Sashybo - Back Again

jwil

Well done on clearing a card!  Great result.  Well done on getting the piercings done.

If your car isn't causing any trouble then I'd keep it.  The last few cars I've had have been 10 years old when I bought them and they've lasted me several years.  The current one is now 15 years and I still have no trouble (touch wood!).  The one prior to that I bought at 10 years old and probably had it for another 10 years.  I don't do massive mileage.  Definitely replace the cam belt though.

sashybo

Thanks guys, very pleased to have cleared the smallest CC and hoping to get rid of the other two in 2024 along with the smaller car loan.

Dancing, I've not had any piercings since get getting my ears done when I was 7 so I wasn't sure I would cope with it but it was bearable. The aftercare is time consuming though and I have to be very careful that the kids don't knock into me as it's really sore if they do!

Jwil my car has been fine, I'm just worried in case it starts playing up and lots of bits start needing replaced. 🤔 Will definitely get the cam belt done, I think we'll need to up the car savings for that as DH thinks it will be at least £700 but probably more. 😱 I don't drive long distances or very often though to be honest so I don't need a fancy car.

Got out for my run yesterday and found the 25 mins hard again but managed to do it. I'm really surprised at how quickly I've progressed with the C25K though, it's amazing how much difference a few weeks can make. Hoping to get out for my next run on Thursday morning as DH has a podiatrist appointment then & I've also given him the job of ordering our New Year's Day steak pie at the butcher's. We have DD's Christmas show/nativity on Thursday afternoon as well so that should be interesting. 😂 

Today I went to Mr Al's after school drop off and got some bits for Christmas presents for my brother, his gf, my sister's bf, my mum and the outlaws plus a mixture of cleaning stuff, toiletries and chocolate for the foodbank collection the school are doing. I spent £98 😱 but £46 of it was Christmas/foodbank spending so will be covered by my Christmas fund.

Pretty much finished my Christmas shopping now apart from food, hoping to get started with the wrapping tomorrow. Also need to get my christmas cakes iced and decorated this week. Going to look out the Christmas cards and start getting them written today as well.

sashybo

I did some yoga on Wednesday morning and it was nice to stretch out. Can’t go swimming for a couple of months due to my piercings so will need to be more consistent with yoga for a while.

I managed to get out for my run on Thursday morning but really wasn’t feeling it and didn’t manage the full 25 mins. I ran for 6/7 mins than walked a couple of mins then ran for maybe 10 mins then walked again. I think I chose the wrong route as well as it was a lot more uphill than I thought and that obviously made it harder. 🙁 I’m going to try again on Monday on a different route and hopefully will do it this time.

I got the presents for the outlaws wrapped on Wednesday and DH packaged them up and got the box posted on Thursday. He also sent off my old phone to music m*gpie, should get around £70 for it which will be put towards my new phone.

I iced and decorated my Christmas cakes, the edible silver glitter spray I found in one of the bargain shops was very good and looks nice. 👍🏻 

DD loved her Christmas show and was very happy up on the stage singing & dancing. She was very confident which was nice to see.

DS was quite naughty yesterday and told his teacher he wasn’t feeling well and had been sick the night before (he hadn’t). He also added on that he didn’t eat any dinner or breakfast! So I had a phone call at work at 9:40 yesterday morning asking if we could come & get him!

DH went to get him (luckily he was off work) and said he was dancing about and nothing wrong with him. 🤨 DS proudly told me later “I tricked them” (school) 😱 He wasn’t allowed his switch or Xbox yesterday and we had a couple of talks with him about lying. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Hoping he doesn’t do this again. 

We have the Santa train tomorrow morning and the kids still don’t know we’re going. Hoping that DD behaves and doesn’t get travel sick. 😩

jwil

Hope the Santa train went well

sashybo

Thanks jwil, the Santa train was lovely, it was a short steam train ride with elves making balloon animals for the kids and musicians playing Christmas songs up and down the train. Santa also visited all the kids and gave them presents, DS & DD were thrilled. 😀 We also got juice & gingerbread men for the kids and tea/coffee and a warm mince pie each for us included in the ticket price. 

Afterwards we went over to the railway museum next to the station as we got free entry there with our train ticket as well. I think that was actually DS's favourite part as there were a lot of old trains you could go inside and others you could look into. For four of us it cost £88 for the Santa train which I thought was a lot but we did feel we got our money's worth and it was paid out of our Christmas fund. 🎉  The first class compartments on the steam train looked very nice but cost £150.

Had a few tantrums from DD but nothing terrible and she wasn't travel sick. 🙌 I got her to wear kids pressure bands on her wrists as well as taking a travel sickness tablet. It was only an hour's drive going there but she seems to have quite a sensitive tummy when she's in the car for more than 20 mins. 😱 I had terrible travel sickness as a child, I remember being sick on coaches, trains, buses, cars, ferries - you name it, I was sick on it. 😱 I have never thrown up on a plane however but probably only because I didn't get on one until I was 16. 😂 I grew out of it so hopefully DD will be the same. DS has never been travel sick so far, hoping it stays that way as it's awful.

We also went to see the Kelpies and were nearly blown away by the wind, DS was genuinely concerned that he would be blown away. 😂 Then we had our lunch out at a pub chain that has a kids play area in it so the kids were happy and it was halfway home so gave us a break from driving. The roads were so busy going back towards Glasgow, it was awful. 😢 

sashybo

I went for another run earlier in the week and still couldn't do the 25 mins. 😭 Just really struggling with it for some reason although I had done two 25 min runs the week before. I'm giving myself a break and will try again on Sunday morning as I'm feeling really tired from two early shifts. 

Planning on having a rest day today apart from a bit of washing (as ever) and some present wrapping. Kids finish at half 2 so they will be hyper when they get home. Lying on the couch with a blanket and Big Cat keeping me warm. ❤️ 

DD had her health visitor appointment the other day and was good as gold, got weighed and measured and didn't stop chatting to her the whole time. 🤦‍♀️ 😂 Poor woman was struggling to get a word in. 😂 We did mention that we were a bit concerned about her temper and how slow she has been with the toilet training. The HV said it may just be frustration because she's obviously a very clever little girl but she has referred us to the support workers who are trained nursery nurses and they will come out and have a talk with us and see if there are any strategies that might help with her temper and the violent lashing out.

I'm not back at work until 29th but poor DH is working every day now until Christmas day then he's back in on Boxing day before having 2 days off and back again. I'm going for lunch on the 28th with my friends from school as DH can watch the kids, my mum is still being a bit funny so we're only asking her to watch them when we're working. DS was talking to me last night about my mum's dog who died a couple of years ago and he said "you know mummy, I think gran is very lonely" 😢 which is very perceptive for a 6 year old as it's true. 😞 Taking the kids down to see my mum for a couple of hours tomorrow then think she is coming up on Christmas morning for breakfast before going to my brother's house for dinner.

Willowtree222

We have a similar santa train near us, it is always magical.

I wonder whether your mum is finding this time of year harder and that's why she is behaving like this?

Merry Christmas anyway x

sashybo

Happy New Year 🥳 We went to bed just before the bells last night as DH had to get up for work in the morning, we are so middle-aged these days. Just put the kids to bed at their usual time (probably the last year we'll get away with that!) and had a nice dinner then chilled out with a few drinks.

Have had a fairly chilled Christmas as we were both working around it anyway. My mum came up for a late breakfast on Christmas day and then went to my brother's for her dinner. The kids were both very pleased with their presents and cutting down on the amount was a good idea as they weren't overwhelmed. 👍 DD did have a tantrum but it was over getting dressed so just the usual. 😂 

Went for another run yesterday, still struggling to get back to 25 mins continuous running so have decided to try Jeffing instead for a few runs. So doing run/walk/run 30 seconds each and did that for 25 mins, as it's interval training it's meant to help build stamina so will try that for a while and try the full 25 mins again in a week or two.

Have been doing more regular yoga again and want to try Adriene' s new 30 day challenge as well. 

sashybo

sashybo said:

Just thinking about my goals for 2023, the main ones are:

Stick to our budget properly
Getting rid of the overdraft
Reduce debt as much as possible 
Get outside more with the kids
Start exercising again
Meal planning more consistently 
Saving for things we want instead of using credit all the time

I’ve been on the DFW board for years now with a flickering lightbulb, going round in circles. This year I want to actually sort out our behaviour so that we can finally get rid of the debt.

So just looking at my goals for last year and I think I have done fairly well.

We are sticking to our budget. 👍 
We have been out of the overdraft for almost a year now. 😀 
We have reduced our debts by 2 - 1 loan and 1 credit card. ☑️ 
Get outside more with the kids. ❎ Haven't been as successful with this one but hasn't been a total failure.
Start exercising again - we have both been swimming more regularly and I started C25K as well as doing more yoga. ☑️ 
Meal planning more consistently. ❎ Again this has been on and off and definitely needs work.
Saving for things we want instead of using credit all the time. ☑️ We have been a lot better at this and have been thinking things through a lot more rather than just spending. 😃

I need to have a think about my goals for 2024 now.

DancingInTheRain

Sounds like a lovely Christmas, happy new year x