The day before 2012

And so, another year is past.  This is the last new years eve until I am 40 years old and for some reason I am content to spend it at home in front of the telly, with a cup of tea and a brandy liqueur or two.  The temptation to go down the road to the local pub is about zero.


Just felt quite happy cos tried on a pair of tiny levi jeans and just about managed to get them done up.


So, what's in store for next year?  What is on the cards?


Word press...CMS land here I come.
Revamp HGDigital site and put some small ads out there in local ads plus business cards
Get those running shoes back on...reluctantly, but I'm sure the motivation will come given time!
Put Uzima, Edu-Pets, Alma Cambridge live.
Get the Vale of Rheidol site up and running with Word Press.
Get back into Zumba twice a week.
Lose one more stone - aim to be 8 stone 4 or 116 pounds which will mean a BMI of 20 instead of 23.  Which will mean fairly skinny.
Start trying to write a book.
Going abroad to Canaries - with the kids - Cian not been on a plane since he was 3!
Read lots of novels.


Things in 2011 worth savouring.


Fringe - first time in whole life - or since about 12.
Lost 1 stone in weight.
Got into Zumba Fitness.
Built a few nice websites
Went to Portgual with Tom
Started blogging
Survived 1 whole year as web manager of the Forestry Commission.


Hurdles to overcome


Mojo depleting - need to get fit!  The urge to sit around and do nothing all xmas and the amount that just sitting around with family exhausted us was slightly worrying to say the least.


Obsessing over minute details of my day...not healthy or productive.


Need to spend more time with people, am becoming a bit of a sad loner!

Bitching bang

Got a fringe today.  Flew in the face of common sense as apparently they bangs are a bitch to grow out and one of my online friends is "at that stage"....Picked up the phone "Can you fit me in for a fringe today?.....You can?.........How much?...........see you at 10 to 6...."  And that is the tale of the first time bang since aged 12.


 Been discussing on Facebook the likelihood of the existence of a god particle.  The hadron collidor had a slight blip on the graph after months of research which apparently proves the existence of this sub atom.  Am not sure what any of this means but it sounds important.


Wrapped pressies today.  They look pitiful in terms of what a good present pile might look like.  I have to remind self of the "Define Necessity" Ad with the famined African kids on the left and the fat blonde American present grabbing mothers on the right.  The depiction is framed by the title "Define Necessity". Despite this ad having effect on me I failed to donate my xmas monies to African famine or water aid.  Instead I bought a bunch of things which we could all clearly do without and wrapped them in expensive looking paper from TK Maxx.  Oh dear.

a dark place

my poor cat had her leg amputated after being attacked by a dog.  The leg was fractured and dislocated at the hock with puncture wounds down to the joint causing infection which would be difficult to clear.  The operation was costly and not guaranteed to work and the recovery for that very slow...so her right hind leg had to be taken off.  I cried before and after the operation. When they held her up to show me the stitches I recoiled mentally as it looked like a handbag with neat stitches at the bottom.  They had shaved it back really far and it made her look freakish.

It's now saturday and the op was thursday.  My cat missy is now eating and sleeping and hobbling around and purring a lot.  I think once the hair has grown back we will all adapt to it.  I can't help wondering whether cats miss their missing legs when they go...do they know...I guess they must.  Lots of my friends posted up on my wall on Facebook to say that they had three legged cats who were living really rich lives, climbing trees and the like. That made me feel much better.

Have a throbbing headache today - yesterday it felt like I couldn't do a thing - wiped out.  Think it's a virus.

Child one went on a mountain biking trip today.  I had to try and go to the vets with the cat and take my son to meet his friends with bike all within the space of one hour - throwing in a trip to Motorworld for a pump to remedy slack tyres and to the supermarket to buy breakfast on the fly - chocolate brioche and juice. 

I took the opportunity to go xmas shopping.  The reality of homemade pressies was becoming more of a distant fantasy, so I mooched off in the direction of TK Max with 2 hours on the ticket and feeling like death warmed up.  The first shop I went into was TK and I bought loads of my pressies in there.  The smellies were expensive, handmade and the RRP although £15 per item was marked up at about £3 each - so I bought most of the presents in here.  

Next stop after putting the first big bag in the car so as to tackle stage 2 empty handed was the book shop.  I spent ages trying to read blurbs of Gaming Fantasy books - opted for Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy -classic.  Hope child one likes it - if he doesn't there is no accounting for taste.  Then went to WHSmith and bought teen fiction.  

Quick stop at M&S meant I could get a few meals for the week.  Old woman are quite rushless in queues I find.  They don't give a damn about other shoppers and are quite selfish.  I always make a point of being extra polite when they are around, like putting the divider up when it's not my job to, just to show them up more.

Still not got to grips with bringing a shopping bag with me,  Wales is now charging the nation for plastic bags.  I keep having to purchase them, I notice that most people have bags for life now - the hessian ones are quite popular.

Today I started the build of 2 websites - Uzima and Edu Pets.  The headache prevented much progress.

tomorrow hoping to feel better.  headaches and tiredness suck and so do dark circles under my eyes. Yuk.

Penny pinching progress

So it's been 3 weeks now on my austerity budget of £60 a week for food and treats.  Have scrimped and saved to the tune of £190 this week (and that doesn't include what would have been spent on clothes - about £25 this week).  Still have my overdraft to clear but at this rate I will be saving around £800 per month which is pretty much £10k per year.  Potentially could be mortgage free in 5 years, or could buy a motorhome in 3 years or could have £50k in savings in 5 years to rent the house out and do some travelling, maybe get hitched on a beach abroad with long honeymoon...the sacrifices made below don't even seem like sacrifices anymore - a sense of achievement - working to a goal is seemingly so far as enjoyable as frittering away all your wages with a few material possessions to show for it - and mainly just a thoughtless string of not well thought through purchases under your belt...

• Avoiding eBay/shop retail therapy or any form of online shops despite fancying some £9.99 total bargain destroy boots never worn (retail at over a hundred) and despite really needing some decent headphones for my iPod classic - plan is to borrow my sons skull candy headphones for the gym instead.  I also avoided a nice knitwear opportunity in Peacocks - but reminded myself that I actually do have lovely knitwear not dissimilar from previous years hardly worn. Impulse buying avoidance has saved dividends - this week.  Savings made on clothes purchases this week amounts to £10 - that was a very close call - the boots.

• Funnily enough I thought I would somehow have to treat myself to something with a price tag - however no extras apart from 1 glamour magazine which came with free gift anyway - nail polish worth £1 - purchase price £2.  So little tiny free pampering treats like that are good.  Treats that don't cost can be as simple as

• treating yourself to a ten minute break with your feet up and a nice cup of tea.   

• a nice walk with your iPod.   

• finding new things to wear from your newly sorted out wardrobe- putting things together in a different way.  These all have the effect of feeling treated.   

• losing a few pounds - then you can look better in the clothes you have and some you can't get into become wearable again. 

•  going into shops where you could buy anything and having a browse around - you get a nice feeling looking round a charity shop and don't get tempted into spending lots.  DO NOT GO INTO SHOPS SUCH AS TOAST IN LLANDEILO.

• Savings on treats on coffees and magazines has amounted to £10 per week.

• Exercise classes were my achilles heel, however free zumba classes now apply as I'm designing my instructor a website in exchange for 1 years free lessons starting now.  Also have free protein shakes from her as she is a herbalife nutritionist - which make my breakfasts free too.  That's a saving of £25 per week.

• Doing extra work apart from day job - a few websites for extra money for xmas and for Canaries next year means will technically still stick to budget. The Edu-Pets site will pay for my holiday money and the Zumba site cash payment for xmas presents for my son - who is only getting £100 worth of presents this year.  These extra sites amount to additional savings of around £100 a week but sometimes this will be much more.

• Have noticed budget also ties in with dieting - the less treats you buy the easier it is to diet.  Have lost more weight and am now a small 8 instead of an 8-10.

• Bulk buying and offers - Purchased civil servant gym points - 12 for 20 quid so can afford gym at just over £1 per session instead of a whopping £3.50 an hour.  That's a saving of £5 per week.

• Luxury forfeits...Wearing headband instead of getting my roots done at lara jonnsons for £300. Will buy a few more pretty headbands to match outfits.  This means that I only straighten hair with tongs for half the week so I don't ruin my hair...it has very curly roots.  By avoiding a bill of £300 this month that's a saving of £75 per week I normally would have spent.

• Wardrobe overhaul - Reorganised all my clothes - packed some away for a boot sale so only my nicest ones are displayed - makes me realise I have SO many clothes it's unreal.  If I see something now and then to add to this collection I will do - say up to £50 per month, but so far I have not been tempted.  Now wardrobe is organised to colour and style and drawers of clothes all garment co-ordinated...makes me question when tempted - do I really need this item? and the answer is so far no.  Think am saving about £25 a week on clothes shopping.

•  Finding the best place to food shop - Tesco in Carmarthen has much better deals.  Cheaper than Co-op and Sainsburys.  However, doing 2 smaller shops is also good in any store.  You buy the precise meals and no wastage.  Think am saving about £40 per week on food.

Have not cut back on

• 1 meal of salmon with fresh greens per week  

•  healthy food - all cooked from scratch and still getting fruit and veg and managing a roast on a Sunday.

• child 1's dinner money - won't have sarnies - have tried to persuade  

• fuel - although if I leave earlier for work can conserve up to one third by driving slow. This is potentially a saving of £500 per year.

Plans for further savings

• grow veggies - potatoes, onions, garlic etc.  Need to make initial investment in greenhouse first.
• advertise business in local free ads - budget websites. 

Trainspotters for the nearly 40s

Sat on a train to paddington and realized would be able to type this post in real time on my iPhone! Seriously impressed with how a bit of 3G signal makesboring journeys so much less tedious.. Today's farm walk and roast was a slight disaster not food wise, that was lovely but the friends logistics fell apart slightly. The first fray on the jumper was that one friend had to immediately Take her partner back to work as they didn't realise the walk preceded the dinner. Then I had to take said friends young kiddies on the farm walk instead of her. Then friend 2 realized the buggy would not be ok to take on the walk with her baby who was sound asleep in said buggy so stayed behind to drink tea. Leaving me with 3 kids including one tiny 3 year old boy plus a 13 year old boy all to muggins to walk round the trail with. Then we ate. Which.  Was.  Delicious.  But had to rush off early to catch a train to paddington.

London fab.  Buzzy.

Saturday is chore day

Saturday is chore day. The moment you are a mum and own a house then that's your Saturdays swallowed up.  Am learning to enjoy the process of cleaning the whole house from top to bottom.  The end result is so nice I wonder why I don't do it every day.  

• Cleared the back of the house up - such a warm and sunny day.  All the mushy leaves got swept up and the garden shed tidied.
• Hoovered whole house and cleaned floors.
• Put 2 washes on.
• Cleaned toilet and whole bathroom
• Wiped down skirtings with lavender cleaning wipes.
• Brought wood in for the woodburner
• Wiped whole kitchen down with lavender cleaning wipes
• Hung washes out
• Cleaned the taps and mirrors

Bliss.  That feeling when it's done.  Put on lunch, made a nice cuppa and sat down to read Red and watch cookery programmes (Nigella and Contessa).

Boys are still on their marathon sleepover xbox bonanza.  They have come out to drink smoothies and eat brioche.

Only chores left now - wash hair - HATE WASHING HAIR.  Because it's so thick it takes forever just to wash, condition, dry and then straighten.

Packing for London.  Been studying where Bloomsbury is on my London Rough Guide book.

Going to watch x factor, wash my hair and light the woodburner.  Will also drink my freebie from Baileys - biscotie flavoured Baileys - will have with ice.

Not going clothes shopping or internet shopping is not yet causing me any issues.

need to think up cheap but thoughtful xmas pressies for family.  Think am going to make homemade calendars for 2012.  Will use photos of Wales and the family and buy those little calendars to stick on the top bit...will start to design this soon.  Then will also make something edible to wrap up pretty.  Possibly homemade marzipan sweets made by child 1....

Bristol weekend coming up soon....looking forward to the farm walk and roast and london tomorrow!

4 hours sleep

4 hours sleep.  Nothing good ever comes from having 4 hours sleep.  Can't ever recall having a good day on such little sleep.  Sleep is so important.  Tom snored so loud I had to go to the spare room and shut both bedroom doors tight.  And then drown that out with my Apple Mac with a documentary on YouTube.  4am and I finally reached the land of nod.


Morning rubbish - managed to get to lunchtime.  Didn't feel sleepy, just rubbish.  Made homemade soup - mainly cauliflower, some carrots, onions and brocolli and a bit of cabbage, and some garlic.  Is that a veggie winter soup?  Dragged my way through the wretched pm, making it across the line at about 4pm when my folks turned up for a cuppa.


My parents are odd, well my mother is.  She has strong opinions on everything.  Today she was going on about the guttering needing doing outside.  She said it was coming through the stone walls.  I doubt that very much as they are 2 stone thick.  She recalled the time when my son jacked in violin, saying that his teacher Mr Cooper actually cried and offered to pay for his exam himself.  I'm pretty sure thats a gross exaggeration of the truth.  I tend to smile and agree with everything my mother says now.  It's taken me 39 years to work this out.  We used to argue every point strongly.  Now I CBATBH.


Watched a film last night about how they cloned people and used them for donations.  They completed their lives on about the third donation.  They were schooled and some worked, but they knew their purpose from quite a young age - to expect to reach about 30 and then donate and die basically.  Was not a feel good film.  I'm really glad I'm not a clone.  The film didn't work though as was set in 1967 and that just seemed wrong as they hadn't even invented transplants by then (well maybe bad ones).


Ate 4 orange clubs - 500 cals.
Compensated by only eating veggie soup all day other that that.
PMT is so bad that only choc will make me happy.
The rain is ridiculous.


Child 1 has a sleepover tonight.  His friend Monty has come round.  I like Monty. He's polite and small with a smiley face.  They are playing MW3 with headphones on.  Can hear what sounds like a crowd of SAS troopers coming out of the office.  Well it's hardly my office - it's been hijacked for teenage pursuits.


Am lying on the sofa and its 20.25 and feel very tired.  The fail of the EU zone is on TV, Syria uprising, drug cartels in Mexico. It's not helping my mood to be honest!


Cat is getting out of hand.  Cries every time I open the fridge for an orange club.  It's like some sort of food addiction.  Maybe she's got PMT and she needs some choc.


Tomorrow I plan to pack for London. Must remember A-Z or will be tragic.  Useless in London.  Am already considering what to wear - it's different how you dress when you go to England.  You pretend you are a woman of the world and try and look sophisticated.  It always fails. Better off being yourself...but already trying to plan what to wear, oh dear...


Roll on ten oclock, will go to bed!