Recently I have found myself thinking more and more about the blog and how much I miss writing it. My reasons for taking a break have calmed down some what since making the decision and I have felt the desire to write again. I said I would mention my reasons for taking a break when I returned I wont go into to much detail but I was having a lot of trouble with my eldest son's behaviour. His Autism causes behavioural problems but these were way out of control and he was self harming and speaking of ending it all. I knew something had to give and I had to put all my time and efforts into him and giving him the support he so needed these last few weeks. I am pleased to say Brad is a lot better he has calmed down drastically he still has the odd wobble but find me a teenager who doesn't. My blogging may be a little sporadic over the next few months as I continue to support him but I hope you will forgive me this under the circumstances. I have him on the waiting list for counselling and a buddy mentor scheme all of which I hope will aide his recovery from what has been a pretty dark time for all of us.
In amongst all the darkness there has been an element of light. The Mr asked me to marry him and I said yes so I am now an engaged woman. We choose the ring together and in true frugal fashion I choose a ring that was second hand and not that expensive whilst still being incredibly pretty and I love it.
I have been doing a fair bit of reduced price food shopping (yellow sticker) and have done really well with my buys. We are currently eating down the stock piles and just doing the occasional top up shop for things like bread, milk, fruit, veggies. I am also walking a lot more. I will still only go out if I have some one with me in case of an attack but I have lost 1 stone and 5 pounds in just over a month by walking a lot more and not eating so many sweet treats so I hope to keep going with this. I have kept up my over payments and have cleared just under another 1000 pounds of debt which is great we are headed in the right direction. I have also completely de-cluttered the entire house and have a few things to sell (any money made will go into over payments) and a few things to take to the charity shop. I have also been busy making Xmas prezzies I am making the snood type scarfs for people this year along with an item of jewelry for the ladies and some form of chocolate from poundland for the men. Lee and I have also agreed to cap our presents to each other to no more than 30 pounds and the boys have a limit of 75 pounds each this year. I have been buying a few bits here and there over the year and have received a few free items which I have also put away for Xmas so in spite of the limit they should do quite nicely and be quite happy with what they get. I have also started a sealed jar every night I empty my purse and put all the 50/20/10p's into it and the first thing I do on a Monday when I get paid is put a 5 pound note in there once it is full I will empty it and use it towards over payments. I also have a penny jar where I save all my 5/2/1p's which will be emptied when full and used towards a family treat be it a day out or a takeaway (rare in this house).
Here is my To Do List (I'm hoping to get it all done before Xmas)
1= Get rubbish removed from the shed
2= Measure up windows and find a good deal on new nets
3= Wash all windows and frames down
4= Wash sofas
5= Wash curtains
6= Continue with prezzie making
I will keep you updated with how I'm getting on. Anyway bit tired now so going to head to bed hope to be back soon with some more updates.
Much Love
Claire xx xx xx
