Summer is here and for once I made the most of it! And by most, I mean June was filled with progress – not days on vacation, spent at beach! 😉

Looking back on what I had said about May being a pivotal month, I was clearly onto something. Indeed, I needed to rest, detox and reset and after a very diverse month of June, I can confirm it was for the best!

Apartment wise, June was a great month! The painter came and redid the ceiling and walls that needed to be redone. The sealant on the terrace was handled. The glass partition and shower partition were both installed! Yep yep hooray! We managed to installed some of the lights in the bedroom. The curtain hems were done! I partially handled the back kitchen and we ordered the countertop and shelves. Enormous progress if you ask me! Some are small details like the curtain hems but these are the final touch that give the room a better look.

Bike wise, I was in despair but I finally got the news my that wheels were chromed! I waited 5 months, that was way too long. Got a lot to do during my early July week of vacation, at my dad’s place, before I can ride Minty again.

Work, drill holes, install things, get annoyed at contractors, notice something else wasn’t done properly, take a long week end to see my dad, work some more, wait for contractors to come back… rinse and repeat!

Little follow ups

Investment

Darn, I still didn’t take the plunge on the other sorts of investments I’ve been meaning to try. Despite what I said last month.

With interest rate increasing, I suddenly felt the need to wait and focus on the apartment reimbursement and see where this goes. I talked to my partner about making prepayments on part of the loan. This is to lower asap the monthly reimbursements, to make them super easy to reimburse even if something was to happen to one of us.

Plus there is a bike I’m thinking of buying! 😉 Yes, it is an investment and a beauty!

Budget

As mentioned last month, my budget has been hectic since the beginning of the year. Yes, there has been a lot of expenses relating to the apartment, but my regular spending had increased as well. And it’s not just inflation. Things seems to have come back to more normal levels now, although not entirely, but we’ll cross our fingers that it can stay that way and even improve!

Sewing / drawing

Curtain hems do count, right?! I had forgotten how difficult it is for me to sew straight long lines 😉

Pam?

With 2 long weekends at my dad this month, the ‘getting back on track’ has been difficult to achieve. Scale is still upset with me but I don’t know exactly why, because I do feel better and stronger. It’s ok, I know body transformation come in phases. I sleep so much better nowadays too. This is a major improvement in my life!

An interesting read

Capture CO2 and make hydrogen. This almost sounds like there is hope, that smart people are working toward solutions: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Clean-Hydrogen

Time unfolding (just for me!)

First week

The first week started with a lot of work and networking and ended with a very long weekend at my dad’s place. I went to see my wrench, although all I came back with were the spokes of my wheels. I didn’t really want to go, just for the spokes, but I brought him the sewing machine, he had bought for my uncle and that pleased him. It actually pleased me too! It was nice to see him, nice to see other people. We spoke about vintage motorcycles… It was a lovely day.

After that my brother came to see my dad and that was not as pleasant. I wrote about this separately because I learned things about myself in the process.

The second week

As soon as I came back from my dad’s place, we had to finish moving the furniture because the painter was coming! We had been waiting for him for 4 months now! The bedroom was stored in the bathroom, the living room in the dining room and the dining room in the kitchen. I had only my office space as a safe and untouched space. It was hard.

It got harder when more guys came to handle the balcony sealing. At one point during the week, there were 4 guys in the apartment. That didn’t go well! They came and went as they pleased, it felt like they were everywhere. I felt like the apartment wasn’t my place anymore.

They weren’t bad or scary. They were very polite and trying to be discreet but still not very considerate.

There was something else. When they finally left, I felt awful. So I cleaned, I opened all the windows and I smudged. I also showered thoroughly. Later I lit candles and I finally felt better.

In the middle of it, I had a big closing at work. As I handled all of this, I realised I was really glad I had took the time to relax and sleep last month because June was starting off crazy and I knew it wasn’t about to slow down!

That week I also received a fee quote for the kitchen partition and other things that are still to be done. A f@:$king unreasonable quote so I thought of a plan to handle things my own way. Will see how it goes!

Third week

More networking! OMG what is happening to me. I was invited to a concert and I think it took me all day to get ready for it. Between doing my nails, which I had not done in over 5 years, my hair, putting on some make up, ironing my dress, trying on a different one and a third, going back to the first one… I just can’t do that on the regular, it’s exhausting!

The workers came back for the second coat of sealant, I went to work, packed and then just when the next guys came to install the glass partition for the bathroom, I left to go spend the week end with my dad. It was Father’s Day and so we did what father’s and daughters do on such day… we went to see his uncle’s former motorcycle! 😉 Had a blast!!

Fourth week

Back to massive amounts of work squished in 2 days as there was the National day celebrations. I had completely forgotten about it and just went to bed. Way too exhausted to go out anyway. I’m glad I did because apparently people partied like there is no tomorrow. The streets were packed and covid being a thing on the rise again, this is going to lead to a lot of people being out, in the weeks to come!

The solstice came and went without me realising it. I’m a little mad about it. I’ve been meaning to do something special it and another year has just gone by without any success. Grrrr…

I got a message from my wrench that he got my wheels back! It made me sooooo happy!

And then Roe-Wade was overturned and it threw me in despair, like so many other women in the World. No, I don’t live in the US and I’m glad.

I retrieved in my shell and sew my curtain hems.

Fifth week

My Birthday is approaching fast and I needed to plan things!

But first I needed to prep my quarterly invoices 😉 Very important!

I’ve made some further small progress in the apartment. Little by little, things are getting done and looking better.

In short

I remember when I thought the apartment would be ‘done’ in almost no time, that we would move in and that was that! How silly, how unrealistic these thoughts were. Maybe it is for the best as I technical issues have led to changes. Most importantly, living in such a new space, has led to changes in what I want.

Now, it doesn’t mean I’m please with how long it takes to handle things! I feel like things are dragging on and since I don’t have solutions or even ideas, for certain areas, it’s still going to take a while!

Despite the slow progress, I’m starting to feel at home now, not in a rented AirB&B! That’s progress on its own.

I’m now ready for my Birthday celebrations! A week I will spend at my dad’s place, putting Minty back together 🙂 Best Birthday ever!!