Wednesday

So - yesterday I didn't do any of the wall paper stripping again - and I've done none today either and it is 12.18...still got time!  I did order loads of bathroom stuff - only to get an email this morning to say that the bath is out of stock.  They offered me the same one with two tap holes - they don't do pre-drilled holes so I replied saying - is it one that has been returned as you don't do pre-drilled tap holes...and when is the other back in stock.  They ignored my first question and said dunno to the 2nd.  So I replied saying - and the answer to my first question is....? Not had a reply yet.

So last night I went out with the running club - was going to step up a group as last week was a bit slow - but the group got really full so I volunteered to step back down again.  Looking at the posts on fb afterwards seems we all did about the same pace anyway.  It was a nice slow pace so I was able to chat to a woman - think she was called Louise....she has a daughter aged 16 who is a fitness fanatic - but apparently to a level that has seen her hospitalised (like anorexia).  Anyway - was nice to chat - and she was new to the group and seems to run my pace.  We did 7.5k - at around 8 min per km...I'd normally run at least 7 minutes per k...but you don't always have to push yourself! I was asked if I'll be back on Thursday - I wasn't going to as I was going to do my own 10k long run - but I might do running club instead.  I'm 5k away from 500k this year.....

When I got home Andy was back and had sorted most of the food...we had a noodle thingy  - was yummy.  Then we chilled....

This morning - I have been emailing about the bath as I mentioned, and again have spent most of the morning sat in front of my laptop - looking at colour schemes for the new bathroom etc.  Think I am going to go for pale blue....

I've done weedkiller again....and now I am thinking - I really need to get that bedroom wall stripped as it is dragging on for ages!!

Cats had another mouse again this morning - dead.  It is currently in our dressing room laying on the floor next to its own severed head....

okay - lunch then strip!!! Then later I'll look at what I wrote for today's exercise stuff and go do that in the gym.

Tuesday

So - I didn't wake up until just gone 9am - so I actually, for the first time in ages got just over 8 hours sleep!

I eventually got up - to a dead mouse in the kitchen without a head!  and since then I have changed the cat litter and sorted the bins out and other than that I have sat at my laptop - and it is now lunch time.

I've just been chatting to lissa about not having an exercise plan - so I am going to do one.  I need to do more than just run if I want to get properly fit.  So I might do something like this:

Monday - Upper body and skipping circuit (Lissa's suggestion)
Tuesday - running club
Wednesday - abs/core and cardio (I can incorporate the exercises I need to do for running)
Thursday - my long run
Friday - legs, glutes - and maybe rower & bike a little bit
Saturday - park run
Sunday - naff-all

That means running wise I should do about - 8k Tuesday, 10k Thursday and 5k saturday - bring me to 23k a week - which is over the required amount for my challenge...and I also have a few 10k runs booked in on Sundays.  I also want to gradually increase my 10k long runs....if I get to 16k - thats 10 miles - and if I can get to 20k - thats a half marathon (almost - think I need about 21k for that).  But when I say gradual - I need an extra 1k on top every 3 weeks or so.

I also need to stop drinking so often and sort my diet out.  I will be better at all the exercise stuff if I could lose weight! BUT it's hard - I like food and alcohol lol

So.  What should I do for the rest of the day? Andy is in London and I have running club at 6.30pm.  Oh! I need to order a bathroom suite...decide what I am going to do with the floor and finish stripping the wall paper off the annex bedroom wall.  Once I have done the walls - I can get the plasterer in and then get a carpet - and sort that bedroom out.  We realised this weekend when ppl stayed over that the first choice for a room to stay in is the 4 poster room (obvs) but then second choice in the annex bedroom - with the attic last on the list! So it would be good to get that bedroom sorted - and when the bathroom is sorted too - that'll be awesome - and if Connor stays a while i'd like to have seperate bathrooms.  So I feel good that progress is being made again.  I suppose I should order the bathroom stuff and then go do some stripping!

Sun/Mon

Sunday was mostly about people going home after the weekend!  Adam and Erika went first - while lissa was showing me and Emily some exercises to do with weights!  Emily reckons she is going to be my gym buddy when they move in next week.

Lissa and Antony went next...I miss them all so much but Lissa and I have a lot in common - we both can talk forever - and we love gym stuff and it would be brilliant if we lived local to each other and could do all the gym/running/weights stuff together.  We used to do circuit training together - in the kitchen in our old house, we would use the opportunity to chat and have a laugh too and we motivated each other to do it. 

Anyway - then Emily and Connor here until about 8pm - as their train wasn't until late.  We discussed jobs they could get and where - when they move here.  I'm a little worried that they'll get used to having a lot of money from two jobs with no rent or bills and start living it up!  They already mentioned going on holiday - and THIS IS NOT THE PLAN.  We are letting them move in so that they can sort themselves out - then move to Bristol.  I think me and Andy are a little stressed that they won't stick to the plan and just get used to being a little cash rich!  It will cost us extra money too - as we will be paying the extra on the bills - water, gas, electric, and it is bound to cost for other things too...and we are still trying to get ourselves sorted out paying for a big house like this.  So I plan on having a frank conversation with them when they get here - but I don't want to sound like a ogre either!  I know I get stressed about mess too....and i am guessing they are not exactly really tidy people - but I don't know Emily that much - I guess I am judging her on Connor's standards!  So - that is the stress part of it - on the other hand I think it might be nice having them here - and having a gym buddy - and also they have said they are going to join taunton running club and do the couch to 5k course that they run!  Then they can come to the park run with me on a saturday morning too.  They say all this - lets see if it pans out!

So - after they left - me and Andy just had a bit of a tidy and chilled before going to bed!!

Monday - I tried calling the plumbers again.  The company did almost all the work for us on our heating, bathrooms and kitchen etc. last year - and we got on really well.  I have been chasing them about more work and they seem to be ignoring all my emails and phone calls.  this is a worry because I don't know why they would do that.  I called again and david the boss actually answered the phone and I thought HA! I've got you now!!!  He sounded a little awkward at first because he has obviously been getting all my messages.  Anyway - he apologised and I think they are mega busy and I've been asking for breakdowns of prices and stuff that he just couldn't be arsed with whilst so busy!  I told him about an overflow pipe pissing out water outside - and he said he'd get somebody to me that day or tomorrow.  He also said he will get a price and come and do the first fix for the bathroom asap.  So We'll see....

An engineer did come and have a look at the over flow pipe and it seems that our cold water is backing up into the hot then spewing out.  So 1) we are wasting water we are paying for on a meter, 2) it is hot water - so we are paying to heat it and 3) cold water is going into the hot water cylinder and cooling it down - so we are paying more money to try and bring the temperature up!  So...shame this has been going on for ages and we did nothing about it (cos we don't know if it is normal or not!) but hopefully once it is fixed (wednesday or Thursday) hopefully our bills will go down again!!

Today also - the mechanic came and finished the work on Andy's car - he needed break pads...and did a service on my old banger - he told me my car is in great condition!  Its old (11 years old I think) but has low mileage - about 34,000.

Hello fresh food was delivered - and they delivered the wrong thing so we have a fish dish egghhhh

Other than that I didn't do much - pottered - clean up - weed killer in garden.....didn't do my long run I usually do on a Monday cos I have running club tomorrow and I didn't want my hips to be sore.

Went to bed a little earlier - as I was so tired all day.....

saturday - continued

So...after the park run - we came back home and got showers - then we all had egg/bacon/sausage/mushroom - of varying combinations.  Then we got ready and walked down to netherclay (just around the corner) as there was Bishops hull summer-thingy on.  It was quite small and seemed a little rubbish at first - but there was a bouncy castle type thing with something that rotated in the middle - you had to either duck - or jump.  I suggested to Adam, Lissa and Connor that they go on it...I was so pleased when they agreed.  I love that about them - so many people would have said no!  So they went on it and is was soooooo funny!!!  They would have their legs knocked from under them - end up on the bottom and have to jump up quickly before it came around again!!

Some pics....

They were knackered afterwards! lol.....we had a sit down for a bit - and then we walked into taunton.  A really nice walk through Longrun Meadow.

When we got into Taunton Somerfest was on - we walked through it - then went into a pub - where we stayed for the rest of the day haha!  We had a really good laugh.  After, that was, Adam managed to tip a bottle of vape liquid - which is oily - all over himself!  He was squeezing a big bottle of the stuff into a smaller bottle and it was coming out really slowly so he squeezed it so hard that the lid shot off - it went all over the table - and all over his jeans - including his groin area - he was LIVID.  Then - he decided to squeeze the last bit out - I shouted - don't do it again - as Connor shouted - the lid isn't on properly - and he did it again!  This time - we were all trying not to laugh and Adam was properly fuming!! In the end Erika had to go and buy him a new pair of jeans, new boxer shorts and some more vape stuff.  Connor and Emily also went off and bought more vape stuff - not knowing Erika was doing the same!  Adam claimed he would be pissed off for the rest of the day - but soon chilled out once he was cleaned up and changed!!

So - we had quite a few drinks in the pub and I properly laughed loads!!

Me and Lisa took the pic on the left and Connor pointed out how alike it was to the pic that he and Emily has.....

Think we spent ages trying to get a good one...lol Lissa looks nice!

Connor and Emily (the skint ones) were buying cocktails - me and Lissa drank Connors pina colada about 5 seconds after he said he didn't like it.  This was his replacement....

We eventually dragged ourselves out of the pub (I suspect Andy was thinking I was getting too drunk!) and we got taxi's back to the house - and carried on the fun!!  This lot ordered pizza and kebabs (look at Connor!!), me and Lissa ordered a curry - which we couldn't really eat as we'd eaten some of their pizza!!

After me, Connor and Lissa, spent ages trying to throw a sweet with our feet - for the other to catch it in their mouth (haha disgusting I know) this lot decided to try and do an Irish jig.....

A very good night was had by all - and if Lissa reminds me of anything else we did or laughed about - I'll add it in!!

Saturday - Park Run

I was up quite early because Andy was snoring...so I went up to the top attic floor to sleep and all the cats followed me - I can't shut them out as there is only a curtain to shut off that room! They woke me up constantly...then the bright bright sun was up at 5am!  I got up about 7.30 and got ready for the run...the others appeared about 8.10...and we left on time about 8.40am

So....park run...with Lissa, Erika and Adam!

We all started off together...a fairly slow start because of the volume of people...it wasn't long at all until Adam said...see ya! Not long after Lissa went off ahead.  Me and Erika stuck together for a while...then I was struggling to I backed off.  I kept Erika in my sights (and Lissa for a while - but then couldn't see her anymore).  I needed to walk and get my breathe twice, and I saw Erika get a bit further away....the last 1.5km I tried to increase my speed slightly so I wasn't so far behind Erika...I slowly slowly closed the gap a bit...but it was killing me lol.  On the last 2-300 metres I was right behind Erika and was going to try and get past her, but as I tried to increase speed - she did too! I past a guy who acted as though he was not impressed and it felt like he tried to pass back in front of me - so I gave it everything I had! lol.  I tell you this as he ended up in the same photo (below)....he didn't get past me!   Erika came in just before me with a girl between me and her.  As soon as she past the finish line - she went off to the side and threw up! lol. 

So our times were.....

Adam - 25:34 (ish...as he didn't have a barcode)
Lissa - 29:41
Erika - 31.54
Me - 31.57

So....my time was exactly the same as my previous pb.  So I was really pleased....so was Lissa for getting under 30...although she's done it in 26 before...

It was awesome having family run it with me - and a great way to start the day!

Some pics....

The only one I could find of Erika (top left corner)

Adam....

Me and Lissa

Lissa

Me

Friday!

Today was cleaning day - and omg - this house takes a LONG TIME to clean!!  Next time i have to clean the whole house I need three days not two.

I was sweating all day - vacuuming...cleaning...making beds - I had a big list.  All day I chatted on messenger with Lissa while I was doing it which was rely nice.  I was sending her pics of my list and the ticks I, was adding to it....when she got here she gave me a B for effort - and somebody else changed it to a B minus! lol

So...Adam and Erika were the first to arrive at about 7pm.  I made them some chicken burgers lol.  Then Lissa and Antony turned up at about 9pm...and then I had to wait until about 10.20pm to go and pick Connor and Emily up from the train station.  Then we all had a drink and played pool!  Me and Lissa were planning on doing the Park run together on the saturday morning - and Adam and Erika said they were going to do it too! That was a game changer haha! Instead of me and Lissa thinking that we were going to do a leisurely run - it suddenly got a little competitive!  Not as far as I was concerned because I knew they would all beat me!  Adam (when he was about 18) had done 10k in 36 minutes - so a proper elite pace, Erika used to run half marathons...and go out a lot running 16 or 20k, and Lissa is mega fit!! Connor was debating doing it too...but hasn't done any running, but he's still fit because of all the cycling he has done.  So a lot of the chatter was about the run....we didn't want to drink too much or go to bed too late...but I don't think I went to bed until about 1am anyway!

Was sooooo good to see everybody and us all be together again!

Before Connor & Emily got here me and Andy had discussed them moving in and we were looking forward to hearing what their plan was.  Before I asked him he said to me...so, mum, what are we doing? are we getting jobs in Taunton or Bristol? how long are we staying? I laughed saying I was looking forward to hearing your plan! He looked to Emily and said...do we have a plan...and she said errrrrr......

So...no plan...no idea lol.

Mon - Thursday!

Hi

I've not been so good at keeping this updated recently!

Monday - I was working on the floor - and nothing else significant! 

Tuesday - more of the same - and I went to running club in the evening - I joined in with a slow group...at first too slow - I was dad running (not actually going any faster than walking pace) but then a few people dropped out and we sped up a little.  We ran just over 8km...it was nice, although had a few aches and pains after Sunday - most noticeably my hips, but also my lower back was just aching.  Was nice though, because we were running quite slowly I was chatting to Tracy the run leader...she is really nice.  They all are really! Although one of the other runners made me feel a bit crap before we started running, because I was telling her about my first 10k and told her I did it in 1 hr 8m and she was like...hmm....not too bad...you'll get better! I had thought it was good! lol.  She did a 10k on Sunday too...in 58 minutes! Tracy said - wow thats really good!! That is the reaction I wanted lol.

Wednesday....I spent a large portion of the day cutting the grass...it took me about 1 hour 40 minutes...its pretty knackering!  Then I went to see a guy about some reclaimed victorian tiles - unfortunately they were nowhere near the right colour which is a real shame.  then i drove to exeter to meet helen at Runners Need...they assess your gait and everything to get the right kind of trainers for you, and she did the running on the machine whist being filmed - they slow it down and see how your foot lands etc. and she ended up buying a pair of trainers that were £150 lol.  I got another pair too!  Brooks Ghost...mine were £120.  I could get 10% off because I was in a runners club - but then we found out that Helen could get 15% off for being a member of the caravan club!!!  When I got back I quickly got changed and me and Andy had a walk down to the Stone gallows pub and got something to eat and a couple of drinks.  That was nice - to get out the house for a bit!

Thursday - the gardeners woke me up moving the wheelie bin - so I got up and went out for a chat...and ended up helping them.  They are restoring the path which had become overgrown.  They are both really nice people and I like chatting with them.  They were telling me that a woman that used to work here is interested in coming around and seeing what we have done with the house - so I told them to give her my email address and I wouldn't mind at all!

The rest of the day I need to clean up - house is filthy after all the sanding etc. and all the kids are visiting this weekend.  Also Connor and Emily are going to be moving in the following weekend!  They need to move out of their flat in Southampton and haven't managed to get a place in Bristol yet.  So we offered that they come here whilst they get it sorted.  I assume that it had already crossed their mind to ask...it will be awesome to see more of Connor for a while.  I just hope that they are tidy and considerate because its a massive job trying to keep on top of this house as it is.  I'm a little concerned about the extra electric and gas etc as that's killing us already, but they need the help and we are in a position to help out - so we are happy to.