reality check

My father in law is very good value. As well as being a lovely guy, he helps us out so much, both around our own house and also with our units.  We couldn’t have done half of what we have if it wasn’t for his help over the last couple of years.

On Tuesday night, before meeting our new tenants, we dropped by the current reno to speak to him.  He’d been there most of the day, painting on undercoat/sealant on the walls and ceiling of the smaller bedroom.  I was having a whinge about how tired I was from the night before (see previous post for boring details), and about how hard it was, and how tired I was, etc etc.  He paused for a moment, painted some more of the cornice, and said: ‘And just think, in ten years’ time, you’ll be told how lucky you are.’

Talk about putting something into perspective.  In ten years’ time, we’ll be financially set up for the rest of our lives.  Minor crap like doing the hard yards sometimes, working all day then painting ’til  midnight at the latest reno, dealing with problem tenants and regular turnovers, that’ll all be in the past.  We’ll be reaping the rewards for all that stuff, and it’ll be in the past, while our lives will be immeasurably financially improved from our hard work we’re putting in now.  Let’s face it, you get very little in this life without doing some hard work at some stage.  We just happen to be at that stage now.  And really, we’re already reaping rewards.  We got a great tax return last year, and we should get another great return this year, so even apart from the capital gains the properties will inevitably produce, the yearly returns are going alright too.  We’re making our own luck.

Next time I’m complaining, I’m going to remind myself that we’re doing okay.

rentals, rentals, and other stuff

It’s Thursday night already!  Where has the week gone?!

As per usual, it’s been a busy one.  Monday night we had an annual general meeting for one of our groups of units.  It was a good meeting, we got a quorum, and we decided on some capital works projects for the coming financial year.  We have a good group of owners in this block, which is good to see – all very concerned with maintaining the building appropriately.  That went from 6pm to 7:30pm, so it was basically straight after work.

After the meeting, I went to our just-vacated unit and did a clean.

the latest drivel

Wow, it feels like longer than a week since I last wrote here.  I must admit, nothing spectacularly interesting has been going on.  We spent every evening except Friday at the reno after work, sanding and patching, sanding and patching.  I think we may FINALLY be coming to the end of it.  I’d forgotten how slow and monotonous this part of doing a reno is.  Still, in a few days’ time we’ll hopefully be painting, which will speed things right up.

We had tenants move out today, and this is a first for us – we don’t have new ones lined up to take their place.

reno #4 – slowly progressing

Today was a good day.  The weather was beautiful, and SO and I had a lovely snuggle and sleep in this morning.  We so rarely do that, and it’s so nice when we do.  Normally as soon as I’m awake, I’m out of bed doing stuff, but not today.  It was great.

Then we got up and had a leisurely breakfast, then got ready and went to the unit.  I spent all day (about six hours) in the bathroom.  While the tiling’s finished, the walls and ceiling needed a fair bit of remedial patching, which took a while.  I had an extra special bonus when I was patching the ceiling – a huge chunk of plaster dropped off and nearly got my eye.  Fortunately I saw it coming and took evasive action.

SO spent the day sanding the two bedrooms which I’d patched a week or so ago.  He hates doing it, and I do some of it, but I’m just not physically strong enough to keep holding the sander for any length of time.   He did a fair bit, I think he’s finished the main bedroom.  We agreed tonight that all the walls and ceilings are going to need a coat of sealer prior to actually painting them the colours we’ve chose.  They’re in such poor condition, we can’t bring ourselves to just paint straight onto them without some preemptive action being taken first.

We’re probably going to go back tomorrow night after work to do some more.  Ideally I’d like to get the bathroom all ready for painting in a couple of days’ time, but that will take some serious work at night time, which is hard on the eyes (and the body).  However, we’re getting there, slowly but surely.

sleepyhead

So tired.  While I’m feeling better from the viral thing I had all week, I’m just so tired.  I have no idea why, either.  Last time I saw the doctor, he ordered blood tests for various things.  The test came back clear for everything.

At the same time, my depression is rearing its ugly head.  There are a few things going on at the moment which may be exacerbating my stress and causing it to play up.  We’re renovating one unit, and trying to find tenants for another.  Work is beyond belief in terms of how much stuff I have on my plate.  At home, our place is messy, needs a good clean, and it feels like it’s two steps forward, three steps back.  With all this going on, all I want to do is sleep for twenty hours a day.  Mmmm, sleep.

Today I actually felt other depression symptoms happening – mainly anxiety, feeling sick in the stomach from nerves (stress manifestation), and wanting to cry.  Not being able to read, as I couldn’t follow a train of thought.  Not being able to do simple stuff, like get up and take washing off the line.  Feeling overwhelmed.  I did feel better after a long afternoon nap of 4 hours, but I need to keep an eye on things.  Today reminded me how fragile my mental health really is – hanging by a thread.

renos, and a birthday

As per usual, it’s been a busy week.  I’ve managed to catch the first flu bug of the season, according to my doctor.  It’s a bit different to the usual flu – it basically inflames the eustachian tube in the ear, causing it to hurt.  Plus there’s the usual aches and pains, tiredness, swollen glands, etc.  I must confess it’s pretty manageable as a bug, so I shouldn’t complain too much.

That said, I wasn’t delighted that I was sick again.  SO and I had the following exchange on the way to work:

SO:  What’s wrong baby?

Me:  Ugh, I’m sick again!!  I feel like I’m sick all the time.

SO (patting my knee consolingly):  That’s because you are, baby.

It wasn’t funny at the time, but I can see the humour in it now.

The renos are going reasonably well.  The bathroom tiling is finished, and it looks good.  We’re both happy with it, although it’s taken longer than we’d been told.  But as I said to SO, you have to expect both time and money blowouts with renos, and three extra days isn’t a huge amount in the scheme of things.  Next we need to get the cabinetmaker in to measure up for the bathroom cabinet.  I personally can’t wait until there’s a toilet in there again, it makes spending all day there so much easier.

It’s SO’s dad’s birthday tomorrow.  We’re having him and SO’s stepmum over for a cooked breakfast.  I’ve also taken it upon myself to make his favourite thing, date loaf.  I haven’t made it in ages (probably years) but I suddenly remembered today how much he liked it, so I thought I’d make it for him.  He’s done a huge amount for us with renovating both the current and previous projects, and he hasn’t been very well lately.  It seems his chronic fatigue has come back with a vengeance, poor thing.  That said, he’s still doing a lot of stuff to help us out, which we appreciate even while it makes us feel guilty.  So yes, tomorrow we’ll be having bacon, eggs, lightly fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, then french toast and pikelets for ‘dessert’.  It’ll be the works, and no one will need lunch.

drugs

That which you see above is what I ingest daily, in the interests of attaining (or maintaining) physical and mental health.

From left to right – the large horsepill is a women’s multivitamin; the small round beige tablet is an iron tablet; the two little white oval pills are my 40mg Lexapro; and the innocuous tiny little one on the far right is the pill.  Yes, the pill.  Specifically, Diane-35 ED, a high-estrogen formulation designed for women with adult acne and ‘hirsute women’.  Luckily, I take it for the adult acne side of things.  I control my moustache through regular shaving.  (Just joking, folks.)

The hideous looking witch’s brew at the top, which I use to skull it all down with, is a Berocca, original flavour.   Oddly enough, when it comes out the other end the colour is remarkably similar to it’s original shade of orange.  It’s interesting, in a gruesome kind of way.

So yes, this is my good start to every day, my breakfast, if you will, of life-giving medicines.  The wonders of modern science, huh?