NST NIFTY NOVEMBER

DrCarrie

BadBookkeeper said:

Big frog swallowed today.  A small pension I’ve been trying to transfer from a previous employer scheme to my current one finally looks like it is being processed.  I first applied in April 2020

That's a really good frog! I have a similar one. 

I had a spendy day, and tomorrow I am going to get my little Christmas tree...but my nectar points should cover that. 

Grateful for: 'tupperware' that i don't have to search the lids for, making and eating ham, pea and veg soup - it was really good and got a lot! Getting out 3 times today - feel like i got a good airing, and enjoyed the scent of the roses in the park.

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful that dc could have some needed extra sleep, for getting some things out of the house, for a video call with big sis and mum, for successfully making my own oatcakes, for the fog coupled with mild weather.

Thrifty_Taylor

Exercises ✔️
Took DH for his hospital appointment. They took out the rest of his staples. I thought he'd be sore after it, but all ok. (He's flying to Aberdeen hospital tomorrow, so an early start for us both) Went to see the lady who had messaged Saturday about buying a chicken - she bought 2 😍 one for herself, one for an 80th birthday present. Had a quick look in CS, I didn't get anything but DH saw 2 t-shirts. Looked in another shop, collected sewing, then picked DS2 up from college. Sewed more of the blanket after doing the ironing. Helped DS1 sort out his car insurance, but website playing up, so will have to finish it tomorrow. Washed the dishes. Will be an early bedtime tonight, ready for tomorrow's alarm!

Grateful for happy customers, managing not to buy much this morning, being excited playing with my new sewing machine - it's so fancy! Will need to practice with it more before I use it properly 😊

hazeldreams

Life is taking over at the moment! So much going on, there's a slow creep on my daily habits that keep me sane!

Missed posting yesterday, but will try my hardest to get back on track today.

The day has started well;

- YWA complete
- lovely natter with DD2
- caught up on all posts on the forum
- AFD yesterday
- healthy breakfast this morning
- work diary only has 2 meetings! So hugely grateful for that! I can actually do some of my to do list!!

Grateful for a random act of kindness extended to me yesterday.

thriftylass

Hello, 

Yesterday was an NSD however I never made it too the gym. Today started better, got up early for some me time, then tackled a big frog in work that I have been putting off and that wasn't that scary in the end I (isn't that always the case? ).

Today the weather is horrendous but I will walk to the gym at lunchtime today. Poor cat 1 is out and no-one is home to let him in till 5, hopefully he found a cosy spot to hide from the weather. Cat 2 was clever and went out all night and is now sleeping on the couch I guess.

Tonight I will make a to do list for the rest of November, like checking gift wrapping stash, Christmas gift lists, HM gift ideas etc. I might also devise a Christmas count down cleaning plan as the house needs it. We don't know yet who or if we'll be hosting, depending on how FIL is but I better prepare for guests.

grandmanerd

Tuesday 15th November 2022
Pardon the rambling, I'm slightly feverish and too wooly headed to look for the quotes I need (I was looking at simple animal patterns for storage baskets and wrapping gifts so now there are a couple of hundred more examples and I'll disappear down the rabbit hole if I let myself start browsing I'll be there for hours).

i have a parcel delivery due, possibly today but more likely tomorrow but DS3 is on parcel watch. The weather outside is frightful (no snow just very grey and wet) so no outside work except taking things to the bin and I think Mr Builder is much too sensible (in this case) to work outside on a non-urgent job, so I don't need to make preparations for him turning up.

I thought yesterday's 'traditions from around the world' had several things we could usefully adopt.

I love spiders. I hate flies (which are responsible for far more deaths than all the supposedly dangerous animals in the world, excepting man) and if you leave the spiders alone, they will take care of the flies. I do tackle redundant cobwebs, especially the ones near the chinchillas' cage which get covered in litter dust and chinchilla fur (pause to add wiping chinchilla fur off the fan to list of jobs - it's still difficult to get into that corner or I'd have done it). 

I was ill once. The boys had all had the dread D & V, were recovering but still not allowed back in school, when I got it. Mum had phoned to see how I was and I actually had to pause mid-conversation to use the bucket. Soon afterwards she turned up, sorted feeding the boys and I was sent to my room (nearest to the bathroom). Next she set to cleaning. I lay on the bed thinking please don't let her wreck the dy-son, tried to get up and failed. Soon after I heard cries of "Noooo grandma, not the spiders" but was too ill to get up and get myself downstairs (had thrown up so much my stomach muscles were aching).

So if you have the sort of pernickety guests who go around trying to find fault with your house and they find a cobweb in some far flung outpost of your home, claim that you're teaching your children to respect customs from around the world and the spiders are good luck.

Similarly making a point of going round collecting all the brushes, brooms and mops, not to deter witches (witch friendly house here - I used to have 3 and a half black cats, who came in when I called them) but to confirm to yourself that 'your' holiday starts here. Usually for me this was about 3 pm on Christmas Eve (although I've always tried to do the shopping before the schools break up, even when this meant going to the SM during the school Christmas disco when most of the parents sloped off to the pub). I'd do my best to clean and tidy the house (including all those extra jobs like curtain cleaning, refreshing any bits of the house that needed painting or bits of wallpaper that needed sticking back down were done soon after the children went back to school after the summer holidays), put anything that didn't fit (spare kitchen chairs, all the things that didn't have places when I'd run out of places bagged or boxed up) piled up at the end of the landing and then called a halt. 

I'd sit in a chair with my feet up, put on some music and relax. Some activities were permissible - I liked finishing off any decorative arrangements, chopping salad items and making up bean/ rice/ apple, peach and nut, waldorf, mushrooms in red wine and any others I fancied according to how many guests were expected.  At some point I'd get in the bath and put my clean clothes on. Any remaining items of laundry would be whisked from radiators and doors and put away. I should point out that I'd been doing the cleaning alongside trying to calm and occupy 3 over-excited children as my OH had disappeared on his annual pilgrimage to find my present and then relax in the company of all the other idiots celebrating interspersed with guilty forays into any shop that was still open to buy for their poor neglected loved ones (diy store - well everyone needs a torch don't they, late night garage - ood chocolates, half dead bunch of flowers and a bag of firelighters - well it's the thought that counts) or any fool compassionate enough to let them eat Christmas dinner at their table, after they'd alienated every living relative or friend they once had.

I still make a point of not doing any Laundry on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Easter Sunday. It's not really necessary nowadays (only builds up when I've been unable to use the washer for various reasons) but in the days when I had one or more in nappies, 2 or 3 loads of washing a day was normal, more if people were ill so this was essential. I will not do laundry on these days.

The only time it was broken was when a friend and her mother had asked to share our Christmas. The friend's brother and his partner had both died from aids earlier that year, her other brother and his wife had been through several unsuccessful rounds of IVF and were now considering adoption (but had asked to be alone to get over the last IVF failure) and the friend and her mother (both lovely people and brilliant guests) had decided they would like to spend Christmas with someone who had children. one of them spilled a glass of red wine on my grandmother's tablecloth (white linen with a deep crocheted hem) and they insisted on dealing with it straight away. So I didn't do the laundry but laundry was done.

They also dealt with the front room. We heard DS1 shouting "It's snowing" and went to investigate. DS1 and DS2 had stripped down and were making their own snow using liberal helpings of the glitter talcum powder they'd been gifted - on themselves, the floor, the couch (covered in a cheap throw as it was getting tatty). They were so happy and joyful, we all laughed and the mess was quickly dealt with (by the guests, not me, all I had to do was show them where brushes and shovels were kept).

So I'm grateful for Christmases spent with kind, generous and appreciative guests (my baby brother came one year, mum asked me to have him and it was fun and relaxed and he told the children lots of funny stories about things he'd done over the years).

grandmanerd

Not sure if I'm up to making the kind of effort needed to get to art therapy today. I've showered but not made much progress and one of my 'minor irritations' needs a lot of care and attention, to stop it getting serious. So self-care and extra pampering (more medical than luxury), lots of gentle decluttering (have a list of allegedly 5 minute tasks) and possibly some craft orientated stuff (if I'm sure I can manage not to cough or sneeze all over it and add some unwanted 'gifts' into the mix). 

I'm going to count the half a drawer I've just done. I needed one of the last packs of pills from the last batch. I worked over a couple of years to get all my pills delivered in one bi-monthly delivery. This means that some are on the verge of running out, some run out the following week and some I have a few spare (not so many that I didn't have to make two urgent calls last month to make sure I had enough). I need to be careful because the next delivery should be over the festive period, so need to make sure I order beforehand.

So I picked my way over to the drawer (end of the bed side of the room and floor there needs clearing again). Found the pills, checked which other pills I still have some of, pulled gauze squares, a proper pair of nail clippers and a few more use ups out of the drawer so I've done half of it and it was longer than 5 minutes. I've been using up dressing pads I bought for mum and some that came from my ex's stock (we took 3 bags of pills back to the pharmacy but I sorted out any none prescription stuff) but can use the gauze squares as a substitute. I've had 2 goes at doing my toenails (nurse suggested using a wide emery board instead and can also use it on the awkwardly placed corn as using the creams is verboten) but the (unused - I ditched any pedi stuff that had been used) clippers might help too. I used eye drops yesterday (sore eyes) but don't know how long that one has been open so will start a new one and bin the old one. Etc, etc, etc (in Yul Brynner voice).

I  notice the man at the furniture shop has had his trees cut down. They're the source of the self seeded 'weed trees' that have brought down next door's wall. I don't like cutting down trees but these were jammed in a line between the back of his warehouse/ storage shed and a brick wall and it's only 18" at it's widest - if they'd been cut back each year they would have been less of a problem but were taller than the 3 storeys and a basement shops on either side and would have done serious damage if they had come down or even if a branch had snapped off. Not sure if he's noticed my efforts and made the connection between trees and fallen brick walls (his wall would have fallen on his rather posh car) or if he's trying to sell up. The shop is run by a father and son team but the son is now retirement age and there's a notice on the door with a number to phone if customers want to buy. Don't think there'll be much interest in the building unless it can be turned into flats or made into a hostel of some kind.

Well I need to get on and do something (remembered I had bananas so currently eating those and will save my yoghurt for later). Hope I can get down the stairs by the time I need to eat later. I had cut back on yoghurts as the ones I like are rather pricey (I eat yoghurts to get calcium because I hate milk, but many of the 'popular' ones upset my stomach. However since cutting back I haven't found a satisfactory alternative so I'm trying half a large yoghurt with added porridge oats to start my daily heathy eating. Maybe once I'm back on my feet and not snowed under with things to do, I can explore alternatives again.

Grateful for lots of things, made 2 charitable donations yesterday and one this morning for DS1's present.

thriftylass

Good evening, oh this is bliss. DH is away again, sitting here with my cuppa at my new desk. Kids have for once switched their screens off and are drawing downstairs. 

Just love having this wee space now. I started making sensible to do lists again for the day as mentioned earlier. Got a few things of todays list 'done. Currently i am working through a stash of old print outs I found - 30 day house cleaning schedules, productivity planners, monthly tidy lists, declutter lists, "have a happier life" kinda guides etc. to see what's worth trying again, what to adapt into my own and what to bin. 

@grandmanerd I have been AWOL for over a year and you are still a busy bee decluttering non-stop. Very motivational, better be off and do some more

lcc86

I had good intentions this morning to work out before work, but ran out of time so only managed 5 minutes. Need to finish later but have been feeling a bit peaky all day. I need to start having my coffee on my commute if I want to fit a workout in, I have a habit of sitting with it after I've done my makeup for 10-15 minutes, although I do love it as a bit of me time to start the day. Definitely something that crept in during lockdown and stayed!

Anyway, managed a NSD and a lunchtime walk. OH ordered a takeaway so didn't have to cook and also didn't have to pay!

Booked my Christmas food delivery slot, haven't made any solid plans but I always get food for OH and I for the few days around the break. There was something else I meant to add but it's gone so it can't have been that important!!!

BadBookkeeper

Evening turtles, hope you are all warm and cosy it’s gone chilly here.

New bedroom carpet should have been fitted today but fitter cut his hand yesterday so cancelled!!  Carpet supplier found someone else who can come tomorrow so it isn’t too bad but feels like nothing we do here runs smoothly.

Updated lists and spends, was an NSD today think it’s now 6/15. 

Paid for school Christmas activities yesterday so that’s all sorted.  DS has been selected to represent the school in a football tournament on Monday.  Parents have to provide the transport to the sports venue.  I can do it as I can jiggle my hours but it will be difficult for a few with quite short notice.  Hopefully get more info tomorrow.  I have offered to take others if needed.

Healthyish food day and no alcohol but I did enjoy a few slithers of a choc orange. 

Wrapped up warm for ds footy training tonight but still felt the cold.

My mum asked for a list for birthday/Christmas ideas for ds.  I shared a wish list for the big online shop and she’s messaged me back suggesting she gifts money??  I thought I’d made it quite easy but hey ho.

In the same conversation she said something about charity shops being full of gift sets of shower gel as nobody likes them.  So I guess I’ll be returning the one I bought her as part of her Christmas pressie!!  Will get some nice chocolates instead. 

DS is having a new phone for Christmas it won’t be the newest model, I’ve done some research and found a deal I’m happy with.  I am going to wait for cheap Friday to see if I can get a bit cheaper. 

Baileys is £10 a litre in s’burys tomorrow.  I’m gutted I don’t need 1 as it’s a good price and feel a bit like I’m missing out in a good deal.  How silly is that 🙃.