Five Friday Favorites 04.02.22

Happy Friday, everyone!

I hope you’re healthy, safe and happy.

This morning I’m sharing my very favorite things from this week, in no particular order.

Number one: Dinner with friends

Our friends have just bought a new house and invited us over for dinner on Monday. We talked a bunch, ate delicious homemade tuna lasagna and I got to sneak in a few cat cuddles with sweet Margarida.

Number Two: Our first prenatal class.

We were not sure what to expect but it turned out to be very informative and fun. There are 8 couples and only two are having girls so a bunch of boys being born this year.

Can’t show a picture so here’s a beautiful sunset instead

Number Three: This beautiful new plant I bought on thursday.

Not much to say about this. She’s beautiful and I had to have her.

Number four: Getting to vote on Monday.

The day was lovely and so we walked all the way to the polling place. I am very thankful that we live in a democracy and that we are able to express our opinions and wishes and to vote on our leaders. This is not something we take for granted.

Number Five: Blogging

I’ve been on a blogging kick lately and genuinely feel like writing every day. I hope this stays with me for a while as I’m enjoying being back.

What was your favorite moment this week?

Wishing you all a fun, relaxing weekend!

Love,

Cheila

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Planning my Week: Sunday 26.01.2020

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Are you happy that it’s Sunday and you (hopefully) had the day to yourself or are you already feeling blue over the fact that tomorrow is Monday?

I’m the latter. Not because I hate Mondays but because I never feel that I’m quite prepared for the week  ahead or organized enough. I feel like I’m always this half organized mess. Just last week, my husband was very proudly making a list of all the things we had accomplished over the weekend. As for myself, all I could think about was all of the things we didn’t get done. He says that the house will never be clean enough for me and that I tend to see the glass half empty but still… I definitely think I could do a lot better most times.

Anyway, apparently I don’t consider 3 planners to be enough (I shit you not I do have 3. Maybe I’ll blog about why I have 3 planners and what I use them for) so I’ve decided I might as well use my blog as a backup to do list.

 

Monday – 27.01.2020

Obviously I’ll have to work, because I need a roof over my head and to pay bills and eat. On the plus side, I do like my job and my coworkers are awesome.

I have a therapy appointment scheduled for 7 p.m.

We need to stop by the store and get some groceries as well, nothing special but I did have to make pancakes without eggs today. We didn’t go during the weekend because Rui was sick (serious case of man flu) and you all know by this point that I can’t drive and we live in the middle of nowhere.

Also, I’m in charge of buying the presents every time someone has a birthday at work and I’m very late this time so I should get that done ASAP.

 

Tuesday – 28.01.2020

Work again, unless I win the lottery over night.

Uni classes start on Tuesday. Which is very scary. I’m not used to being there. There’s kids there. By kids I mean 18-year-old students and they’re very scary and annoying. I don’t want to look like the geriatric student. Also, I’ll have to tell some professors that I’m a working student and that I won’t be able to attend class, only do the work via some sort of e-learning (reading all the materials, going to the tutoring sessions and handing in the essays), which some of them hate. Back me up, people.

 

Wednesday – 29.01.2020

Work, work, work, work, work, work. UK banking needs me. And one very angry customer needs help with “taking ya mum outta the tub”. That was one the best ever.

I’ll then have my appointment with a nutritionist at 5.30. I’m obviously nervous about this because I’ve actually met one who flat out discriminated me because I was fat. You’re a nutritionist, aren’t you supposed to make fat people feel like you have their back? I wish with all my heart that I was making this up. I left her office in tears. Well, this lady works at my psychiatrist’s office so I have a good feeling about the whole thing. We’ll see.

 

 Thursday – 30.01.2020

I’ll be working as usual. I could marry a rich guy but that would be illegal now.

I don’t think I have anything happening other than work so this would be a nice day to get home super early and like tidy something up like laundry and maybe the kitchen.

Oh, and we should go buy a present for our friend whose birthday is the next day.

 

Friday – 31.01.2020

You’ll be able to find me at work. For which you’d need to know where I work. Which I can’t tell you. All you need to know is that it is a banking related. UK. Angry customers mostly.

After work we have a birthday dinner for one of our dear friends, Sara. We actually got married in the same year, which is great because we got to share and experience so much together.

Saturday and Sunday –  Not planning yet.

Extras: We do cook at some point during the week, either of us. Usually for more than one meal and to take lunch to work. We also do laundry and put it away as we go, not as fast as we should/like to. Rui does usually clean the kitchen, though I’ve been trying it to do it more. The heavier cleaning happens during the weekend, but we do not clean the whole house top to bottom every weekend. I’d love to, but then I wouldn’t do anything else.

It’s 7.13 P.M and I want to start my bedtime routine soon so I will now publish this post, fix something very quick for dinner, make sure my purse is clean and tidy for the week, shower, mentally pick something to wear tomorrow and go to bed at about 9 p.m to read until I fall asleep.

What about you? What does you week look like?

What do you still have to get done tonight before you’re done preparing for your the new week ahead?

Have a lovely week!

Mrs. Martins (Chey)

Photo by Irina Iriser from Pexels

Things I’m doing this weekend: 26.05.2018

– Go grocery shopping;

– Food prep for the week, which includes cooking;

– Laundry, always;

– Buy concealer, new reusable bottle and coffee cup/tea cup for work, hand sanitizer, makeup sponges, nespresso capsules (we have a machine we can use at work, just need to buy capsules, which is great and so cheap), gum;

– At home pedicure and manicure;

– Organize some notes/documents from work, because everything is new and there’s so much to learn and information coming from everyone and everything; I got a cute folder and I’m going to file everything and get it to look neat and pretty;

– Check up on a few friends;

– Tidy up a bit around the house;

– Get 3 gym bags ready for next week so I can just grab and go to the pool;

– Pick my outfits for the week and get them ready;

– Watch some episodes of a few shows, maybe a movie, listen to a few podcast episodes;

❤️

Question of the Day #27 – Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!

If you celebrate this holiday, I hope you have a wonderful day. If you don’t, I hope you still have access to endless amounts of chocolate!

Today I’m asking about Easter.

1. Do you celebrate Easter?
2. Did you give something up for Lent?
3. Where and how do you spend Easter Sunday?
4. What are your traditions? Your family’s?
5. What’s your favorite thing about Easter?

That’s it. Have a beautiful day, everyone!

xx

A Week + In The Life: 02.03.18 – 13.03.18 Journal and Updates

Happy Tuesday, everyone!!

I haven’t been blogging much since last week, have I? I thought I’d share a general update.

Friday: 02.03.18

I got off work at 8, as I do every Friday. I thought we could go and see The Post because I really wanted to watch all of the nominees for Best Picture before the Oscars, and it was the only movie that wasn’t available to illegally download. We checked a few places and decided where to go and to grab dinner first. There weren’t many options so Burger King it was. Just before eating, we realized we had gotten it wrong and that the movie session was at 10 p.m instead of 9.25 p.m and in a different place, ten minutes away. Oh, Well. No rush to eat. So we had our dinner and eventually decided we were too tired and lazy to go anywhere else. No movie. We headed home and went to bed.

Saturday: 03.03.18

I woke up late. I had plans to clean and such but it was raining and I didn’t feel like doing it. Rui had gone for a run and I asked him to bring snacks. I fell asleep again and had a long nap. When I woke up we decided to watch The Shape of Water, which I wasn’t so sure about to begin with, and ended up not liking that much. Rui really wanted to see it and actually liked it, though. We had popcorn, orange juice and strawberries. We watched Lady Bird and it was meh. It’s the perfect coming of age movie and I have nothing bad to say about it but it was just, I don’t know? Plain? Boring? I can see how it is a good, well-made film but the story is nothing special. We went to bed soon after because I was still very sleepy.

Sunday: 04.03.18

I woke up late again. We felt like going for coffee and a drive. I had the most delicious cake. We then went for a drive around this area we don’t know so well, just about ten to fifteen minutes from where we live. It’s this beautiful place where countryside meets the beach and it’s just breathtaking, really. We watched Call Me By Your Name and I loved it. Only thing to bother me was the title and the whole “call me by your name” thing. Why? Why would you ask someone to call you by their name? I get it, it was their thing. But why? I doesn’t make much sense to me. I did love the movie. I patiently waited for the Oscars ceremony to start (it begins at 1 a.m for me), while cuddling on the couch with Rosa. I knew I was pulling an all-nighter to watch the Oscars as I do every year. I’m not the most patient person so it is kind of boring to go through all of the breaks. I don’t know how you American friends do it with all the commercial breaks, really. There’s just so many. I went to bed once it was over but didn’t sleep at all because I had to be up at 7.30. As you probably know from my post, I am NOT happy about the winners.

Monday: 05.03.18

I was up at 7.30, no sleep and kind of mad about the Oscars. I’m not going to repeat myself and bore you to death because I’ve written a whole post about it. I’ll just tell you I was not very happy that The Shape of Water won Best Picture. I was expecting it to be between Call Me By Your Name and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri so I about died when the said “and the Oscar goes to… The Sha….” Rui, Rosa and his brother were sleeping but I yelled “What the fuck??!!” in the living room. I was that upset and surprised. It’s pretty funny now. I was too tired to write so I spent my time watching The Good doctor before I had to work. It was a calm day, though. I left work at 8 and slept early, like a baby.

Tuesday: 06.03.18

I honestly don’t remember much about Tuesday. I pretty much only worked and had a very calm day. I was alone because there were few kids and my colleague was needed to help with French in a different room so it was just me and a few 9th graders, studying science, which I love.

Wednesday: 07.03.18

It was just me at work as well. The kids are all studying math so we only had three for Portuguese, which means only one of us was needed. My colleague got the day off and I got those three 9th graders. It was pretty chill. I left work at 7. We had pasta for dinner and watched an episode of This is Us.

Thursday: 08.03.18

My turn to have the day off!! My colleague handled the two kids we had for the day so I didn’t have to go to work. I slept and listened to podcasts for most of the day. Rui came home and wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate International Women’s Day. I was pretty stupid and picked this greasy food truck where we had hot dogs. They were good, though.

Friday: 09.03.18

I’m at work but don’t have to actually do any work until 3 p.m. I’m about to go and look for some lunch because I didn’t pack any lunch today. I’ve watched an episode of Call The Midwife and I’ve written this post. That’s about it. We’re not doing anything tonight. I’m just cooking some easy pasta and that’s about it.

Saturday: 10.03.18

As usual, I woke up pretty late. I really wanted to clean the house but I don’t like doing it when there’s so many people trapped inside because it’s raining. I decided it wouldn’t happen and simply moved from the bed to the sofa. We watched Veronica, this Spanish horror movie I had read about before. It’s by Netflix and I had read it’s one of the scariest movies ever and that many people can’t even finish it. It’s quite popular right now too, have you watched it? It’s pretty good and scary as a horror movie should be but I didn’t find it that different and didn’t understand why someone would not be able to watch until the end.

Sunday: 11.03.18

I slept late and didn’t do much, to be honest. We felt like watching something and I was more inclined towards a documentary or series but we ended up watching this amazing film Monster (2003) about the infamous American serial killer Aileen Wurnos. Are you familiar with her story? Let me just tell you that the name of the movie is probably ironic, since she was the one surrounded by monsters and abusers her whole life. Yes, she did kill six to eight men but I cannot say how I would treat men later in life had I been sexually abused, assaulted, and prostituted by my grandfather to his friends at the age of eleven. One of her grandfather’s friends actually got her pregnant and she had to give her baby up for adoption. She was 13. Then he kicked her out of the house when she was 14. She had to live in the woods and begin working as a prostitute to support herself. She sold her body her entire life. They say she was raped and badly beaten by a client who was about to kill her, but managed she killed him in self-defense. Then her killing spree began and she ended up in prison, being executed by lethal injection in 2002. There’s no excuse to commit murder. You don’t go around killing people just because you had a difficult childhood. But in her case, I can honestly feel sorry for her. She was never loved, cared for or wanted. She was treated like garbage by men her entire life, since she was so young. There’s only so much your mind can handle before you snap. What do you think about this? Is she a monster or someone who took the most horrific forms of abuse for thirty years and simply had enough? I would love your opinion on this.

Monday: 12.03.18

Pretty uneventful. I woke up early but wasn’t feeling so well so I went back to bed. I woke up very late and met a friend for coffee before I had to go to work at 5. I left work at 7, came home, had dinner and laughed my ass off while watching Impractical Jokers with Rui and Brother. I then went to bed and listened to a few podcast episodes until I fell asleep.

Tuesday: 13.03.18 – Today

I got the day off from work. The kids are studying Chemistry and Physics and so they didn’t need both me and my colleague (we don’t work with Chemistry, Physics and Math). The same is happening on Thursday, the 22nd and she is staying home, while I’m going. I woke up late once again. I think I might need to decrease my sleeping medication, because I’m sleeping way too much and that usually means I need less of it.

I listened to a few podcasts, as I do every day. I’ve grown to love podcasts an audio books so much in the last few months. I took care of some laundry because there is always some laundry in desperate need to be done, especially when it has been raining for the past few weeks. I cleaned a little bit around the kitchen, decluttered our cleaning supplies cabinet and cleaned the bathroom. I’m sitting here having a snack and writing this post, just before I start dinner and close everything up (I opened all the doors and windows to let the house get some air). After dinner I’m having a shower and watching a few episodes of Divorce.

Random Picture Dump:

What have you been up to?

xx

Weekend Plans: 02.03.18 “Raining All Weekend” Edition + How do you feel on Fridays? Do you work weekends?

Happy Friday Dear Blogging Family,

I’m not really sure if I’m super happy it’s Friday or if I’m having a hard day because I’m tired and I still have to get through many hours of work.

How do you usually feel by Friday? Ecstatic or dead? 

Does the day go by really fast or super slow because you cannot wait for the weekend to begin? Share your thoughts with me.

If you work weekends, which I have for so many years before, I hope work is good to you and that your day off comes soon enough. I didn’t mind Saturdays but I always hated working on Sundays. Imagine working 8 p.m to 1 a.m on a Sunday. Gosh, I’m tired just thinking about it.

Thankfully, I no longer work on weekends, which is great for other reasons too, as Rui used to be at home while I was working because he never worked weekends.

So Friday is here and I need to make some plans.

 

This weekend I’d like to:

• Watch the Oscars, obviously. This Sunday. I mean, for me it’s actually on Monday, since it does not start until 1 a.m. I really hope I don’t get sleepy and miss it like I did last year. #shameonme
• Watch the six nominees for best picture I haven’t seen yet. I’m hoping to get started on this tonight. How am I going to watch 6 movies in 2 days? Well, it’s raining so it’s not like I’m actually going anywhere. We had planed on doing some gardening but that is obviously not happening because of the bad weather.
• Laundry. When it’s raining, we use our indoor hanger combined with our dehumidifier and our space heater, sometimes. We don’t own a drier. I kind of thought about buying a washer/drying when we bought our washer a few months ago but it was twice as expensive, it’s a waste of energy, not environmentally friendly, and we don’t have a real need for it because we get so much sun in Portugal, which allows us to dry our clothes outside most of the time. It’s also easy to dry them inside when it’s raining. If we’re desperate or if it has been raining for a few weeks we just go to the wash station to dry our laundry. It’s not expensive and it only happens on occasion. I have a ton of laundry to put away too.
• Clean/Organize our bedroom (which doubles as my home office). This includes: Dusting, cleaning the surfaces, vacuuming the floor and rugs, mopping the floor, changing our sheets, cleaning the windows a bit. We have this table (that used to be Rui’s desk) that I’m using as a vanity but it’s huge (1.50 m long) and it’s taking way too much space so I’m definitely disassembling it and storing it in the garage because I don’t think we have a place for it anywhere in the house. Our bedroom is big enough but this table just takes too much space and I don’t want the room to look too cluttered.
• Clean our living room. We should definitely get our sofa covers washed. I feel like we’re always doing this but they’re whitish and we have a dog. She doesn’t think to clean her dirty paws before going inside, the bitch! I hate to throw a blanket on the sofa but I need to accept the fact that old people are right and it really saves the covers a lot of washed. If IKEA didn’t charge 60€ for covers for a 300€ couch I would have bough new covers by now. I feel like they’re too expensive and I’d be better off buying a new, used sofa. We need to dust, vacuum and mop the floor.
• Clean our kitchen. I really want to go through every single item in our kitchen and do a general de-clutter and deep cleaning. Let’s hope I’m not as lazy as last weekend.
• Work on my freelance work project for a few hours.
• Read blogs.
• Update my planner for next week.

What about you? Big plans for the weekend?

Let’s talk soon.

*Beautiful rainy pictures are from Pixabay

Weekend Plans: 23.02.18

Happy Friday fellow bloggers,

Let me tell you I’m very ready for the weekend. Not that I had a bad week or a particularly tiring one, I’m just in need of some sleep and “do nothing” me time.

I was out too much last weekend, which wasn’t that much, I just went for dinner twice, coffee once, a doctor’s appointment and a walk on the beach.

Our house needs some cleaning, desperately. I’m sort of behind on my freelance work project, meaning I’m on deadline but not where I’d like to be by now. My plants need some attention because I’ve been neglecting them for the past few weeks, while it’s rainy and still Winter. The weather is getting better and I need to make them ready for Spring.

Next week is going to be harder because the kids are preparing for their second and lasts tests of the second trimester. There will be so many hours of English, Portuguese and History tutoring. Fifteen kids for two teachers. Fifteen kids that are, more often than not hyperactive, overtired, nervous and anxious and nervous about the exams. Oh, have I mentioned their attention span issues? I’m in for a treat. Not that I mind, actually. I do love the business, endless worksheets, silly questions, dozens of exercises, hugs, jokes, kisses on their favorite teacher ever (yeah right, kid), gum begging, cracker crumbs, cellphone sneaking and laughter attacks. I love them, I have to admit. They are one of my biggest joys and sources of entertainment. However, they’re children. They’re 13, 14 or 15. They’re needy and childish and chatty and impatient. They complain and throw fits and call for me endlessly until I finally direct my full and undivided attention to them. They test me and push my buttons and make me mad. That can be harsh on your body and mind. It makes me tired for sure.

All of this to say it’s going to be a harder week. I don’t mind and I like the faster paced days but I get tired quickly and each day is a little more difficult, which then turns the weekend into a sweet, sweet reward.

Anyways, we’ll talk about next week when we get there, right? It makes more sense.

Tonight I leave work at 8, and we’re meeting friends for dinner, which always makes me so excited. We have come so far. When we were all working and going to college or having those entry level demanding jobs we would go 2 or 3 months without seeing each other and now we have dinner once a week, almost without fail. I love it. I’m feeling like pasta today, I think 🤔

It’s almost the end of February and I’ve done almost nothing of I what I wanted to do this month, so I know I’m not killing it when it comes to goals. I’ve been more active as a blogger and as a follower/reader, which is more than enough for me.

This weekend I really want to:

• Deep clean/organized the bathroom;
• Deep clean one of our bedroom walls that is getting moldy (there’s this perfect detergent that cleans any trace of mold or humidity marks without any damage to the surface);
• Deep clean/purge our kitchen;
• Laundry, always;
• Make a dental appointment;
• Schedule a vet appointment;
• Force Rui to schedule an eye doctor appointment;
• Meal plan and prep for next week;
• Charge my power bank;
• Work on my freelance project;
• Clean living room;
• Clean bedroom;
• Change bed sheets;
• Get two gym bags ready in advance;
• Get my clothes ready for the week;
• Do a little grocery shopping;
• Do some gardening;
• Watch a movie or two;
• Try making homemade granola/cereal bars;
• Get my eyebrows done;
• Write a few letters;
• Sell a few things online;
• Get something for my dry ends;

I know it looks like a lot but I’ll have help for the household chores. Rui does a lot and his brother, who is staying with us, is helping too.

Have a good weekend!

❤️❤️

Not a nice week + plans for the weekend

Happy Friday everyone,

I’ve never been happier too see the end of the week. I’ve had the shittiest week and I can’t wait for it to be over (still need to work 4.30 hours). I have some freelance writing work to do over the weekend but I don’t even mind because I can do it at home, alone, quiet and comfortable, wearing pajamas.

Because I had this huge family crisis on Monday, which turned out to be solved by Rui on Tuesday (as I’ve said, that guy could have stopped both world wars), the rest of my days were affected by that bad start. I didn’t go to the pool at all, not even once. I barely ate or ate too much, depending on the meal, I didn’t drink as much water, I didn’t walk, didn’t worry about my step count, taking care of my skin or anything else, for that matter. It was a “barely surviving week” and I’m so done with it. My energy levels were extremely low, my sleep was not good and my body ached all over. I was not patient with the kids at work. I ate a whole chocolate yesterday before dinner.

I should say that not everything is bad and that that huge issue that broke my heart and made me cry for 24 hours straight is now over and done with.

I had dinner with my friends yesterday and it was nice. I was finally brave enough to meet their big dogs (after 3 years) and they’re just huge pups looking for belly rubs. Their paws go up to my shoulders so I got a few stolen kisses while standing up which was pretty funny. They’re not scary at all, I feel so silly.

My pregnant friend is now showing! I’m just so happy. She took most of the clothes I got for her, which makes me happy to help. She’ll be able to wear it for a few months. Pretty great to have a friend who wears a bigger size and likes, flowy, empire waist, tops, tunics and dresses, right? A few leggings and she’s fine.

My brother-in-law is staying with us for a few days and not sleeping on the couch. We’re finally using our tiny guest bedroom. Still sleeping in a foldable guest bed but it’s better than nothing, I guess.

---

As for the weekend,

I would like to:

(I say I’d like to because I’m feeling very lazy and not expecting much)

• Clean our bedroom/my office
• Clean our living room/Rui’s office
• Clean the kitchen
• Decide where to store a few things. The house is small, the bedroom, living room and kitchen are big, but it seems like we have nowhere to store random things, even thought we have and outside storage and garage. I also think we have too much stuff. I’ve been getting rid of so much and being pretty strict about it (donating, giving a few things to my mother and trashing a bunch, which includes burning old collage notes), but I think I might need to go for a second round. I know I’m losing weight but why keep a pair of 10€ jeans that I’ll fit in again in about 3 months when I can buy a new pair for 10€ in 3 months and reward myself for losing weight? I am keeping things I might use when I’m pregnant one day. My friend had them now and the idea is for them to get passed around all of us, but that’s just because pregnancy clothes are expensive and only last for so long.
• I need to clean the bathroom which I feel like I’m always doing.
• Put away some laundry and do another load or two.
• Pay for my Kindle Unlimited subscription and go back to reading again. January was not a good reading month.
• Take care of some receipts.
• Do some self-care.
• Watch some of the Oscar nominated movies. So far I’ve watched Get Out, Dunkirk and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. We want to watch The Post and Lady Bird.
• Cook something.
• Go grocery shopping.
• Get ready for the week, I really want to make up for this one.

Do you wanna share your weekend plans?

xx

This time last year: The looking back series (30/01/2017)

WEEKEND RECAP AND PLANS FOR THE WEEK

First of all, and before I share my plans for this week I should give you some sort of weekend recap. Bloggers do that, I guess.

So, what happened this weekend?

Nothing much and nothing too interesting. I washed and folded a ton of laundry, which we had to take to the wash station to dry since we don’t own a dryer and it was a rainy weekend. My boyfriend washed a ton of dishes from last week and cleaned the kitchen. We cleaned some more and took care of a few things around the house and thought about changing the position of our bed but decided it wouldn’t work, so we kept it the same way. Saturday night we ate pizza for dinner and watched American Horror Story.I think we only have an episode left from the third season… now that it was finally growing on me. We also watched a movie “keeping up with the Joneses“, which was okay. I’m not a big fan of comedies. I slept a lot and after that I took naps. We did some grocery shopping and on Sunday night I cooked for the week. Boring, right?

• Put away all the laundry that I folded and iron a few things;

• Find a new psychiatrist and therapist for a second opinion and to try a different approach. I think that I should be feeling better by now and I am not, despite taking so much medication. I take anti psychotics to help with my nightmares but I have them anyway. Bad ones. I take sleeping pills but I don’t sleep that well. I sleep many hours but I never feel rested. I take something that it is supposed to help me with my energy levels and well, did I tell you about the sleepy and exhausted part? I also take mood stabilizers and antidepressants but I think that those actually help, so no problem there. My therapist… I love her but we just… talk. My psychiatrist suggested that I should try some kind of therapy that goes a little deeper and makes a bigger impact, otherwise I’m just paying to talk about my problems, something I could do with a friend. I will do some research and schedule an appointment with someone else for a second (or third) opinion.

• Sign up for a gym membership or at least decided what kind of option I want to go for. I’ve been wanting to do that for a while but lately I almost feel the need to move and to do something… sporty? I don’t know how to explain it. It is as weird as my Brussels sprouts craving from last week. Am I getting “healthy” with age? Ewww. One of this days you will find me doing a whole-30 and crossfit. Just kidding. that would never happen, right? Right??? Anyway, I want to do something and I definitely need it because 1. depression makes you gain weight; 2. depression medication makes you gain weight; 3. I sit all day; 4. I have back issues; 5. my knees hurt most days so I guess I also have knee issues; 6. It helps with depression and anxiety, they say; I love swimming and I love yoga and Pilates and anything that is kind of slow and does not require running, so that’s probably what I should sign up for. And find time for. Before my boyfriend kills me. You guys, he’s the sweetest, most amazing man in the world and keeps telling me that my health is the most important thing right now and that I should focus on trying to get better, no matter how much we have to spend or sacrifice. Love you, babe.

• Find time to take my dog to get her vaccine. Which is a huge drama. Our vet described her as a “difficult patient” because last time she broke two muzzles, bit me and my boyfriend, ripped his jeans and 4 people were needed to complete the task of giving her the shot. I’m getting nervous just thinking about it. She also needs a bath, ideally before going to the doctor. I like a clean, good smelling pup.

• Meet up with one of my besties Rita for coffee. She used to have a job that allowed her to meet me during the day when I had a break or when some student cancelled the class and I had a little time to kill. Now she has a new job (that she loves, congratulations honey!) and is only available maybe after seven, which is difficult for me because I’m rarely done before nine. But I love her and miss her so I need to do some magic and find the time!

• Answer the emails from people asking about English lessons. I don’t know if I can take anyone else so I need to check my schedule and maybe do some adjustments to see if I can fit in more people. Again, boyfriend will murder me.

• Bake a cake that actually grows!

• Cut the sugar!

• Drink more water. During the Summer I am great with my water intake (1,5 to 2 l each day) but in Winter, I forget to drink water and only drink it when I’m really thirsty or when my throat hurts from speaking for many hours while working;

• Eat a ton of fruit and veggies. This will be easy because I grocery shopped and cooked with that in mind;

• Start a book; (reading one, not writing one. I can barely handle the blog)

• Watch some of the Oscar nominees. Please! I need this.

Plans For the weekend – 20/21 January (update)

• Remember to drink water (1.5 l)

Not quite. I did remember to drink more but I’m not sure I got to 1.5 l.

• Remember to take my medication on time

Done.

• Remember to eat fruits and veggies

Did eat plenty of fruit (mostly pears) but not veggies.

• Make the changes we’ve been meaning to make around the house (bedroom will double as office, office will become closet and guest bedroom), we’ve been talking about it for weeks and postponing every time. We need to do it together as it involves moving heavy furniture.

Oh yes!! It took us 2 days but we got a lot done.

• Take Rosa to the vet, she might have some ear infection. It’s a nightmare. She turns into a pit bull with the strength of a friggin horse and it takes 3 people to hold her. Those three people end up being bit, scratched and traumatized. Gosh, I’m nervous just thinking about it. My sweet god turns into hulk when she goes to the vet.

Didn’t happen but we’re scheduling for this week.

• Eat whatever we have in the fridge, I think there’s some frozen soup. Maybe try to meal plan for the week? We haven’t done it in ages, Rui would be pretty happy.

We have found a way to use some leftover chicken, Rui is cooking some fish.

• Sleep.

Yes. We took about 2 naps together as well.

• Read. I haven’t been reading at all since Christmas.

I didn’t.

• Maybe watch a show? I’m behind on a few.

We began watching American Crime Story but I wasn’t very interested because I’m familiar with the “O.J. Simpson probably killing Nicole Brown Simpson and getting away with it” case and the outcome so…

• If we have time, Rui and I can watch a couple of the movies I’ve been meaning to watch (Oscar nominees predictions), light the fireplace and have popcorn.

There was fireplace for the show but no movie.

• I tried flannel sheets for the first time (Rui’s grandma Christmas present) and I’m in love, so I think I want to wash them and put them back on the bed as soon as they’re dry, instead of some of our other sets. They’re so comfortable and warm.

They took longer than I thought to dry 😔

• Cut my hair. Literally. I do cut my own hair and it needs a trim.

Nope.

• Go and get my eyebrows done.

No. Caveman it is.Plan what I’m going to wear next week, as I’ve been doing for a few weeks.

Nope, but can do it tomorrow. It takes me 10 minutes to pick 5 outfits.Do a 15-minute exercise video and some yoga. Now that I’m working out, I don’t want to slack off on weekends. I really need to do something every single day.

No. I was sore from my intense Friday workout (which means 45 minutes of water aerobics followed by 45 minutes of moderate swimming classes) and I moved a lot around the house so I don’t feel like I slacked.Decide whether I want to delete my Facebook account or not.

I’m pro deleting.Hopefully read a few blogs.

Just a few. Not nearly enough.< strong>How was your weekend? Productive, lazy or both?<