Frump to Fab 2016 - Lets make it AWESOME!!!

maman

Good posts LL. One achievement you missed off your list (plus the solo travel) was visiting your cousins in Belgium and taking your dad with you.


I'm definitely up for a new thread and keeping going. Just reading the word 'posture' makes me sit up straight!:D


I've got a few errands to run today and tomorrow we plan to visit Kingston Lacy. I've got another dance to go to on Saturday so I'm just getting things done in between. Still lots to do but it'll happen, it always does.;)

Ellsbel

I'm definitely up for a new thread, LL I sometimes feel a bit of a fraud for posting as I don't always feel as on top of the fabbing as everyone else, but I love reading the posts and chatting with everyone:)
The 12 step program sounds like a good idea - I may borrow that!
And please don't think of yourself as "whiney" - you're not.


This may sound whiney though - apologies in advance:D
I've just been ripped off by a man who knocked on my door offering to replace a loose roof tile.
We knew it had slipped at the weekend and it was on OH's list if things to do.
The guy had to be in his 60s, looked to be trying to drum up a bit of pre Christmas cash, and I felt a bit sorry for him, plus I thought it'd save OH a job.
Don't get me wrong - it's only £25 I'm talking about, but honestly, I'd have made it look better - he's literally put a blob of pre mixed cement up there and perched the tile on top of it - then he drove off like a scalded cat! - it looks awful!
This isn't really a big issue in itself but in the last week or so I keep falling prey to the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished and I feel like a lights gone on for me.
I've realised that I'm far too much of a people pleaser and because of this it's totally my own fault that people take advantage and I often feel I can't do right for doing wrong.
So I hereby declare that in 2017 I'm going to stop worrying what others think of me, and start being a bit more selfish and a bit less ingratiating- which is probably quite off putting to people anyway.
No more Mrs Nice Guy :rotfl::rotfl:

lessonlearned

Oops. Forgot about Belguim. Yes that was a real plus. Not just taking dad but reconnecting with my Belgian family. I had such a wonderful time and was made so welcome.

It had been 31 years since my last visit.....I will never leave it that long again. At least we are all now FB friends so are remaining in touch.

DS1 has been to Belguim several times And loves it but he has never visited the relatives or family friends. DS2 has never been. I definitely think they need to connect with their roots!!! I am going to try and visit again next year and take the boys. I know DIL would love it and they are all dying to meet her. Even just a long weekend would do.

One of my financial to dos in January is to set up a separate travel fund. Guess what - I just opened this mornings mail and there was a £50 premium bond win.

It's an omen. :rotfl: straight into the fund it goes.

MAman - I Loved the nice posh hotel for your morning coffee. Very stylish.......Perfick!!!

lessonlearned

Ah Ellsbel ... we've all done it.

Think of it in a positive way. It's a temporary fix to keep the rain out until you can get a proper job done. That way you won't get water Ingress over the winter to cause any real damage. You can probably wait until spring then. It takes the'pressure of your husband.

And you are not a fraud......I bet not one of us on here fabs religiously every single day.

If we did......there would be no need for a "fabbing thread".
We would all be swanning around looking like movie stars. :rotfl:

But yes, Learning to say "no" is something that most of us needs to work on.

From now on ........Less People Pleasing!!!

time to please ourselves a bit more often.;)

Ellsbel

Thanks, LL, for helping me to see the bright side
I've had a massive kondo session in the kitchen today which has made me feel energised and more positive, too
Here's to 2017 - the year of "us"

maman

lessonlearned wrote: »

One of my financial to dos in January is to set up a separate travel fund. Guess what - I just opened this mornings mail and there was a £50 premium bond win.

It's an omen. :rotfl: straight into the fund it goes.

MAman - I Loved the nice posh hotel for your morning coffee. Very stylish.......Perfick!!!

:eek: I only had £25.:p


It's hard to say I don't buy at the door or in the street but it's worth it ellsbel. Fortunately compared to the scams on Watchdog you got away very lightly.


On a similar vein, I know I'd contribute more to charity if they didn't do the hard sell. I won't contribute to any of these text appeals either, however deserving they seem, as I don't trust them not to make nuisance calls asking for more. I confine myself to just putting cash into buckets or similar so I can't end up on someone's database.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I had my last day at work yesterday and will not be returning to work until the 5th January 2017. :j I am so glad, as I have been rushing around far too much and now at last I can slow down and enjoy life even more.

I am surprised to say that Wayne is at last settling down into our relationship and acting like a mature adult and we are getting along really well for now. It is mostly due to the fact that we understand each others needs more. We both like to be independent as well as enjoying the obvious pleasure of being in a relationship.

We are going to a Hotel tonight and on Saturday we are going to the Christmas party in the pub we go to regularly. Wayne is going to get a nice surprise, as I will be going all out with my party make up and will be wearing a pillar box red ankle length sleeveless Marks and Spencer Collection dress. I bought myself a 'new' coat on eBay as a leather jacket was not suitable to wear with any of my long dresses and I own at least 10 of them. I also have a lot more cocktail length dresses, so I was spoilt for choice. I am going to wear an almost new pair of shoes, rather than one of my many new pairs of shoes, because It is going to be a very long night of dancing with Wayne and I do not want to be wearing shoes that end up hurting my feet in any way. It is going to start at 8pm and not finish until 3am Sunday morning and we plan to be there until the end.

I have still got to put up any decorations or my small artificial tree, but I will find the time soon. I want to spring clean my home a bit before I do though. I have started to sort out all of the many gifts that I bought throughout the year and can see already that I have bought too many, but the left overs will just give me a reason to do more fabbing in 2017.

I did more spending today, but I wanted to buy the gifts that my children and grandchildren really want and I had time to find these gifts at real bargain prices on eBay and other gifts on Superdrug's website.

I did not get a full month's pay as I was signed off work for over a week due to the infected sebaceous cyst. Nevertheless, I am spending as little of my savings as possible as after paying my bills for the month there was hardly anything left in my bank account.

I have already bought so many of the extra goods we needed for Christmas and New Year when they were on offer, that I will be doing a very modest shop to be delivered on Christmas Eve. :T

I love Christmas with a passion and my natural inclination to be a giver, always goes into overdrive. Family members appreciate getting presents from me but also understand that it leaves them under no obligation to give me a gift. Friends also understand that I do not give to receive.

In 2017 I really want to take care of myself even better. I have made a good start of losing just over 2 stones this year, but I need to lose a lot more weight before every item of clothing I own can fit me in a really flattering way.

Take care ladies

ali-t

Hi Ellsbell, i tend to lurk rather than post much here but your post really struck a chord with me. If you can cope with the swearing throughout it i am reading a book just now that might help you get to the point you are aiming for.

It is called 'the life changing magic of not giving a !!!!' and the writer was inspired by marie kondo and her book. She found that after physical decluttering she was still burdened by mental and emotional clutter so overhauled her life and wrote this book. If you are easily offended give it a miss but there are some good bits in it.

Ellsbel wrote: »

I'm definitely up for a new thread, LL I sometimes feel a bit of a fraud for posting as I don't always feel as on top of the fabbing as everyone else, but I love reading the posts and chatting with everyone:)
The 12 step program sounds like a good idea - I may borrow that!
And please don't think of yourself as "whiney" - you're not.


This may sound whiney though - apologies in advance:D
I've just been ripped off by a man who knocked on my door offering to replace a loose roof tile.
We knew it had slipped at the weekend and it was on OH's list if things to do.
The guy had to be in his 60s, looked to be trying to drum up a bit of pre Christmas cash, and I felt a bit sorry for him, plus I thought it'd save OH a job.
Don't get me wrong - it's only £25 I'm talking about, but honestly, I'd have made it look better - he's literally put a blob of pre mixed cement up there and perched the tile on top of it - then he drove off like a scalded cat! - it looks awful!
This isn't really a big issue in itself but in the last week or so I keep falling prey to the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished and I feel like a lights gone on for me.
I've realised that I'm far too much of a people pleaser and because of this it's totally my own fault that people take advantage and I often feel I can't do right for doing wrong.
So I hereby declare that in 2017 I'm going to stop worrying what others think of me, and start being a bit more selfish and a bit less ingratiating- which is probably quite off putting to people anyway.
No more Mrs Nice Guy :rotfl::rotfl:

indiepanda

Rubyslippers77 wrote: »

I'm very jealous indie!! That music isn't OH's cup of tea at all, and as it's the weekend closest to his birthday, he'll probably want to do something. How annoying, and they're only doing the one London date too, such bad timing!

Frustrating I know, but Mark Morriss does tour solo quite a bit and the Bluetones haven't been great at staying split up either so you should at least get another chance to see them soon. Did you see Mark is crowd funding his next solo album on Pledge music? Due out in April so expect a tour to follow.

Like many of you as the year closes I am in slightly reflective mode. Not achieved everything I wanted to, but have achieved some things that weren't in the plan so not all bad. Definitely need a reminder to continue fabbing my life in 2017 so up for a new thread.

On the positive front:-
- I have had a good year of hiking - three overseas trips, three weekends away in the UK and some day walks
- My bedroom is tidier than at the start of the year caused by the enforced decluttering to deal with the bedbugs and moths (no sign of either now :j)
- I have got rid of quite a lot of clothes and shoes and jewellery that I didn't use any more.
- I have made a few new friends, got to know some better and had a better social life than I have done in decades as my job now allows me to make plans for some weekday nights out which for a while I rarely did.
- I finally have all my pictures hung, again because of bed bug decluttering. There's some I bought years ago that had moved house with me more than once that hadn't been hung and it makes me smile every time I see them.

On the less than positive front:-
- am not any fitter or slimmer than I was at the start of the year - put back on the weight I lost in the spring. Oh and I've got arthritis in my feet so I have to be a bit careful on the exercise.
- haven't overpaid on the mortgage at all. I need to start doing this or I will be paying it off till I am into my 60s.
- still single. That's sort of by choice at the moment, the experience with the guy earlier this year who scared me a bit has put me off looking. Plus I want to get further with fixing the first of these before I go hunting again. Not just because it will give me more confidence if I look my best, but because it isn't easy forming new healthy routines and I think I would do better without the distractions of a new relationship, especially as you often end up eating out when you start dating.

Am thinking about resolutions for next year. The thing is the areas I am not happy with are much the same as every year, so the ways I've tackled them up till now haven't worked for me and hence I need to do something different.

Should have a little thinking time whilst I am away at the spa Sunday / Monday. Am out tonight and probably tomorrow afternoon.

I shall be getting dressed up a little this evening - have a new white stuff top I think I will wear with my pure velvet jeans. Got a couple of new lipsticks last night so will wear one of those. Going to take advantage of working at home to do a home facial and I guess my trip to the hygenist later whilst something I always dread, is at least fabbing for my smile!

Have a fab Friday all x

shandyclover

Hello ladies, I am not very good at posting but I do try and keep up reading everyone's posts.

I am absolutely shattered and looking forward to some time off over Cmas. Back in late summer, when I was job hunting I rather flippantly agreed to help out a friend run her German Market stall, I am also working at an opticians and trying to keep up with my OU studies. We have an assignment set for 22nd Dec, I am sure there are no mums on their board - they would know this is the busiest time of year for mums and not at all a reasonable time to be setting 2000 word analyses. Even my DD finishes by the 16th. Two weeks ago I explained to my DD's that I was going to be very busy, so bless them they took it upon themselves on their day off to invite friends and BF's round, make mulled wine, put Cmas music on, get everything out of the garage and decorate all together - they did a stunning job and it was a very Cmassy event. We have all been trying to declutter, so bought less presents. Everyone posted wishlists on the fridge, and its single, but more needed items this year and less knick knacks. They are all wrapped and under the tree and I just have to do a last minute food shop.

The new job I started in Sept. is turning into a bit of a nightmare. I am working for a friend of a friend of a friend, but it is a steep learning curve, lots of stress and not a lot of proper training. I have made a few mistakes but the dressings down make me feel like I am a 10 year old. Its like a mental filing system is being kept and I am reminded over and over of oversights 3 weeks ago etc. It is making me so nervous I am not even thinking straight, and beginning to notice nausea, racing heart rate, and for the first time in my life doubting my ability to do a good job. Finally, yesterday I calmly spoke up and and pointed out not every issue in the office can be attributed to me, and that in fact I had caught mistakes others had made, and quietly sorted it without a big hullabalo. I think the manger has engineered an environment where everyone tries to gain merit by 'telling' on each other - rather than working as a team. I am quite frazzled as I have always taken pride in my work, and always managed to excel, but the situation I am presently in I feel almost set up to fail. I will have to do some thinking about my future over the holidays.

While I have been trying to fit in the fabbing I notice I am not really looking that great. I think the mental stress has got to me a bit, and I look tired and haggard. The few days I worked at the German Market last week though it was physically hard work, 9 hours out in the elements, I did really enjoy it and noticed I looked a lot more fresh and needed little make up (or maybe it was just the free sample of gluhvine from the neighbouring stall!)