still 1.5 hours to go till 8pm

How was your exam? Hope you felt confident - you’re almost at the finish line!! Yay!!!

Kind of sad that Sri Lanka, known hotbed of violence and terrorism and which picturesquely invaded the presidential compound to take selfies, recently had a completely peaceful presidential election with a very different party taking over - one that had links to the violence of the 80s/early 90s no less…

…but here we are reading of people boarding windows up in the US for a presidential election. How things have changed

Dark bedsheet owners unite! ✊🏽

The real threat of violence either way makes it very worrying. I have vague plans to visit my brother there next July but a lot hinges on how this election goes, and the aftermath…

I’m not seagoon but the answer is usually… more curry!! (To freeze, if needed)

I have half a tin of coconut cream in my fridge waiting precisely to be used in that manner after my epic cooking sesh on Sat. Just gonna see if my aunt drops off any food this arvo and cook up something to go with it.

And not… another kind of employment…

Oh boy, I’ve so far managed to progress as far as… moving the boxes from my car to the apartment lol. And only because I had to go put some clothes out to dry. I’m gonna have lunch and then start on the books, they are so easy. I will do this!!

Procrastipacking, ha! Love it. This is the hardest move in my life as it’s the first time I’ve had my own furniture and accumulated so much Stuff. And I’m downsizing. Still, at least with books they all fit on the one bookshelf I have so it’s easy to pack and unpack.

Definitely using a staged approach to the pantry/kitchen items. I’ll be trying to cook my way through some of them so a lot will only be packed the day the fridge is unplugged - 24hrs before I get it moved. Right now the main task is culling. And packing other easy things (books, winter clothes). Lots of clothes to cull, too…

The other task I’m loathing doing is listing larger stuff on Facebook marketplace… especially the fold out couch that was a bitch to move up here when the downstairs neighbour gave it to me. Better to do it sooner rather than later though, with the stuff I know I don’t need.

Procrastinating hard on cleaning out the pantry and packing books. It took me 2 hours to get out of bed and now I’m thinking about work and therapy and the US elections instead of just taping up boxes and getting going… it’s such a beautiful relaxing day, I just want to enjoy my home but NO!

I know I’m gonna get there though. Texted a friend who’s gonna help me with the plants and has a knack for listing shit online. Reaching out to family and friends interstate about Xmas/NY plans so I have something a reward to work towards and I don’t fall into the “woe is me” trap.

Btw does anyone else have the same problem of getting distracted wanting to read books only when packing/unpacking them (and thinking about how much you’ve been meaning to read these again!) - only to forget about them once they’re on the shelf…

My hands are fucking rekt after two hours of finely hand chopping kale and my lower back and knees which were already acting up are not happy today with all the bending and lifting and standing around doing food prep and carrying stuff up and down those crazy outdoor steps. My aunt was very overambitious with how much food she wanted to make today, I noped out of going along with them to deliver because it was so chaotic near the end, and I am ZONKED and need energy for tomorrow to start the real culling/packing now that I have the Good Boxes and Tape courtesy of my lovely colleague.

But it was really good to spend a whole day using my hands and doing good stuff for others, with others!

Aunt might drop by with leftovers in the arvo which I can’t complain about :) now it’s time for dins, Nurofen and a good restorative sleep…

I’d be the dickhead and block them in. Imo not worth having your bins missed repeatedly because they needed to claim that bit of public land for storage of their private property. It’s not like they can’t move the bins if they needed to.

Or at least the traffic cones with a note

Yeah if I was gonna keep doing this I’d probably get a special product but seeing as I’m downsizing and won’t have space for keeping bottles, I made do with a hot water soak and elbow grease. All future bottles going to recycling. For the next six months anyway

Spent 2.5hrs cleaning labels and glue off 20 jars to give to a colleague who is lending me some boxes for packing. Jeez what an ordeal. Especially the really stubborn glue that I needed oil to remove (rubbing alcohol might’ve been better). Not keeping any more jars after this…

It was a great day otherwise though, cooking was well received and it was definitely great to get away from the city and be with others, off my phone (but also be able to leave before hitting my limit). Felt like I had permission to just take it easy and relax. Roads were nice and quiet too. Really glad I took Monday off, the extra long weekend is good for my nerves to recuperate.

Today I’ll drop off the jars/pick up the boxes, then head off to help a relative cook and pack a whole bunch of food for the homeless.

30/50, some lucky ones. Chuckled at the government documents one, I remember that.

Ugh, that would make me feral. Hope it’s a relatively chill day for you?

I must’ve been lucky or just extremely tired, I didn’t hear anything at all and slept right through (though I frustratingly have woken up automatically around 7, I wanted to sleep in!)

Oh, I hadn’t thought about neck angle at all! That’s something to keep in mind. I’m really glad to read that you’re feeling better too despite the Dr being unhelpful the other day. Here’s to a restful and healing night for us both.

Thanks. Had some Nurofen earlier which did nothing. I am gonna have some again, plus extra water as I think I’m dehydrated. I suspect it’ll be better once I wake up. Feels like it was a reaction to something. So tired! I’m going to take it easy when I get back tomorrow.

Ended up making a shit tonne of food, in addition to the dal and the slow cooked jackfruit, made a massive broccoli and pea and cashew curry that is bloody delicious if I say so myself. Not much progress with the jars and haven’t started pantry cull yet. But I don’t mind because I have momentum and a plan… and had a few nice family chats today so that was worth it.

Downside is I’ve picked up a nasty headache out of nowhere this arvo. I’m going to dish out this food, chuck everything in the dishwasher (I will fucking miss this dishwasher), finish the leftovers and call it a day. Gotta love winding down to Fresh Produce on PBS