Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 4 - The Aftermath

crazy_cat_lady

You forgot 'Take that look off your face before I take it off for you' f0xh0les - a particular favourite of my mam's.
I took myself to bed with another cup of tea and Shaun of the Dead and I slept for just over an hour. Got up with my head still hurting at 4pm and realised it was probably because I'd had nothing to eat all day so I came downstairs and had another cup of tea and an egg on toast and instantly felt a lot better.
Then I did round 2 of decorating in ds room. I felt way more human but it still took 90 minutes to paint the walls again and I was certain I was going to need a third coat of paint tomorrow - however, now it's dried I am not so sure it does. I'll go in there tomorrow and assess the situation. Now have spent time surfing t'internet with dd spending our ONS vouchers. We have bought some new bedding for ds new bed (it arrives Thursday - already got him a new duvet) and topped up to the voucher with 8 new school shirts (four for each child - that should be enough). DD has exchanged her vouchers for the Swedish emporium and after we have gotten her new carpet fitted then we will be going up there to purchase furniture for her bedroom. Hopefully by this time next week both kids bedrooms will be completely finished. And then I can get on with enjoying the changed house... Lovely.
Mini cruise to Holland is a big fat no from dd who reckons open water is the scariest thing ever. Obviously on the Titanic in a past life... However I'm still hoping to get her to change her mind. You are all correct though, as is dd - I'm just in love with the idea of a holiday - the reality is very different at the moment and I suspect far less enjoyable. So onwards with making my house a bit of a perfect sanctuary I suppose. Hopefully towards the end of the year we can all enjoy a trip away somewhere nice - still not holding my breath though.
It is the first day of the six weeks - we should be going to Bulgaria tomorrow Never mind. Better safe than sorry - and not even allowed in the country at the moment anyway. Just hope that we can get round to doing something nice and maybe slightly away from home at some point before September. 

juliejim

You've been very busy CCL and fantastic weight loss. I've thankfully finished work now for 6 weeks (how do you get seven and I only get six!) - 7 weeks with the KW/vulnerable bubble has been exhausting!
Feel free to meet up for a coffee if you do go to Alton Towers.
Enjoy your hols.
Jue

crazy_cat_lady

Good morning!
I am a very busy bunny at the moment. Now that I've accepted that I won't be going anywhere on holiday this year operation 'make my house beautiful' is in full swing. Shame I can't say the same again for the garden but there's still no skip and there's an awful lot of rubbish... If it doesn't arrive tomorrow I will have to cry.
So got up bright and breezy yesterday having slept off the horror of the hangover that was Saturday. Went into ds room and decided that it needed a third coat after all - so I used the rest of the paint up doing that, then did the last coat on the doors. By the time that was done I needed to get the kids out of bed for the nurse coming to do do our ONS survey and us doing our second round of tests. 
After that dd and I went shopping. I had done a click and collect order and bee and queue for white emulsion for the stairs and a new outdoor light after the old one randomly fell off the wall and smashed a few weeks ago (in the wind). This store was not my usual one and turned out to be next to the biggest h0me B@rgains I have ever seen in my life so of course we had do go in there and have a good look (still only two of a very few people wearing masks) Bought some storage boxes (I love storage boxes), handwash, cat food and something else that I can't remember at the moment. Then off into town because I had promised dd a trip to Primarni as they don't do online. I know it's by no means an ethical shop but she is a teenager... After that we went to posh (to us) homeware shop because dd had seen bedding online she wanted but was out of stock for delivery. She also treated herself to a rug (like a new carpet from me wasn't enough) and I decided to get a rug for my bedroom too as I'm not getting a new carpet but I am getting a new bed (there will be no trace of ex in there very soon, after I have painted and put my new bed and mattress in with my new rug on the floor and blankets I've made since he went. I found a rug that I instantly fell in love with but it was £50. However, I figured cheaper than a new carpet. Turns out when it went through the till it was half price in the sale Made me think of foxgloves when she says 'Would I have bought it if it were full price?' - I am SO pleased with it because I thought it was full price and it wasn't. AND they had the bedding dd wanted as well. Happy days.
By the time we got home from shopping and had tea it was quite late in the afternoon. And we had to get the old carpets up ready for the new ones being fitted today. Tell you what - it's not easy taking up a carpet around a double bed and a very full chest of drawers. I twisted my knee and ache like you wouldn't believe today. Underlay had to come up as well because it stunk of cat pee - but it gave me time to have a look at the offending floorboard in dd's room. I can see exactly what the problem is but I don't know how to solve it. Basically, someone has replaced the floorboard, and the new floorboard is rubbing against the old floorboard, so when you stand on it it clunks down into where it should fit - it's slightly too large. But I do not have the skills to take up a floorboard and plane it or anything... So I've told dd she won't die walking on it and we'll have to put up with the clunk knowing that we're safe and won't fall through the floor. The rubbish pile in the garden is getting bigger and bigger, now with a cat pee soaked carpet and underlay included
Up bright and early this morning, all achey and feeling 100 years old but ridiculously excited for HAIR APPOINTMENT DAY! Only 15 weeks overdue. Couldn't walk to the hairdressers as my knee is too sore at the moment. I loved being at the hairdressers again and catching up with her and making my hair look all beautiful - amazing. After that, there was a golden chicken crisis needing urgent attention, but I had not noticed happening. So took ds to Herr Ronn, and also picked up 10 bottles of posh tonic water for £2 (more drinks with a friend tonight) and enough chicken for a week but will probably only last 2 days knowing ds. Also went back to the carpet shop to order and pay for more underlay for dd's room (almost as expensive as the carpet )
Now sitting here catching up. Have had tea and porridge and am waiting for my new bed to be delivered (between 11 and 2). After that I have a list with no less than 18 items on it! I could cry... I should be in Bulgaria and I'm running myself ragged with home improvements. AND I'm still waiting for the skip. Don't hold your breath, but I will report in later and tell you how many things I managed to cross off.

janb5

A very productive day....well done!
You're packing so much into your days...so impressive.
I can close my eyes and imagine a beautiful blanket on your new bed.
What style did you go for...trying to decide between a Shaker style or a sleigh bed?

crazy_cat_lady

I've gone for a faux leather ottoman - in grey.
Cheap(ish) frame and a lush mattress.

f0xh0les

Well that rug was just meant to be wasn't it? Was DD's rug half price too?

Your house is going to be lovely, and then any extra money will just make your debt disappear all the faster, while you reside in comfort - if you had the money for the rug full price, why not pay the extra off the debt pile?

Was it Fent1mans mixers?  Herr Ron is a great place for tonic et al, at the moment.

foxgloves

Fantastic work CCL. Who on earth would want to be sitting in a mask on a flying petri dish to Bulgaria when they could be doing up their home all ready for a cosy Autumn? 
And you are right, that IS my absolute favourite kind of bargain, when it is something I want to buy anyway & then discover it at a reduced price. There have been way too many distinctly average (& below) sale rail clothes buys for me in the Spendy Decades, all because I didn't apply the 'Would I have paid full price for this?' test.
F x

crazy_cat_lady

Morning
I can't believe that it's only 24 hours since I was at the hairdressers - it feels like loads has happened since then. I managed 15 of the 18 items on the list yesterday so feeling very chuffed with myself. DD and I went out early afternoon to pick up the new blind for her room, I picked up my Scr3wf1x order (massive hammer and a crowbar to demolish the shed), and ds school uniform that had arrived nice and early. 
By the time that we got home my friend had arrived and bless her, was more than happy to sit among the rubble and muck in with the other jobs as well. So we went to clear ds room for his new carpet, and I still can't explain how it happened because it was just sitting on the floor in a pretty much empty room, but the remainder of the 10L tin of white emulsion fell over and spilled all over the underlay. So up came the underlay and more ordered for there too. Real stroke of luck but my friend was noticing the creaky floorboards in the room, and knew how to sort it so she tightened up the boards in his room. Then we moved onto dd's room and we fixed the floorboard in there as well. I was wrong about it clunking because it didn't fit - it was clunking because it hadn't been screwed into the joist. So I drilled and she put the screws in. Job done! Then the man came and fitted the two carpets while we had our first round of drinks and snacks. Then we moved the furniture back in and left the kids to start tidying and putting stuff away. More drinks, and my friend taught dd some physics that she struggles with (she is an excellent teacher) and by the time I walked her to the bus I was quite drunk (again).
Got home and went to help dd make her bed with the new bedding (her rug wasn't half price unfortunately) - we got the duvet cover out, and then discovered that there were no pillow cases included. I suggested we buy some and she refused because she thinks the bedding is not good value when a pair of pillowcases costs £12. So it's going back, and she's finding some cheaper bedding somewhere else (such a savvy kid).
2 pints of water and 2 paracetamol then bed. Another pint of water at 4am and now a massive cup of tea and 2 more paracetamol and I feel ok. Which means I've either managed myself better than Friday night or I'm still a bit drunk. Now waiting with baited breath for my skip to arrive... Just phoned to try and chase an ETA but they couldn't give me one. This is unfortunately in direct conflict with dd's desperation to get to the Swedish furniture emporium for it opening, and my desperation to get my garden cleared. Ah well - I've waited 5 days after I originally wanted it... a few more hours won't matter. And the woman on the phone said that if it was obvious where the skip should go then I didn't need to be there, so may just go shopping again anyway before the hangover actually arrives. The other good news is that when I was browsing the FAQ's of the skip website for the phone number, I found a FAQ that said mattresses could go in the skip. So in there they will go! Along with everything else currently stacked in my garden - old carpets, old furniture etc. I cannot wait!
Also I'm just watching the news in the background, and apparently I will be getting a pay rise soon. That sounds nice... and will bring my DFD forward

PurpleFairy26

Wow cat what a productive day you had yesterday and you seem up for more of the same today. Can’t be bad. We’ve had a skip during lockdown and I love just been able to get rid of stuff. It’s great. 

Enjoy your day. 

Buffythedebtslayer

Wow CCL that is all so good. Amazing in fact. So good to have your own house and be able to make it lovely and an actual proper home, building it together as a family. What a wonderful thing to have done and how much better is your life now that idiot has gone? CCL you are bloody amazing XXXX