*Stop The Cavalry* It's The 2014 Christmas Chatter Thread

freespirit66

Evening everyone, i have just cooked our chinese new year meal phew, i know i know a night late but yesterday just went too fast i made sticky pork, chicken noodles in black bean sauce, egg fried rice and sesame toffee bananas and we had tsingtao beer i now cant move although i had small portions of each :rotfl:

BABYBOO oh im so sorry my lovely,i hope your poor DH is recovering well, what a horrible time for you and such a shock, will this affect the job he went for? Look after yourselves x

MSGIGGLEWICK yayy go DD2 how wonderful she must be so chuffed and you so proud x

NITNURSE oh how lovely to have someone at work share an interest in christmas with you, all the people i know are last minute, dont think about christmas until december people you did make me laugh with your comment about the domestos :rotfl:

NANAMIA hope you have had a lovely day today with DGD2, i used to have friends who lived there, we used to stay with them when the kids were little

JJ thinking of you

OMO glad you arent feeling so upset over your BFF, and having a good time back on your Family Tree, love the quote

BEG sorry you have had a stressful time of it recently, sending you hugs, and yes i cried my eyes out at Hayleys funeral, it was so sad

CAITLYN well done on the weight loss, that is exactly how much i have lost aww your evenings sound lovely, i am just copying you with the food, no presents here:D

caitlyn22

You put me to shame on the food freespirit! I made...a quick stop off at M & S yesterday to pick up their Chinese meal deal! :rotfl:

I was full of good intentions to cook but I was just shattered the last two nights, I couldn't have faced the prep and cooking! Just means we'll have a distinctly Chinese theme to the meal plan this week as I try and use up the ingredients I'd bought last weekend!

caitlyn22

PS Our next celebration is tomorrow - Groundhog Day! An american-style roast dinner, with the Bill Murray film! No presents this time. I've tried for two events a month - here's the list...it gets VERY random! I'm loving researching the recipes and planning what to make.

January
25th - Burns Night
31st - Chinese New Year

February
2nd - Groundhog Day
14th - Valentine’s Day

March
1st - St David’s Day
17th - St Patrick’s Day

April
13th - Baisakhi (Sikh New Year)
19th - Passover

May
6th - No Diet Day (this is a real thing!)

June
11th - Kamehameha Day (Hawaii)

July
4th - Independence Day
29th - Eid

August
17th - Indonesian Independence Day

September
7th - Brazilian Independence Day

October
23rd - Diwali

November
27th - Thanksgiving

Sequeena

Thanks for thinking of me Caitlyn yes I'm doing very well - though had to give him the Thomas annual I bought as he found it, oh dear. Luckily it only cost 99p.

How is everyone? January flew by so fast for us. We were plagued by illness and had a few appointments. What free time we did have was spent with family or at playgroup

My son was officially diagnosed with hypermobility and hypotonia which is a step in the right direction. There's not a lot they can do, just some exercises to strengthen his core. He failed his hearing test again though thankfully the glue ear wasn't there this time. We go back in April time for another test (and then probably hearing aids).

He has an appointment with his plastic surgeon on Wednesday. It's the follow up appointment from his operation back in October. I don't think it'll be good news. His thumb is still quite loose in the joint but he can't bend it. I don't think they will operate again, it was a risky job as it was

His behaviour is getting worse, his delays are getting more pronounced (he's under 1st centile for development, the worst possible scale he can be put on). It's very stressful. He's still not sleeping. I honestly wonder if there's a light at the end of the tunnel some days.

caitlyn22

Sequeena there's very little I can say but I wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and that however you're feeling, to me, and no doubt to your little boy, you seem incredibly brave and resourceful, so never doubt that in yourself. I'm sure you find yourself living appointment to appointment, development to development, piece of information to piece of information. It must be incredibly tiring, especially, if like me, you are reassured by planning and knowing what's around the corner.

Never mind at the end of the tunnel, I think you and your little family light up the whole damn tunnel, so try not to let the medical treadmill wear you down.

Sequeena

Thank you that means a lot

I too like forward planning, knowing what comes next etc. I don't know where we are with genetic testing, or if hearing aids will be a given or if they'll do another hearing test again further down the line etc. We've had a lot happen so far but it always feels like we're on a wait and see approach.

I have however made an inquiry with our local primary that has a special needs unit. We're not sure Thomas will be ready for mainstream school/nursery in September, he'll have only just turned 3 (August baby) and we know that he will definitely NOT be potty trained but the option is there. We have been referred to a disability nursery but it's waiting and then if he is accepted we have to apply to a charity to pay half his fees and to pay for a 1:1 support worker.

The only thing I can control right now is the Christmas gifts :rotfl:

junior_j

My oh my you lot can natter

I am finally out but had a very rough time and just can't go into it yet without crying lol!


On a positive note I a hopefully signing up to the open uni to do a full time degree!

Just a a quickie

nan thanks for all your lovely emails! Speak soon ! Xx

free spirit dinner sounds delightful:D love Chinese

sequeena I love seeing T pictures and updates and believe me Hun there is light at the end of the tunnel I worked specifically with children around T age with developmental and physical issues and the progress can just spurt from no where and be incredible , you have my contact details if you ever want to talk sweet xxxxx

everyone

Thanks for all your lovely messages! Your all amazing and I am so glad I am a part of this wonderful thread , hugs to everyone who needs them and squeezes to everyone else just be cause I can xx

betasam

Good Morning Everyone

Junior J - yay, you're home! Good luck with the OU.
Pigpen - I had a look in our local Argos but they didn't have the panda - glad Ameyturtle found two for you. Thanks for the tip about Argos clearance - my nieces and nephews all have a bear who receives a present each birthday and Christmas ( my eldest niece is 14 but has insisted her bear still needs presents) and I bought six outfits for £20 from Argos so that's saved about £40.
Caitlyn - I love hearing about the special meals - I've been invited to a Chinese New Year party next Friday by a Malaysian friend - I've bought her a beaded metal bookmark with a horse charm and need to find a book to go with it - at the moment I'm torn between Black Beauty and War Horse!

Well, in other news, some kind person threw a piece of concrete through the window of the church minibus last weekend (it's kept on my drive) and we're still waiting for the new glass to arrive - my friend who collects children for Sunday School will have to try to stop them from poking holes in the 'accident wrap' currently in place...

Have a good Sunday!

FeistyFidget

caitlyn22 wrote: »

Hello everyone!

Been meaning to post all week but despite my New Year's resolutions and very best intentions, I've left work late every night this week.

I have however managed to get lots of little jobs done, like getting my wedding dress cleaned (only 9 months late! :rotfl:) and as sad as it is, getting those type of things ticked off my list feels very rewarding!

I've also managed to keep up the healthy eating since 1st Jan (most of time ) I've heard nothing but good things about SW but it just doesn't work for me! I need to reduce carbs otherwise I lose nowt, so avoiding too much bread/rice/potatoes/pasta. Lost 8lbs so it's shifting, but long way to go yet! Because of bad weather/late nights I haven't walked home from work as much as I'd have liked but the few times I have walked, it's been a great way to wind-down after work. Takes 50 minutes but I listen to podcasts and I find the time flies listening to a radio show.

We've done two of our 'special celebrations' and I'm very pleased that OH has got in to the swing of it! First we had Burn's Night, I cooked Cullen Skink, Haggis and Neeps and Cranachan, and OH made a Scottish playlist for during the meal and then we watched Highlander! :rotfl:I got him a Tunnock's Teacake Tea-Towel and he got me a very posh looking wooden hamper crate...that had two bottles of Irn Bru inside! Then last night we celebrated Chinese New Year - I got OH the horse riding lesson which he liked and he got me a traditional Chinese red envelope with a set of tokens he's printed out for me on little Chinese banknotes. They're things that are really personal to me, things like because I can never sleep, I secretly love it when OH is awake too and we sometimes get up in the middle of the night and he puts the kettle on, so one token is for a cup of tea but the small print 'T&Cs' say it can only be redeemed between 2am and 5am! He also included a 'week of bedtime stories' which is basically when he tells me about the books he's reading, which always makes me sleepier than if I'm to read myself! There's also ones for things like a cinema trip, which seems silly because we could decide to do that any time but somehow getting the vouchers makes it far more exciting! Very pleased, I fully expected to get a bag of prawn crackers from him!

No Christmas present-buying done, we're still weighing up what to do next Christmas, with my sister moving, we're thinking of getting away somewhere ourselves, making it very different, I'll be too sad at home I think. Plus I don't save much by buying early - there's always something else I spot!

Hope those of you decorating/de-cluttering find time for a break and that everyone is warm and dry!

PS OMO...I'm fairly sure I've seen you say FM is 'done' before now! You're as bad as me, cant resist 'one more thing'! :rotfl:

Bless your DH, what a thoughtful gift! My wedding dress is still not cleaned and wrapped, and I got married November 2009!

caitlyn22 wrote: »

BBTHREE, I was so pleased to read your biopsy results were clear. :j Hope you managed to get your wardrobes!

Thanks to mandco for the Disney store tip, I passed it on to a colleague who picked up some fab deals!

Laughed at your tale about the birthday card mrsinvisible! My god mother is famously bad at remembering my birthday, the worst (best?!) was the year I got six cards, three all in the same (wrong) month! Happy birthday to everyone who has turned another year wiser since I last posted! :beer:

Lazysheep, I said the same thing (“one month down”) at work the other day and for once I didn’t mean it positively! Can’t believe January has disappeared already. Be glad to get out of the wintery weather (feels wasted post-Christmas!) but with my sister emigrating and my lovely boss leaving in the first half of this year, I’m suddenly feeling time is more precious!

Peppapig, my nephew had a Mickey Mouse phase and to this day, I still get the Hot Dog song stuck in my head on repeat! Right now it’s worse…he’s in the Numberjacks, which is just about the strangest kids show I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something!

Craftymummy, RE: Your DD’s 10th birthday – is she an outdoors type? I know it’s quite old-fashioned, but we do lots of work with kids around that age and we find they all love a bit of old-fashioned camping! National Trust have a great list called things to do before you’re 11 and 3/4 , which is great for ideas. Wouldn’t have to be too adventurous, could be ‘glamping’ in the garden (we do make your own face masks from household/natural things – have recipes if you’d like them) so it doesn’t have to be all about building fires and climbing trees.

Feisty, what did you cook when friends came round? I was thinking £23 sounded a bargain for ingredients for that many people! I find it so expensive but guess it’s because I’m used to cooking for two!

Sequeena, I keep my eye out for Thomas bargains as I know you little one is a fan but think you must be more alert to them than me, sounds like you’ve done well already!

Betasam, Melbourne sounds exciting. I’m keeping eye on all things Australian for next few years too, hoping to get out and see my sister as much as possible. Got to say, don’t fancy the flight time much!

Hanley, I think you’re a saint doing all those invites! Sounds like she’s got a problem with the idea of stag do more than anything, she’d be silly to turn down your kindness, especially if you’ve given so much thought to what she would like.

Don’t forget to check Pinterest for (cute, not gory!) first-aid related party food themes for your DD, it never lets me down!

Ameyturtle – what are ferrero rocher bunnies?! (Not that I need another short-lived seasonal chocolate to get addicted to…I will forever miss Fresco Mints and those trays of little Terry’s chocolate orange eggs with the spoons!)

Hadn’t realised there was a show of The Bodyguard Ruth_Honey! I love a musical…found out yesterday they’re making a Back to the Future one! The original RENT is still my favourite I think.

Freespirit, I'm so impressed with your daily challenges, well done on keeping them all up!

OMO, wish I had your patience for researching family tree. You should offer it as a service and charge people, like a private detective! I know so many people like me who want to know but would much rather someone else did all the hard work!

Chicken korma - 90% of the ingredients were from aldi we also had lemon tart and pavlova for pud - yum!

Sequeena I just wanted to send you and t a great big hug and and say I'm thinking of you both xxx

Jj so glad you're back with us you have been missed! X

I've had a terrible nights sleep, so I plan to lounge all day on the sofa watching tv and eating left over pizza

debndot

hi all, doesn't time seem to fly by atm.
jj im glad to hear your home x
sequeena - hugs to you, your another inspiring person on here, you have a lovely family and deal with everything so well. On the Thomas bargains front, on Argos clearance there is a Thomas rug reduced to 5.99, got one for my ds room.
caityln love your special celebrations list, happy to see my birthday is no diet day :-)
hugs to all that need them and belated birthday wishes to those who celebrated this month,
still de cluttering and sorting the house out, dh and i are hoping to have it sorted to get it on the market beginning of next month, but waiting for sis to throw a spanner in the works, we shall see.
enjoy the last day of the weekend everyone x