The Quest

moo2moo

Happy Christmas Eve All!

I'm riding out the lul before the storm with a peaceful morning before the relatives arrives. The DDs and OH have been banned from entering half the house so that I don't need to do an emergency re-clean. I still have the chickens and chinchilla to clean out, the kitchen to gut and a small bathroom to do but thats it until they depart on the 26th. My step-mother will do the rest. She'll walk in, mutter something about the place actually being tidy until she sees the breakfast room which is piled - literally- with carp. Then she'll get out the feather duster (a gift from her several years ago) and set to work on my cobwebs. At this point we'll run for cover as there will be much outrage from the smallest DD as each room is occupied by Sally or a sibling of Sally the Spider, non of which are under 2 inches in diameter and all of which keep the fly population of the house at a managable level. Its going to be fun fun fun till daddy takes the T-bird away.

Hope all your Quidco purchases pay out on time Lula.

DD2 is a chip off the old block. Her tooth fell out during the night on sunday and was still there monday morning (the tooth fairy hadn't been informed), she put it in an envelope then hid it monday night do the tooth fairy left her £1 under her pillow with a You-Owe-Me note but since DD2 is currently claiming she can't read shes put it back under her pillow in the hopes that the Tooth Fairy will be suffering from a bout of amnesia and will leave her another £1 anyway or at least 50p as a storage fee.

OH is working today and tomorrow with 5am starts so its going to be a bit strange without him but far better that he appears home early afternoon than that he phones from Thailand which was the other alternative. OH, having testicles, is quite miffed at not spending Christmas Day on a beach and having to put up with my step-mother instead. Telling him he can take the kids to the local beach for the afternoon doesn't hold the same appeal.

Hope Santas nice to you all and no-one is the unfortunate recipient of a hand knitted jumper in itchy wool with their name across the front (the worst Christmas ever). Well OK it wasn't quite as bad as last years wind up hamster in a plastic ball which was released from its ball for a quick joy ride across DD2s head and was liberated by DD1 using a very large pair of scissors resulting in DD2s very large bald patch. Or the make-up set which I was allergic to and wore only to placate the giver resulting in puffy eyes like those you see on fancy goldfish and a mouth that could have won a gurning contest, I drooled my way through the remainder of that Christmas Day.

mum2one

Wishing you a very merry xmas, moo2moo, hope u have a great day......sounds like u have a spare little room, you can escape to!! x

moo2moo

Happy Christmas All!

I'm sneaking a cuppa in peace before they all descend. Despite being sent to bed at 7 and again at 7:30 and again at 8, the DDs didn't go to sleep until around midnight, mostly because the neighbours kept popping round so we ended up with a bit of an improptu party. I'm hoping they'll stay asleep for a bit longer. Fortunately they're out sound so me wandering round their room with a torch at 5am playing hunt the stocking didn't disturb them.Obviously leave it at the bottom of your bed so that Santa can find it meant either fall asleep cuddling it or hang it from your window sill. At least I found it in the end.

I'm off to bung the turkey in the oven. Hope you all have the sort of Christmas day you enjoy. Ours started with a bang when Granny sat at the dinner table and recited the alternative version of "I'm not a Pheasant Plucker" then went beetroot red and giggled a lot. At that point we discovered she was drinking from 2 wine glasses. Fortunately by 7pm she was snoozing in an armchair.

OH opened his naughty gift and chuckled a lot.

moo2moo

Well its over. Relatives left yesterday. OH is working again today. DDs are playing My Horse and Me on the Wii so all is peaceful.

Got a few surprise gifts including a GPS from the OH. He already has one which I usually borrow if I'm going somewhere odd. I also got some knee high thermal ski socks and a new fleece jacket from my parents. The DDs recieved 4 pairs of thermal PJs, a pair of wellies each, a watch, lots of books and even more chocolates. DD1 is dairy intollerant so chocolates aren't the best thing in the world for her. Great Grandad gave us £110 between us so I've spent £5 on a Wii game for the DDs and a DS game for the OH. I'll use the rest of it to pay off a chunk more of the debt as theres nothing else that we need at the mo. and I'll just be spending it for the sake of spending it.

OH was over the moon with his DS but most miffed that before Christmas I'd told him it was a complete waste of money when he suggested one and everytime it was mentioned after that I told him he'd never use it and it was yet another gadget he'd bung in a drawer and forget about once the novelty wore off. Hes more miffed that I was able to talk him out of one though, hes now wondering what else I've talked him out of recently.

Planning to spend the next few days tidying up and disposing of DD2s very old worn out PJs so that her new ones fit in her drawers. The fridge needs a good clean thanks to someone putting something away without puting the lid on properly. On a more positive not I'll bung anything vaguely dubious looking in the slow cooker with the remains of the turkey for tonights soup.

I may give in and light the fire early as I can't feel my toes! I quite fancy a bath but I've a feeling it'll be a bit like the New Years Day ice breking ceremony as I can see my breath in front of me in the bathroom. Not really the sort of atmosphere that makes you want to be butt naked.

Lula-Hula

Hello everyone

Hope everyone had a great christmas & thanks to Moo2 for popping in & sorry i havent got around to replying before now. We've been inundated with guests & although DD & I both remarked on Boxing day that we liked having people round, today when the last one left we both heaved a sigh of relief at having the place ot ourselves again . It's good to have company but as we live in a fairly small place it does get a bit claustrophobic in winter when I cant use the garden as a sanctuary.

Fortunately we have worked our way through most of the seasonal food now & I think I'm going to start my detox tomorrow as I feel really urgh. I've actually been feeling off for a few days & had a cold & no energy. I'm hoping that a detox will refresh me & provide the energy to get started on the decorating.

We went out for a lovely walk yesterday with the O/F & I managed to provide the laughs while walking along fallen trees; jumped onto a very smooth one & slid landing on my backside with my legs waving in the air :rotfl: . I was completely unhurt having landed on the ground which was covered in 6 inches of leaves & got the giggles so I just lay helpless like an upturned beetle, yes that's how round I've become in the last few days .

I've been checking out loads of sales online but so far have not bought a thing which I'm quite proud of, especially as it means I've completed 5 NSDs in a row .

Although I really want to buy a new wardrobe & chest for my room & have the money, I dont want to spend it :eek: . I have 2 unopened birthday cards here & I know they both contain cheques but I've realised that if I keep drilling away at the debt then in only 2 years I will be able to save up to buy whatever I want. I'm going to pay the cheques into my savings / emergency account & put the money towards our holiday instead .

I'm dreading going back to work, particularly as the driver was bemoaning the lack of tips this year & reflecting that last year she & the other driver & the boss had pooled all the tips & got over £100 each :mad: . There are 6 of us 'actual workers' & I got absolutely nothing . Seething resentment is how I can best describe my feelings, & the grubby £10 note in a card I got from the boss this year hasnt really soothed me :rolleyes: . Anyway, I've considered all the options again & what with the current lack of suitable alternatives I've decided that as long as the business stays afloat I will continue to work there until the debt is gone. That should give me even more incentive to clear it quickly & I can view it as a necessary evil means to the ends, or whatever the saying is .

I'm still working on my list of £100 things to do next year & will declare it when I'm done :rolleyes: .

Bye for now

Lula xx

mum2one

Glad you had a gd xmas, and heres to a new yeart, with lots of positive debt busting......... You start a new thread with the £100 clothes challenge, sounds fun.....x

retrocircles

been reading over your diary, and it's lovely to read such positive words! you've been added to my subscriptions thread & look forward to reading more in the new year.

moo2moo

Your £100 Clothes Challenge sounds like a challenge and a half Lula. Of course there are several ways in which you can cheat. Donating your unwanted clothes to Oxfam would get you a £5 M&S voucher, although I'm fairly sure the Ts&Cs require you to spend £25, me thinks you'd need to tag along with an M&S addicted friend to benefit.

The OH thinks I should join in but then hes reading over my shoulder and thought the challenge was to spend £100 in a year on clothes. I'd fail miserably. Totting up my total purchases last year (excluding underwear) 4 pairs of sale jeans @ £10 each and 1 pair @ £20, 10 sale t-shirts @ 50p and 3 fleece jumpers at £20. Grand total £85. I'm clueless as to accessories???? Why are they essential purchases... unless you mean Hi-Vis vests and matching trousers in a very fetching day glo yellow and fleecy bobble hats and gloves.

However continuing on the theme of confessions the mind boggles that I can't actually fit all my clothes in my drawrer or my wardrobe. It probably doensn't help that my clothes are vintage chic (code word for old and comfy) I was wearing a Levi black denim jacket the other day when I suddenly thought of my best friend from high school with whom I purchased it aged 14 for £60 on a saturday morning shopping spree, this was about the same stage in my life that I thought a black mens suit jacket and a white t-shirt went really well with jeans. I turn 34 next birthday. Its not so much a photo album as a trip down memory lane everytime I open the door. Then of course as things wear out I adapt them. Knackered jeans become gardening trousers then summer shorts. I did have a cull last year and threw out 10 or so pairs of shorts. Perhaps my challenge for the year should be to cut down the number of items in my wardrobe and say no thanks once in a while when the builders merchants throw in a promotional t-shirt in some disgusting shade of green. In my defence I no longer own anything with shoulder pads.

I supose thats something I can do today. Its barely above freezing, I'm avoiding going into work and this shall be my punishment. You may need to send someone to rescue me as I'm the proud owner of a Narnia-esqe walk-in wardrobe. My mission for today will be to liberate 3 bin bags of clothes from my wardrobe. New Year New Start and all that.

[Deleted User]

Good luck moo2, don't get lost in the wardrobe.

moo2moo

Despite having planned a very quite day yesterday the OH suddenly annoounced that we were going to the TraffordCentre at lunchtime. It was insane. Even the newly created over-overflow carpark was chocka. DD2 insited on being carried as people kept walking into her, tripping up over her and whacking her in the face with their bags. At least when she had a piggy back it wasn't her that ended up being kicked. Spent £22.50 in the Boots sale on 1/2 price gifts for the OHs family when we do Christmas part 2 at the end of January. That was it. Not a thing else despite 5 hours of free exercise. Unfortunately we got way laid en route and ended up at Decathlon where we both found winter coats in the sale. OHs is like a duvet, down filled and incredibly warm and reduced by 65% to £85 but since hes had 10 years out of his last coat this didn't seem too extreme. Mine was marginally better at 70% off but still £65. I went on to purchase 3 pairs of Sloggi undies with a free bottle of wine for £4.99.

Got home ridiculously late so didn't have time to roast the lamb joint that I was planning. Instead we had a very improvised meal using up lots of ovenable bits from the freezer. At the rate we're going I'll be able to defrost and clean the freezers out before going back to work properly next monday.

Operation wardrobe clearout is coming on rapidly, turfing out the 1980s dayglo ski jacket helped quite a bit and was very therapeutic. I have a pile of stuff to try on but since the only mirror in the house is in DD2s room I need to wait for her to wake up before I continue. At this point I've filled two and a half bags.

Still on paid work avoidance. I will have to go in at some point between now and Sunday but I really really can't be bothered. Bad bad Moo.

I've booked 2 mystery shops for the week the schools go back so thats £20 extra. OH is off work until January 10th so his fuel bill should be £120 less than normal but I won't notice that until March as he puts it all on plastic for the 2% Asda discount and then clears the balance each month. Continuing the theme of New Year New (fill in the blank) I'm going to have a fun filled evening revamping my SOA and persuading the OH to cut back his smoking again as its creeping up and up to irritating levels, especially when he stands with his head outside the door and a gale force wind blowing into the house as apparently this constitutes not smoking in the house. Men! Rant of the day over.

Time to think up some achievable New Years Resolutions or at least some targets for next year. I'm thinking vaguely of one a month so that by January 31st I'll have achieved x (whatever that may be). Now I just need to come up with something. Suggestions on a postcard please.