Earlier this week I bought a decent wool-mix suit from Zara, two shirts from H&M, and new shoes from New Look. It is the first proper shopping trip for clothes I have been able to indulge in in two years. I need these things for my new job. I still have my old clothes that I used to wear to my old job, but trying them on they felt cheap and stale and I am too fat for them now.

Today I bought a pair of warm, fully lined curtains for the bedroom, draft excluding things for doors, and that cling-film stuff for the windows.

We're going to have the loft better insulated too. I am determined to keep the house as warm as possible this winter. Getting cold makes me so ill. A drop in temperature took me surprise yesterday and I let the cold get to me before I realised that I needed to dress up warmer than i had been doing. My body and mind just shut down and I couldn't even think what to do to get warm. I recover slowly, even when warmed up I'm still confused and suffering from that odd sort of out-of-body pain that cold brings.

All these things I both need to do and can do because I've found work. Funny, when you're off work ill you have all the time in the world to do things, but no money with which to do them. But when you're well enough to work you have the money but no time. Funny. Funny. Funny.