22 Foxhole East

The plasterer just rang. He starts on Monday!!
Monday is the day DS4 has his christmas performance, the car is in for its service and MOT, and the day that I know how much money I have left to do DS4s birthday and all 4 kids for Xmas.

So jobs this weekend will include:

Taking the kids to town to buy their presents for each other.
Emptying my bedroom into DS2s bedroom so that nothing gets ruined when the plasterer does the ceiling.
Strip a bit more wallpaper
Baking some stuff.

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

Can you task the smalls to do any of this Fox?

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
No, I can clear my bedroom with a little help from DH in 15 minutes. You should see me do the 'tower of hanoi' when I get the whole house carpeted in one day:T. Even the carpet fitters were amazed all the bedrooms were back where they were supposed to be before they had finished the stairs. :j

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

I hope you get some down time yourself. And I hope you have an enormous pile of presents under the tree come Christmas morning. You deserve it.

Why thank you! This morning I have finished wrapping the gifts from grandparents for the kids. I have not yet started my shopping. :eek:

I still can't find those three boxes of cards for their classmates. :mad:
This year I am doing teacher gifts, because the kids are coming along nicely. Not sure if it has anything to do with the teacher, or if they are just one year older, but DS4s teacher loves having him in the class, as he steers the discussions in the direction she hopes they will go in, and he is bringing on some of the more able kids. :T Teacher's pet. :rotfl: Only £1 manicure sets from W1lko so not breaking the bank with 1 teacher and 2 assistants, and they are easily re-giftable if they are surplus to requirements - they are also very pretty for £1. Not as nice as the coffee creams from Icyland though.

I would be most happy with some new tea towels - how pathetic is that? That would honestly be the thing that would make my life better. No diamonds here! The plastering is enough to make me happy. I might spend Xmas day cutting up a Victorian Bathrooms catalogue into what I want in the upstairs bathroom. - Gotta have a plan.

DS4 just came in asking for the 'aufornicate thing' for the wif-fi. I hope he means authenticate. :rotfl:

Got up at 6am to start stripping wallpaper - finished at 4.30 put some laundry on to launch and did some baking for lunchboxes but they have slightly burnt bottoms due to me helping DH shift his linen press out of our bedroom ready for Mr plasterer in the morning.

I just had a bath, got in, got cramp, stretched, got cramp somewhere else, muscle spasms all over the place. I am a mess.

Tomorrow I have to drop my car for the service and MOT at 8.30, sadly I will be on the school run from 8 and I have had to ask DH to drop it in for me . Then Mr Plasterer is coming at 8.45 (he says) but DS4 has his xmas performance tomorrow until 10am, so DH is coming home after dropping my car to the garage, and staying home to let the plasterer in and waiting until I get home. He is doing it with extremely bad grace.

So an evening on the sofa now, with Agatha Christie's Crooked House and a berry liqueur.

Day 3 of the plasterer. The top floor bar one wall on the stairs is done. That one will be finished tomorrow which will put him on the middle floor. He says he will finish on Friday. DS4s birthday is on Saturday. My baby will be 8. How did that happen?:(

Had a lovely supper tonight of home made falafel and salad and wraps. Much hilarity over the dining table. We were trying to come up with names we would choose for ourselves if we had to go into witness protection. DH professed we were all too silly for words. He is such a grown up sometimes.

Spent a really nice afternoon watching Chicken Run with DS1 and DS3.
DS3 was horrified to learn chickens are not monogamous.:rotfl: Such a little puritan.

Went outside into the back yard to hang out two school coats which had been attacked by the mud monster. All 3 of the drains were blocked and the whole of the back of the house was sat in a puddle, so I pulled on my marigolds, cleared the drain holes - I think the ice and snow must have taken every leaf or loose bit of mortar and thrown it down into the drain trap. So I cleared it, and got out my yard broom and swept all the water back down the hole. Mission accomplished. Go check your drains everyone!

So we are still on the sofabed downstairs, much much warmer than our bedroom. Almost too warm actually, even a couple of hours after the heating has gone off. Much more comfortable in our cooler room. Can't wait to get back into it. It is currently being used as a plaster making/storage room. However, I now know that the room is perfectly warm and comfortable for guests.

Might be going a little stir crazy though. DH says he is finishing work at 3pm tomorrow so might leg it on Friday morning and brave the madness of town - I have things to take back to shops that people have sent as presents for the kids that are for the wrong ages. I do wonder why they bother sometimes.

I was out of the house by 8.20 this morning, did Aldi, returned a gift to Next for a gift card returned smellies to Lush for a lot of bathbombs, glittery stuff and henna. Went to the market, had to run back to my car as I only paid for an hour's parking and I was ten minutes late!!!

I also managed to parallel park really well twice today, like a proper grown up who knows how to parallel park. Shocked and stunned!! Probably won't be able to recreate this feat anytime soon.

Took DS3 to order his glasses - two pairs have mysteriously disappeared from school. If my child came home with a pair of glasses, I would have words to say to them, they are no use whatsoever to anyone else but DS3. Poor thing. Totally unexpectedly they put a rush on them and they were ready in one hour. He is not taking these ones off, even for football, and they glow in the dark.

Last bits of food shopping done, ice-cream in the freezer, plenty of food in the house.

All plastering completed on top and middle floors. Patch plastering done on
the main areas of destruction caused by electricians in the front room. It all looks fabulous. Waiting for it to dry will be torture.

DS4 found a friend in the plasterer. He absolutely adores him and asked him not to leave!! I will get him back to do the bathroom once I have saved up again. DS3 and DS4 even helped him pack up his van. If a 7 and 9 yr old can be called help.

I have loaded up DHs car with stuff that needs to go to the tip, but I didn't make it today.

Tomorrow is DS4s birthday. I will get up early and put his cake in the oven before breakfast.

Right, I need my bed. and DS1 has just stuck his head in the door and says he may well be ill tonight. He feels sick. Joy!