Today I had my first moment of asking Mario what day it was. I can’t believe I’m already at that stage, and it’s only week 2!
Last week I spent most of the week running errands, and being silly. By the end of the week I had successfully:
- Updated my driver’s license details
- Updated my medicare details
- Created an account with Centrelink
- Linked my Centrelink account with MyGov (seriously, this was an achievement – it took two days)
- Started my Parental Paid Leave Claim with Medicare
- Updated my name with the bank
Towards the end of the week I took it a bit easier, but still felt like I was on the go most days.
This week, I’m trying to take it a bit easier and stay home.
Cleaning out the pantry
Ok, this wasn’t easy. It was nesting. But seriously, our pantry was killing me. I’m not a big fan of clutter, and I get so much satisfaction from a good ol’ fashioned clean out (read: throwing stuff out). My husband loves to keep things, which is a nice balance because it means I’ll never run out of things to do. Or throw out.
Another nice balance is that I hate cooking, and he loves it. That means the kitchen is his domain. I wander in, grab a snack and get the heck out of there. The days I’ve offered to cook dinner (which can be counted on one hand in the years we’ve been together) I’m surprised he hasn’t drop dead of shock.
The thing about our pantry that annoyed me was that everything was just crammed in. I had no idea what was what. Yet if you asked Mario he could tell you exactly how much we had in stock of everything, and exactly where to find it. How many bottles of Tahini? Two, one at the front and the other back right. Three jars of minced garlic also spread around. From Jamworks we had something and pecan spread (he knew it, I can’t remember and can’t be bothered to check) and coconut chilli relish, both stashed under the jars on the third shelf at the back.
It was completely non-functional.
Mario is working this week, and I am not. Thus the devil in me came out, and I had realised something important. It was the perfecting timing to take matters into my own hands, and rearrange the pantry.
Here’s the before:
It took a few hours and several rest breaks but I managed to get it done. I didn’t actually throw out that much surprisingly. However I grouped all the like-for-like objects, and swapped around what shelves they were on. Now I feel like it makes sense, and it’s easy to see where things are.
To help with organising everything, I bought 3 shelf raisers from Big W (what the cans and jars are sitting on), and 5 stackable shelves from Choice Warehouse (the buckets).
The bottom shelves don’t show as much order unfortunately. There’s definitely room for improvement, particularly where the pasta is stored. However for budget reasons I kept it to some basics for now, and will look at adding to this in the future.
Other than that, there’s only so much you can do when it comes to bottles and jars. I was astonished to discover we have about 7 different bottles of oils, several different types of vinegar, and other random bottles. I didn’t know that much variety even existed! Again, my culinary prowess on display.
The top shelves are definitely the ones that show the most improvement. We also got a lot more room back, which was nice.
My feet hurt afterwards but I’m so thrilled with the changes. Mario also gave it the tick of approval – win! Now to see how long it stays that way. I’ve tried to keep it to his logic.
Working on my 52s
Having more time at home has given me the ability to work on some 52s as well (part of my 52 items to complete in 52 weeks that I write every year, called 52 in 52).
In just a couple of days this week I’ve been able to make some good progress.
Finish front-end development course
Even though I’m not working, I’m still focused on maintaining/improving my knowledge while I’m away. I had always wanted to learn front-end development, and last year had started a course. This year I added it to the list to actually finish it. I was struggling to prioritise time to spend on the study, and the 52 list would provide the motivation I needed.
When I went to start on it again, I found that I had forgotten quite a lot of it. As a result I’ve completely started from scratch. I’m dedicating a few hours each day, with the bonus being I can take the opportunity to bounce around on the fit ball, hopefully moving bub into a nice position for labour. Right now I’ve been able to crack about 1/4 of the course already, but I’ve still got over 50+ hours left to go.
Learn to use the lawn trimmer
Like the pantry, our lawn feeds into my OCD. It drives me nuts when our lawn starts creeping over pathways and driveways. I’ve been able to operate the mower since I was about 12, and used to be responsible for the lawns at home. However I never had any clue about a lawn trimmer, and so could never actually fix the lawn myself.
This afternoon after work Mario announced he was going to mow. I had been sitting down for a couple of hours by this stage, and was extremely bored. I asked if he would teach me how to use the trimmer, and he agreed. Well, that was if I agreed to put on some shoes. He doesn’t believe “Australian workboots” count (aka flip flops, thongs, pluggers, whatever you want to call them).
I was already wearing my extremely sexy $10 pants from Best & Less. These pants have revolutionised my world:
- They’re a material that moves easily, making them extremely comfy for lazing around the house
- They’re perfect to take to the hospital and not care if they get vomit, puke, blood or whatever else on them
- They’re extremely ugly so I know that no one will ever steal them
I put some socks on, and then my slide shoes, bought specifically for my pregnancy (since bending over is tough). My whole outfit combined, I knew I was sex on legs. How Mario didn’t just jump me right there and then I’ll never know.
It turned out using the trimmer was a lot easier than I expected. Mario taught me how to start it, tilt and then bring it down onto the lawn. My technique needs a lot of work, but I’m proud to say that I was able to successfully remove some of the grass. Mission accomplished! And those chunks in the grass? They were there already, promise (disclaimer: this promise can not be guaranteed).
You can tell from the photo above I look extremely uncomfortable! Because of the black and white and the angle you can’t see my belly sticking out, but I’m sure a pregnant lady with a lawn trimmer isn’t something you see every day. I may as well have worn a sign that screamed “rookie” (maybe with a baby on board sign too).
At least now if the lawn ever bugs me I can do something about it myself!
Paint a tea cup
This one was inspired by a friend who decorates her own tea cups with beautiful patterns and images. In the midst of those patterns are offensive words. Together, the cups are amazing.
A while back I had searched around online looking for a cute tea bag meme. I saw a really cute picture of a dinosaur as a tea bag, called “tea rex”. I loved it, and thought I would do my own interpretation of it.
I’ll be sure to post details when it’s finished. Right now I’ve only got an outline, and I still have to do some painting and embellishing of it.
What’s the plan for the rest of the week…?
I hit 40 weeks pregnancy this coming Friday. I’m definitely feeling uncomfortable, so I don’t see a lot of physical work happening. I’ll continue working on my course and resting while I can.
There’s going to be book reading, music listening, and study. There’ll be netflix binging. And probably a lot of napping.
Eventually, whether it’s this week or the coming weeks, a baby will be born. Hoooly shit.