Less bad, more good

 There's so much stuff that I have very little control over going on in my life at the moment, and it's causing me no end of stress.  So, having had a good think and considered things over the past few days, I've decided to more or less let go of the stressful stuff and just concentrate on things that I CAN control and/or that give me pleasure.  Well....to qualify a bit, I can't totally let go of the stressful things, I have to be involved to a certain extent, but I am trying not to let the stuff invade my thoughts 24/7, and to take a step or two back.

So, the better stuff.....

Obviously, the caravan is what makes me really happy and as I said before, I intend to spend a great deal of time there this year and next.  We don't know how much longer we'll be able to keep the van beyond the next 2 or 3 years, so I want as much use out of it as I can, whilst I can.  Having lived in it for the last few weeks of the season last year, I now know what works, what doesn't and what we can improve on to make it better, more useful and more comfortable.  As well as the new lounge furniture, we need to increase insulation in some areas to make it warmer early/late season.  Without spending loads of money, I think the way to do that is to put some insulation sheets (the kind DIY shops sell for behind radiators, or something similar, eg) down on the floor underneath the rugs, and fit thicker linings behind the curtains.  We need to fit something to go over the bathroom window (it's a normal roller blind in there at the moment) as it's blimmin freezing in there when I get up in the night for a wee!

I also need to make better use of the kitchen cupboards and get husband to put up another shelf or 2 for additional storage.  I also want him to construct some sort of store for outside the van door, so the kitchen bin and our wellies/outdoor shoes can be stored outside, instead of taking up space (and dropping bits of mud off our shoes) in the kitchen.  

So those plans are what I'm focusing on and keeping me occupied now.  Another thing is our health - both of us have put on weight since before Christmas - husband says he now weighs more than he's ever done before, largely due to his inactivity.  I've not put on as much as him, but have still gained half a stone or so and it's affecting my joints.  So I'm putting us back on strict diets - not so strict that we'll rebel against it and give up after a couple of days coz we feel so deprived, it'll have to be doable for us.  The main thing for me is cutting down drastically on carbs, I know full well that too many carbs don't suit me at all.  For husband, it'll be getting him to stop snacking between meals (he's terrible for that, it's not that he's hungry, it's just a bad habit) and to have smaller portions.  And he's got to be more active, we both have - but for him it means getting up off his fat backside, turning the damn TV off and actually doing something.  He does agree that he needs to be more active, so that's a start.

So just those couple of things are enabling me to feel a bit less stressed, have a bit more control and have some good things to focus on.