I'm so proud of myself right now!!

In the last 4 days, in no particular order, I've:

• had my phone line switched over
• given away things to a Freegler
• emptied the first 2 of the 5 cupboards
• started to offer the things that I no longer need
• had a bath
• refilled my dosette box
• requested quotes for the removal of the Norway Maple
• packed away my new appliances
• managed to squeeze the packaging into another box
• crammed both under the surface in the kitchen
• taken my recycling out
• my rubbish is ready to go as soon as I wake up tomorrow
• my OddBox is waiting to be emptied and filled 

and I'm soooo proud of myself for everything I've achieved!

I've got a delivery due tomorrow, but I'm gonna treat myself soo gently for the next little while so that I can recover.

Today (30th July 2026) I'm grateful for...

...finally being digitally connected on my home phone and getting an emergency phone put in for free.

As if that wasn't enough, I've also successfully cooked my first ever fresh sweet potato for my lunch and it went down like a dream.

I'm also grateful that I've just created a (yet another) new blog to keep all of my recipes together and got my first recipe up already.  They will all be tried and tested by me personally, as opposed to pinched from somewhere online - if I haven't personally made it, then it won't be on there.

I'm also grateful that I did my exercises at sparrow's fart this morning 'cos there's no way I can do them this afternoon.

*ahem*

YYYYEEEESSSS!!!!

I realise that this may be nothing to many/most of you but it's a huuuuuuuuge deal for me!

I've just cooked and eaten my very first ever sweet potato totally alone that wasn't pre-prepared or frozen or pre-cooked or made in a restaurant... this literally came out of the ground, into my OddBox, into my air-fryer and into my mouth!

There were a couple of very small areas, no bigger than a 2p coin that could maybe have done with a few seconds more, but any more than that and it would have been overdone, so I'm counting it as a very successful meal!

I rubbed the oil all over it after scrubbing it with my new vegetable scrubbers that came yesterday and that worked perfectly too.

Today has been the best day that I've had for a very long time so I'm not gonna feel guilty for grinning like a loon for the rest of the day now!

Today (25th July 2026) I'm grateful for...

...getting my deliveries at a reasonable time and just about finding room for them all.  I'm rapidly running out of space so I'm thinking that I'll need to sort out the other cupboard by the chest freezer and all of the cupboards by the main counter, sooner rather than later.

I'm grateful that I've had two solid meals today and I'm proud of myself for not snacking anywhere near as much as I thought I would this morning.

I'm grateful that I tested my reaching ability into the freezer and finding that I can just about reach the bottom of it right at the front.  I've put loads of proteins onto my grocery order for Tuesday, so I'll be able to have all sorts of good things going into my body for the first time in years on end.

I'm grateful that I've had a pretty decent day today and I'm proud of everything I've managed to accomplish.

Today (13th July 2026) I'm grateful for...

...not snacking all morning after I'd had my breakfast and before I had my lunch.  I haven't got anything snackable, but if I had then I wouldn't have been able to finish my lunch and would then be hungry and snack again before my tea, which I wouldn't have and I'd be hungry at bedtime then!  Thankfully it was a cycle that I managed to avoid starting on, even though it was very tempting and it won't be so easy starting tomorrow 'cos I've got lots of snacks coming with my groceries.

I'm grateful that I've kept myself hydrated so far today and that I've put my personal phone and Visible on to charge up, so they will hopefully both be good to go before bedtime.

I'm grateful that my rubbish and recycling were both emptied this morning and I was able to bring the containers in and put them back into their homes reasonably early this week.

I'm grateful that today has been a good day so far and I'm gonna spend the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening hopefully finishing off going through Steve's current account statement so that I can start on his savings account that I didn't even know that he had until the bank told me so it'll be both interesting and heartbreaking to see what he was using that account for.

Nite nite orl

I'm just about up to the psychosis diagnosis in hopefully the last edit of my second memoir and it seems like a wise place to stop so that I don't get crushed by a psychotic episode tonight.  It feels like I've achieved a pretty decent amount today and I'm only 124 pages away from going through my memoir almost twice today and it feels like I'm on the home stretch with it now.

It's too late after waiting up for my delivery to take my evening pills, so I'm just gonna head on up to bed to see how long it takes me to fall asleep tonight.

My HLTH band is doing really well 'cos it's been around my ankle for 31 days so far and the battery is still at 44% and is still working which is awesome!  I'm gonna keep a closer eye on the battery and when/if it starts to struggle, it'll be straight on to charge up again, but a month per charge is awesome!

I'll see you all in the morning (or later tonight if my insomnia strikes again).

Nite nite orl

 

Nite nite orl

I'm proud of myself for discovering that I can have hot drinks to cool my body down enough to stop sweating, so it'll be drinking chocolates all day tomorrow.

I've popped my last two pills of the day so I'm gonna shut down now, after reminding myself to charge up my personal phone and Visible tomorrow and I've gotta keep an eye on my delivery too, just in case it's delivered earlier than Monday.

I've had a very good day today and I'm heading off to beddy-byes now.

I'll see you all in the morning.

Nite nite orl

I've just seen...

...an email from my water company with suggestions on how to use less water during the heat wave.  Out of the 4 things they suggest (3 things in the email and 2 in a text, one of which was repeated), I only use 2 of the things (washing machine and showers) and I already do what it suggests (full loads in the washing machine and shorter showers) because I only use the washing machine maybe 2-4 times a month and I've had a grand total of 2 showers in the last 6 weeks and get washed in the kitchen sink instead, so I don't know what else I can do!

I'm secretly hoping I'll get a pleasant surprise with my first metered water bill in September/October kinda time 'cos I already use as little water as I can!  It's been around £750 billed every 6-ish months so I'm hoping it'll be considerably less next time I get my water bill!

Nite nite orl

It's been a very long, very hot day today, but I've sweated my way through it and hopefully got my Visible working again... tomorrow morning will be the test though.

I've phoned up again about the digital switchover and the man has made a note on my account that I still haven't heard anything about getting a new line put in for the switchover but apparently I should hear in the next 2-3 weeks about it and hopefully be able to arrange an appointment with an engineer.  If I haven't heard anything by the start of August then I've gotta call again, for the third time, to chase them up and ask about when it's gonna happen.

I'm really hoping tomorrow will be cooler so that I don't get so uncomfortable with the weekly virus scan and backups, but we'll have to wait and see I guess.

I've popped my last two pills of the day and I'm gonna head on up to beddy-byes now.

I'll see you all in the morning.

Nite nite orl

I'm realising...

...that my snacking was because my mouth was lonely and my tastbuds wanted to feel loved, not because I was hungry!

I've had 3 choccie drinks so far this morning, starting with a creamy caffeinated mocha, then a creamy decaffeinated mocha and now a creamy drinking chocolate and I haven't had a single craving for snacks at all so far!

Now that I've worked out that my snacking cravings are actually my mouth wanting to feel cared about, I'll be able to make myself a creamy chocolatey drink instead of diving into the snack drawer which will hopefully be healthier for me and my body than relying on salty crisps etc

Today (8th June 2026) I'm grateful for...

...getting back to normal at last.

I managed to do one set of laps and exercises, split into two parts 'cos I didn't know what my 'Morning Stability' score was and I didn't want to push too hard or too fast and it being too much for my body to cope with.

I'm grateful that I managed to eat three meals today with no snacking in between.

I'm grateful that I'm almost back down to where my medical bods want me to be.

I'm grateful that I've had such a healthy day today and that I've been able to achieve so much, despite my anxiety about my bottom.

4pm today marked...

...48 hours since my last diarrhoea episode, which officially means that I can now have caffeine again.

I deliberately don't have caffeine after 12pm, self-imposed time limit, because it keeps me wide awake all night so I won't be having caffeine until tomorrow morning and to celebrate I'm gonna break open a jar of my favourite peach tea for the first time since being medically approved to have one mug of caffeine a day, for a maximum of 6 days a week, because my usual mug is 550ml as opposed to the standard 250ml that is usually seen as a dose of caffeine.  

I deliberately didn't have caffeine on Thursday 'cos of my medical appointment and I just completely forgot on Friday morning, then my bottom explosion, so I haven't had any caffeine at all since last Wednesday, so that's pretty good going I reckon and it was the equivalent of 1.5 'doses' of caffeine, in total, all week instead of the 2-3 that I'm medically allowed each week, so I think I deserve my peach tea tomorrow lol

Just gotta remember now lol

Oooh!

I've been a good girl today!  Not only have I done my laps and exercises today, but the thing that I'm most proud of, and the reason for this blog post, is that I haven't eaten outside meal times at all today!  I haven't got a clue how I managed that, but I'm dead proud of myself right now!

Aaaand...

...I've finished off the cream.

My second creamy hot choccie of the day has officially finished off the last of the can of squirty cream so I can now fit both cartons of juice in the fridge when they're delivered on Sunday evening/Monday morning without having to remember to put the new (as in today was the first squirt) mayonnaise onto a shelf and potentially forgetting about it.

I've also moved the peppers onto the same shelf as the spring onions now, so I'm really hoping I'll remember to chop one up tomorrow and the other one on Saturday, ready for the OddBox delivery of mainly fruit now (the two bunches of spring onions are the only salad/veg stuff) so that I can have ice cream at lunchtimes on particularly hot days and fruit on the less hot days next week.

I've got space for all the fruit now and I can store the juices without worrying now.

Today has been a good day so far.

I'm about to jinx now of course, but...

...I've barely snacked at all today - just a banana for an energy boost pre-laps this morning and 3 small pears for an unofficial pud after I'd washed up my lunch stuff!

I had a creamy drinking chocolate this morning and I'm gonna have at least another one this afternoon, but they are only because of needing to use the squirty cream up before Sunday early evening, so that I can fit the 2 cartons of juice from OddBox into the door.

I'm so proud of myself so far today!

I've just...

...checked my bank balance and can cover all my bills for the next 5 weeks - only just, but I can.

That means that I can put 100% of my income into my "big bills" account to go towards paying for the entire central heating replacement in a few years 'cos it needs total replacement every 10 years apparently.

I can do this money handling/budget thing after all, without going short and affording my bills each month too!

Nite nite orl

It's been a long, heartbreaking, grief-filled, annoying day again today, so I've taken my pills and I'm gonna head on up to beddy-byes in a bit.  I've been able to do both sets of exercises and get Steve's bank statements ordered at last so that's a relief and I'm proud of myself for getting them all done.  My morning stability rating on my Visible was 4 again, so I think I've made pretty good use of it.  

I'm still waiting for 3 of my prescriptions, so that's annoying and disappointing, but there's nothing I can do about it until the pharmacy manage to get it delivered to them, so I've just gotta be patient I guess.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered another health tracker to go around my ankle that counts steps and monitors my blood pressure throughout the day and night, so it'll be interesting to see what that's like when it arrives.  It's apparently got a 30 day battery life, but I'm not holding my breath on that lol

I'll see you all in the morning when I'm determined to have a proper breakfast and get my nose stuck into a book.

Nite nite orl

Aaaaaand...

...relax.

I've just summoned up the courage to talk to someone at Steve's bank about getting the statements for the last year of his life.

The man I spoke to was brilliant and it was sorted within 3 minutes.  The statements will be with me between 5-7 working days, so hopefully by next weekend I'll be able to go through them all and see just how many take-aways Steve had and how much he spent on them as well as what he spent the many thousands of pounds I gave him to apparently help him to pay his bills was actually spent on.

I know that one of the bills (the electricity) that I paid through him each month was already significantly less than what I was paying him for it, but I want to see what else he lied about too.  I know that the night before he fell over in the bathroom he spent over £100 on 3 take-aways so it's no wonder that he was so tired and sleepy during each day with having to stay awake to order each take away, answer the door, eat and hide the containers from me before deciding that he was still hungry and repeating it again!

I was so proud of him for reducing his portion sizes with the meals I made for him... but I didn't know anything about his multiple nightly take-aways every night!  It's no wonder that he had a pre-paid delivery subscription with Just Eat really!

I think I've earnt a chocolatey reward now and it's another thing that I can cross off my to-do list at last!

Nite nite orl

I'm sooo relieved that I didn't attempt to change the bedding at lunchtime, 'cos the ache is back again now, unfortunately.

It's been a long and thoroughly exhausting day today after doing two sets of laps and exercises because my weight and Visible said that I could today.  It's gonna be a long day tomorrow too 'cos of my groceries as well as potentially the two sets of laps and exercising and I've been approved by a big to read an ARC of a book that's due out in July, so wanna get my nose stuck into that too.

I've turned the alarm off on my watch, so it'll be interesting to see what time I naturally wake up for the day, rather than being woken up by my bladder lol

The main side effect of my pills are rapidly kicking in so I'll see you all in the morning.

Nite nite orl

Today (17th May 2026) I'm sooo grateful for...

...the delivery van being parked right in the way of anyone wanting to get in or out of the street!

Why?

Because it forced me to face my fear of walking up and down slopes and turning corners totally unexpectedly!

I usually spend days psyching myself up to do it and I've only done it a few times since we lost Steve, but there was a delivery van parked right at the top of the road this afternoon so there was no hope of getting around it which sent my anxiety through the roof and it seemed to make M worried too, but I decided to face my fears and at least try it.

I've never done it with my neckbag, keys and additional shoulder bag, let alone with pain in my neck, shoulder and arm in my life, even with C with me so it was an even bigger fear to add to my anxiety...

...but I DID IT!!!

I've already rewarded myself with a DragonBerry J2O in celebration and I'm on top of the world right now!!!