New life, new me......

WelshWoofer

Its a nice day again today - Skint you can get even more daring and get your knees out!:rotfl:

I have a list of jobs to do today - but will try to get out in the sunshine too. Can feel the hayfever starting already today so have just taken a pill but I will have to make an appointment with the doctor to get some of the superstrength tablets I usually have.

I did loads of schoolwork yesterday and still have some to do today but the bulk of it was finished yesterday - just some final coursework marking to go and then its downhill to the summer holidays with the hard stuff for the year all out of the way.

I need to dye my hair too - nice white roots creeping through so I'll pick up a box of dye when I go to pick up the new hanging baskets I ordered on Saturday. I sorted out my nails and did a facemask yesterday so a good defuzz is needed and then I should be vaguely presentable again.;)

I realised last night that there's a school do a week next Friday - usually people glam up for them so I'd better start thinking about what to wear and make a bit of an effort. Its a reward from the school for doing so well with Oftsted - nice of the governers I suppose, should be a laugh. Will have to have a rifle through the wardrobe and see if I need to splash out on anything. Its a good reason to get a bit thinner if nothing else.:o

Right, better get the dog out for a stroll, there's a peculiar smell drifting from him - better remember the poo bags!

Skint_yet_Again

WW enjoy your school do... my sister is a head of year and some of the tales I have heard of their school do's ... sound like a riot !

Well its back to earth with a bump after the relaxing sunny bank holiday .... back to work, and its raining Still it could have been worse, it could have rained at the weekend.

Have a meeting at 10am with my manager today to discuss reasonable adjustments and permanent change of hours, fingers crossed !

WelshWoofer

How did the meeting go Skint?

This week so far has continued as last week went - madly busy. I send the controlled assessments to the exam board tomorrow and then a big sigh of relief and an even bigger glass of wine will follow! My life will be mine again!:j

I've done an hour or so of work tonight and that is enough! I can't do anymore until I get given some stuff tomorrow so its a bag of crisps and some telly tonight. Scott and Bailey night

Did anyone see the Apprentice last night - its so bad that you have to watch it, where do they get those nutters from? :eek:

Skint_yet_Again

Evening all !

The meeting went really well. I now have a personal evacuation plan in place to get me safely down the stairs, and I am now one of the first back in the building (assuming its not on fire of course :rotfl:) so I don't have to queue to get back in

Its agreed I can permanently change my days to spread my hours over 4 short days and I have a parking space for another 2 weeks & then its half term so I will have a week off. Then I can ask for a space again if there is no improvement in my walking (really hope things will be starting to improve by then!)

Our office is meant to close in 2015 and I cant wait. I have been hoping for a change of department for ages and now they are looking at my request to transfer early. The new building is all on one floor, and the change of type of work will help me manage my condition and cope better... fingers crossed for a decision soon.

SO ....things are looking promising. After all that I came home and had an afternoon snooze Feel so exhausted

WW - Have to admit that I have never watched a single episode of The Apprentice, cant bear all the bickering - get enough arguing & dealing with complaints at work all day

Despite the leg problems I really want to get on and do things over half term .... I feel a list coming on

Sanchsoot49

Hi all

WW - I watch Scott and Bailey too think its great. Maybe its partly becaue its set in the North West - but the characters are great and its certainly gritty action!

Skint - You sound like you have go work sorted - I work four shorter days too, I used to work 3 long days but it didnt suit my lifestyle with the dog etc so I changed.

Will have a proper catch up at the weekend for sure, I know Isaid that last week and didnt get round to it but I mean it this week

Bye for now

Skint_yet_Again

TFI Friday :j

DS was up half the night with the runs (sorry if too much info)
and so I'm shattered. Nearly 18 years old and its the first time he's had it since he was a baby ... I'm not very sympathetic I'm afraid Dosed him up with Imodium etc as he has gone off with college to London for the day with tablets and loo roll in his bag

Have worked out my SOA for when DS starts work. Am not brave enough to post it all here, but basically after bills, food, emergency fund, birthday fund £20pm and holiday fund £10pm (petrol up north for xmas) I am left with a grand total of £18 pm for hair, £20 for clothes and £100 pm for entertainment

Shouldn't complain I suppose as many have less than this, but am going to have to have more "girls nights in" than nights out and try and find some cheap/free events to go to when I feel up to getting out and about ... that's if this weather ever gets better !

Hope you all have a good weekend x

WelshWoofer

Skint - hope you're feeling a bit better now? Men of all ages are such bad patients! Testing patience!
Is there anything you can cut back on with regards to the budget? Its not nice when every penny has to be accounted for is it? Hope it works out a bit better than you think it will.

Well, the coursework and controlled assessments finally got posted today and so my life is now my own again!:j:j:j
700 pieces of work to check and moderate :eek::eek:
Its like a milestone in the school year though as its downhill from here to the summer hols.:)

I've celebrated by opening a bottle of wine and have just booked an hour long massage for tomorrow to sort out my achey neck and shoulders - a bit extravagant at £35 but I need a treat after the past few weeks.

Having a takeaway for tea - probably Indian delivered - and then the damage repair of the last few weeks will start again tomorrow. Massage, gym and good food with worry free sleep - I won't know what's hit me!
Will probably come down with the lurgy as soon as I relax again.:rotfl:

I got my payslip today but don't get paid until next Weds - they're just teasing me with the money that I can't spend yet.;)
Will need to tighten the reins a little bit next month - I've been so busy that I've just spent willy nilly over the past few weeks. Need to get a grip again.

Right second glass of wine here I come......:beer:

Skint_yet_Again

WW enjoy your wine and curry night ! :beer:
Massage sound fabulous, I'll have to wait until Monday when I see the physio for mine (Hope its not as painful as last week)

On the budget issue....I think I've cut back on as much as I can without compromising at the moment... lower car insurance, house insurance, annual line rental saver, cheapest phone tariff etc. It would be cheaper if I got rid of the car but with my mobility issues public transport is out of the question. Food/toiletries/household comes in at £40 for 2 of us. I did think of home colouring my hair but I'm not brave enough. I pay a friend who works from home £36 every 2 months to cut / colour / foils.

DS got back from London ok but has gone a very strange colour and gone to bed _pale_ I'm feeling a bit yuck myself so hope I'm not catching it too !!

Off to a local table top sale tomorrow with a friend but other than that nothing much planned for the weekend. Cant wait for summer... On nice evenings I go with friends to a bar by the harbour and get 2-for-1 cocktails

Nite all x

WelshWoofer

Just had a look at my payslip and I've got a bit more than I thought - not sure why but I'm not complaining.

So, I've done a quick calculation and I think after all the bills, DDs and council tax there's about £750 left over. Its a 4 week month coming up until the next payday so that's a 4 week shopping month for groceries and about £20 worth this weekend to tide me over, so about £170 for food etc for the month (that seems quite a lot to me but my shopping always seems to be around £35 a week including dog food etc).

I think I'll have £550 left over (after the massage this weekend is paid for) - out of that there'll be around £30 worth of petrol (just filled up so it will be a few weeks until I need more) and some spending money - probably the best part of £200 this month. I have a couple of nights out planned and I might buy a new top/jeans for one of them.

So, with all of that taken into account, there's approx £300 surplus. £100 of that will go off the CC and hopefully £200 into savings.

I should try to economise on the groceries - I've become very lax with it all lately, just too busy to be bothered cooking and have taken the easy option of buying more expensive ready done stuff - not good for the waistline or the bank balance. I don't have any excuses now - work is going to be much easier over the next two weeks and then its half term for a week, I can't justify the daft spending anymore.:o

I'll do a good root through the cupboards tomorrow before I go shopping and maybe try to do it locally at the greengrocers and local shop rather than the supermarket to stop me just buying whatever I fancy and spending way too much. I will NOT spend more than £20!!!

WelshWoofer

I was going to attempt to tame the back garden today but its pouring - any excuse!

Been to the park with the dog and went to the village shops on the way home instead of Tesco in an attempt to not buy lots of stuff I don't really need and to encourage me to cook proper food rather than shove it in the oven/microwave processed stuff.
It all came to £23 but that did include £5 worth of dog food from the butchers that he doesn't always have in - basically offcuts and offal trays that you just put in the oven - the dog goes bonkers for them so I have 5 trays - one for today as a treat and the rest for the freezer. Its quite rich so one a week is enough.

So my food shopping came to £18 - better than the usual £40 odd of recent weeks. I had to pay cash too so it was more difficult to part with the real money rather than pretending it doesn't count on a debit card!;)

I'll do a meal plan for the week later - no excuses to not make nutritious food this week.

Just looked at the diary and there are 2 more food shopping Saturdays in May so my new mini challenge is to spend no more than £90 until 1st June on groceries including the £23 just spent. This includes toiletries, household stuff, dog food etc so I'll have to be careful and not just buy stuff for the sake of it. It will also include packed lunches for 4 days a week. So I have £67 left...

Right off to hoover and dust and then have a bath and defuzz before the massage (can't wait for that!)