Well, we´re at the end of another week already - time seems to just be racing away at the moment.
I have been rubbish recently with writing my blog - managing the minimum for my 101 progress and very little else. I guess that was the main purpose of the blog in the first place so I shouldn´t beat myself up about not posting more.
So anyway, here´s the latest update on my 101 in 1001 days :o)
I have finished reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and have therefore read all 10 of the books on my prizewinner books list. It wasn´t until I wrote my update last week where I mentioned that I had broken my Kindle and don´t want to be carrying my iPad everywhere with me. I also mentioned that at least it meant I was listening to music each day, but what was I listening to it on...? My iPod... and until that point it simply hadn´t occurred to me that I could just download the Kindle app onto my iPod and carry on from there (temporarily of course - it will never replace my Kindle). I thought I may struggle to read regularly using the iPod seeing how much I hate reading books on the iPad, but actually, I much prefer it, so my life isn´t over :o) The book was fab and I was browsing in the bookshop at the station the other day when I saw another Hilary Mantel book which appears to follow on from Wolf Hall, so it is written in my Filofax ready for the end of my Fabulously Frugal No Shopping Challenge.
Transferring my CDs to iTunes is being continued today, at last - and I seem to be making a fair amount of progress. In fact, I am sat at the pc instead of my MacBook today and therefore have the CD folder right next to me, so am swapping out the CDs as each one completes - yay!!! Once the the ones in the folder are finished I will attack the pile that are in the computer cupboard to transfer across any that haven´t all been done, and then I will get my DF to bring in all the ones that he has in the car as I know that at least some of those haven´t been done yet - and I desperately need Biffy Clyro - Revolutions back on my iPod (everything got wiped off it on Friday when I pulled my Christmas playlist across).
The first of my Flylady habits seems to have kicked in properly now - my kitchen is now gleaming most nights. The only times it isn´t is when I have made a conscious decision not to do it as other things are ore important and I have made sure it is done first thing in the morning so it isn´t lingering in my conscience. As I´m still in the process of decluttering various areas (including cupboards which I am still terrified to open) I am not intending to add a new Flylady habit each month, but will add a new one as and when I feel ready - as she says, babysteps :-) I have started giving my sink area in my bathroom a once over most days, but it is not a habit yet. It will definitely be my next one though - swish and swipe!!!
I felt I had cheated on my Fabulously Frugal No Shopping Challenge on Saturday, but I actually hadn´t. I went into Manor to get small prizes to put into the crackers that we will be making for Christmas this year and I had a 20 Franc gift card from the last time I went there to buy some gifts for new babies. Unfortunately I couldn´t use it towards the prizes so I found a scarf (paleish turquoise with mainly white and a few pick swallows on - lovely for any time of the year, and some legwarmers - haven´t worn any of those since the 80s... which were reduced to half price). The card was due to run out on December the 24th so I couldn´t use it after completing my challenge, and I guess it is still frugal as I didn´t spend any real money...
I started on my two weeks of taking lunch to work with me on Monday, completely forgetting that I had booked Thursday and Friday off, so to make up for this I shall extend it to cover my working days between Christmas and New Year.
I´m still trying to work out if I am allowed to purchase a new Kindle to replace the one that I broke last week - I am managing without it, but it´s not good for my eyes and I can get a cheaper one as it is a replacement. Does it fall under wear and tear...? I need to decide pretty quick as we have a visitor coming over for Christmas and I would have to get it delivered to them before they come over... hmmm...
I went to a concert on Friday night, although it wasn´t what I had in mind when I wrote it on my list - picture a huge venue with Biffy Clyro or Metallica playing and that´ll give you an idea on what I was thinking. I attended the semi-finals of the Rock Highway competition and saw 8 bands play, including The Real Deal with my fabulous DF as their bassist. It was a really good night, with a few really good bands. The outcome was a bit disappointing, but there is still hope - I may write a separate post about that.
As Christmas is nearly upon us I have spent a bit of quality time with my boys decorating the trees (they have an artificial one upstairs and we have a real one downstairs) - I´m sure there will be a Christmas post coming up soon :o)
Have a great week,
LJx
Showing posts with label Fabulously Frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fabulously Frugal. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Recycling
Whilst having a bad Filofax day the other day as posted here, I decided that I could manage to set up this filo in a way that would work for me - I would not be defeated.
My first stop (and only in the end as I had wasted a stack of time getting stroppy first) was my year planner. I find these so useful to have and although I had both the horizontal and vertical layout ones for 2012, I really only used the horizontal one and had only written one thing on the vertical one.
Maybe I could recycle it for 2013 (no shopping allowed remember, I am attempting to be good for 3 months - no more buying things I don't need for me...). I thought I could get away with just changing the days or the numbers, but soon realised that his wasn't going to work for me as the weekends are shown in a different colour to the rest of the week, so got to thinking a bit to see what I actually need it for.
Do I track appointments on it - hell no!!! Do I track specific dates on it - not really. Mostly I use it to show which weeks are school holidays and when I am off work or away visiting one of the other offices. So does it really matter if I don't have all the dates and days showing - nope!!!
So, I now have a lovely 2013 vertical year planner that cost me nothing (although the months all still say 2012 above them as I can't find a way to change it to 2013 which doesn't involve me hating how it looks),
And here is how I did it:
Washi tape to hide (or at least cover to a certain extent) the days and dates.
Week commencing dates instead of full dates (although I did start using the old Sunday line for this I managed to forget what I was doing and messed a few up, and then totally changed the day later in the year - oh well, nothing I can do about that now and I can't get a new one so I will have to just live with it.
I have added stickers to show school holiday and term start dates (from Dodpad), Easter, Halloween, Christmas (from the selection that I was sent from Australia as blogged about here) and a few special dates re bank holidays and no school (Filofax).
This satisfies my needs and looks pretty - now I just have to see how much the 2012 on the end of each month annoys me... fingers crossed I will get used to it.
LJx
Updated: Sorry, it took me over two weeks to get round to taking the pictures for this so this post is a touch late...
My first stop (and only in the end as I had wasted a stack of time getting stroppy first) was my year planner. I find these so useful to have and although I had both the horizontal and vertical layout ones for 2012, I really only used the horizontal one and had only written one thing on the vertical one.
Maybe I could recycle it for 2013 (no shopping allowed remember, I am attempting to be good for 3 months - no more buying things I don't need for me...). I thought I could get away with just changing the days or the numbers, but soon realised that his wasn't going to work for me as the weekends are shown in a different colour to the rest of the week, so got to thinking a bit to see what I actually need it for.
Do I track appointments on it - hell no!!! Do I track specific dates on it - not really. Mostly I use it to show which weeks are school holidays and when I am off work or away visiting one of the other offices. So does it really matter if I don't have all the dates and days showing - nope!!!
So, I now have a lovely 2013 vertical year planner that cost me nothing (although the months all still say 2012 above them as I can't find a way to change it to 2013 which doesn't involve me hating how it looks),
And here is how I did it:
Washi tape to hide (or at least cover to a certain extent) the days and dates.
Week commencing dates instead of full dates (although I did start using the old Sunday line for this I managed to forget what I was doing and messed a few up, and then totally changed the day later in the year - oh well, nothing I can do about that now and I can't get a new one so I will have to just live with it.
I have added stickers to show school holiday and term start dates (from Dodpad), Easter, Halloween, Christmas (from the selection that I was sent from Australia as blogged about here) and a few special dates re bank holidays and no school (Filofax).
This satisfies my needs and looks pretty - now I just have to see how much the 2012 on the end of each month annoys me... fingers crossed I will get used to it.
LJx
Updated: Sorry, it took me over two weeks to get round to taking the pictures for this so this post is a touch late...
Sunday, 2 December 2012
101 List Progress Check - 2nd December 2012
Hiya :o)
Happy day today - I have almost completed my 2 weeks of drinking 1.5 litres of water every day, I am so pleased with myself. It's been a pretty tough challenge for someone who usually manages less than 1 litre per day unless I really make an effort to drink more. It's not that I usually drink squash, tea, juice, coffee, fizzy drinks etc - I mainly drink water, I just don't drink much. I have been told many times that I should drink more, but I just don't feel the need to. But - here is the big question, have I felt any better for upping my fluid intake...? In a word, no. I pee more (unsurprisingly), but that is the only change so far (apart from at times feeling as if I'm going to drown, oh, and a strange feeling on occasion that my head is about to explode...). I may carry on trying to drink this much after the challenge has finished to see if it does have any impact longer term, in a way I'm hoping it doesn't so that I can go back to drinking an amount that I feel comfortable with.
Have I finished reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel yet so that I can mark of my "Read 10 Prizewinners books" as complete - no. I am finding it a fascinating read, and am reading pretty much every day, but still have quite a way to go. Today I thought I'd have a quick check on Amazon, and it turns out the book has 559 pages, so I don't feel too bad for taking so long to read it. The book includes historical figures (Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn), and has made me think about reading more about that period - more than any of my history lessons achieved,,,
I have also started on the Flylady path (admittedly I haven't done all the decluttering yet - honestly, I swear that as soon as you've done a room, I start on another area and then the first bit needs doing all over again...) and have been "Shining my Sink". I started doing this when I was off work and hoped to carry on when I went back and haven't done badly so far. I had a couple of nights where it wasn't done due to late finishes at work for month end and I know that I will have to let it slide for a couple of nights this coming week as I am out for dinner on Tuesday and the works Christmas do on Thursday.
As for the Frugal No Shopping challenge - what was I thinking? 3 months? Really??? This is even more tricky now that Moleskine have launched their Hobbit notebooks... Why did I think this was such a good idea? I can see me asking this question lots over the next couple of months, although I have made it through a whole month already. Surely the run up to Christmas and gearing up for yearend will stop me having time to think about buying anything, and then January will be manic at work... maybe it will go quickly :o)
Have a great week,
LJx
Happy day today - I have almost completed my 2 weeks of drinking 1.5 litres of water every day, I am so pleased with myself. It's been a pretty tough challenge for someone who usually manages less than 1 litre per day unless I really make an effort to drink more. It's not that I usually drink squash, tea, juice, coffee, fizzy drinks etc - I mainly drink water, I just don't drink much. I have been told many times that I should drink more, but I just don't feel the need to. But - here is the big question, have I felt any better for upping my fluid intake...? In a word, no. I pee more (unsurprisingly), but that is the only change so far (apart from at times feeling as if I'm going to drown, oh, and a strange feeling on occasion that my head is about to explode...). I may carry on trying to drink this much after the challenge has finished to see if it does have any impact longer term, in a way I'm hoping it doesn't so that I can go back to drinking an amount that I feel comfortable with.
Have I finished reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel yet so that I can mark of my "Read 10 Prizewinners books" as complete - no. I am finding it a fascinating read, and am reading pretty much every day, but still have quite a way to go. Today I thought I'd have a quick check on Amazon, and it turns out the book has 559 pages, so I don't feel too bad for taking so long to read it. The book includes historical figures (Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn), and has made me think about reading more about that period - more than any of my history lessons achieved,,,
I have also started on the Flylady path (admittedly I haven't done all the decluttering yet - honestly, I swear that as soon as you've done a room, I start on another area and then the first bit needs doing all over again...) and have been "Shining my Sink". I started doing this when I was off work and hoped to carry on when I went back and haven't done badly so far. I had a couple of nights where it wasn't done due to late finishes at work for month end and I know that I will have to let it slide for a couple of nights this coming week as I am out for dinner on Tuesday and the works Christmas do on Thursday.
As for the Frugal No Shopping challenge - what was I thinking? 3 months? Really??? This is even more tricky now that Moleskine have launched their Hobbit notebooks... Why did I think this was such a good idea? I can see me asking this question lots over the next couple of months, although I have made it through a whole month already. Surely the run up to Christmas and gearing up for yearend will stop me having time to think about buying anything, and then January will be manic at work... maybe it will go quickly :o)
Have a great week,
LJx
Sunday, 25 November 2012
101 List Progress Check - 25th November 2012
Here we go for the latest update with where I've got to this week...
I've started reading the final prizewinner book on my list of ten, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The first few pages are basically a huge list of characters as if it was a play, and there is no hope of even attempting to remember who is who, so I just don't bother trying. However, despite occasionally getting a touch confused about who people are (it's not so easy to flick back to the list of characters when you're reading on a Kindle) I'm finding the book rather interesting and am looking forward to finishing it this week and crossing another task off my list :o)
Last weekend I finally admitted that I was never going to manage to drink 2 litres of water a day (often I drink 2 glasses of fluid a day and that seems to do me just fine), so I have lowered my expectations to 1.5 litres a day for two weeks instead. I went back to work on Tuesday (after a fabulous two weeks off) and decided that I should start the challenge immediately. I find it much easier to increase my fluid intake while I am at work as I can pick up a 1.5 litre bottle of water (not that sparkly nonsense either - bleurgh) and have it on my desk to remind me to drink it. Yesterday was Saturday and I thought I would struggle to manage, but I drank three 0.5 litres bottles of water (just about) and am planning on doing the same today...
Another change I am considering making is the "go skiing" challenge. It felt like something that I should put on the list as I live in Switzerland, but the thought of doing it doesn't actually interest me, and to take the whole family skiing is so expensive that I have to really think if it's worth spending that much money on something just because I said that I should try it...
The try snowboarding challenge is a bit different as I'll probably do that in the UK on the dry slope at Warmwell with my mate Michy who goes there a lot and has said I should go with her. The other thing which is different about that is that I wouldn't mind trying snowboarding - I think I would find it preferable to skiing... for a start your feet are both attached to the same piece of equipment so you can't get forced into doing the splits!!!
I am now about half way through the task of copying my CDs to iTunes - thankfully I don't have too many. The next thing will be to copy all my tapes to iTunes - that will take significantly more time, and it would start a lot sooner if I actually got off my butt and went down into the cellar to find my tapes.
Last Sunday I baked a couple of types of biscuits with the boys, but it did involve cheating as I bought packets of biscuit dough and sweet pastry - and we slightly over did the cinnamon stars as they have so much sugar in they turn into rocks if you don't get them out at exactly the right time. We still have a pack of Ovomaltine biscuit dough, so I'm planning on making those ones with them today (huge glasses of milk at the ready to soak them so no-one breaks their teeth). Next stop will be to dig out a basic biscuit recipe so they can make them from scratch.
I still have the same Christmas cards outstanding as last week - I really must sort those out today...
My no shopping challenge is still going OK, but I keep seeing blogs with notebooks and Filofax inserts that I would love to have. Maybe I should stop reading blogs while I am doing this challenge. The challenge will be officially ending on January 25th rather than the 31st, as I will be going to the UK and will be visiting TK Maxx and Paperchase in Bournemouth. As I have no idea when I will be able to go shopping in the UK again after that, I will be making some purchases while I have the opportunity - I already have my eye on the Hoot Sweet range. :o)
I was hoping to take the family to London for a long weekend in February with the intention of taking the boys to see The Lion King and Shrek as the remaining two shows that I am going to take them to. However, when I was on the tram to work the other morning I saw a flyer for Salto Natale which is running here until January 2nd, and am thinking about taking them to see it sometime over Christmas - I'll be investigating further...
I am currently racking my brains to work out how Ben and I can have a two week holiday with no children before the end of the 1001 days. For us to be able to do this in the school summer holidays then we both need to be able to take three weeks off work so that we can spend a week with the boys as well. If we do it during term-time then we would need to have someone come here to look after the boys for two weeks. What we'd ideally like to do in our two weeks is go to Vegas, get married and head on to Mexico. I'm struggling to fit more than one week off during the summer, and whatever happens Ben will still have to log into work every day to do all the stencils design work... feeling a tad trapped by our jobs at the moment... even if I can sort out my side (possible, just a bit tricky - maybe I should try for a three month sabbatical and have done with it...), Ben has no cover to be able to completely forget about his work for one week, let alone three.
Anyway, that's where I'm at this week. Fingers crossed I'll work some things out this week :o)
Have a fab week,
LJx
I've started reading the final prizewinner book on my list of ten, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The first few pages are basically a huge list of characters as if it was a play, and there is no hope of even attempting to remember who is who, so I just don't bother trying. However, despite occasionally getting a touch confused about who people are (it's not so easy to flick back to the list of characters when you're reading on a Kindle) I'm finding the book rather interesting and am looking forward to finishing it this week and crossing another task off my list :o)
Last weekend I finally admitted that I was never going to manage to drink 2 litres of water a day (often I drink 2 glasses of fluid a day and that seems to do me just fine), so I have lowered my expectations to 1.5 litres a day for two weeks instead. I went back to work on Tuesday (after a fabulous two weeks off) and decided that I should start the challenge immediately. I find it much easier to increase my fluid intake while I am at work as I can pick up a 1.5 litre bottle of water (not that sparkly nonsense either - bleurgh) and have it on my desk to remind me to drink it. Yesterday was Saturday and I thought I would struggle to manage, but I drank three 0.5 litres bottles of water (just about) and am planning on doing the same today...
Another change I am considering making is the "go skiing" challenge. It felt like something that I should put on the list as I live in Switzerland, but the thought of doing it doesn't actually interest me, and to take the whole family skiing is so expensive that I have to really think if it's worth spending that much money on something just because I said that I should try it...
The try snowboarding challenge is a bit different as I'll probably do that in the UK on the dry slope at Warmwell with my mate Michy who goes there a lot and has said I should go with her. The other thing which is different about that is that I wouldn't mind trying snowboarding - I think I would find it preferable to skiing... for a start your feet are both attached to the same piece of equipment so you can't get forced into doing the splits!!!
I am now about half way through the task of copying my CDs to iTunes - thankfully I don't have too many. The next thing will be to copy all my tapes to iTunes - that will take significantly more time, and it would start a lot sooner if I actually got off my butt and went down into the cellar to find my tapes.
Last Sunday I baked a couple of types of biscuits with the boys, but it did involve cheating as I bought packets of biscuit dough and sweet pastry - and we slightly over did the cinnamon stars as they have so much sugar in they turn into rocks if you don't get them out at exactly the right time. We still have a pack of Ovomaltine biscuit dough, so I'm planning on making those ones with them today (huge glasses of milk at the ready to soak them so no-one breaks their teeth). Next stop will be to dig out a basic biscuit recipe so they can make them from scratch.
I still have the same Christmas cards outstanding as last week - I really must sort those out today...
My no shopping challenge is still going OK, but I keep seeing blogs with notebooks and Filofax inserts that I would love to have. Maybe I should stop reading blogs while I am doing this challenge. The challenge will be officially ending on January 25th rather than the 31st, as I will be going to the UK and will be visiting TK Maxx and Paperchase in Bournemouth. As I have no idea when I will be able to go shopping in the UK again after that, I will be making some purchases while I have the opportunity - I already have my eye on the Hoot Sweet range. :o)
I was hoping to take the family to London for a long weekend in February with the intention of taking the boys to see The Lion King and Shrek as the remaining two shows that I am going to take them to. However, when I was on the tram to work the other morning I saw a flyer for Salto Natale which is running here until January 2nd, and am thinking about taking them to see it sometime over Christmas - I'll be investigating further...
I am currently racking my brains to work out how Ben and I can have a two week holiday with no children before the end of the 1001 days. For us to be able to do this in the school summer holidays then we both need to be able to take three weeks off work so that we can spend a week with the boys as well. If we do it during term-time then we would need to have someone come here to look after the boys for two weeks. What we'd ideally like to do in our two weeks is go to Vegas, get married and head on to Mexico. I'm struggling to fit more than one week off during the summer, and whatever happens Ben will still have to log into work every day to do all the stencils design work... feeling a tad trapped by our jobs at the moment... even if I can sort out my side (possible, just a bit tricky - maybe I should try for a three month sabbatical and have done with it...), Ben has no cover to be able to completely forget about his work for one week, let alone three.
Anyway, that's where I'm at this week. Fingers crossed I'll work some things out this week :o)
Have a fab week,
LJx
Sunday, 11 November 2012
101 List Progress Check - 11th November 2012
Wow - I am pleased with myself this week.
My most exciting achievement that I new about last week but couldn’t write about on here was being featured as the Reader Under the Spotlight on Philofaxy on November 5th, yes, that was me!!! I am now famous - yay!!!
I am now on day 11 of my Frugal is Fabulous No Shopping challenge and it’s not been easy so far. Firstly, too many people blogged about lovely notebooks during the first week - stop it, you’re not helping!!! I really am going to have to start a wishlist ready for investigating when the three months is over...
Ben and I stayed at the amazing Kempinski Mirador hotel at Mont Pelerin for four nights to have some time for ourselves and it was fabulous, and all booked through lastminute.com so a vast saving on the standard room rates. The view from our balcony was outstanding and the sun was shining and it was about 9 degrees outside, but felt much warmer - hence the lying on the sunlounger in shorts and vest - so relaxing. We browsed round the shops in Vevey where there was a fair bit of temptation and I did well. But on the Thursday we hopped on the train to Geneva to meet up with Antonella (lovely relation - too complicated to explain...) and she took us round Geneva - oh my word, I almost postponed my No Shopping challenge until next year. The shops there are amazing, and we sniffed out stumbled upon the most wonderful stationery selections and specialist shops!!!
Today I have written out and addressed all my Christmas cards apart from a special one that has to be done via Moonpig and most presents have also been bought or ordered - I’m on a roll. Hopefully by this time next week I’ll be done - if the other half has any idea at all about what he’d like for Christmas... what can you get for a guy whose hobbies are band and working out when he already has more guitars and fitness equipment that you can shake a stick at???
I have also been using my Dodo book of Christmas for my Christmas planning. I have all the Christmas day food list, and nibbles list, Christmas cards lists, presents list, and have even bought a couple of new tree decorations (the intention is that the boys will get a new decoration to put on the tree each year) and have got the advent calendar, chocolates for the tree and the Pannetone - I am rather impressed :o)
Have a great week,
LJx
Sunday, 4 November 2012
101 List Progress Check - 4th November 2012
Hello :o)
Well this should be quite short as I've been really busy at work this week so haven't had much time to try to do anything (things that I need to do as well as any of my 101 in 1001) - oops!!!
Thankfully, when I finish work tomorrow I have a good few hours before Ben brings our visitors back from the airport so I can get some stuff done - and then Ben and I go to Montreux for four days, woohoo!!! I have two whole weeks booked off work at the moment, so should actually be able to get some of my tasks completed - or at least planned.
This week I have:
- received my tape to MP3 converter, so I now have the equipment to start that challenge
- bought my Christmas cards ready to write out
- started my Fabulously Frugal challenge.
I am following Caribbean Princess's example over on her blog as posted here for my declaration, and am facing a No Shopping Detox Challenge. For full information of her various tips please look at the Frugal is Fabulous posts on her blog here.
So as my starting point, here is my declaration:
"From November 1st 2012 to January 31st 2013 I will not make extraneous and
unnecessary purchases, particularly of filofaxes and stationery. I will appreciate
the things that I own, and will spend more time doing and less time buying."
Hmmm... this could be fun....
Have a great week,
LJx
Well this should be quite short as I've been really busy at work this week so haven't had much time to try to do anything (things that I need to do as well as any of my 101 in 1001) - oops!!!
Thankfully, when I finish work tomorrow I have a good few hours before Ben brings our visitors back from the airport so I can get some stuff done - and then Ben and I go to Montreux for four days, woohoo!!! I have two whole weeks booked off work at the moment, so should actually be able to get some of my tasks completed - or at least planned.
This week I have:
- received my tape to MP3 converter, so I now have the equipment to start that challenge
- bought my Christmas cards ready to write out
- started my Fabulously Frugal challenge.
I am following Caribbean Princess's example over on her blog as posted here for my declaration, and am facing a No Shopping Detox Challenge. For full information of her various tips please look at the Frugal is Fabulous posts on her blog here.
So as my starting point, here is my declaration:
"From November 1st 2012 to January 31st 2013 I will not make extraneous and
unnecessary purchases, particularly of filofaxes and stationery. I will appreciate
the things that I own, and will spend more time doing and less time buying."
Hmmm... this could be fun....
Have a great week,
LJx
Sunday, 28 October 2012
101 List Progress Check - 28th October 2012
So - what have I managed to do this week?
Well, I finished "The Sea" by John Banville - another book that although I enjoyed reading it, I found it quite disjointed (lots of flipping from one time to another) and although I can follow what is going on, it's not a style of writing I particularly like so I'm guessing I probably won't read this one again. I have just ordered "Wolf Hall" for my Kindle as it is the final prizewinner book on my list and am kinda wishing I'd read the reviews before doing so, or at least not read them after I'd ordered it... I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to find this particularly hard-going. It sounds that there are quite a lot of grammar issues, which are likely to totally do my head in. Fingers crossed I won't get too frustrated as I will insist on completing the book even if I don't enjoy it... Happily I don't have to start it immediately as I am currently reading "Glory Bus" by Richard Laymon. I try to read at least one book in between my "challenge" ones to keep me sane... I'm not sure that's working out so well... oops!!!
My exercise hasn't gone too well this week and therefore my abs are totally in hiding. I really need to give myself a big kick up the butt and get on with it!!!
One that I forgot to include in my post last week was my purchasing of a posh/designer handbag. Technically it could be said that it's not a handbag, as it is a manbag. However, surely a manbag is just a handbag for a man... I was looking for a proper handbag (girly and everything), but spied this fantastic thick brown leather Fossil manbag and was immediately seduced... The first thing I checked was of course if I could fit my A5 Kendal in there (I checked that at the shop before I bought it) - it wasn't easy to get in, but it is a chunky thing, although it's not a bag to put your A5 in if you don't want it getting scratched by the zip - that's one chunky zip too...
I have started on my quest to get all my Christmas cards and presents sorted by the end of November. I have ordered some of the presents I need to get already, have found what I'm getting for the boys for their main presents, and will be sorting out nieces and nephews on-line during November. I was hoping to order cards from the UK to come across with my mum, but really can't find anything worth ordering, so I'm just going to bite the bullet and see what I can find over here this year. The intention is to get them and write them all out before Mum goes back to the UK so she can take them back to post for me. :o)
I have also been doing my Christmas planning in my Dodopad, so it's all going well at the moment.
I am still considering doing the Fabulously Frugal challenge from November 1st, although I'm not sure yet. I need to write my declaration and list my exceptions, or a detailed declaration. For example, I could choose to eliminate all spending on stationery items and not specify anything else, or I could plan to be frugal on everything and list only the exceptions . I think I may be going to the UK at the end of January for a family get together, obviously flights etc will cost money, but I won't exclude myself from going just because I am having a frugal 3 months. Likewise, I don't intend to cancel Christmas, just stop spending as much on myself :o) And that sounds like I usually buy myself Christmas presents... that's just weird...
I have half of number 92 on my list completed - all the electrics have been signed off in our house in the UK, so that's one less thing to worry about, just the gas to get done and then I can cross that task off.
The fitting of the new shower has also finally happened, and there is no need to re-do the whole bathroom at this stage, so that one can now be crossed off - yay!!! The extra good news about this is that if I stay with Dave again at any point, I now know that I shouldn't get scalded in the mornings by a temperamental shower that hates me. Yay!!!
There is one other item that is currently in the pipeline and which I will be able to mark off as complete when I do my progress check on November 11th, but you'll just have to be patient to see what that one is - in fact, I am so excited about this one that it may get it's own miniature post on the day that it is done :o)
Have a great week,
LJx
Well, I finished "The Sea" by John Banville - another book that although I enjoyed reading it, I found it quite disjointed (lots of flipping from one time to another) and although I can follow what is going on, it's not a style of writing I particularly like so I'm guessing I probably won't read this one again. I have just ordered "Wolf Hall" for my Kindle as it is the final prizewinner book on my list and am kinda wishing I'd read the reviews before doing so, or at least not read them after I'd ordered it... I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to find this particularly hard-going. It sounds that there are quite a lot of grammar issues, which are likely to totally do my head in. Fingers crossed I won't get too frustrated as I will insist on completing the book even if I don't enjoy it... Happily I don't have to start it immediately as I am currently reading "Glory Bus" by Richard Laymon. I try to read at least one book in between my "challenge" ones to keep me sane... I'm not sure that's working out so well... oops!!!
My exercise hasn't gone too well this week and therefore my abs are totally in hiding. I really need to give myself a big kick up the butt and get on with it!!!
One that I forgot to include in my post last week was my purchasing of a posh/designer handbag. Technically it could be said that it's not a handbag, as it is a manbag. However, surely a manbag is just a handbag for a man... I was looking for a proper handbag (girly and everything), but spied this fantastic thick brown leather Fossil manbag and was immediately seduced... The first thing I checked was of course if I could fit my A5 Kendal in there (I checked that at the shop before I bought it) - it wasn't easy to get in, but it is a chunky thing, although it's not a bag to put your A5 in if you don't want it getting scratched by the zip - that's one chunky zip too...
I have started on my quest to get all my Christmas cards and presents sorted by the end of November. I have ordered some of the presents I need to get already, have found what I'm getting for the boys for their main presents, and will be sorting out nieces and nephews on-line during November. I was hoping to order cards from the UK to come across with my mum, but really can't find anything worth ordering, so I'm just going to bite the bullet and see what I can find over here this year. The intention is to get them and write them all out before Mum goes back to the UK so she can take them back to post for me. :o)
I have also been doing my Christmas planning in my Dodopad, so it's all going well at the moment.
I am still considering doing the Fabulously Frugal challenge from November 1st, although I'm not sure yet. I need to write my declaration and list my exceptions, or a detailed declaration. For example, I could choose to eliminate all spending on stationery items and not specify anything else, or I could plan to be frugal on everything and list only the exceptions . I think I may be going to the UK at the end of January for a family get together, obviously flights etc will cost money, but I won't exclude myself from going just because I am having a frugal 3 months. Likewise, I don't intend to cancel Christmas, just stop spending as much on myself :o) And that sounds like I usually buy myself Christmas presents... that's just weird...
I have half of number 92 on my list completed - all the electrics have been signed off in our house in the UK, so that's one less thing to worry about, just the gas to get done and then I can cross that task off.
The fitting of the new shower has also finally happened, and there is no need to re-do the whole bathroom at this stage, so that one can now be crossed off - yay!!! The extra good news about this is that if I stay with Dave again at any point, I now know that I shouldn't get scalded in the mornings by a temperamental shower that hates me. Yay!!!
There is one other item that is currently in the pipeline and which I will be able to mark off as complete when I do my progress check on November 11th, but you'll just have to be patient to see what that one is - in fact, I am so excited about this one that it may get it's own miniature post on the day that it is done :o)
Have a great week,
LJx
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