0 comment Monday, June 2, 2014 | admin
I received a call from the tax office which at first seemed to want to accuse me of lying about my divorced status. I never like these kinds of calls; you're often accused before you start of being up to something. There's no such thing as a "free lunch", indeed; all the measures which are supposedly in place to help me exist in society come with a high price of suspicion and constant questions. However, in this instance the system was the one in error - they had underpaid me for some time as they didn't realise my son was receiving High Rate care, and I ended up getting a massive windfall. I couldn't believe it at first and was afraid to touch it, so I called the office and yes, all present and correct.
Wow.
So I've just received a whopping amount in my account, half of which I have socked into savings for the inevitable Just In Cases of having a child with special needs, and half of which I'm using to get some things round the house, some of which are more wants than needs.
I don't actually NEED a mismatched tea set complete with silver spoons, dessert forks and sugar tongs; but it pleases me to have tea parties with my son from time to time or with friends who I can invite round for cakes and a selection from anything from chocolate truffle pu-erh to blooming tea to PG tips. It's just fun, and I have always wanted some china, even if it didn't match or wasn't antique. I don't suppose I really needed the tablecloths, napkins and napkin rings either but again, it's fun and over-the-top and sometimes that's a good combination.
I didn't technically need the overlocker either - but then that's not entirely true as my clothes are falling apart and I know I need to do something about my wardrobe, the ripped upholstery on my downstairs chair, and some of the less-than-their-best pillow throws. My current machine can't handle all that, so I've invested in an ex-demo machine which can, and for a jolly good price too.
I did need the storage boxes I ordered in quantity as I'm trying to organise what I have in fabric and soaps and crafty stuff; cardboard boxes just aren't working as they're getting crushed with weight or being crammed in here and there - they're also not great at keeping the dust off my things. A few more storage boxes in child's room to keep things from migrating under his bed and being lost for all time never hurt! I also certainly needed to get a support board for child's bed as due to all the jumping he does, he's broken a fair few of the slats. Already invested in some more waterproof items for his bed as well.
The housekeeper I just called today to set up an appointment to pop round and discuss requirements was also very, very needed. Attempting to keep the house clean takes up such a huge amount of my day (and is never entirely done to my satisfaction anyway no matter how hard I try) I am more than happy to hand the responsibility over to someone else for a few hours a week. I've managed to price things up and I will be able to afford to keep the keeper on, even if I wasn't entirely relying on the windfall to fund the first few weeks' work to get things up to scratch - after the main heavy clean, anything else is just "maintenance".
There's a few other things which I'm considering investing in, but I don't want to go too mad with it (and I already feel I've done that by getting all the tea things!). I do like the security of the current nest egg sitting in savings, a few hundred quid which I can already see getting used this year in any number of ways from taking child out to Longleat during the summer to private dental appointments.
I sit here now and plan a rather relaxed tea party in two weeks' time - getting in some cakes and fancy foods and tea stuff for the few dear friends I have. I plan the party I can have with my son, and the bouquet of flowers once a week which I can start buying again to bring colour into our house until we start growing our own beauties outside to cut and bring in. I've dusted and decluttered the sideboard in preparation for installing fiddly little silver tea-things and doilies and a brand new teapot, and given all my houseplants the first drink of compost tea for the year, whilst planning which ones need potting up and on for the year. The cats are snoozed after a morning of madness, sunlight coming through the window, and I've got painting and editing to do today.
Things aren't perfect - I've got a plan-of-attack meeting with ex on the phone today as the school is failing my son and we need to decide how to either a) move him out of the school, b) figure out whether I've got the sanity or energy to homeschool him for a while, or c) move him with his father so he can attend a proper school. But I'm feeling positive and motivated, so I'm going to ride that happy wave for a while, and breathe in deeply.
Some days are good days.
Wow.
So I've just received a whopping amount in my account, half of which I have socked into savings for the inevitable Just In Cases of having a child with special needs, and half of which I'm using to get some things round the house, some of which are more wants than needs.
I don't actually NEED a mismatched tea set complete with silver spoons, dessert forks and sugar tongs; but it pleases me to have tea parties with my son from time to time or with friends who I can invite round for cakes and a selection from anything from chocolate truffle pu-erh to blooming tea to PG tips. It's just fun, and I have always wanted some china, even if it didn't match or wasn't antique. I don't suppose I really needed the tablecloths, napkins and napkin rings either but again, it's fun and over-the-top and sometimes that's a good combination.
I didn't technically need the overlocker either - but then that's not entirely true as my clothes are falling apart and I know I need to do something about my wardrobe, the ripped upholstery on my downstairs chair, and some of the less-than-their-best pillow throws. My current machine can't handle all that, so I've invested in an ex-demo machine which can, and for a jolly good price too.
I did need the storage boxes I ordered in quantity as I'm trying to organise what I have in fabric and soaps and crafty stuff; cardboard boxes just aren't working as they're getting crushed with weight or being crammed in here and there - they're also not great at keeping the dust off my things. A few more storage boxes in child's room to keep things from migrating under his bed and being lost for all time never hurt! I also certainly needed to get a support board for child's bed as due to all the jumping he does, he's broken a fair few of the slats. Already invested in some more waterproof items for his bed as well.
The housekeeper I just called today to set up an appointment to pop round and discuss requirements was also very, very needed. Attempting to keep the house clean takes up such a huge amount of my day (and is never entirely done to my satisfaction anyway no matter how hard I try) I am more than happy to hand the responsibility over to someone else for a few hours a week. I've managed to price things up and I will be able to afford to keep the keeper on, even if I wasn't entirely relying on the windfall to fund the first few weeks' work to get things up to scratch - after the main heavy clean, anything else is just "maintenance".
There's a few other things which I'm considering investing in, but I don't want to go too mad with it (and I already feel I've done that by getting all the tea things!). I do like the security of the current nest egg sitting in savings, a few hundred quid which I can already see getting used this year in any number of ways from taking child out to Longleat during the summer to private dental appointments.
I sit here now and plan a rather relaxed tea party in two weeks' time - getting in some cakes and fancy foods and tea stuff for the few dear friends I have. I plan the party I can have with my son, and the bouquet of flowers once a week which I can start buying again to bring colour into our house until we start growing our own beauties outside to cut and bring in. I've dusted and decluttered the sideboard in preparation for installing fiddly little silver tea-things and doilies and a brand new teapot, and given all my houseplants the first drink of compost tea for the year, whilst planning which ones need potting up and on for the year. The cats are snoozed after a morning of madness, sunlight coming through the window, and I've got painting and editing to do today.
Things aren't perfect - I've got a plan-of-attack meeting with ex on the phone today as the school is failing my son and we need to decide how to either a) move him out of the school, b) figure out whether I've got the sanity or energy to homeschool him for a while, or c) move him with his father so he can attend a proper school. But I'm feeling positive and motivated, so I'm going to ride that happy wave for a while, and breathe in deeply.
Some days are good days.
Labels: Good Life