Jingle All The Way - It's the 2023 Christmas Chatter Thread!

princesskitty29

I had my ‘Christmassy day’ day today, I said a while ago I’m going to try to do some Christmas prep on or around the 25th of each month, I couldn’t get to it last week but spent a little bit of time on it today. I said I’d do this mainly to make sure I get the bunting gifts finished in time this year – something I’ve failed to do the last two years! So I got my sewing machine out and stitched some bunting triangles. I’d have loved to have dedicated the whole day to it but could only manage an hour. Still it’s better than not doing it at all! If I carry on like this I’ll definitely have them made for Christmas.

I’ve also been busy getting things together for DS1’s first residential school trip next week, I can’t quite believe he’s going away for 2 nights! He’s only eight so it feels a bit much but they’re all excited about it. We have a different school system to the rest of the country, we have lower, middle and upper schools and he’s in his last year of lower school and they do a residential trip. I know most primary schools around the country do a residential in the last year when children are 10/11, that’s what I did when I was younger at primary school. To be honest I don’t really like the lower/middle/upper system, I wish it was just primary and secondary and that he would still be at primary for another two years, but there’s nothing I can do about it so I just have to get on with it!

Coxy that Royal Mail service sounds good, I’ll have to look into that, especially now our local post office closed last month. That’s a really good idea about selling stuff on ebay for charity, I may need to do that at some point to bolster my fundraising for the Mighty Hike I’m doing. I know you’ve mentioned the cross stitch café before, I do love the idea of it however I struggle to find the time! I will try and have a look in as I do love chatting about cross stitch.

Coxy11

That Christmas prep sounds great @princesskitty29. That residential trip does sound a lot for an 8 year old though - good luck to the teachers lol! Where is your Mighty Hike taking you?

I follow a YT channel where a couple buy things from CSs and car boots and resell (for profit). It's really been helpful for my charity fundraising as I've started doing the same. The couple have just bought a load of surplus stock to sell on Bay of E and I've ordered some bits from them for gifts. Just waiting for them to tot up my order.  

mandco

princesskitty their 1st residential trip is a huge milestone I bet he's excited and maybe a bit nervous too.
when mine were younger they did trips in years 4,5 & 6 so 8 years old onwards and I always though 8 was a little young esp as they did mon-fri and a lot of the kids had never stayed away from home before but they always loved it.
I really like the idea of having a set christmas prep day each month - having a set date & time to do a task makes it easier to fit things in to day to day life and actually get them done. even if you only managed an hour this time its an hour worth of prep done 

coxy - will have to check out the royal mail collect as would be a lot easier for me - going to have a clear out and hopefully sell some bits as moneys going to be pretty tight for a while as found the wait time for oh to be assessed is around 20 wks as they are currently working through november referrals 

not much happening on the xmas prep front but did find a twin pack of kindi kids dolls reduce to £15 at argos so put that away for dgd birthday 

Spendless

Popping briefly in, to say we returned home from an amazing trip earlier this week but the following day heard that my Nan was ill. Spent the day at her bedside with my parents, later joined by DS and sadly she passed away around 5pm. DD made her way back from drama school in Essex, DH from working in the Midlands, sadly both arrived around half an hour too late.  

Skibunny40

So sorry to hear this Spendless

princesskitty29

Spendless I’m so sorry to hear about your Nan, this must have been a shock for you after coming home from your trip. Hopefully it was a comfort to you that you could be with her at the end. Sending lots of love to you and your family. 

princesskitty29

Well DS1 came back from his residential trip on Friday full of stories, he had a great time! He also ended up having an epic meltdown the evening he got back as he was so tired! I was expecting this though. He’s also kicked off and moaned at me several times since being home so normal service has resumed!

It’s half term this week so it will be nice not to have a week of rushing around. DH and I don’t normally go in for Valentines day but this year I thought it was a good reminder to take some time for ourselves as everything is about the children, so we’re going out for dinner to a nice country pub on Tuesday night. I’m also trying to focus on my mum’s 70th next month which is followed a couple of days later by Mothers Day. I’m struggling to think of ideas for her as most celebrations revolve around food, but since having radiotherapy for her throat cancer she has a very dry mouth and it’s not an enjoyable experience eating most foods. Will have to keep thinking!

Coxy I’m doing the Thames Path Mighty Hike. To be honest I would rather be doing one of the Mighty Hikes in the countryside with the hills and landscape, but for various reasons we need to do one closer to home this year that we can travel to and back in a day. It will still be good and easier because it’s flat, it will also take me through a couple of the places I have lived in the past! It takes us through Marlow which is where I had my first born so I might get a bit emotional going through there. That’s interesting about fundraising through selling on ebay as I need to reach a certain target, may I ask who you follow on YouTube?

mandco wow yours did a lot of residential trips! Although it might be like that for DS1 now, I will have to wait and see what middle school brings. Yes this is why I’ve dedicated the 25th of each month to do some Christmas prep, it’s easy to think ‘oh I can do it any time’ but it doesn’t happen, I always think I’ll do it but leave it then it’s too late. Something in my brain works with having a set day, I just find I get it done that way!

sammy_kaye18

Hi all

Sorry I have been AWOL 
Seeing the diabetic nurse tomorrow finally. 
Son then needed blood tests.
Sister has been bad after her new now ex boyfriend triggered her PTSD from a previous abusive relationship and MIL has been quite poorly with this nasty lurgy that seems to be doing the round (now thankfully on the mend) 

@Spendless - I am so sorry to hear about your nan. Thoughts to you lovely. 

I am trying my best to get ahead with christmas / birthdays etc at the minute and did see that the poundstretcher close to me is closing down so had everything on 20% off. I did have a quick look in yesterday and picked up some seeds for the garden but I was in looking for something else that they didnt have - but I think I am going to try and go back over at some point this week and I will sit and make a list later for upcoming birthdays etc and see if there is things I can put away there for them. 

Spendless

Thanks for the best wishes. I typed a long reply yesterday but lost it before it posted! I'm glad Nan hung on for our return. Mum took a phone call last Monday late afternoon saying Nan had been refusing to do anything - eat/drink/ get up since the previous day. She told me this when I called round Tues morning with a couple of small gifts from our trip (we'd got back home Mon evening) and also that she'd rang the home  before I'd called round and they were  visiting that afternoon, I asked to accompany my parents. Not long afterwards, whilst I was still there the care home rang again, this time we were to go. I'm unsure of time but perhaps not long after 12.  Within the first hour, I'd contacted my husband who was working that day in the Midlands (I should have been working in our city centre but knowing I suffer from jet-lag had arranged to swap days around with my boss), DS who was able to leave work and catch a bus to us, so was there within around 20 mins and DD who was at her drama school in Essex. Her journey home  is 1hr train journey , tube, 1hr 45 train  then catch local bus/get lift/taxi. DH said he wouldn't set off from the Midlands until DD had got on the direct train from London to us, so he was nearer her in case of an issue. At this point I didn't think  Nan would leave us that day but maybe during the night or the following day.  My Dad and DS left at one point to let our dogs out but returned. Nan was asleep in her room the whole time. She opened her eyes once and a further time when I bent over her she half opened one eye but that was all, otherwise she remained asleep and never spoke. Finally not long after 5pm, she took her final breath, with myself, my parents and DS there.  DD was still on the train home, DH travelling back. They missed seeing her by less than an hour.  I'm sad but more for me, than regret for Nan, she was 98. 5 weeks off being 99. I totally believed she'd reach this age too, never thought she'd get to 100 but thought she'd reach 99 and had been in a care home for 8 years due to dementia, with her unwell a few years prior to that. My Mum is a bit overwhelmed with it all, Dad isn't always helpful - lol and so I took all last week off work to  help and support. I'm going back to work this week though, I need the money. As an agency worker I don't get paid when I'm off, have to accrue holiday pay in advance and my hol year only began in Jan and I took the few hours I was owed when away.

In other news, my trip was amazing and so glad I did it. We visited downtown Palm Springs and saw the enormous statue of Marilyn Monroe and all the stars names in the pavement and did a cable car trip over the mountains.

Towards the end of the week is when DH was working, but I did a spa day one day, just the spa which though limited facilities (1 sauna, 2 steam room, 1 inside jacuzzi pool, 1 outside heated lenths pool) it was a very reasonable $50 and if you went after 3pm only $30, totally unlike their treatments that were between $200-300 for a 30/60 minute session! I went with one of the other wives there and the following day went to the pool with another. That was the best day for doing that because the weather at the beginning of the week wasn't warm. I'd forgotten that California wasn't always sunny. Initially we didn't think  we could do the cable car ride because we didn't think we had enough warm clothes with us to try, but a visit to Walmart, a thrift shop and an outlet mall sorted that out. At the outlet store I found a Ralph Lauren dress, clearly left over Christmas stock due to the wine red colour and velvet feel. It was reduced  to almost half price with a further 25% off and then at the tills I was eligible for a further 15% off making it $65 (around £61) 

 I brought various things back but mostly as presents as I returned,  rather than put away for later this year with the exception of some PJs for DD, which are incredibly soft to touch. I found that a lot with the clothes there that they had such a nice 'feel' to them and a travel first aid kit for DH. Both these have been put away for Christmas. I frequently struggle with what to get DH but I think I'm going to focus on items that he'll use for travel. He's away every week in the UK for work and a few times a year abroad. I think they'll be plenty I can build up that he'll find useful. Last night he bid on ebay (a rare occurrence) for a designer tie and mentioned that his that he wears for work everyday are now becoming worn - probably because he leaves them all over the car instead of putting them away and mused whether he'd pick any good brands up in charity shops. My thoughts are not here cos ties will mostly be worn for weddings, funerals or court appearances! , but as and when I visit a more affluent area that's something I will look for as his 'pre-loved' gift - I definitely miss DD living in Edinburgh for the charity shops there- lol. 

Coxy11

So sorry to hear about your nan @Spendless, I'm glad you were with her at the end xx Glad you had a nice break and the RL dress sounds lovely. Also good that you have some ideas for DH business travel.

I follow Carla Jenkins and Tess Frugal Living and The Hills Are Alive @princesskitty29 although they resell for an income rather than fundraising. They often highlight good things to look out for at car boot sales or CSs. I've had a few issues with items I've sold lately, including a bubble-wrapped and boxed mug sent on Thursday that arrived smashed to smithereens, and a parcel send on 9 December which only arrived on 23 Jan (to Edinburgh!), so had already refunded the buyer. Now need to get him to give me the money back - given it's for charity you'd think he'd have a conscience! I raised £90 in Jan and I'm currently on £168 for Feb after fees/postage.

In present buying news(!) I have ordered a couple of battery operated LED bedroom lights for DNephews. One is the Star Wars logo for the 7 yo and the other is a Dinosaur with 4 yo name on. Both from Menkind. Both have recently had their bedrooms decorated, so these will go nicely. 

Hope your sister is okay @sammy_kaye18 xx