Wow - What a blogging break!

Blogging has certainly not been a priority of mine lately, but I didn't realise it had been a full 6 odd weeks!

I mentioned in my last blog that I had a touch of the girls' sniffles... well, it worsened and I ended up with pneumonia.  I sort of recovered from that, but probably didn't rest quite enough, and am now laying low again with tonsillitis and the Dr thinks perhaps the pneumonia didn't fully disappear. 

As a result, I'm making a huge effort to eat well, rest up, and do as little as possible so I recover as fully as possible.

Fitness

Well, I am obviously not doing much exercise at the moment!  I was concerned about doing absolutely nothing, but my Dr assured me I would be far better to rest and recover fully before doing anything.  Then I read a little saying in a magazine that I quite liked and helped reassure me that I do need to rest.

"If its in the head, get out of bed.  If its on the chest, have a rest."

Cute hey LOL  And this is definitely still on my chest and not just in my head, so "have a rest" it is for me.

BUT, as I mentioned last time, I was going to have a look at treadmills.  I ended up buying one.  

For a few days in between bouts of illness, I did actually use it and really enjoyed it - I could walk for half an hour each afternoon, while the girls played after school, and I positioned it in front of the TV, so I can watch mindless Bold and the Beautiful, while I walk - it distracts me enough that I don't notice the time passing, but isn't so intense that I need to concentrate!!

So, as soon as I'm given the all clear and recovered fully, I will get back into my daily walks - I was astounded how sweaty I could get in half an hour of brisk walking, so I'm really looking forward to it!

Clothing

Yesterday I had a hair cut and I am very happy with it!  Here's the before shot (1st one), and the new 'do!  I did discover that sleeping on it has made it very flat, but that's fine - at least there wasn't much to worry about misbehaving if it was all flat.

I've definitely added a few things to my wardrobe this past few weeks!  A short stroll around the shopping centre is about as much as I can handle, but I've worked out that if I have a specific plan, I can handle purchasing one thing before I crash!

To my winter wardrobe I have added:

• A gorgeous polka dot 3/4 sleeve, cropped, winter coat.
• Ponti Leggings - LOVING these - they hold me in place, are warmer than regular leggings, and I feel more covered in them.
• A few long sleeve T's - can be worn layered over another T, or alone.
• Fleece lined tights - OMG these are so divine!  They are perfect for under dresses of an evening and SO WARM!  I've only worn them once, but very impressed.
• A couple of dresses - 1 is my new "interview/wedding/funeral" dress - so formal and versatile, 2 are summer dresses.

BUT, in addition to my newest additions, I have done an enormous amount of decluttering and have sent 2 large bags of clothes to charity and 1 large bag to a consignment store (we don't have any consignment stores locally, but a friends mum lives in a tiny tiny rural town a couple of hours ago, and they have one, so she is taking my things in for me - very keen to see how it goes!).  So the few new things are certainly nowhere near the quantity of things I have removed from my wardrobe and I'm very happy about that.

And on the topic of decluttering, I have a plan in place to declutter my entire house!  I'm so over all the clutter and the mess that seems to just breed overnight.

The girls and I did do a cull of the things in their wardrobe the other day and I took 2 large bags of things they've grown out of to charity as well.  I love their new smaller wardrobe!  They are given lots of hand-me-downs, and had more clothes than 2 little people could possibly ever need.  Well, now they have only what fits them (or they will grow into), and what they need.

AND, before this second onset of illness, I went through my fabric stash.  My Nana gave me a lot of fabric when she stopped sewing and it filled 5 large plastic boxes.  The girls and I sat down and picked out all the fabric we thing we WILL actually use and liked and threw out all the little tiny scraps, so I managed to send another 2 very full large bags to charity, and I have 1 box of fabric to sell.  So of the 5 large boxes, I have only 2 left with usable fabric.

So the total so far is 6 large bags of clothes/fabric to charity, 1 large bag of clothes/fabric that was thrown out and 1 large bag to the consignment store.  

I wish I had weighed it all because I think I've managed to get rid of a literal "tonne" of stuff LOL

Once I'm well again, though, the rest of the house will be attacked!

Spending

At the end of June, I was given a surprising bonus sum of money, so was able to pay off my credit card debt, pay all the bills hanging on my fridge, put a small amount into savings, and buy the few clothing items mentioned above.  It was a nice feeling to just be ahead for once in such a long time.

I'm now back to regular income/expenditure now though - no more bulk shopping orders, no more treats for the girls or anything like that!  

But, I still have that amount in savings, and I feel so much more calm and in control when it comes to my finances now.  Without trying to pay off debt, I can much more easily manage my budget.

I also have my appointment on Friday to have my tax done, so hopefully I will receive a small return there too!  I'm not sure how the consignment store works, so I'm not counting on receiving anything for the sale of any of my items - it will be a nice little surprise when/if it arrives!

And that is surely enough to read for one blogpost!!  Blogging more regularly should be something I aim to do because it involves little more than me sitting down - so its not going to cause any unnecessary exertion!