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

msgigglewick

cross fingers for you JJ.

Was reading on another forum that some people were spending thousands on their parents for xmas. Nice if you have the spare money i guess but ouch! mine tell me off for spending £20 (though usually more). This is the first year we aren't buying for my grandmothers. one has last stage alzheimers and the other dementia.. so need routine and last year xmas pressie is still sat on the side half opened at the one with dementia.

Grabbed dd4 a pair of the jelly elsa sparkle shoes this am. been waiting for them to come in stock on the entertainer website before i went hunting for them but they kept moving the date but went in there this am and saw they had some

we're currently watching the polar express then going to make some gingerbread. off to do the food shop when dh gets home from work eek.

i've still pressies to wrap blah. only a dozen or so though.

newthrift

freespirit66 wrote: »

Morning everyone, aarggh this house is an absolute blooming mess and i have no guag whatsoever, now i have my christmas spirit i just feel like i am in christmas mode all i want to do is watch christmas films and eat carp,

This is so me at the minute!!! Literally tomorrow morning I need to dedicate to washing/drying and cleaning up then Xmas eve I will iron with a Christmassy film on, otherwise we may have no clothes and look like we live in a pig stye :eek:

Peppapig

JJ, so glad you've been able to post but sorry the news isn't better. Hope all goes well with the op and you can have Christmas at home. Hope Quidsy gets to see you.

Was at Aldi at 8.15 this morning - it was manic. The car park was full with people riding round looking for spaces and other people parking where there weren't any spaces so it was really difficult to get round. I don't do queues at the best of times but this was worse than I've seen it before so I drove out again and went to Asda instead. Cost me more in money but at least I kept my sanity.

I have a question - how do children put gingerbread houses together and decorate them?????? I've just managed to cover myself and the worktop in icing! :mad:

I was going to do the gingerbread from scratch but when I priced up the ingredients it was ridiculous (I don't actually like gingerbread just wanted to make the house) so I went to Ikea this morning and bought a gingerbread house and gingerbread Christmas tree. One bit of the tree was broken so I took it apart to 'fix' the broken bit with icing and then broke the other bit as well so now both parts are being left to set before I can put it back together again. Hopefully I can cover it all up with sweets. The house is still up at the moment and I'm going to leave it overnight and fit the chimney and decorate everything tomorrow. Must admit I'm ridiculously excited about it although today's experience has confirmed my suspicion that I am indeed useless with all things kitchen.

his_missus

The big day's almost here and I am good to go.


All pressies wrapped, food all bought, just a mad clean needed tomorrow afternoon when I'm off.
Pressies drop off arranged on Xmas eve afternoon before mum comes over. Turkey and gammon will be cooked in the evening ready for the big day.


Hope you all have a fantastic day and your hard work was all worth it.


Merry Christmas! xxx

freespirit66

JESS UPDATE :):):):):):):)

I have just had a message from NANAMIA asking to let you all know, Jess has had her op and feeling very upbeat and hopefully be out very soon


JESS UPDATE :):):):):):):)

IrishRose12

Evening everyone. Sorry to hear your back in hopital JJ, hope you are out soon.

Well I officially have quit with Christmas, I give up Anything thats not done is just gonna have to be coped without, Tough luck. Have a funeral tomorrow morning for neighbours mother/in-law, is the anniversary of my own Christmas angel today, and I'm just done. Have had neighbour's children here with me most of the past 4 days and they have stayed over 3 nights. SO can't get wrapping done, sort out kids stuff and presents are not even looked at!
Had to nip into town today with all kids (7 of them) to try and get my own mum's gift sorted in Boots. Well I ordered it, for the 1hr service, went back 1 and a half hours later only to be told that the 1hr service wasn't available today and the computer shouldn't have offered me a 1hr service :mad:
Well that was like a red flag to a bull for me and I went right off on one! Told them it was false advertising, they should have had notices up on the screens to tell us there was no 1hr service and it wasn't the computers fault it wasn't told there was no 1hr service:mad:
Fella said well you can come back in tomorrow again can't you? :eek: I just looked him and said yeah why not, I haven't got 7 kids with me and I don't have a funeral to go to tomorrow, Oh and by the way don't forget about it's 2 days till Christmas so I'll just rish around to bend over backwards for you shall I?:o:mad::mad::mad:

I know I was rude, I know I was probably out of order but I was, and still am seething. So much so that I am now in the process of looking for a phone number that I can lodge a complaint with as I've had it up to here with Boots photo department:(

So yeah, I'm exhausted, fed up and just have lost my Christmas Spirit already. Hopefully I can find it again tomorrow evening.

Said to the hubby this morning this house is a tip, his reply was, well we've has a busy 2 weeks, 7 kids to deal with, Christmas and what's not, so yeah it's a tip but I don't care anymore:rotfl: We've made the decision that we're just going to live in a tip for the next week as we can't be bothered to do anything now.

I'm now off for a well earned cup of tea, get the kids sorted for bed and they are going to grandparents tomorrow so we can attend the funeral. Hoping I can get some wrapping done tonight also.

freespirit66

PEPPAPIG i made one from scratch once, never again, blooming thing was a nightmare, although my nieces and nephews loved it, i thought it would be so easy as like you say you see kids making them :rotfl::rotfl:oh my god what a nightmare at aldi :eek:

NEWTHRIFT i just seem to be moving things around and not getting anywhere :rotfl:but i suppose every little helps and it will all fall into place by christmas day. WM and TD havent stopped still need to do actual cleaning have just been tidying but have managed to get another thing off my baking list baked

Peppapig

freespirit66 wrote: »

JESS UPDATE :):):):):):):)

I have just had a message from NANAMIA asking to let you all know, Jess has had her op and feeling very upbeat and hopefully be out very soon


JESS UPDATE :):):):):):):)

Woo hoo - that's great news. Thanks for letting us know Freespirit :j:j:j

IrishRose, I think it's amazing that you're still on your feet - I'd be lying down in a darkened room by now :rotfl:. Seriously, I think you're doing the right thing and in all the frantic-ness that is Christmas nobody is going to notice a bit of dust/clutter. I've done a similar thing on a smaller scale in that I've just cut the to-do list down by about half - really, who is going to care if the car hasn't been washed?!! I've cleaned the inside because we're taking DD and DGD over to other DD on Christmas Eve but the outside can just wait now until after the holiday.


Now that I've got the last of the food shopping out of the way I'm actually feeling mega-festive although I'm also fighting the urge to start on the Christmas food

FeistyFidget

pinknfluffy28 wrote: »

Been AWOL again for a while, but just wanted to pop on and wish you all Avery merry Christmas - just in case I don't get chance to do so nearer the time.

Its a bit hectic here, I think i may have bitten off more than I can chew by taking on my 3rd job! Dh & I are having talks as to which job should be dropped in the new year. I worked very hard to set up my own business, and spent a lot of money on it over the last 2 years, but it just isn't profitable. I am working unsociable hours, driving here there & everywhere, for pennies really!

So dh is convinced that should be the one to go, where as I would rather drop the Saturday job! The only thing we agree on is that my midday/supply TA is the keeper!

I don't have any Christmas spirit, I just soooo tired, but I break up after tomorrow, and hope my mood will improve. On a positive note, all presents are wrapped & ready, with the last of family gifts being delivered tomorrow. Just need to battle the supermarket masses next Monday to pick up the fresh food to see us over the festive few days!

I can honestly relate to this (currently working 4 'jobs') but part of me is really bull headed about letting my business go as like you said, the is a lot of money that has been put in, plus blood, sweat a day tears! With regards to driving all over, I'm guessing that is for deliveries? I now tell people that it is free local (5 mile radius) delivery for orders over £30. Revise your prices, you need to making an above minimum wage rate, plus materials, costs etc. Don't be afraid to say no to orders that are too time consuming or perhaps a little too demanding. It's better to not take anything than run yourself ragged for a loss. Send me a message if I can help

deannatrois wrote: »

My christmas wrapping is always a bit last minute (really last minute lol) but last night I watched Alex Polizzi Christmas Fix. Most of the fancier stuff was way beyond what I'd consider doing but she did some parcel wrapping (with a wrapper from Harrods) and there were some useful tips there.., folding the paper on the edge of the present (box present), and using double sided sticky tape (maybe my kids could actually open the present without assistance from a hammer sometimes lol).

So I'll be trying a different way of wrapping presents thanks to that programme lol.

Definitely making headway with the bugs. Shampooed the mattress, most of the stains are gone and gonna give the carpet a really thorough hoover tomorrow. Then spray again. Its already been steamed and sprayed a few times. Then will be putting the room back together again.

Starting to feel a bit better. When I first saw how bad the bug infestation was I didn't know what to do lol!

I watched that on catch up last night, I really liked some of the wrapping tips!

Glad you're making head way!

junior_j wrote: »

Hello all

I haven't been able to read back so I am sending love and hugs all round. I spent a week in my local hospital before being ambulanced back to London where Fred was put back in my head. I have having surgery today (Monday) on my shunt via my chest there is a chance I may be home Xmas eve but no guarentee yet.

Hope your all okay and have a great
Xmas love and hugs guys xx

Hello lovely, I'm glad to see that free spirit has said you're doing well! Much love to you x

It is me that does paper cuts 😊 we are closed for Christmas, but will re-open on the 5th Jan.

The flat is a tip, there is still food bits to get and a mountain of wrapping. Plus I need to marzipan the cake tonight to let the marzipan settle before I ice it. I will not spend Christmas rushing around like a loon!

System

I keep telling myself she isn't doing it on purpose but I think I NEED to scream !!!!
We did all the food shopping yesterday except milk/salad stuff as dd wanted to go to Tesco tomorrow she has just informed me she doesn't want to go so I can go on my own. !!!!!

AND BREATHE.