I can’t begin to tell you how much I love my little home. I’ve gone from being all blasé about weekends and evenings to being really excited. There is so much to be done, organised, bought, arranged… I can’t wait!
To roll back to the weekend gone, I was shattered after moving in on Friday but I really struggled to sleep. I’m a very light sleeper (to the point I have to wear an eye mask at night) and any unusual noises will keep me awake or wake me up. It was just a whole different environment than I was used to and it took me so long to sleep, and then I woke up for AN HOUR in the middle of the night.
It didn’t help that I was ridiculously hungry either (as I missed lunch the day before and my body was only too happy to remind me. Apparently cake doesn’t quite work as a compensation for me in terms of satiety). The next morning the first thing I did was have breakfast. This is really abnormal for me as I can go a fair few hours without anything in the morning before I’m ready for food.
I would say I treated myself to breakfast in bed but seen as how I have no table or chairs this is how I’m eating all my meals right now
I would have given parkrun a miss on Saturday if I hadn’t have had the cones and the keys for the storage cupboard and gates… This meant I had to go in order for parkrun to go ahead. It was ridiculously windy and I was tired. I wasn’t looking forward to it. But it was the 200th Netley Abbey parkrun and it was a onesie and pyjama themed event so I’m glad I went in the end.
It was actually easier to find PJs to run in than actual running gear in my box-filled flat
I found the run easier than last week. I was slower but the effort was less and with that RIDICULOUS wind I was happy to get 24:58.
I don’t think I can expect a huge amount of improvement on this winter course as it’s fairly gruelling with two hills you do three times. I hope to get close to 23-22 minutes as the weeks (or months!) go by.
After a lovely little hot drink and a moving-in celebratory bit of a freshly baked cheese scone bought by one of my parkrun friends, I headed home to test out my shower for the first time. Shower quality is SO important to me because if they’re just a dribble then I’m looking at a future of bad hair washing experiences as my hair is so long. Thank God it’s really strong (stronger than my previous one!!) and SUPER hot. This is like the perfect combo for me with my asbestos skin.
My parents came over soon after and we headed to the Mecca of furniture that is IKEA.
My mum had never been before (my mum, by the way, is the biggest snob known to man so I was interested to see what she thought). She LOVED it. It’s funny because they really only came to assist me but left with their own trolley stacked high. I defy anyone to leave IKEA without buying anything.
I had already done a bit of research beforehand to know what I wanted so I was quite focused, but I too found so many extras that ended up coming home with me.
This giant bowl will fit my salads perfectly… I’m not joking
By the time we got home and got my chest of drawers up the stairs, unpacked and then semi-built it was almost 8pm (this was one of four items to build). I had missed lunch once again and was about to eat the cardboard it came in. My dad said they’d return the next day, bless him, to help build the other items.
I slept a bit better that evening (after a good dinner and another slice of cake from the freezer – this time a chunk of rocky road) but still struggled with noises. It’s not that my flat is noisy, I’m just very sensitive. Previously my bedroom had been looking out onto a school field, whereas now there are noises from surrounding buildings and occasionally bumps from the other flats around me.
Sunday morning I got up and did my first run from my new home. I’d planned to do six miles but as I got outside it was ridiculously windy and I was finding it really tough. So changed to five miles. Only to get my route wrong and do seven.
Jesus, it was tough. I almost gave up at six miles to walk back but realised it would take ages and my parents were coming over mid-morning. I stopped at seven miles and had a short walk back to my flat. How lovely to have this scenery so close to my home! This will be where I’ll be walking Alfie 🙂
I just hope he doesn’t jump in the pond!
The rest of the day was flat-pack hell. My dad and me got a great routine going. He’d show me how to do something (like build a drawer) and I’d just get on until he showed me something else.
I’m not a picture person when it comes to instructions so I was lost with working it out myself. I need demonstrations! This was apparent when my dad left me to build a bedside table while he sorted electronic stuff out and I buggered it up. Seriously. ONE THING.
My flat is still a work in progress, as you can imagine, but it’s getting there. I have so many ideas for it and I’m looking forward to buying all the little things to decorate it and make it into a proper home. I might take some photos and share them on my blog when it’s a bit more organised if you’re interested. My flat is tiny, but it’s all mine and it’s becoming home 🙂
Do you like IKEA?
For instructions do you prefer words, pictures or demonstrations?
How soon do you need breakfast after you wake up? At the weekend breakfast can be anything from 9am to 11am depending on what I’m doing.
That was pretty much our weekend: with a bonus trip to the old flat thrown in. Goodness but it was windy (we wondered if we’d get blown away from the rooftop carpark at IKEA). And we have an epic quantity of stuff to assemble still. We’ve done a desk, a bookcase, a wonderful thingy for storing laundry equipment, a filing cabinet and various boxes, but still have a desk, a bookcase, and a chair to go.
I’m fine with picture instructions – I did a lot of lego as a child.
And, I need breakfast fairly soon after waking…
Jane recently posted…Nat West have Lost the Paperwork. Again.
Wow yeah you win on the IKEA bits. Sounds like a lot of stuff to build! Thankfully I’m all done now. Can’t be doing anymore..!!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Working on my winter insulation layer 😉
We had all sorts of crazy weather here both Saturday and Sunday. I’ve never seen so much damage caused by floods and wind. I couldn’t even breathe running against it, and I’ve only ever had that happen once before in my life in a race I did in 2013 on the coast. It was horrible! I really wish I didn’t live so high up…I mean, it’s cool to be on the top of a hill when there’s heavy rainfall, but it has been windy here almost every single day for the past six weeks! I think we’ve had about three days that have been okay and the others have all been ridiculous.
I think I need pictures in order to assimilate information well. I find it hard to concentrate on words in a passive sense (reading them, not writing them – blog posts are great for me to read though as they’re usually exactly the right length for my attention span!) and I take ages to learn through immitation, so demos wouldn’t work too well…and if I didn’t know the person showing me well then there’s no chance because I wouldn’t be able to look at them…
I have no idea how you did so well running in PJs! I mean, I suppose mine would be okay because I basically sleep in a sports bra and PJ shorts, so barely different from my running gear…I’m never cold enough to wear long bottoms. Your time in that wind is easily worth 22 minutes or less in normal conditions!
Jess recently posted…December Virtual 5K Week 1 – 19:48
I suppose living on a hill is good to avoid floods but rough when it’s windy – and finishing every run on a hill must be tough too.
I tend to work best with words I think…I can mull over them for a bit. Demonstrations help as well. Pictures I just struggle with, which is why I think I’ve never gotten on with comics. I just don’t know where to look – there’s too much going on without enough words.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Working on my winter insulation layer 😉
I bloody love Ikea! It’s a proper day out for us and no, I don’t think you can leave without buying something.
Love the pyjama run idea! Very cool.
Haha I know. It’s ridiculously hard!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Working on my winter insulation layer 😉
That scenery is lovely! And how has your mum never been to IKEA before? I think most of our furniture is from there
It’s funny, in the week I am hungry as soon as I wake up, but at the weekends I can go hours without as I have a run or parkrun first.
Maria recently posted…Reindeer running! And Garmin fails!
So true, at the weekends I don’t tend to have breakfast until at earliest 10 but more likely 11!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Working on my winter insulation layer 😉
Glad it’s starting to feel homely. The skipping lunch reminding me of when we moved in and would spend days painting and realise it was somehow like 5 o clock and we had had no food- easy to lose track of time! I’m usually hungry in the morning as I don’t eat that late the night before, if I am running or going to the gym I will just have a snack (banana/nakd bar/dates) and then have a proper breakfast when I get home.
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I usually eat quite a big meal the night before so I think that helps!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Working on my winter insulation layer 😉