Wankerbastards move to 2020. With moderatin' a plenty. We rage against flouncers, strops and teens, and of dryness we have big dreams. We want teacups not fuckups!

[Frouby]

Thread 9 for the tryers to be dryers. Join us if you want some support to reduce alcohol. All welcome for support, laughs and moderating.

Will tag a few peoples name I can spell as I am useless at clicky links.

@flossie
@madameforest
@longestlurkerever
@dionoysa
@waterandlemonjuice

NC4 😂 at unintentionally going swimming, here’s hoping the water doesn’t reach you.

I slept badly because the storm was so noisy and because of wine but looking forward to cooking a roast later. I am going to drink wine with it but then back to AF until Friday.

We're wet and wild here. Flood warnings issued as well.

Dh has fallen down the stairs quite dramatically. Slipped on the toys ds had left lying there after I had told him 3 times to move them. Huge bruise on his back, thinks he's broken his toe and hurt his hip. Fuck sake.

Given him a naproxen and he's had a hot bath and recovering on the sofa.

Going to do roast pork for dinner. Just trying to get some motivation up.

Oh no Frouby! I hope he's recovered by the morning. FML i remembered why i don't do days in very often. Kids are driving me mad, making something out of a cardboard box, sending me running round the house looking for shit, and squabbling over the sellotape the moment my back is turned. Just sent dd1 to her room to calm down. They also want to bake, fml.

I am not planning to be AF tonight because of spending Saturday night doing an application form, but there's half a bottle left over and i will not open more. Unless dsis ends up needing a bed as trains are messed up.

Mil is here tomorrow so hard to be AF then either but will aim for rest of week.

I have now read through everything I have missed. I'm going to try to keep up.

Not even a semblance of AF here.

I hope DH is ok, Frouby. Sorry to read about the family dramas, too.

Glad you and Water have sorted out the prom dresses. DD hasn't mentioned it recently, but I'm not sure she will be going anyway, now. If she is, we will be hitting the charity shops!!

Water, DD went to one of the big festivals last summer (she had just turned 15 so is young in her school year). I'm not sure I want to know all the details, but she survived.

Longest, I could never cope with an entire day at home with my DC when they were small.

NC4, I hope DS1 gets home ok.

Lots of horrible stuff to deal with here, most of which makes me feel like a complete failure as a parent. I thought it would get easier as they got older, but it hasn't (not where DD is concerned, at any rate).

Day survived! Baked cookies and banana bread and had a stupid row with dh about stuff falling out of the freezer and spilling everywhere. Ok it was my fault but it bloody would be if I'm the only one who ever does anything round here and he doesn't need to react like that. Have semi forgiven him but he'd better be extremely nice to me for the rest of the day.

But got shot of dd2 next door for a bit and then had piano lesson. Wind and rain has died down now and dsis got back ok.

Am still knackered though tbh after getting back late from babysitting and then being woken up at alternating intervals by storm and dd2. Don't really feel ready to go back to work.

Dion, i hope things settle for dd.

They’re all home, boys, cats... safe and sound. It’s very wet and wild out there though. [[
www.blogpreston.co.uk/2020/02/miller-park-rescue-underway-as-cyclist-becomes-stranded-under-bandstand/ Look at the state of my lovely park!]]

I don’t think I’ll be walking that way to work tomorrow. That’s five minutes from mine. They’ve just reopened my road so I think we’re past the worst. I’m considering putting my wellies on and going to the shop. I’m out of wood and have been housebound all day.

Dion I’m pretty sure you’re not failing as a parent. You are very hard on yourself. It is hard as they get older, and a lot is purely down to the temperament of the child. Failing as a parent would be not giving a shit about any of it, which you clearly do. It’s just tough, but it’s not your fault.

Frouby that sounds like a nasty fall. Hope he’s ok...

Oh, my link didn’t work 😕

No, i tried clicking. Gkad you are all safe and well. Afraid i bust my limit after reigniting row with dh. Sigh. Think we are ok now but i still feel a bit meh.

Might paint my living room some kind of wedgewood blue. Is currently grey and the sofas are denim blue. Fancy a bit of a change but don't want to replace sofas, and curtains are white and grey too. Dunno if blue is a bit cold though? Posh mates all have very dark coloured walls but don't know if that's a bit mad, if your house isn't ginornous?

Try again

I think blues are hard to get right, but when you do they are lovely. I’m probably the wrong person to ask though. I’m slightly colourblind and thought my kitchen was a very lovely shade of blue, along the lines of Dulux Denim Drift. I lived here for six months before I found out it’s grey and I’m now planning on painting it the colour I think it is for everyone else’s benefit.

Morning all

Glad everyone safe, it's been bloody awful. Its weekends like this I am very, very glad I pay for full livery for the ponies! Worth every bloody penny.

Dion you are not failing, it's so difficult negotiate the teen years. Worse than the toddler years by a million miles and my dd isn't a lot of bother. Come and talk to us xxx

I want to redecorate too. All the house apart from dcs rooms is Egyptian Cotton and I am bored with it. It's just finding the time, now would be perfect while the weather is vile but I just can't be arsed. I've got a decorator that charges £120 a day, he's super speedy and super neat but it's all the prep I would need to do. Always something to be done.

Was dry last night. Did consider a beer while I cooked but managed without.

Going to drop ds, feed the chickens and then nip and do a bit of shopping. Weather looking very dodgy (snow) for the next 2 days and dh will use my car (pick up) if it's bad in the morning.

He was surprisingly OK this morning after his fall, bit sore getting up but once he was moving around he was fine.

Well done on dryness, Frouby. And thank you for being kind.

Am liking all the decorating deliberations here. Longest, I have some very dark paint in my very tiny house!! I thought I'd give it a go, on the grounds that I could always paint over it if I get fed up with it. It's the advantage of doing your own decorating (though the disadvantage is that it mostly ends up only half done).

Glad everyone is safe, NC4.

I have given up all hope of ever being dry again.

Sympathy on teen drama Dion - don’t blame you for not being AF.

Frouby ouch for dh, hope he’s ok. Poor ponies in this weather.

NC4 omg at that flooding. How is your ds now?

Longest, hope all is ok with you and your dh now, I also had a row with my dh, he was being miserable, no idea why, various stresses. But it was a full moon last night, so maybe that was it?!

I was toying with having a Malibu and Coke (didn’t as we had no Coke) last night but noticed that there is hardly any Malibu left so I’m wondering whether dd and her friends are snaffling it. Dh reckons the toffee vodka has reduced more than we've used as well. FGS! Teenagers, tricky.

Day1 AF and I’m determined to do 4 days again this week but aware that I am still drinking too many units when I am drinking so I need to work on that. Wondering about doing the 8 week blood sugar diet after half term, that would be 8 weeks without alcohol. Hmm.

Have to drive ds home so that’s a four hour round trip. Hoping the M1 is clear at least.

We have a very dark downstairs loo, it’s this colour. I like it. A friend has a very dark grey living room and it looks great, it’s not a huge room but it doesn’t matter

Dion hugs for the teenage tantrums. Teens are often very selfish and the world revolves around them

Water I'd struggle doing the 8 week bsd. 5:2 worked for me but I only did it for 6 weeks to shift 5kg.

I like dark colours too. My living room has one lovely blue sea color wall, one pointed stone wall and one white.

On the ferry back to France 6m waves expected and I will probably see lunch again in an hour or two🤢🤢🤢

Madame, good luck for the journey back.

I drove ds back and we started off in sunshine which turned to snow and sleet as we went north. The city is gridlocked so I am going to stay here for a few hours until it looks clearer, every road is rammed and shows as big red lines on Google maps. The journey that normally takes 1.5 - 2 hours took us 3 hours today, one way 😰 I’ve ordered Dominos for me, ds and his housemates so we’re waiting for that while being aware that the gridlock may mean it takes a while to get here unless they’re using bikes instead of cars to deliver. I will probably get home before midnight...at least I’m definitely AF 🙂

Water, I hope you manage to get home ok. It's foul here.

I love the colour of your downstairs loo!

Mine is this

Thanks to you and Madame for the sympathy re teenagers. Unfortunately, selfishness is the least of it at the moment. It's coupled with failure to assess risk, big style. I don't envy you your ferry journey, Madame.

Water Juniper Ash is gorgeous! Dare I ask... is it purpley?
Teenagers indeed. Mine was snaffling the posh rum I bought myself for Christmas. And the rhubarb gin I was given for a leaving present at work.
DS1 seems better in himself although he’s still incapable of coming home when he says he will, or doing his share of the chores. At least his face is back to normal and he’s back to his usual self.

I hope you’re home now Water. I got stranded on the M6 today. I ran out of fuel because the petrol station I was going to go to was flooded. Sitting on the hard shoulder for an hour was grim and a bit scary, but luckily RAC Troy saved me just as the sleet started.
I don’t want to do that again, ever.
It wasn’t too bad till it went dark, then all the terrible things that could happen to me started going through my head. It was icy cold too, even with my emergency blanket. I’ve definitely gone soft since my hitchhiking days.

Has anyone been watching The Stranger on Netflix? DS2 and I have been hooked on it. It’s well worth a watch.

Oh Dion I missed your colour sample. I love that. I’ve considered painting my dining room that colour but I don’t know if I’m brave enough. It’s this green at the moment.

Omg NC4, poor you, that’s my idea of hell. Was it a smart motorway or was there a normal hard shoulder? That must have been scary as anything. On the motorway awareness course we were told you should stay in your car even if it stops in the fast lane, terrifying.

I suggested putting ds on the train this morning, wish I had. The journey back was fine as the roads had cleared and the M1 was fairly quiet but I was driving back thinking “I don’t like driving on motorways much and I’m not keen on driving in the dark on my own and some of this is bloody smart motorway and what if I break down, will someone plough into me and OMG WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE! (Like that Catherine Tate Aga Saga woman). As it was when we were about half a mile from ds’s house on the journey there I had to pull over, run into a chemist and beg them to use their loo as I was desperate (3 hours in the car by then but the last 40 minutes no way of pulling off the road) and thankfully they did.

It was like a combination of The Day After Tomorrow (sudden snowstorm and treacherous roads), The Italian Job (entire city gridlocked) and TheTruman Show (all roads blocked, even side roads) 😂 but I’m home now so that’s good.

Madame, I hope you’re safely back in France, listen to me moaning about a motorway and a city when you’ve had to cross the channel. I bet your journey was far worse.

NC4 I like that green. The Juniper Ash isn’t purple at all, it’s dark bluey grey, I really like it. It’s not far off Hague Blue, I like that too Dion.

Dionysa, failure to assess risk is very typical of teenagers, it’s partly why they’re terrible drivers: they don’t assess far enough ahead so eg sharp corners come as a shock to them. I read a bit about it, I think it was this one

Water the ferry crossing wasn't too bad, very choppy but no one was being sick. Because of the wind behind the ferry. But it was late and then the 2 hour drive back home in the wind and rain was awful. I'm glad I went back. My DM is very weak and frail, cancer and a blood clot on the heart (she was fine 2 weeks ago) and she could go at anytime, a few weeks at most. But she is very stoic about it and not in pain which is important.

The Juniper Ash isn’t purple at all, it’s dark bluey grey, I really like it

^^This is why I can’t be trusted to choose paint colours 🙈

No, it wasn’t smart motorway, thank god. It was normal, unlit motorway. I was told to wait out of the car so I found a bit of tree trunk to sit on, but I was still thinking about being ploughed into by a truck. Then a lorry pulled up behind my car and I thought it was the rescue man but it wasn’t, so then I started thinking he must be a murderer or something.
I’m not normally a scaredy-cat but I did feel very vulnerable.

I’m a bit worried about my work situation. One of my biggest clients has taken on a lot of extra staff and seem to be cutting back on their freelance. They actually offered me a staff job but I’m not really in a position to take it, and I don’t fancy it that much anyway, so I turned it down. I’m hoping I’ve not shot myself in the foot.

Morning all

Now I want to go get some paint charts with all this talk of decorating. I want to do my downstairs loo in a hunting scene, very tongue in cheek. Saw some fab loo seats the other year, was going to paint it either mulberry or racing green and have a loo roll holder and towel rail made out of horse shoes and bits. DH wasn't keen and veggie dd was horrified but I thought it would be quite cool. Might just do it one day while they are out.

I fancy a burnt orange in my kitchen/diner on 2 walls and grey on the other 2 walls. And a taupey colour in my living room. And my bedroom is desperate for a make over but I want new bedroom furniture and it gets spendy.

Weather vile here again. Fml. Wasn't dry last night, 3 beers but I really fancied them. Got check ups at dentist later for me and dcs so can't see me being dry tonight either but going to have gin cos less calories.

Feel like I am in countdown for half term. Desperate for it to come, me and the dcs are shattered. I just can't seem to get enough sleep. And have just realised I am booked in for my smear on the 20th ffs. Dd will have to watch ds. Which will please her greatly as it's a 9.20am appointment.