Reverb11 Day 4 – Addition through subtraction

Addition through subtraction – What have you let go of this year and  how has it affected you?

I have given up on my idea of having to stay in a certain area and that the place I stay in must be perfect.

Even though I now live in an area that I do not like that much, and my bathroom has those weird wooden fittings in it, I am loving my new place.  It is spacious, have lots of windows and best of all I do not have to share with anyone because the rent is so affordable.

It was the best thing I have done all year.  Having a home where everything is yours and where you can relax and just  wind down after a long day is so precious.  I feel like a big part of my life has come together just by moving into my own place.  It was definitely a huge step in getting my life back on track.

Early mornings are killing me

I am not a morning person at all.  I like to sleep in, or stay in bed reading when I wake up in the mornings, especially over weekends.  I don’t normally sleep very late, waking up at about 08:00am over weekends.  However, in the new place, the windows are facing directly towards the sun in the mornings which means I now wake up before 05:00 am as the sun rises.

I just cannot get myself to get out of bed that early, so I hide under the duvet and wait for the 2nd sleep to hit me.  I know that 2nd sleep is a very bad idea, as I sleep like the dead and that is also why, for the 2nd time in 3 working days, I have overslept.  I seem to just switch my alarm off in my sleep and carry on sleeping.  This morning I woke up the time I normally get to work (at 07:48!)

While I don’t really mind being late, I just hate it when I’m late because of over-sleeping.  I wake up in such a rush that the rest of the day is all head-over-feet; nothing feels right that whole day, simply because my system was shocked into wakefulness instead of my usual routine of putting the music on, lazily getting out of bed, sitting outside with the puppy for a bit and then getting ready for work in my own sweet time.

So today I start the hunt for black-out curtains.  I know I saw some in a shop over the last 2 months, but I’ve just been to so many shops and different shopping centers that I cannot remember where I saw them.  I just cannot take these early mornings any more.

Things I like at the moment

• Bubblegum Otees cereal.  Oh my word it is delicious, and I don’t normally like cereal
• Little marshmallows in my coffee at night, it makes me think of when I was younger and my dad used to put it in my Milo in the winter
• Friends! I got my hands on the whole series and am loving watching it from the beginning.  I have missed that show something crazy
• Not having SABC.  My tv cable is not connected to the aerial so I have no SABC (and no DSTV either), but it made me realise how much time I spent watching horrible shows and I love that I now have more time in the evenings to do other things
• Puzzles.  I unpacked one of the boxes that was in storage and discovered all my old puzzles and have started building one last night.
• My new Manhattan Sleeper Couch.  It’s so comfy and pretty, I absolutely love it.
• My new Hello Kitty pajama dress.  I’m going through a Hello Kitty phase
• Living alone!  Oh, how I missed having my own space.  Coming home and having everything exactly as I left it, being able to do what I want when I want, and not having any rotting dishes in the kitchen sink.  Pure bliss, I tell you!

I’m a material girl

Hi, I’m Joan and I am a material girl.  What can I say, I love things and I love having things and I want lots and lots of beautiful things.  I can’t help it, it’s just who I am.  

Moving has definitely brought out the worst in me.  I am in a new place, living alone for the first time in 2 years, the new place has been freshly painted and now I want fresh, sparkly new things to fill it with.   I want to do my lounge in black and red, and have gone to buy my brand new black Manhattan sleeper couch to start off the new lounge.  I’m so excited! I cant wait for it to be delivered!  Then I want to big, wing back chairs, a black fluffy area rug and red scatter pillows for my chairs, with red vases and a beautiful corner lamp!  And I have seen some of the things I want, but at the moment I just cannot afford them all.  

As it is, I have been purchasing some things on my credit card budget facility, just so I won’t actually see the money I spend on my credit card!  It’s like what I don’t see, does not exist, but at some stage I will have to face reality (and that super shocking credit card bill).  

For now I am just dreaming of all these beautiful things and trying to make my December bonus (which is never a given in this company) go 3 times around the world.

Neigbour altercations

Today I had a little altercation with the neighbours. I came home from the shops and naturally opened the remote controlled gate and drove into my parking. When I climbed out the car, the neighbour dude shouted out his window for me to come to the gate. So I walked up to the gate where he, and about 5 of his friends, started telling me I have to pay for the damage done to his friend’s car by opening my gate.

Get this: I can’t open my gate when the neighbour’s gate is open because it runs on the same track! Seriously?! Where I come from whether I open or close my automatic gate has no influence whatsoever on my neighbours gate. Plus, I would think that seeing that the gates happen to share the same track, my landlord should’ve imparted this very dodgy and useful information before I decided to move here.

I refused to be responsible for the damage to this guy’s car and after being yelled at by all of them I eventually just walked away and the neighbour dude shouted after me that he will call the landlord. I hope he does, because this is bullshit. Where have you ever heard of 2 separated houses using the same track for their automatic gates!

Great way to start a 12 month lease! I made it through 2 years at my previous place without speaking to any neighbours and here I am in a fight within the first week of living here. God help me, I hope this is the last time I have to see or speak to them.