Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

themadvix

Afternoon all!

Yesterday was almost a NSD and then Dad suggested fish and chips and sent me for it. He gave me most of the money back (his choice), but I wasn't going to fuss about the last £3. Today is definitely not a NSD though. I worked in Costa for a couple of hours this morning after dropping DH off at the station (as I need the car) - £5 spent there, but it did allow me to concentrate on work and not get distracted by the to-do list at home. Have also bought meat for Sunday when in-laws are coming. I didn't want to get a joint in case the engineer can't fix the fan and we have to use the non-fan option as that would throw the times out (and I'm not sure how good it is anyway). So my tame butcher talked me into some very un-MSE beef Wellingtons - £20 for 3!! :eek: However, it's a rare treat for DH and I think there'll definitely be some left from his mum's one, so he can have the leftovers.

Finally feeling like I'm no longer chasing my tail with all the Brownie stuff and work too. Will be glad when tonight's over though as I'll be off out shortly and won't get back till 8.30, having been to a million places and then run Brownies as the leader in charge (other leader is away tonight). Sometimes I try and fit too much in and then regret it. Problem is, other things have been loaded onto me too (unavoidable things - I did say no to something else!).

Enough waffle about Brownies....

MS things:
* MS rewards, SB (singular!), VB poll
* DH had a usey-up dinner last night
* Cashback has tracked on Brownie purchase

Gratitudes:
* Good night's sleep last night (first in a while) - helped with facing today!
* Pan au raisin and friendly staff in Costa this morning
* It's Friday!

Got to add.... was horrified at the number of mums and primary school aged children in Costa at 8.15-8.30 this morning. All the kids had little takeaway hot drink cups - I pity their teachers, even hot choc has caffeine in it! And what does it teach them about environmentalism, how to cook for themselves or the value of money. I literally couldn't believe it..... What is the world coming to?!! :eek: :eek:

Karmacat

Hope its all gone well, madvix, thats one busy day.

I'm surprised as you are about mums and kids in Costa! Good grief. I wonder if its an Americanism thats caught up to us... I stayed with a scientist friend in Florida back in the mid 90s, and she was very clear to me that the only "food" she kept in the house was teabags, literally nothing else except that and catfood (um, for the cat!). For absolutely everything else, she had takeout, delivery or a restaurant meal. Or the canteen, since she worked at a huge place there. Astonishing.

newgirly

That might help with my snacking all the time karmacat, not as easy as popping to the fridge

EatingTheElephant

This is one of the things I love about this forum. It really opens your eyes

I am amazed at both the Costa and Florida tales :eek:

gallygirl

Where my office was based in the UK was prime yummy mummy territory. I'd sometimes take one or two of my team out for coffee to discuss stuff and we'd often struggle to get a seat in one of the many cafes. Full of either yummy mummies or nannies enjoying themselves while daddy earned the money as an investment banker or similar. Of course, the town also had prime charity shopping

earthgirl

Wow you sound so busy! Glad that you said no to more commitments too.

themadvix

Hey all,

So glad it wasn't just me who was horrified about the children in Costa! (I got notification of Karma's post, but then none of the others - have only just checked in and seen all your other responses ). The Florida story is shocking Karma, but doesn't surprise me. I think there seems to be a tendency that way in this country (apart from among us MFWers!). The stats about how much people eat out always amaze me - I consider that we eat out quite a bit (certainly compared to some on here), but it's well below average and never just because we can't be bothered with making lunch (sometimes dinner, I'll grant). Lots of yummy mummies around here GG - I've had that problem too when trying to find a seat to work in - they seem to drop the kids off and then retreat en masse to the coffee shop! My mum did wonder if it was a Friday treat, but I couldn't justify even a Friday treat every week for children of that age, especially not the caffeine before school.

Friday was a really busy day, but I'm rather pleased that I got everything done (except one thing, which I remedied on Sunday morning). Brownies made bath salts for their mums in baby food jars , wrapped up and with a card and they looked great. I was really pleased. It was manic though

Saturday was pretty busy too - DH has got my car sorted and I've booked an MOT for Thursday (£27 + £2 cashback ) I got lots of housework done and bread and snacks baked for the week. Collapsed in a heap for a nap in the afternoon! Yesterday I had church parade (1 Brownie turned up! :mad: ) and came back to a roast dinner and hm cheesecake cooked by DH, and his parents arrived shortly after me. It was lovely. Saw my mum and family in the afternoon, so everyone was happy.

Work continues apace, so concentrating on getting through that this week. Some cheques have cleared, so have transferred £50 of Brownie expenses + cashback to savings :T Milkman delivered cancelled delivery last week and I forgot to cancel today's so we're swimming in milk. Weds delivery and veg box cancelled as we also have loads of food in. Need to make a meal plan as stuff needs using up and we've got a 50% off voucher for takeaway that needs using today and it would be rude not to (I have my doubts about this but I'd mentioned it and now DH is looking forward to Chinese!). Should be able to balance it all and not waste anything though.

MS things:
* MS rewards, VB poll and surveys
* £26 PA payment on its way
* Need some bits from Natural Collection - 99p delivery ends tomorrow, so need to do that
* DH and I have a 'date' to list stuff on Ebay tonight - max £1 FVF offer expires at midnight
* 50% off takeaway

Gratitudes:
* The one Brownie!:rotfl:
* Lovely meal cooked by DH (and he did most of the clearing up too!)
* Nice time with families

Have a good afternoon all

themadvix

Afternoon all,

The never ending work continues Although I need to have words with one client who has changed the deadline on a substantial piece of work from Tues (20th) to this Fri! That's unlikely to happen!

Evening class tonight, although as it's getting lighter in the evenings, I'd rather be out! We'll go for a quick walk tonight when DH gets home. We had takeaway last night, so leftovers tonight for tea (with some extra rice). Managed to get ebay listings done, and something has a bid on it already. Also used the discounted postage to order what I needed from natural collection.

MS things:
* VB poll done - £16.89 paid out last night; MS rewards; paltry 1 SB collected
* Ebay listings
* Vouchers used
* Nw donor account is ready to switch (i.e. the DDs came out as they should), so will be completing the Hfx switch shortly.
* DH's DDs came out of his TSB a/c so have requested the recommendation code from Nw so we can get the incentive there. He's realised he probably needs to withdraw all the money from the bookies (it was his MB a/c) before switching otherwise they'll get funny about it. (Potentially more OP money! ). Haven't received the email from Nationwide - has anyone else done this, is it instant or should I expect to wait?

Gratitudes:
* Sunshine today, after constant rain yesterday
* Fidgety kitty cuddles as I type!
* Cheesecake still to eat (did I mention that the coulis for it is made from our frozen hg redcurrants? I've found a delicious use for them!)

Have a good afternoon all!

themadvix

Morning all,

Very sad news about Stephen Hawking - the world will be poorer without him, but he achieved so much as is such an inspiration to us to never give up and to always keep trying.

I'm finding the deluge of work hard to keep up with at the moment - people keep sending me stuff which interrupts my plans for getting other work done. Hoping for a quietish day today so that I get a couple of lingering bits done and off the to-do list (two have deadlines today, so not much choice in the matter). I love having work, but not feeling on top of it is beginning to wear me down a bit. Not helped by a serious lack of sleep!

Dinner tonight is hm pizza - I've put the bases on to prove and am feeling very MS about them - used the mozzarella water in the mix, so only 70ml of 'paid for' water from the tap (and it'll taste better too) and because I started them first thing, you cut the yeast down to 1/8 of a tsp, so a penny (:rotfl:) saved there!

Depending on work, we might go to the cinema tonight - we've not been in a few weeks and would like to see Black Panther. This will be from my birthday treat from Dad, so no cost (might break open the big bag of kettle chips from the Christmas hamper from my sister (we don't have crisps because of the packaging, so this is a real treat for us - sad isn't it!).

I made cream of tomato soup yesterday to use up some of the cream in the fridge. Twas yummy, just like Heinz! Have sent DH with some today in the flask. Food stocks in fridge slowly coming under control - pizza tonight will use up a few bits of sad veg and the pizza base sauce (the cost of which totally undoes the MSE pizza bases, but is tasty).

MS things:
* Intro email from Nw has arrived and been forwarded to DH - a job for the weekend possibly though as he's got to sort the bookies out first.
* Using up food
* MS rewards, VB poll, SBs - code day today, so a few to be collected there
* Cheapy cinema tonight - 241 and DH's work discount

NY resolutions:
* made 10k steps yesterday - much walking around the house while on the phone and then a short walk in the evening with DH

Gratitudes:
* All the work (I am grateful really)
* There's still cheesecake in the fridge
* I'm lucky to be able to have a nap later if needed - I'm not sure what they'd make of me working in an office!

Have a good day all!

Karmacat

themadvix wrote: »

Dinner tonight is hm pizza - I've put the bases on to prove and am feeling very MS about them - used the mozzarella water in the mix, so only 70ml of 'paid for' water from the tap (and it'll taste better too) and because I started them first thing, you cut the yeast down to 1/8 of a tsp, so a penny (:rotfl:) saved there!

That's very interesting - I try to re-use water myself, but a long proving time is a really good idea

* made 10k steps yesterday - much walking around the house while on the phone and then a short walk in the evening with DH

I've just started to do that, unless I'm on speaker. It's *so* positive :rotfl: