Tough getting back to work

I really didn't plan on spending longer than a normal eight hours at work on my first day back but the fact that it is quarter end, we have a narrower than usual window to finish billing (1.5 days rather than the usual 4) and that I was away for a few weeks as well as, admittedly, spending quite a bit of time answering questions about my holiday, meant that it was a ridiculous thirteen.  Tomorrow is looking like being quite a stressful few hours until the twelve o'clock deadline but it was undoubtedly worth it to stay longer this evening.  Staying late did put the kibosh on my no-spend day though, as I got a taxi home.  I suspect I may not have been able to resist the desire to stop and buy a kebab if I had walked to the tram stop because I could feel that urge to stuff my face that the stress and unexpectedly long day was bringing on.  So I'm feeling kind of happy with myself for managing to keep on track with my food, even if I didn't stay quite on track with my spending.

Sunday night chit-chat

I've enjoyed reading these posts on I'm Losing It Here over the last while and finally got around to clicking through to see who hosts this (My 1/2 Dozen Daily) and join in.  I assume that given the time difference between here and Canada I will be posting before the original post goes up so I will come back to edit this post with a proper link-up and the bonus question. 

Ice-lollies made from the free sample of elderflower and apple tea that I got yesterday. 

What are you:
Reading?
Die große Liebe - Hans Josef Ortheil

Watching?
I think I'm going to watch Death at a Funeral, one of the DVDs I got out of the library on Friday.  But first I'm going to watch just one more video at Feminist Frequency (LEGO and gender part 2), which I've been getting to know (again) this weekend.

Listening to?
I was listening to Imelda May's "Love Tattoo" while I tidied up a bit and finished unpacking.  Now it's just the sound of my fingers on the keyboard.

Cooking/Baking?
Pinto bean and chickpea casserole with onion, carrot and tomatoes (some of those that I canned during the summer)

Happy you accomplished this week?
Unpacking.  Writing a menu plan and shopping just for that, including not buying any sweets.

Looking forward to next week?
Catching up with people I haven't seen since the end of November

Thankful for today?
Slowly returning health.  And even more than that, being in my own home again.

Bonus Question:
What is the "minimum" # you feel comfortable with sitting in your bank account/piggy bank? 
This is a tough question, given that I'm still in debt. But if I include immediate access to credit then I suppose the minimum amount I feel comfortable with is between 1,000 and 2,000.  There have been times where I didn't have access to that much as I just didn't have much of anything in my current account and my overdraft and credit card were maxed out and I found that extremely stressful.  I am definitely more familiar with feeling uncomfortable!  But once I had cleared more than 1,000, I did relax more.  I'm taking that as a sign that when I am debt-free in a few months, my aim, once I've built up an emergency fund, will be to have about 1,500 sitting doing not much but ready to be transferred in and out of my current account as required.  

If you want to join in with Sunday night chit-chat, head over to My Half-Dozen Daily and leave a comment and link on this post.

Blogs come and go

And sometimes I miss it.  There are a few blogs I used to read and enjoyed very much which have since been deleted or made private.  Blogs that are made private often have posts that request regular readers to apply for access as, for one reason or another, often privacy around use of photos) before it is taken private.  Or some people, having decided not to blog, let you know in advance so that you can exchange private contact information, find out where they'll be posting in the future or at least just give you the chance to say goodbye.  Having not really spent much time in the blogosphere for periods of months at a time over the last year or two, I've obviously missed out on quite a bit.  I'm removing these blogs from my read list but if any of them are still going and would like me to continue reading/would like to give me access, please just comment here and we can sort out email contact.

And, to all of these, I wish you the very best in your endeavours and would like to thank you for sharing parts of your life in such a lovely way.  Take care.

http://lewislovingthelife.blogspot.com

http://satisfying-journey.blogspot.com/

http://saving4later.blogspot.com/

End of Ordinary: One Kid Against Climate Change

I found this blog post so inspiring, I felt I should share it.  I can't even describe to you the feelings this brings up in me.  So impressive and so humbling.

One kid against climate change

Saturday shopping - 5th January 2013

Got up relatively early this morning (just after 8), trying not to be dismayed at the fact that it was still dark.  I thought the dark evenings would be a bit of an adjustment again after returning from the southern hemisphere but it seems it's the mornings I'm going to struggle with.  I've taken an executive decision to set my alarm clock for 8 for the next couple of months and to not put myself under pressure to get up earlier than that to do things like go swimming or get some cleaning done before work, not to mention the elusive "I'll go into work early today".  8 is time enough to get ready for work without rushing too much, including time for a quick breakfast and still being on time for work at 9.

I was going to go straight to the market but ended up instead giving the fridge a thorough cleaning.  I'd emptied it and switched it off while I was away but ran out of time before I could clean it properly.  So that's all done and it's switched back on again.  Let's see if I can keep it clean and tidy this year.  I had four open jars of chutney and I really need to not do that kind of thing anymore.  Two of them have gone in the bin this morning as they didn't smell quite right but the other two, as well as the jam and mustard, seem to have survived quite well.  Since the heating was off while I was away as well, the temperature in the kitchen will have been fairly low most of the time anyway.  I've started the freezer off with a few ice-cubes and the ice-pack but want to really think about it before anything else goes in there.

I took the time to write out a meal plan for the week and set out for the market. I stopped first to put some empty bottles in the recycle bin and headed for the greengrocer on the corner to get some lemons and oranges (planning to make some ice-lollies as well as lots more lemon and honey hot drinks for my cold).  Both were on "special" offer, although if I remember the prices from last year correctly, more expensive than before.  Oh well.

I headed off to the market only to arrive and realise they must be taking their usual holiday.  I can't remember how long it's for and because I was away for all of December, I missed out on any signs they would have had up.  Presumably they'll be back next week but I have to admit I was momentarily confounded.  Something of a salutary lesson in taking things for granted, I suppose.

I walked back around to my street and stopped at the Reformhaus.  A Reformhaus is basically a health-food shop.  They all have the umbrella term Reformhaus in their name but are independently run shops and although my local one is not the biggest there is, it's a decent size and the people are nice.  I got eggs there and picked up some Detox Tea that was on offer as well.  Can't hurt.  And got a freebie sample of an elderflower and apple teabag, which smells so delicious I'm going to make a large cup of tea later and then freeze that as ice-lollies, too.

After that I headed into the SuperBioMarkt (organic supermarket, probably something similar to Whole Foods in the States, I think).  I normally don't buy veg, or anything much, there because the veg tends not to last very well and be mostly imported from afar and the prices can be steep.  However, I do need to eat this week and I should count myself lucky that I have the opportunity and the money to have the choice.  I tried to restrict myself at least to German produce and got some potatoes (selection was not good, three types and almost all with only very small ones left), a couple of carrots, an onion and some leeks.  I also picked up two sweet potatoes, which were from Spain.  I am growing very fond of this vegetable but the only ones available most of the time are imported from the USA.  If I have a chance to talk to one of the farmers at the market next time, I want to ask them if they'd consider growing them.  I don't think it's that easy to do so in this climate though.

In the SuperBioMarkt I also got some milk, raspberry joghurt and cheese.  I was able to get mostly what I wanted to get from the market although I decided not to buy any chicken or apples and didn't get any salad either, so will need to rethink my menu a bit. 

On the way back home I stopped to get some bread and a couple of bread rolls (which look like they're double the normal size) and also popped in to the bookshop to spend some of the lovely book token my boss gave me for christmas.  I hadn't gotten a diary for 2013 yet and was spared the agony of decision-making as they only had one left in the size and type I like.  I also bought Eating Animals, which is a book I've wanted to read for a while.  I love, love, love book tokens.

Price list for today's shopping
SuperBioMarkt (all organic stuff, all prices in euro)

1 litre milk - 1.35 (plus 0.15 deposit on bottle)

Joghurt - 1.79 (plus 0.15 deposit on jar)

Leeks - 2.96 (3.79/kg)

Sweet potatoes - 2.65 (3.49/kg)

Potatoes (have forgotten the type) - 1.23 (1.99/kg)

Carrots - 0.28 (1.29/kg)

Onion - 0.73 (2.49/kg)

Cheese - 5.19 (14.90/kg)

Reformhaus

Detox tea - 5.65

6 eggs - 2.10 (0.35 each)

Bakery

2 spicy rolls - 1.20

Half a Delikatessbrot - 1.55

Greengrocer

6 lemons - 3.90

3 oranges - 1.95

Bookshop

Paperblanks diary - 12.95

Eating animals - 9.95

Total spend today: 32.17 cash, 22.90 book token

I'm going to try and start doing proper meal plans and tracking what I eat again, which I will post about on the other blog, for anyone who's interested in that.

2012 - the year in books summary

Here's the summary of totals for the books that I read during last year (here's the link to last year's for anyone who's interested):

• Books by male authors: 53
• Books by female authors:59
• Plus one book written by both a man and a woman
• Fiction: 86
• Non-fiction: 27
• English books: 108
• German books: 5
• Books re-read: 22
• Bookclub books: 7

 I had a somewhat vague aim to read 12 non-fiction and 12 German books in 2012.  Didn't manage it with the German but more than doubled last year's amount, which is something.  And I have several books on hand that I didn't get around to reading last year which will give me a good start on German reading this year.

I read a lot more non-fiction although there are a couple of very short e-books included in that total.  Seven of the non-fiction books were auto-biographies but even taking both of those things into account I still read more than my aim and hope to continue with that this year. 

A few more photos from Oz

Hyam's Beach, Jervis Bay - I would happily go back and spend several weeks just in this spot.  I miss the sea where I live and have never enjoyed swimming in it as much as I did here.  The power of the waves is immense and I now more fully comprehend what my therapist was talking about when he spoke of an epiphanic moment he experienced standing in the ocean once.

The Three Sisters - taken from Echo Point, Katoomba, Blue Mountains

Part of the rainforest beneath the Three Sisters - no photo can ever capture the immensity of this place (I checked, even the professional photos on sale in the souvenir shops just couldn't do it justice).

A park in Brisbane - I was captivated by the beautiful trees I saw in Australia

Another view, taken from the same spot as the photo above - had been enjoying the view and glanced down to see that, sad though it is, some things will always be the same, no matter where in the world you are.

Another tree, different park in a different part of Brisbane

Koala bear in Taronga Zoo