MN Little Italy 20 ........Buon Natale !

[Rosa]

Here we are then ........

[Rosa]

Ice all over here today no wind but cold and at pranzo dd said no more lunch I want to go to bed..Oh yes we have a febbre here of 38. She is asleep now so might if high take her to the consultorio later just to have her checked out I can see dh thinking 'we are staying here' already .
She was fine this morning as well. Typical eh.
Pinco so glad that minipippi is much better and LOL at the pill episode dd1 can find anything hidden in anything and she eats round it !
MM Auguri with the packiing are you going back to Rome for Xmas?

[PincoPallino]

ROSA no way you are not going!!!!

[Sputnik]

Fingers crossed for you Rosa.
Dose her up, you will be in for a quieter journey. We're off soon, but taking laptop so will catch up with you all from Wales....

[TheMysticMasseuse]

i really really hope you can go... nurofen/calpol combo and she'll be ok to travel. i once took dd on a plane when she had 39 (37.5 with drugs), i was testimone at the wedding of my best friend, no way i could not go. not proud, but we all survived.

fingers crossed.

back to cleaning and boxing (i have had enough to last me a lifetime...(

[TheMysticMasseuse]

is anyone around? am sitting alone waiting for big men in a big truck... not much left for me to do now...

[gio71]

hi all, Rosa what a bloody nightmare you are having, what's the temp/weather situation this morn? MM good luck! What's the plan? Are you going to Rome then new pad direct from there?
Sput have a good journey, what day are you off?

[PincoPallino]

Oh MM have you gone? The image of an empty flat is very sad. where are you off to then. back to rome?

We are having our own type of adventure here as well due to weather... nothing to do with travelling but everything to do with no gas (check bbc london news for clues). DH in Ray Mears mode and the possibility of a central heting free Xmas - yuppie, not!
Off to the Gym to warm up and have showers.

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

sorry about all mishaps...
i am so happy to have my kids at home !!!
hope you can travel rosa!!!

[Francagoestohollywood]

Hello everyone,
Rosa, how is dd today? I really hope you are on your way to the uk now

Masseuse, ohhhh the sight of an empty house is sooooo sad. Lots of good vibes from me and I hope that the spending christmas with your family will cheer you up

Pinco, what a nightmare with the pics! Sounds like something I'd do. In fact, I live in fear of loosing them, and therefore I print them all at least once a year.

Sputnik, I hope you managed to reach wales too.

Pinco, are you sure SF is 25 euros? Mine was 19 (have just checked), but I bought it 3 yrs ago. The italian translation is superb.
I'm always happy to buy books from adelphi, as it is a marvelous casa editrice, and has published some of my favourite books.
I don't think 19 euros is a big price to pay for a book that is translated well, edited well, with nice pages etc.
There is a lot of work involved if you think about it,

[Francagoestohollywood]

, it is snowing a lot!!!

[minervaitalica]

Rosa - I hope MiniRosa is better and that you managed to get to the UK OK.

Masseuse - are you done now? So stressful - I had to leave the flat when it was all getting done last year... Let us know how you get on!

Snow has transformed into rain here now - outside the temperature reached -19 last night though so heating is on non-stop....

Managed to ice two cakes today (as pressies)... Just ours to go now.

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

SF is 20 euros at IBS, have a look. I think it is quite a bit tbh, is it something about Adelphy being more expensive for some reason? (sorry, did I miss a post on this?) I read it in french and liked it, but got it ffrom the library, i suspect i will never read it again really, so don't know, I would not want to own it really. Maybe try and read it in English and see if you like it?

Oh, Franca, snow in Milan.......is it like here that a bit of snow brings everything to a standstill or is Milan better prepared?

Empty house is really traumatic, but at least you haven't sold it, so be strong MM...

Quite curious to see if our Rosa made it...

[SuiGeneris]

Suite Francaise: worth getting a good translation, as much of the pleasure (I thought) was in the language, but read it in French so cannot help on which language is best. Agree with Franca that a good translation is worth paying for...

MM: how is the packing going?

Pinco: how is it going with the heating? The thought of having none is horrible, esp given how thickly it has been snowing recently.

Having travel nightmare by proxy: my parents were due here an hour ago, instead it seems they have been diverted to a Dorset airport and it is unclear when they will arrive. Apparently they are not allowed off the plane but must wait to be flown to LGW, which is currently shut. Does not bode well for first Christmas in England- Father, who already was not overkeen, unlikely to be pleased. And DH tells me trains are up the spout too, so who knows when they will get here.

Incidentally: do you think it says something about a language when the same expression (up the spout) means both "broken/not working" and "pregnant"??

[Francagoestohollywood]

Oh yes, Pinco, any news on the heating? I couldn't cope without heating especially with these temperatures.

SG: your poor parents what a nightmare! Any news yet?

Apparently public transport (trains especially) is mostly blocked in northern Italy pics here. But it looks like a big part of Europe is in chaos
Bum, Milan is beautiful when it snows (shame the milanese complain about the snow: if only they could stop for a day and enjoy a car free time!!!).
This afternoon ds and friends played palle di neve in the garden of his school... we came home late after the school fete and it was absolutely stunning, I think we must have had at least 20 cm of snow.

[Francagoestohollywood]

SG: I've never heard the expression up the spout, but at the double meaning!

Bum, yes, as I said, I think that 20 euros for an adelphi book is quite justified.

[TheMysticMasseuse]

helllllooo

packing all done, took forever, the traslocatori were awful, first thing they said when they arrived (2 hours late...) was "make us a cup of tea love" and i was like... but all the cups are clean, the tea is packed away... and i have no milk... they were shocked at no milk and sulked and where really unpleasant all day long

mind you its not an easy job but i had no clue i was expected to leave out tea stuff... overtipped to assuage the guilt (and to avoid them putting the malocchio on me)

anyway, the empty flat was unbearably sad esp the girls room so i escaped to a hotel and now i am sitting here with generous glass of red wine, room service, and will snuggle in enormous bed soon to watch Twilight... life is sweet, i reckon every mother should spend a night in a hotel alone once a year.

at all the travel and gas supply nightmares! Sui i really hope your parents make it, dorset is quite far so not even likely your dh could go pick them up in the car i guess...

"up the spout" for me only conjures incy wincy spider...

i love you Franca for always retaining your sense of wonder about everything and not joining the complaining masses! your images of the snow are lovely

now just hoping i can depart tomorrow!

[Francagoestohollywood]

Masseuse, no, no sense of wonder really, just my liking to be fuori dal coro and bastian contrario. And I'm honestly fed up with these spoiled italians who complain for pretty much anything (disclaimer: I do sympathise and feel very sorry for those who have to travel, commute in the snow etc, certainly not for the mothers who worry their pfb will catch a cold for walking 10 mins in the snow)

Btw, glad you are having a lovely night in the hotel. Wine and twilight in comfy bed sound blissful!

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

Hotel alone sounds blissfull...

Agree that the snow is magical, my street which is uber grim normally looked beautiful under the snow, agree about the sense of wonder. Of course would feel different if i had to travel or commute!

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

Having said that had a lovely day with the kids, yesterday a bit hard, ds very demanding, today back to his chilled self. I realised that if a dc is stressed, i stress, shout, etc, then dc gets more demanding, terrible vicious circle....

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

didnt know up the spout meant preggers, i only knew up the duff! how funny!

[SuiGeneris]

Update: parents now deplaned, at least. Would be free to retrieve luggage and take taxi to train station and thence direct train to London which, miracously, seems to be working. But unfortunately they seem to prefer to stick to coach organised by the airline, which will drive them to Gatwick through treacherous roads- and then train from Gatwick, which means they might well not get here until the early hours of the morning.

[PincoPallino]

I love the snow! Even when it causes havoc, it shouldn't though, not in England in December!
It took us 2 hours to come back from the gym, normally 15 min, and DH 4 hours for a journey of 40. Maybe more as he is still not here poverino. But it is all wonderful. Mind you if my mum cannot fly on the 23rd I will be devastated.

We are also cping well, lots of water bottles for everybody and new thick pjs.

I feel like Anna of Green Gables !

Rosa where are you?

[SuiGeneris]

Masseuse: delighted your night at the hotel is turning out well and sympathy on the tea affair- if it is any consolation it would never have occurred to me either.

Thank you for the support re transport problems- and you are all right: even with all the problems it causes, snow still makes everything beautiful.

Up the spout is quite a funny expression, I think- I always imagine somebody being stuck halfway up the spout of an enormous teapot- Alice in Wonderland style. And obviously one is more likely to get stuck into things when heavily pregnant... I remember being taught the expression as a variant on "up the duff", "having a bun in the oven" etc by a friend I am quite fond of one day last summer and the following day our neighbour warning us not to bother going to the station as the tube was up the spout. First image of a pregnant tube train made me smile- neighbour must have thought it an odd reaction to Northern Line misery.

With any luck parents will be on a train to London shortly- please keep fingers crossed for us!

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

I would probably have had a caffettiera and mug for MY coffee, I would expect hte movers to have their thermos..... obviously awful weather to carry stuff, but you are paying them, no? I didn;t even realise that you had to tip them.

[AlliwantforXmasisMcnultysbum]

SG, the expression made me think of the kids' song "I am little tea pot, short and stout, here is my handle, and here is my spout".

Dp particularly gorgeous tonight, so I am off to join him upstairs. Ciao ragazze!