Goodness. How time flies!
Well, Xmas shopping is now well under way; rather pleased that i’ve managed to do all my shopping so far from WAHM’s or HEers businesses or occasionally my own stock catalogues, where i can get things that are just too delicious not to own! No doubt i’ll still end up doing a last minute dash for bits and bobs, but still… have to be much more careful these days, now Fran reads the blog *hello darling* However, turn up for the books is that in our 13th Christmas together ( 😯 ) Max and i have finally agreed we can afford to spend more than £10 on each other 😆 This is quite a big deal really, as although we are far from frugal in the true sense of the word, we haven’t tended towards lavish present buying up till now. *Must remember to buy him something*
Right, Wednesday i organised my minions into stock tidying… or rather Helen and Chris brought the Beans and pandered to my stress levels. Barely saw the big kids, Josie and BB unutterably gorgeous. Had a lovely day; adore friends who answer desperate pleas for food parcels, bring lunch, tidy up (or organise, if you prefer), threaten action for industrial injuries by flying beads, babysit, do stockman/recycling man duties, make all the cups of tea and are patient while i enthuse about the number of shoppers currently on the site 😆
Fran went off to E’s house for her fortnightly residential (think may have to apply for joint custody arrangements with D!) and Thursday was spent very peacefully with the littler 3, who are all so quiet without Fran. Maddy and i had some great conversations about industrial processes and she drew me a variety of machines that were her take on how things get made (kind of Chicken Run style) – particularly liked that she drew inside version and outside ones then stuck the outside on as a flap. Must get her a job with Usborne! Amelie demanded a phonecall to Buttercup, so Alison got a rather a surprise i think, given i don’t tend to phone – and the 4 year olds got to catch up before we did! Ended up with Brownies/Rainbows and an exhausting evening of parcelling that required wine to get me through!
However, the main reason for Thursday being low key was that i had another dentist appointment – however, with absolutely no pain or distress (and only £102 spent) i had 2 fillings, white ones at that, done. I LOVE my new dentist.
Today was great; Lucy was coming, so the kids and i tidied up for the cleaning lady, did a few normals, some bits and bobs and then headed out to Activity World for an afternoon socialising. Got beaten to the venue by the beans, which was a shock, but only just 😆
Absolutely lovely afternoon, made all the better by meeting Michelle from the comments box who came back to view my stockroom and have a cup of tea. Always lovely to meet someone new that you can immediately chat to. Come again very soon Michelle 🙂
And this evening i have uploaded LOADS of new products at Beadmerrily and now i am completely exhausted. Got plans for education this weekend though!
I got a whole paragraph and a smiley face! How exciting is that! Got home fine with 20 mins to change Chloe into her Badgers uniform before Badgers started at 6:30pm then a friend Jas invited me back to hers for tea and catch up, from where I called Marcus who reminded me that we were meant to be at a surprise party at 7pm. Aaagh I had had such a lovely day that I’d forgotten about the party. So we were late for it. I’d done so well up ’til that point. So a very late response to let you know that we did make it home safely and thank you for a lovely afternoon. Will try and arrange something soon I hope. xx
Yes please. I had a smile on my face all evening from chatting to you 🙂
Buttercup’s so useless still on the phone, hope Amelie wasn’t disappointed 🙂
Nah, she just glowed to have spoken to her at all. We have a countdown calender now; i got sick of “HOW MANY sleeps till Buttercup comes NOW?????”
We’re having our second year of no gifts to each other! Last year we weren’t actually together so doubt if it counts and this year we figure the new house is enough!
Grin… yes, i think it probably is!
ah, i am hoing to get a superplexus maze ball – but qwe don’t buy presents for each other. nor do me and my sis.
I’ve just started contemplating asking for sat nav!
I would Merry.
giggle… and you’ve not even been at the camps where i’ve arrived 2 hours late after taking a detour!
The sat nav (you need to ask for a Tom Tom) will definitely blow the £10 budget. A cheaper option is to show Fran to read road maps, obviously giving directions in plenty of time before the turning is upon you, and she can be your “sit nav”.
ah. just re-read the blog properly rather than skim-reading. You have more than £10! Go for the Tom Tom then. I couldn’t do without our sat nav.
i think Fran is probably emotionally ill-equipped to deal with my “you must have given me bad directions” rages!
yeah, I agree with Claire, i think I rely on ours much too heavily! Or sometimes the opposite and think I know better than it, which is occasionally true but more often than not ends up in a long detour!
But great idea for a pressie 🙂
Take the TomTom – I love mine so much. Technically that’s because I am so anal that I a)hate being late and b) don’t do getting lost! The only danger is that you don’t really take much notice of where you are going, so whereas pre-TT I only had to go somewhere once and could get there from memory again, now I wouldn’t have a clue!
I still haven’t worked out what’s wrong with maps …
Lol – they don’t talk and i can’t read them while i drive!
And Alison, you HAVE been places where i arrive 2 hours late, so you know just how bad i am!
Oh, I know *you* need special measures Merry 😉 I think the speaking bit would piss me off though – I’d be forever tempted to go a different way just to spite it. And I never (never? well, hardly ever) get lost.
If it’s that much of a necessity, just buy it – don’t waste your first proper Christmas present in years on it!
“I’d be forever tempted to go a different way just to spite it.” – that made me laugh out loud!
I like gadgets for Xmas though – and i really can’t think of anything else to ask for. DS games probably!
You can turn the volume down, you know 😉
I rarely used to get lost either because I always used to print directions off the net. But I still love my TT – I like using the advance planning feature the day before I travel – it tells me how many miles and how long it will take (and it’s so never wrong) which means I can maximise time in bed the next morning!
We turn the volume off 🙂 The kids keep setting it to take me home from the shop- like I don’t know the route already! We go the wrong way to spite it LOL!
we do that too – it’s quite funny to see how long it keeps telling you to do a U-turn for, before it recalculates that carrying on and going a different way will actually get you there as well!
And Merry, anyway, surely you don’t need any DS games other than acww 😉 Are you still playing?
Oh, I have the perfect solution. Buy *Max* the tom tom!
Giggle… and um… not really. Just don’t have time and it doesn’t have the pull it did. I pop in most days, but that isa about all 🙁 And i haven’t actually got round to rebuilding my list mail inbox, so i’m no mail on everything and haven’t missed it!