The week in review – Moving, dentist & OMG there’s a lump in my armpit!

So I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, just on Facebook, that we’ve had some trouble with teenagers in our area. We live above a shop and naturally kids tend to hang out outside of it, which basically means right below our lounge window. That’s fine (mostly), but the little fuckers think it’s ok to throw things at our windows. I’ve told them off or chased them away a few times, but last month I confronted a group of really gobby shitheads. They persisted with knocking on our window so I literally told them to “fuck off or you are getting a bucket of water over you”. They carried on talking shit and being cocky, so I delivered on my threat. They scattered like cockroaches so I mostly missed with the water, but they ran away so that was awesome. About 20 minutes later though an egg was thrown onto our window, and a few others on the walls. Little shits. Luckily we still had another bucket of water ready from earlier so it was easily washed off, but now it looks like a vendetta has started. So that occurrence was last month, last Saturday however without warning a few more eggs were thrown. I know I should just ignore it, but it just makes me so angry so again I hurled abuse at them as they ran away. Afterwards though Pete and I decided we are sick of having to put up with all the noise from the shop, shutter noises, the intercom, people leaving barking dogs tied up outside and of course the kids. So we’ve decided to move.
Our lease ends in December so we’ve given our landlords notice of our intent, so we will need to be in a new place by 7 Dec. Pete started property hunting the very same night, and we’ve looked at 3 properties last week already. Nothings quite right yet though, but we still have plenty of time. We are looking at another place tomorrow, and Pete is always checking for new ones that become available each day. It’s a bit tedious to be moving again after only 1 year here and we will hopefully be in a place to buy our own house in another year, but we have no major love for this flat which is why the decision to move has been so easy.

So other than the property hunting, on Tuesday we both went to the dentist for the first time in nearly 2 years! Eep! Neither of us like going to the dentist and were a bit nervous. Thankfully I didn’t need anything doing other than a scale and polish, Pete however needed 2 fillings! Poor lad. He had to go back the next day which I think is torturous not to just do it while you are in the chair, but they have a schedule to keep I suppose. Of course it all went OK though, and we were joking around about it. “Make sure you wear a shirt it’s OK to bleed on!” & “She reattached your jaw really well!” So that’s our dentist visit done for another 6 months.

And finally I had an ultrasound done on a lump I’ve had in my armpit. It’s been around for about 2 months in total. I freaked the hell out when I first found it, as you do, and made an appointment to go to the doctors. A few days before my appointment though the lump seemed to vanish so I cancelled. We then went on holiday to Scotland and just after that I felt it was back again. I went to the doctor and she couldn’t feel anything so referred me to the hospital for an ultrasound. That appointment was on Thursday just gone. I was very nervous but the lump had remained static in size (small!). So off I went to the hospital and thankfully the lovely doctor managed to find the lump very quickly, and in fact found 2 lumps. He told me that they are in fact swollen lymph nodes and 99% of the time they are benign. *Huge sigh of relief!* but he is going to send me on for a full breast exam anyway just to be 100% sure. Of course there is always that small chance it could be cancer but I’m feel much more relaxed about it now than I was. I didn’t really tell anyone apart from Pete and my manager because I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary worrying until I knew myself what it actually was. Now that I’m 99% certain it’s nothing I don’t mind sharing the experience. I’ve only been through a small taster of the stress that possible cancer can cause and believe me I hope I never have to go through it again, but with the statistic of 1 in 3 people getting it in their lifetime, I’ll be very lucky if this is my only scare.

What a week!

TCT Charity run training.

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Our first training session at The Chase. We did about 5 km in about and hour alternating between 1 minute of running then 1 minute of waking. We plan to do it again on Saturday and hopefully plot the full 5 miles. My legs are tired now. I’m hoping I don’t suffer to much with my ankles tomorrow too.

House Move, Permanent Position @ Work, Persistent Cough & Running for Teenage Cancer Trust

I have lots to blog about as it’s been quite a while since my last proper blog post, again. I don’t know if I’ll get it all down now, but will have a go.

We have moved! In 2008 we moved into a block of flats which at the time was an upgrade from the downstairs flat (aka bottom half of a converted house) we first rented upon arrival in England. But after living there for nearly 4 years, we were really sick of the sight of the floral wallpaper and stained carpet. So were decided to look around at houses for rent and it turned out that one of our colleagues had a 2 bedroom double storey house to rent that was just becoming available. We took a look and decided to take it. No letting agent to go through any more, bonus! We had to buy a few appliances, so now own our own fridge-freezer and washing machine. I feel so grown up. lol! We moved in on the 28th April. It was a huge amount of hard work but so worth it! We’ve been here 1 month now and already it feel more like home than anywhere else we have lived. It’s great to live somewhere that we genuinely give a shit about and want to improve. We have our own garden and thus private outdoor area, a fireplace in the lounge, a large kitchen, neutral walls, great bathrooms, a fantastic hueg open grass belt literally 10 meters from our front door, and I finally have my dream bookcase from Ikea. I seriously couldn’t be happier. AND we finally got to give our shit letting agent the finger. Those arseholes were less than useless and I’m stoked to never have to deal with them ever again. They totally tried to rip us off with our deposit with supposed repairs to the shit flat, but Pete negotiated with the fuckwit owner and got most of it back. Though I didn’t want them to have a single penny of our money but if I had dealt with them again I would have gotten too angry to be reasonable, and then we wouldn’t have got anything. lol. Though we are still waiting for our agreed amount back and I look forward to phoning then tomorrow and asking where the hell our cheque is. Phew! Rant over 🙂 So yes, moved, and very happy. 🙂

I’m still enjoying my new job. The only aspect I don’t particularly enjoy is test scripting! 😛 But I hear all my tester colleagues saying the same thing. Planning tests is fine, and probably the most challenging part of the job as I’m still learning, but scripting is just tedious. It basically consists of writing a set of instructions within the test management software. Depending on the type of test, it can be as simple as “click this, and this will happen”, and some tests can be so involved the script can end up quite lengthly. Then you may have over 100 tests to script for a particular piece of work. You get the idea. Running the tests themselves however I really enjoy. That’s when we actually get to find defects and report them for fixing. But I digress, I’m still enjoying it 🙂 I’m only on contract at the moment and my 6 month contract was just renewed at the beginning of May. Now 2 permanent positions have opened because of other staff leaving, so I am in the process of applying for that. It’s definitely stressful as it’s a full reqruitment process happening, including CV & cover letter application, then an apptitude test and interview; and I HATE interviews 🙁 but hopefully I will be successful and then I’ll be permanent and not have to worry about my job security, or doing another interview any time soon! *fingers crossed!*
Also work has been insanely busy and we’ve been doing loads of overtime. 2 weeks ago we worked until 9pm, and this was in the middle of dealing with the arsehole letting agents so I wasn’t such a happy camper. But the overtime pay certainly makes it worth while, and negates the pay cut I took for this job (which was worth it).

I have had a persistent cough for about 1.5 – 2 years. I had it once before and it lasted for about 2 years before going away. I’ve seen the doctor frequently about it, and had 2 endoscopies to check my throat and upper oesophagus, and tried numerous treatments without much luck. I went back again 2 weeks ago and requested to try a nasal spray (again) as I’m conviced the cough is caused by mucus. So I’ve been using it for 2 weeks and I dare say it seems to be working! I can’t express the relief I feel to be able to go through the day and night without coughing to the point of nearly vomiting. It’s great. So fingers crossed I’ve finally found a treatment that doesn’t involve taking morphine based pills 4 times a day. 🙂

Pete and I are taking part in a charity run with some of our colleagues (Please stop buy a sponsor me, every dollar, pound or rand makes a huge difference). The company we work for is teamed up with Teenage Cancer Trust as an official fundraiser, so a few of us that work together have decided to get our butts off the couch and do a 5 mile run to raise some funds. The run itself is happening on the 8th July, and I think Pete and I are the only ones who have been properly training for it. Christ, I NEED to, I’m so unfit! Since we now have a lovely area of open grassland next to our house it’s easy to go running after work, so we’ve been trying to run a few times a week. The first few runs we did I thought I was going to die, but slowly it’s starting to get easier and I’m starting to enjoy it! Hopefully I’ll improve my fitness and loose a few kgs for our wedding in September! Not long to go now!

Gym, book in the bath.

Went to the gym today for the first time in quite a while. Gave it a really good session and can feel it in my shoulders now from the shoulder press. My arms are really weak!!

Then came home and had a lovely long bath which I dropped my book in 🙁 It wasn’t too bad though, and thankfully it wasn’t my iPhone though! That would have been a disaster.

Yoga

I did some yoga last night before going to bed and did 3 Sun Salutes before work. Definitely nice to have a good stretch in the morning, and it certainly gets the blood flowing.

Got home this evening and did another hour and a half following the yoga for dummies video. I’d really recommend it as she explains each pose really nicely, and getting into each pose is gradual so you know exactly what you are supposed to be doing and where you should feel the stretch. She also explains the breathing a lot and keeps reminding you to focus on it as it’s intergral to yoga and it’s benefits.

I’m really hoping the stretching can help with my bad hip and it’s range of motion, I’ve struggled with simple things most people take for granted, like crossing your legs, since I had my surgery when I was 11. I’d be over the moon if I can get some of that movement back. Obviously I’ll have to take it slow and steady though, but I think by challenging it daily and stretching it, it’ll help.

coloured Contact Lenses, 30th Party & Yoga

Pete was working away from home the weekend just gone, they had a catalogue launch in Widnes nr Liverpool. Becky kept me company some of the weekend though and we went to watch Twilight Eclipse for the 3rd time in cinema. Yes we are somewhat obsessed. I think we are going leave it at that now though and wait for the DVD.  Afterwards we saw Steve and Greenie in town for a quick drink and then Becky came back to our place for a little while. I however drank loads of cider and stayed up till 4am.

I’ve ordered some coloured conact lenses. I’ve always wanted light coloured eyes, but coloured contacts have always been really expensive and incredibly fake-looking so I’ve never tried them. On Sunday my interest was piqued again, so I did a search for “coloured contact lenses for dark eyes” and found a forum with a long discussion about them, and photos of people wearing them which looked great, so I followed a recommended link and came to contactlenses.co.uk which stocks a wide range of professional contact lenses coloured and normal. Thy have good prices and range to choose from, and the reviews for their coloured contacts were really good, so I’ve ordered some.
I’m both excited and nervous at the same time as I don’t know what results to expect, or if I’ll have the confidence to leave the house with them in. They were dispatched today so should hopefully arrive in the next few days.

I’m getting more and more interested in yoga. I’ve only done it a few times, but the flexibility, relaxation and body & mindconnection really appeals to me. I might try give it a serious go and try do a bit each day before work.

My 30h Birthday party has been organised by Pete and Becky. Luckily my Birthday is on a Saturday, so I get to have my party on my actual birthday. I’m trying hard not to get any expectations to avoid disappointment, but I am actually really looking forwards to the celebrations 🙂 And of course Pete it taking me on holiday somewhere which is all a secret, so i’m very excited about that 🙂

Aunty Sandra, Slimming, Evernote

Aunty Sandra is still hanging in there, just a slow progressive deterioration.

Connie at work commented that I am looking slimmer these days. Just the boost I needed as I’ve eaten more junk this week than I should have. It’s nice to know the hard work to loose weight is paying off, but I still have further to go, I won’t give up now!

I think I’ve finally found the notes/lists/to do manager I have been wanting for ages in the form of EVERNOTE. It syncronises across all my computers (work & home), devices (iPhone & iPad) and has full web access; plus it’s free for up to 40MB of data traffic which is plenty for my needs. I’ve used it for over a year but never properly understood it’s capabilities and functionality, but I’m glad I finally have. I can split all my notes into various notebooks, i.e. shopping, to dos, ideas, etc and store a wide range of info and media, such as audio records, pictures and typed notes. It really is an extension to my brain that is easy to search and recall info from. I really like it.

Work Stress, energy & budgeting

I’m really glad it’s friday. On a friday morning I wake up already feeling happier just knowing the weekend is a few hours away.

It’s been a stressful week at work. Aside from my horrible day on Wednesday, almost everyone on the company has had their work cut to 4 days a week, thus loosing 20% of their income. I have been one of the very few lucky ones not put on short time, but it might only be temporary. But I am definitely grateful. However I do feel guilty that all my colleagues are in a bad situation and currently I am not. I can only hope they don’t hold it against me and work picks up very soon.

I was feeling very run down last night and relaxed and dosed on the couch all evening. Probably related to the stressful week and also my diet. Im trying very hard to restrict my calorie intake, so I’m probably not getting the best varied diet that I should be. But I’m desperate to slim down so I’ll keep at it. I’m taking vitamins and Acai though so hopefully that’ll give me a boost.

I’m working on a very tight budget at the moment as I’ve let Pete take over my finances so I can pay of my debts quicker. I was starting to get very stressed about my finances as I’m not a good money manager, and finally realised I needed Pete’s help.

Dieting

In the past month people have started to notice I’ve lost weight. Yaaay! It really makes me feel so good and encourages me to keep at it. Gym tonight again. 🙂