* It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year * - It's the 2016 Christmas Chatter Thread

mrsinvisible

Culinary disasters? my favourite is still the exploding eggs. I put eggs on to boil, forgot them busy with other stuff, heard a series of bangs, returned to the now smelly kitchen, large bits of burned eggs stuck to the ceiling, children bringing in guided tours of their friends to see it for weeks afterwards as it was too high for me to reach. Then there was the gingerbread that broke the knife.............
Panic attacks are the pits, l used to get them, but a lovely 'non therapist' gave me a way to deal, and it worked for me. If l put it on here, please don't think l am trying to push it, or say that it will be an instant cure or even that you want to look at it, but here goes.
the AWARE plan
A= Accept that it is happening, (ok, I know what this is again)
W= Watch and measure it 1-10 (7? ok you have had worse, )
A= Act normally, just carry on with what you are doing, just slower)
R=Revisit, and re measure it(5? see, its going down)
E= Expect good things, more of your day is bringing nice rather than bad things, so love yourself.

It wasn't instant for me but it always helped and got easier each time.
The lurgy has returned, DGS and l are both tummy bugged. thank goodness there are two loos, the heating is on and there is hot chocolate and unlimited toast (odd comfort foods) my hands are so cold l keep miskeying. Poor DGS was supposed to visit girlfriend tonight so that's out too.
Hope it will have gone by tonight cos l have DGN tomorrow.
I have just realised that l have completely forgotten my FILs 93rd birthday, oops must get that put right.
Oh, well, we cant all be perfect all the time, off to snuggle down and read an old Christmas mag.

Clumsy42

Just popping on to say M&S have a (somewhat hidden!) christmas section now: http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/christmas

Also, Tesco had toiletry gift sets and the start of seasonal chocolate/snacks out this morning. :T

mugwump79

Hello everyone,

Just de-lurking to share that Asda have £10 off a £50 spend and £20 off a £100 spend on all toys, have just stocked up on lego sets to put away,

Take care
Louise xxx

Peppapig

Loving the spillages, exploding eggs etc., we're obviously an accident prone lot.

Thanks for the M&S link CLUMSY, I really like the house glass baubles and the pack of vintage style ones but not sure I can really spend that much, especially as DH would probably say we've got too many tree decs already. I've not ruled them out though

MUG WUMP you've delurked now, that means you have to stay, it's the rules lol. Sorry I've had to split your name but when I typed it all in one word it was censored and came up as exclamation marks.

TRIXIB welcome to the thread, sorry if you joined before and I missed it.

FREE, MRSINVISIBLE, VULPIX, SAMMYKAYE, NIC and TREASUREQUEEN panic attacks sound awful, I feel very lucky never to have suffered with them. I was thinking I might get some Rescue Remedy as I seem to be very short tempered and snappy so I thought it might calm me down a bit.

Thank you all for the good wishes. Had bloods this morning and haven't heard anything from oncology so hopefully everything is ok and all being well chemo number eight happens tomorrow yay!

Things are going well on the Christmas pressies for the rescue centres front. Our local magazines are going to give it some publicity in the November issue (deadline has passed for October) and we have a name! Project Santa Paws! I can't claim the credit for it, my sister came up with the idea, but I love it. I need to sort out some posters now for local shops, library etc., and set up a Facebook page (will get DD to give me a hand with that at the weekend). I won't start the publicity until the middle of October as most people aren't like us and aren't thinking of Chrismas yet and I'm worried if I do it too early they'll forget. I've also realised I can put a poster up in our front garden as the village doctors' surgery is in our road so quite a few people walk past here. It's all very exciting.

nic2075

Evening all,

Had a half decent day today. I got a new car (well new to me). To replace my falling apart Zafira. So happy to have a car that works and feels safe. A wee bit stressed over the finance, but also secretly proud that my financial state is a lot better and I was able to get it. It's bright red and reminds me of Santa and candy canes lol.

Thought work was going better. Today a new lady started, which took a load off. She seemed happy and we all got finished on time for the first time in a month. My boss got a call an hour later to say she wasn't coming back. Hope it wasn't me who put her off. I wasn't moaning too much I don't think.

Looking forward to watching cold feet with a cup of tea and a Chocolare muffin x

pavlovs_dog

could we start a list of sites which have their Christmas bits live? As this is such a chatty thread it is so easy to overlook things.

Live so far:
Matalan http://www.matalan.co.uk/christmas/christmas-at-home
Lakeland http://www.lakeland.co.uk/Christmas
Marks and Spencer http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/christmas
john lewis http://www.johnlewis.com/christmas/c5000025?rdr=1
the range http://www.therange.co.uk/search?asug=&languageId=1&OWASP_CSRFTOKEN=9A76-CIZT-ORX8-KMTQ-1FBA-806G-ZU5E-YAB2&keywords=christmas

To update the list, quote or copy & paste

freespirit66

Evening everyone,

SAMMY_KAYE i hope you arent going down with a cold im not surprised the labrinthitis and the stress trigger each other, its a vicious circle isnt it?

VULPIX oh yes i swear by RR, i used it when i had my last driving test and i passed

MRSINVISIBLE oh blimey yuck to the eggs on the ceiling its bad enough if they explode a bit in the microwave :rotfl:i hope you and DGS are feeling better now and the bug has gone. I like the AWARE plan and will remember that, i have copied and pasted it thankyou

CLUMSY thanks for the M&S heads up i will have a browse later

!!!!!!! hello and thanks for the tip (MUG WUMP)

PEPPAPIG i have just looked up being short tempered and snappy and it looks like Beech Bach Flower Remedy is good for this it says outbursts of irritability?? It sounds like you are going great guns with your Project Santa Paws. Good Luck for tomorrow x

NIC well done on your new car there is nothing worse than a car that is unreliable. Oh blimey i wonder why she didnt like the job she didnt really give it a chance did she? I have just watched Cold Feet too, i am really enjoying it

Peppapig

Thanks FREE, yes I'd say outbursts of irritability just about sums me up! Think I'll go and look for that one.

MoneyMission2015

!!!!!!!79 wrote: »

Hello everyone,

Just de-lurking to share that Asda have £10 off a £50 spend and £20 off a £100 spend on all toys, have just stocked up on lego sets to put away,

Take care
Louise xxx

Thanks for that !!!!!!!, I have ordered a few bits now. I ended up placing 2 orders because I was adding things to my basket and the total came to just over £200 but of course you only get £20 off as soon as it gets over £100. So instead I placed 2 orders of around £100 each so got £20 off each order, so £40 of stuff free :j . I've arranged for the orders to be delivered to store too, much easier for me as I'm in work all week and there is an Asda right around the corner from my office.


I've had quite a few things delivered over the last week or two. I had a few ideas pop in to my head for people so ordered things while the ideas were still fresh in my head.


I have been trying to keep up with this thread but its moving so fast at the moment & I'm sure will move faster the closer we get to Christmas.


Asda are currently selling the tubs of chocolate for £4 each but apparently from Wednesday Tesco are doing the 2 for £7 offer on them, so keep an eye out.


Peppa - I hope everything goes ok with your bloods. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you.


Freespirit - I'm glad your cold is going. I came down with a cold the week before last & although the cold went within a few days, I felt completely out of it for 2 weeks. I'm feeling better now and we go on holiday next week so I am glad I am feeling better just in time for our holiday. Usually it's the other way around and I get ill just as I'm going on holiday!


SammyKaye - I had a declutter of our youngest one's bedroom the other day and managed to fill 3 black bags of rubbish, 2 boxes of stuff that she no longer plays with so going to car boot or ebay and a box of stuff that didn't even belong in her room so I'll put up in the attic. Its amazing how much stuff they accumulate isn't it. I think I'll end up doing another sort out before Christmas because otherwise I don't know where we will put everything once Santa has been!!


Ooh nic, it's lovely having a new car isn't it. We always buy second hand, no point paying full price for a new car when it loses about 30% of it's value within the first year. I have been talking about replacing my car for ages, I've even been to look at cars but just haven't got round to doing it yet. I'm sure I will eventually.


Clumsy - I noticed the M&S Christmas stuff too, I searched for it out of curiosity and they already have quite a bit on there. I think in the next few weeks we will find most websites will start publicising their Christmas section. I'm waiting for Next to release theirs. I have checked but it just takes me to a page that more or less says to come back soon. I don't buy a lot from their Christmas section as I find them to be a bit expensive, but they have some really pretty things and I have bought the occasional thing from them.


The John Lewis stuff is lovely, but so expensive :eek:. I love walking through JL when all their Christmas stuff is out.

elliew8

Morning...and warning this may be an essay!
Got back yesterday from the family weekend away...was great except for Sunday we woke up to a flooded kitchen and had plumbers round between 11am and 8pm :eek: luckily we've been given some money back otherwise I wouldn't have been happy. Still managed to cook lasagne for 12 people whilst nearly falling over several times :rotfl:
Chrissy I think I just have bad experience of working in retail at the weekends, but I was at college at the time so didn't get that nice feeling on a Monday either
Welcome Sare65 I tried the skittle vodka too and it tasted nice but looked like when you leave a lasagne dish soaking and the orange/ red foam sits on top! Moneymaker the werthers one sounds nice
MandCo we have to give our cat wet food because she's a Bengal and they don't like drinking very much, otherwise we'd go dry food all the way. We're going to NY for a semi-honeymoon - we got married in Mallorca and had a week there after too. I have a feeling I'm going to be so excited I'll be like Elf lol :j
Sammy I don't think I've ever heard anyone be quite as productive as you :T puts me to shame!
Peppa the animal shelter food appeal sounds like a brilliant idea! I think that's what we'll end up doing with the boxes of Whiskers and Felix in the loft since the cat has become a snob lol
Hope you feel better Freespirit, and MrsInvisible that tooth extraction sounds rather nasty, I'd be milking the sympathy
Cherry I'm slightly obsessed with the wax melts too now...although my DH is slightly concerned I'm going to burn the house down!
Gettingtherequickly, glad you liked Lion King, I'm jealous you've got tickets for Aladdin
Thanks for the heads up on M&S Clumsy, and thanks for the links Pavlov! I know how I'll be spending my morning now lol
I had a reminder in my calendar this morning saying M&S Christmas returns period has started so I'll be on the hunt for discount codes and will pop back in if I find any