Ah, those best laid plans. I keep going on about house things that need doing this year and needing to save for a Europe trip in 2026.
But life always changes, doesn’t it, even in small ways.
The dog had his teeth cleaned a few weeks ago. The vet has told me a number of times that it’s likely he’d need perhaps a couple of teeth out at some point. He’s an older dude, closing in on 11 1/2. Late last Saturday afternoon (ie, more than a week ago now), I looked at his face and noticed the right side was swollen. Off we went to the emergency vet. She looked, poked a bit, got a second dogter opinion. Yeah, looking like time.
That visit was £xxx. He’s got anti-inflammatories to help him feel better. Then, X-ray and surgery (one tooth out I think but it’s hard to see as he won’t open his mouth wide and the nurse was unclear – he’s got follow up visit this week when I’ll find out definitively). That was an additional £xxx. Home and I slept downstairs with him for several nights. He seems mostly back on even keel. My lower back is going to take some stretching and heat to return to normal.
We joke a lot here about needing a pet NHS (national health service, like we have for humans).
In any case, some stress clearly. I’ve been wearing Guerlain Shalimar EdT which is a different animal vs the parfum (the other Shalimar iteration I own). The extraordinary lemon floor wax note is amped up in this version, making the fragrance less plush and much less unsweet uber vanilla-y but weirdly compelling in a totally different way. Lemon floor wax. I still can’t get over how great that smells in a perfume.
It’s actually sort of astringent, but I think that is the wrong word and not really what I mean. Why it works for a stressful period is beyond me. It’s not comforting. Rather, maybe, it’s so structured without feeling like it’s trying at all hard. My bottle is around 20 years old. Only getting better with age.
So, this all means some fiscal rewiring: X which was supposed to happen in April probably still will, but Y I had planned for June may be pushed out to September.
In between all this are other, lighter plans. And I’m determined to make these happen. I have some sessions booked with a local potter to learn how to throw pots. Not dumping that. Be good for my brain to learn a new physical skill. I wonder what clay smells like? Haven’t been near a potter’s studio on 40 years.
I want to properly learn to speak French. Years of crap school lessons and I can be polite. So, I’m going to make sure that slots in. I’ve been reviewing stuff myself and will do lessons from spring.
The point of this? I’m one of those people who makes plans – the list sits, by month, at the bottom of my budget Excel spreadsheet (years of working freelance mean I need to see incomings and outgoings eight months to a year ahead – and I like the habit so keeping it).
Somehow, it sort of keeps me spry having to change around those lists. Like nothing is ever fixed, all is mutable.
So, are you a planner or more spontaneous? Does this post have you shaking your head in agreement as you read? Did it make you want to run for the proverbial hills?
Pics: Pexels, Wiki
I’m so sorry about your dog’s dental woes and the costs that went along with. Double ouch. Triple ouch for your sore back. I do like to plan and make lists, but I leave room for uncertainty and migraines. Two things I can always count on. I’ve never tried any iteration of Shalimar.
When I retired I made a firm decision to be less regimented. Having worked in a role that required detailed planning, delivery & negotiation, then having boys who needed to be at football practice, weekend games & having season tickets for our local football team. My life was strictly structured & organised.
It took me some time to slow down & enjoy not having every moment filled with tasks. I do still keep a “daily to do” list on my phone. Now to stop me forgetting things!
Despite having trained in accountancy in my first couple of jobs, my personal budgeting has never been a strong point. Too many temptations!
Over the past year I have consciously tried to grasp that I don’t have to rush, push, etc, mostly, and that ‘should’ should become a much smaller aspect of my vocabulary. I write down things I plan to do on days when plans are required but have strangely started to revel in having to rearrange plans. Not sure what that is about.
Going with the flow?
Oh, I am SUCH a planner. A fretter and a planner. Contingency plans as well. Gives me that (false!) sense of security 😀 But I’ve learned over the decades that the best-laid plans, etc. People who don’t plan and don’t make decisions drive me insane … I’ve pointed out more than once that refusing to make a decision is its own kind of bass-ackward decision, so why not choose one? Oddly (?) I’m not a huge vacation-detail-planner. I’ll show up in a city and maybe have one must-do but I love wandering around and letting life happen.
Oh, meant to add — I got Coco “for free” in 2021 (my old-ish toy poodle) and spent probably $2000 in the first month to deal with her teeth and other neglected health issues. This was not a shock, so I just sighed and got on with it.
I plan vacations — the hotels, getting there — but unless there’s something I’m aching to do or need to do I behave in a vague, sort of wander-y way now. Agree that not making decisions is its own decision-making and it’s really not fair to other people.
As a Producer/Project Manager ( and a tight-a**) I am most definitely a planner … until I’m not
It makes for some fascinating juxtapositions in my personal life!
Alas, I have the hardest time with Shalimar, in any iteration, possibly because the EDT (in the blue and white cylinder) was my mother’s signature scent in her later years-it does not sit well on me
No denying its beauty, though
Until you’re not? Do tell. That’s difficult on Shalimar. I didn’t favour the perfumes my mother wore (l’Air du Temps mostly) so have no problematic associations.
I’m not a great planner. I think I’d be a better one if I had more of a budget (and one could argue, any amount of self control) we have companies that offer pet insurance but I don’t know how good it is.
I know that lemon note in the EDT. For me it exudes if not confidence, competence. It’s an Elizabeth Zott sort of thing. Just gets down to it and gets it done. (Beverly Hills Reads book last year was “Lessons in Chemistry”)
What is Beverly Hills Reads? I get something a bit more … I don’t know … sinister/witchy in the floor wax note. I really need to visit our single department store to test the Clinique which you noted as coming from the cauldron to spray with abandon.
BH Reads is a thing where the city, high scholl, and library choose a book and people in the are read it then get together to talk about it. 2023 was “Chemistry” and they had a Q&A with the author (via zoom) at City Hall. Last year was Georgia Hunter’s “We Were the Lucky Ones” it’s a nice idea.
It’s a wonderful idea. Wow!
YAY for Shalimar. It turns 100 this year. So cool.
GAH! for vet bills.
NOT a budgeteer here. Wish I was.
Good luck with the pottery, the smell is fabulous.
Portia xx
100, huh. A very good reason to wear all iterations a lot. I did pottery decades ago. No memory of how the clay smelled. I guess I’ll find out 🙂
I just spent $1300 at the vets this month for my dog’s teeth, so I can relate. I have to budget carefully as I am currently living off my savings and will be for several more years until the pension kicks in, so I write out a yearly budget and track actuals vs. projected spending. I am putting off any really expensive trips for at least 3 years and just doing a couple of camping trips a year, which is fine as I love being out in nature. Everything is planned months in advance, as waiting until the last minute means not finding availability. If I had boatloads of money I would be more spontaneous but that’s not possible right now.
I haven’t been camping in eons. I bet the dog would love it. Any holiday this year is going to be short and local. There’s an area called the New Forest which is supposed to be wonderful, but a friend who has been said it can get very busy. Which sort of defeats the point. Maybe I’ll find a glamping site … I have a private pension and will start to see my UK pension pay out in four years. I do get a small amount of US Social Security but I’m now seriously wondering if that will disappear over the next couple of years.