The OFFICIAL buddy bench/naughty bench thread No. 3

[teaandcakeplease]

Come hither all those who haven't found their place on mumsnet, have scrapped in Aibu or crossed words in chat. The buddy bench shalt not judge.

The buddy bench will hand out wine and cakes, it will join you on your scoffathons getting pissed

All those who enter the Gazebo and sit on the bench, will have their sins erased and be given a warm welcome and cheerful chat from CheerfulYank, gomummy, tired mum, Elmo, AF, HE, Cheesey and far, far too many more to mention.

Welcome to the buddy bench, we look forward to meeting you all

Oh and don't forget, last one to leave polishes bench and locks up !

I think the bug has passed now

How is everyone?

Good! Glad everyone's feeling better where you are. :)

Good news Tea. :)

Good morning Benchers!

Oooh, cranberry! How festive of you :) Delish!

We just had elections here and the Republicans are coming out ahead. :( Curses!

Cheerful I would be so ashamed for you to know how little I know about American politics, especially given that I am extremely interested in all levels of our political system up here. You have only two parties at the federal level really, right? Republicans vs. Democrats? if that is wrong! Why is the one that's coming out ahead a negative? Not meaning to be nosy, just always interested in politics! :)

oops - a negative thing

I'm actually a moderate, or independent. :)(Independent is an actual party, but it's only the Republicans and Democrats that ever get elected to anything :))

Both parties have pros and cons. Republicans are more conservative, are almost always anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage. They favor tougher punishments for crimes, tougher welfare criteria, etc. Democrats are most often pro-choice and pro-gay marriage, with more liberal view on other things.

I have beliefs from both sides of the spectrum, (as Obama said, "neither party has the monopoly on wisdom) so I usually have to look very carefully at the issues at hand before deciding. I have almost always voted Democrat, but not 100% of the time.

And I don't know the first thing about Canadian politics, so don't feel bad! :o

Ahh, I was wondering if there were other parties. Thanks for the summary! :) I would have to pick and choose on the issues too, from the sounds of it, as I am already torn just based on what you've written!

I do wish they taught at least the basics of other countries' political systems in school. Same reason I feel schools should teach a course about "world religions" if that makes sense. Just an idea about what makes the world turn outside of our own sphere.

hi all,

hope you are all well, sorry i havent been around, i may be on and off a bit til tuesday, just wanted you to know i havent forgotten you

I felt really sad when I read on the bbc news website about the results. I like Obama a lot. Rome wasn't built in a day and I think he's doing ok. Now he'll find it hard to push through any of his reforms since the election.

Everything ok Tiredmum? You've been missed. Hope you are well.

Tea if I may ask, why is it that you like Obama? :)

I spent a lot of time following him in the Presidential election. I felt he was a man of integrity and liked what he had to say and he also tried to put things into action he'd promised as soon as he took office, such as trying to shut guantanomo bay. Accept that now won't happen and neither will his healthcare reforms I suspect, as it'll be blocked in the senate etc.

I like him too, Tea. He's steady and fair, and we are very much in need of those qualities right now. Sigh...the elections are a blow, but I will just have to keep helping those around me and volunteering when I can. All you can do is all you can do, eh?

DS possibly has his first hockey practice tomorrow! These are the kind of things a Minnesota mother dreams of! :o I was supposed to get some info last month but it never came; apparently they're very disorganized. So I may just show up and see. He's got skates and they don't need much else at this age, so... :)

DH will be hunting all weekend. Grrrr! I love that he gets to go and have a good time with his irritating DB and other family members, but he's been working such late hours lately that the time we all have together is few and far between. And now the next three weekends gone! Oh well, it's only once a year. Have a good weekend everyone!

Oh and welcome back tiredmum! I was wondering where you were! How's the bump?

Ice hockey? As you said skates? Wow!

So it has been hammering down giant snow for eight straight hours now. Everything has about three inches on it. :( Fall is gone. Thankfully we got all the snow tires on a while back so at least DH will have a safe drive home.

Wow Cheerful, DS cannot start hockey for two more years, I am impressed that they start so young in Minnesota! Won't be long and we'll be hockey mums! :)

We were born with a stick and a pair of blades/On the ice we cut our teeth/We took our knocks in the penalty box/Our mother was a referee/This sport was here before we came/It'll be here when we're gone/The game's in our blood and our blood's in the game/Lay us down under a frozen pond/We will fight to the end, we will stand and defend our flag flying high and free/We were born the child of the strong and wild in the state, the state of hockey!

Ok, that's out of my system! (That's the Minnesota Wild theme song :)) We take our hockey very seriously here, tis true. :o But if DS doesn't like it, that's ok. We'll see how it goes. It would be nice if he liked it so that he could burn off some energy this winter!

That's a LOT of snow gomummy! We don't have any yet, but I'm sure we will soon.

What a great song!

Again showing my naievety about my neighbors to the south, Cheerful, I thought only Canucks were that devout about hockey!

I love snow, very very

Bet I wouldn't if it was here ALL winter though

The drive to town this morning was unpleasant until we got to the main roads, which were thankfully clear. The roads never used to bother me at all, but I am much more nervous since DS is here. I wish it would come for about two months around Christmas instead of almost six. grr

Oh well. I'm just unnerved as I have to make the very long drive to the city tomorrow with DS and was hoping it would melt a bit before I spend six hours on the road.

So what is everyone up to this weekend?

6 months? Yikes!

I'd be terribly nervous driving in snow. But I am British and it doesn't snow much here But once you have a LO you definitely do feel differently about risk, my stbxh used to say how much my driving had changed and how much more slowly I drive now

Oh, we'll get our share of that snow in due time. :) DS was not a fan of his first hockey practice. I think he liked the idea but not the reality of wearing all the gear. My DB is going to take him to open skate tomorrow and see if he likes it and then we'll try another practice. If he hates it that'll be that. He can learn to skate a bit this winter and then try again next year if he wants to, otherwise it might not be his thing. I really want him to do a sport because I think they're so good for kids,and hockey's my favorite so that would be nice, but I refuse to be a pushy sports mom. So. :o

What's everyone up to this weekend?

Yes Tea, almost six long months. My DH has also commented on the difference in my driving!

Cheerful I feel the same about some kind of sport/athletics/exercise. Do you have any mountains around? Downhill skiing is great, I was started at 3 loved it, taught for years too. DS will start next year here, not quite ready this year.

I am working on repairing my vehicle this weekend, brrr. :( About halfway done now and hope to finish today so that I am not stranded for the week. DH and DS are having a lovely time watching me and making snowmen! :)

Big HELLO

Have had trouble with my PC the last few days , it got a virus & my security was shutdown
Hopefully its sorted now .
How is everyone ?