Getting back on track for 2013 and beyond

brizzledfw

Have a fun week in Brizzle!!!!!! X

kerri_dfw

I think an update is required...

Not much going on in the way of debt-busting at the moment, checked the joint account this morning and there was only £10 left in there!!! Need to speak to the OH about this as we still owe about £80 for old places rent (last few days) and we still have half the month left to feed ourselves. I've put my extra £70 in but he needs to do the same. I actually have no idea how much money he has left, he better not have spent it all!!!

Have just gone to a Cr0wn decorating centre (meant for trade) and bought some ivory cream paint. Turns out it's not yellow enough for what I want, so I need to go back again (probably tomorrow) and get a more lemon colour. Any ideas where I can buy a step ladder for which doesn't cost the earth anyone?
Have decided will use the cream on the walls in the dining room and the living room. The living room has about 1-2ft near the top of the ceiling above a dado rail which can be cream to contrast whatever colour we put in there, and the dining room has a mid-level dado rail, so will put cream below that I think. Have decided I'd like a nice cool mint in the spare bedroom but need OH's approval. I think we need something bold in the living room to go with our bold sofa, but no idea what colour to go for in there. I hate the biscuit grey in our bedroom, but can't quite decide what needs to go in there, something to brighten it I think as it's north facing so doesn't get much daylight.

Hung the washing out for the first time in years today, it smells lovely and I better go get it in before it starts to get damp. Have rearranged the kitchen again, after OH rearranged it yesterday to make all the worktops ridiculously cluttered, honestly I have no idea how it was meant to stay clean like that!!!

OH is currently annoyed with me as I told him to take my tv off the bodge-job landlords tv bracket. You couldn't even get the power cable in, so how he thought it was acceptable I have no idea. I've decided we need some kind of mirror or artwork in the centre of the fireplace instead of a television. I really don't want the focal point of the room to be a television, that's not how I want to raise our daughter.

When OH gets home I'm going to ask him about a nursery set I've seen on fleabay. Starting price of £50 and they'll deliver from Bath at 50p/mile on the 24th. I know my sister has said I can have her cot, but this is a complete matching set of cot, changing table with chest of drawers, and a wardrobe. If I can have just one room painted and complete I'll be happy.

We really don't seem to have enough storage in this house, so I'm trying to find places for things and have pretty much given up. I'm going to have to just throw things out I think.

20w scan on Wednesday, which I'm really excited about then it's my birthday on Thursday. Not doing very much for my birthday, my OH is rubbish at planning things. I got everyone together and made sure he had a lovely birthday a few weeks back, he's not even bought my present or booked a restaurant or anything. I'm thinking he may well just forget it's even my birthday if it weren't for the cards coming through the door oh well.

Right, off to unpack some of the living room I think

Canucksfan

:bdaycake:Happy Birthday Kerri !!!

kerri_dfw

Thank you I was well and truly spoiled. We had the 20w scan on Wednesday and our little girl looks lovely and healthy. Having the gender scan meant we were more focused on the sonographer finding all the crucial parts of our baby, although she did confirm we're having a little girl Then OH took me for lunch and shopping at Cr1bbs Causeway. We looked at pushchairs, car seats and bought baby her going home from hospital outfit, it's a cute white onesie with teddy bears down the front poppers from JL So pleased OH is starting to get into having a baby now. We had a huge talk Wednesday evening which was really needed and I managed to tell him my feelings which I find very difficult and is why we argue so much as we never get to the bottom of anything.

Yesterday I went to the office in Cardiff, noone was in so I went home at 1pm via Ik3a and bought some black-out blinds and white sheer curtains for £46 in total for the bedroom bay window. OH has agreed I am allowed to paint the house but I must do a good job (that's the plan for this weekend ). Mum and Dad surprised me with a visit yesterday evening and took us out for a lovely country pub dinner, they were really surprised at how cheap the pub was even though the food was really, really good.

OH bought me some luuurvly PJs, a pair of nice ones for his benefit and a pair of comfy ones for about the house. I also got some chocolates, a picture for the wall and some pants (I love new pants even if they're just comfy M&S cotton ones).

Both of us shattered so were in bed by 9pm!

I have £300 left in my bank account at the moment and 2 weeks until payday. Hoping I'll be able to put some of this towards debts if I have anything leftover come payday, that'll be good as I'm getting the referral payment through and the house deposit back on the flat to pay off my debts with so might even be debt free....just imagine that!

Right, need to go find something for the OH to wear for fancy dress this weekend. I have no idea what he can wear?! Might go hunt in the charity shop for a hawaiian shirt and he can take my sparkly flipflips haha!

debtfreewannabe321

evening Kerri Everything sounds like it's coming together nicely! House is sounding fab, we're in rented atm and we're not allowed to paint anything. It's so depressing having everything magnolia! I was naughty and did a few feature walls but I have to pay to put it back to dreary magnolia before we leave so you should take full advantage of being able to do what you want Our t.v is above our fireplace and I really want to move it but we don't have very much room here so it's stayed put for now. I've kind of gotten used to it, but long to move. I want to buy a lovely painting to put above my next fireplace ...anyway I could talk house & decorating all day.... Great news about the DFD looming!!! I know how you feel I can't wait until everything is paid off and we can start living and saving properly ...we might have done it the wrong way round (kids first, then marriage, then hopefully a house..) but I hope we do get it! I hope you'll stick around here too when you are DF??

debtfreewannabe321

Oh and forgot to say Happy Belated Birthday

brizzledfw

Happy Birthday for yesterday!!! Am so pleased you were spoiled and got to do some fun stuff x

kerri_dfw

Thank you ladies and yes I will stick around when I'm DF especially as I don't have any friends in Brizzle just yet so need someone to talk to plus I don't want to go off the slightly wonky straight and narrow.

I've started painting the nursery, I think I'm doing an OK job but the OH pointed out I keep getting bits on the skirting board, the fact the paint is making me feel really sick probably isn't helping matters either.

#1 cat keeps peeing inappropriately around the house, particularly when the OH tells him off. He is OH's cat and only does it when he tells him off, not me. I'm starting to recognise the signs and just need to pick him up and plop him in his box, but I'm getting fed up of having to clean it up, particularly as pregnant ladies are not supposed to clean up after cats.

Have thrown a minimum payment to V card today, there's £1010 waiting to clear in our joint a/c at the moment to transfer to my V card too from our deposit money and OH owes me for the remainder of the sofa and the festival tickets. I need to tally up how much he owes me actually then leave it for him to tell me when he will pay me back.

I'm just reading about my maternity pay, from what I can tell July and August's pay packets are my qualifying weeks for calculating my maternity pay. So that's £2300 for last month, however this month I'm getting a referral bonus for my colleague...of £2k!!! According to what I'm reading it includes bonuses...so if I am a very lucky girly I think that means they will work out my weekly pay as including the extra £2k...we shall wait and see *looks hopeful*. Here is what the government website says "Sick pay, overtime, bonus payments, arrears of pay and even, in most circumstances, holiday pay, must all be included if you actually get them at this time. It is when you get the money that counts, not when it was earned." and I know it's being paid via payroll this month (yippeeee).

Anyhoo...£61 paid to V card will pay the rest of it off when the £1010 clears and then when the referral bonus comes in next Friday (hurray no more V card!!). I need to pay some money towards B Card and check if C1 has been paid yet.

Baby is really wriggling now, amazed OH last night as she was kicking from one side of my stomach to the other and you could see it really clearly from outside. I still am not showing very much, which I think is adding to the pains I'm getting. Yesterday we went round Sainsbugs to do the shopping and I was in intense pain and had to ask OH to drive home. When we got home I started to cook pasta but had to leave OH to serve it as standing up was excruciating. As soon as I sat down and tucked my knees to my chest it started to feel better, so definitely stretchy pains more than anything sinister but by Jove did it hurt! I am not looking forward to the birth. Going to book hypnobirthing course when I get my expenses back in. It might cost £275 but if it helps relax and chill me & OH out in other aspects of life then it's worth spending. I've been thinking & talking about it for a few weeks now.

I have an appointment with the MW tomorrow, she's going to love me. I do not want a hospital birth unless either my baby or I require medical intervention. I don't think they'll let me go to Cossham due to national guidelines (according to Cardiff even though I'm low risk they still want me to go to hospital under the care of a consultant but can't give a medical reason for it)....so a home birth it is then, much to OH's lack of enthusiasm. I will have the birth I want if there's no need for medical assistance. I'm definitely not stupid, but I do feel in the past 4 years I've spent far too much time in hospital and I will be more stressed by different people coming and poking around at me than having a dedicated midwife in my own relaxed home environment just like they did 50 years ago. At least everyone can have a nice cup of coffee instead of the carp they serve there, oh and a biccie... and the first bed she will sleep in will be either ours or the moses basket, lush!

Anyway, I'm ranting...do cheques still take 3 days to clear! Why haven't they sped up that process yet?

kerri_dfw

I'm doing a little happy dance, the midwife has just told me I can go to Cossham birth centre for the birth well provided everything goes smoothly between now and then of course. Relaxed home-away-from-home birth whoop whoop. I've just emailed a lady about booking a hypnobirthing course in September which I think the techniques will really help both OH and I to relax, so will be £275 well spent. Going to give her a call when I've spoken to the OH about it just to confirm he's ok with it. Really hoping the course will also make him feel like a key part of the whole pregnancy/birth process.

I think I'm mostly pleased that this illness isn't going to have an impact on my daughters life, not even on the very start of it

OH and I seem to be getting on much better recently, things were pretty tough the past few months. But last night we really were a happy, happy couple. Textbook even Hopefully tonight will be the same, although my turn to cook and I'm clueless as to what to make eep!

kerri_dfw

Debt update:

Have just paid £950 to V card, along with the £61 from the other day. I kept back £60 of the deposit money in case I need it over the weekend, but to be honest I can't see what I really need money for at the moment so will probably end up paying it off the card come midweek next week.

Didn't sleep very well last night, OH woke me up at 3am to ask if he could put the light on to read grrr! I was asleep! Then I couldn't sleep for over an hour.

He's had some bad work news, they're extending his probation by another month as he's "not where they thought he'd be by now". They've basically been throwing too much work at him because they're understaffed, they haven't been training him, and they expect him to be able to do stuff a senior developer should be doing even though he's only just graduated. Needless to say I was getting him to update his CV last night and we're sending off job applications this evening, there are plenty of jobs in this neck of the woods and they'll probably mean he's home at a reasonable time instead of being in the office until 7pm each night!!! He's quite disheartened and taking it badly, his confidence has taken a huge knock poor thing.

Have put down the deposit for the hypnobirthing course, so that was £75 spent yesterday. I also bought baby a nightlight sheep thing today for £19.99, it makes womb noises to help soothe them to sleep (worth a shot).

ARGH! Have just gone downstairs to find out the cats have destroyed the water filter jug! Have ordered another for £20 from Am4zon as we use it all the time and water here tastes a bit chemically. Annoying blighters.