NST July - Own your choices

Bobarella

Staggering in to do my late update. OH is out at drinks for our sons new school so I had a taste of solo parenting. DS is exhausted as they had their end of term day trip today so has spent hours on a coach. DD threw a fit 10 mins after we got home & I had to stuff her with fish pie & do bath & bed at light speed. Then turn around & get son through shower, stories & bed. Just thrown 2 salad plates together tonight & vegging in front of Stenders.

Exercise today, about 4 miles walking hither and thither. Had a meeting first thing with a chef who was interested in hiring the shop out in August. Set up a new twitter account for the concept so I can start telling people whats happening.
Talked to a few other people.

Was pleased to see I have a watcher on the deli meat slicer I listed on fleabay on sunday. Have it on for £250 which if it sells will seriously help.

Think thats it for me today.

Bob

XSpender

Successfully completed my to do list today including running, dog walk, batch cooking and unpacking the last few boxes, and washing. We still have to put a load of stuff in the loft but I have placed it a little inconveniently so that it will annoy DH enough to actually put it up there. I've only been waiting 3 weeks :cool:

NSD number 3

WelshKitty85

Hi everyone!

NSD 1 for me today. Have also sent an overpayment to the cc and rounded it up to bring my total below the £1000 mark. Clearing this debt feels so close, yet still so far away!

Eager_Elephant

(((Catwoman))) - just to say I am thinking of you. Everything that I could say has been said already so hopefully some hugs will be ok.


Finally................I have achieved my first NSD of the month:T:j

Just got back from picking up the turkey poults - they are 2 days old and gorgeous - why do they grow into big ugly things? If I can I will get a photo tomorrow and post it on here (well if anyone is interested!!).


Menu plan changed round - I have done pasta tonight instead as DS's girlfriend is round and they had pizza last night and can't really serve processed food 2 nights running. So 3 of them have had sausage pasta bake (thank god but I still have about 20 cooked sausages left:eek:) and they said it tasted nice which is a relief as not cooked it before. DS's GF had pasta with a ratatouille style pasta sauce on the side (I just oven baked loads of stuff in tomatoes, it did taste pretty nice).
I couldn't be bothered so I have had cheese on toast!!


Tip for the day - try new recipes to use up leftovers. I was worried about what to do with the sausages as usually have them with potatoes but this pasta bake was lovely (or so they tell me)!!

Fmess

catwoman hugs from me. Feel free to talk if and when you need to. The turtles were a great help to me last year when I left my partner of 8 years and I know it's not the same but we're in this together

EE was wondering why you were excited about turkey poults, I thought they were carcasses! But guess now they must be chicks?!

Today was a SFD :j and a nice day at work Also had no marking or school work to do
so I pottered and cleaned

Long may this good weather continue. Night all

misstara

Catwoman hugs to you.

Achieved a NSD today so 2/16.

Bobarella

WelshKitty85 wrote: »

Hi everyone!

NSD 1 for me today. Have also sent an overpayment to the cc and rounded it up to bring my total below the £1000 mark. Clearing this debt feels so close, yet still so far away!

Well done! Thats a fab milestone:T

498louise

I have been reading everyone's post but not managing to say anything specific to people as just using my phone to type up posts (laptop is down!) and doing anything but the basics is too hard, trying to spell correctly on the phone is hard enough! So not ignoring folk, it helps to read about how everyone is getting on.

A little bit of spendy day today. I did something kind by helping an elderly man across the street and having a wee chat with him.

I was just watching a show on channel 4 called 'Life stripped bare' where people packed up all their possessions Inc. clothes for 21 days and could choose an item to get back a day. Some of it was a bit off the wall but the basic premise of the show was interesting. I don't think I am overly motivated by things - I don't buy the latest gadgets, buy lots of things for my house, spend masses of time on social media or own lots of beauty products. It actually surprises me when people say it's brave to go out without make up. I don't wear make up most of the time and don't really get why people fear not wearing it (it's not because I am really beautiful either ha!). The show did make me think about the amount of time I spend on mindless stuff where I could be doing more useful/fulfilling activities. I find it helpful to post on here but generally scrolling though Facebook is a waste of my time. There was as guy on the show that enjoyed not having his tv as it meant that it gave him time to learn new things. One of the things I am bad for is buying things to do later I.e. piles of books to read, crafts to complete etc. Although I enjoy these things, I think I probably overwhelm myself with stuff to do and thus don't do any of it! Perhaps I need to get rid of a lot of these kind of things (and stop buying more) so I have the headspace to actually do the things I enjoy. Food for thought anyway.

Good night all.

mothernerd

Hugs Catwoman. It only happened to me once and it was very early (I was going to the doctor with my sample the next day). It was late at night, my husband was working 300 miles away, my mother wasn't on the phone and I couldn't drag the 2 little ones out of bed to go to her house.

It wasn't a planned pregnancy and at the time a 'happy accident' would have been fine but we were not in a financial position have a baby. Went to a funeral with a friend, we both ended up in tears (final hymn) and then shared our respective stories. I started college (business course 1 day a week) and then found out I was pregnant (still no idea how). I even asked for a scan as I thought maybe I had been carrying twins and lost one of them.

Give yourself time and try not to 'over think'. What will be will be.

Bob I'll have you know I make a very good kitten. When we had two homeless kids living with us, the girl lent me her ears once (Disney version of Cheshire cat, each ear nearly as big as my hand). The minute you put them on, you start to turn your head the way a cat does. I have been known to wear rabbit ears as well - I had cut my hair and the fringe was falling in my eyes. I had no hair bands but remembered DS3 had some rabbit ears on a band so went to find them.

Well I have spent money today - a lot of money. I have had a very enjoyable day and had already decided at various points that this was an end to spending.

Woke up late and spent some time getting ready (it's amazing how much time it takes just to get up to not scaring horses and small children when you leave the house) including a battle with the dregs in the suncream bottle and a very sharp pair of scissors. First of all I had to paint the inside of a door frame (only showed when I moved the door blocking the hole after completing the wardrobe). As the joiner is putting a new door in tomorrow, painting needed to be done to give it a chance to dry.

Bought an anybus ticket. Went to well known diy store to order laminate (+ underlay and trim) for the front room. Took some time to track down staff but done now and will be delivered on Thursday. Had done several calculations (got an extra £1.25 off per pack for ordering more than 8) but the extra waiting time made me decide to buy enough for my room as well.

My room has laminate already. It has some white paint on it and some black oil like marks and it's between 13 and 15 years old, but could have been used for a few more years so probably more of a want than a need. On the other hand, I have put a lot of effort into the house and could get very bitter about my laminate versus the new laminate - it goes all round and meets mine at both entrances to the room.

Decided that that is an end to the house spending (money is in the drawer to pay the joiner tomorrow and the laminate fitter, roof work is essential but if he can only come Sep-Oct my monthly savings will cover that cost - I have the money to pay him but don't want my savings to fall below a certain level. Minor improvements can be funded from my £30 per month 'extras' budget (includes entertainment which is also back on the agenda after today).

Ate my sandwich on the bus to 'big town' where I weighed myself (scales at first branch were out of order so crossed to larger branch - have been on lots of buses but lots of walking in between). Weight is not good news, back to before Christmas, not quite heaviest ever. Lots of people out there bigger than me, including many young women but that is no excuse. Following Florence J's advice, I am stating that I want to lose 5 stone over the next two years, with a first target of at least 2 stone before Christmas (don't know if it will fit in my signature, may have to edit). If it's not a vegetable, I will think twice before putting it in my mouth.

Also managed to buy two of the tester pots to match the paint that ran out at the bottom of the stairs rather than pay £16.40 for a whole can (one or two marks caused by things like ladders leaning on the wall).

Drank lots of water (took 2 l tap water and 2 l fizzy water with me) whilst waiting for the bus to the big city. Managed to get 1/2 hour in a museum before it closed. There are at least 3 places I could spend most of a day looking round, so will 'do' those over the coming months (eventually I will get to go on the 'Witchy bus' and go to see the pandas). No entrance fee but did want to show my support and bought an incredibly expensive teatowel (which is going on the wall not being used for pots). Very inspirational.

Took a trip across town on one of the free buses. Did intend getting off but traffic was so bad that I stayed on for one circuit (took nearly an hour, walking would have been quicker but for the weight I was carrying). Useful as so much building has been going on, so re-acquainting myself with bits I recognise and remembering how the bits of the city fit together.

DS1 and his GF were both waiting for me when I got to our appointed meeting place. They gave me a choice of Spanish or Thai food. There is a whole square block of restaurants with different cuisines, think they are working their way through the list. Opted for Spanish as thought Thai = cream sauces = not diet friendly.

Ate a lot and spent a lot. Don't let Kat read this please. The Spanish place was a bit weird. Large flight of stairs facing us, bar to the side but only spaces for eating up the stairs. We could leave our bags - they took custody of our 3 rucksacks. Chairs were small armchairs but very low and the backs lent back away from the table. Small talk wasn't a problem as we nearly had to shout across the table over the 'background music'.

Couldn't work out the menu pricing at first (thought the numbers were indications of how many people might share tapas). Toilets were well weird (my first port of call). Entrance was a U shape with mirrored panels. Main toilet was one room with individual toilets labelled gentlemen/ ladies. Doors were split in two, top to bottom with a hook and latch to close it when you were in there. Only noticed on second visit that mirrored theme was continued on door panels. Who on earth is so body confident that they wish to see themselves 'enthroned'.

We skipped the tapas and just had a main course. The food was very good - what there was of it. Why they took away the 6" plates from the table, I don't know because the portions would have fit. We looked at the dessert menu but decide to go somewhere else rather than face further tiny portions. An experience, but not one any of us will be repeating.

Good news is we were still £37 under the cost of the most expensive meal I ever paid for (Chinese with DS2 and his GF during his first year at university). Looked at the menus outside another couple of places (I had been wanting an ice cream all day - another thing I very rarely have). DS1 said he wanted a burger and chips (chips with his meal numbered 6, cut from a quite small potato).

Confession time. We all ate another meal and GF and I had desserts. DS1 had most food but was the same amounts he had last month when he paid (he wasn't adding extras because I was paying). I asked for a 'bunless' burger (actually chunks of chicken breast in peri peri sauce) - they give you a salad instead of the bun, green for me, GF had the coleslaw) and a side of three skewers of grilled veg (definitely hit the spot). However they didn't have an engagement party and it came up in conversation that DS1 never got a 21st birthday party so drawing a line under that spending.

Went to catch our respective buses (handed over DS1's parcel, which I had been carrying all day). I got off one stop before the bus station to buy teabags and milk for the joiner (so I get a NSD tomorrow). Gave up waiting for the bus to the station (I found the 5 for a £ tinned tomatoes) only to have one pass me as I got level with the SM and another before I reached the back of the SM. Didn't bother to wait for another which would have got me one stop nearer home, so crawled into the house at about 11.30.

Have had a bath and set the alarm so that I at least get to pull some clothes on before the joiner gets here (need to discuss waiting for the laminate delivery with DS3 - can be between 7 am and 7 pm but they will phone on the day when they are near).

Being kind - gave an older lady my seat at the bus station, apologised to the first person who walked into me (from behind so not my fault), no apologies to the next three who did the same but did not get aggravated (somewhat puzzled - can they not see me?).

Today I am grateful for a beautiful bed of bright red double begonias outside the civic hall, for wonderful food with lots of flavour (whether good value or not) and for 24 hour supermarkets (some of the time).

Bobarella

Calling As we said to Fmess, comfortable shoes are so important. So no naughty step for you.

Mothernerd Well done on setting your weight loss target. I had a crazy thought but thought it worth suggesting. Would you consider investing in a personal trainer to help start you on your way? I know if isnt cheap but because you are paying and diarising fitness it makes it harder to not engage with the process. I know CCL was using a PT for a bit, if she is reading to comment.