Flying solo

twiggy86

Morning all! 

I had fun at acro last night (paid £7 from my "fitness pot") and then just had some toast and a quick shower when I got home! Tonight I have netball at 8pm and then bf's dad should be arriving (after an 8ish hour coach journey!) about 9:30. I believe the plan is that bf will collect him from the coach station and grab a takeaway on the way back. So will be a late dinner and evening tonight! 

My plan when I get back from work is to quickly whip the hoover around and do last minute "panic tidying" as bf's dad hasn't visited before and is staying with us for the weekend, so I want it to be nice! Bf has taken pooch to work, so won't have to walk her immediately when I get in tonight like I usually do. 

Pooch is in the "naughty corner" at the moment though! I got bf a fudge advent calendar which arrived yesterday. I didn't have much time, so I only opened the box to have a quick look (individually wrapped in cellophane but otherwise just in the box) and shoved the open box in the bottom of my wardrobe. Well later I heard some rustling... apparently I hadn't shut the wardrobe door properly and pooch had taken a fancy to Day 21 (pink lemonade fudge if you're interested!). So that one now has a nibble out of it! I am going to wrap each day individually and put in a fancy/ Christmassy bag that I have for when I give to bf to make it look a bit better - will have to put in a note on day 21 that a naughty elf took a fancy to it! 

Today's bits and bobs...

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Load of washing on 30 degree wash  
• Update spreadsheet 
• Work on crochet hat at lunch - should get it finished this week 
• Hang washing on airer
• Quick tidy around 
• Park for free at netball 

Sarahwithlove

That made me chuckle about the advent 😄 

twiggy86

My main OCD issue @Sarahwithlove was that it wasn't number 1 that she started with! 

Busy evening last night! Got home, did some tidying then went off to netball (enjoyable game and we won), home, quick shower and blowdry of hair, then whilst bf went to pick up his dad I took pooch out and then picked up our chinese! Finally sat down to eat about 10:20!!! We then sat up chat until about 12:30 so I'm not sure how I feel as sprightly as I do... see how long until I flag! Bf was going to pick up and pay for the Chinese, but he's dads coach was delayed so wouldn't have made it before they shut so that's why I went - bf did say he'd pay but given that he's treating us all to pizza tonight, I'm not that bothered as have enough in the budget to get by the rest of the month. 

Tonight will be picking up bf's kids and then grabbing pizza on the way home. I wonder how his daughter will go down as his dad is her usual room, so it's a bit of a shuffle around! But will be a night in tonight anyway. Then weekend will mainly be spent spending time with bf's dad, kids, sister and her family! 

Today's little list... 

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Work on crochet hat at lunch - hopefully finish it today and then that will be a Christmas present ticked off! 

Literally can't think of anything else!!! Although bf has just texted saying his dad wants to pay for the Chinese so need to tell him how much that was. Which would mean that I only spent £1.45 yesterday on some milk. 

Not sure I'll get much done on my crochet blanket over the weekend! I'm at one of the very few "tricky" rounds where I need to concentrate and not sure I'll get the time/space to do it with a house full! Everything else is just around and around which I can pick up no problem, so unfortunate I didn't manage to get this bit done beforehand! 

twiggy86

Busy weekend but was lovely! Bf, his kids and his sister plus her kids got to spend a lot of time together with his dad - which was the main aim of the weekend. Friday was takeaway pizza and presents for his son (birthday is tomorrow). Then Saturday we went to an inflatable play park thing about an hour away and then had lunch at a pub, then all back to his sisters house. Just had some snacks for dinner at home as lunch was fairly late. Then yesterday sister and kids came to ours and then we all went to the toy shop so that his dad could buy the little kids their Christmas presents - think of supermarket sweep for kids!!! Managed to pick up a present for my nephew whilst I was there. Then back to ours where we made everyone sandwiches for lunch and then the kids just played. So busy and family filled! Plus between bf and his dad they paid for most things, although I did a small top up shop for extra bread and milk - bf has said I need to tell him how much and he'll also give me petrol money, as I did the driving this weekend (his dad struggles to get in his car). 

Bf has the day off today to spend with his dad, before he goes back tomorrow. Need to check what time his coach is as I may be able to tie it in with coming to work as it's in the same direction. Will text bf so I can check with my boss if I need to be a bit late. I guess it depends what they get up to as to what the plan is this evening - they may go to his sisters for dinner, which is right by my work so I may join them if they're still there. And depending on what they've eaten will dictate dinner plans - will definitely make something at home, even if its just something for me and snacks for them. 

Today's bits and bobs... 

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Work on crochet present at lunch 
• Snap a couple of receipts
• Load of washing on 30 degree cycle 
• Dinner from stores 
• Hang washing on airer 

twiggy86

Tasks for this week... 

• Finalise budget for December 
• Finish hat for bf - just need to sew ends in 
• Finish hat for bf's son 
• Continue progressing blanket (just broken into ball 7 of 9 for the main body)
• Sort out bf's advent calendar 
• Start wrapping Christmas presents
• PUT UP CHRISTMAS TREE!!!  

Big focus on Christmas, crochet and Christmas crochet!   

twiggy86

Couple of little updates... Finished the hat for bf at lunch time and managed to get a good chunk of time on the one for his son. Then I had an email to say I'd sold one of the crochet animals I had listed on Etsy! They take a good chunk for fees and then have postage but should still get over £15 which I won't grumble at! Will get it posted in the next day or two hopefully. 

twiggy86

That was a stressful start to the day and has possibly cost me £50! Had to drop bf's dad off for his coach (as it was near my work) except traffic was awful and I could see that he was going to be late! Thankfully when we got there, the coach had got more stuck in the traffic than we had and so wasn't there yet! However, bf's dad told me to pull in to the coach station and someone told me I will get a fine - couldn't exactly argue with bf's dad at the time given that he was running late and I just wanted to get him there and sorted! I will deal with the fine when it turns up - and I'm sure if I said either bf or his dad would give me the money.

Tonight will probably be sorting some bits around the house (stripping beds, washing towels etc) and then chilling out as bf is quite drained. (His dad is terminally ill and lives 5/6 hours away so never know when it will be the last time he sees him). Could probably do with doing a bit of food shopping tonight as out the next couple of nights so won't have a chance. 

Today's bits and bobs... 

• Make lunch to take to work 
• Update spreadsheet 
• Work on crochet present at lunch 
• Food shopping? 
• Dinner from stores 
• Sort out bf's advent calendar - need to put each day into a little bag which should be turning up today 
• Package up Etsy sale 
• Continue progressing blanket 

twiggy86

Oh in my stress I forgot to mention that I paid another £100 off my Virgin CC this morning. This means that I have now paid off 40% of my total starting debt (i.e. from June last year)! There is now £300 left on that card - still hoping to clear that by 8 December when it stops being interest free! I have £45 left budgeted for debt repayments, the £100 from the window still technically "unallocated" and a few quid here and there in my pots that I can use. For example, I have £19.50 in my fitness pot but will only need £7 for acro tomorrow so can throw the excess at the credit card. I will have a round up later in the week and make another payment (definitely prefer making smaller payments so I see progress throughout the month!) 

Sarahwithlove

Fingers crossed you manage to get enough together to make the payment in time 

twiggy86

I've seen a few people starting new diaries ahead of 2025 and it's got me thinking. I know my relationship is still pretty new (8 months) but I don't feel like my diary name is an accurate reflection any more. My debts are my mess to clear up but I certainly don't feel like I'm on my own! So maybe I will start a new one for next year with a new title, as I'm in a very different head space to a year ago. 

I also went back and looked my goals that I'd set myself for the year - not just financial, but a picture of what I wanted from my life. And on the whole, I feel like I've achieved them... even if I'd forgotten that I'd written it all down! So feeling pretty content this afternoon.