Busily treading water
Jan. 31st, 2016 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcI have been taking things easy today. While I know that I already have an easier life than many, I have been feeling under pressure from all that must be done and have decided that deferring some of it is the best therapy. It may also help to get some of the related thoughts out of my head and into this journal, probably best broken up over a couple of entries. This one can focus on the day-to-day.
At the moment my weekdays involve swimming at the gym, then working full-time, then seeing how my children are and helping with dinner and suchlike. Later in the evening I generally feel tired enough that I am happy to just watch a couple of television shows then go to bed, so it's at these times that I do the boring sedentary stuff like researching mattresses or applying the latest security patches to our computers. Saturday mornings are the only time that many shops are open but I am not in work so those times typically involve running errands: yesterday we went to the library in Perth, also to the post office and to Lidl. In the afternoon we took the children into Dundee for their Pokémon club. Sundays tend to be for staying at home: I trim my hair, we do wiping, vacuuming, tidying, laundry, dusting, and other household maintenance.
I find treading water already sufficiently tiring. Today I caught up with my paperwork filing backlog (apparently more than a month's worth) and finished sorting some clean laundry. It feels like a victory that lately I have been managing to keep my shirts and trousers hung up in the closet.
There are obstacles to hurdle too. For instance, this morning my hair clipper broke. I don't know what's wrong with it, but it certainly interrupted my trimming and adds a new to-do of repair or replacement. And, the vacuum cleaner head is jammed: it has a rotary air-driven brush that is great for picking up the cat hair; I've dismantled it but not yet solved the problem, but an OEM replacement costs £25. And, our side gate didn't lock because the bolt wasn't in line with the piece it slides behind, so I made time to unscrew it all and move it so that it lines up, except now it has moved of its own accord and is again misaligned. At least at the moment we seem to have a reliable car.
I also need to fit other jobs in. For instance, I did reregister as a US overseas voter for 2016, but I should now be looking at sorting out our US tax return for 2015. Benjamin's UK passport and Miranda's US passport have expired and her UK passport is about to expire so I have those renewal applications to obtain and complete.
Additionally, my weight loss has stalled: I weigh much as I did at the end of August. I am decidedly overweight so new measures must be taken. I probably need to make more time for more careful calorie counting and food preparation. My approach so far has been the more convenient, just don't eat on weekdays until work is nearly over, then eat with my family.
Broadly, there is enough to do that I feel a bit guilty if I am tempted to see if I can get through a novel over the course of a week.
At the moment my weekdays involve swimming at the gym, then working full-time, then seeing how my children are and helping with dinner and suchlike. Later in the evening I generally feel tired enough that I am happy to just watch a couple of television shows then go to bed, so it's at these times that I do the boring sedentary stuff like researching mattresses or applying the latest security patches to our computers. Saturday mornings are the only time that many shops are open but I am not in work so those times typically involve running errands: yesterday we went to the library in Perth, also to the post office and to Lidl. In the afternoon we took the children into Dundee for their Pokémon club. Sundays tend to be for staying at home: I trim my hair, we do wiping, vacuuming, tidying, laundry, dusting, and other household maintenance.
I find treading water already sufficiently tiring. Today I caught up with my paperwork filing backlog (apparently more than a month's worth) and finished sorting some clean laundry. It feels like a victory that lately I have been managing to keep my shirts and trousers hung up in the closet.
There are obstacles to hurdle too. For instance, this morning my hair clipper broke. I don't know what's wrong with it, but it certainly interrupted my trimming and adds a new to-do of repair or replacement. And, the vacuum cleaner head is jammed: it has a rotary air-driven brush that is great for picking up the cat hair; I've dismantled it but not yet solved the problem, but an OEM replacement costs £25. And, our side gate didn't lock because the bolt wasn't in line with the piece it slides behind, so I made time to unscrew it all and move it so that it lines up, except now it has moved of its own accord and is again misaligned. At least at the moment we seem to have a reliable car.
I also need to fit other jobs in. For instance, I did reregister as a US overseas voter for 2016, but I should now be looking at sorting out our US tax return for 2015. Benjamin's UK passport and Miranda's US passport have expired and her UK passport is about to expire so I have those renewal applications to obtain and complete.
Additionally, my weight loss has stalled: I weigh much as I did at the end of August. I am decidedly overweight so new measures must be taken. I probably need to make more time for more careful calorie counting and food preparation. My approach so far has been the more convenient, just don't eat on weekdays until work is nearly over, then eat with my family.
Broadly, there is enough to do that I feel a bit guilty if I am tempted to see if I can get through a novel over the course of a week.
