Small Victories…

Do you ever have one of those days when you try and do a simple thing and every tiny part of it goes wrong?!

I have never washed my car. Washing the car was Omid’s job, and the prospect of washing it by myself with a toddler either tugging at me or running into the road was not appealing. Also, to be honest, the state of my car doesn’t bother me (until I have a passenger, and then I feel a whole load of Shame).

Omid liked to keep the car immaculate. A dusty dashboard added to his anxiety, and so he’d regularly drag a reluctant Lucy out to polish and hoover the inside of the car while he gallantly washed and waxed the outside. And he was right – you’ve got to look after your stuff. Whenever I got into my car recently, I could feel his disappointment, and hear him nagging me to sort it out. Just one of the many ways he continues to make me a better person.

Normally, I take my car to a team of Polish wash wizards who make it gleam in minutes. But, in the mission to save for #projectvanlife every penny counts. Today the sun was shining, and I was child-free so I resolved to put my big girl pants on and get on with it. 

First hurdle: bucket and car shampoo were nowhere to be found. I must have sold them in an effort to declutter when I moved house a year ago (see above – when was I ever going to need them?!). I drove to my local Aldi to purchase the necessary goods, sat for an age in the queue for a carpark space, and then discovered Aldi does not sell such things. On to Sainsbury’s then.

I came home home armed with a bucket, shampoo, micro fibre cloths – let’s do this! Nipped inside to grab a snack and headphones to fuel and entertain me while I work, and then headed back outside.. without keys. I was stuck outside. Car wash stuff inside car. Car and house keys in the kitchen 🤦🏻‍♀️. Luckily, I managed to break into the flat through a window which was slightly ajar (note to self: SHUT WINDOWS!!). With the car keys retrieved I was finally able to scrub the car inside and out, and felt pretty fucking proud of myself. It’s not immaculate, but it is much better than it was and that is good enough.

What small victories have you had recently? What trials have you overcome?