Making a New start, Stepping into the New year

[BlackCatinChristmasChaos]

Hi all, After a pretty rough ride last year (2012) I think I feel ready to start again with babysteps
So who's with me for the journey?

Old and new steppers are welcome!

Lets do this one small step at a time!

Still feel rubbish but am ticking off jobs.

Ugh sounds very annoying scout - I had a horrible cough/snot thing at Xmas & ended up sleeping propped up on pillows for a week. My poor grandad (91) had it too & slept in his chair for a few nights!

Have you got any kind of smelly-menthol plug in? I found they really helped with the snot! Would also recommend the Olbas Oil bubble bath! (Got mine from amazon)

I did the sink plug holes today. Initially I just put down about a cup of hot water down, then followed it up later with a kettle full!

Had better go, need to do hair ready for work tomorrow

So - I slept better last night and feel more energised today - determined to make the most of it without rushing round like a headless chicken

Bessie - I use soda crystals and do very simialr to you - pour some down with just enough hot water to dissolve them ( in the hope that hot soda-y water stays in the sink trap), then flush with lots more hot water later. It seems to work! I love soda crystals -really great for any de-greasing tasks!

Scout - I hope you are starting to feel better!

Adora and Bessie -thank you for the shiny pennies! A great incentive - perhaps we should ask MN for a shiny penny smiley.

Cats - hope you are OK

Scout any better today? I seem to back to just hayfever, which is an improvement

So, Ta Da's

Breakfast
Sorted dogs
DD1's school skirts, she got a second chace because of the change in date. I was determined to avoid a mad panic today.
Names on most uniform bits, remaineder can be done during school time tomorrow .
3 loads in WM, towels and my bed sheets.
DDs emptied DW
Showed DDs Hampton Court maze on t'internet & promised to take them when we visit UK
Lunch
Sprayed waterproofer on school shoes, DDs had polished them.
Popped out on errands
Cooked pancakes for tomorrow's brekkies and spag Bol for packed lunches
Dinner salad tonight (done enough cooking)
Left clearing away and dog feeding to OH and got DDs ready for bed,
Straightened DD1's hair and removed her nail varnish
DD2 couldn't do anything about her hair, she's gone to bed with rollers in, the kid's only 11
Dealt with food, 'fridged packed lunch & pancakes for the morning
E-mails
Caught up on here

Before bed I shall lay the table for breakfast.

Tomorrow it's back to my normal morning routine then poodling about feeling like a spare part after 12 weeks with DDs at home

12 weeks adora ?!

Yep Bessie 12 weeks. It's not in the culture here to use air conditioning, they build for sismic activity and are now insulating new houses to save on winter fuel usage. So schools close for the very long extremely hot summer and those parents who can take 2 months off, most take 1 month and go to cooler climes, either abroad or here at the coast.

Anyway, morning routine is done
DDs dropped at school
Back home to clean up, coffee
DW emptied, reloaded and switch flicked
WM on
Lights upstairs turned off, DDs still haven't learnt to turn the light off

Still need to clear up from dogs
Sort meals and organise tomorrow's packed lunches

Will update later, hope everyone is okay

I hate colds. Hate them. ARGH! They can just leave us all alone now!

We spent most of yesterday at the park & playground (and the walk to/from) as the day was so lovely it just couldn't be wasted. This morning we had F.S. but after three days of being out most of the day we're both tired and are vegging in front of children's television.

jeeze - not much option for both parents to work then?! DH & I are going to struggle to cover the 12 weeks of school holiday between us! (I don't want to send them off to loads of school holiday clubs until they are a bit older)

Glad you've been getting out in the fresh air scout.

Today, I have been to work. More usefully I have just cut the elastic bit at the bottom of DD2's jeans so that they no longer dig into her chubby ankles Am going to move some laundry around, do a bit of blogging, & then have a bath.

I was going to have a bath today, a nice loooong bubble bath in peace while I had the house to myself. I was out from 11 until 5 doing things for everything. Still have 2 errands to achieve.

So,

Shopping
Changed school shoes
Clinic, paid for accident ins for DDs - schools require it, couldn't book Dr for DD2
Had a snack- no time for lunch
Shopping
School
Took DDs plus friend for ice-creams
Back home
Snacks and drinks
Dinner
Reloaded DW
Prepped lunches for tomorrow
Put my car away
Put DDs to bed, they fed the dogs
Made tea
Flicked TV on and e-mailed friends
OH brought me a vino

Bessie this society is such that anyone above the poverty line is likely to have a full time or even live-in maid. They are responsible for DCs either after school or 24/7 depending on the parents. I can't live like that and salaries here are too low to make it worth me working.

I was going to have a bath today, a nice loooong bubble bath in peace while I had the house to myself. I was out from 11 until 5 doing things for everything. Still have 2 errands to achieve.

So,

Shopping
Changed school shoes
Clinic, paid for accident ins for DDs - schools require it, couldn't book Dr for DD2
Had a snack- no time for lunch
Shopping
School
Took DDs plus friend for ice-creams
Back home
Snacks and drinks
Dinner
Reloaded DW
Prepped lunches for tomorrow
Put my car away
Put DDs to bed, they fed the dogs
Made tea
Flicked TV on and e-mailed friends
OH brought me a vino

Bessie this society is such that anyone above the poverty line is likely to have a full time or even live-in maid. They are responsible for DCs either after school or 24/7 depending on the parents. I can't live like that and salaries here are too low to make it worth me working.

Don't know how I managed that ^^, I'm clearly tired

mybloody computer has crashed on 3 attempts in teh past week to come in and MN has crashed x2.was beginning to think i wasnt welcome anymore

so..last wed and thur dp was off.on the wed we did chores that need the car,thur was beautiful weather so we went to a local reservior anad walked around it was a bit bracing in placses but was lovely to be out in teh sunshine!!!without the kids

fri night ds was complaining not feelingwell
sat he had hi fever and slept all day complaining sorethroat and chest so i was hovering over him intermittently whilst keeping the girls entertained so tey left hikm alone
sun was the same
mon a.m dd2 was down with it,tues afterschool little zoo sucuumbed so i have my nurss pinny on try to keep on top of the array of snotty loo roll that seems to be everywhere,making drinks and trying to tempt them to eat something,anythingds has lost the fever but has a hideous cough,which the girls are getting so nights are intermittent with kids cough/cry and littel zoo waking coz she too hot,then too cold

on the flying front days are blurring into the same but the place is okish rather than what i am happy with but needs must and they need mums cuddles at the mo
im managing to s+s the bathroom
hotspot front room
keep on top the washing

i shall endeavour to post daily if my damn slow donkey of a computer will let me in

bessie i shall sidle into your recipe blog in search of something tempting!!

hope everyone ok.x

sorry aboutthe typos-little zoo is in my lap coughing and jolting me!

Morning everyone - just dashing out but wanted to say hello. I seem to be more organised this week which is good!

Zoo I hope all zoolets feel better very soon.

I need to pop out soon, just as soon as I can claim to be fully awake.

Morning routine is done
My breakfast -done
Dogs sorted
DW sorted

I need more coffee, no sleep again last night due to completely stuffed nose - again. I'm beginning to think it's not a cold, pollution here is bad, worse even than they admit, could be summat to do with it. I need to see my GP about it, but she's in town and I CBA driving there today. woe is me

Ta Da's so far

Morning routine done
My breakfast
Dogs sorted
Laundry sorted and 1 load on
Hand washing in soak
DW emptied and breakfast stuff put in
Coffee, second round of breakfast for OH
Filled various saved drinks bottles for next week's packed lunches
Swept up plant debris in lounge
didn't find loo rolls for OH because I know they are were I told him to look, he found them eventually

To Do

More hand washing - must teach DD1 to read care Lables before choosing clothes and get back to doing so myself
3 more loads for WM
Make the bed, it's currently airing
Take nail varnish off, looks terrible
School run
Plan meals for next week including packed lunches

i haave been sprinkling olbas oil around like a vicar with holy water at an excorcism!!!i suspect anyone without a cold who now enters in will feel the back of the throat burn and eyes will water!ha ha

on the flying front i have made some breakfast and copious drinks..
since yesterday morning with have sneezed/blown our way through 5 loo rolls!
i have done 4 tissue clearings,or we would have disappeared under it all!!!
1 load washing
that is all

i fancy a bit cheese on toast so will make some of that for tea i think.on a plus side at least there isnt much washing up!

adora i blocked/drippy nose is horrible-especailly at night

Hi all, we had a good clear out of crap stuff last weekend. --Still got loads of stuff to get rid of though-- hmm.

I am having a few problems with my arm/wrist, has been going on since last June anyway off to the doctors to get it looked at again tomorrow.
Not sure if they can do anything about it anyway but DH said I "ought to get it checked out."
Have to keep my posts short and sweet otherwise it starts hurting. (strained muscle type thing and possibly a chipped bone)

The downstairs of our house doesn't look too bad on the surface, trying to keep it good enough for visitors --easier said than done-- .
Upstairs on the other hand is bursting at the seems with stuff. I need to toughen up when it comes to getting rid of stuff!!!

Hope everyone is well!!

I will try to pop in again although it may not be every day with my arm being a pain in more ways than one.

< Realizes that most of the stuff from downstairs (toys) has moved upstairs >
Going wrong somewhere!!

< Also realizes that comments the other day from an aunty saying " you could start a toy shop" has made me tidy downstairs. Next step - sort stuff to leave the house somehow. - Sell or charity shop,

It's all about small steps though isn't it !!

Hi cats - progress is progress, regardless of how small!

I find that sorting out the kids clothes & toys in small amounts is easier than doing a HUGE clear out. Mainly because the 2nd hand shop I'm taking most of it to will only take one bin liner full a week, but if I did any more I would just have to find somewhere to store the damn stuff while I found somewhere to take it!

Oooh, I have finally shuffled things round so that all the 2 BIG boxes of kids books that have been sat on my dining room floor, are now on bookshelves! - now I just have to sort out the one small box of filing that was on the shelves....

Cats I hope you can get your wrist sorted and feeling better very soon. And yep, progress is progress

I'm improving slightly, clearly inhaling chocolate is my miracle cure, hope Zoo and zoolets are improving too.

I'm still getting loads of Flylady e-mails each day. Don't read 'em anymore, but I saw one about reclaiming the weekends. So I have, yesterday we did bowling, lunch, then OH and DDs did simulated F1 racing, had ice-creams then back home and sat together watching a film. Today OH has chopped a tree that was denying us hot water by casting shadows over the solar panels, we've had a lazy weekend breakfast and other than getting school uniforms washed and doing food we're chillin'

Scout hope you are feeling better now.

I hope everyone has a very happy Mother's Day and all round.