My Proper DFW Diary

Lucy5781

Solicitors distributed to hubby today (similar payout to brother in law in February for his mortgage) so there's our entire mortgage in the bank for a day or two until he's also paid etc then that's it, mortgage cleared. Big house searches etc done, they aim to exchange and complete before end of June as well.
Solicitors being a bit not great with providing an up to date statement of the estate's accounts, bearing in mind this company was used by father in law for his company work (large accountants in London, he was partner before he passed in 2018), and his personal wills, this isn't looking great for them at all. Hubby understandably unimpressed.

Lucy5781

Big House contracts signed and returned to solicitors on Friday just gone (it's bank holiday Monday today).
Hubby is paying off the mortgage tomorrow.
Yesterday was a year since Mother-inLaw passed away.
Additional tax related forms for the estate will be singed at the end of next week for further distributions.
Mortgages for the two flats are ready to go when the final bit of solicitors stuff is sorted.
It's now half term, my kids have 6-7 weeks left of nursery and preschool. From September DS will be in Reception at big school and DD will start nursery, with her application to school due in November.

Lucy5781

Of course hubby managed to pay off the mortgage the day before the June payment went out of the account on standing order.... So that's being transferred back to us by next week. This will come in alongside his pay for working the count of the GLA elections in May so we're not short on cash.
The big London house is exchanged and is due to complete by 25th. 
The mortgage solicitors apparently haven't had the mortgage paperwork from the bank in all this time so hubby's been sorting that today as well as working.

My physical issues are flaring due to the sudden heat (after such a cool April and May), hayfever and my hormones. I feel pretty crap and consultant appointment is still pending for 29th.

Lucy5781

Big London house actually exchanged on 22nd, then completed on the 25th, so yesterday. Hubby was up in his office at the end of the garden and whatsapped me to come up, his laptop open to the email confirming completion, he was in tears understandably. His childhood home. Both parents now gone. He messaged his brother and all he got in reply was 'cool'. He's been so uninvolved in this process (he's the older son as well) and just, no emotional clue. Hubby was there the day before checking last things and meter reading etc. BiL has done none of this, just doesn't get it.

Then that evening we had another email from the other solicitors finally getting progress on the re-mortgaging of the two flats into hubby's name etc.
This morning we went to look at new cars, no choices made, just getting a better idea of what would work with a near 5'10 almost 15 yr old and two under fives both in full carseats etc. Backseat is a bit of an issue.

In the afternoon I gave in and donated my much loved buggy to the local charity shop along with some other items clogging up the house. I cried, hard. It was one of the first things I saved for and bought after clearing my debts, along with the travel cot, crib and big cot and drawers for the kid's room. The drawers are the only thing we have left out of all that now. All passed on to other users but easily a loss of almost £400 intial outlay, which is frustrating.

I'm so tight on my own money right now, £140 every four weeks Child Benefit and £150p/m from hubby. I haven't actively worked professionally for almost five years, I've technically been unemployed for four years now. I've been applying for work here and there for months but nothing despite 2-3 phonecall interview type affairs.

Next week my Dad starts the first of four intial rounds of chemo before surgery for an esophageal carcinoma, and five days later I turn 40. We have a family party on the Saturday for his sister turning 80 (they're doing me a little cake too which is nice) and the Sunday we're having friends come and go from ours through the afternoon etc as my actual birthday party, the day before my birthday.

Considering original plans for my 40th were on a par with a small wedding, this is disappointing but to be fair, I'm just so stressed by everything right now I'd rather just be home anyway! Platters etc on order from Costco and making a bit of my own buffet food etc.

Wondering if I'll have any vague diagnosis from consultant by then as well. I assume not as he's only working on symptoms described, back up letter from osteopath and my blood tests. I'm likely to be booked for some ultrasound scans and an MRI hopefully.

The flare I mentioned in my previous post lasted almost three weeks, fully going from ovulation to period and not subsiding until my period finished. I still have my aches and pains but the ankle swelling, brain fog, fatigue and general malaise, along with mildly increased tempreature have thankfully reduced a lot.

Over did it a bit clearing and tidying some things today but I'm so desperate to have the house look a bit better for the party! Seeing as we finished our extension etc near the end of October 2019 and we locked down in March 2020, quite a lot of my friends never actually managed to visit in that 4-5 month period so this is actually almost a house warming as well!!

Lucy5781

Planned to order the new car to spec and have it ready in about three months.
Then got a message that they're halting production due to lack of computer chips (same reason PS5 is so hard to obtain) so Hubby had a look around the other local dealerships and managed to arrange an off the floor/forecourt model at a lower price to be picked up in three weeks....
It's being done on finance as the monthly cost is less than the old mortgage payments so no affect on our outgoings and we're not digging into the capital from the estate.

Lucy5781

So, busy few weeks, I've not posted for a month huh.

My Dad had his third Chemo session today, one more in a fortnight then surgery, so that's progressing at least.

40th went well, if not massive, it was nice, I just still felt rough from several weeks of my health issues flaring. Still waiting on apt for ultrasounds and stuff for that. Feeling marginally better this month though.

Kids nursery and preschool had to shut for their final week, bar their last day after a positive case reported after they allowed the whole school to mix for one morning for a visit from the small aninmal farm/zoo company that they have every year.

That however meant that fees for DD for that week were refuned and then transferred over to her summer holiday club fees instead so, saved about £145? Now the summer sessions are all paid for, that's all fees for nursery done. DS moves to Reception at primary school (with no transition visits also due to covid at the school as well as nursery) and DD finally gets her 15hrs funding so, only snack money and DD's lunches for two days a week to be paid.

Car arrived, upgraded DS's carseat and passed his old one on to a friend, DD needs to gain another 1kg at least before we can upgrade her too.

The mortgages for the two London flats going into hubby's name should complete (as if it was a sale) on 6th August. distrubution from the estate overall should take place by mid August as well, so only a couple of weeks.

It's been slightly surreal to see how much the kids have grown, we've offloaded both buggies, DD is now 3yrs 3mths as effectibvely dry all day and for very short trips I only take a mini backpack with change of clothes and emergency pull-up nappy now. She can manage waiting to go to the toilet. So, with DS being five in a little over six weeks (just three days after he starts school, he's the oldest in his class), I really do have children, small children, not toddlers or babies, actual kids, who climb up and down on their own at the indoor playground/soft play and just need arm bands when we go swimming, no swim nappies, no full body float vests, DD is over 110cm tall so he's bouncing on his toes in the shallow 90-100cm depth of the training pool - whilst his sister keeps clinging to me like a baby chimpanzee... We're working on it, before our very, not MSE trip to Centre Parcs in the final week of August.

Lucy5781

So this week has become 'shift' week.

I've been called for a last minute ultrasound scan on my hands tomorrow, finally. (Ironically I've been having a good week but today I have had a f* it day with my food so at least there's that to ensure my hands feel awful tomorrow lol)
DS actually tried three new forms of chicken, potatoes and carrot yesterday and then a few bites of actual Dominoes pizza tonight, I almost cried, these are huge things for him.
DsS actually went out on a day trip with just friends from school before having them visit the house for dinner - Massive for him.
Hubby should have the two London flats in his name after 'completing' on Friday coming and main estate distribution is due this week. 14 months since MiL passed away.

Lucy5781

So, distribution hit my hubby's account the following afternoon. 
He immediately transferred me the £10k that I originally paid for the old car, which has now been traded in.
So few bits I've been holding off sorting, like new boots, case for my VR headset, some school things for DS etc all sorted.

He took Friday off work so he could come swimming with me, DS and DD then we went shopping. He treated the kids to some toys etc and I got to go in New Look and Primark on my own, was bliss!

The completion on the two London flats went through ok on the Friday as well so, furture rental on those is now solely hubby's, no longer jointly owned with his brother through the inheritance (BiL has the cash equivilant paid out to him instead).

Hubby and BiL have both opened accounts with NS&I to put some of the cash payouts in secure holdings. You're only covered for up to about £70k if your bank goes bust. When I got my Mum's payout we transferred half into our joint account, (with a different bank from my main account) in advance of using it for our building works on the house anyway, so we had the total shared between two different instituions. NS&I covers up to £2million though.

Hubby also clearing credit card and overdraft obviously not an issue.

So, just over two weeks and we go on hoilday, when I get back I'll be like a blue arsed fly for two weeks doing nursery and Reception settling in sessions and getting everything in ready for DS's 5th Birthday the first weekend in September!

Lucy5781

One month later...

DS is five and fully into Reception, full days and everything (that was a nightmarish week, awful for me mentally, awful, missed my mum so much and all in the five days before my period too!) and DD is settled at nursery ready for full days from the 13th, told me to go home when I dropped her off, didn't want me to stay with her!

Hubby also now has an offer on a two bed flat five mins walk from us in our town centre with a sitting tennant to add to the 'portfolio'. Still £200k in the bank with an almost £70k mortgage deposit with a £700p/cm return after admin and fees etc, this on top of the income from the two London flats both also providing income.

I'm still looking for a little part time job, have had a couple of interviews but nothing I've been dead set on etc.

I'm enjoying spending small amounts of money on loads of things in my charity shops lol, and now I'm collecting Xmas gifts ahead of time.

Have also lost about half a stone through more walking, swam every week with the kids in the summer, much reduced intake, now going kinda keto with hubby and over the Bank Holiday weekend I had some food poisoning (always sensitive to it, had such a bad one back in like 2005 I had to have a drip in A&E) that stopped me eating anything more than a rich tea biscuit with my meds for about 48hrs, left over reheated chinese, not clever really.

Lucy5781

DS has now been in school a fortnight, still not impressed with some of his school lunch but I'd still rather he is repatedly exposed to the foods and sits with his friends to eat it etc than keep him restricted to specific packed lunch foods. Plus, school lunch is free up to Yr2!
DD has now done her first 2.5 full days in nursery, duck to water, needed the challenge. Loves her lunches, same as DS gets as the school kitchen caters for the nursery next door as well.

Hubby has also instigated the purchase of a flat in the town center behind our house, sitting tennant, already producing income etc so that will just add to the pot and I have managed to wrangle myself a small job, specifically fitting DD's nursery hours, in the same town center (10mins walk to nursery & school, 5mins to the house) doing admin support for a recruitment agency. 
IF YOU DON'T ASK, YOU DONT GET! lol

It's not enough hours to get 30hrs funding for DD at nursery but at this point it might not kick in until after Christmas anyway and at that point she's barely six months off finishing and starting school anyway...

Sounds like if I could do more for them they'd have me but, need to see that I'm happy there first. Still, will be about £400p/m, which with hubby's rentals, is like purely money for my bills and personal stuff etc.

So pleased to actually have a use for the 'work clothes' I've been keeping/aquiring over the last two years!!

Keto is still happening, have lost a bit but already hitting a small wall as my issues are flaring again after a brief respite through August, think the food poisoning triggered another reactive episode in my immune system, my lymph glands are all massive again.

My Dad is done with his Chemo for now, currently working on building up heart and lungs (told to walk two miles a day at a brisk pace) as the surgery will expose his lungs to atmospheric pressure and he needs to be in best shape to cope post operatively, whilst also on a feeding tube for about three weeks. Surgery date still pending, full/busy understandably right now.

So, mild anxiety a constant.

First weekend in October we're being taken out to a London show and dinner, by hubby's American friends who are flying out here next week, on the Friday night and I now need to find a baby sitter who can put the kids to bed as no one else has ever done that whilst Hubby and I have BOTH been out of the house and then on the Sunday we have MiL's delayed stone setting and memorial gathering which will also require a daytime sitter for the kids....

We'll figure it out.