Well well well
What a rather challenging week. What was a many times a gorgeously relaxing beach holiday has turned into an early home coming followed by everyone in the house being sick ... vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, lethargy....
So guess what? No piano since Monday! Least of my problems really - but one can have such plans for getting things done.... I think children are the biggest educator on "letting go". Thank you my darlings - having had such a low night and morning, I can see the light of that lesson, even if I am also seeing the light of the bathroom, and the bedrooms still way too frequently.
T is yet keeping anything including ice cubes down yet. E has a drip out of his bottom the colour of our tap water (yes there is a burst pipe in the neighbourhood which has turned our water a sedimenty brown - lucky with have the filter which clears it all). W is MUCH MUCH better but still a bit fragile. FIL is coming over to take him out for the afternoon to get him out of the sicky house.
I feel like everything hurts - my back now not just sore at the base, but all up the spine from retching and tummy cramps. I have zero energy - which is low by even my normal standards.
D is well but tired - having studied until 1 am and then been on cleaning duty since 5.30am ... but apparently he is closer to finish this his final MBA assignment - OMG.
You may recal in a prior post my 'job' of juggling the cashflow. Well that has been particularly hard this month due to one tenant missing their payment this week. I gave her some slack as it was a public holiday on the Monday and this may have delayed her a day .... but by Friday 4pm no rent. I rang and asked her to look into it. She didn't really have an explanation and I didn't want to come down hard if it was a genuine slip up on her behalf because she was away Monday .... let's hope it comes through on Monday.
As a result, our credit card bill was not paid completely - hence interest. Now that particular bill had the final MBA expenses of $5,000 plus insurance for the year for two properties of over $2k. So not a small bill. And in the meantime we have $500 to last a week until the next rent/pay. Sounds a lot - but with weekly au pair bill, groceries and some cash - we will probably not make it unless I really clamp down on groceries. Which means resorting to credit card ... which is a vicious cycle I refuse to join. We are meant to be getting ahead!
I do think we will need to assess the budget if bonuses from D's work are less forthcoming this year or delayed at least. What should go? Certainly some (but there is not much) discretionary spending ... cash withdrawals? Maybe I should bite the bullet and get rid of the $100 foxtel a month (but then all the good toddler channels are gone which are my lifesaver some days - I am very strict on what the kids watch so only allow age appropriate viewing which is not consistent on commercial channels), or maybe W's kindergym which is expensive and I am not sure how much he gets from it (but he loves it?!). In reality I need to go easy on the little things I spend on the kids - $50 for reading eggs subscription, $20 on books for boys on the holiday, etc. This seems to add up to more than I expect.
Anyway - not many people talk about their finances in this way. I think this is sad - as how else do we learn from others? I know that I learnt my financial stuff from an ex-boyfriend (about the only good thing that came out of that relationship!) - without it I would probably still be spending all I earn. And have loads of bad debt. And no plan for retirement.
What a rambling blog - like my rambling tummy! I think I have covered nearly everything!
Oh except what a difference my breathing technique has made to help me get to sleep, relax, manage my anxiety and pain. Breath is so so so important for my health. I find I can easily breathe too shallowly and not get the full oxygen intake.
My goal for the remaining 8 weeks of this pregnancy is to be kinder to my body with what I eat. I realise I have been trashing it, as a result of being depressed about having low energy. I realised that yes it is "comfort food' for my mental state but it actually worsens my physical state. Also yoga on Thursday nights - to regroup, meditate, stretch, have me time.
So life may have thrown us all a curve ball this week, but back into next week. Signing off as I think the bowl calls again.... TMI sorry!Labels: Meditation, pregnancy, Property Investing, Suzuki piano