to wonder what IPOAT stands for?

[Hullygully]

getting giddier and happier by the day. Hadn't realised how stressful it was not knowing what was going to happen. I am a great fan of denial, you see!

How lovely having that weight lifted As the wise Hully once said to me, it's only afterwards you realise just how much an issue has been weighing down on you.

I agree Mimi, I never realise the degree of anxiety until it's over

It bears saying often, clealry

You are not old, repetitive nor dull.

You are slightly insane but that is why we love you.

I am old. Had a visa photo done yesterday and I am at least an ill-reserved eighty. Even the man in the shop looked aghast.

preserved, even

Hully you are not old. Just.....not. Lifts everything up in manner of Les Dawson... not that there's anything wrong with old.Tries not to look in mirror.
Anyway pass those copper pants I am going to perform a MN version of the Hakka, to drive away the spirit of the in-laws. Pass the paint and light the sconces.

Teeheehee...I've had a rotten morning, DS up every two hours with a stuffy nose, frantic call to in-laws this morning to watch him as too sick for school, horrid mutt of a dog gone AWOL in search of garbage cans to tip over... UGH.

The student I work with is being quite the whiny little snot, too, so I just glared at her and hissed "By the power of Barbra, I command you to get a grip^ !" She has headphones on and can't hear me, but it felt wonderful. :o

Hully, in my mind you are always queenly and magnificent. Put that in yer pipe and get over all this old and dull talk. I won't hear of it.

A hakka for Mini

am lol'ing over cheerful getting legitimate usage out of 'By the power of Barbra!'

Lucky mini

I still haven't used the phrase.

Hully I have a mental picture of you being about 28 and very tall. I feel your pain on the passport photos though as I was so cross after having 3 goes to expose my ears, lift my fringe and not smile I ended up looking like a right dragon. People always look twice when they check my passport

I am old, short and stocky with mad woman hair. Time and excess has wreaked havoc upon me. But hey, it was fun...and I still have my sparkling personality (about twice a year)

Hmmm, I am 31, tall and stocky with mad woman hair.

Can you be stocky if tall, or is it just fat?

Hully, in my imagination you are like a friend of mine, medium hieght, attractive intelligent face and in your prime. Jins you are like Kate Winslet.
i will make more effort to use 'by the power of Barbra' today. Off to life class now, sharpens pencil.

My hair is the bane of my life at the moment. Why is grey hair so determined to expose itself even when dyed? You can tell mine is grey really just because of the texture and frizziness.

Mine grey also, or as my mother would have called it pepper and salt, it is skillfully dyed, and is a bit mad at times as I mostly can't be bothered to tame it life too short an all that. The perm cannot be countenanced.

Also pondering the meaning of the word 'stocky'. there is a firmness to stocky, a strength. Whereas just plain fat ( examines waistline excess) is soft and flabby.

Yes. Stocky sounds positively a virtue. One could rely on a stocky person in a tight spot, whereas a fat person would just hinder you.

Or possibly hinder one.

Enough Romance, I think.

In my case, it's flab unclothed, stock when buried. It's the shoulders.

How's this for a bit of marvellousness?

In order to get Indian visas, we have to send a letter of consent signed by both parents that we consent to ourselves taking our children with us. And include photocopies of our passports even though we have to send the originals.

I blame the Raj.

AND you have to send two photos, but they don't tell you that because that would help. So there is a space for one, and then you have to staple the other on the backside of the form. But you only know that if you email them and ask about the anomaly.