternoon before my appointment" then I'll have hash browns, a wrap and 3 vegan cookies to keep me going too lol


Pills taken and...

...I'm on track for another 12 hour day today.  My carer's total for the week so far is... drum roll please... 2 hours and 2 minutes.  Tomorrow I'll be making all three of my carer's meals, plus his Subway treat so the only support I'll get for him in the next 24 hours will be if he makes a bottle of squash for me tonight.  I'm predicting that it'll be less than a 3 hour week for him and I'm hoping to hit 85 hours again, at a push, with any luck, but I'll be happy with 80 too.

Today's (7th September 2022) lunch photo

After 3 big lunches this week, I think my stomach will be grateful for the light lunch of instant soup for lunch and Steve wants a Subway for his tea which he's gonna order mid-afternoon apparently, so I might pig-out and have a Veggie Delite sub and vegan cookies for a rare early tea so that I can keep my calorie count up tomorrow.


Back to today though lol


T'was a gorgous vegetarian home-made chilli and rice, with added onions and red kidney beans and a sprinkling of mild chilli powder... t'was very yummy and just enough to fill me up for the rest of today.


Here's today's lunch photo:



I'm glad/relieved that...

...I do weekly as well as daily virus scans, 'cos today's weekly scan found a couple of suspected phishing files which it automatically moved to the quarantine for me.  I'm safer and secure for another week now so I can check my emails for the first time today and I can definitely eat lunch today instead of risking it being cooked before my backups finished and potentially having to eat it cold or even not at all and have to put up with Steve muttering and mumbling at me under his breath all afternoon.


Today's (7th September 2022) breakfast photo

Just my usual breakfast again this morning - could have done with a touch more soya milk though.


Gardening sorted...

...so now I can get my breakfast photo resized and put up before I forget.

Back now and...

...remembered not to open my email programmes this time lol


I've had my breakfast and the photo will be in the next blog post.  I've taken my morning pills, made breakfast for Steve and took his bowl back through to the kitchen for him.  In the 2 and a bit hours that I've been awake and down here, I've spent two hours of 'em caring for my carer.


I'm gonna go and see if the plants need watering this morning or if Gaia and the Green Man have been kind to me overnight again.


Mornin' all

Oh boy!  It's gonna be a high hayfever day today 'cos I've already started sneezing and my nose running and it's not even anywhere near 6am yet!

 

I've just taken my morning pills and started the daily virus scan, but I've literally only just remembered that it's Wednesday today, so I need to reboot my machine and not open up my email programmes when I log back in again!  D'oh!


BBIAB.

Tuesday 6 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I don't care what my carer says, I'm having an early night tonight after caring for him for 24 hours already this week.


Nite nite orl.


Longest one so far

Just finished editing the manuscript I started at sparrow's fart yesterday morning and it needed the most editing of all of them so far but it's done and dusted now, so I can spend the next little while coming back to reality, then I'll finish off the last of my manuscripts, then put my most recent three through their first set of edits and still be ready to get cracking with NaNo22 in time for November.


2023 is gonna be my year.


Today's (6th September 2022) lunch photo

Chef Steve (my hubby/carer) tried something new to both of us today - adding Turmeric powder to the rice to give it a bit of colour.  The combination of that, the diced onions and the spices in the Rogan Josh sauce were just verging on being too hot for both of us.  We polished both of our curries off, but I'm thinking that maybe it's either onions OR Turmeric, not both together.  Maybe the Turmeric when we have a Korma and onions when we have Balti's or Rogan Josh's?  We've got a vegan Korma sauce and a Balti sauce that came with our groceries today, we've just gotta remember for next time lol


Here's today's photo:


Virus scan finished...

...hot drink made for my carer (I've got a glass of water to see me through this morning), so now I can make a start on the editing.


Today's (6th September 2022) breakfast photo

I used waaaay too much soya milk on my Tropical fruits granola this morning 'cos there didn't seem to be any point leaving a small dribble in the bottom of the container.


I also used a latte spoon to eat it with cos there weren't any clean ones and it wouldn't have been safe for me to do the washing up, drying up and then making two breakfasts so I just used what we had that was already clean and dry




Goood morning all!

How are you doing this morning?  I've woken up in a good mood, full of motivation but with what looks like a slapped cheek lol


I've already taken my morning pills and cared for my carer for a smidgen over half an hour and apparently it rained again overnight, so I won't be watering the plants again this morning again and I'll reassess at lunchtime.


I'm gonna carry on with the editing while Steve's getting washed at the kitchen sink, then I'll go and make breakfast for both of us then carry on with the editing until our groceries arrive, bring them in and put them away, more editing hopefully until lunchtime then do our usual lunchtime routine of me bringing in the full plates and taking out the empty plates, then I can spend all afternoon finishing off the editing.


Steve made a bottle of squash for me overnight, so his caring total is up to 36 minutes so far this week.  I managed to knock out 12 hours and 10 minutes yesterday, which is pretty good.  According to my FitBit app, I managed to sleep for over 9 hours too, so maybe that's why I'm in such a good mood this morning?


Sounds like Steve's finished washing and is about... I was wrong, he brought the bags through for the groceries, so I'll go and make our breakfasts now before I crack on with the editing.


Toodle pip for now!


Monday 5 September 2022

Nite nite orl

What a day!  I'm about ⅗ of the way through editing the manuscript today and it's needed more editing than a lot of my manuscripts.  It's also the longest one at 100k words so I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish editing it tomorrow then spend a couple of days getting out of the heads of the main characters and back into real life, before I crack on with editing the next one.


I'm absolutely cream crackered so I'm gonna head off to bed now.


Nite nite orl.


Was gonna do...

...the watering, but Gaia and the Green Man are saving me the job again.  Doubt I'll give them a drink tonight either 'cos it looks like they've had 2 big, natural drinks in the last 20-ish hours, so I don't wanna drown them - back to the watering again tomorrow though - weather permitting again.


Today's (5th September 2022) lunch photo

Cor lummy am I stuffed to the gills again lol


It was vegetarian chicken nuggets, chips and frozen peas today and it was too much for both of us.  I just about crammed it all down my throat but Steve couldn't manage all of his whereas even a few months ago he would have polished it off and still been hungry!


We decided to increase our veggie consumption today and have peas instead of baked beans with our lunch - neither of them were on the menu so it was a bonus for our bodies.


We're all out of brown sauce now though so I've addd another bottle onto tomorrows grocery order.  Steve said last night that we're gonna be stuffed several times this week according to this week's menu.... I just hope that we stick to it so that we can try and avoid resorting to take-aways for every meal again.

 

Steve's already sleeping his lunch off lol


Here's today's lunch photo:



Today's (5th September 2022) breakfast photo

I hadn't had breakfast for 2 days 'cos I'd run out of Granola, didn't have anything safe that I could have for breakfast and Steve didn't open the package up until this morning.  I've got a full jug of granola now though, so I'll be able to have at least one meal a day for the next few days.


T'was just my usual Tropical fruits granola and soya milk with a mug of decaff coffee as a treat this morning.


Here's my first meal of the week photo:


Mornin' all

After such a late night last night, I was awake and downstairs and caring for my carer by 5.55am.  I've also, thankfully put a bit of weight on so I'm not gonna be drinking and eating high calorie things as much as possible this week.

 

There was a storm "just after you went to bed last night" and I've checked to see how wet the concrete is and it's very wet, so Gaia and the Green Man have saved me a job this morning and I'll reassess at lunchtime.

 

I've already taken my morning pills and made myself a decaff coffee, so I just need my carer to wake up enough to go and make his breakfast for him.  I want breakfast too, but it all depends on if my carer opens up the new bag of granola for me, or if I have to go without breakfast again.  It's vegetarian nuggets and chips on the menu for lunch today, so I'll be making it if my carer can't be arsed again.  


I've downloaded last week's FitBit spreadsheet to go up on my site, so I'll do that after breakfast and taking the bowls out.


Time for me to publish this and go and make Steve's breakfast for him while the daily virus scan is running now.


BBL


Sunday 4 September 2022

Nite nite orl

A very late night for me tonight... hopefully that means that I'll be up at a more sensible time in the morning lol


Nite nite orl.


Plants watered, pill box...

...refilled ready for next week and I've got a drinking chocolate on the go, so I'm all sorted for the evening now, just gotta make my carer's tea for him then I can start winding down and getting ready for bed.  I've pretty much given up on getting to bed before 8pm and being awake after 6am now 'cos I haven't managed that for weeks.

 

I've remembered to sort out the sheets for next week, so that's one less thing to have to do tomorrow now.  My carer racked up a huge 7 hours and 58 minutes of care this week which is the longest since the start of the year and I've clocked up 81¼ hours so far, so there's a slim chance of me clocking up 85 hours, but I'm not gonna force myself to do it.  I'm gonna head to bed when my body tells me it needs a rest, no matter what I've achieved.


Today's (4th September 2022) lunch photos

I can sum up today's roast dinner delivery in two words:  cor lummy!


It was a seriously good job that I hadn't eaten anything for 24 hours 'cos I'm totally stuffed now.  Today's Sunday Roast consisted of 2 spiced patties (the vegetarian option from this place can sometimes be a touch weird but they are suitable for vegetarians, so I'm not complaining), 1 Yorkshire pudding, 1 serving of stuffing, 2 halved boiled potatoes, 2 halved roast potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and peas along with a pud of apple crumble.  That little lot added up to 1304 calories and oh boy am I feeling every one of 'em!  lol


It's not often that we eat take-aways now that we're back into the routine of cooking at home again and our usual go-to is usually a Subway, so we were in no way prepared for such a huge amount of food in the delivery today.  An occasional blow-out treat that completely fills you up ain't bad though, and considerably better than it used to be.


Here are today's two lunch photos:



Apparently...

...my carer "thought I was being picky but you've been even pickier" so he didn't give himself credit for the things that I've given him credit for and he got a bonus 5 hours 'cos he hadn't included the family thing we both went to on Wednesday.  Basically we got down three things before he gave up and started getting ratty with me, so I'm not gonna ask him to keep the spreadsheet from now on and we'll just go by mine <shrug>  I've been asking him to do it since January and he has yet to do a full week and I think even he realised that he doesn't get anywhere near the necessary 35 hours a week even on a high caring week like this one but I've usually got it in the bag by the time I head to bed on a Wednesday and I frequently support him for more than double that each week too.


If we went by Steve's spreadsheet this week, he'd still have to cram over 33 hours of care into less than 12 which just ain't gonna happen by any stretch of the imagination 'cos there's no way you can turn back time and support me in the past to make up for the lack of support in the future.


He's asleep again now, so I'm gonna go for another wee and make myself another drink then keep on caring for my carer when he does so little to support me, as this week proves.


Mornin' all

How are you all doing this morning?


I'm not gonna start ranting about my carer straight away 'cos you all know that rant off by heart by now, right?


So far this morning I've taken all my morning pills, got breakfast for Steve, a hot drink for both of us (mine is caffeinated so I'll be rushing to the bathroom all morning now), was gonna water the plants but the Green Man and Gaia have saved me from doing that this morning, then I came in and took Steve's empty bowl through to the kitchen and discovered that, yet again, he hasn't done the caring spreadsheet, despite it being such a high caring week this week.  He recorded 113 minutes of support this week though, which is considerably better than previous weeks and we're gonna go through it all together now.


I'm not having breakfast this morning 'cos of the huuuuge Sunday roast we're getting delivered today and I don't want any of it to go to waste.  I'm also not having any drinking choccies this morning for the same reason.


Steve's ready to sync our spreadsheets now, so I'm gonna publish this now then get it sorted while he's awake and motivated.


BFN.


Saturday 3 September 2022

Nite nite orl

I'm already yawning my head off, so I'm gonna head off to bed now.


Nite nite orl.


Steve's got his tea and...

...I've finished editing all my short stories so I'm gonna listen to my body and head off to beddy-byes soon.


Plants have now been...

...watered for the last time today... only two jugs of water instead of the usual 3½ to 4 'cos they were still pretty moist from their lunchtime watering and I didn't want to risk over-watering and killing them after I've spent so long nurturing the blimmin' things lol


Today's (3rd September 2022) lunch photo

I'm nicely full now and we had lots of good things in our lunch with the veggies in the sauce, the frozen onions and the wonky peas.  We had vegetarian spaghetti bolognaise today and it was yummy scrummy in my tummy.  I'm sitting here burping like a good 'un now though lol


Here's today's lunch photo:



Today's (3rd September 2022) breakfast photo

Today's breakfast was a bit of a mish-mash of things to eat and drink 'cos there was such a small amount of granola left in the container, so I finished off the granola with soya milk, blueberries and another gorgeous Innocent smoothie.  I'm thinking that I'll have the smoothie as an entire meal next time 'cos I'm verging on being bloated again.


Here's today's breakfast photo: