Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

lessonlearned

Struggling to sleep......the side effects of the vaccines really are awful. Hey ho, just need to ride it out, I’m sure I’ll be fine in a day or two. I have had several broken nights and feel very drained. Never mind I’m sure things will get back to normal soon.

SUgarbaby. Glad to hear you are pacing yourself and taking care to rest. I often think we just need to listen to our bodies and give them what we need, usually sleep and rest whilst they heal and repair themselves.

Maman. Your Santa is lovely. A very handsome fellow.

Lainey....love the sound of your new record player. How nice to dig out your old vinyls. I have done the same with my CDs. I have set up my CD player again and enjoy listen g to my old favourites. For a long time I couldn’t bear to because they bought back memories of happier times but now I’m fine I can enjoy the music without feeling sad.

Well let me tell you about my recent purchase.......some pretty business cards or perhaps I should say “calling cards” as I now no longer run any businesses. (Although I do intend to think about that next year).

They are very pretty with a small design of birds and flowers and then just my name, email address and mobile number - tres chic and so much more elegant than scrabbling for a bit of paper and a pen when anyone asks for my contact details. Only £10. Ok a bit extravagant because they are hardly a “need” but I think it adds a nice touch of sophistication when I present them with my card. :rotfl:

Ok back to bed to see if I can sleep. If not I’ll just read for a while.

Fab Friday.......

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies....

Brrrrr...that’s all I can say. :rotfl:

Apparently we are due some white stuff this weekend, an amber warning so I’ll nip out to the shops and stock up on a few bits, although I don’t need much.

Still a bit sniffy and achey, my legs were very painful yesterday. I’ve read up and it does seem that vaccines can trigger a fibro flare up so I’ll just need to rest when necessary.

The plumber fixed my new tap yesterday and cleaned out the outside drain for me. It came in at less than half of what I had budgeted for so very pleased.

Did I mention I have ordered some new specs and sunglasses. I couldn’t face going in to town and I really need them for my holiday so I thought I would try one of those online companies. Again they have come in at less than half of what I paid last time. I just hope I’ve done everything right......the prescription wasnt easy to read. Hope I’ve not messed it up. :rotfl:

Going to have another fairly quiet day and keep warm......I have found that keeping warm is the best thing when my fibro flares up, the warmth helps relax the muscles and ease the pain.

I’ve put the tree up so today I just need to wrap the presents and add a few finishing touches to the decorations.

I do like the run up to the solstice and Christmas, all the twinkly lights, lighting the fire and the candles, snuggling up with a glass of wine and either reading or watching a nice film. Winter does have its compensations and I can’t help but think how blessed and fortunate I am in my nice warm cosy house.

It’s certainly not the weather to be homeless.

chanie

lessons I love the idea of your cards. Most people have mobile phones, but your cards are handy for people you meet on your travels who may not carry a mobile with them.

I’ve had a really busy day today. We finished painting DDs bedroom. We started at 11am and finished before 6pm. We still have a few bits to finish off but the hard part is over. We can now pack away the decorating stuff and get the tree out.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I had such a fantastic evening on Friday. I went to see A Vision of Elvis at The Indigo 02. I loved it. I danced in my seat throughout the whole show. I could sing along to most of the songs as well, there were only a few that I did not know well enough.

Yesterday my eldest son and his 2 daughters came to visit us. We had a fun time together. I always make the best of the time we spend together as it is never as often as I would like it to be. We all lead busy lives and my son has 2 jobs. As his daughters live with their Mother, my son only has them at weekends and he works most Saturdays.

I am continuing to write out Christmas cards. I need to get the ones that need to be posted sent out this week.

It is snowing here in London today. I woke up to the snowfall. My least favourite weather. I had no plans to leave my home today. I had just planned to catch up on recorded TV programmes today. I am cosy and warm in my home and I am so thankful. There are so many homeless men and women on the streets of London, which is a crying shame.

LL you have just reminded me that I too have cards. They are business cards though. I had them printed for free when there was an offer and I wanted to offer my services as a qualified Nursery Nurse as a childminder. I never bothered to hand them out though. Maybe one day I will get the courage to start handing them out and hopefully make some extra money for my family.

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies. Snow here today, it looks very pretty. However, I’m staying put, going to keep warm and cosy.

I am going to Chatsworth on Tuesday. I won’t be driving so I can sit back and enjoy the scenery. I bet the hills will still be covered in snow even if the city is clear.

Well I felt really poorly yesterday, thankfully I feel a bit better today so hopefully I’ve turned a corner now and it will be a case of onwards and upwards now. I knew I would be ill after my vaccinations so I did prepare well. Plenty of food in the house and did all my Christmas shopping well in advance.

I am going to just potter about for the next couple of days. As my late husband used to say “there’s nothing spoiling”. The tree is up, presents wrapped so I’m well ahead of myself. I need to get fully fit for Christmas and that holiday. At some point I need to have a trying on session and work out what clothes I’m taking.

I am going to try some yoga today. Just start with some gentle stretches. I have a massage booked for next Friday and a steroid injection for 4th Jan. I am managing to walk for about 1 hour each day without my knee brace, although I won’t bother today and didn’t manage it yesterday. I did manage to walk to the corner shop so not too bad yesterday.

SUgarbaby - your elvis evening sounds such fun......in fact I love to hear about you getting out and about. This will definitely be me next year. No more being the hermit, licking my wounds and missing my husband, I intend to get out there. i know he would want that for me.

Last night I watched “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”. Absolutely delightful. I can thoroughly recommend. A real “feel good”movie, perfect for a dark winters night.

SUgarbaby......I know it’s hard but try not to worry too much about money., you are very good at budgeting and once you get your benefits sorted out I’m sure you will manage. You are a woman of so many talents and are very resourceful.

Hope you dont mind me saying this.,,...but if my husbands illness and death taught me one thing it’s this.......money is nothing, health is everything.

Of course we need money, we need a roof over our heads and food on the table, we need to keep warm. But In reality, if we have those three fundamentals and can pay our bills then we are rich.

My friend rose at 5.30 this morning to do her stint in a homeless shelter, helping to cook breakfast.

Can you imagine being homeless in this weather.......it hardly bears thinking about it. I sit here in my warm cosy house, with food in the cupboards. . As Christmas approaches I think about the strife in the world, the wars, the homeless and the destitute and I thank my lucky stars.

SUgarbaby......just look after yourself, get better, get stronger and healthier and try not to worry about returning to work until you are fit again.

I can just see you as a nursery nurse or childminder. I bet your young charges would adore you. Get well and go for it. Do you need to update your qualifications at all or would you be “ready to go”. I know you enjoyed your cleaning job but I sense that you would be really happy working with children.

Stay warm and well everyone.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

LL I used to love working with children. I absolutely love babies and children. The irony is that when I was doing childcare, I was never able to be there enough for my own children. There is always far too much unpaid paperwork that had to be done at home. You literally have the life of so many precious children in your hands. You are responsible for their early years education and development. I have never wanted to be a childminder as I did not want to do childcare in my own home and infringe on my children's rights to have their home to themselves. I have an NVQ Level 2 and Level 3 in Children's Care, Learning and Development, so my qualifications do not need updating. I would not be physically able to cope with the long hours and demands of childcare again with my ongoing health issues.

I have my already received my 1st payment of ESA. I have to complete a Capability for Work Questionnaire and also also attend a Health and Work Conversation appointment at my local Job Centre Plus on the 22nd December. Then I have to wait to find out if my claim for ESA will continue.

I can only continue to try to do everything in my own power to improve my health outcomes. Health is everything and in the final analysis it is the only thing that truly matters.

I am not particularly worried about money. I have lived in poverty for far too much of my life, so now, even on Benefits I have the skills to not just manage, but to flourish. I have a roof over our heads, all bills are up to date or in credit and I do not owe anyone so much as a penny, let alone a pound, so this is a time of plenty for me and my children, if you discount my health issues. My home is crammed to the rafters with items bought in bulk that are non perishable, especially laundry products, things to pamper our bodies and cleaning essentials. I have filled all available storage areas, so we have supplies to make our lives more comfortable as our available funds are reduced. Even before I had lost my job, I had reduced my weekly grocery spend by £20 so that the £20 could be spent on the Gas we would need for central heating. I refuse to be cold ever, so my central heating in on from 5.30am to 11pm every day until the warm weather finally arrives next year.

I decided to treat myself so I have bought myself many purchases from eBay that will give me joy. :j I may not have another time when I had such a decent amount of savings, so I decided to splurge on myself. I am definitely worth it!!!!

I am being quite circumspect about Christmas though, as less is more as far as I am concerned. Poundland has produced so many useful items that I wanted to buy to make Christmas even better this year for me and my children. My sisters and other family are only getting presents that cost less than £10, some cost less than £5 but will be gratefully received as I know the recipients so well. I had previously bought many of the Christmas presents throughout the year. I have begun to buy gifts for birthdays next year as there are bargains to be had, but again they are very modestly priced gifts.

I too loved 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' when I watched it.

maman

I've often wondered why you don't go back to nursery nursing sugarbaby. Maybe one day.:)


It's cold here but no snow. I've been out to football but I'm an old hand at wrapping up for such occasions. So thermal layer underneath, ski trousers and layers of wool jumpers under my Puffa. I didn't feel cold at all despite it being just 2 degrees.:eek:


A good night's dancing last night so tonight I'm going to take advantage of an evening in, cook us a nice meal and relax.


I've got a hair appointment booked for tomorrow so my hair will look right for Christmas although just having my fringe trimmed last week made a big difference. I'm thinking that I might have my nails done at some point this week too. It would be good to have a bright red for this time of the year.:)

ETA: I meant to add that it's great that your DD's bedroom will be sorted for Christmas chanie . Has she got new bedding etc or will Santa bring that?

chanie

sugar it’s great that you have a well stocked home and still can have a few treats. Can. Ask how you reduced your shopping bill? Ours has crept up quite significanltly and want to reduce it if we can. We are now spending £80 a week and that in Lidl.
When and if you want to return to work, have you thought about working in a school as a dinner lady or in the breakfast/after school childcare? My children go and enjoy it. It seems like a nice job as you get to spend time with the children, but it’s not physically demanding like your last role was.

Maman yes, we got new bedding for DD. It’s not an Xmas gift, as we also got DS new bedding when we did his room up. Their old bedding was spiderman/Disney princess stuff and was getting rather tatty. We got them stuff that wasn’t character related, so it should see them through for a bit longer.

This morning I woke up to DDs excited screams of ‘Its snowing’. It was completely no down quite heavy, but it hasn’t settled. We spent the day in doors, other then popping our briefly to run a few errands. We put up our tree this afternoon and the children are excited. I’m going to wrap a few prezzies now, so hav a nice evening.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Chanie, I do my weekly grocery shop online. I knew from past experience, that when the cold weather comes, in order to afford to have my central heating on all day, every day, then the money has to be trimmed off the weekly grocery bill. I just decide on the week that it turns cold and the central heating has to turned on, to reduce the weekly grocery bill by £20. Buying online works for my family, because whenever I have to reduce the weekly shop, I simply start making decisions about what is necessary to get us comfortably through the week as opposed to what I would like to buy. Then I will take items out of the basket online until the total is the sum that I want to spend that week.

I look at all of the special offers and price reductions online and start filling my basket with those. Sometimes we will try cheaper brands that we would not have tried before. If we like them then I will continue to buy them, if none of us particularly like them, they are never purchased again. Some weeks when I know my diary is not full of visits to the cinema, Karaoke and shows, then I will do more cooking from scratch. We all enjoy my own home cooking and we tend to eat smaller portions in the Autumn and Winter months because we are all less active. I will cut down on the snack foods and switch to own brand or cheaper alternatives from Lidl or Poundland. Yellow sticker food used to be found at seriously huge reductions even up to last year, but this year, they tend to be less than a pound reduction, so they are not worth buying most of the time for such a small saving.

You can use the online grocery websites to compare prices if you have the time and make your shopping lists accordingly.

If you prefer to go shopping as opposed to buying online, then you need to make a shopping list after looking at what you already have in stock at home and stick to it. Do not allow yourself to be swayed into buying special offers in store that you had no intention of purchasing.

I hope some of these tips may be useful to others on this thread even if they are not particularly helpful to you and your family Chanie

chanie

Your post is helpful, thank you, sugar.

I'm working from home today, as the children had their Christmas school performance. Its freezing outside, so the timing is brilliant as it means I don't have to leave my lovely warm house today.