Apple muncher's number crunching

apple_muncher

Completed most of the to do list, the notable exception being doing my marking!

Got drenched whilst out shopping! Wet up to the knees! Boy, was I glad to get home. Shopping was a more modest affair than usual, as I'd bought quite a lot yesterday. I almost forgot to go to the bank - oops - and paid in £46, not to be sniffed at.

This afternoon I went through dd's pile of books to give away, checking them on 3 book selling sites. And we can get over £20 for some of the pile! 2 of them were a real surprise. Result. The rest of the books will wend their way to their charity shop destination.

Got my workout done before waking dd up, and have remained sugar and gluten free in spite of making choc chip biscuits + treacle flapjack + cake. I am so wearing my smug face! Would dearly love to tuck into the flapjack... However, 7 days off the sugar and grains is good for me!

Not much money saving stuff going on, simply sticking to plans made and keeping an accurate record of it all. I think that having the daily goals (not just lists of jobs to do) involving sugar and grains make each day a chance for success.

Time to get ready for tomorrow. Dd's lunch is done; mine is yet to be cobbled together. I like/need to know that I have enough/plenty of food with me, otherwise my brain tells me I'm hungry. Pesky brain! Also need to put clothes out. It's an early start - ugh.

Pearla*Merle

Finally I've got a moment to reply properly to this! :j

apple_muncher wrote: »

Go for it with the finger puppets! Very simple to make. I've done Goldilocks + 3 bears a few times, also Peppa Pig family. I've 'saved' dd's felt finger puppets to inspire me - they're mainly animals, so it's the colours and head shapes that identify them. Sort of!

The body scrub is: 1 cup salt (Ald1 had cheap sea and fine salts so bought a tub of each!), 1/2 cup oil (I used virgin olive oil, tho I believe almond oil would be best?), and essential oil(5 drops lavender). I had no essential oil, so it's smell-free. But that's prob best for my skin as am using it on my face and am at the stage where I have to wash in the kitchen sink(!) as that cold water hasn't gone through the pipes. I pat dry with kitchen roll and moisturise with EXTRA virgin olive okl - found the simple virgin stuff wasn't good enough and I was scratching my face off. All in all, I'm cheap to keep clean! Don't do make-up, perfumes make me itch and sneeze!

In the summer, as I get nearly 2 months off, I'm considering moving to no shampoo etc, using a bicarb mix and a vinegar(?) mix. Think I've read it on here somewhere...

I've got major issues with perfumes etc as well, even the sensitive stuff has been irking me lately so I thought I'd rethink and pare everything down again. Luckily I've got some almond oil lurking in the cupboard, and MIL donated some essential oils to me.... but now I've been spoilt by having a full compliment, it'll be hard to go back. :rotfl: The scrub sounds great, I love things that can be so easily made up with stuff that's sitting in the cupboards anyway, I think it's that side of it I like, I hate having to buy loads of different stuff so the thought of only needing a few key ingredients that can cover lots of things is blissful. (Thanks for the Ald! heads up as well). Do you use oil to moisturise in the morning? I've only been using it at night but need to find something for day but wasn't sure if it would sink in quickly enough?

I've been thinking of going down the no shampoo route too. There's a great blog post I came across over here with some hints & tips: http://lulastic.co.uk/thrifty-2/a-year-without-shampoo-faqs-answered-honestly/

I'm definitely going to try finger puppets at some point (and despite my comment below, they won't just be for me). :rotfl:

PS. I loved Frozen Mr M got the soundtrack... and we immediately listened to it about five times in row. :rotfl:

apple_muncher

Hi Pearla*, I use evoo to moisturise about 3 times a day at the mo. I wear no make up so absorbtion times don't matter. The scrub I made is ok, but I wouldn't recommend using the lumpy sea salt that you put in a grinder as it's too big. The scrub may be ok on the body, but the same thing could be an issue. Next time I'll just use the fine sea salt.

First proper day back teaching and boy was it full on! However, it was good to be back and see the pupils again. I always forget how hot the building gets, especially as I'm always on the move, and could easily go in in summer-style clothes if it weren't for the travelling!

I've finally finished the smaller owl. Phew! Next task is a standard size one with the 'correct' colours - correct according to dd of course!

Made it to day 8 free from sugar and grains. :T Told a work colleague about it so she'll be checking up on me to keep me on track. Iced dd's cake and didn't lick spoons or fingers at all. Tho I may have inhaled some icing sugar...!

dh will take dd to school tomorrow morning, so I plan to do a workout first thing, seeing as I can. A 5 min warm up, the workout I've planned should take 11-12 mins, plus a 5 minute stretch, wash and I'm done! Simples.

apple_muncher

I. Am. Tired.

I was tempted to go to bed with dd tonight! Lots of stuff happening at work, and am probably simply tired from the extra days, because that means getting dd up and out early, and I always feel I have to rush at the end of the day to get her. Lovely neighbour is helping out so much, so I know there's not really a rush to get home. I have 5 new classes to teach Latin to, as well as my normal MFL classes. The system is a tad shocked!

Well, still grain free and sugar free, tho today's been tough. Am 2.5lb down from Jan 1st, which is rather nice. And today was a NSD.

Have realised I am incapable of marking mock speaking tests tonight, so am going to bed! Nighty night!

apple_muncher

That's dd's 6th bday party over for another year - phew! We actually had a lovely calm couple of hours that broke into mayhem for the last 10 mins! The downstairs has not been this clear in months - it's quite a revelation to realise just how much floor space we really have.

Dd has had a lovely day and lots of presents and fun. I decided to break my sugar and grain free-ness by having a piece of her bday cake. And I wish I hadn't bothered! It's made my stomach feel rotten and simply bleurgh. (that's the medical term, I believe)

Tomorrow we have Kids Klub in the morning and another party in the afternoon. That's in a hall and I suspect will involve much noise, hyper children and loud music. I loathe that sort of party!! Maybe I'm getting old... Anyhow, dd's looking forward to it immensely.

Did a little bit of money stuff this am. Moved ch benefit to savings and noticed that my bits have amounted to over £200 off the mortgage so far this month. Am chuffed, especially as I was thinking we'd only be able to do it after being paid for Jan.

Dh is off abroad in a week's time, so it'll be dd + me for a fortnight. I'll either get loads done, or nowt! It'll either be a cheap fortnight, or spendy... I'm hoping for getting loads done and not spending much.

Today was going to be a NSD but I sent dh out for milk and added to the list, to make it worthwhile spending money! All things that I'll not have to get on Tues now.

Best go and strip the duck for tea. I never manage to cook duck well, so am not going to buy it again. We got this one because it was reduced and a bargain.

apple_muncher

Survived all dd's social occasions this weekend! She really struggled to wake up this morning,poor thing. But today was her actual birthday and she's had a lovely day at school. A friend came round with another present for her, and her big sister's present is in the post, so it'll all be nicely drawn out.

Not working tomorrow, so a list of jobs to do is required:
- mark y10 work
- Ald1 shop DONE
- make soup DONE
- make chicken curry DID A SALMON ONE - NO CHICKEN!
- knit another owl or something equally cute DONE AND ANOTHER ONE STARTED
- exercise DONE
- check bank accounts >TT?
- have a go at bleaching mould in bathroom DONE
- change bedding + do a whites wash DONE
- do thank you cards for dd's presents DONE
- order fruit bars - strawberry IN BASKET
- search for an Elsa doll NO JOY
- do spellings with dd STARTED

Think that'll do!

apple_muncher

Today I'm getting impatient with myself and my weight loss. 'only' 3lb in 2 weeks, which doesn't seem much, given that I'm 1 stone up on this time last year. Maybe I've simply been eating too much!:rotfl: Am kind of hoping for the 'whoosh' effect soon....

Managed a day at work with my microwavable polar bear helping immensely. Few of the pupils even mentioned Miss walking and talking and teaching whilst holding him against my lower back! Have had a lovely hot bath and will continue to stretch. And will be a tad more careful coming downstairs tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow's earmarked as an exercise day. However the back precludes completing (or even starting) the planned workout. So aiming to go on the stepper again in the morning before work.

Should also acquire a NSD and sugar/grain freeness.

Tonight I hope to knit 2 more wings for another owl. This time I tried to do a kind of tartan effect pattern which was pretty fiddly. I'll do 1 more using the pattern then switch back to simpler ones.

Dh has just found out that he owes the tax men money. Grrrr. He's not self-employed, so it's when the pesky company got taken over that it happened. Double grrrr to poor employers. We do have enough to cover it, but it does somewhat scupper the mortgage/ saving plan for Jan. That said, I've already 'found' £200 for Jan, so 'just' another £150 would cover the bill. Don't think that'll happen now, but maybe, just maybe, I've underestimated his new pay and all will be hunkydory. Anyway, can't do anything for 10 days, so no use fretting.

apple_muncher

Polar bear came to work with me again, but my lunch did not. Humph. Cannot just decide to have a sch dinner as not guaranteed gluten free. So had to shuffle y12 teaching to nip up to garage before y11 kiddie came for oral practice. I knew the only thing they'd have would be a small block of cheese at an extortionate price, so I just had to shrug and pay. I guess tomorrow's lunch is prepared!

Also did a quick 1ce1and shop as dh informed me that he wanted to take a bunch of biscuits to work tomorrow. So I used the fact that I had the car to get milk + eggs + prawns too.

Did do some exercise but not this morning as I simply felt too stiff.

Knitted 4 owl wings last night but only a few rows of body tonight. Have filled in all work and church commitments on the wall calendar for the next few months so that I feel like I'm in control! A little bit, at least.

Dh is out doing PA stuff; dd is asleep; tv is off and I'm enjoying the peace. Am proud that I kept off the sugar + grains today as it was a challenge to do so.

dh goes abroad for 2 weeks on Sunday, so the telly can be off a lot! I'm working extra days because when it was offered to me, there was no job for him in sight. Then he got a job and we knew it would entail some travel, mainly in Europe. We hadn't reckoned on him going to S Africa within 3 weeks of starting!

We're going to break the rules on Sat and all go for a coffee and cake, as a small bit of family time together. Even planning it feels rather naughty!

Enough wittering. Bedtime for me.

apple_muncher

Made it to the end of another week.... Work is so much lovelier with the different management, and it is a pleasure to be there now.

After yesterday's lunch-less fiasco, I triple checked I was carrying it today! Had planned another sugar/grain free day, but remembered we were having a takeaway. Not very MSE at all, eh? When dh was unemployed, I told him we weren't having any more takeaways because of the cost, but that we'd have one when he got a job. So, he started his new job 3 weeks ago and pretty soon into it, asked if we coukd get a takeaway. I said 'no,' because he'd not been paid! He still hasn't made it to payday, but he goes away on Sunday for 2 weeks, so I relented!

However, I've been so full of gas, and burping very man-style burps this evening! And the meal tasted both very sweet and sugary, and salty. So we'll not be rushing for another one! It cost £20, and I said I'd rather spend £20 extra on the food budget! And dh agreed!

Talking of spending, we're going to a coffee shop tomorrow for some family time bdfore dh leaves. But I hope/assume the food spend for the next 2 weeks will be a lot less.... I shall meal plan after looking in the cupboards.

The Latin verb for 's/he's snoring' is 'stertit' and both dd and dh are doing that now, so 'stertiunt' I think!

Have started a list of things to do/achieve while dh is away. Tho have to remember I'm still working 4 days a week so won't exactly have a sudden amount of extra free time.

Enough wittering. Am looking forward to paydays and having money to pay the mortgage and savings. And at the end of the month I can colour in my pencil charts of about 7 different categories! Simple pleasures ahead...:T

apple_muncher

Well, I have a tender tum today after yesterday's takeaway! Will definitely not be getting another one. Dh is having the rest for his tea, whilst I'm having my purple soup (had a spare portion after forgetting lunch on thurs) with ham.

Had a nice time out together, zooming through the charity shops + ending up in a coffee shop. Didn't buy much, and dd is thankfully learning to leave a shop empty-handed. Bought myself a cooking book aimed at coeliacs, colitis, crohns, ibs etc. It's gluten- sugar- grain- and lactose- free! Used some of the money my mum gave me for Cmas - all of £4.50! I wouldn't usually have paid that much for a recipe book in a charity shop, but it seemed a great opportunity to get a specific book. Enough justification!

Owl #2 of tartan pattern is nearly all knitted. Just a few more plain rows to do, then sew both up, stuff, add wings, eyes, beak. Will then do more - am a bit of a glutton for punishment!

Total spends this month are going ok. Very satisfying. Off to munch my tea.