Mum and Dad were round today, which meant I was able to draw on Dad’s DIY expertise for some of the house jobs I’ve not got round to recently! We now have a lot of replaced lightbulbs (Geth and I had been living in a mostly-dark house for a while) and are working towards a replaced extractor fan (it was delivered a couple of months ago but we’ve not got round to installing it till now).
In the evening we went for tapas at El Torero in central Newcastle, which was up to its usual high standard.
Will be finishing off the DIY and doing a bit of shopping tomorrow!
Not an OOTD: let there be light! I love these brass light fixtures and it’s nice to have working bulbs in them again 🙂
Today’s earworm playlist:
Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman – ‘Somethin’ Stupid’ Duran Duran – ‘Winter Marches On’ Kuana Torres Kahele, James Ford Murphy and Napua Greig-Nakasone – ‘Someone To Lava’ Ellie Goulding – ‘Lights’ Roxette – ‘Listen To Your Heart’*
More admin and housework this morning, and then I got a bit of writing done in the afternoon (including a bit of work on my NaNo – which I’m just about keeping up with!).
A good ukulele class this evening, and I’m now back on the sofa catching up with Strictly.
Hoping for another productive day tomorrow – I’ve got work to do for a client, plus a bit more writing and housework to get on with.
OOTD: the second of my new ’80s jumpers! Jumper Sunset Highway (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2019), leggings Primark (2019), boots Clarks (2016).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Tiësto and Mabel – ‘God Is A Dancer’ Starship – ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ Whitney Houston – ‘Saving All My Love For You’ Andy Taylor – ‘Love Or Liberation’ Georgia – ‘About Work The Dancefloor’ Bronski Beat – ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’ Traditional – ‘Bonnie Ship The Diamond’ Duran Duran – ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ Keala Settle – ‘This Is Me’ Lauv and Troye Sivan – ‘I’m So Tired’
It’s only a couple of days per week at the moment because life is pretty busy, but during November, when it’s starting to get very cold and dark, I really appreciate having full days where I can stay in the house and get on with things!
After doing a bit of housework and admin this morning, I spent some time in the afternoon working on my NaNoWriMo. A couple more days and I should have caught up with where I’m supposed to be in terms of wordcount!
There’s only a couple of days left to rate my text adventure game for the Adventuron jam, so please give it a go if you like games! I’m already looking forward to making more of these.
I’ll be mainly sorting out the house tomorrow, as Geth and I have guests coming to stay at the weekend.
Not an OOTD: it’s so cosy having the fireplace on at this time of year!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Sheena Easton – For Your Eyes Only Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care U2 – Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of Lewis Capaldi – Bruises Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam
I’ve had a nice quiet day getting on with writing, housework and admin – and managed to squeeze in a bit of work on my NaNoWriMo project as well, which was nice! Geth has been out all day, so I’ve had the Christmas cookery shows on again. The only problem is that coupled with the cold weather, they’re making me hungry all the time.
Another full day to get on with writing tomorrow, I hope!
OOTD: back posting an outfit of the day for once! Geth requested this one ’cause he really likes my new jumper. Jumper Cabin Creek (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2019), leggings Primark (2019), boots Carefree (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Michael Land – LeChuck’s Theme Lewis Capaldi – Bruises Ace Of Base – All That She Wants Sister Sledge – Frankie
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I’m trying to hit my Garmin step goal every day this month.
However, today was a regular Sunday, and a regular Sunday, for me, involves a lot of videogaming and not a lot of movement. It was also a fairly miserable day weather-wise and so I really didn’t want to leave the house. As such, I had to be a bit more creative in terms of hitting my step goal, which was why I ended up dragging the treadmill out of the cupboard for the first time since April and trying out my Garmin’s ‘indoor walk’ setting.
It turns out that my Garmin is not nearly as generous as my TomTom used to be. One of the issues I had with my London Marathon training was that I did most of it on the treadmill (because it was cold outside at that time of year and also because being able to watch TV really took the sting out of the long, boring training runs), and my TomTom tended to overestimate the distance I ran compared to the treadmill. My Garmin, in contrast, massively underestimates it, so while the treadmill believes I walked four and a half kilometres this afternoon, the Garmin insists it was just one and a half. One and a half kilometres over an hour and forty minutes! I’m slow (especially on the treadmill, which really messes with my sense of speed and effort for some reason), but not that slow. This is a very good reason to avoid treadmill runs during ‘marathon training take two’ this coming winter.*
However, the aim of today’s workout was not speed or accurately estimated distance, but hitting my step goal…which I have also not yet done. I’ll do another half hour on the treadmill later this evening, but I need a bit of time to recover from the first session! Walking can be more tiring than running sometimes.
Other things done today included (1) videogaming, (2) more videogaming, (3) starting to plan out the next videogame I’m making, (4) unscrewing the broken extractor fan in our kitchen that is getting collected tomorrow and (5) more videogaming. Back to work tomorrow.
*In a move that will surprise nobody, I have decided I am going to take up the free guaranteed place at the 2020 London Marathon that I was offered along with all other seven-hour-plus finishers. I really did mean it when I said afterwards that I was never going to put myself through that again, but I’m a Scot and I’m incapable of passing up a freebie. Besides, it would be nice if I could have a slightly faster time listed as my marathon PB.
Not an OOTD: slow but getting the steps in.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Naughty Boy and Sam Smith – La La La Altered Images – Don’t Talk To Me About Love
I’m getting some really nice feedback for my text adventure game! People seem to like the story, which I’m very happy about.
A fairly productive day today as I caught up with all the admin I’ve been neglecting over the last few days. I also sorted out the house as Geth and I had boardgaming guests coming round tonight. We played a few more missions on our Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth campaign – hoping to finish it soon!
It’s going to be a fairly full-on week as I’ve got things on every evening. I say this every month, but I hope October will be quieter…
Not an OOTD: we defeated this guy in the Lord of the Rings game tonight. He’s not nearly as tough as he looks!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor Michael Land – LeChuck’s Theme Duran Duran – Michael, You’ve Got A Lot To Answer For Hue & Cry – Labour Of Love OneRepublic – Counting Stars Jim Croce – Bad, Bad Leroy Brown The Clash – I Fought The Law
Nice productive start to the week today. I sorted out my entry for a poetry competition, got a good couple of hours in working on the text adventure game that I’m creating for the Adventuron CaveJam going on this month, and spent the afternoon sorting out admin and things in the house.
Another evening of videogames beckons! I’ll be out and about doing various things tomorrow, but hopefully I’ll be able to get some more writing work done as well.
OOTD: it’s another of my cosy ’80s jumpers. I’ll be sick of them by April but right now they’re a novelty again! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), jumper Jac (vintage 1980s, bought at vintage fair 2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Rei Kondoh – Watery Music Box Revo – The Civil War Country Korobeiniki (the Tetris theme music) The Drifters – Saturday Night At The Movies
Geth and I have a guest staying tonight, so I’ve had a fairly busy day of getting the house ready, and am now getting on with some admin and writing. At least being active today has meant that my legs are now properly recovered from Sunday!
More admin to do tomorrow.
OOTD: the evenings are definitely much darker now and I’m settling into my cosy autumn habits again! Glasses Emporio Armani (2017), hoodie Uneek Classic for Mesh (2016), vest top Redbubble (2019).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop The Feeling Ed Sheeran and Stormzy – Take Me Back To London Revo – The Land Of Immortality Haim Saban and Shuki Levy – The Mysterious Cities Of Gold Main Theme Pepsi & Shirlie – Heartache Duran Duran – My Antarctica
I had another nice quiet day to get some writing done today. I’ve also listened to a lot of music and got some annoying overdue admin jobs out of the way.
Back to parkrun tomorrow, and then a weekend sorting a few things out in the house.
OOTD: the nice thing about working from home is that I decide what is ‘office-appropriate’! Jacket Gap (2010), dress unknown brand (thrifted from Steff 2016), tights Primark (2017), shoes Office (2018).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Mud – Tiger Feet George Michael – A Different Corner Duran Duran – Violence Of Summer [The Story Mix] Duran Duran – All You Need Is Now Stormzy – Crown
A fairly busy Thursday today. Geth and I were out at Slimming World in the morning – we both had small gains but that’s to be expected after a weekend away – and after a trip to the polling station to vote in the PCC elections, I spent the afternoon getting the house ready for our boardgaming gathering tonight.
Back to writing tomorrow!
OOTD: a slightly different weigh-in outfit! Sunglasses Ray-Ban (2019), t-shirt Campus Crew for Toronto Blue Jays (2018), leggings Primark (2018), trainers Reebok (2017).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach Duran Duran – To The Shore The Beatles – She Loves You Duran Duran – Secret Oktober Madison Avenue – Don’t Call Me Baby
