Join me in ending the year on an upnote

[newdeer]

If you've had a bit of a bad year, do you fancy joining me in a challenge to end it well?

We have 46 days left.

I want to :
Declutter a bag of unneeded stuff a day
Exercise every day
Self care every day - a bit of pampering in the run up to Christmas
Have five a day and 2 litres of water
Chase up any medical appointments: eyes, teeth, check-ups etc
Cut back on sugar and alcohol until Christmas week

Making plans for next year (holidays, home improvements, new jobs etc also welcome on this thread.

Anyone fancy joining me and posting daily tab of what they are up to?

Today I will:
Declutter the hall and spare room
Have a hill walk in the sunshine
Do my nails
Make a big pot of veggie soup
Have a day off the booze, having been out two nights in a row.

What are you up to?

Have a lovely time, RunningKatie.

Hi everyone,
Feeling a lot better today after two days in bed with fluey cold, but am still cancelling going out into London tonight. Not ready to stand around and make small talk at a party yet.

Loads of the Christmas presents I ordered on Amazon last night arrived this morning, so I've made a start on Christmas at last.

Cleaned the bathroom which hadn't been touched by anyone else in the house while I was ill. Soggy facecloths piled up in the basin, toothpaste smears on the taps and the mirror so smeared it was cloudy. Very satisfying getting it sparkly again.

Also signed up for an online course and did the first two modules this morning. Really enjoyed them.

Got to work this afternoon. What's everyone else up to?

Glad to see you’re feeling better newdeer

I went to the gym again this morning, four days in a row!! I am having tomorrow and Sunday off though as seeing my parents. Have taken my iron and vitamins every day too so feeling pretty happy with myself really.

Did some work and some Black Friday online shopping this morning, saved £80 on one of DC’s presents so happy there.

Just finishing work soon as I try to finish at lunchtime on Fridays. Might pop out and do some shopping later if I can be bothered.

Have a good weekend everyone!

What was your online course newdeer?

Today I went to book the last few days holiday from work that I have to take before the end of the year, and found that my boss had miscalculated the number I was due.

I now have an extra day off - Christmas Eve, Yay!!!

I booked a couple of days off next week and I'm going to sort out the loft and get rid of all the Xmas decorations that we don't use any more, tidy the loft and make room for all the junk in the spare room to go up there as well. Once I've done that I can sort out all the junk in the rest of the house and dump it in the spare room lol.

Got a feeling I may be back to this thread a few times

First washing load of the weekend on.

Got to write lists of what we need to do, we've got a relatively quiet weekend ahead so chance to get some things sorted.

Good luck with the clearing eggontoste - I've moved stuff from the spare room into our room. The spare room needs to be emptied and tidied before Christmas so my mum can stay. I also want our room to be done, first I need to get rid of a car table. No takers so far!

Glad you're feeling better, newdeer.

Today, I did some Headspace, yoga and have done 10,000 steps so far. Picked up a prescription at the chemist, several lots of washing, tidied the kitchen. Made some lists for next week and filled the advent calendar. Not lots, but I wanted to rest a bit this afternoon, as tomorrow we have a school fair followed by a birthday meal and feel I'm still recharging.

Next week, I'm going to up my step goal to 11,000 (I was on 12,000 before the nasty virus).
Start doing some more vigorous Yoga again and get back to weights.
Walk in the park on sunny mornings, when I have time
Book my health check.
Keep trying to eat nutritious food.
Finish sorting the (much smaller) pile of papers in the dining room.
Order the Christmas meat.
Finish any Christmas decluttering, some will have to wait until spring, as we're still clearing out late mil's house.

How's everyone doing on the first day of December?!
We have been unexpectedly clearing the loft today, water has got in and everything is damp.
Rapid decluttering is in progress

Oh no! Though I love the positive spin you've put on it @RunningKatie. An excuse to declutter. Hope you can get it mended before Christmas.

@quirkychick I'm so impressed by your 10k steps a day. I need to get my fitbit back from DS2 who keeps 'borrowing' it and start tracking my steps again. I reckon I do about 3-4k most days. Way too little.

Good day today. Finally fully recovered from the virus last week. Spent the morning painting and decorating the hallway. Then took DC out for a walk up the hill. In the afternoon I made and decorated a Christmas wreath for the front door and then made a gnocchi bake with lots of roast peppers and creamy sauce. DC loved it.

RunningKatie, I hope you get the leak sorted. We had a similar issue while clearing out late mil's house, luckily we had cleared a lot of the loft by then, but the garage was another matter. At least you will have decluttered lots.

newdeer, the school run alone is pretty much 8,000 steps, so week days it's very achievable. I also live in a city walking distance from the centre and local shops, so very conducive to getting the steps in! Glad you're feeling better, now too.

Glad you’re fully recovered newdeer

I had a good weekend, back in the gym this morning! I have had a day of doing lots of bits that really needed doing and getting more and more prepared for Xmas. And doing some bits of work!

I very rarely do 10,000 steps unless I have been to the gym

Sounds like everyone has had a productive weekend which is great. Well done us!!

Good luck with the leak runningkate.

Teensrule, I go for average number of steps over the week, so some days more than others. I've gradually upped it over a couple of years too.

My double cooking on Sunday, so food for Monday has worked so far. Dd2 has a club after school so not much time to cook when we get back. So far, I've done a shepherd's pie, chilli last week and this week beef and Guinness stew. Trying to chuck in lots of veg, garlic and bone broth to make it nutritious as well as warming. The rest of the week aiming for lighter food to try and balance it out.

Another day of progress - not massive but not nothing either . Spent the morning painting the house, the afternoon and early evening at work, then did some mending (sewing) this evening.

What a frustrating day!

It started off ok with a trip to the gym but then loads of IT issues meaning I have to re-install outlook and reconnect all my email accounts, icloud won't recognise the new outlook profile so won't sync my calendars amongst other things. Sent one client the same email 7 times earlier due to the corrupt outlook file, failed to send some others anything at all. Still not sorted hours later, what a waste of a day.

Then DH rings and says he's reversed my car into someone else's car at work. Nobody hurt and not big damage but a new light cluster and probably £300-500 by the time it's done. You know just enough for it not to be worth claiming on the insurance for! I'm not angry or pissed off with him, just a bit fed up after a crappy day myself.

On the plus side I did go to the gym this morning and have eaten well all day.

Will probably go for a couple of drinks at the local with DH when he gets in from football shortly. And hope tomorrow is a better day :-)

@Teensruletheroost - what a day! But at least you made it to the gym. Hope the car damage isn't too bad and the computer is now sorted.

Thanks newdeer - computer mostly sorted but not fully. It has prompted me to get a new one that I have been thinking about for a while so have emailed my It guy to arrange a discussion on that.

No gym today as too many work commitments but good news is I am awaiting my favourite client of the year who usually brings me Champagne and chocolates as a thank you at our final meeting

Then more work later and hopefully will make it to the cinema to see Last Christmas if I get back on time.

Hope everyone has a good day today!

Teensrule that sounds like a tough day.

A busy week, here. We have my birthday tomorrow, we went to a school event at dd1's school last night and going out again tonight for a pre birthday event. Luckily, we got lots of shopping in and I cleaned a lot of the house up yesterday. I'm quite tired today, though.

Today, I went Christmas shopping, but didn't buy much. I ordered the meat from our local organic butcher for Christmas too.

I've managed 11,000 steps each day this week and some harder yoga but no weights: too ambitious. Not quite back to pre virus levels but when you add in the general busyness this time of year, not too bad.

Happy Birthday for tomorrow @quirkychick! Hope you have a great day.

Like @Teensruletheroost I had a lovely day due to a champagne loving client! Worked all morning then taken out for a late lunch with a favourite client who ordered champagne and we were there until 5.30! Managed to do some Christmas shopping at Fortnums on the way home. Rather more glamorous than my usual work day at home wrapped in fleeces to keep warm.

Oh, newdeer that sounds fun and very glamorous!

We went out last night to a Literary/Comedy event and met Paul Whitehouse, who was hysterically funny. He was also lovely in person. Today we're going out for lunch and then getting some nice bits from M&S for "tea" with the dcs. So a nice day planned.

@quirkychick - I'm jealous. He's one of my favourite comedians. Brilliant talent. Glad to hear he was lovely irl too.

I recently moved into my new home and will be leaving my stressful job just before Xmas. Will be starting a new job with better hours and money at New Year so the year will be ending on a positive note anyway!

Im going to stick to 30 minutes meditation a day (the benefits of this are priceless).
Drink more water.
Less screen time.

quirkychick sounds like you have a lovely day planned

newdeer - I do love a Champagne loving client . They are fairly rare though!

I went to the gym yesterday and today despite really not feeling it this morning. I have just spent time with the IT support guy I use scoping out a new PC so that will be fun if rather expensive.

Might try and go to the cinema with DH and maybe DS2 tonight as didn't make it on Wednesday then out with friends tomorrow night and again on Sunday afternoon, so a busy weekend ahead. I may or may not make the gym over the weekend but have been 4 times during the week so don't feel too bad.

Have a good weekend everyone!

newdeer, if you ever get the chance do see him.

Naboo that sounds like a great new start. Dp will inherit some money in the New Year and we're going to plan some house renovations. I do Headspace and yoga, so I'm with you on the meditation it just makes me feel better and more clear headed.