Jamiedodger's Happy Times 2009 Diary

JAMIEDODGER

Body clock obviously back to normal as I woke at my usual 5.45 this morning without the aid of an alarm clock!:)

Ds3 off out with carers today at 10am so me and dd will be going out and picking up a few bits we have run out of!

I also need to post a birthday card to my Grandad this morning, mustn't forget to do that!!

Yesterday I blitzed the kitchen, completed my entire flylady list:T It is sparkling now:D My bedroom is on the list to attack today:D

Have amended total 2009 challenge spends in signature. £1008.09!!!:eek: Sounds a lot but I am still within budget for February as well as the whole year so not too worried!;)

Made arrangements with a friend to go shopping to Chichester on 24th, after half term, which is good because I needed to take back a lamp I bought that doesn't work!

Still waiting to hear from DLA about the re-claim I put in for my son. Don't hold out much hope but I have my fingers crossed anyway!

Have also made plans with another friend to go to Ikea on 12th March! Hopefully it won't be as busy as it was when I went last week! I am planning on buying the small chest of drawers for dd room, plus some pictures for her wall and some towels, cutlery and a few other bits....I have started a list already:D Friend has never been before so she is really looking forward to it:):j

Hope everyone is having a good half term?

beanielou

What rates was your son on?
As long as you can get medical evidence in support should be ok.

JAMIEDODGER

hi beanie, my son gets higher rate care and lower rate mobility, we have asked them to look at the claim again to support him getting higher rate mobility. Often a lottery whether children with autism get higher rate mobility, however we have full backing and evidence from school, social worker etc, as we believe he qualifies under their criterea for children with severe mental and behavioural problems. He needs 24 hour a day care and we cannot take him anywhere out of the home unless he has supervision all of the time. He escaped from the campsite we were on last summer, I had turned my back for a second and he was gone. He had run out of the campsite and crossed a major A road before I reached him. He has no sense of danger at all. (One of the most terrifying days of my life) I hope they award in our favour, I have everything crossed. It would make such a difference to our lives as currently I am unable to take out all my children on my own without added support.

Sorry, I have waffled on havent I?:D

beanielou

No you havent waffled on I really hope you get an increased award.

JAMIEDODGER

We have the gas people round this morning for our annual gas inspection. Fingers crossed everything will be ok. They are going to fix my thermostat too which isnt working properly:)

I also have booked a local flooring company to come round and measure dd bedroom. Hoping to get a good quote and have it done mid march, after my MOT has been sorted.

Should be getting delivery of the picture frames I have ordered. One is for ds3 wall-e poster and the other is for a black and white picture for my room. If they come today, thats another job on my to do list:)

Last night I undercoated my front room door. Hoping to gloss that next week when the kids are back at school.

Have updated signature with yesterdays spends.

donner_kebab

Heya JD!

You are sooooo uber organised! Spooky about the gas inspection and the themostat! I called my Council last week and mentined that my thermostat has started playing silly beggers (well it has some sort of countdown on which at the end, shuts off all hot water and heating so I need them to reset it...) and they will be doing the annual check too. That is if they show up as they were meant to be here Monday but the lady on the phone forgot to allocate it to an engineer! Mega annoying as that means 2 out of my 5 days holiday are taken up waiting in for the council!

I have finished with all the white paint now in DD room and am about to start with the colour this afternoon! Have brought a big pot so should be ok. Having nowt but trouble with it due to bubbling paint, flaking etc but hopefully I have that under control now. Just wanna get it done!

I too need to get some flooring for DD room, wanna get some black carpet really to match what else will be in there...will be on my to do list maybe next month? But soon!

Gawd I haven't even had brekkie yet! Off to get some foodies xxx

Cat_Addict

Hi Jamie, I like it when they do the annual gas inspection. It's one of the high points of housing association property. If we were private we'd be paying through the nose for this stuff LOL!

JAMIEDODGER

donner - sounds like the decorating is coming along nicely! I am having wood effect lino on dd bedroom floor, in fact all the bedrooms will be done with this, I already have it in my bedroom and ive chosen exactly the same for all the other bedrooms, I just find with kids its easier to keep clean, it does look lovely too!

Cat - I dread to think how much it might cost if we had to pay for it all!!! The man also rang up the HA while he was here and is getting one of the fix it guys round to mend my electricity meter cupboard door which blew off during the last high winds:) There are definate benefits to not owning your own house:D

Havent got a lot planned for today, think I am going to give decorating a miss. I have an awful backache which is not going away, so today I will be chilling out!

I am hoping with the new thermostat I will be able to better control my gas useage. I dont think it will make much difference to this week as I take my readings on a saturday morning plus the kids have been at home all week on half term, but I think next week will be a much less than I have been using. The gas man said the thermostat was stuck on about 30 degrees, and everytime I turned it on from the main cupboard the it cost me more to reboot the system than if I had the heating on low all the time!!!!!

I really need to reduce the gas costs because they are much higher than I anticipated this year and I think that is due to increased utility prices and my flipin thermostat:eek:

Usually I turn my heating off 1st april, I may have to think about turning it off earlier this year to offset costs.

Off to make another cuppa!

JAMIEDODGER

WOOHOO!:beer:

Just took meter readings and put them into i-measure. It seems fixing the thermostat made more of a difference than I thought it would!!!:D

My gas had a significant drop this week! Bearing in mind that this only reflects 3 out of the last 7 days as the thermostat wasn't fixed until Wednesday, this looks very good for next week!!!

The electricity went up slightly which was expected considering it is half term and the kids are all using electrical equipment throughout the day. This will go down again next week when they are back at school:) Because I take my meter readings on a saturday half term stretches over a two week period and the kids have inset day on monday. The following week will better reflect our normal usage.

I am one very happy dodger this morning!!! :T I have updated my meter readings with npower and they will send me an up to date paperless bill within the next week and hopefully an amended monthly dd amount.

I was using about £23 worth of gas per week as estimated by i-measure, this weeks readings show a spend of £15.89, this is a HUGE difference!:j

Will be having a fairly slowpaced weekend, just chillin with the kids. Need to pop out briefly this morning to the post office as I have just sold another book on amazon:D More money for the xmas 2009 money neutral fund, which btw is looking nice and healthy considering it is only February:)

Off to make a cuppa now.....

donner_kebab

Heya JD!

Well done on the meter readings and the Amazon book! I have decided too that I need some sort of cut off date for the heating etc and reckon that will come soon. I am also trying to make more of a concious (sorry think spelling is wrong there!) effort to turn the water off as soon as I can, ie not leaving it on for hours on end, just to wash up!

Nice to chill with the kiddies! I don't have too much more painting to do now...finished the walls and have been doing the skirting and woodwork etc, which is looking a bit rubbishy really but can't be helped! Luckily it is white already (dirty looking white mind!) so I am just kinda refreshing it a bit and covering up the purple marks I left after the paint on the walls! I do really need to do the ceiling though, to complete the room but will tackle that next weekend as I don't have any plans!

Weather is looking gorge out there today, nice fresh day! I have to stay in through and wait for Emily's bed from Tesco! Hopefully it won't be too late in the day and then I can try and put that together and she can actually have a bed again! Poor thing has been on the sofa all week! Will look lush though with the skulls bedding and curtains...wish my room was nice! Maybe I will start on that later on in the year! Wish I was like you, could get the whole house done within a week! I really need to get more organised!!! xxx