Holiday - Day 1

Trying to move on from yesterday's very bad day (the tears just kept coming sometimes prompted by something, sometimes not - I hope a late appointment slot opens up soon with that therapist, not sure waiting much longer is a good idea).

Anyway, I set the alarm for 7 today and got up at 10 past, after only snoozing it twice.  That's progress at least.  7 is the time I would like to start getting up until the winter again - gives me an hour to myself before getting ready for work instead of dragging myself out of bed at quarter past eight and rushing to get to work on time.  My hour of housework hasn't quite worked out.  It took me fifteen minutes or so to get moving after getting up (toilet, brushing teeth, getting dressed).  I decided to just try and get the stuff done that I didn't get to over the weekend, which should have been easily achievable in an hour.  But then I started getting stuck into the kitchen properly.  I've done the dishes, cleaned the oven, cleared off all the crap that was collecting on the windowsill, finally (nearly a year later!) put the two-ring hotplate that used to be my cooker away and gave the small electric oven a good scrubbing and packed that up as well to go down to the cellar (and it's outside the door already so I have to bring it down next time I leave the apartment).  Haven't done the top of the fridge yet though, which is the other magnet for stuff to gather.  Still, what I did along with general cleaning and tidying and putting a wash on, took me more like an hour and a half.  For the last half an hour I've been checking emails, done some online banking, phoned to make an appointment for a massage and pedicure (a 19 euro groupon, I was supposed to go to the chiropodist soon and that costs 35 so for less, plus a neck massage, an ordinary pedicure will do for now) and checked my diary for what else is on this week that I have to do. 

Right, it's after half-nine, I need to do the hoovering and then that is it for housework today.  I think I may take my book and head to the launderette with the second couch cover - it's down in the cellar in a suitcase and it's the one I'd prefer to be using anyway.  Will take that and the summer duvet and spend an hour reading my book while they wash.

Update at 15.00:
Did the hoovering, got the washing hung up and another one in the machine.  Sat and had a nice breakfast (rice krispies, a banana, a cup of herbal tea).  Gathered everything up for going to the launderette.  Just before leaving decided to move the two smaller aloe vera plants from the top of the veg holder to the newly cleared windowsill.  I badly need to repot the aloe veras and thought moving them would remind me.  Of course they were all tangled up and I promptly knocked one over so less than half an hour after finishing the hoovering I ended up with soil all over the kitchen floor and newly cleaned windowsill.  Sigh.  At least I did actually clean it up immediately, even if it did delay me getting out.  One newly cleaned (again!) windowsill and floor, a nice long shower and some clean clothes later, I finally made it out the door.

Went to the launderette, stopping in the cellar to get the sofa cover (which was off course at the very bottom of the piles of stuff) and rearrange things there a bit better.  I even thought to stop at the bank to get change but of course the launderette is very high-tech these days and will not only take notes in the machine, it will give you change.  Unfortunately the XXL machine isn't all that XX so I had to do two loads - at 9 euro each, that is expensive.  It's a good thing the cover comes apart into two pieces.  I was able to do the summer duvet in one of the ordinary machines, which are still bigger than a normal domestic one.  That's 3.50.  I did try washing the smaller section of the sofa cover in a smaller machine but it really wasn't clean when it came out so I put it into the bigger one.  A waste of 3.50 but good to know for future reference.

Called in to the internet cafe on the way home to print out my groupon and chatted to a neighbour I bumped into for a few minutes when I came back.  And made it all the way up the stairs with the now heavy suitcase.  The duvet had to be tumble dried but the sofa cover is explicitly not supposed to be (it has that white material as a lining that can't be ironed or tumble dried).  I put it through an extra spin cycle but it's still very heavy while wet.  Hard to believe that all of that plus getting lunch on to cook (potato cakes with tuna and onion), finding somewhere to hang up the sofa cover (too heavy for the shower rail, which is what I had planned on) and taking the rest of the washing out of the machine as well has brought me up to three o'clock.  Actually, quarter past now.  Time to eat, relax for a while and then head out to meet my friend for the cinema.  Don't have to meet her until after half-six but I may wander a bit on the way and perhaps stop somewhere for an ice-cream.