13 Moons part 2 - Freebird & Frugabulous

Karmacat

Poor Lula! I hope you don't lose that nail (((((((((()))))))))))))

Isn't the neighbour at least buying you a bottle of wine or something? How very uncouth! Tsk ... tho as you say, at least its no longer cluttering the place up.

boredofbeingathome

They just don't get it do they? Mine do exactly the same

Lula-Hula

Bonsoir tous,

I'm Queen of the NSDs at the moment; 4 out of 4 so far :j.

Work was rather workish today. I was busy all day which is great but not really in the mood. I was woken up at 6 by the sound of an alarm going off which sounded suspiciously like my car . I turned over, knowing that it would stop in a few seconds. 5 minutes later it was still going so I decided to pretend to wander down to the garden in my dressing gown & investigate.

Turns out it wasn't my car which is great in that it was fine, but rubbish in that whoever the owner was, they were unable to turn it off for half an hour :mad:.

Being wide awake I got on with my yoga session & then pottered about having coffee & choosing shoes. Today was all about the mega platform wedges. These really are the most comfortable shoes I have & they have the added bonus of being so damn heavy that I'm sure just wearing them is a workout for my legs :rotfl:. Far more comfy & stylish than those ankle weights too.

Dad came round to collect his birthday gift but had plans for the evening so didn't want to go out for meal, thereby saving me both squids & a NSD :T.

DD is off to High School tomorrow & I'm taking her friend as well as her mother can't go to work late so she's coming here for 8.30 & I'll then drop them both off at 9.30. They plan to walk back together which is good so they can get an idea of the route & feel a bit independent.

I have to go there in the evening to meet the tutor & learn some stuff. Weather looks rubbish for the rest of the week, but should save me from watering the garden so not all bad .

I'm still reading a book I started about 3 weeks ago so going to have a read of that now,

G'night
xx

Karmacat

Sounds good, Lula. Lovely ankle weights too.

Lula-Hula

DD had a fab day at her new school & has already made some new friends with girls from other schools .

I walked up there this evening as I realised that not only would it save me from the parking chaos, but it could count as my daily exercise too. Forgot to mention that yesterday we did a half hour bike ride after supper - yet another reason why it would be so lovely not to have to do home-job *sighs*.

We met the form tutor, got a huge info pack, sampled the food from the restaurant - I was coerced as one of my neighbours works there. What an amazing difference form the much they provide at the junior schools. I had a tiny portion of chicken korma with rice & a mini chocolate cookie - very restrained.

I discovered that a new uniform range & accompanying price list came out yesterday & that the basics will cost me over £90. That doesn't include shirts ( school shop price is £9 each :eek:) or shoes, trainers, kit bag & tracksuit for winter.

I also found out that we are strongly encouraged to pay an annual contribution of £25 - which I don't mind as all the clubs they do are free & there is a huge library on site & all the other stuff going on. ( NB the head at her current school requests £30 a year & we still have to pay for all clubs & no discount or refund for when on school trips etc :mad:).

I was a bit shocked to discover that rather than pay a £5 deposit for a locker & key as was the norm when DD1 was there - to be refunded when child left school - I now have to pay £20 a year for a locker. That's now being managed by an external company. We could order them & pay as of tomorrow, but I decided to go ahead & try tonight & thank goodness I did as there were only 20 left & 2 other schools haven't even had their inductions yet.

It has ruined my run of NSDs but is one less thing to worry about.

Apparently, I have somewhat underestimated the cost of this new schooling adventure. I was interested to hear that the new uniform suppliers will take payment on CC - having just seen the news & America's national debt ... I'm not worried about my measly £1300 :rotfl:.

I did blanch at the letter about the skiing trip next year; £800 is just too far beyond my means & thankfully DD is not keen to go. I'm a bit nervous about the cost of lunches every week, let alone spring half term holidays.

The reality of this new level of regular expenditure is now hitting home & I know that there will have to be further budget trimming sessions to keep us afloat. I'm not panicking & the CC isn't really an issue, but I am very conscious of costs & my precarious income situation.

Time for strict austerity measures.

G'night
xx

taxi73

Bit of a mixed bag there but glad DD has already made new friends and there are a lot of better things there for her.£800 for a school holiday...wow

Karmacat

That is a "wow", in a bad way, sadly ... astonishing about the lockers too ... what on earth do the kids do if the firm has run out of lockers???

Otherwise - I was thinking of you, Lula, I finally saw the new Waitrose adverts! I think they're lovely, what do you think?

Lula-Hula

Morning Taxi,

bonkers though it may sound, £800 for a week's skiing trip which includes all travel, accommodation, meals, ski equipment, lift passes & instructor is actually bargainous in comparison to the £375 I paid for her to do a 5 day trip in Dorset.

I still can't afford for her to go next year though, but won't completely rule it out for the future. It is something that I would struggle to be able to afford to take her myself & it is a way of enabling her to try this out. I need a boat more though .

The other revelation which I forgot last night, is that they don't start at school until 7th September. This playscheme ends on 26th August & therefore leaves me lacking 5 days of childcare. I'm already over my holiday entitlement & with things so uncertain I'm reluctant to be seen to be needy & unreliable & take even more. On the other hand I'm even more reluctant to pay out another £180 on childcare for those 5 days .

Need to come up with a plan ...

Cannot see me ever giving up home-job :rotfl:

That's not actually funny, but if I don't laugh I'll probably cry.

Good news is that I did the weigh & measure this morning & have now lost a total of 8lbs . I feel well & my energy levels are much more balanced; I seem to be over the 4 o clock sugar crave now.

I've still only lost half an inch off Daphne & Delores but an inch has gone from my waist, an inch from my hips ... no change to the thighs though :mad: Must do more cycling.

Other good news is that I've finally had the £12.50 refund from the school raincoat. Doesn't alter the fact that I had to pay £29.99 for another one, but it fits me too so will hopefully last her for ever & the refund softens the blow a bit.

Thanks to locker rental, I now have £38.20 in my current account for groceries, very glad to have the £6 off till spit.

Rain due today so hopefully will get to use my fab spotty umbrella :j.

Bye for now
xx

Souk08

Goodness, schools are big business now aren't they lovey?!

You're doing good though but yep maybe time to get the head down. We're all rooting for you lady.

I'm on day 3 of South Beach and all is well X

Lula-Hula

Thanks hon,

good to hear South Beach is going well, I get to eat veg on friday & will just leap into the biggest salad ever

Must dash to take little ladies to school & me to work
xx