The next chapter ....

benbenandme

Went to see Mr S last night, had a nice takeaway and watched Match of the Day - some fab results yesterday for us

Today we went shopping this morning as ds needed new school shoes, he's gone on a mammoth growth spurt recently. We went to Clarks and they were £50 :eek: so I said we'd look around and come back, anyway we ended up getting a pair in the mens section of M&S and they were £35 :money: Madness that mens shoes are cheaper than kids but there we are, another milestone reached, no more kids shoe fitting for us I decided that his feet are probably not going to be badly damaged by wearing normal black shoes that haven't been width fitted, it's not like he's wearing stilettos or anything

We also got new school shirts (his were all too short), some chocs/flowers for Mum and a few other bits and pieces.Mum has been here for the rest of the day, we had a nice roast dinner and she had a bath (she only has a shower at home). I took her home about an hour ago, have had my bath and now getting sorted for school tomorrow.

benbenandme

Evening, a mad couple of days at work as my colleague in my year group has been off sick since last Wednesday so it's been a bit full-on. I've come home and had my bath and put my pj's on and I feel much better already. I need to do dinner, do some PTA work and get ds to do some homework, and I'm also planning a fairly early night. Can't believe we're not even half way through the week yet

benbenandme

Aah its nearly friday again Today has been very hectic, then options evening after school, last night was pta meeting, so now I feel I can chill out a bit, I'm in bed already

Nothing happening moneywise, haven't had time to even think about it this week.

benbenandme

£4 from a survey

benbenandme

Aagh my lovely Bournemouth have gone and got another 3 points, pretty much safe now for another season :T :T :T

Today I went and bought some new shoes for work, I had to bin my normal ones earlier in the week as the sole decided to come off

So the rest of today involves food shopping order, a bath and housework. I've done all my surveys already. Can't wait for Match of the Day tonight

benbenandme

Morning all, the sun is shining and its a lovely morning here. The dog has been out, the washing machine is doing its second load and I need to plan my day. The Tesco shopping is coming between 2-3 this afternoon, I need to change the shoes I bought yesterday (they fit fine but I think when they give a bit they will be slopping on my heels). I need to see Mum before the shopping comes, ds is home between 3-4pm, and I want to get on with decluttering.

Yesterday I emailed a local oven firm to come and clean my ovens and fix the bottom oven, my plan is to get every room decluttered before we break up for Easter and then I can concentrate on the painting and odd jobs over the holidays. So I have ten days to do that, I won't be worrying too much about ds room as that's quite a big task so will spend a day at the start of the holidays doing that probably. I also need to start thinking about ordering carpet so I can have that fitted towards the end of the holidays too.

I think the thing holding me back at the moment is there doesn't seem to be much at all on the market that I would be interested in, it would be much easier if I didn't like my flat I love my flat to bits, I just wish it was a bit bigger with a garden.

benbenandme

So I've sorted the hall cupboard, small steps but its the first one on my way to decluttering. Normally I am quite good at decluttering but its harder when its preparing to move - partly as I don't know how much space I'll have in my new place, but can pretty much guarantee it's more than I've got now, and partly because all the tips and hints say to box up about a third of your stuff so people can see you have enough storage space and it gives the illusion of not being cramped. But what do I do with all my spare carrier bags for example? I can't bin them as I have, so far, stuck to my new years resolution and not bought any at all in 2016 and therefore I am gradually getting through my stash of them. I find them useful for all sorts of things but am sure I will use some when I pack and sort through stuff. I think I will stash them all in the garage for now. The worry is what if I don't sell for months and a third of my stuff is stashed in the garage?

I think I need to find out when the local car boot sale starts up again as that will clear some space in the garage once that lots gone. Off to check that now ....

benbenandme

It seems they started again today, so as soon as the weather is a bit warmer I will go and get rid of as much car booty stuff as I can, making space in the garage and hopefully some pennies in the process too

benbenandme

We've made a start on ds bedroom, we've tried to dismantle his bed (one of those metal cabin beds) and one of the bolts is stuck so need to wait for Mr S to come round later in the week to sort it. In the meantime we now cant get in ds room so he's sleeping on the spare mattress in the lounge tonight. We have both done 2 trips with stuff to the garage - some to go to the tip, some to join the car boot stuff. The plan is to do at least one trip each day until we break up for Easter (10 days), hopefully then the place will be fairly clear and straightforward to decorate etc. The tip is open until 5pm every day so I can load the car up one night after work and get rid. I need to keep the garage as clear and organised as possible as I feel I will be filling it up pretty quickly

benbenandme

Mr S came round and helped get the rest of ds bed down to the garage. I have since taken most of it to the tip but some bits are too big for the car so not sure what to do about that just yet

He also has painted all my doorframes and sanded back the doors ready for painting.

I have one week left at work until the holidays and then two weeks off to get this place ship-shape. I have been looking daily on rightmove and there is hardly any flats for sale in the price bracket I would expect for mine, so that may help selling, however there is also very little available to buy that looks interesting either Howwever, we can cross that bridge when we come to it, for now I need to concentrate on getting this place sorted.

I forgot that this morning I put some lamb in the slow cooker, so when I got in I had a lovely surprise I've put some sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips to roast in the oven and then that's dinner sorted I want to get on with some more sorting out tonight, probably nothing major but keep plodding away at bits and pieces. The place is relatively tidy, I just need to stay on top of it and then plug away at the decluttering and fixing stuff. I also haven't heard back from the company I emailed re. the oven - this is the second company I've contacted think I may need to try and book another.