Taking my finger off the self-destruct button

poorbutrich

Wordsmith wrote: »

Well, we survived Santa. A couple of sweet kids wrote in their letters that they wanted presents to go "to the poor people". One very helpful child gave Santa the Argos catalogue codes for the presents she wanted! Santa's trousers fell down, but fortunately not until after all the kids had gone.

The good news is that my water has come back on after the freeze. The bad news is that it doesn't seem to be heating up properly.

Both the dog and I fell over on the ice. I crawled home over icy roads last night, congratulated myself on getting home without incident, and then reversed into a brick pillar and smashed my bumper. Dog was most unimpressed.

I am two suppers into fending for myself. The first one was beans on toast and the second was cheese on toast. I have a feeling that I may need to put a bit more effort into this fending for myself lark.

Hope you're ok after your bump. I fell over yesterday as well (but I thoroughly deserved it as I was larking about on the icy canal path). I told OH I was trying to get my BAGA 1 award for gymnastics...

Your Christmas event sounds absolutely hilarious and a few days on, I am still laughing at your request for cabbage. It sounds to me like the fending for yourself is going well really. Is FF coming back to see you soon and will you be spending Christmas together?

Keep warm and take care! :beer:

chevalier

like the idea of the lively bed warmers. especially the one who chances there paw and gets under the duvet! hurrah to sensible present budget setting. every little helps.

chev

Wordsmith

Today I am NOT going to steal sweets from the pick 'n' mix.

Radish72

Wordsmith wrote: »

Today I am NOT going to steal sweets from the pick 'n' mix.

Or BUY them either

Wordsmith

Buy them? Goodness me, no. I never buy them!

Was hefting bags of feed into farmer's car boot (with him trailing behind me) when he said, "God, you've got lovely hair. It must have been great at one time." Must have been? Must have been! Look mister, I may have some stress highlights but my hair (wonky fringe excepted) is the only bit of me I still have some pride in, so next time, load up your own sodding car.

Seaxwyn

Cheeky b*gger - but the first sentence is definitely in the present tense.

Wordsmith

I’m in a no steps forward and twenty steps back period at the moment. Most of it can’t be helped, though.


Pluses

• Am going to see my Dad tomorrow (well, leaving tomorrow, see him Thursday).
• Having dinner with my two uncles, who I rarely see, tomorrow night.
• Managed to keep my fingers out of the pick 'n' mix all weekend.
• Customer gave me a Christmas card with €20 in it. It was lovely of them, but I felt very awkward about it. I asked lovely boss man whether it was OK to accept, and he was quite happy about it. Yay!
• Friends looking after dog while I’m away. Wretched hound has her bags packed and can’t wait. So much for loyalty. Tart. Friends have declined the pleasure of Brian staying too, as they said he snores too loudly and keeps them awake!!!
• (Nothing to do with money, but) all three cats and the dog slept on the bed with me last night (well, dog and two cats on the bed, one cat in the bed). I know some people would be horrified by this, but I find it very comforting and cosy, apart from a short time when I was trying to dissuade the Davy-Crockett-hat-wannabee from kneading the top of my head. And here’s me, a vegetarian and opposed to wearing fur. Or doen’t it count if the fur is still alive?
• Reaping one of the rewards of renting – I found that the reason my water wasn’t heating up was that there was a hole in the water tank. I didn’t notice any flooding because the water was going straight under the lino of the kitchen then under the lino of the sitting room (I think I mentioned it was a very old-fashioned house!) and presumably straight under the front door, since the floor is about 3 inches higher one side of the room than it is the other. So, knocked on landlady’s door and, hey presto, two days later I have a new hot water tank at no cost to me! Downside is that I probably spent a fortune in oil heating up water that just flowed away.
• Christmas seems as though it will cost me less this year. I have fewer presents to buy and amazingly already have some. Lady close to me makes some lovely things from the wool from her own sheep and I have bought some knitted sheep from her (see this page) for a few random presents, so that is less to think about.

Unpluses

• Being a landlady myself ... new boiler in, am now just waiting for the bill. Big, big sigh.
• Flights to see my dad fairly expensive. Favoured friend is coming over for Christmas and I paid for the flights for him. (I know, I know, but I felt guilty and it seemed some kind of penance to pay.) Spoke to sister who said she was glad that I was going over this week and not waiting till Christmas (how ominous does that sound?) and that Dad was disappointed that I wouldn’t be there for Christmas Day (oh, the guilt – I can’t believe I wasn’t born a Catholic) and so I had a major panic and immediately booked flights for the week between Christmas and the new year, so that I could be there for Dad’s birthday. Ironically, flights over on Christmas eve and back again on Boxing Day were relatively cheap, but I can’t go then because favoured friend is going to be here. So, several hundreds on flights. But ... does it really matter at this stage? Seeing as much as I can of Dad is my top priority.
• Am majorly stressed with work. Next week should be reasonably slow, so I am hoping that I can catch up and start afresh in the new year. I have a project in mind that I really want to get my teeth into – half hobby, half money-making (I hope), but I want to be clear of all work hanging over me before I start on it.
• Was planning on going on a retreat this weekend. I was really, really, really looking forward to it, as it was the only thing I will have done for myself this year after working seven days a week every week. But because of timing and weather and having to be away for too long (worried about animals) I decided that I can’t really go. It seemed the best decision at the time, but now I’m thinking, why couldn’t I have sorted something out? – I’m sure I could have done. Too late now, as I can’t afford another flight back. I am supposed to be taking my finger off the self-destruct button, but it is incredible how hard I make things for myself sometimes.

Don’ t I sound miserable? I’m not! Apart from work stress and money stress and fears for my dad, I’m actually quite content. Although it would be nice if that dog appreciated me a bit more.

Wordsmith

I visited my dad last week, which was lovely, although expensive. I didn’t get to see him much as his brothers were also visiting. It was really nice to see my uncles but it meant my time with Dad was limited and when I did see him he was exhausted from other visitors. Still, I am due to go over again next week for his birthday. The clock I wanted to get him for Christmas turned out to be £95. So I have compromised and got him this instead.

Pluses

Lots to be thankful for, but I can’t actually think of any financial pluses this week.

• Favoured friend visiting for Christmas, weather permitting.
• I have two proofreading jobs to do over the Christmas period ... pluses, of course, but I was rather hoping for a little time off – seems like it will be Christmas day only.

Unpluses

• £40 on rail fares on top of flights to see my dad.
• Forgot my internet banking PIN and so I couldn’t transfer money to pay on to my credit card and so ...
• ... got an overlimit charge.
• One of the restaurants is being sold, so my work will be halved for this company in the new year.

Lanes have been impassable with an ordinary car. My landlady’s husband very kindly brought me into work and collected me again on Saturday and Sunday. Then some of the farmers got together and gritted the road so we could travel OK – it’s been a bit slidey but I have so far managed to avoid ending up in a ditch. Brian stepped on to the road, his back legs went from under him and he slid about three feet down the road on his bum – a very funny sight that cheered my day no end. Poor little chap. Tee hee.

Wordsmith

It is cold, cold, oh so cold. My hot water tank has frozen – I am lucky I have had water this long, many people around haven’t for several days now. One person’s has bizarrely started running again but it is coming out of the tap green. :eek: I mentioned my lack of water to my landlady’s husband when I bumped into him this morning and he said he’d nip in and have a look. Rather regretted telling him as I remembered on the way to work that I haven’t done any washing-up for three days.


Pluses

• Lovely boss men gave me a big bonus for Christmas. (Big as in shop-girl big, not big as in banker-boy big.)

Unpluses

• Had bill for boiler. £3,003.15. :eek: Thankfully and somewhat surprisingly I had the money to pay it. Unthankfully this was my paying the end of year tax and VAT money, so although I have a temporary reprieve, I have still to find the money to pay Mr Revenue, who, thinks me, will not be sympathetic to the need for a boiler, especially one in a different country.
• Proofreading job hasn’t turned up yet. This means that I have less time in which to do the work, so I might have to bring it with me when I visit Dad next week. Pooh.
• One of the shop ladies gave me a Christmas present. Although this is lovely of her, it puts me in an awkward position as I haven’t got her one and I don’t want to get into the habit of giving presents to co-workers, even though we get on well. Even more awkwardly, she has given Lovely Boss Man a present and I don’t want to have to follow suit. This lady is the one that looks after unloyal hound, and I bring her back a little something to say thank you for that, so I think I will not return the Christmas gift but of course continue with the thank-you presents. Does this sound mean? I also am not going to get the boss a gift as it actually seems a bit inappropriate. We always give him a birthday present and he is getting married next year and so we will give a gift for that, but somehow a Christmas present doesn’t seem right. I think I am happy with this decision ... as long as other shop lady doesn’t give him something.

I seriously have to think of ways to earn more. I spend very little. That’s a lie. I spend loads. But I spend very little on things I don’t have to. To an outsider my flights to see my dad may seem a luxury, but to me they are a necessity and if it means I am in debt for longer, then so be it. There’s also the issue of renting a house when I have a caravan ... but just looking out the window now I really don’t feel too bad about that at this minute!

I think I am going to need a new car soon, so I have to find money for this. I also need to find a way of getting my stuff out of very expensive storage and getting it over here. Or moving back to UK. And I so want to make inroads into the debt.

I do a few surveys, which brings in a little extra (or will one day) [incidentally, One Poll has stopped giving me surveys and won’t reply to my emails asking why]. But this is a tiny amount and although “every little helps” as people keep pointing out, it isn’t helping very much! The domestic goddesses make things to sell and I would love to be able to do something like this, but I don’t have a creative or practical cell in my body, so that’s a non-starter. Think, think, THINK.

beanielou

I think the flights to see your dad are very important.