The Lockdown Saving and Spending Continues! May Frugaleers continued

[LaneBoy]

New thread!

Thanks, I’ll get DH to request that then. Will give extra incentive to make sure the hall tidying is finished and maintained 😳 I’m not too worried about the virus TBF (although I’ve heard about having a negative antibody test when they’d been convinced they’d had it, so...) but find it stressful having new people in, change etc. However I also think that if we wait until normal life resumes it’ll be harder to fit in and probably more stressful.

I’d probably take the plunge Lane, ‘normal’ is quite a way off and sounds as though you need it now. Poor DH, and that must be tough on all of you.

I had a better sleep than normal - I felt dreadful yesterday evening, possibly sugar withdrawal or more likely the DC (both were very testy yesterday, DS didn’t ever recover from his meltdown in the morning and was screechy and tearful all day, and had several other meltdowns). I was very relieved to finally sit down at 10pm, went to bed at 11, which is quite early for me.

I’ve just cut DS’s hair and I feel as though I’ve run a marathon. He’s very upset with me now but it does actually look pretty good. He’s quite a handsome chap as it happens (thanks to DH’s genes!) so I’m enjoying gazing upon him again .

I didn’t achieve much on my to-do list yesterday so need to renew efforts today. Off to clean dining table and floor (hair everywhere), downstairs loo (DS accident) and stick some washing on. Then batch make some of DS’s favourite veggie pasta sauce.

I bought DD’s uniform online for starting school nursery in September and it’s just arrived. Mostly from Sainsburys or Next, bit from M&S (nowhere seemed to have everything in stock). I can’t get over her teeny uniform cardigan 😍. I’m going to enjoy sticking name labels in everything - that’s when I feel most like a PROPER MUM! I only bought grey leggings, plain white polos and school colour jumpers (no logo stuff - it doesn’t go down to a small enough size), plus socks and whatnot, and it was well over £100 . I did buy 8 pairs of leggings though, in expectation of having to leave plenty of spares at nursery for accidents (no nappies allowed unless SN, and she’s still really scared of toilet training so I’m afraid she’s still going to be learning on the job).

Right, need to move. I’d do much better with some music on but the DC go mad if I sing along 🙄 and I can’t help it!

lane do it now. The sooner it’s done the sooner you can stop worrying about it.

Lazy day here. I stayed in bed until 1030. Then had shower etc. Played with dc for a bit then started on my assignment (again). Dm called and asked coukd they pop round. This was around 1215. So it was action stations get everyone else dressed etc and have a quick tidy up.

Dparents stopped for lunch (just sandwiches) and played with the dc. After they’d gone we went for a short walk (ds took his bike - he is fast!!!!)

Then home. Ds and I baked some cupcakes - chocokate ones - and then he went for a nap. I promised him that after nap he could help me decorate them.

Dd has also had a nap so I’ve cracked on with assignment. 4315 words now. Wahoooo.

No idea what’s for dinner yet.

Definitely go for it Lane. Sorry to hear dh is struggling.
Have had a lovely weekend here, much needed after a bit of a down week. Saturday morning was grocery shopping & delivering it as per covid usual. Mum & dad are very appreciative though so that makes me feel better. I've had ds getting NDN's shopping so that saves me a job. She gives us a bottle of red every week for doing it! Our groceries were £135, which is better than our recent efforts.
Started upcycling a chair yesterday with chalk paint. It looks good now but needs waxing. I already had everything I needed so no new cost. If it works out okay, then the kitchen chairs and our bedroom furniture will be next.

Today we went over to meet my aunty for a distanced walk which was lovely. We ate sandwiches overlooking Morecambe Bay with the Lake District hills clear as day in the background, just what we needed. Dc are prepping barbeque food for tea & this week's meal plan has been taken over by them & dh which will make a very pleasant change.

My meal plan went out the window with an impromptu BBQ. £10 on ice cream and charcoal at a wildlife centre.
£45 back from mil for shopping.
No other spends today.
That's a lie £45 filling the car up.

Lots of walking today, nice weather again.

Working week tomorrow again. Boo

Busy but nice day here, we had a lovely time at mums last night, had nice food and a few treats to celebrate being in a bubble!!

Today we went for a long walk, got a take away coffee (mum paid) and had pancakes for brunch.

Went to a friends this afternoon who gave me a beautiful peony plant from her garden. I'm going to have to rejig my garden now to fit it in!

I'm very tired as didn't sleep well at mums but trying to stay awake to watch the Salisbury poisoning drama tonight.

Em you're doing so much better than me, I've only done about 600 words!! I seriously need to crack on.

girlie when’s your deadline? I have until 3 July. Eeeep. At least this time it can be submitted via email. Last time I had to post it so had a shorter deadline!

I still need to do a reflective log and do my referencing. But. I’ve made notes. Lots of notes.

Just finished season 1 of money heist on Netflix. Loving it. We’re watching it in the original Spanish. I tried in English but the dubbing annoys me - I spend too much time getting annoyed at how the words don’t match up. Or how the voices don’t sound right. So Spanish with subtitles. Benefit here is that I have to watch it properly and read along. So can’t look at my phone.

Had a busy hour or so after dinner. Tidied up (have finally got dh to realise that if you stack the dishwasher as you go through tthe day it’s much easier...meaning then there’s not a whole lump of doshes to go in), switched duvet out (new one arrived so one ones in Washing machine to start at 6am and be done by 8 then out on the line).

Kids clothes put away. Rooms tidied. Toys away. Bath quickly cleaned. Kids bathed. Hairs washed (ds hates it screams blue murder but we do it).
Sourdough starter topped up. And tea made.

In bed now. Dh playing risk on his phone. He’ll be up until the early hours doing that.

No spend day here.
Just as I was about to pop out, call in on Mum in her garden and get some more cash out to have in for the house painter, the heavens opened with a magnificent thunderstorm. So I stayed put in my summer house, listening to the sound of the rain on the roof with the cat on my lap.

I'll go tomorrow and get it instead.

My new lunchbox arrived and is going to be a great work/lunch handbag thing for going back to my classroom.

Tomorrow brings a day if pottering around the house, waiting in for an initial assessment CAMHs call for DD and finding out what the plans are for going back to school the following week.

Fingers crossed for weather nice enough to get the house painted!

Afternoon all!

Lane get the rails. Like wolf we have double rails on the stairs which makes a huge difference when I have over done the exercise. Most of the HA have social distancing policies in place for maintenance staff.

Sea that sounds exhausting.

How can it only be Monday? I have had one of those days that feels like I have done a full week.

Em end of July for mine, although it's a completely different subject the format sounds the same, I've got to do a reflection log as well as the case study. I've also done lots of note taking, I've done so much reading just hope some of it's gone in!!

Found out I can get antibody tested tomorrow, never been so excited about having a blood test 😁

Dd went to school again but hated it 😕 annoying as want her to keep going but will be hard sending her now.

Nsd here.

Got a fair bit of work done today which I’m pleased with.

Dh made another 2 sourdough loaves.

Girlie do you think she might try a few more days just to see whether she's just having an unsettled day? I think one of the problems is that it's in school premises but it's not the school or schooling they know

I'm falling behind with the thread! Been really busy with work. Too tired now but will catch up with you properly tomorrow. Only.spend today was on Amazon for pull-ups - boring!

Wolf tbf to her it did sound shit today, she said she spent the whole day in the library with a couple of other kids she didn't know. I thought they would do quite a bit of sports with them outside but it appears not. Dd also made the point about not seeing any of her normal teachers, the staff on site are in hers words 'TAs, supply teachers or PE teachers' 😬

My laptop has died 🙁 it's an ancient MacBook and has been slowly going for a while. A friend has recommended a shop to take it to so will sort that out tomorrow.

That does sound shit tbh girlie. One more try? Can she co ordinate and go the same day as a key worker friend if she has one and they could go in together?

Nsd planned today as usual. Best laid plans though so we shall see by tonight

That sounds miserable girlie it’s a very weird situation of course but must depend on staffing and how they handle running it etc. DD1’s school seem to be doing a good job of it (mind you I’m not sure how well they enforce social distancing), they are doing PE type stuff and were even allowed to play football IN the canteen last week 😳 only about 10 kids max, and they’ve bonded - like the film Breakfast Club 🤣 but she’s bonding with the staff too. It’s been a lovely opportunity for her BUT she wanted to go specifically because her best friend (mum works for NHS) had returned too, and TBH she needed space from all of us 😳

Also it has meant evenings are a bit more fraught - they don’t really encourage much work (google classroom) at school so more is left for the evening. Swings and roundabouts! Worth a go though if she can keep trying just for a change of scene. It is a big change though especially when autistic (I guess for DD1 having only been back at school for a term anyway it doesn’t feel so big)

Today’s going to be a slog, DS is grumpy and tired.

Girlie that's exactly how my school is doing it for key worker kids. The core subject teachers are teaching core subject to Year 10 but have to be in bubbles. The rest of us are teaching remotely from home so it's support staff supervising key worker group in an ICT room where they are working through the remote learning tasks. It isn't great for the kids but the best we can do in the circumstances.

That sounds hard girlie. Dd is going into school on Monday and the 3 subsequent Mondays. She is looking forward to it, but not looking forward to GCSEs next year. She has a couple of definite subject worries, but 2 of my friends' mums are teachers in those subjects so I'm hoping they might help her out a bit over summer
Good day at work today, more productive than recently.
Ds' car had major handbrake issues, so it was in the garage today. Apparently it just needed taking apart and putting back together again & is great now £20...yay!
Went out to coast again last night & had the most disappointing fish & chips ever. £27 for the 4 of us. It was a lovely couple of hours though.
Need to get my eating and exercise sorted again & get back on the frugal weight loss thread. I've just not been bothered for a good 10 days now & feel really sluggish & like I'm undoing all the good I did at the beginning of the year.
Both cars are booked in for MOTs at the end of the month. Hopefully the reduced mileage of late will have made a difference.
Got dd a better deal for her Virgin mobile sim. More data for £1 less a month. Need to sort ds' tonight.

I know it's tricky snuggly I think I'd just hoped they would at least do quite a lot of outdoor stuff/sports with them. I'm not going to make her go back, she is pretty good at working from home so we'll plod on as we are.

I had my antibody test today, I won't believe it if they tell me I'm negative!!

The dog finally got his full groom, he looks so much better for it. £33.

£28 waxing. Eyebrows and bikini. Ouch. But necessary.

I asked the beautician how long the apt would be as I was meeting dsis. She initially said 20 mins. Then checked out what had to be done to the bikini area. Then said “we might need a bit longer than 20 minutes....”

But. Done.

Met dsis and treated her to lunch £17.

£48 in Iceland on a few bits.

Tomorrow I have a pedicure booked. And then am popping into the office to check some files. Also buying fruit from M&S. Yay.

Need to get Father’s Day gifts and dms birthday gift

@Girliefriendlikespuppies

I know it's tricky snuggly I think I'd just hoped they would at least do quite a lot of outdoor stuff/sports with them. I'm not going to make her go back, she is pretty good at working from home so we'll plod on as we are.

I had my antibody test today, I won't believe it if they tell me I'm negative!!

The dog finally got his full groom, he looks so much better for it. £33.

I know, it is really boring for them. We have limited numbers of staff in school, we can't even pop in to borrow resources without booking a time first. I really hope we can all get back properly in September.

Sending a faulty parcel to Amazon today free postage but do doubt whichever child is will me will want sweeties

Em has everything opened up now for you. Surprised that these services have resumed

Em can you get a haircut yet? I really can not wait to get my hair cut, it's never been so long!!

Dd has a dose of pmt so that's fun 🙄 she's just gone for a run so hopefully might be in a better mood on her return...

Going to see the laptop chap later got a feeling it will need replacing as it's so old now.

Yep. Can book haircuts if I want. But my hairdresser is still on mat leave.