Frugal Frump To Fabulous Summer Solstice to Autumn Equinox

Bitsy_Beans

<waves at NPM> hello chicken welcome to the fab thread.

We should be yoga buddies when kids go back

maman

Apologiesthat I keep going awol but RL has a habit of getting in the way. I do read regularly and keep up with goings on.

Good luckfor the wedding lizzie. I agree that you are sounding so much more positive, confident and very much your own woman these days. It would seem evenif you can’t change your OH then you have changed how you deal with him.

I am very much keeping up with fabbing. Holidays have put a strain on my eating habits but I am just about staying at my target weight and have done for two years. We’re away in Norfolk this weekend but after that I should be able to get back to normal. The problem is lots of impromptu lunches or visitors when food & wine flow much too freely.

It’s now absolute second nature to pamper myself when I shower. So it’s body lotion and foot cream, moisturiser and eye cream and frequent defuzzing. I’ve still got some residual tan from my holidays/good weather here so haven’t been wearing too much make up but that’ll restart when I’m looking pasty again.

I had my hair cut and highlighted a week or so ago. I’ve got a habit of letting it go too long between appointments so that’s a ‘must try harder’. I have my nails done regularly too. I know I could do them myself but the local nailshop is dirt cheap for real nails so it’s a very mse treat. I’ve also been using Groupon. Had a massage a few weeks back and I’ve got two more lined up between now and November. Around the £15-£18 mark which is good for an hour’s massage.

I haven’t bought much new in the way of clothes. Fortunately, with warm weather we haven’t needed to wear too many! I do need a coat for the winter. Not a cloth one but a warm, smart preferably waterproof one for outdoor activities (like watching football). I’ve got a waterproof jacket but that’s not warm enough. What I don’t want is something that makes me look like an anorak or one of those grannies who dress in Classic M&S. Any advice welcome.

Sorry this has been a bit ‘me, me, me’ but it’s helped to list what I need to do to keep on fabbing.

Good luckwith the move to the bungalow LL and on your move too bitsy.

Lovely to hear that ‘fling’ has been upgraded ww,fabbing’s certainly worked for you.

Anyone heardfrom pod? She seems to have disappeared since she changed her job. Hope all OK if you’re lurking.

fedupandskint

Today's fabness was a hair treatment mask, facemask and exfoliate.
Nails painted and tidied up. 2 long dog walks and lots of gardening and tidying up outside.

Back to boring work tomorrow, boo!

lessonlearned

Good morning all and welcome to NPM. Look forward to hearing your progress, NPM, remember easy does it, especially if your scar is still a little sore.

Nice to hear from you Maman, good to hear that the fabbing is now such a way of life. For a waterproof I have a couple of light shower proof jackets and then for smarter wear I have a classic stone coloured trenchcoat with a detachable warm lining. I also have an ancient waxed Barbour type jacket for "country pursuits". Both the trenchcoat and waxed jacket are a bit "Sloany" I suppose but they are functional and fit for purpose. I keep my cloth or suede coats for when the weather permits.

Lizzie - hope you enjoy yourself at the wedding and that all goes well. I agree you do sound so much more positive these days - just keep going and you will reach your goals.

Bitsy - good luck with the move - nearly there now;)

I agree moving is a massive upheaval. I will have done 3 within 10 months. I've no idea how long I will be in the bungalow. At least this time I am only taking what I absolutely need and want to have around me. I can leave a lot of stuff with DS1 - in fact I'm donating much of it to the boys anyway. I've come to the conclusion that possessions simply weigh me down - so from now on no more clutter!!! I will either sell or give most of it away.

Today it's catch up day, washing, tidying up and some paperwork and phone calls. Then later spend some time with my sister and enjoy the sunshine.

Have a great day.

fedupandskint

My fab friend bought me a rather lovely dress as a sale bargain as a treat for finishing my dissertation. A great surprise when I got back to work today! What a great friend.

Fits like a glove and is warm. If I graduate I think it will do the nicely for the ceremony.. Just need to get back into toning up again over the next few weeks to make sure it fits a teeny bit better than now.

Teacher2b

Welcome to NPM It sounds like you've had a really eventful few years! Congrats on your new arrival and I'm glad after everything you're both ok! Some gentle fabbing sounds just like the order of the day.

Fedupandskin- how sweet is that! What a lovely friend When do you graduate? It must be such a relief for you!

Lessonlearned- have a lovely day sorting the sun is out here so should be a nice day to catch up with your sister.

Maman - keep up the good work

Bitsy- good luck with the move! Have you got lists everywhere?!


My mum is back in hospital so i'm visiting there everyday trying to keep her morale up. I'm going to do school planning work today I figure the more I do know the easier it will be when I go back if mum is still in hospital, it was very hard last time when I was going straight to hospital from school, not arriving home until 9/ 10pm and still having work to do. Organisation is the order of the day! On the plus I have been to the gym this morning and got my man coming over later to keep me company as he is working on his masters degree at the moment. Have a good day all! xxx

Skymist

lessonlearned wrote: »

I've come to the conclusion that possessions simply weigh me down - so from now on no more clutter!!! I will either sell or give most of it away.

That's what I did too, before,during and after redecorating my flat a couple of months ago....and now I'm living a "lighter life" , and my flat-cleaning times have been greatly reduced!!! Wish I'd had the mind-set to have done this years ago, but better late than never. I think I was finally able to see that filling my life with stuff....accumulated over many years...didn't actually fill the hole left by all those that I'd lost, and that my memories of them are far more important and easier to recall than being reminded of them by things, if you catch my drift! Plus after a while you just stop noticing/looking at all the things around your home...they just become dust-magnets!!:eek:

S

Bitsy_Beans

Skymist wrote: »

That's what I did too, before,during and after redecorating my flat a couple of months ago....and now I'm living a "lighter life" , and my flat-cleaning times have been greatly reduced!!! Wish I'd had the mind-set to have done this years ago, but better late than never. I think I was finally able to see that filling my life with stuff....accumulated over many years...didn't actually fill the hole left by all those that I'd lost, and that my memories of them are far more important and easier to recall than being reminded of them by things, if you catch my drift! Plus after a while you just stop noticing/looking at all the things around your home...they just become dust-magnets!!:eek:

S

It's been a real eye opener as to how much stuff we do have when you have to pack it all into boxes :eek::eek: the kids do have a lot. Far too much. But that's down to us (namely husband) buying them too much and generous grandparents.
I shan't ever leave decluttering and removal of unnecessary goods again, shoving stuff in the loft is NOT going to be an option.

No fabbing here obviously just frantic packing. No idea when we will have Internet again after 30th but I will try and keep up to date with you all via my phone.

Teacher hope you're mum is ok xxx

Teacher2b

Thank you so much Bitsy how's it been going today?

She's hopefully going home today, hopefully get her on the waiting list for an operation now following this recent episode so fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later.

I'm quite proud of a bit of ingenuity employed today.. I live in a first floor flat and only have 4 windows but no window cleaner wants to come and clean them. I got so fed up of cob webs/ dust glimmering in the sunlight I got my mop and did them myself. Now wondering why I didn't do it sooner as I swear more daylight is actually flooding into my home!

Lots of planning ready to go back to work next week as I have got friends over this weekend and a well deserved nap I think!

How has every one else been today? xxx

lizzie157

Welcome NPM :wave: remember it's taken the whole of your pregnancy to accumulate any extra weight so my advice would be slow and steady is the best way to get back to your pre baby weight and most of all something we're all guilty of forgetting at times (me too!!) be kind to yourself. x

Lizzie - hope you enjoy yourself at the wedding and that all goes well. I agree you do sound so much more positive these days - just keep going and you will reach your goals.[/QUOTE]


Had a great day at DS's wedding (a bit too good actually :o) resulting in a v. bad hangover the next day!! Not v. ladylike I'm afraid:o Have had a 'talking to' from H oops!! but everyone else thought it was good to see me enjoyng myself. H sat with a face like a smacked ar*se for most of the day and says he felt everyone was judging him for having hardly contributed to the proceedings. There were a couple of comments I could have interpreted this way but I chose not to. I realize that sometimes it's my perception of what's being said and that there's probably no intended slight. I've seen some of the photos the guests took and am not sure what to thnk about how I looked everyone said I looked lovely -I can still see a few lumps and bumps but again that's perhaps me being over critical- the body smoother I'd bought wasn't suitable so had to wear the dress only. H says and kept telling me at the wedding losing weight has made me saggy and wrinkly!! Everyone got onto H for being a misery and not being nice to me -didn't go down well!! The most important thing was the bride looked beautiful and the groom v. handsome, both had a brilliant day which is what counts.

Unfortunately am feeling a bit less positive now - have hurt my back and our last intended day trip went pear shaped due to ungrateful kids. Just made me realize that although I may have changed inwardly nothing much else in my life has changed. Felt very weepy and upset yesterday - the thought of life going on like this for yrs to come is v. depressing. The kids are at an age where they don't really want to go anywhere much with me prefering the company of mates and of the couple of friends I have I haven't seen one for over a yr ( she moved house and although we've txted we've only met up once since though she is still only about 45 mins away). So unless I go alone I can see the trips coming to an end. A shame when we still have the passes cos if I do manange to get a business going we'll lose them.

Skymist wrote: »

That's what I did too, before,during and after redecorating my flat a couple of months ago....and now I'm living a "lighter life" , and my flat-cleaning times have been greatly reduced!!! Wish I'd had the mind-set to have done this years ago, but better late than never. I think I was finally able to see that filling my life with stuff....accumulated over many years...didn't actually fill the hole left by all those that I'd lost, and that my memories of them are far more important and easier to recall than being reminded of them by things, if you catch my drift! Plus after a while you just stop noticing/looking at all the things around your home...they just become dust-magnets!!:eek:

S

The clutter here has been getting me down too. Had been trying to declutter slowly but as fast as I do it becomes cluttered again. I think because the rest of the house is cluttered the kids and H just carry on leaving things all over and I'm quickly back to square one- definitely needs tackling not sure how yet.

Anyway I've waffled enough .

Bitsy- hope everythings going ok with the move.

LL- Hope you got lots of sorting done and managed to enjoy the sun.

Teacher2b- hope your mum is feeling better.

Everyone else hope you are all well xx


Have a great day x