(no subject)
God I'm so productive in January. I'm very good at getting organised at the beginning of the year, for some reason. December is largely a write-off, with parties and Christmas and friends and social occasions all over the place, and god I love it that way. But then come January 1, somehow I knuckle down and get all the shit done. All of it. In the past two weeks, I have:
SO MUCH ADULTING. Today I've gotta get all the bits and pieces for house refinancing together and send that off. Payslips, bank statements, 100 points of ID, that sort of thing. With any luck I can cut back what I'm paying on that every month and actually save some money, cos hell knows I'm not getting a pay rise anytime... ever... =/
I had hoped to also get some garden stuff done this month, namely get a shade cloth installed and hang up my terracotta pots that are going to form my screen in the unit 1 direction, but it's been way too goddamn hot. Starting Wednesday we've had 35, 40, 42 yesterday, 39 today, then 35 tomorrow and a cool change on Monday! 29! Then 30, 33, 37, 40 (Australia Day. That's going to be a fun barbecue...) and 42. The only gardening I'm willing to do in any of that is standing in the shade with a hose on the citrus for a few minutes.
I also picked up some free chairs this morning, which will be my permanent chairs now. I'll strip back the legs and whitewash them the same way as the table, and eventually get them reupholstered in whatever material I get a couch in. Exactly what I was after :D Slightly dodgy and therefore free, no compunctions about changing them up myself, but still good enough (well, four of them are, anyway) to keep using in the meantime.
Tomorrow I've got Mum and Dad coming over for dinner and cricket. I have planned salmon with papaya mojo and I had heaps of egg whites in the freezer after making mayonnaise last weekend, so for dessert I've got mini-pavlovas with mango mojito sauce. I've just done the mini-pavs, so keen to test one out and see how they go. Aww yeah.
- Applied for, received and activated a new AMEX credit card.
- Got new tyres for the car.
- Had the car serviced (it had a clunk whenever I did slow-speed manoeuvres or headed towards full lock with the steering wheel. I was scared of it being expensive; turns out all it needed was for the steering column to be cleaned and re-greased. WOO CHEAP AND EASY FIX. Also they said my car was mechanically faultless. I love my Yoshi <3)
- Changed mobile phone plan.
- Changed electricity plan.
- Got Dad to disconnect the goddamn house alarm. I don't know how to arm it, how to disarm it or how to change the code, but the real kicker is that its backup battery probably went flat 20 years ago. Whenever the power goes off and comes back on again, which happens with some frequency in SA, it would turn on. Usually at around 5am. It was very relaxing.
- Had an eye test, and subsequently bought glasses. It was pretty much as I'd already guessed--right eye is better than my left, and while glasses would improve things, it's not a lightbulb WOAH I CAN SEE NOW moment. My left eye on its own is one level below being able to drive, and the right is pretty damn good, so eh. Up to me, said the optometrist, so I decided to give it a shot. Just cos. If it turns out I never wear them, then I know not to bother.
- Gotten the ball rolling on refinancing the house.
SO MUCH ADULTING. Today I've gotta get all the bits and pieces for house refinancing together and send that off. Payslips, bank statements, 100 points of ID, that sort of thing. With any luck I can cut back what I'm paying on that every month and actually save some money, cos hell knows I'm not getting a pay rise anytime... ever... =/
I had hoped to also get some garden stuff done this month, namely get a shade cloth installed and hang up my terracotta pots that are going to form my screen in the unit 1 direction, but it's been way too goddamn hot. Starting Wednesday we've had 35, 40, 42 yesterday, 39 today, then 35 tomorrow and a cool change on Monday! 29! Then 30, 33, 37, 40 (Australia Day. That's going to be a fun barbecue...) and 42. The only gardening I'm willing to do in any of that is standing in the shade with a hose on the citrus for a few minutes.
I also picked up some free chairs this morning, which will be my permanent chairs now. I'll strip back the legs and whitewash them the same way as the table, and eventually get them reupholstered in whatever material I get a couch in. Exactly what I was after :D Slightly dodgy and therefore free, no compunctions about changing them up myself, but still good enough (well, four of them are, anyway) to keep using in the meantime.
Tomorrow I've got Mum and Dad coming over for dinner and cricket. I have planned salmon with papaya mojo and I had heaps of egg whites in the freezer after making mayonnaise last weekend, so for dessert I've got mini-pavlovas with mango mojito sauce. I've just done the mini-pavs, so keen to test one out and see how they go. Aww yeah.