I felt kind of back on track in July. There is still a good deal to be accomplished, but toward the end of the month I felt a little more in control work and life-wise. I have my suspicions as to why this is *cough* no drinking *cough*.

But time for the reckoning: TL;DR version – of 12 projects: 6 achieved; 5 partially achieved; 1 not achieved.

Hey, hey – not too shabby!

• war on sloth

– running at least 3x per week / daily exercise – core + glutes (even 5 minutes is better than nothing).
NOT ACHIEVED: Yikes. I’ve managed to get in a scant 2 runs a week, but nothing more.

• war on graffiti

– never let the graffiti on the front of ThePalace(OfLove) remain unpainted for more than 24 hours. Always photograph, always report.
ACHIEVED: remained untouched – I think this is likely because it has been really very cold out.

• war on duopolies

– minimise shopping at Coles / Woolies and their associated companies.
– support small, independent businesses
ACHIEVED!: 219 DAYS!!!! Not even tempted at this point.

• war on clutter

– get rid of everything we don’t need or want or things we have been holding on to for stupid reasons
ACHIEVED!: Three giant garbage bags full in the garage waiting to be taken to the charity shop. Admittedly a fair bit of this was cast off from Joan before she set off on her Adventure.

• war on chub

– continue with amazingly successful 5:2 diet
– no booze (except for holidays)
ACHIEVED: YES!!!!!!!!!! I weighed myself on Wednesday: 54kg! That is around a 15-16kg loss since I first started 5:2.
This no booze thing has been pretty sweet – and interestingly July did not seem to fly by unremembered as with past months. Hmmmm.

• war on unnecessary spending

– don’t buy anything that is not absolutely essential – none of this fudging with the definition of essential.
– take lunch to work at least 4 days per week
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: Terrible at the lunch – generally 2 days at most (where I eat an apple on 5:2 days). A couple of kindle books which were probably not strictly essential, but good for the brain. I did manage to stop myself from buying more clothing – I’m hoping to institute a one in, one out policy.

• war on the uncreative

(apologies for the lame project title, alternative suggestions welcome!)
– make one thing per month
– blog at least every second day
– take at least one photo every day
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: 1 out of 3 isn’t bad? I knitted some hats which morphed into cowls/neck-warmers. I was better at blogging until hit by laptop issues (now resolved – windows 10 is fab and fast thus far!)

• war on blandness

– read good books | watch good films and television (at least once a week)
– eat good new things (two per month?)
– listen to one improving podcast per week
– avoid reading the increasingly dreadfulsmh.com.au
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED!:
No new recipes tried.
Yes, podcasts, have listened a lot, watched quite a few quite interesting TED talks too.
Yes, no smh for SEVEN whole months.
Yes, we finally got around to watching the first two episodes of True Detective (s1). Watched headhunters which we enjoyed immensely. And of course there was a lot of dross watched, which will will gloss over.
Yes, reading! – finally:
– The memoir of our new chairman – expected to be the most hands-on chair in SML history. Very accomplished and interesting man and I feel this gave a pretty good insight into what we can expect. I’ve met with him once and he was incredibly astute. Very Interesting times ahead.
– Malcolm Knox: supermarket monsters – The Price of Coles and Woolworths’ dominance – This sums up why we’re not shopping at Coles/Woolies. Felt it could have used a bit more
– Jennifer L Scott: Lessons from Madame Chic – 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris – pretty fluffy. She ain’t no madame thingy
– Colin Cotterill: Jimm Juree – Killed at the whim of a hat – cute! not quite so charming and delightful as Dr Siri, but nonetheless very readable (if you like this sort of thing).
– Colin Cotterill: Jimm Juree – Grandad, there’s a head on the beach – also pretty cute! Timely, as we’d only just been discussing the ethics of buying what are probably slave prawns.
– Colin Cotterill: Jimm Juree – Axe Factor – (I was on a Jimm Juree roll here!) this one was not quite so good as the previous two.
– Colin Cotterill: Dr Siri – six and a half deadly sins – charming and delightful as ever.
– Sarah Hepola: Blackout – Remembering the things I drank to forget – bought this after reading an extract in the Guardian. It was very good.

So yeah, I stop drinking and read 8 books (while still managing to do things like knit, cook, clean and get SML work completed) – hmmmmmmm.

• war on the shoddy / shonky in ThePalace(OfLove)

– have the leaks fixed
– finish the last bits of the paintering
– get quotes for balcony sliding door | shutters | conservatory
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: We have an action plan for the rest of the year. It is quite comprehensive and will be somewhat costly.
– replace grout on upstairs balcony (hopefully to prevent leaks into Bessie’s room)
– paint exterior walls on upstairs balcony
– repair (walls and ceiling) and paint Bessie’s room
– install shelves in Bessie’s room
– paint ceilings on our floor (to cover leak stains)
– have air conditioners serviced
– draft-proof front door and door to garage
– paint leak stains on Giant Wall
– coat rack for garage
– paint interior doors
– line Joe/Frank’s curtains
– (yikes!)

• war on our genX slackerness

– get our finances in order
– get our estate planning in order
ACHIEVED!: We stuck to ThePlan very well in July and came in under budget – hurrah! Only 8 years, 11 months to go!

• war on the career (see genX slackerness)

– ramp up the professionalism in dress, grooming and manner.
– just knuckle down and do this advanced manageressing course. FIVE times a week.
– take this “I am expecting big things from you in the next six months” seriously and action accordingly.
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: Grooming = good. I would say that I am now in the top 5 best-dressed peeps at SML.
I will call and withdraw from that course in August, rather than having it all sword of damocles over me.
I’ve nutted out the outline for my CV – just need to add some content. I think I have sufficiently let go of perfectionism to just get it done and put it out there.

• war on poor self-esteem

– just stop entirely reading the social media accounts of those who make me feel inadequate (of course, this is not you dear reader)
ACHIEVED!: I’ve realised that when I am not feeling particularly great about myself in general, I’ll be drawn to particular social media accounts. It’s like I’m goading myself to feel worse. I’ve been tempted, but have not succumbed.