Settling in for the long haul

Dakota_Rose

Yesterday was indeed a no spend day and a much needed lazy day at home. As a family, we caught up on two episodes of the traitors and just have Friday night’s to watch now.
Littlest has coughed and spluttered on me so many times now, I feel like I’m being murdered in plain sight myself 😂 🙈. He can’t help it, and has been really quite poorly in the night, but I cannot afford to have any time off work this week so it’s stressing me out!

Today will be another fairly quiet day I think. We have some shopping needed but I don’t think it’s fair to take littlest out in public so will need to ask Mr D to go alone.

I think an afternoon nap may be called for today.

DancingInTheRain

The description of littlest's cough made me laugh 😂 hope he's on the mend now and that you got your nap x

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82172606#Comment_82172606

He’s doing great - it’s left me wrecked 😂! I had a short nap and just back from a bracing walk with the dog and Little Miss. It felt quite warm to begin with but my face felt frozen halfway round.

It’s felt like a real downer of a weekend. Not sure why; most probably the lack of sleep. I think as we know we’re properly off from next weekend, we’ve felt that we needed to be frugal too. Can’t spend money if you don’t go anywhere!

Hopefully we’ll end feeling a little perkier. I’ve got a chicken roasting in the oven and homework and uniforms are all done ready for the morning.

Blackcats

I hope you fight off the germ fest. Roast chicken will lift your spirits!

Did you watch The Book that Changed my Life on BBC2 last week? I thought it was inspiring and thoroughly enjoyed the celebration of the power of reading.

DancingInTheRain

Pleased he's okay, we've just had a chicken dinner too, a great way to round off the weekend ☺️

Not long until Friday and a lovely week off…

Dakota_Rose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82172772#Comment_82172772

I didn’t @Blackcats but will try and make time to watch it on catchup soon. Books really are life changing at times aren’t they? If nothing else they’ve filled the gap when money has been non-existent and/or times have felt tough.

I think a thread on books that have been life changing would be a brilliant chat!

Dakota_Rose

A long but productive day has been had at work. I went in feeling very anxious and a bit overwhelmed at everything on the list, but cut out one non-essential thing that would’ve taken up 3 hours of my time and just gave myself permission to catch up with my own to-do list. I’m glad I did that as it also meant I was more available to my team who needed a chance to check in for different reasons too.

There were also a couple of really joyful moments - 🙌.

Coming home in the dark to a big pot of Mr D’s creamy chicken risotto was so nice. All that is left to do is finish my book and enjoy a cosy hour before bed. Littlest has an awful cough lingering so I think it may be another interrupted night of sleep.

4 more get ups before a much needed 9-day break from work 😮‍💨. I hope everyone else’s week has got off to a good start x

Dakota_Rose

The bad news is littlest’s cough started up badly at bedtime and by the time I’d made it upstairs with a drink for him, the poor thing had been sick all over himself and the bedding. Persistent coughs are no fun at all.

The good news is I did manage to finish my book whilst Mr D was doing the bedtime story upstairs. I’ll write my brief review while laying next to littlest - he’ll be in with me for the rest of the night now.

The book I’ve started and finished this past week is called Close to Home by Michael Magee. It’s set in working class West Belfast and gives an incredibly vivid depiction of the young character’s life - a lad who has got such potential for a successful life but falls back into bad habits with childhood friends. It involves trauma, violence and drugs but has a real vulnerable and loving human side too. Quite a hard read in places but I found myself being drawn to picking it back up often. I’d rate it 9.5/10.

Dakota_Rose

26 books for 2026

1.You Are Here (easy read) 9/10

2. The Seven Murders of Evelyn Hardcastle (time-travelling murder mystery) 9.5/10

3. Love Untold (ending made a middling read worthwhile) 8/10

4. Way Back (engaging easy read with a farm theme and a few typos) 8.5/10

5. The Cuckoo’s Calling (first of the Strike detective novels) 8.5/10

6. Yellowface (‘too awful to look away’ page-turner) 10/10

7. A Thousand Splendid Suns (emotive, heavy but worthwhile read) 10/10

8. Before the coffee gets cold (Japanese coffee-shop time-travelling scenarios) 8/10

9. Us Three (screenplay-style friendship story) 9/10

10. The Twyford Code (a puzzle within a puzzle) 9/10

11. The Shock of the Fall (first person narrative with flashbacks - includes childhood trauma told sensitively and with humour woven throughout) 8/10

12. Guilty (lots of shock factor details, but predictable storyline) 7.5/10

13. The Falls (Scottish detective novel) 8.5/10

14. The Examiner (murder mystery told through emails and messages) 8.5/10

15. First Blood (prequel to a favourite detective series) 10/10

16. We Solve Murders (cosy murder mystery) 8.5/10

17. A Court of Thorns and Roses (fantasy romance) 9/10

18. A Court of Mist and Fury (second in the ACOTAR series) 9/10

19. A Court of Wings and Ruin (third in the series, loved it) 10/10

20. A Court of Frost and Starlight (fourth in the series, bridging book - easy read) 9/10 since found out this was a Christmas special.

21. A Court of Silver Flames (fifth in series - loved this one exploring different characters with big attitudes 😂) 10/10

22. A Throne of Glass (first of what promises to be a new epic series - blood, guts with a bit of magic and majesty) 8/10

23. Close to Home (heartbreaking and heartwarming Irish novel) 9.5/10

Dakota_Rose

Almost humpday…

Nothing spent today. Leftover risotto warmed up for lunch at work was MSE and tasty. Eldest is back at work and youngest two are now down and out with a headcold. My days are numbered 😭.

Might start a new book tonight if I can stay awake long enough. Still plenty on my TBR shelf.