Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 3 - A New Beginning

dawnybabes

Sounds like a perfect Christmas x

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, how lovely to get comments from royalty. So glad you were able to have a good day at your sister's.

Eager_Elephant

It has been a lovely day. The relaxed and not stressed feeling has continued, to the point where my only regret is not making the move to being a single parent years ago

These 2 lines make me smile way more than they ever should - I am so pleased that you had such a great Xmas.

Lets not mention regrets - you made the move this year and that's all that matters

crazy_cat_lady

Evening everyone :hello:
So ex didn't bother contacting dd at all yesterday and I think that might have been the last straw for her. She is angry at the best of times, and he should have appreciated her efforts. I did have a minor panic last night that he might turn up again, drunk, but I have the police onside if that happens again. It's just my mind doing a bit of worrying and overthinking. I actually got quite a decent sleep, without cats bothering me at 4am - I woke up of my own accord at 6am.
Came downstairs, fed the cats, had a cuppa, watched the news and promptly fell asleep on the sofa again for a couple of hours :rotfl: When I woke up (again) I went in the shower and changed into fresh jammies before cooking up roast dinner. I'd ordered all the veggies etc before my sister had invited us over, and as it's one of the few things that both kids will eat I thought I'd stick with it. Lots of leftovers which should keep us (or me at least) fed for a decent while.
Also spent a chunk of time catching up on a couple of crochet projects that I've had on the go for absolutely ages. Made some decent progress on that, while I watched some films with the kids this afternoon. Also drank more gin than I probably should have done, but I'm on my hols and relaxing. I don't even know what day of the week it is at the moment, or what my plans are for the days ahead, but I'm enjoying doing nothing much right now
I have been thinking a bit about finances (as I have the time to at the moment) and have had a mild panic about my current situation and the limbo and impending doom of being in a load of debt again. But I have paid it before and I will pay it again. I don't live a particularly extravagant life, and I know where I need to rein in the spending (food, takeaways etc) so that is where I'm going to focus in the new year. Back to following all the rules - a proper budget, a proper spend diary and proper meal planning. I reckon that will save me a decent chunk. I'm also going to try and take on some extra exam marking contracts to see if I can boost income a little. But most importantly, I am going to try and force the divorce finances through because the cost of the solicitor is still crippling me.
At least I have a plan.

erin_transport

Heres to not keeping track of the days ccl!

f0xh0les

Good morning!
So glad you all had a good time. Poor dd. It's hard to get a grumpy angry teen to accept what they need sometimes (a big hug from their mum).
DH asked yesterday what day it was, I replied Boxing Day. No, what real day is it? St Stephen's Day I helpfully replied. He decided it didn't really matter that much anyway at least that is what I think he was muttering as he walked away shaking his head.

It is Thursday today, by the way.:rotfl:
Whatever it is that is your 'sod it' takeaway favourite, make some and put it in the freezer while you have the time and inclination to be MSE.

Honeysucklelou2

That's the time you know you're relaxed, when you don't know or worry about what day of the week it is.

My thoughts go out to you and your DD. Navigating all this through the teenage years is hard.

Hope you have a restful, relaxing day today.

crazy_cat_lady

Hello :hello:
Today was another relaxing one, although I did do a bit more than I'd done yesterday. Got dressed for a start :rotfl:
All hell let loose when ds realised that there was no frozen pepperoni pizza in the freezer. I tried to book an online delivery for groceries but Sunday was no good for ds so I had to brave Mr S myself. Decided I'd do the whole week of grocery shopping so made a list and headed off to brave the crowds. Except it wasn't crowded - it was pretty empty. I was in and back out within the hour and I had stuck to list except for a massive luxury Yule Log reduced from £8.50 to £3. I couldn't resist :rotfl: I didn't need anything for me except some more c0ke zer0 as I am working my way through leftovers, but the kids will not entertain the idea of leftovers so I needed stuff for them.
Popped to besties house for lunch with her and all our kids - took the Yule Log as I'm not greedy. Turkey sarnies and hm sausage rolls for lunch then lots of chocolate cake Stayed for a few hours then headed home to start sorting through my leftovers. I made beef casserole and Christmas Dinner soup. There's loads. I reckon easily another 10 meals in there, and thankfully plenty of space in the freezer at the moment as well so I should be good to save some cash on groceries over January (fingers crossed). There's still some turkey to use up but I might put that in the freezer as it is, plus a joint of gammon in the fridge and some cauliflower which I'll make into cauliflower cheese tomorrow. Here's hoping I get it all used up over the days and weeks ahead.
I was supposed to be going out this evening - a rock night in Newcastle. I was a bit nervous about leaving the kids but determined to get out and enjoy myself. Unfortunately the people I was going with cancelled at lunchtime and I'm not brave enough to turn up on my own. So I stuck another bottle of bucks fizz in the fridge to have a couple of drinks in front of the telly tonight, and have just cracked it open and realised it's actually prosecco - so I might end up a bit worse for the wear... I am secretly relieved not to be going out but I know I have to brave it sooner or later. I think I would have quite enjoyed reliving my lost youth, but all of these things will come in good time. For now it's me, EastEnders, cats and prosecco which will do just fine.

beanielou

Glad you had a lovely relaxing time

crazy_cat_lady

Hello :hello:
This is a very late check in for me, after 2 glasses of prosecco, so God knows what I'm writing and whether or not it'll make any sense in the morning :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
I haven't been particularly busy today, I just haven't been online at all - this is the first time I've looked on the laptop all day.
Not a nsd today as ds and I had a hairdressing appointment. It was booked and budgeted for though, and whilst ds talked me into getting him a $ubway sandwich, I turned the option down for myself in favour of leftovers and moneysaving - it's the small things that'll make a big difference in the end. I also spoke to my hairdresser about dd's recent 'balayage' experience. I had insisted that she got it done professionally but she was really unhappy with it and couldn't see the difference. My hairdresser is the manager there and I've been getting my hair cut by her for over 10 years so I mentioned it today - one of the junior stylists had done dd's hair and was very reluctant to bleach at all as dd is not 16 yet. Thankfully, my lady is lovely and is going to have a look at dd's hair for me next Thursday - free of charge, and she is happy enough to do exactly what dd wants. DD will find some way of getting it done, even if she does it herself, and my lovely lady agrees with me that it's better done professionally.
So ds popped to get his sandwich while I was finishing up at the hairdressers and then we walked home together. I couldn't smell cat pee when I got in, which is a result after 4 days!!! And I even double checked with my UV torch - yes that's how paranoid I've gotten about my cats peeing about the house. When we got home, I boxed up my casserole and soup and put it in the freezer - then cooked the gammon that needed using up (although forgot about the cauliflower cheese :mad: which hopefully will wait until tomorrow). I also got a fair amount of crochet done, and I have written a long list of annoying jobs that I need to do and have been putting off. I figure if I can do one a day then it will be excellent progress and I can stop sweating the small stuff. Among this, I have printed off a 100 square with the aim of saving to pay my fridge off 1% at a time - this is small in the grand scale of my new debt but all the small things add up. One frog swallowed.
Then sat down and enjoyed Eastenders and Poirot with the rest of my prosecco from last night, and am about to head to bed.