Decedantly damcing towards December - frugaleering Christmas ahoy!

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girlie dd is clearly too cool. I think she will totally change her mind by Dec 1st! Mine can't wait to get srarted. It's the only 3 weeks of the year I can get ds up first time, every morning.

Spent £7 in the co-op as dp forgot milk. Tea was on the table cold when we got home. Roasties, pork shoulder steak and mediterranean veggies.

I'm putting exploding kittens on eBay as it was played once in our house. Happy to post to you girlie.

Do it em. I love luncheon gym.

For the first time ever I'm a bit stumped about what to buy ds for Christmas. Normally I have a huge list of things that would be great for him, but he seems to be okay for things at the moment.

NSD

Girlie we backed exploding kittens on Kickstarter and were very excited waiting for it. We didn’t like it when it arrived and it was promptly sold.
What sort of game mechanisms or themes does dd like and I will have a think about what goes down well here

Hello fizzy.

Glad the gig went well unescorted, great that you've got another one! I'm going to claim that I know a 'sleb now😂.

Take care of yourself cag xxx

Sometimes, 'buying' extra time is better for the family em. One of the reasons I have a cleaner.

Pleased the party went well girlie, I know how much hard work they are, we've done a huge NYE one for years, but they are worth it too.

curvy, I get it - I miss having DS to myself, he was around constantly over the summer and he was my buddy.

Talking of DS, he's announced a wish for a pressie. He never does, so I'm relieved - a Nintendo Switch, something he can share with his flatmates. Pricey, but we are doing a strict 'no tat' rule, and I think that would justify the extra.

£74 on fuel today, I was on fumes......
£22 fruit and veg delivery. Huge....

Menu plan
Tonight - home made pizza.
Tomorrow - vegan shepherds pie.
Wednesday - easy tea (all out).
Thursday - parsnip, cauliflower and chick pea korma.
Thursday - baked mushrooms, parsnip and leek mash
Friday - fennel and lemon risotto.
Saturday - pesto pasta with roasted vegetables.

Have had an awful day with DD. She hasn't been this bad in probs about 6 weeks or so. She has a cold so I'm telling myself it's because she's unwell but it's a throwback to how she always used to be so I'm terrified she will stay like this...crying almost all the time she is awake, fighting sleep for hours even though clearly tired, bouts of full-on ragey screaming etc. Feel absolutely exhausted and at the end of my tether after just one day of it. DH should be home in a few mins thank God but she is often asleep much of the evening so he gets peace even then . Got her to go to sleep after trying for like an hour and a half .

On the plus side, DH passed his driving theory test.

We love Exploding Kittens. We have the normal version and the NSFW version (altho tbh it's not crude or anything, just a bit more gory). I especially love it because I nearly almost win, no matter who I play with. The first few times I played I won even though we played with friends and it was their game. I'm usually rubbish at games so I revel in this !

I'd loooove a cleaner. But no spare funds for one. I'll have a rethink when I go back to work but probably still not.

If it ties in with the cold. Sounds like it's that meadow and should pass

Hi Fizzy.

£4 pizza for dh.
£65 vet. Cat has a UTI.

No matched betting today, but need to crack on now the cats pissed down the stairs and we need to replace the carpet with something washable.

meadow have you got these? When ds has hosforst cold these were a life saver. I was using books but then realised I was a) ruining books and b) wanted to read said books.

I also put a bowl of boiling water in his room. He’s got one in there at present as he’s got a cough.

Do you have a calpol diffuser? We were given one. I think it works but put duct tape over the light. It’s brighter than the actual sun

Have packed up the box to go to nz. Wrapped every present and done gift tags.

just I need to look into the new gym. I might take a trip there tomorrow. A gym hating colleague goes there. She likes it. I’m hoping it’ll be nice. But dh is right. I should check it out before I spend.

My amazon subscribe and save things have arrived. Postie left them in our garage. We are now the proud owners of 64 toilet rolls 50 kitchen paper rolls two massive boxes of washing powder and 90 dishwasher tablets.

I may need to reduce the frequency of orders....

I’m not sure about a cleaner. I’m managing quite well with it at present. Have said to dh we need to review in the new year. It would buy time.

Em Does your company do corporate membership? If not why not? There must be a study out there that says companies with corporate memberships have lower absenteeism.

fluffy nope. I’ve suggested maybe at one of the cheaper gyms.

The one literally next door to us is £120 a month. They’ll do corp membership but only on the 11th staff member joining. Also you have to pay for every class. And to use the additional equipment. The £120 pcm is essentially just for the cardio room. Which is teeny.

The one I’m thinking about is £46 a month. Or £520for the year (which works out cheaper) or £12 a time. All classes included in membership and full gym access.

I will ask again though. Even if they were to give us say £100 a year towards a membership that’s be awesome.

I’m planning on asking for an extra 10 minutes at lunch on gym days though. So I can get there changed class or gym and back again and still eat.

Will see.

Have had an email from Hermes. Apparently my parcel has been delivered and left in a secure location. I have ordered something. So know they do have one for me. But I can’t find the parcel. Not in the garage. Not out front (that I can see - it is dark!) and not out back.

I’m going to have to text my Hermes lady tomorrow morning. Sigh.

I would love a cleaner but can't afford one. It would be nice to have everything done at once - I find that I do a few bits each day, fitted around work and it is never 'all clean' at the same time.

I had some vouchers come today from Tesco - quite useful things mostly for things I buy, which isn't always the case with them. I will have to resist the '£2.50 off chocolate if you spend £10 on chocolate' though...

Check your bin em as even though it is such an unsafe place that’s where they sometimes leave it 🙄

Welcome Fizzy. That’s probably quite a good voucher in the run up to Christmas... keeping the chocolate until Christmas is a different matter 😀

Popping back while I am sitting up anyway... I did not avoid the vomiting bug 😭

born the bin lives inside the garage....so they would have had to go in the garage to put it in the bin so why not just leave it in the garage..::although I did open it last night as had to chuck a lot of the packaging which came with the amazon stuff so would have seen a parcel.

I’ve got the number for my local courier lady so will send her a text at a more reasonable hour.

cag oh no!!! Hope you feel better soon xxx is dh around to help with the caglets so you can rest?

Post office today to send the box to nz. Anyone want to take bets on the cost?!

Gws cag.

Em I’d say £35

Cag it’s lovely to see you. Sorry to hear your got the unspeakable word virus too

Morning all. Nearly in the big smoke. Feel shocking and we’re going to have a doozy of a day going by me emails this morning. Yikes

Unescorted so glad it went well for you

About £40 em.
Good luck wolf. I'm on the early train tomorrow to the big smoke. Must book my ticket

Morning all. It's a stormy one here. The wind is howling around the house.

We did some flower arranging at our ladies club yesterday, with an emphasis on Christmas flower arrangements. The lady who did it raffled off some of her lovely creations and I won a carnation in a bean tin . It was one of the lesser creations/prizes.

Then we made some wonky fabric flowers and I paid €5 for a frame so I can make a picture with my wonky flowers.

Today I've to pick up some veg for DD 'cos she's making veg soup in Home Ec. And also a multi pack of Hula Hoops for a donation she's making to a charity box in school. Hopefully someone else will put in something more practical .

Unescorted well done on your gig - that took guts. And you must have been a hit if they've asked you back!

Lovely to see you Meadow. Sorry Meadow Jr.'s not too well.

Cag hope the vomiting bug clears away quickly. Sounds like you've been through a rough patch.

life well done on the kallax bartering

em poor DS! Did he wake up with a black eye?

Seacow great result with the roast chicken dinner! Hopefully it wasn't a one-off.

Girlie sounds like a fab party and you have some lovely treats to look forward to with the spa vouchers etc.

north good to hear you've the holiday booked. Something to look forward to. You just need to save for it now.

Oh no Cag that's the last thing you need. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Should be NSD today.

Am I the only person who’d like to see the carnation in a bean tin prize? Sounds like fun though Tayto. A local place here is doing a Christmas wreath-making course hosted by a local florist. Sounds lovely but £45! I don’t think I can really justify that...

Sorry you have the bug too Cag, hopefully the worst is over now.

Meadow I’m sure it’s just a blip, they do have those sorts of days from time to time (especially if they’re not feeling well). It’s very stressful but I’m sure it won’t be like that all the time from now on. Hope today is better.

I have my day with just DD today. I am happy that she’s playing with toys a bit and not just demanding books! The current favourite is the little wooden brio dog on a string which she pulls along. An oldie but goodie!

I am a bit grumpy because I have an infected eye lid and conjunctivitis. Apart from it being rather uncomfortable I look awful. And I have work tomorrow and the first presentation of my project to the board .

Need to cook a couple of days’ worth of dinners today. Chicken arrabiata with pasta for tonight (with leftover roast chicken) and cottage pie for tomorrow. It’s lovely to have an easy dinner ready after a long day.

I really need to book our flights and hotel for India in February. I’ve just been feeling so conflicted about leaving the DCs that I’ve been putting it off

Here ya go Seacow (see pic). It was the first one she made and she did it to demonstrate that you don't need fancy containers - you can use everyday household objects. Maybe I should encourage her to join the frugaleers . She also made bigger, more luxurious flower arrangements in flower boxes.

I must have missed your post about India. Is it a work trip? Or just a holiday for you and DH?

I forgot to say that I took advantage of some of the Black Friday offers. I didn't go too crazy though. I bought myself a handbag reduced from €45 - €31.50. I also bought two Christmas presents. One was reduced and the other had no reduction but offered free postage (they normally charge extra for postage). The presents arrived this morning so I'm going to wrap them shortly. I'm trying to wrap as I go. I considered joining the Christmas Countdown thread because I love Christmas, but let's face it, I struggle to keep up with this one.