Not sure what was in the stars in May but it seems that, maybe, the month was a sort of pivotal month for me. A time where the course of life has just reached the bottom it had to come to and has slowly started to go up again. Not at full speed yet, just slowly gathering momentum instead…
Once more I’m cautiously optimistic. I had lots of ups and downs, lots of surprises… and one can never know what comes next.
You may have read that April had not been the month I had expected. At the time, I thought the apartment would be finished or at least the the big works would be done. It wasn’t. I thought I would have my chromes back and that Minty would have wheels again. It didn’t happen either. No wheels, no ride. I thought I would be exercising a lot, instead I slept a lot… At least at the beginning.
I keep on getting surprised! Stupidly surprised!! In April, I somehow was surprised how much work I had on the back burner. In May, I was surprised how exhausted I have been…
I guess more sleep was just what I needed, because I finally got back on track toward the end of the month.
Little follow ups!
You may have read some of my previous monthly updates. Or not! You really have no obligations to follow my life, which is not that interesting anyway. Live your life! It’s all for the best, really.
Anyway, I used to talk about little progress made on various projects and various areas of my boring life. and I used to give little follow-ups, for each items. And here it is back, just in case!
Investment?
It feels like an awfully long time since I told you about my little online investments. Despite not talking about it, I continued investing monthly. Little by little and even a little more recently. One of the platform I’ve been using doesn’t seem to do as well as it used to. 5% or so, but it still more than a bank. It’s ok for now as I’m doing this for the long term, but I still really must get to understand how it works better.
This month I’ve also been studying and following other types of investment and I’m on the verge of ‘doing it’. I think! We shall see. I’ve talked about this a while back and never got to do it.
Budget? What’s a budget?!
For the first few months of this year, it felt like I had thrown any notion of budgeting down the drain! I spoke about this before. Buying a new apartment has been draining on so many level and it has felt like I was bleeding cash and plastic.
This has led to a complete overhaul of my budget presentation. First, I had to separate anything related to the apartment. And then I revisited some other sections to better follow various categories. It’s still not perfect but it’s an improvement.
Unfortunately, this showed me that my regular expenses have increased as well. I do know why. That’s a good first step to managing the issue. (No, it’s not just inflation!)
As you may have previously read, my income has increased as well, so all is fine, for now. However I do not want to fall into the trap of spending all I earn. I want to remain a low spender, while earning more. I want to be a high saver!
I know this is a temporary stage. I need this to be a temporary phase!
Drawing / sewing…
Nothing has happened on that front, except for the hem of some trousers! I do have some curtains to handle but it feels daunting.
No great project started! Nothing to brag about 😦
I did get to play with a Singer K29, a professional boot-maker sewing machine. It was fun but I didn’t manage to make it work properly. Disappointing but still fun!
Pam?
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been irregular with Pam. I used to train for 3 to 4h per week and some weeks this year, my total Pam has sometimes been 1h and on average maybe 1h45.
Moving, drilling holes in concrete, building furniture… That counts as work out? Well apparently not!
My scale was very upset with me after London! It wasn’t just these few days, it was a trend I could see forming, for some times now.
But as mentioned above, I’m getting back on track. It’s was actually really hard at first, I felt like I had lost strength and flexibility.
New things I tried
Detox! And psyllium. I’m so glad my osteopath is knowledgeable in alternative medicine and has recommended me to do these things. After a slightly rough start which showed me she was right, it started feeling really good.
Time unfolding (yes, for me! I’m journaling!!)
First week
A couple appointments for the apartment, a couple invoices paid, a few small projects handled. Sun was shining and things seemed to be moving but despite the tiny progress, I was aspiring to something else. I still don’t know what. We took of for London and it felt good!
And here is a London photo dump!
Second week
The second week was intense! It started in London and ended at my dad’s place. From posh hotel to my dear tent. From cocktails & shopping to mechanic & gardening! Life split, mind split, style split!
Third week
Surprisingly I didn’t crash despite the previous week. I actually went straight back to the yoga mat and that was hard. I gave up on chasing people for the apartment.
Another month had gone by and absolutely nothing was actually done by third parties. They are all MIA. Every now and then, they come to see what’s left to do but they don’t follow up with actions.
Forth week
Wait! They came! Suddenly I had 3 guys in the apartment. 2 changed the wand of my bathtub, one finished the seals of the doors. Just little things! Because the big things are still not done. The painters are still nowhere to be found.
You may think it’s ridiculous but there isn’t much I can do.
This week included a bank holiday but I didn’t really get to enjoy it. When you work for people located in various different countries, except for the big holidays like Christmas, you can never be sure how it’s going to go.
I get plenty of long weekends anyway and I felt like it was time to clean anyway. Clean my to do list! So I worked on it and it felt great. We also managed to go on a little trip locally and visited a few places I had wanted to see for a long time.
Villa Borg and the Roman Temple of Tawern, near Trier, are 2 places I’ve been meaning to see. These have been reconstructed on the remains of Roman archaeological sites and it’s quite amazing to see and be able to walk inside and around such places.
You may know or not, I love Roman architecture. In case you have any doubts, check out the below!
In short
It seems that May was a pivotal month. Many things I wanted to happen didn’t happen but it feels now that it was just because I was really ready for these. I had to rest, I had to detox, I had to reset before the summer and it felt great.
I also had lots to do on all fronts including lots of socialising, a bit too much for my introvert self. But spoiler, it didn’t stop just because the month ended! 😉
Beautiful Things 