NST December: Festive Fun

[Deleted User]

Sorry been MIA, life has been busy!

Foodbank/charity donation - add a few items when you're doing a food shop or buy a gift to donate. A local charity here collects gifts to give to deprived children at Christmas so going to buy something to donate. Ended up doing an online order last week, so will pop some bits in this week.

Eat well - It can be very difficult to eat well over the festive period with all the lovely food around so enjoy but don't over-indulge. I have been able to resist walking to the shop and buying a whole pack of biscuits to scoff with a tea, that must count?! :rotfl:

Savings/debt repayment. Pay to your debt or savings first and live off what is left. Aim to pay 10% extra this month. Cleared my last-but-one credit card and paid £325 to the last one, not much further to go now!

Treat yourself - Make sure you take time for yourself during December. Relax and read a book, have a bubble bath, light some candles, etc. Going to have a nice relaxing bath tonight to avoid grumpy OH and loud children.

Invitations - Accept a maximum of 2 invitations during December. Works night out, panto, girls night out, whatever you have planned, set a budget and stick to it. No invites yet

Very merry Christmas - Don't get sucked into all the consumerism that surrounds Christmas, set your budgets for presents, food, etc and stick to them. Almost done!

Exercise - At this time of year, it can be difficult to motivate yourself to get out the house and exercise. Aim for at least 10 minutes outside, even just a short walk around the block. Walking up the stairs instead of taking the lift at work, even though the lift is now fixed.

Fun - Think of fun things to do during December, preferably free. Wander round a Christmas market, watch a Christmas movie, make mince pies, etc. Will search for ideas.

Understand what motivates you - Think about what you want to achieve next year and why. How will you achieve your goals? working on my New Year's Resolutions list

NSDs - Aim for 15 NSDs. Usual rules apply, you won't lose a NSD for ys items, petrol or medical reasons. Still on 4/15, but most of my planned spending is done now.

We finally get our new bed tomorrow after a 3 week delivery wait time, very excited

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for my lovely dh and dd, for my step-kids all being happy even though they are so far away, for dd having a fantastic day at school and taking part in both the swimming gala and talent show, for finally getting the cmas tree in and for dh putting the lights on it, for a tough sandbag workout, for not just having enough but for having plenty, for a lovely chat with the till lady in sainz, for dd willingly writing cards for her friends.

mothernerd

Yes I'm also desperately disappointed with the result. I believe in collective action and that we're stronger when we work together. I do try to love my fellow man and woman but they don't half make it difficult sometimes. I can't understand what or if they were thinking but I'll await the howls when they discover that the 'oven- ready, microwave, hiding in a fridge brexit' doesn't happen overnight. (As members of the EU we are party to over 300 agreements including trade, food safety, borders. The moment we leave none of those apply and most would take a raft of civil servants and ministers between 5 and 10 years to negotiate.)


I know from my business studies courses how bad people are at picking leaders. We go for the superficial, often those who repeat simple slogans. When we look at our own lives we remember people such as teachers who led by example. People with integrity, honesty and passionate commitment to justice. When it comes to public life we fall for the one who says it's all sorted, who expects everyone else to fall in line not those who are willing to listen to the views of others and take their concerns on board.



I am very afraid. My mother, my brother and myself all depend on the NHS to keep us alive. DS1 posted that were it not for his wife he would already have packed his bags and left the country (when the referendum debacle began he wanted to know how strong our Irish and Scots roots were and if we were eligible to apply for dual nationality). Keeping within the thread parameters my main focus is how to care for my orphans as I'm not sure how long I can survive and the boys' father has come through several bouts of cancer and is now dependent on twice weekly dialysis as his kidney function is very low (apart from the antiseptic wipes all the equipment used comes from Germany). I still think I will outlive my baby brother (injured by a car and motorbike collision when he was 8 and had multiple breakages since including his pelvis) having already survived my other brother who died nearly 13 years ago at the age of 47 (and 3 days).


So I need to think about who will look after mum if I'm not here, supporting my niece's mental health (shaky now mostly due to doing a target driven job which would formerly have been a civil service post but now is outsourced) if my brother goes as the 'interesting' former s-i-l is a total flake and how I get my sons settled and my mother through the loss of a second son (although she does seem to think it's inevitable given his current state of health).


This is far too depressing. I am not obsessing. I have been through tough times before. This is going to be bad and people will die (including a lot of the turkeys who voted for Christmas). I've been drawing some comfort from quotes by people like Tony Benn and Malcolm X and we will just have to fight on and defend our precious freedoms as far as we are able.


Today I've taken 3 cards to be weighed for posting overseas, bought bacon butties (barm cakes which may need translating for folks not from round here) for breakfast (I bought 2 packs of bacon intending to put one away for Christmas and they've both been used and I didn't get a single slice), sent a donation to DS1's preferred charity in lieu of a card/ present (male survivors of rape and abuse), made arrangements to meet DS1 and his wife for a meal in the city next Thursday. Next Friday is puppy day for them (postponed both times he was made redundant). So excited.



Went to buy a bereavement card (said it before, only my mother could ask me to stand in a 20 strong queue in December - will buy more condolence cards to go with the birthday card pile), went for the prescription items (I may be getting a reputation - shop assistant knew who I was and what I was there for when I walked in), decided to walk round the corner to the nearest taxi firm, cut across a small private car park rather than going all round the garage and car wash, only had to wait a few minutes.



Not done a lot at mum's (was my day but Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have all involved a couple of hours sorting out pills which should have been delivered on Tuesday and had thought the cleaner was coming today instead of yesterday - no and not coming 'visiting' tomorrow either). Did offer to make up the new bed but mum said leave it. She wrote the sympathy card and a couple of cards in response to unexpected arrivals. I did pop out to do the 3 neighbours straight across from mum when I'd finally got through to order a taxi home.


I did one load of washing and one dishwasher load last night and more today. The radiators have been on quite a lot so have been swapping over items to dry, bagged and brought up bedding and towels, did some tidying in my room, took all but one book back to the library plus one item for the charity bin. Gave DS3 and Beloved jobs to do before I left the house (DS3 has to empty the dishwasher, Beloved has to evict the thing growing in the rice cooker, wipe the yellow gunk with black mould from a bowl (thought it was leftover cheese sauce but it evolved from mashed potato apparently) and if she has time use the steel wool to rub the bits in the bottom of 3 pans).


I've also dealt with a spider emergency since I came home - got it off the floor in their room, brought it all the way through to my room and was moving things so I could get across the bed to the window when it jumped. So it's living under my bed for now (it's only 1.5 " across, I've seen much bigger ones than that)



Today I am grateful for finding my leggings, sorting a few things especially the pills and for being back home and warm.

mothernerd

Okay, away with negativity. The fightback begins


Always been one of my favourite quotes
"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution"
Emma Goldman


"No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means"
Aneurin Bevan


And for our carbon footprint (and the global climate crisis)
"Tread lightly, because you tread on my dreams"
W B Yeats


from Archbishop Desmond Tutu
"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness"

greent

Great quotes, mothernerd.

Sadly we are also in a sea of blue. Our local red dot (2 streets away is in that constituency) is now blue - am sure Stroud will realise they have lost a good one in Mr Drew The rest of Glos was blue anyway

greent

Foodbank/charity donation - large bag of items 4eady to head to ds2's school on Weds
Eat well - passable
Savings/debt repayment. All CCs paid in full and some payments made in advance of next month's bills. Savings made by stos/ ddrs/ salary deduction. Some extra paid to BTL mtge - will see if I can manage any more. Small bits being added to hol fund
Treat yourself - Make sure you take time for yourself during December. Relax and read a book, have a bubble bath, light some candles, etc. - still watching old episodes of 'House' and some early nights - think 8pm!!!
Invitations - Accept a maximum of 2 invitations during December. - Had 2 outings - both were kindly paid for by others
Very merry Christmas - Don't get sucked into all the consumerism that surrounds Christmas,should be fine
Exercise - At this time of year, it can be difficult to motivate yourself to get out the house and exercise. Aim for at least 10 minutes outside, even just a short walk around the block. - nope have chest blurry and walking too much results in coughing fit and damp also sets it off.

Fun - Think of fun things to do during December, preferably free. - cathedral service, Xmas carol service , decorating the trees and rooms with the kids, some cheesy Xmas films and the escape rooms (family outing instead of panto. Plan some walks up the common too)
Understand what motivates you - Think about what you want to achieve next year and why. How will you achieve your goals? - need to give goals and plans some thought during the month. Florida being all paid for before we go is a definite. A good reduction on BTL another, increased pension contributions (want us both retired in 10 years) Oh - and we've vaguely planned a renovation project for 2 parts of the house - likely cost c £7-10K:eek:
NSDs - Aim for 15 NSDs. - 2/15 - can't remember if any more - maybe 1. This week has been surviving work/ my bug/ poorly child/ broken dw AND wm/ oh staying away with work/ Dec busy-ness. Shattered, tbh

f0xh0les

Nice one mothernerd.

Today I have pulled up my big-girl-pants, put a few very brexity friends on a 30 day snooze on fakebook- I can't be done with them pretending how they voted and that lots of people are disappointed, but look over there! the sunny uplands are in sight. Now we can forget about the B-word! Well, I don't have to deal with them now.

We are in the transition period. I can't help wondering how much more is going to go into mental health, social work, housing, elderly care, addiction and dependency related issues. Not new future 4 years down the line newly qualified/ new built things, but actual physical on the ground improvements to services in the next 12 months. The not sexy stuff we pretend happens to other people but wouldn't happen to 'people like us' as that haunted chimney said- he still has not reappeared. I wonder if he is on tag and is on a very tight curfew.

But, I digress, Festive head on now. :xmastree::xmastree:

Today I will pay a cheque in from step-gran for the kids presents and birthdays. Will have a look for a spot of festive food.Come home and do a bit of baking. :bdaycake:There is no picture for gingerbread or parkin. But candles are festive!

I need to deep clean my car for its big yearly trip out to the garage. Monday is CAR-DAY!! So there. I have plans. I have things to do. But right now I have plans for a few more :coffee::coffee: and hopefully dh will get up and join me in a bit.

Nice piece of end froth on the tv news. Bumper crop of baby seals on the North Norfolk coast this week. So cute.

lcc86

f0xh0les I think I can answer your question about funding for public services but probably best I don't! :mad: Also hooray for the seals! My parents live in North Norfolk, I'll have to see if we can go and find them when I visit after Christmas.

Foodbank/charity donation - waiting for the second DD to go through, Crisis donation done.
Eat well - been good the last couple of days. Am always better over the weekend, I find I eat less in general.
Savings/debt repayment - done.
Treat yourself - felt much better yesterday with all the right meds and Vicks steam bath things, almost feel back to normal today but not going to push it. I'm just happy to be feeling better again. Been drinking loads of water too.
Invitations - no further invitations.
Very merry Christmas - need to wrap all my presents today and write my cards as parents are visiting on Thursday to collect everything.
Exercise - nothing yesterday, now that I'm feeling a bit more normal I'm going to go for a walk. I've scheduled a few walks in over the next few days as I love the countryside around home, and I could do with the fresh air before I think about going back to the gym.

Fun - still nothing but am on the road to recovery and grateful for that.
Understand what motivates you.
NSDs - Aim for 15 NSDs. Still on 7/15. Yesterday I noticed a great big hole in my trainers so I ordered a new pair. Money came from savings but I still begrudge having to spend it! Today will be a NSD though as no plans to visit any shops.

mothernerd

As you can see I didn't go to sleep until the early hours. I had a public row with my ex on facebook. I had reposted a Tony Benn quote (lovely man, met him once, such a gracious kind gentle man - in both senses of the word) and he rather peevishly said it wasn't a very nice thing to say to starving kids, the elderly, homeless or disabled.


I acknowledged that it was going to be dreadful, some people, including possibly both of us, would die but that I had been searching for anything that would help me fight rather than curling up under the bedclothes and waiting to die. he said he saw my point but was feeling vulnerable as his current twice weekly dialysis and other health issues cost the NHS more than 100K a year and no US insurers would even contemplate covering him (they would have dropped him during one of his previous cancer treatments).


Realised I hadn't checked my email and the t-shirt company had a final offer on, so I rounded up the boys' 'most wanteds' and put my order in. To uphold me nerdy credentials I should tell you that DS3's getting Marvin the paranoid android and a pokezine, DS2's having the 4 moles per l and DS1 is getting Schroedinger's cat (the dead one is glow in the dark), a sarcasm quote and and 'Beware the smiling DM' (sorry dolly, I can provide translations if you are at all interested).


Small order from the radical tea towel company (the quotes are a small selection of their work although I was aware of many of them previously) who were offering the 'hope' that so many of us need.



Have ordered the oven gloves mum needs (she won't be amused but not seen any others that match her kitchen) and I've ordered the Desmond Tutu quote to put on my wall as I think I need to see it every day. It's a lovely graphic with bright repeated motifs on a black background (mostly only showing like grout lines between tiles). A cross between a 'tribal' design and the Escher prints with fish/ birds going in opposing directions. This is it - https://radicalteatowel.co.uk/search.php?search_query=Desmond+Tutu (didn't know if it would let me put it in) and this is one of the Escher things I mentioned https://www.kingandmcgaw.com/prints/mc-escher/day-and-night-40



Then I decided I should order some food (had vouchers to use) which was just as well because the last available dates were next Tuesday. It was set to mum's details (that site allows me to have both addresses and sets of card details on the one account) so lots of basics, the joints for Christmas day and New Year - both to be cooked this week then sliced and frozen in meal sized portions - and lots of fruit and veg.



Although I was flagging by then I logged into another SM and that had Beloved's contact details (I use my email address for mum's house and we use Beloved's for here). That's coming Wednesday evening (to give me another chance of getting the kitchen sorted). They still had some Thursday and Friday slots but W = £3, Th = £4 and F = £5.


Beloved had already put a few items in the basket (deleted the pork joint as I bought one reduced this week and tucked it in the freezer and the fly spray because I'm not having it in the house, especially not near food). Not sure what I bought now (website was being an absolute a8!e, page kept jumping about after I scrolled up or down) but have tried to get all the heavy stuff, more healthy fruit and veg and drinks (soft ones but easier than lugging them back a couple at a time).

Didn't get 'everything' but confident of getting bread and veg ys'd before closing time as we go along. Want to do more of my own things this year so bought 'ingredients'. Made it through checkout and paying one minute before my saved delivery time expired (fighting my way through 'we think you forgot', 'things people buy next', 'substitutions allowed' and a tired and emotional website).


So I will have 'some stuff' and I can make 'some things' and anyone who complains can take over any time they want. 10 years ago I would have spent 3 times as much and still had to do more than one order (even doing absolutely everything from scratch, freezing ys veg and cut price goodies for months beforehand).


Some of my best Christmases have been done using random 'gifted' items (other people's leftovers). The list isn't quite as long as the people who I've accepted cast off clothes from but a bit more fun.


Have had a sleep but think I would benefit from another nap before going back to the kitchen sorting, washing processing, cleaning and rubbish round up. Did a bit more steel wool work last night (or this morning -if I haven't gone to bed it's still the previous day).


I did discuss a furniture shift round with DS3 but he wouldn't contemplate it. It would have been an awful lot of work but would have improved the kitchen without buying anything. He did suggest a simpler alternative but the shelves he wanted to move were 4" too long for the space.


As for the sea of blue, we've been engulfed. We've been Labour as long as there's been a labour party. Saw an interesting item yesterday about Liverpool. Liverpool boycotted the Sun newspaper after it's outrageous treatment of the fans after Hillsborough. The paper has never regained a foothold so doesn't get fed Murdoch propaganda - result a sea of red. Last week Liverpool FC was told that if they didn't allow the Sun reporters access, they would not be allowed to host England matches in future. LFC said politely that in that case, they would not be hosting any England games.



Today I am grateful for our wonderful NHS (so much and so many people to be grateful for), my bed (my friend, my comfort, my refuge) and my resilience (determindly keeping my mental health strong).

DawnW

Morning all
Waiting in for the plumber to come to look at the broken boiler Never mind, I am thankful that I have savings to pay for the repair (or replacement), a wood burning stove to keep us warm and a handy electric shower in the spare bedroom to keep clean in the meantime
Foxholes, I have blocked brexitty FB friends. They really aren't my friends. Don't need it.

((Hugs)) to you and to your ex Mothernerd. Take care of you. I keep getting daft health scares mostly involving surgery (using up my 9 lives) so not sure how I will manage, or not, over the next 5 years either. But I won't be going down quietly :rotfl:Love the Radical Tea Towel company, their stuff comes up on my FB, though I haven't bought anything from them yet. Also love seals Must see if our ancient camper van will limp that far next summer - getting to Norfolk from here is literally crossing the country (all of it, from this side to that)

Was supposed to be at DS's for a family thing today, but need to wait in for the plumber instead. Will hopefully get there later and have sent OH in the meantime.

Still on 4 / 15 NSDs, not sure how far I will get this month, what with the boiler and the C word, but will try harder