So tired this morning!

Already squirted the B12 spray into my mouth but I'm still yawning!

Amanana

Just got back from seeing my little nephew and his name for me is Amanana.  Such a little cutiepie!

Apparently I should become an Amazon personal shopper where customers email me and say "my aunt/uncle/cousin/friend etc is [insert age here] and they like [insert preferences here] but I don't know what to get for them" kinda thing and I send suggestions to them 'cos apparently Andrew and Jacki liked their gifts and my little nephew was more interested in the tube the poster came in than the poster itself lol

That's totally normal though... you give a child a box and set of crayons and they will turn it into a boat or a car or a train or a kitchen or a shop... their imaginations will run wild and all you've paid for is the arty things!

My little nephew will be 3 in mid-April and today proved to me that sometimes the simplest things are the most appreciated and worth more to a toddler than an expensive gift.

Gonna start researching making my own playdough for him at some point soon... just need to get an airtight container for it first!  lol

Happy birthday Marie!

It's Marie's birthday today, so we're going over to Steve's parents to celebrate again.

I'm expecting a delivery before 3pm though, so I hope it turns up before we leave!

Review: cardigan

**** out of 5

The cardigan arrived this afternoon and I couldn't wait to try it on... it looked chunky and suitable to wear instead of a coat in Autumn and Spring.

Nope.

I'm wearing it now and I'll definitely need a coat with it... on an Indian Summer's evening you could get away with just the cardi instead of a jacket, but you definitely won't get away with no coat if you're hoping to be warm outside in cooler temperatures!

It's good value for under a tenner, just not as warm and cosy as I was hoping is all.

The in-house geek said this morning that...

Steve said this morning that his laptop had only done half of the updates last night so he's got the other 50% running now  lol

There's a reason that you're a geek and I'm not, Steve!

Steve's just tried to explain what he'd done to fix his laptop and it all went flying over my head when he started talking about BIOS and partitions and stuff!  lol

His machine seems to pretty much be fixed now though so I don't need to worry about him kicking it off the table overnight lol

My in-house geek has decided to...

Steve is my in-house geek and he hasn't been able to use his laptop since about March and has just been using his Surface to do geeky things since then.

He decided this afternoon would be a good time to try and fix his laptop and he's been messing around with it for about 45 minutes so far.  He totally blatted everything he had on it and reinstalled Windows or something.

Whatever he did has worked 'cos he can now use his laptop again... just gotta download and install the 3GB cumulative Windows update or something.

Apparently whatever it was that had screwed up his laptop has gone now and he's back into his machine now and just reinstalling everything now.

Totally beyond me, but Steve is relieved and happily playing with a bigger screen, hard drive and memory now, so he's just gotta be patient with the updates and stuff then he can go back to using his laptop again!

I just hope he doesn't accidentally kick it off the table while he's asleep is all... expensive mistake if he does!!

Review: credit and debit card holder

***** out of 5

If you've got a lot of cards (business cards, credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, library cards etc) then this is what you need to keep them all together!

There's so many places to keep everything together that you really don't need any more room!

There's only one negative and that is that it's not that easy to get the cards in the slots, but this is quickly and easily overcome by carefully rubbing the top of the slot so that there's a slight gap that you can easily pull open and there you go!  Sorted!

Review: small leather purse

***** out of 5

Perfect little purse!

This has just arrived and I've put everything into it... it's half the size of my previous purse but still has room for everything in it... I had high hopes for it and it's exceeded them!  The only slight negative is that business cards, credit cards etc don't fit into all the slots, but if you've got slightly smaller keyfob type cards that are too big to go on keyrings but too small for normal sized card slots, these are ideal!

My first 2 Chrimbo pressies have just arrived

C got me an Amazon voucher for Christmas which I dutifully spent on 7 different things.  The first two have just arrived and I'm really happy with them, so I wrote a review of them on Amazon and I'll put them into 2 blog posts on here in a bit.

The expensive Namehog year has just started

2018 is going to be an expensive Namehog year 'cos that's when most of my hosting and stuff will come out.

Had the 16 day auto renewal invoice come through this morning, which was due mid-January, but I'd already saved £100 by buying all the Christmas gifts in September so I used that for the Namehog stuff due in January, got 1 in February for my writing site, a load of them in April (OK, 4 lol) and that's it until July when I've got 7 domain names to pay for, then the writing year's name and hosting at the end of October then 2 domain names and WHOIS privacy in November et voila!

It's January, April and July that are the most expensive months next year, but if I don't buy anything that isn't truly necessary it'll be OK hopefully.

In theory I can put £50 aside a month to cover it on top of my bills and the groceries and if I move that money into B I won't be tempted to spend it!

Basically I need to keep a tight reign on my money next year - wish me luck!

8 days

As a continuation from this morning's rant, Steve's just said that we've sort of been invited over to his parent's place on New Year's Day too, which means that there are only 3 of the 8 days that we haven't seen his family... today, Thursday and Sunday!!!

Steve also said that my brother could bring my mum over to see me but that's not the point... I see the in-laws at least once a week, every week, and every other day over the festive season.  If I'm expected to be the dutiful daughter-in-law, then why can't he just occassionally play the dutiful son-in-law too?

👎😠😣

Hardly fair, is it?!

I've seen my mum 3 times in 7.5 years.

Steve will see his family more than that amount in less than a week.

He saw his family yesterday, he'll see his sister tomorrow, his dad on Friday and his whole family again on Saturday.

I haven't seen my mum since the Summer of 2010 but Steve sees his dad twice a week, his sister once a week and his mum every 6 weeks, but I haven't seen my mum since early July 2010!

When I very first moved to Gloucester, it was on the understanding that we went over to see my family regularly.

It lasted less than a year.

Steve wouldn't put up with it, so why should I?!

Pup walked, supplements taken

The pup and I did 200% this morning as a Christmas bonus and my supplements all went down with no problem at all!  Yay!

Why I start shopping for Yule/Christmas in September

Just worked out that in the last 3 months, I've spent £321.73 on gifts and another £625 on groceries so it's no wonder that I haven't spent anything on myself!

That's it until Valentine's Day now though, so I'll be able to save up £250 every 3 months and still be able to afford my bills and the groceries as well as starting to save up for H's birthday gift in April, my mum's birthday and our anniversary in June as well as the Namehog bills which is so totally awesome!

As long as everyone else is covered, I don't matter, right?  👎

Pup walked and fed

Just like yesterday she only wanted to do 100% of the walk before we came home today.

Barely let rip at all today!

I was expecting to make Steve and Mitzi gag after my egg sandwich yesterday lunchtime, but didn't even let out a single SBD today!

My arse is gonna be rancid tomorrow! lol

Just had egg mayonnaise sarnies and a Mugshot for me lunch... if the egg affects me like last time, you'll need gas masks around me tomorrow!  lol

Debt at this time of year

While everyone else is running up debts on their credit cards to decorate their houses and buy gifts for everyone and getting stressed out, I'm not.

I bought all the gifts in October, wrapped them up in November and sent them off in early December.

I'm now £100 in credit after all my bills have come out and I've got £50 a week to spend on the groceries as well as putting a tenner a week into B to cover my Namehog bills this year and I haven't been stressed out about it once!  I'm just sitting here totally relaxed and watching everyone else get stressed out about not having enough cash!

I've been buying Christmas/Yule gifts in October for the last 20 years and wouldn't have it any other way now - so much less stressful this way and it's spread out over 3 months rather than 3 weeks and I can just concentrate on watching the telly and listening to music and planning out my next novel and stuff like that!

Means I can relax and know that I'm not starting 2018 in debt again... yay!  😄

250% this morning!!

Just got back from taking the pup for her walk and I was happy to come home after 100%, same as every morning, but the pup carried on walking... and walking... and walking!

She flaked out at Steve's feet as soon as we got back which is totally understandable given her age (8.5 years old) but I'm so proud of her for more than doubling her usual length walk!

Mitzi is ace!

Supplements taken

Just taken me 3 supplements... just waiting for the multi to kick in quickly again now.

I hope any fellow Pagans...

I hope any fellow Pagans who read this blog have a truly blessed Yule today!

Pup walked and fed

The pup only wanted to do 100% of her walk this morning... I could see her debating on another 50% but she decided against it and I didn't want to force her so we came home instead.

Put the pup's food in her bowl, ready for whenever she wants it.

Pup walked, poo cleared up

Walked the pup and she now has a friend in our neighbour!

Up until this morning, the pup wagged her little tail every time she saw our neighbour but maybe he didn't like dogs or something?  Not this morning though!

Our neighbour walked around the corner, Mitzi spotted him and started wagging her little tail.

Mr neighbour crossed over the road and let Mitzi sniff his hand - already a huge step forward... the pup was in heaven.

As soon as the pup had sniffed his hand he took it a step further and stroked her head a couple of times.  The pup was officially over the moon.

Brought the pup home and took her harness off while Steve fed her.  What an awesome morning!

Puffer fish V Dolphins

Got no idea if this is true or not, but to quote Steve when I read it to him just now "maybe they kill poor sharks while they are high from puffer fish toxins!"

Apparently dolphins kill sharks and now they get high from puffer fish... way more intelligent than people have ever given them credit for!

Just taken me supplements and...

Just taken the 3 supplements and the multi is slowly kicking in to wake me up.

Steve's made me a mug of coffee too, so, in theory, I'm all set for the rest of the day now!

Pup walked and fed, but...

Same routine as every morning: take the pup for her walk then come back and feed her.

So tired right now though and have only just remembered that I haven't taken me supplements yet, so I'll take them now and hope that the multi wakes me up!!

7.5 years

I saw me mum three times in 2010 and haven't seen her since.

First was at me father's funeral.

Second was just to see her 'cos I wanted to check she was coping as best she could as a widow.

The third and last time I saw her was at the end of July 2010 to introduce her to the pup.

I haven't seen her since.

In the last 7 days Steve's seen his dad 3 times and his sister twice.  He's due to see his sister again this coming Wednesday, his dad on Friday and his whole family on Christmas Day and again on 30th December for his sister's birthday.

I haven't seen my brother since my father's funeral and I've seen my mum twice since then.

Basically I've seen my mum the same amount in seven and a half years as Steve's seen his family in less than a week.

Hardly fair, is it!

I've been looking for job openings for Steve to apply for but he hasn't even looked into any of them either.

Basically I gave up everything for Steve and he gave up bugger all for me!

My fault for letting him get away with it for decades without complaint I suppose  👎

Me supplements are kicking in again

Went down pretty easily this morning and the post has just come so I'd best go and pick it up.

Took the pup out for her walk this morning

The pup was a good girl on her walk this morning.  We did 150% and I could see her debating on another 50% but she decided against it so we came home.

Gonna have me mugga tea then take me supplements and that's me sorted for the rest of the day.

Just the usual boring stuff from me again.

Took the pup out for her walk again this morning and met our neighbours as they were getting into their car.  The kids said hello to me and the pup, but I think the youngest child is scared of dogs for whatever reason.  Might ask if they want to say hello and stroke the pup next time I see them... you watch me forget though!  lol

Completely forgot to write in here today and I'm...

Just the normal stuff today so I won't bore you and it's bedtime now so I'll see you all tomorrow now!

Supplements taken

The Iron and Multi were a nightmare to swallow today, but all 3 are swallowed now!  Yay!

200% this morning!

Pup walked and fed already and she did 200% this morning!  It's morning's like this that I forget she's a senior pup!

Supplements taken too

Just taken me supplements for the first time in a few days and the multi is kicking in fast again so I'm obviously low in something again... hopefully the old age blood test will show what that is... maybe B12 again or something, but I definitely feel a difference when I take the multi!

150% again

The pup only wanted to walk 150% of her walk this morning so I didn't force her to keep walking.

Fed her and she went straight to her bowl and started eating, thankfully.

Gonna take me supplements now.

150% this morning

The pup only wanted to do 150% of her walk this morning, which was fine by me!  As long as we do at least 100% every day, that's fine by me!

200% this morning

Took me half an hour to persuade the pup to go for her walk and she waited until I'd taken me coat off and put her lead back on the side before deciding that she wanted to go!  Grrr!

After we got out there though, we did 200% of the walk.

I must be getting old lol

Just had a letter from my GP surgery inviting me for a health check to assess my risk of getting various things like stroke and diabetes.  It's a 5 yearly check for 40-79 year olds so I'm gonna go for it... apparently I need to make a 20 minute appointment 1-2 weeks after the appointment for the results.

I'm gonna do it, just need to see when my FIL can take me is all... might try doing it online instead of phoning 'cos I've got online access now!

Wish me luck!  lol

150% and a poo this morning

The snow has started melting, so Mitzi wanted to do an extra half this morning and she poo'd on the way back so I brought her back home and went to clear it up 'cos I is a responsible dog owner!

Only 100% this morning, because...

It's been snowing since first thing, so I was slipping and sliding all over the place and we were both freezing our bits off too!

Supplements taken, backup started

Remembered to set the weekly virus scan going yesterday morning.

It had finished by the time I came down this morning, so I started the backup going and I took me supplements while it was backing up One Drive.

Gonna take the pup for her walk as soon as the backup has finished then I'll feed her et voila!

In theory, I've got...

Just checked me bank balance and hope I've worked out that I've got £101 left over after all my bills have come out which is totally awesome and means that I can afford the groceries for the next 2 weeks and still have £230 left over that's coming in on 18th take off £100 for the 2 weeks after that and I'll have £100 left to move over to B to help to cover my Namehog bills in April.

This is why I get all my Yule shopping done in October - it means that I'm nicely in credit when everyone else is getting into debt!

150% this morning

It is so cold out there this morning and the pup was waddleing so we came home after 150% of the walk then she went out the back and poo'd then ate her breakfast and came back in here just in time to say goodbye to Steve.  That's it for the day now though 'cos I've already taken me supplements and started the virus scan so we can all warm up and relax when Steve gets home from seeing the nurse.

Just a couple of degrees lower and there will be snow I reckon!

Supplements taken

The multi was a bit of a PITA to swallow and the calcium seemed harder to crunch up, but other than that, everything was fine and dandy.

Supplements taken

Took the pup for her walk first thing, tried to work out how to get Mitzi onto my lock screen, had me lunch (jacket tatty, cheese and beans) and just taken me supplements.

Given up on the lock screen picture now though!  lol

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Taken the pup for her walk

Only 200% today and she already had food in her bowl so I didn't add any more to it... just need to remember to give her half the amount of food from now on!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements and I'd forgotten how much better I felt so quickly after taking the multi!

Gonna try and remember to take them every morning now!

You watch me forget tomorrow!  lol

😜

I've been wrong and I'm sorry

I've been feeding Mitzi the wrong amount for a few weeks without realising it!  I've been feeding her double what she should have been having so no wonder the food has only lasted a couple of weeks before needing the next one!

Steve's stuck a plaster onto it now so I'll go by that instead of my crappy memory now!

Sorry pup!

That's Yule totally sorted now!

Just wrapped up Jacki's gift so it's all totally sorted now and I can relax until 2018 now!

300% this morning!!

I was happy with the 100% like normal but the pup carried on walking so I followed her and we *tripled* the length that I was happy with!

The pup is a senior so 300% is like walking a half marathon or something for humans!

Such a good girl!

I'll need some new clothes in the New Year! lol

Me trousers are getting really loose on me now so when I've recovered from all the spending at Christmas, I'll have to go on a spending spree just for me... mind you, I'll prolly have a big belly from Christmas over-indulgence though!  lol

200% this morning

We cleared up the pup's poo then I took her for her walk, came back home and fed her.  I would have been happy with just 100% today but the pup carried on walking until we'd doubled the length!

Pup walked and fed

150% of her walk this morning then she refused to go any further!

Supplements taken

Just taken me supplements and I'm thinking I'll spray a couple of squirts of B12 too to hopefully wake me up a bit.

Only 100% of the pup's walk this morning, because...

Only did the normal length of Mitzi's walk this morning 'cos it was cold and rainy out there, so we both agreed not to do any more than the usual 100%.

200% of Mitzi's walk this morning

Took the pup out for her morning walk and we did 200% this morning.

Something had been next door overnight though, cos the pup sniffed the leaves and recycling box every time we went past it, bless her!