Some July Things So Far

Things that are good so far this month:

Books: I finished Daisy Jones and the Six.  That made for a very good audiobook.  Next I have Colin Joust's A Very Punchable Face.  I'm not sure where this recommendation came from. I really liked Daisy Jones so I don't really want to start this one but also... it's good to not want every book to be a TJR book.

TV/Film: Andy and I watched a movie!  It was on my yearly goals to watch a movie.  We saw Weird (The Al Yankovic) story and really enjoyed it.  Then over the last two nights we watched The Glass Onion and I liked that one too.  I think watching movies over 2 or 3 nights is actually nicer than watching a TV show - we don't have any shows on the "To Watch" list right now.  We finished Shrinking (cute!) and now... I don't know what to watch next.  I want to see Everything Everywhere All At Once but I can't find it free on any streaming service we have and apparently that precludes me watching a film.

House Projects: I ordered a new laundry basket! And new stacking bowls! I've also picked out a new kitchen bin but haven't made the order yet.  This weekend andy mounted a new shelf in the kids room, I put up some art which belonged in Isaac's room and not the baby room, and I put up hooks in the kids costume area.

Work: I am not as focused in work as I should be.  I think the problem is summer.  People are on holiday.  I want to be on holiday.  I'm hoping to get caught up on things and then maybe 2 or 3 days off either this week or next.

Clothes/Decluttering: I have been selling things on Vinted - mostly maternity clothes I don't/wont wear.  I've been buying more on Vinted... mostly kids things.  Although relatively cheap, it's still bringing stuff into my house so I have to be careful not to get too many things.  I always have a declutter box out ready to go to the charity shop and am pretty good about filling it - I just need to take it soon as it's getting pretty full.

Clothes: How did I live without a tumble drier for so many years?  I am now able to do a whole load of laundry in one day!  I can see how people manage capsule wardrobes if they can get clothes clean this quickly.  I find maternity wear to basically be a capsule wardrobe but I have 2 work appropriate tops (good thing I only go to the office once a week, at most) and these can't be dried.  So I feel like i'm on a pretty strict wash/dry/repeat cycle.  I have 11 weeks left of pregnancy (at most) so I'm hesitant to buy any more maternity clothes, but I am also worried that 5 shirts may not cut it for 11 weeks.

The end of Analogue August

In August of 2021 I decided to embark on Analogue August - giving up my smartphone for a month.  Instead, I gave it up for two years.  It's been a weird and wonderful adventure, which I have already written about a fair amount.  I think my favourite posts on this are here:

Smartphones: The right tools for the wrong jobs?

On Not Using a Smartphone: The Why

5 Things I've Gained from Quitting my Smartphone

However, after two years I've decided to try having a smartphone again.  I stuck my sim back into the SIM-less iphone and after figuring out how to disable all the apple stuff (I don't understand iMessage) it seems to work like a phone.

So far I mostly keep data off when I'm out of the house, which I think was the biggest shift in my phone usage over the last two years.  It used to be that I would do anything at any time... I could order groceries in the queue at the bank!  I could sign up for a swim session while going to the toilet! 

I've gotten used to being in lines without using my phone.  Sitting on the train without distracting myself.  Doing internet things at home, and when it's best to do them.  I feel far more present when I'm out and about, knowing that internet things can be done at the right time... some other time.

I've also spent 2 years without apps... so much of my former phone use was definitely behavioral conditioning.  My phone currently shows texts when I get them (with no sound) and rings out loud.  Nothing else bleeps for my attention.  It's not really a source of interest or engagement.  Sure - I can check the internet, or blogs.  I can check email on the web app.  But I have gotten used to doing these things at home now.  It's not the first thing I think of, when my brain has some blank space.

Maybe I needed 2 years to come down from a phone addiction which built up for the previous 10.

There are definitely some cool things with smart phones... I like that I can text faster and easier.  I like that I can check when my next train is leaving and what platform it's on before I get to the station.

I'm also very aware that so many things I now do on the phone were not that much harder without it.  I like that I have my store discount cards in one place on the wallet... but I could easily have done this with my keychain discount fobs.  

I'm also aware that I wasn't really smartphone-less for two years - I did have an iphone, it just didn't have a SIM in the iphone.  So lots of things I can now do on my phone I could do before.  I could download offline maps.  I could buy train tickets at home and then activate them offline.  I could use apple wallet (fun fact - it works without internet!)

I'm hoping I'll continue to have a smartphone-lite life.  I struggle when people visit me and spend lots of time staring at their phones.  Phones, to me, are always worse than people.  They don't enhance my enjoyment of things. 

If I find in a few months or years I'm using the phone too much again I'll certainly be happy to switch back to the Nokia 105.  It was a great experiment for seeing what the real difference between constant connection (smartphone/out-of-the-home-internet) and analogue living was.  Turns out the things missed when opting out of constant connection were more than made up for in analogue life.

Kitchen Project - Finally Done

Kitchen project is finally done!  I am loving the dishwasher, having clean dishes, and how the tidying up post-meals takes 5-10 minutes rather than 20-30.  I also love the fact that I don't have to dry and put away dishes whenever I want to cook anything - I can leave dishes in the machine until I'm ready to put them away.  I can leave dirty dishes in the machine until I'm ready to run it.  I know this is probably like extolling the virtue of owning a car instead of a horse and buggy... but I'm very thankful for my dishwasher!

As the final post on this heavily over-posted topic, I present the final "remodel" corner:

And the original corner:

Total cost:
Removal of cabinet, counter, tiles & patching wall: £260
Plastering: £130
Dishwasher instal: £135
Painting: £20 (beer money for Andy)
Dishwasher: £490
Total: £1,035

Here's a picture of the other side of the kitchen now:

And before:

Also, I know that the combo white/silver is not the standard choice - I was thinking that our fridge is silver when I bought the dishwasher.  And we had a silver fridge next to the washing machine already.  I do expect the washing machine may give up on life soon (the screw that we use as a door handle is starting to be less convincing) so we may end up with a new washing machine before too long... and I will pick silver.  I plan to have our current fridge/freezer for a long time.

Horray for "new" kitchen!

[Other kitchen posts can be found here]

Goodbye July... Hello August!

July was an odd month - I felt like I didn't do much until I reviewed my goals and realized I have done a fair amount.  We did loads of house projects (final final kitchen post coming soon!) as well as sorting the baby room, washing baby clothes, planning weekend family holiday, hosting guests for 8 days and going away for a weekend.  I also managed to eat through some of the food I've been meaning to clear from the cupboard (the packaged Pad Thai wasn't as good as I hoped).  And of course I did the family and kids albums, started planning Isaac's birthday party, and had a number of play dates, and interviewed for a new job.  

The disappointments of July is that I only read two books this month (I'm wondering if the dishwasher is already limiting my audiobook time?) and that I'm doing basically no exercise at all.  I'm generally tired and uncomfortable already... and I still have just under 3 months of pregnancy to go.  It was also very rainy this month, which has definitely affected my overall perception of the month... I'm glad I'm not too hot but I definitely appreciate a day of sunshine here or there (plus my stubborn refusal to buy a maternity rain coat means I'm continually ill prepared for rain and will be until I'm not pregnant)

But onwards to August!  The sun has come out today so I hope this is a good sign for the month.  Isaac and Lilah are both in Nursery 3 days a week in August, and I'm enjoying the last of my school-free time with Isaac.  Starting in September I'll have a child in school for the next... 18 years of my life?  

This month we have small adventures planned - I want to go to our local bread shop on a Saturday to see their Saturday specials.  We are also going glamping for a weekend which I am super excited about - I've never been glamping before and we're staying in a yurt.

I plan on reading more in August, I have a lot of books coming through libby that I keep putting back on hold.  Right now I'm listening to the Audio of Daisy Jones & the Six (LOVE IT!) and reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.  Both exactly the kind of books to get me back into reading after a bit of a reading slump.

I plan on blogging more in August - I have topics I've been meaning to write about but I seem to be staying up late and waking up early and generally too busy.

I have some fun work projects coming up, including a final interview for the lateral/upward job.  No matter how that turns out I'm so glad I've made the effort.

My goal is to continue to fix all the annoying things that I keep putting off due to time.  For instance, my handbag fell apart about two months ago - I bought it 8 years ago and loved it and then I realized it wasn't looking particularly good anymore:

So I've been just putting things in my pockets to leave the house, but that's not really working in the summer when I don't wear jackets as much.  I finally ordered 6 purses online, had them all delivered, and chose this new one (which was on half price sale!):

Then I sent the rest back and now I have a purse again.   My new bag fits a water bottle, isn't falling apart, and actually didn't cost much.  It just took time to put together an order and return. 

This month, I want to fix some other "pebbles in my shoe" - my laundry basket has two broken handles but I haven't replaced it (I have taped it back together three times, but my tape bill is increasing dramatically).  I also broke 2 of my 3 kitchen bowls, so I currently have a set of 1.  I want to get a few more so I can have a set of... 3?.  I also need to get some more cutlery - we only own 8 forks and that was fine when we hand washed everything after every meal but is currently the limiting factor on our dishwasher cycle.

It would probably be good if I incorporated some exercise/movement into my day (besides housework and following kids and getting up to wee 20 times a day) but I don't really have a goal here and I am aware that "move more" really isn't achievable/trackable.

So fingers crossed for a not too hot August.  Mostly I hope I'm not too uncomfortable and can continue to put in energy now to make my life easier in the future.

How was your July?  Do you have any big summer goals left or already achieved?

Weekend Update - that went fast

It was a too fast weekend.

I woke up Friday not feeling well because a certain two year old had decided not to do sleeping at 2 or 3 am and I foolishly put her in bed with us which meant no one slept and I was very grumpy.  I tried to push through at work but was too tired/pregnant/annoyed and eventually took a half day of sick leave so I could take a  nap... which is unfortunate because I have too much work to do and could really have used a work day.

I had friends coming over for afternoon tea at 2:30 which thankfully my mom and Andy prepped most of.  Then at 2:30 I realized I had told them 3:30, so we sat around for half an hour.

On, and on Friday the Drier arrived!

Tea went well, we hand cheese and chutney sandwiches as well as cucumber sandwiches, plus scones & clotted cream & jam, and a Victoria sponge cake.  And a fruit salad.

Friends left around 5 and then more friends came from Bristol for a sleepover and dinner at 7.  I am sort of obsessed with these salmon burgers right now and it made a really easy dinner for everyone:

After dinner the kids all went to bed (In the same room!) and adults had a fire pit.  It was vaguely threatening to rain, which is perfect for a fire pit.  

On Saturday we went to the bike park with all 3 kids.  Lilah is getting more and more rad.  Isaac is on a pedal bike.  Our friend's 4 year old borrowed one of Isaac's bikes and got on super well with the pump track.  

We all did afternoon playing in the house, followed by dinner Pizza.  And our friends helped us hook up the new tumble drier - it's a heat pump drier an doesn't use a vent. 

on Sunday Andy went biking with his dad buddies while our friend (with two almost the same age kids) came for a play date.  Play dates are so much easier with 2 and 4 year olds.  Especially 4 year olds. They played upstairs while we were able to actually hang out and chat.

In the afternoon I had another afternoon tea with some friends from my first baby class before Isaac was born.  One of them is having her second baby in a few weeks and we are all very excited.  She is also the cutest pregnant person.  I had more finger sandwiches and scones and patisserie and this is probably why I am going to get pregnancy diabetes this time but oh man are afternoon teas delicious.

I made Shwarma with Tahini-yogurt sauce for dinner which went down a treat.

We also washed AND DRIED two loads of laundry.  We have washed all the baby clothes and they are now in the baby room washed.  We own a lot of 0-3 size which is great except for the fact these babies are probably going to come out at 5-6 pounds and not 8 pounds like my other two which means we are scavenging for tiny baby size.   A job for this week is to put away the baby clothes and make the baby room look (a bit) more sane.

Food Plan this week:
Monday: Leftover Shwarma
Tuesday: Falafel Wraps
Wednesday: Scrambled Eggs or Leftovers
Thursday: Slow Cooker Chili
Friday: Choritzo Pasta Bake
Saturday: Chicken & Aubergine Parmesan

Monday Musings from a Train

Currently on the train from London after a very busy day in the London office.  Had a job interview, which was a good but nerve wracking experience.  I'm hoping that my nerves indicate that I'm actually reaching in my career in a way I haven't before. Plus, how cool is it that I can forever say I interviewed for a job at 5 months pregnant? I usually love interviews, but at the start of this one I had somewhat full blown imposter syndrome.  Oh well, we will see how it goes.  Even if I don't get invited to the next stage I'll be keen to hear feedback so I can become better at interviews going forward.

Yesterday Andy and I ordered a tumble drier and I cannot wait to wash and dry clothes on the same day.  It's been raining lots and I haven't hung laundry outside in months which means I'm on a constant cycle of laundry airers and fans and open and shut windows.

We brought most of the baby stuff from storage and shoved it in the baby room.  I still need to unpack it and organize it.  So much stuff.  Two bouncers.  I did tell Andy this is the last time we are moving this baby stuff - the next time we move it will be to whoever is getting it next.  

Interlude: the people on the train table behind me are watching TV out loud.  On the one hand I know I should be empathetic because kids and trains and whatnot but also, if you're going to be family of children watching ipads can you not also be family of children with headsets to watch ipads?

I don't have any plans with the kids tomorrow.  Tuesdays off are a bit odd - as Suzanne pointed out in a comment it's like having double Mondays.  I keep thinking I should go somewhere far away (like, an hour) but also I am at a loss about where to go.  We had an amazing local farm but it's closed for renovations.  It's supposed to be closed until early spring... but it's apparently closed until spring 2025.  

The unplanned weekend went surprisingly OK.  Saturday Andy took Isaac to a kids birthday party while my mom watched Lilah and I worked on my interview presentation.  Saturday afternoon Andy took a nap and then assembled some more IKEA.  On Sunday he wasn't feeling well and tried to run a 10k before abandoning because he was actually somewhat ill.  So he did more sleeping and then we picked up all the baby stuff from storage.  I washed my hair, picked out my interview outfit (becasue there was no hiding my pregnancy). and we both fell asleep at 8:30pm, which was good because I was still tired for the 5am alarm.

London days are long days.  

Weekend plans: house & work updates

We don't have many plans for the weekend so far, which sometimes bodes well and sometimes can be disaster.  

Hopefully we can get all the IKEA built - especially the dresser/changing table for the nursery room.  Once this is built we can start to unpack all of the baby stuff and figure out if we need anything else

(Fun Fact: although I am a firm believer in "babies don't need things" and I knew that twins are allowed to share a cot until they can roll, I only realized recently that babies can't share a bedside cot.  So... we are hopefully borrowing a bedside cot from a friend our ours.  Our room almost certainly doesn't have room for two bedside cots... so that's going to be a squeeze to figure out later)

Then we have our new dining table to assemble, but I am also not super excited for this assembly because once done our house will have two dining tables and 12 chairs until the charity donation people come on Wednesday.  I recently started donating furniture to charity rather than selling it because I decided I don't do enough charity donations and so even if I could make £50 or £100 for selling something maybe donating it can be a replacement for the £50 or £100 I don't give to charity?

On Monday I'm going to London to interview for a new role in my current company, which would be a promotion from where I am (a fairly big one) but is also very daunting because I am so obviously 5 months pregnant (actually I look more pregnant, because twins).  I have been trying to play it cool with this interview but I need to work on a powerpoint and practice what I am going to say and the points I want to address.  So, I need some focus time this weekend to work on that.

I also need to figure out how to address my obvious pregnancy.  

I'm hoping this interview will be a good experience for me because even if I don't get the job it means I'm pushing myself and being told no.  I've always had it as a point of pride that I'm always offered a job once I make it to interview stage - but maybe that's because I'm not pushing myself enough and applying for things that are at my level?  

Isaac has a birthday party this weekend and Andy is running a race on Sunday.

That's about all the weekend plans.  I don't think this is exactly Laura Vanderkam approved (is making a powerpoint a big adventure?) but hopefully I will feel a lot less stressed after job interview and furniture collection next week.