Countdown to Christmas 2023: get past the post-Christmas slump by thinking about the next one! (Thread 1.)

[NoWordForFluffy]

364

Morning (just)!

I failed at eating yesterday which meant I got blotto far too early and wasn't well. Oops! 🙈

But we had a great time anyway and I avoided having to tidy up!

Countdown to next year is go go go! 🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻🎄🎅🏻

I was at work this morning, visited mum on the way home and have just cooked toad in the hole and roast potatoes. I am not bothered too much by mother's day but my son actually bought me a present which is a rare occurrence.

280

Morning!

It's very wet here. The rain woke me overnight it was so heavy. While it wasn't raining heavily for the dog walk, there were many very large puddles and it was still raining lightly. Ddog loves the wet, so was in his element!

I am tired and have a headache which I woke with yesterday and hasn't gone yet. I've succumbed to tablets today.

Disappointingly, we didn't win the lottery at the weekend, so I'm back at my desk today!

Afternoon. I'm going to skate over Mother's Day as it's a hard day for many, and mine was rubbish thanks to dm.

I did get my timings in a muddle and ended up with some time to kill so went to a local 'sell everything as a bargain' shop and stumbled on half a Christmas aisle. Took a pic just for the thread

Weather here is terrible, and I'm suddenly really frustrated with the stuff that needs doing around the house (both cleaning and DIY) so mood isn't great.

Work is also being annoying - I was hoping for a lottery win too Fluffy but sadly it wasn't forthcoming 😫

And as ever, I forgot the bloody photo!

erm, the weather here is lovely.

Why inspired by you, we've just had Aunt Bessie Toad in the Hole, roasters and baked beans for lunch. 'twas yummy.

V quiet here. DH can barely croak. I've had paracetomol with beer. I've decided on "Kill or cure" at this point.
I couldn't sleep for coughing last night, so was cross stitching at 1am.

Crazy what did you buy?

I am very impressed you used my Sunday dinner as inspiration Puss.

We had an M&S vegan filo and butter.nut squash pie (chicken for DS and the Catz, vegan chicken for DD ) , M&S herbed potatoes , roast potatoes (I made) , carrot and brochili , a vegeatable bake , yorkshire puddings and gravy.
DS sort of helped

DS isn't well and DH has the same lurgy .
I told DS , much as I love him , to keep his little germs to himself .

Loving the Christmas Aisle in , urm , late March Crazy

279

Afternoon!

Busy day here. Had a mentor session at work which was really useful in helping to plan where my career may go next. Hopefully it will bear fruit.

It's still nice and light here, which is lovely. I do enjoy the lighter, longer, days.

Ddog is teething, poor sod. He's a proper land shark now with all of his teeth!

Evening. Chilly over here tonight, I've resorted to my thick Christmas socks.

puss technically I didn't buy anything from the Christmas aisle.
My loophole here is that I had dniece with me and she bought a Christmas decoration for both her brothers and her mum

Is there a clear progression path where you work now Fluffy or will you need to move at some point?
Mine is all on hold at the minute as new boss is a PITA and my mind just isn't in the right place for it.

Attempting to get my cross stitch mojo back tonight - I'm making myself start on the second half of my WIP (the spring New England homes one). Wish me luck!

No clear progression, unless you want people management, which I don't! I'm kind of asking for a role to be created for me. 😳🙈🤣 Don't ask, don't get, though.

I have well and truly lost the cross stitch mojo. One day I'll get it back!

278

We went to bed at 9, and I got up (hacking my lungs up) at 2.
My sea holly shore pic (heritage) is coming on well as I had 4 solid hours stitching.
Crazy nice to know you're training your niece in the appropriate manner.
fluffy good luck with the job. V much in favour of "don't ask, don't get" DH managed to get a pt job when they wanted ft by asking nicely and digging his site boots in

Evenng- I've had soup made from Things Out Of The Freezer . Roasted carrots,leeks and potatoes ( I roast any random vegetables when the oven is on and freeze them). Damn nice it was too

I have a couple of days off <hurrah> so I can listen to the alarm tomorrow and ignore it .

Then I'll drop DS off at the gym, drop off recycling and replace my tyre valve caps tht some git had swiped

Agree with the don't ask, don't get approach Fluffy.
My aim is slightly similar to yours - I have one step up I want to go for which is a more technical role but I hate people management.

puss my niece didn't take much convincing - everything she chose was covered in glitter

Stolen tyre valve caps 70? How annoying!

My day has been busy. Work is non stop, I used my lunch break to put some washing on and do a top up shop, finished work then finally got the propagator going (tomatoes), plus a tray of other sends (lavender & echinacea for my planter and broccoli because DH has requested I try and grow it).

DH rolled his eyes at me and asked me how many plants in pots I have in the conservatory right now. Including my trays, I got to 20 and stopped counting

Tomorrow I'm potting the lemon tree into a bigger pot and my cactus into the old lemon tree pot.
I also have some sweet pea seeds I need to decide what to do with (they were a gift from my neighbour opposite - he's a very keen gardener and saw the 2 little pots of flowers I've put out the front).

I agree re don't ask, don't get. I wouldn't have been brave enough when I first started here, but I'm 2.5 years in now, so have a bit more confidence! Plus I'm pissed off doing what I do.

Puss, I hope you get better soon; it sounds miserable.

70, valve cap theft? Retro!

Crazy, I'm sowing my tomatoes and chillies next month. Once the chitting potatoes are out of the way (they're in the propagator at the moment, as it's the only space we have!), they'll be sown.

277 hello. Bloody miserable weather here - sunny and clear switching very quickly to grey and heavy rain and back every hour-ish. I got soaked walking the dog earlier 🙄

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your custom made job fluffy 🤞🏼

We had a big meeting which was essentially a few presentations back to back with no participation required so I took my lap top downstairs and did some potting on for part of it.
Back to the desk, spreadsheets and feeling cold now though.

276

Morning!

I thought I'd posted yesterday. But no! 🙈 I thought about it. 🤣

Nice and sunny here today. For now! It was wild and windy at about 6am as it woke me. Seems ok now, however.

DH keeps having badly-timed rain as he does the evening dog walk. I got wet yesterday morning, with unexpected rain (I had a hoody on, not a coat). 🙄

Crazy if you've got some bamboo canes and a wide-ish pot you could make a "wigwam" to train the sweetpeas up. I tend to grow mine in a few smaller pots then wait until they're bigger to transplant outside. They're fairly robust, we had flowers on ours until November last year which is when my 3 of my camellias dropped every blinkin' bud. Grr.
fluffy DH went for his first walk this month yesterday, he was feeling a bit better - he got soaked too. 🤦‍♀️
His voice is still squeaky 🤭 and the cats are a bit wary of him 😺 but at least he can talk, I'm now voiceless so they're (inc DH) ignoring me completely.

275

Good morning all!

Busy Saturday ahead..I need to get out and tidy up the garden, clean the bathrooms (properly, not just a daily swish through) plough through the laundry etc etc...

What's everyone else up to?

Morning

Plan for today -
supermarket shop , DH is going to the gym so I'll meet him after
got a load of washing on at the moment
I did a visit to Costco yesterday so that is taken care of . I do love Costco , the trolleys are a dream , but I go in with a list and end up buying random stuff as well . Not the massive olive trees that were in the covered area though ! There was a 6xpack of Whiitards Hot Chocolate for £20ish (6x120g) it's £28 on the Whittards site . I don't like flavoured hot chocolate though .

Dry (so far) and very windy . I fed my plants yesterday , hoping that the Passionflower has survived . I had to cut it back last year after the really hot spell it looked ropey . There's a green stem so fingers crossed .

Oh , I forgot to add:

Happy Rudolph Day

When DD and I were in H&M they had some festive gift packs at the till ( bathbombs /hair baubles type) she didn't even say "It's MARCH " but I could sense the words bubbling away in her cranium .

(TBF they were pretty mangled looking . I suppose if you like the contents you could ignore the packaging , but you wouldn't buy them to stock up as gifts )

Morning!

It's a day of washing and cleaning here. And, totally without trying, I'm doing something Christmassy for Rudolph Day and making my mincemeat! (My mum wants a jar and we're down at Easter, so need to get it made.)

Brilliant Fluffy
Random festive cooking co-incides with Rudolph Day
And the solar system is at peace as the planets align

I haven't mentioned to DS that three months ago was Christmas Day , I think he'd just grunt at me . I'll tell hm it's nine months till this Christmas instead then run away -not very fast admittedly .

I’ve been food shopping but still need to put it away. One load of washing is finished and I need to do the bedding and a white wash. Dh is working all weekend. I’ve got a horrendous amount of uni work to do too. At least the house is relatively clean. Dd actually asked to go for a walk and I had to say no as I really don’t have time. Hopefully she can go for a wander to the shop with ds later.

I've just finished the Sainsburys Big Shop. the points are adding up nicely, we've already got enough to pay for Christmas Dinner (based on last year's prices) plus a bit more.

It looks like a good drying day here weather wise, I'm just wondering whether it will still be like this in a couple of hours if so I can dry the bedding on the line 😀

We have 3 loads of washing on the line. Breezy and sunny = perfect drying day.

Tribe, I've £228 in points after spending £40 on booze, which apparently isn't on par with last year, but they're not doing too badly!