Thankful Anyway Thursday and 34 weeks

The past couple of months have been so stressful in the financial area of my life (like most people's). Wednesday finally solved everything! I got my Maternity Allowance go ahead! I was so excited! I will be receiving the same amount as I was when I was working. Finally, we will have the money that we have been missing since the end of June (because I got sick pay all Summer, which amounts to half pay, and I haven't gotten anything for the past month and a half because my managers at work are incompetent). I was also told that I will be finally getting my holiday pay on Friday (after I had to do my manager's job and harass people myself).

I just can't believe everything finally worked out. Even if my holiday pay is screwed up again this week (and I am assuming it will until I see the money in my bank), I have the go ahead on my Maternity Allowance.

To recap my Thankful Anyway:
The last couple of months have been really crap, not knowing where my paycheck was, how much it would be for or if I would be getting any pay at all. I have had to fight with my managers and do their jobs for them. I have had to be mean to my husband because I wanted to make sure we could pay our bills.

But I am Thankful Anyway because...
It all paid off in the end! Now I know where my pay is coming from and I can accurately assess our finances again. We are going to be back to where we were when I was working (which although is still fraught with debt, we were able to pay our bills and our debts on time without borrowing from anyone). We can also start buying the little things we need to get ready for the Sprout, which is of great comfort to me.

Thankful Anyway Thursday

It is that time of year again when everyone asks the question..."should I turn on the heat?"  It is a hard question to answer.  If you were lucky enough to bask in the heat of the sun this Summer, you may feel the need to turn on your heat before the rest of us.  If you are like me, where the Summer produced limited days over 72 F (22 C), then you may be able to hold off a little longer.

For the past 3 years, I have barely been able to keep my house above 56 F (14 C), even letting it get down to 53 F (12 C) on more than a few occasions, and yet last year we were still left with a £350 bill for Dec-Feb that we just finished paying off.  This time when we moved we decided to sign up for direct debit so we pay a fixed rate every month for our gas/electricity (that is until we start using more and then the direct debit goes up).  Luckily Britain has an open market when it comes to gas/electricity suppliers, so you are allowed to shop around and change suppliers at will.

With the Spout due to make an appearance at the end of November we have some time to go without turning on the heat, however, the recent problem with the cellar has left us to un-needingly turn on the heat to dry out the room.  Because I feel it is such a waste, I think we are just going to lie and tell the property people that we tried having the heat on for a few days and it didn't work and therefore we need a to borrow a dehumidifier.  Honestly, I don't see how blasting the heat in a drafty cellar improves the dampness, especially when you live in a wet climate.  We also have to keep the window open in order for the moisture to escape, it just doesn't make sense. NB: We learned that the landlord DID know about the cellar because there was a burst water pipe not to long ago and that is why the cellar was damp...Thanks a lot!

Because of the tightness of our budget, I did look into what a baby needs the temperature to be in the house.  I was happy to find that we should have the house between 65 F (18 C) and 70 F(21 C), which isn't too bad. I also read the wisdom of others and they suggested that if you are too cold, so is the baby.  Also, we have received so many beautiful knitted sweaters from Richard's Nan, that the Sprout has no chance of going cold this Winter.

So to sum up my Thankful Anyway post...
Yes, it sucks to have to pay for heat.  Heating a house in incredibly expensive, almost unfair.  However I am thankful anyway because I am looking forward to having a reason to turn on the heat.  Being cold is miserable and adds to my S.A.D.  I enjoy wearing my woolly sweaters and green, fleece "pickle suit,"  but being afraid to turn the heat on when even the silk PJs don't keep me warm makes Winter long and depressing (and after all I actually kinda like Winter, not February though...I HATE February).

Thankful Anyway Thursday and the beginning of the halloween movie-thon

Finally October 1st!  Now I can begin my horror movie-thon...it has been so hard to wait and I haven't even decided on what to watch first.
I don't really have anything to say that doesn't involve the typical whine about how much my body hates me and how I am thankful anyway because of the Sprout...  I am a little tired of  using the Sprout as my positive focus when I hurt and feel it becomes the politically correct thing to say.  So this week I am not saying it (although I just kinda did).
I am interested in the fact that I didn't receive any comments on my gay marriage opinion piece.  Very interesting...either no one agrees, everyone agrees or I have more people not talking to me than I thought...or it could be that the issue is worn out (kinda like healthcare...although I don't think either issue could EVER be warn out).
This last weekend Richard had to move all of our storage from the cellar to the living room because it all began to mold.  Richard said he found black, white, grey, orange and yellow mold.  Fun times.  
I guess I can say I am thankful that I have a husband that could take care of all that because I wouldn't have been able to bring the boxes upstairs and I shouldn't be inhaling that stuff (neither should he, but he has a strong immune system).  What bit I did breathe in made me want to vomit it was so strong.  I have had the doors open for 4 days now, luckily it hasn't been too cold.  Now we will just have to see how long it takes for us to contact the property people to tell them about it (this link is good for people who rent in Washington State).  You'd think it was something they would want to know, but property management people are a strange breed.

Here are some things I am thankful for (not thankful anyway) this week:

Scented Candles...thank you Ms. Molly for the reminder that candles smell good.

People who said they are sending me packages

Richard's paycheck and job

LolCats

Halloween

Zucchini Bread

Peep Show (a really funny British TV series)

Past Thankful Anyway Thursdays

To complete the page, I am going to add the previous existing Thankful Anyways as links:

August 27th, 2009

August 19th, 2009

August 12th 2009

August 6th, 2009

Thankful Anyway Thursday

Ahhh...up at 6 am to see that it is STILL DARK!!!
Let's see...I don't have anything specific because the weeks are going by so fast I don't know what to do with myself.  
The pregnancy:2 months to go!  You heard right! 2 months. 

• I am tired all the time.
• My back and pelvis ache.
• I can't bend over, roll over, stand up or sit down without sounding like an old man (uhhh...ooohhh...grunt!)
• I have to lie when I go to buy vitamins or anything from a drug store, saying what I am buying is for someone else.  Can you believe that?  I can't buy any vitamins at the vitamin store unless they are specifically for pregnant ladies (so different from the US).
• The sides of my stomach feel like they are being stretched by a taffy machine (and are beginning to look like it too).
• I am tired of being kicked from the inside and having the hiccups that aren't my own that last for a half an hour or more.

Thankful anyway:Only 2 months left!  I should be happy that I am being kicked from the inside and not the outside, and if I had the hiccups for a half an hour I would kill myself, so better him and me.
Work and money:Oh work and money...what would I do without you to frusterate my life so?  Since I have been out of work, we had a manager change.  In this manager change, things got really screwed up because my previous manager decided not to fill the new manager in on my situation (or anyone else's for that matter).  He didn't tell her that I had pre-approved holiday that I was supposed to receive before my maternity leave started.  So, the new manager never put it in, and when I was switched over to maternity leave, I was not allowed the pay that the new manager put in to make up for my holiday.So after a small sit in at work the other day...I finally called corporate and dealt with the problem myself and HOPEFULLY it will be all sorted soon.  I have been without pay for 3 weeks now leaving Richard and I completely broke and stressed out.I am totally confused at why I always have to do t he manger's job.
Thankful Anyway:It gave me something to do and cry about.  I was proud of myself for calling corporate myself and dealing with the problem.  I think I could do the manager's job, something for me to think about when I have to return to work.

Thankful Anyway Thursday

Short and sweet: Dark by 8 pm?...come on!!Thankful anyway because Fall is a good season, I actually really like it (except for the dark) and I have a Daylight light to keep my mood up.