Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

HappyNow wrote: »

I've been on training and practice days myself, too. Well we do need to perfect our arts.
Money Got none. And our superfast internet is due next week (yay) but there is a £150 cost for the equipment and £40 monthly ongoing charge (boo). It's a community thing and no-one is making a profit from it, that's just the base cost. I am looking forward to joining the broadband generation, but no cheap deals for us .

Cheap deals are all well and good, but the reality is there is only one company that provides anything like acceptable customer service and when things go wrong they've been absolutely brilliant at sorting it out. I pay what it costs them to stay in business and make enough profit and I don't begrudge them a penny of it. I take my hat off to whoever is organising your community installatin because that's a thankless task in itself.

Healthy eating :o
My beautification I had intended epilating my legs today but it was too cold to take my socks off. Maybe tomorrow. Or Spring. It's not like I wear dresses in this weather so there's really no point and fluffy legs are warmer.

I'm in the same sort of situation but I don't epilate - I use the cheapest razors I can find, a squirt of shaving cream and a bit of concentration. That's in the summer, when I occasionally have bare legs, the rest of the year I'm keeping as warm as I can. Homegrown fur suits me and I've taken to wearing pjs so OH doesn't notice.

Honey_Bear

• No computer after 9.00 pm and light out by 11.30 pm; Light went out about 10.30 last night again. I forced myself to switch the computer off at a few minutes after 9.00pm but when I'm tired I notice that I really, really want to carry on playing games and surfing. I don't know if I'll ever grow out of that habit.
  
• 5 fruit and veg a day; Just, but rather more fruit than veg at the moment.
  
• Keep a careful record of floury stuff eaten so that if I get a reaction I can work out what's making it happen; This has been a really useful thing to do - I now know my headaches and the lethargy were pure over-indulgence, but I can manage one helping a day without any problems. Yay!
  
• Electric toothbrush once a day at least; Back in the game at long last which was forced on me by a graphic reaction to not being scrupulous for a few days in a row.
  
• Write all Christmas cards and do all the obvious Christmas shopping by 30 November so December is just the fun stuff. The road to hell ....
  
• Clear the filing tray and the in tray by the end of the month. Because I've been feeling so much better I've been ignoring my desk for weeks and it's all bit chaotic. Even more more slippage but that's because it's still November.

Honey_Bear

I have three days to write my Christmas carsds, clear the In Tray and the filing. Not going to happen, is it? On the upside, 16kgs of crabapples have been turned into a rather fantastic Crabapple, Orange and Cider Jelly.

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I have three days to write my Christmas carsds, clear the In Tray and the filing. Not going to happen, is it? On the upside, 16kgs of crabapples have been turned into a rather fantastic Crabapple, Orange and Cider Jelly.

Writing the Christmas cards is possible, I did a list one day, bought them the next and then they were all written on the next so three days is all it takes if you put your mind to it . The actual writing them only took a couple of hours but I guess it depends on how many you have to do. I have reduced it down quite a lot in the last few years.

At least the crabapples have been finished with :T.

joeyjimbles

My goodness you're a busy lot of ladies.
So I'm back from the getting ready for London, going to London, dealing with the aftermath of having been to London, and the last and final installment (hopefully though it does pay well) of the job of doom. I swear that going away for three days on my own takes more organisation than preparing a family holiday for a fortnight.
But it was all lovely - lots of pottering about, some shopping (really not that much - in fact not enough) and some lovely meals out. On the first day we walked 30,000 steps according to one of the girl's fitbit machines - we ended up walking from Euston as there was a suspected fire on the tube so that added a good mile or so that day. And the upshot was that despite at least a bottle of wine, two treaty meals, and coffee and cake each day, I came home having lost 3lbs which has stayed off.
And now I need to get on with Christmas and need a plan to do so. I have brought the Advent Calendar down and bought the required chocolates - that's a start, isn't it?

Honey_Bear

Your London trip sounds like a lot of fun, Joey. Well done on the 3lbs!

Well, the cards aren't written but they're ready, so that's an improvement on last year! All in all, I've found November a toughie but I think that's because it's such a depressing month and at least posting here occasionally meant that I was slightly less shambolic than most years.

I'm wondering, Happy, if you're planning on giving yourself December off and then relaunching in January?

joeyjimbles

Thanks Honey, it was fun though all too brief. Next year the plan is to go for 3 or even 4 nights which will be less rushed hopefully. We book months in advance at a Travelodge and have the trains booked as far in advance as they will permit and it only cost me £98 for the train and the hotel last time. And I did manage to have my eyebrows threaded and tinted, and a haircut whilst I was there which was rather lovely, and treaty as they were both birthday presents, and kept up my beautifying theme.

HappyNow

Joey - your London trip sounds fantastic and I hope Mr H and myself can do something similar next year. We went to London for two nights a few years ago and pledged we would go back. Like you, we stayed in a Travelodge (Tower Bridge - recommended) and got ridiculously cheap train fares via East Coast trains.
Dolphin - I have followed your example and my Christmas cards are all bought and sat in a pile ready for writing. Well, I say 'bought' - I got a free pack from W H Sm1ths via O2 Priority Moments. Ten cards (picture of a donkey wearing a Santa hat ) should have been £4.99, cost zero. I don't know why they do that, but I am SO glad they do. They will be written and posted tomorrow.
Honey - Well done on the home-made jelly. I assume you have now also written your cards, done all your Christmas shopping, cleared your in-tray and filing, and are now sat enjoying a well-deserved B3cks Blue? If not, you'd best crack on

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I'm wondering, Happy, if you're planning on giving yourself December off and then relaunching in January?

Nope! After a mega-successful (:o:o ) Nocrap November I am in full swing with Do-it December. Only two targets though to reflect that, as usual, I am likely to be full of crap!

• Money. The usual and permanent quest to waste nothing and make the money streeeetttch
• Christmas/New Year. I will do something every day towards making Christmas 2015 one to remember - and for all the right reasons. The extended family are all coming here on Christmas day, and I am going to write a strict list/timetable, so that I meet my fate all serene and well-organised, without the standard wild-eyed, last minute panic. It's going to be FAB!

joeyjimbles

I can add the Covent Garden Travelodge to the recommended list. All the rooms appear to have been upgraded now and the beds are fantastic, but the best thing of all is the location which is right on Drury Lane. I remain completely baffled however by all the people choosing to eat and drink there. I'm sure they have their reasons but with all of London - cheap or expensive - on their doorsteps it seems odd to stay in and eat generic frozen and fried food. I suppose it would be boring if we were all the same but it surprises me every time.
My December plans are much the same as yours Happy. I want to get everything that I can done in advance and then I can just enjoy it all too. Currently I have cards, chocolate, crisps and about a quarter of the gifts so I have lots of scope for improvement :rotfl: