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    Day 132. Wednesday 29th July.

    Disney plus is already showing its worth for the summer holidays as we managed to leave the kids engrossed in watching Wall-E while we had a webinar meeting. I've just been out in the park for a few hours with another friend and her two kids. Husband drew the short straw and has spent that time trying to fix our dishwasher which was making disturbing noises and seems to no longer be able to drain properly.

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      Yesterday the eldest got very excited about watching old Zelda games on YouTube (we have Breath of the Wild on the Switch, which he's played a lot of (although he makes his mother fight the bosses)) and realized that we had some of them sitting in the garage somewhere. So I spent an hour or so digging around in there until I'd found the GameCube, the games, and a controller that worked, then set up the old Bravia in his room. He's up there now happily watching his mother get him through a tricky bit in the early Wind Waker dungeon where you have to sneak everywhere.

      Earlier he and his sister were over at their grandparent's and a worker came by to do some painting, so me and the wife were "forced" to be in the backyard for a bit, we would up lying together in the hammock, talking to each other about life, birds, and the low-lying fog/clouds that was burning off above our heads. A rare idyllic moment.

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        Day 133. Thursday 30th July.

        Adulthood / parenthood really sucks sometimes. Me and my husband have spent most of today so far continuing to try and fix the dishwasher. We've turned it upside several times. Disconnected, cleaned out and reattached several pipes. Turned it back up the right way to test it. Raised it onto bricks to see where the leak is coming from. Both got soaked with water in the process and had to mop up the floor with towels which we'll have to launder later. And, of course, all the usual demands of parenthood continue so I've been doing the washing up in the bath while the kitchen is out of action, and I've made sandwiches for lunch with a toaster which I relocated to the dining room and served on paper plates that I got for a craft project so there's less washing up. Meanwhile, the kids decided to 'help' by trampling blackberries into the lounge carpet.

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          Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
          Day 133. Thursday 30th July.

          Adulthood / parenthood really sucks sometimes. Me and my husband have spent most of today so far continuing to try and fix the dishwasher. We've turned it upside several times. Disconnected, cleaned out and reattached several pipes. Turned it back up the right way to test it. Raised it onto bricks to see where the leak is coming from. Both got soaked with water in the process and had to mop up the floor with towels which we'll have to launder later. And, of course, all the usual demands of parenthood continue so I've been doing the washing up in the bath while the kitchen is out of action, and I've made sandwiches for lunch with a toaster which I relocated to the dining room and served on paper plates that I got for a craft project so there's less washing up. Meanwhile, the kids decided to 'help' by trampling blackberries into the lounge carpet.

          I feel your pain. I always find it a little shocking how much just a single broken appliance can affect the running of a household.

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            Day 134. Friday 31st July.

            Eugh. So hot. My husband and I had the good sense to clean out and fill up the paddling pool last night so the kids have spent most of the day in there. I made the mistake of going into town earlier to buy socks and a straw hat, but I've spent quite a lot of time since then sitting in the shade with my feet in a washing up bowl of cold water. The kids have got really into Lego so we bought them a box of 790 pieces of classic Lego bricks with a drawstring playmat / bag to tidy it all away into and they've spent several happy hours building with that. We just watched Lilo and Stitch.

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              Got me some masks printed up...

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                Day 135. Saturday 1st August. Starting the fifth calendar month of some form of social distancing.

                The weather had thankfully cooled down. I did very little. Made fish fingers and chips and lots of veg for lunch. Son has added cooked carrots and raw green peppers to his limited repertoire of vegetables not considered poisonous. We watched Brave. Son got quite scared by the mother turning into a bear so needed lots of pausing, cuddles and reassurance. I think he might be slightly ill as he's very touchy currently and cries at the drop of a hat. Made lots of space rockets out of the new Lego. Spent a couple of hours scouring the kitchen.


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                  Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
                  Spent a couple of hours scouring the kitchen.
                  What had you lost?

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                      You shouldn't be scouring on a Saturday.

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                        Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                        You shouldn't be scouring on a Saturday.
                        When else would I have time to do it?!?

                        I spend most of most Saturdays cleaning.

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                          Day 136. Sunday 2nd August.

                          A new month means new creatures to catch on Animal Crossing. So far I've caught a rice grasshopper, a flatworm and a ray. Also, we got the recipe to make a Tutankhamen mask, which you can either wear or display. If you wear it and try and run it's too heavy for your head and you fall over which makes the kids giggle like crazy.

                          Otherwise, I am marvelling at the things I find exciting now that I'm an adult. Exhibit A is that our old kitchen bin fell apart and we invested in a fancy new one with a wide opening and plastic bits that hold the bin bags in place properly. It makes me very happy. Exhibit B is that we got fed up of always losing the black TV remote on the black sofa so we bought some neon tape. The remote now looks ridiculous but we haven't lost it since. I got so inspired by this that I've also made our black vegetable peeler neon as I kept losing it on the black kitchen counter. Exhibit C is that my husband bought me a nice black eye mask to see if it would help my sleep. Since I've started wearing it I haven't woken up at all in the middle of the night with weird nightmares.

                          I have spent most of today in the kitchen again. Made pasta alla norma for lunch (thank you to whoever suggested that on the cooking thread, it's now a family staple). I've done laundry and dishwasher (thankfully it seems to be working again), cleaned the surfaces, swept and mopped the floor, then made a veggie roast for dinner. I actually don't mind spending a day in the kitchen. The kids have played with Lego and played Mario Odyssey. It's quite a relaxing way to spend a day.

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                            Clean shaven for the first time in two months. My face hurts.

                            EDIT: probably one for the Mundane Thread, that, but hey ho.

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                              It was a (not very good) joke.

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                                Day 137. Monday 3rd August.

                                An unexpectedly stressful evening. Hackers got into my friend's bank account and transferred a large amount of money to me, then phoned me pretending to be from her bank and tried to get me to send the money to a separate third account. Fortunately I used to work for a bank and refused to transfer any money anywhere until I had triple checked with all parties involved. Still very stressful being on the end of the phone to bastards trying their best to bamboozle me and get me to perpetrate a fraud.

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                                  I missed a call from Iraq whilst my phone was charging earlier. Not knowing anyone from Baghdad who fancied a chat, I put it on blocked.

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                                    Originally posted by Toby Gymshorts View Post
                                    Clean shaven for the first time in two months.
                                    Two months? You tart.

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                                      Day 138. Tuesday 4th August.

                                      Lots of bureaucracy trying to sort out the mess with friend's bank account. Made a cooked breakfast type lunch. Took the kids to another park to try out the play equipment there. Today's strangest litter picking finds were a neon pink dog lead and an entire carpet washing machine stuffed in a hedge which barely fitted in the bin once I'd dragged it out. Ocado delivery, hurrah, it's the only supermarket that sells my favourite brand of vegetarian frankfurters, but it's too expensive to shop there regularly, so we do it about once every two months.

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                                        Day 139. Wednesday 5th August.

                                        My mum visited, at a distance. I let the kids go fishing in the river with a net (really running out of ways to make our local area interesting). We ate a massive picnic in the park. Watched Mary Poppins Returns.

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                                          Day 140. Thursday 6th August. 20 full weeks completed.

                                          Walked the kids to another local park. They made friends with a little boy, from a distance, and played hide and seek with him. Had a chat with potentially my new manager. Made a bit of progress in trying to find somewhere to sell my grandfather's coin collection. My daughter has made a fish market on Animal Crossing. Husband made a nice ricotta and tomato and basil pasta dish. Me and my husband watched Antman and the Wasp.
                                          Last edited by Balderdasha; 08-08-2020, 16:15.

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                                            Day 141. Friday 7th August.

                                            It was hideously hot, again. We stuck the kids in the paddling pool, again. I've been going room to room clearing the house, again. I've managed to rearrange the kids playroom and turn some of the clothes shelving units into more bookshelf space. I made a racing track on Animal Crossing and caught a vampire squid. Started watching the Rise of Skywalker.
                                            ​​

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                                              Day 142. Saturday 8th August.

                                              My bank and my friend's bank have finally managed to talk to each other and return the money that a hacker transferred into my account last week. It was still too hot and muggy to go out much today. Instead we had a board games day. Played Cluedo and Enchanted Forest. Son still cries when he loses but his recovery time is improving. I made harissa roasted aubergine on cumin rice with pomegranate, pistachios, Greek yoghurt, halloumi and salad for lunch, and then a simple pasta salad for dinner. My aunt (who has dementia and terminal cancer) is having trouble swallowing but my mum went to visit her and our recommendations of ice lollies and ice cream seem to be helping a bit. Some of the vegetables in our fridge have acquired a weird bitter taste and we can't work out why. They haven't gone off and some were in sealed packets. It's very strange. I've just done an hour's exercise on ringfit adventure which feels good.

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                                                Day 143. Sunday 9th August.

                                                Finished watching Rise of Skywalker yesterday. Very underwhelming. Made a Thai green curry for lunch today, with tofu, cashew nuts and six types of veg. Daughter helped me peel carrots and chop the broccoli. The kids were feeling sorry for themselves that they never get to spend their piggy bank money so I relented and took them on a trip to B&M, with masks, lots of hand sanitiser and distancing. They were very good, stayed close to me and didn't touch anything. Daughter chose a bow and arrow set (possibly inspired by Merida in Brave). Son chose a cement mixer fake Lego set and a packet of big button smarties. So that's taken care of the entertainment for the afternoon. Daughter has got pretty good at shooting her arrows in the back garden. Son is fascinated by all the little tools that have come with the cement mixer, there's a plastic spanner, plastic axe, plastic walkie talkie, etc.
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                                                We just watched the live action Lion King. Not bad, but daughter was very disappointed that it didn't have her favourite scene, where Timon dresses in grasses and coconut shells and does a luau type dance to present Pumbaa as the live bait for the hyenas.

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                                                  Originally posted by Balderdasha View Post
                                                  We just watched the live action Lion King. Not bad, but daughter was very disappointed that it didn't have her favourite scene, where Timon dresses in grasses and coconut shells and does a luau type dance to present Pumbaa as the live bait for the hyenas.
                                                  "And you can be a big pig too!" Thanks for that earworm.

                                                  Rise of Skywalker was terrible. I actually think it's the worst of the main 9.

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                                                    You might well be right, though I'd probably have to re-watch the three prequels to say for certain, and I have no desire to put myself through that anytime soon.

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