Yikes! Less than two months of the year remain. October seemed a really, really long month. I started pretty well but then allowed myself to get a bit side-tracked toward the end.
On with the reckoning: TL;DR version – of 12 projects: 4 achieved; 5 (very) partially achieved; 3 not achieved.
Hey, a smidge bit better than last month. My partiallies are a fair bit more on the achieved side of the equation. This is the problem with bundling a lot of sub-tasks under the project headings.
Next month for sure.
- war on sloth
- war on graffiti
- war on duopolies
- war on clutter
- war on chub
- war on unnecessary spending
- war on the uncreative
- war on blandness
- war on the shoddy / shonky in ThePalace(OfLove)
- war on our genX slackerness
- war on the career (see genX slackerness)
- war on poor self-esteem
– running at least 3x per week / daily exercise – core + glutes (even 5 minutes is better than nothing).
NOT ACHIEVED: Not one little bit! I was getting a little better with this until I had my spot removed and was out of commission for a bit. I kind of lost momentum after that. Things are looking better in November so far.
– never let the graffiti on the front of ThePalace(OfLove) remain unpainted for more than 24 hours. Always photograph, always report.
ACHIEVED: i think it really helped that the neighbour on the corner attacked her major graffiti problem – we’re presenting a united, sparkling facade to the world.
– minimise shopping at Coles / Woolies and their associated companies.
– support small, independent businesses
ACHIEVED!: 311 DAYS!!!! However, I need to get some printing done for an SML project in November and it looks like the only place that can do it at any sort of reasonable price is officeworks – a Coles company.
– get rid of everything we don’t need or want or things we have been holding on to for stupid reasons
NOT ACHIEVED: Even more stuff. Is there yet another decluttering frenzy in my future? I suspect so.
– continue with amazingly successful 5:2 diet
– no booze (except for holidays)
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: 5:2 swimmingly. Hit the booze in October. I didn’t drink that much, but I really felt it. And the impact on my mood was tremendous – and not in a good way. It’s back to no drinking again for me. I need these little reminders that I really can’t do it any more. And I certainly can’t moderate – being one of those all-or-nothing type people, I can’t moderate anything.
– 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
NOT ACHIEVED: I spent quite a lot of money this month. I would not be at all surprised if November was equally as bad. And December … let’s call this one a fail (defeatist attitude, much?)
I’m not sure I can snatch the taking-lunch-to-work project from the jaws of defeat in the last two months of the year. I’ll give it a crack.
(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: This was going really well (re-framed as projectlettes) until the spot removal (and the wine on the weekends) threw me. Starting the baby hat pulled me over the line into partially.
– 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 dreadful smh.com.au
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED:
– A couple of new 5:2 recipes from the 5:2 recipes website – which will definitely join the regular rotation.
– No, not really very many podcasts worth speaking of.
– Yes, no smh for TEN whole months. Can’t you just feel my smugness?
– Sort of: wrapped up Mr Robot (I think this was in October – the perils of doing this a week into November). I’m still unpacking how I felt about it all. I think worth watching if you like that kind of nerdy dystopian(ish) thing.
– Lots of reading! Though probably not improving reading.
* In true stubborn fashion I finally finished Martin Edwards: the golden age of murder.
* First up was Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen: The Rabbit Back Literature Society. Can’t say I was a huge fan of this. I suspect I’m missing a whole lot of Finnish context. Heather and I bought this at the same time. He finished it way before I did because I was persisting with the golden age. Discussing it afterward we found we were both a bit “ummm … what exactly was that?”
* Moved onto Michael Connelly: Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch). I got this ages ago as a kindle deal for $0.98 cents. I’ve been recommended the series by a couple of people and had mostly enjoyed the tv series (it had All The Tropes! some quite terrible acting in parts). But I really didn’t feel the love for the book.
* Next up was E C Bentley: Trent’s Last Case This was one of the many books I made a note of from Golden Age of Murder. It was very of its time and quite silly. I was particularly pleased by the concept of having to explain rear-view mirrors and finger-prints to the layman. Truly the past is another country.
* And started the delightful and also silly Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver series. I’m now on book 9 (feat. german-spy-imposter-heiress-back-from-the-dead!). CA$7.84 for 32 novels is probably one of the best bargains ever.
– have the leaks fixed
– finish the last bits of the paintering
– get quotes for balcony sliding door | shutters | conservatory
REVISED JULY: We have an action plan for the rest of the year. It is quite comprehensive and will be somewhat costly.
PARTIALLY ACHIEVED:
– 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 (though we are leaving the ceiling for a bit, wanting to ensure the leaks are quite fixed)
– install shelves in Bessie’s room
– paint ceilings on our floor (to cover leak stains)
– have air conditioners serviced replace air-conditioners
– 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!)
Pretty good result, I think:
– Great job on the balcony by megasealed – so far has held up to some heavy rain (yay!)
– Painted Bessie’s room – it looks brilliant. We’ve not repaired the ceiling – leaving it as is for a while to monitor the leaking. That is all the rooms painted save the garage (no plans to paint that).
– And we installed the shelves which also are brilliant.
– Don has prepped the ceilings with stain stuff (the technical term). We’ll get to finishing that and the big wall in November.
– We’re going to see how long we can last without the two non-functioning air-conditioners (mainly because it is not an inexpensive undertaking and we hadn’t really budgeted for it). We’ve lived up until we moved here without them. This could be a bad thing as we might get desperate in the middle of summer when they will be double the cost.
– get our finances in order
– get our estate planning in order
ACHIEVED!: Chugging along. Rather annoyed that the bank raised the variable rate on our mortgage – and that we found out via the media. Still no communication from the bank about this. I suspect this is common, customers not being terribly high on the priorities list.
– 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: Polished and glowing.
See now, the advanced manageressing people have been in contact and are trying to tempt me with promises of extensions and such. I’m really conflicted. It would be a lot of work in very little time. On the other hand, I would feel probably pretty pleased at the end of it all.
– just stop entirely reading the social media accounts of those who make me feel inadequate (of course, this is not you dear reader)
ACHIEVED!: Yep – despite my claims of being cured I have been tempted a few times. I think this really has to do with the state of my brain at any given time. If I’m feeling low I seem to gravitate toward doing this – because, yeah, I really need to be feeling worse.