As my previous post, upon my untimely return, was looking mostly at the future I wanted to look to the past slightly. Following my previous post three days ago I wanted to see how many times I’ve posted in the whole of 2022 and it was only six. My last update was my sixth and this post is my seventh. While checking these statistics I saw that I’ve posted 42 times since my first post in mid-September 2019. Over three years ago. It works out to just 14 posts a year. My aim long-term is to obviously get these numbers up but the first step is to simply reach 50 posts before the end of the year. To achieve this I only have to post once a week but being as I only need seven posts following this one I think I can achieve this goal before the end of December. I just have to find a semi-decent level of consistency. I have plenty of days off over the next two months. I can do this.
Continuing with the theme of looking to the past Penny and I have been speaking about how far we have come over the last few years. Not just in a financial sense where we don’t have to be too conservative regarding our food shop or buying the kids presents but also as a couple and a family; we have always had a great connection but that has grown to a point we make up for each other’s shortcomings and support each other through our own individual struggles. We are more like two sides of one whole than we have ever been.
Enough with the mushy, relationship brag stuff. By the way we do have arguments and can get snidey with each other too. I also read back my last three blog posts and feel a sense of achievement for the little things I do and have done daily that have led to a big difference in my life now compared to how it was a few years back, five years back and even further before I met Penny.
In my last update there were a few things I forgot to mention and some of the things I did mention I didn’t really go in to any kind of depth with. The first is fairly straightforward; the gym. In September I went to the gym twice which made the low monthly fee seem quite high when I looked at it as a per visit cost. In October I haven’t been once so I decided to cancel my membership before my next payment at the end of this month. It doesn’t help that the gym I go to is a short drive away and Penny and I only have the one vehicle between us now. I have a work van so it made sense to sell my van. The work van is shared with a colleague but it makes sense logistically to keep the van at his most days. Another reason (or excuse) to cancel the gym is the fact most days I’m not getting back from work until after 6pm and while I could go to the gym at that time I just don’t want to. I’ve decided that gym isn’t a priority for me right now. Down the line I’ll definitely get back in to the gym and work to get in to very good shape but for now I’m happy with how I look and as I say improving that is not a priority at the moment.
My top priority is to work from home, preferably for myself. Writing is below that. Gym is below that. Languages and musical instruments are somewhere around the same level as gym. To me they are all classed as hobbies I would like to pursue to improve myself and also for enjoyment. Writing is something I have to do, as is working from home and for myself but whereas I need the free time (and some level of financial freedom) to write, if I can work from home that would actually create time.
In my last post I mentioned briefly that Penny was having a fairly routine operation next week (Saturday 5th) and while she’s having a few worries about it she’s mainly looking forward to getting it over and done with so she can start eating properly again. In preparation for the surgery she’s had to do an intensive two week restricted intake diet which is supposed to actually shrink her liver. Today marks the end of week one and she has a week to go. I couldn’t be more proud of her. The diet literally consists of only 2 pints of milk, 2 low fat yoghurts, 2 vegetable or meat stock drinks per day. Other than water that is all she can consume and she has stuck to it stringently. She has made a list that is growing by the hour of food she wants to eat as soon as she possibly can. I’ll happily provide all that she requests. I’ve also bought her a present which is arriving Monday. Her birthday isn’t until 3rd December but I’ll let her open it early and enjoy it before her surgery. Try and cheer her up a bit and take her mind off things a little.
As for right now my plan for the rest of the day is to maybe watch some football, possibly start the Stephen King book I mentioned in my last blog post (I had to finish my audiobook first, and now I have. Also the audiobook was another Stephen King novel), look at properties for sale in the area Penny and I want to live (weird habit I know but I love it) and then tonight maybe watch a movie before bed. I’m thinking Hacksaw Ridge. I feel like everybody reading this in the future will be screaming why don’t you actually write some fiction and to be honest I don’t really have a good reason not to so I’m not going to try and spin one. I have had two ideas for a while now that I’ve been making notes on but all I have in both ideas is the general hook of some big event happening with not much of an actual story to follow and absolutely no idea how either would end.
Those ideas will add to the list of projects I’ve started or want to start but I wanted to finish on a quote I saw the other day that really spoke to me (by Phillip Roth, I believe, in case you’re wondering) – The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.