On your marks, get set, go...it's the countdown to Christmas 2020. Thread 1!

[ThatsMySantaHisBeardIsSoFluffy]

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Afternoon.

Here we go again! It feels slightly bonkers setting off again before today is over, but it's tradition, so who am I to argue?!

Evening.

Mrs they seem to want to see if the abx work rather than go straight to surgery. Tbh I can't afford to have surgery anytime soon. Dh works a lot and someone would need to be around for dc.

Thanks everyone for their thoughts. I really do appreciate it.

Just watched the Christmas episode of The Repair shop ahhh it is so lovely
Nero , l think you must do whatever is right for you m'dear l so hope this sorts it all out for you

I didn't know you don't drink, Wreck. Is that a health thing?

Mrs, you prompted me to find that on iPlayer. I ❤️❤️❤️ that programme.

Neros, what's the recovery like for an appendix op? I'm assuming it's keyhole?

Hi all 👋 We've been travelling around rural north Scotland and have been basically without phone signal for a few days. It's been amazing, DH and I have talked and played games like we haven't for years.

Today we travelled from John O'Groats to Dores in Loch Ness. If anyone is ever here, please go to Cameron's Tea Room for the / hot choc and homemade cake, its amazing.
I've added some pics from the trip, it's such a beautiful country.

I haven't been able to fully catch up on the thread because signal keeps dropping in and out.
Nero I hope you're feeling better.

I caught the resolutions posts - my goals for 2020 is to lose as much weight as possible and move house / increase savings as much as possible. Aim is to be physically and financially ready to tackle fertility treatment in 2021.

Crazy your pics are just wonderful and your comments about really connecting with your Dh by playing games and talking like you haven't for years, it sounds idyllic. I can only wish you the very best in your quest to be a Mum , honestly it will give us all so much happiness for you both. Lucky baby with you for parents my dear l mean that
Fluffy l'm so glad l told you l saw the Repair shop , that beautiful teddy did it for me but what an amazing job they did on that chopper bike !! Absolutely fantastic the work involved in that and it looked like brand spanking new . l love the Repair shop it's such gentle, nostalgic TV

Fanny are you sure?
They were very hard to ride , l can remember falling off them many a time , my cousin had one , l didn't , we just couldn't afford one. They were a lot of money then! l am talking about 1971 l was 10 and doing my cycling proficiency test in school . l am still very proud to say l passed it with flying colours despite not owning a bike myself and having to borrow a bike from my best friend Colin , he had a boys bike with the bar through it to the handlebars and it hurt when l fell onto it , l can remember the pain now crosses legs
Better shift to bed up to Mum's in the morning , have a good nights sleep everyone

Crazy your goals are amazing and I'm sure you'll smash them

Dd still can't ride a bike. DH never takes her out to try and I'm considering paying a company to do it. Ds is super speedy and has been riding without stabilisers since he was 3. My mum got him a speedometer and lights for his bike for Christmas.

Fluffy I've never been a massive drinker but since going low carb it makes me sick. Also I can't bear the feeling the next day it's just not worth it for me.

Today ds has a football festival where all of the children from the club training academy go and play matches against each other. He's really excited so hopefully he won't be too shy once we get there!

Beautiful pic of the beach crazy! Good luck with getting everything ready for 2021, hopefully in a year or two you will be having the thread baby :)

I am not making resolutions but rather things I am going to try to be better at, mainly environment based. Have just made our first order with Little Green Refills who are based in Abergavenny but deliver across Gwent Mrs and Crazy! Basically a milkman but for household cleaning items such as washing up liquid, laundry powder, shampoo etc. They just keep refilling your bottles.

Also going to grow more of our own fruit and veg and also use the local plastic free greengrocer as fruit and veg is probably the biggest source of our single use plastic.

Am also going to continue to buy second hand clothes where possible. This year I have only bought one dress new and that was with my birthday money. Have bought about 5 second hand and they are all in fab condition.

Have also contacted the Food Bank and offered my time and am going to do my best to avoid Amazon and shop local instead.

The challenge is going to be being organised about it. It's much easier to pop to Aldi or order something on Amazon so need to plan my shopping in advance.

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Morning!

Wreck, our two just aren't interested in bikes. DD got it, had a wobble then gave up. DS adored his balance bike but didn't transfer his amazing balance to a pedal bike. I don't think he's ever been on the bloody thing. Maybe they'll be more interested when they're older!

Emrys, I like your environmental approach. It sounds really good.

Flouncy, I'm quite clumsy (and getting clumsier!). I regularly have bruises!

Crazy, gorgeous photos! I'm sure you'll smash your resolutions too. You seem to have a bit more fire about you this year, I think.

Morning everyone 😀
Am watching a repeat of the sewing bee on Bbc2 😄 with a cup of tea ☕
I love it! In fact last night l was wondering when the next series was, l think it's of the same genre as the repair shop, full of nostalgia, so one seemlessly led on to the other 🤗
Am off to Mum's in a mo , hopefully she will be happy enough this morning 🤗
I want to get back to normal food. l feel so full. I had to take Gaviscon last night because of the cheese & crackers l inhaled last night. 🐷😋🤪🙄😄
Em l think your plans sound amazing well done m'dear. We have always used the milkman it just doesn't seem right not to. It's more expensive but l don't like the thought of the plastic bottles forever laying in the ground, polluting the earth , animals and ourselves so l applaud your dedication to being so caring towards the environment 👏👏👏👍
Great work!
Better shift have a great day everyone 😀

I've had to dip in and out.

My goals for 2020 are to find ways to volunteer and help more in the community. I've already contacted someone from age UK about opportunities. I also want to get my novel completed and ready for sending to agents.
We also want to save £5000 towards a deposit, more if we can

I've set a goal of putting aside £10 a month so I can help out a local school in case they collect for toys etc again next year. This year they had so many families that would be going without. It's a very deprived area.
I'm also looking to put £7-10 a week aside for us. Maybe more if both me and DH start working.

Football was good. I could feel ds tensing up and shaking as we were walking in. When he went to go onto the pitch he cane back and said it can't do it ' but he did! And he really enjoyed himself. He was even talking and laughing with children he'd never met before.

Afternoon everyone! My auntie threw a New Years party last night (as everyone does their own thing at new year). I had one too many and am feeling a bit worse for wear this morning. So will only pop in quickly.

My New Years resolution is to start saving some money as I have absolutely no savings.

Ah, Wreck, your DS sounds so much like mine including the naughtiness issue!

Sewing Bee is lovely and calming, Mrs. ❤️

I'm on the way home from work now, on a rammed train. The ones between 4-5 always are as they're 3 car, which is stupid. But that's Merseyrail for you! Even shorter hours tomorrow as it's 10-4. Good stuff!

Flouncy, how was your day? Did you sort your electricity / gas swap yet?!

Thanks! He's been well behaved today hopefully he's turned a corner. I'm so pleased honestly, it was only two months ago he was clinging onto dh's leg the whole session refusing to join in. After today's festival he asked if he could do it again, the next one isn't until half term though.

Meatballs for dinner. Swedish for me and Italian for everyone else.

Fluffy I don't envy you being on a packed train

I had to stand for the full 30-ish minutes. My knee really hurt afterwards (I fell up some stairs on 19 Dec I'm not to be trusted with stairs and whacked it really bloody hard, so it's still bruised / sore).

Flouncy, what an exciting plan for the new year! I need to look at swapping DH's mobile contract next week. There aren't many good deals though (or not with providers that offer WiFi calling, AND we qualify for cashback as a new customer!). I'll have to keep looking!

We're getting new trains next year, flouncy. They're bigger AND have fewer seats. Clever. 🙄

I’m glad everything is going well with your little boy wreck

fluffy trains are awful here, the kids and I went to Coventry in the summer on the train and I had to stand with all 4 kids next to the loo because of how packed they were.

What are everyone’s plans for tomorrow? I’m not a big New Years fan myself, and the kids go to sleep before 12 so I’m just staying in and might order a Chinese, but that’s about as exciting as it gets

Well done Wreck's DS!

We just had an amazing evening at a local National Trust property who were doing a lights event. DS fell asleep once in bed in about 30 seconds.

Just another quick check in from me. We're back in the land of 4G and WiFi! We're in Edinburgh today ready for Hogmanay tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it, we have tickets to the ceilidh under the castle.

The Christmas market is still here so we had a walk around it today. I've posted pics but they're a bit rubbish sorry.
It's huge and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lovely way to wrap up Christmas and move on to New Year.

Thank you for the good wishes with the resolutions. I def feel fired up ready for 2020. I made a big start on my weight this year (but wasn't as focused as I could / should have been) and financially we are stable and have savings but again, not as focused as we could have been and we spent £££ on the holiday of a lifetime in the summer!

Emrys I'll be researching Little Green Refills, please report back how you find them.

Wreck how brave of your ds to be so nervous about the festival and do it anyway!

Fluffy & flouncy I hope your aches go away quickly!

Your train issues sound like home. Arriva Trains Wales are rubbish - you get 2 carriages from Cardiff whether it a normal Tuesday at 3pm or 7pm on a Saturday after a rugby match or gig at the stadium.
Not too long ago Cardiff hosted a gig, a rugby match and a football match on the same day - and the trains remained 2 bloody carriages!

Wreck, your DS does sound lovely!

Flouncy, you do sound very similar to me. I'm very much a danger to myself these days! 🙈

Crazy, lovely photos again. What a brilliant time you're having!