22 Foxhole East

f0xh0les

No, it was through Indeed - they did take a photo of my passport and I filled out all the forms at 9.30pm on the last day I worked.

I am glad that the expenses were paid, as that means there is no problem with my bank details and all that.  I am not reliant on the money, but if I were, this would have scuppered a few plans.   My stamp is paid up until the last day of the year.  After that I will need to become an earner because I only have 20 years left to pay in before they will let me retire on whatever the state pension is by that time.

badmemory

Just think though, some of those years you will be able to earn looking after grandchildren & you can turn into your MiL.  Sorry can hardly type I'm laughing so much at the thought.

kerri_gt

badmemory said:

Just think though, some of those years you will be able to earn looking after grandchildren & you can turn into your MiL.  Sorry can hardly type I'm laughing so much at the thought.

   

f0xh0les

Never .... gonna.... happen.....

Besides, my boys as yet have no interest in The Strange Orange Creatures that are the girls in their schools. 

'Girls are weird, I can't believe you used to be one' - All my DS's

greenbee

They may change their minds when they meet non-orange girls.

crazy_cat_lady

Ah f0xh0les - I have just caught up on your diary and I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading it. That and the motivation it has given me to get my life and finances in order (again).

Mrs_Money_Penny

Hope you got paid this morning £££. Another one who loves your diary x

f0xh0les

Sadly not, no.  £3.29 left in the ( totally self imposed) budget until Thursday midnight...  I have a fridge full of food, a freezer full of food, and a pantry that would make a lesser man faint with envy.  The car is 3/4 full of petrol.  I am fine.

Will send another email and ask when December payroll is run. 

f0xh0les

December payroll is ... (wait for it)..... 24th December..... (sigh!).  It is a really good job I don't need the money.

Little car back from Interim Service and MOT - £150 and the windscreen squirters work again (£5).  All good for another year.  On the card.  As it was a spend day anyway I got DS2 a black and white thick striped cotton duvet cover - everyone else had a new 'festive' duvet, he did not want one, but loves his stripey bed and the old one is looking a little bit worn ( £16.99). I was so happy it was not a £500 car bill I bought 2 whole vegan speculoos cheesecakes  in Aledi (£4.98 total) for pudding tonight - I will tell you if it is horrid.   Got the couple behind me in the queue talking about what I had bought and if I had bought it before and was it nice, and where did I get it.  Little bit of Vegan Community Outreach work.  Somewhere, a vegan will be happily surprised one Xmas night.

Still no F&F railcard delivered  - bought at the weekend - so cannot buy cheap tickets to go see DS1 this weekend.

Work  have cancelled the 'Thank you Event for all our hard work'  while the paid staff worked from home for the best part of a year. In 3 days time. 

So there, that is all my news, car passed the test, Xmas jumper day completed, only 5 days of school run left (phew!) I have no more big expenses - a few little gifts for DS4 for his birthday, and a few gifts for Xmas,  and I am done.

f0xh0les

Saturday at just before 12 I decided to sod it all and just go shopping.  I transferred £400 from the savings account to the daily use account and went off.  Did every single aisle of the big Arseda I only go into once a year, in the second week of December, so have no idea where anything is.  Was in there for nearly 90 minutes reading labels and comparing products but got a few odd bits for stockings.  - my kids are  not bothered by chocolate, but they love a pickle, so found a few weird bits and things for them.

Trawled every single c/s on the high street of a neighbouring 'town'.  Got Kitty Cokaine for s-i-l as it is illegal to buy in the land of Swiss and her cat had run out of the last supply I sent.  Could not find any anywhere in the usual places, so had to go to a pet supplies place, and the owner was horrid.   Then went to neighbouring 'town' and did all their c/shops and supermarkets and found a few more books and  treats for The Big Day. Got home well after 5pm.  Found 75p vegan condensed milk tins - will make fudge for stockings too - rum and raisin, coffee, possibly coconut ice too. Found the recipe page for mothernerd, then found the tins in a Stretchy£ shop  which normally retail for £3.50 each. Millionaires shortbread will appear for DS2 (who has reverted to Toad-like status)

F&F railcard  had turned up late on Saturday afternoon. I booked tickets that night, for travel on Sunday - ended up costing £44 for 4 of us to go return.  Went from Rugby as it was £100 cheaper than LEI - LEI was left off the spreadsheet (data entry error) when they created the cheap rail fares, so it does not get the cheap cheapy offers, but Rugby - a 25 minute drive away- does. So we did that and DH picked up the car parking fees for the whole day (£2) in the railway carpark. Might  get a refund as we were delayed both ways.  Put in a claim anyway.  

Saw DS1, bought him lunch (3 starters 5 mains for £61), went to a museum (the cartoon one just off Oxford Street) found a buddhist place to eat cake (rejected coffee as the options were N0scafe or BarleyCup - bleugh!!!  totally not even food!!) wandered around a bit, the kids were amazed by the Lusssh shop - all 3 floors of it.  Popped in and out of side streets and just played tourist.   Found the most enormous spider in Soho Square. 

DH has now stopped worrying about DS1, DS1 feels a bit more confident about wandering around exploring and not ending up stabbed (it is all the students talk about - apparently).  DS3 &4 now think London is cool and their big bro is cool as he lives there, and when are we going back??.   DS1 is coming back to us next Saturday.  Will keep an eye open for cheap YHA NY sales.  Feb half term is not far away, and the weather does not matter if you are running from museum to museum to art gallery.

The last Monday school run is over for the whole rest of the year! yay! I put on Klassik FM and the kids all 'bom'-ed along with The Flight of the Valkyries and some festive nonsense.

Skipped out DS3 and 4's bedrooms this morning after 2 hours volunteering.  Stole all their dirty clothes and found all the odd socks that have not  come down in the laundry.  Stole back all the mugs and glasses, and stole their bins too.  Not sorry. Crime pays.

Tonight after I volunteer, DH is gaming, so I will put the lights on the tree and rid the living room of extraneous tat. The Plan is to put it all in boxes and move them to the kitchen to sort and put away during daylight hours this week, while the Xmas Puds are steaming. Plans for tomorrow once I remove the children from the equation, are to make the Xmas Puds,  to hoover the top 2 floors and clean the bathrooms, change my bedding, clear the hall of tat, blitz the living room, and wrap a few presents with a glass of something festive.

Worryingly, the last few nights have been filled with the sound of house alarms going off. 

No presents are going underneath that tree.  Poor thing does not even have a bauble to its name yet.