I have lost my OS ways, help!

gran3

I cant imagine your pain and frustration but now may be the point to reign things in, no more money, limited tolerance of poor behaviour, no more unconditional acceptance of hurtful and painful attitudes toward you and the rest of the family.


I can only say that having excluded a family member after years and years of poor and in some cases criminal behaviour life is calmer and although I am sorry for some of the people who have been affected by this indirectly for me and mine it has been nothing but a bloody relief. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but it was a case of enough already, as yours may well be.

Caterina

White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit! Welcome, dear 2015, bring us joy!

Thank you all for your kind and wise words, it meant the world to me to be able to read them and see that people think of us, I did not feel quite so lost. I also want to affirm that, yes, the door remains open because she is and always will be, our beloved daughter, but our eyes are open, too! If and when she regains her senses, she will be supported, but as Gran3 rightfully says, no more acceptance of poor behaviour. Unconditional love, yes. Being taken for mugs, no. Enough.

And now I would like to close this sad chapter and move on.

First day of my new Grocery Challenge, first day of clean eating, how exciting!

Also, DH and I are seriously talking about the possibility of moving, once things are a bit calmer and we manage to get some basic decoration we will start looking. Life promises all sorts of fresh new starts!

I hope that 2015 brings peace, tolerance and compassion to the world, and lashings of joy and great fun to all of us OSers here who, in our small and simple ways, work towards world change. I love you, dear friends. Thank you.

CRANKY40

Happy 2015 folks. Hope it's a good year for you. Same here with the grocery challenge and healthy eating. I'm going to round up what is left of the sweeties later and throw all the opened packets. I've had enough in the last couple of weeks to last me months. No alcohol this month either.

I also traumatised myself having the perfect kitchen installed....and then moved house. Moving somewhere smaller has been the best decision ever. We live in a small cosy house which is easy to heat and clean and we no longer spend our time sitting in separate rooms. We live on a peninsula which means we are 10 minutes from the beach, with a great view of the Welsh mountains which are an easy drive to reach from here. The Lake District is also within easy reach and so is London (only a 2 hour train ride). I think once you have been bitten by the moving bug then it's hard not to do something about it.

ailz95

Happy New Year to one and all.

I never thought I would leave North West England, and then life butts in and here I am sitting in my Ma-in-law's house in the middle of nowhere in Kent. We're selling our house in Oldham and when we're no longer needed her - a long time I hope - we're going to move to somewhere between Hastings and Margate on the coast.

Also due to a vermin problem we're getting a cat - I love cats, but hubby isn't as keen so he's always said no before (we had 8 at one time which I think put him off!), this time he suggested it. We're getting one from Celia Hammond's animal trust. We were going to have feral cats from her but they aren't keen as we don't know how long we'll be here.

retromother

Caterina, when I was about 19 I saved lots of money and then met a man who I dated over four years, he manipulated me into spending all of my savings and adding his name to my credit card (so he could use it for petrol when I needed a lift) - he ran up £1000s of debt and I left him. It was a shock, but it changed my attitude to relationships and money. I ended up with my now husband, we have a wonderful mature relationship that is equal.

I regret that past, but I do know it made me stronger and more sensible with who I allow into my life. I can recognise a mooch a mile off - and believe me, there have been one or two 'friends' who have tried to go down that road! I cut them off the second the warning signs appeared.

moments_of_sanity

Happy New Year everyone

Today will be a NSD for me as the only thing I was short of is milk and I remembered I bought 4 x 1 pint milks reduced to 2p each before Christmas and put them in the freezer, so a quick root around and they are now defrosting on the draining board.

I need to make a shopping list for tomorrow and the meal plan has been done for the next three weeks so it should be an easy list to make.

We still have a house full, youngsters outnumber us by 2 to 1 and make 10 times the noise we do! :rotfl:

Dinner tonight will be pork chops and lots and lots of veg, looks like I will be feeding all of us so better go and prep the veg ready for later. I hope you all have a lovely day and catch up later x

Caterina

Good evening,

Cranky and ailz thanks, it is good to hear successful house move stories, it is the encouragement we need. I had another thread going on the subject, which was also very encouraging and that DH (normally immune to the charms of the OS Forum) read with great interest.

Retromother, I know, it is just a matter of waiting and being there to offer support and pick up the pieces. But what a waste of her best years! Never mind, can't stress on stuff I can't change. Hey ho.

MOS I bet you will enjoy the peace and quiet when the youngsters go! Well done on a NSD (snap!).

DH and I took a drive around villages and small towns on the outskirts of London, all the way to Tonbridge, to have a nosey at the house prices in estate agents windows. If we sell London we can definitely afford a nice cottage, but there aren't many 2 bed ones with large gardens (a main non negotiable condition).

The other non-negotiables are:

Walking distance to a network of public transport, library, a church, at least a few shops. Dr. surgery.
Wood burning stove or at least the facility to install one.
Not too rural (like not in the middle of nowhere), not ancient (Because of upkeep costs and planning regs. nightmare for any changes), not super modern.

The optionals, which would tip the balance towards a definite yes:
An active church (social and volunteer opportunities), a couple of schools nearby (opportunities for me as an after school nanny), allotments with not-too-long waiting lists.

The search has only started and it is quite good fun, so far!

I had a nice dinner with lots of veg courtesy of my friend who just went to overwinter in India and gave me a great big bag full of veg and fruit, so no need for shopping in the next 3-4 days at least.

My first NSD today! Actually I moved some cash from my bank to the Marks gift card because DH gets 7% off through his work website and I have a few £5 off (£25 min spend) for food, which will help my shopping immensely. But because I did not actually buy any goods I am happy to not count it as a spend, as the cash is still with me, only in different form, and in fact I make a £5.60 profit on the transaction because of the discount.

Bedtime now, with a nice camomile.

Good night.

amandaatnumber7

CRANKY40 wrote: »

We live on a peninsula which means we are 10 minutes from the beach, with a great view of the Welsh mountains which are an easy drive to reach from here.

Cranky that sounds like bliss!

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a lovely xmas and new year
Our xmas was crazy busy but lovely and new year was low key, we had some friends over for a bbq.

So getting back on track now after all the festivities, I have joined the grocery challenge and I have also bought myself a diary and jotted down my personal goals for 2015.

Hubby and I finally sorted and tidied our front room today and it looks great, it had become a dumping ground for everything hat nobody could be bothered finding a home for. I've set up a table and dusted off my sewing machine as I am determined to get sewing this year.

Its DS1 14th bday on sunday,, where do the years go?!
We are taking him and a couple of his mates out for dinner. I bought his present before xmas so I wasn't running around like a crazy women just after new years :rotfl:

It feels good to be back I've missed OS over xmas :cheesy:

retromother

Hello back on the bandwagoners! It's the dreaded dentist day to get my chipped tooth fixed. NHS, but still not the cheapest of excursions.

I'm going to drive as although it is walking distance, I need OH with me which means the kids need to come too. It's just a little too far for the younger one. I also need to get birthday cards for DS1 and also a party gift for a friend of DS2.

This week I'll need to cancel some subscription services. Amazon lending library for one - I hardly use it anyway. And I'll see whether OH still wants his lootbox sub. Not sure whether to cancel credit expert. I really like the personalised tips that I don't get fron noddle.

Dinner will be tuna pasta bake and I'm going to look for a blue cheese and herb bread recipe as we got loads of yellow sticker stilton in Mr T's yesterday.

Caterina

Good evening,

Amandaatnumber7 happy New Year, good to see you back!

Retromother I hope your dentist visit was not too traumatic and that everything got sorted out successfully.

Today I attended a funeral, my old friend's son passed away in December, he was only 61 and his mum, my friend, is quite elderly, it was harrowing to say the least, but it was a good funeral, lots of people and a true celebration of his life.

After the refreshments I went to look at the shops in Canary Wharf shopping centre, not with any intention to buy anything, just needed to potter about and do nothing engaging the mind, so window shopping was ideal. Not too crowded as the office staff were still working. Then I met with DH in the w8rose cafe for our customary free cuppa (camomile today as I needed calming stuff).

Back home. Straight to bed with a great deal of mental exhaustion and my darling, wonderful DH cooked me some pasta (chili garlic oil and fresh parsley) and assembled a salad for dinner. Bliss, and certainly not a day to quibble about carbs.

Today was another NSD and I feel rather proud because, as I walked through w8rose, I noticed quite a few YSs, but disciplined myself and did not buy. I have a lot of food in my house, the fridge is full and the freezer almost so. No need for anything.

Hope you all had a good day. Good night.