Ready for the next stage!

MovingForwards

That's a bargain and well worth the cost!

Please pace yourself, there's a few hectic and exciting days and you'll need all the energy.

savingwannabe

You are doing soooo much. Well done but please rest too. Big hug you are a wonderful mum. It shows so much. I hope you have a wonderful day.

riotlady

I will, MF, need to try and make it through the holidays in one piece! 

Awww thank you SW, that is so lovely to hear

The elf train was magic! I think I enjoyed it nearly as much as mini did! Santa gave her a Paddington teddy so we’re now watching the Paddington movie on the sofa with a blanket while riotdude makes us toasties and soup for lunch. 

Skint_yet_Again

Elf train sounds fabulous 🤗 children are the joy of Christmas. Hope you all have a great time 

riotlady

Thanks Skinty

I think I’ve got whiplash, student finance have changed their minds AGAIN. I no longer owe them £600, they’re giving me £1200 tomorrow! As far as I can tell it’s a grant I am entitled to but I can’t really get excited as I feel like they’re probably going to recalculate it all again. No point ringing them to check because every time I do they confirm it’s right then change it again anyway. 

Spent Monday babysitting my best friend’s baby so she could dye her hair and run some errands in peace, so that was lovely but tiring! My arms were aching by the end, I’m obviously out of practice carrying a baby around now that mini is big! 

Yesterday was mini’s last day of nursery so I got all of my last minute wrapping and prep done. Ended up crashing badly by the evening so ordered a pizza and had an early night. I am trying to pace myself but it’s so hard at this time of year- there’s so much happening and so much to do! 

Today mini, my mum and I are going out for lunch and then we’re off to see The Snowman performed by a live orchestra! It’s a relaxed performance and mini loves the Snowman so hopefully she should cope ok! 

Riotdude is very grumpy and tired because work is so busy. Think we are both annoying each other at the minute, just need to power through until Christmas Eve and then he has 3 days off and things will be a bit nicer I think. 

savingwannabe

It is such a stressful time of year, it is marvellous that you helped your friend by babysitting, i would be tired afterwards so you did really well. I hope that you enjoy the Snowman and i hope you and riotdude and mini riot have a good day

riotlady

Thanks, we had a great time! 

MovingForwards

Try and set some rest bursts throughout the day, enlist help from your mom with getting the finishing touches done and put mini to bed a bit earlier so you get 15 minutes to yourself.

Skint_yet_Again

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas 🎄 

riotlady

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! Ours was great, mini had a wonderful time and I really loved spending time with my family- especially my Granny who came up from Surrey for a week. I made it nearly all the way through the holidays feeling ok and then abruptly crashed at the end, so I've mostly been recovering this week. I officially started my new job on Tuesday so went in and met some people, who were lovely, but as I don't have IT access yet I've spent most of the rest of the week chilling at home! 

The not-so-happy bit is that we found out my dad has a rare type of cancer. He had surgery before Christmas but they didn't tell us until after, so now we're waiting for him to start chemo and radiotherapy in February. I'm trying to stay positive but every so often I just start feeling a bit anxious and sicky. He's in good shape otherwise though so hopefully that will help him cope with treatment. 

Think I'm going to do a start of the year financial review in a fresh post.