Due April 2009 - Sod the thread title, we will need a new one in a week.

[PuzzleRocks]

Welcome new joiners, lurkers, occasional updaters, prolific posters, and Nutty and Springy .
I say this one wont last a full 10 days.

glad yous all liked the turkish baths. and ofcourse they'd be turkish baths that we were actually fucking allowed to use too.

thank you springy for your kindness, it is just all too quick my head can't catch up with it all. I'm wanting so much to be happy, but still can't get over what i've lost.

i wanted so much to go to this party in the highlands this weekend. I love parties, I love getting drunk, i miss it. It was one of the things i couldn't share with my ex, one of the reasons i didn't feel fulfilled. he'd not party with me but now i miss him because i'm alone.karma

all my friends are there. I'm working tommorow, and so initially I said to my friends that i wouldn't cancel work like i usually would and lose out on the money as it's 15 people in one room all drinking and smoking and taking drugs and i wouldn't be able to rest or get away anyway . and they said, fair enough. nobody said, come anyway! we'll look after you.

i felt sad today and wanted to be there and so thought about getting the train up after work tommorrow. said to my boyfriend that i could get up there for 8pm and would he come and pick me up from the station (30 miles away)? he said he would if i really wanted to, but it'd mean he'd not be able to drink all saturday and that wouldn't fit in with his plans.

so i'm not wanted. boring pregnant girl. no fun, all alone.

Puzzle and all - of COURSE you can come too! As long as you all bring your sexy hydrotherapists... Hmmm I think I may have to buy a bigger dining table...

We want you and love you! Not exactly the same, but we do.

Frosty... don't feel sad... they'll all be hung over and you won't!

Do you think I'll be allowed a glass of red wine with my steak sarnie? Feel like I've been drinking rather a lot recently... every time DH has a beer I drink about half of it... and he has one about every evening!???

Evening girls

There is no way we will make 10 days with this thread - my bet is 8 days!

Boffin you are miraculous.

Well I think I have joined you on the 'down day' but before I go into that - Frekkles, sorry you are having a bad day, it all seems fairly natural tho (as in I don't blame you considering everything you have been through) and like everyone said, hopefully things will start to pick up. How are you feeling about moving in now?

Nutty, that is outrageous - think you should complain, it might not get you anywhere but it also might make them do something. Dragondraws saw how much pain you were in before, can you not call her and say that you appreciate what you did but you have now been told you have to sit and suffer for three months!!

OK WARNING MASSIVE RANT COMING...

Is anyone getting fed up of having to shout and scream just to get things done??

Have had such a frustrating day today (was in Bristol Nutty - well Parkway for an all day meeting with one of my clients) Anyway I digress!

So was out all day and have a massive massive meeting (with lots and lots of money at stake and ridiculous deadlines) next week and left my team at work with some preparation material to get done in my absence - purely research analysis for 2 people to do that should have taken about 5 hours each -
Anyway, despite being in regular contact all day and asking them to update me I got home tonight to an email that pretty much said, here's a start but some other things came up and weren't able to get as much done as we had hoped. On opening the documents, not only had they done hardly anything, but what they had done was so badly completed that I cannot use it.

Anyway, I already had about 5 hours worth of work to do this weekend formulating the analysis into client-friendly presentations but now I have to do all the prep (about 10 hours) before I can even start doing this!

My point is that as a manager, I am not one of those people that likes to scream and shout and stamp my feet, I am clear but don't think anger gets you anywhere at work. Anyway, certain other people in the office, do like to stamp their feet and order people around - anyway this clearly happened today so the allocated work got sidelined!

Don't get me wrong I have a great team who are usually very good but it feels like because I don't get angry and scream at people when my work is not done or throw a princess strop, that they don't feel as bad letting me down (because I wont ball them out in the office!)

So now have about 15 hours of work to do this weekend, well tomorrow as DH and I had planned to do baby things on Sunday (and was really looking forward to having a fairly chilled one as having been pulling 12 hour days all week and have an even worse week next week). I also don't like to play on the fact that I am pregnant but seriously am almost 7 months pregnant and am facing a horrible weekend and 15 hour days next week - surely anyone in their right mind would see that is not on and would try and reduce that workload!

Poor DH has had a lot of tears of anger and frustration tonight - where I got myself so worked up I promptly threw up my dinner (lovely!) Am so very very - am definitely going to have to say something next week but you would think with three of them in the office today they could have between them made a bit more of an effort - clearly Friday mentality kicked in!! grrrr

Anyway, rant over, feeling better now, am just going to get on with it tomorrow and sort it out on Monday grrr

Anyway back to happier things.... Nutty, Puzzle and Springy lol -

Am due 10 weeks on Monday and things are starting to get very real now. Thinking lots about the realisation of being a mum, breast feeding, getting the baby in to a routine etc...

Ah but that's just men no? Only thinking about the fun THEY might be missing out on because of the baby... never mind all the things WE have to give up!

i feel a bit that way too nutty

but i don't want to misrepresent him.
this is exactly what he sent me by email .....

"Sorry if I don't sound keen. I'd love you to be there but it would stop me from drinking on Saturday during the day and by the time we got back to the bothy I wouldn't be able to drink much at night either.

But I'm fully aware that you can't drink at all and haven't been able to for months, so if you really want to come and you aren't still concerned about being around all those wasted people then I'll definitely come and get you. I can have a f*cked day on Friday and then a sober day on Saturday with you."

and then he texted me later

"you know i'll come and get you tommorow if that's what you want. But I'd be lying if I said it fitted in with my plans. Please just accept that as a nice gesture and don't be pissed off with me"

ooo BB I so have been in that position. Sometimes you want to strangle people for making more work for you, but then you realise that THAT would make even more work for you because you'd have to cover it up and talk to the police and so on and so forth... Hvae a relaxing bath and try to focus on good things for tonight so you're refreshed in the morning

BB that's out-bloody-rageous, I don't know what to advise but definitely make it clear on Monday that you're not at all happy and this can't happen again. Also you shouldn't be working 12 hour days, they really have to let you slow down now. I was in hospital with premature contractions at 33 weeks last time because I had worked too hard... so really you've got to put baby first and they need to understand that. Please do take care of yourself!

Off to have steak sarnie now... yummm

Hi......newby alert - can't believe how much chat gets posted here !!! Keep looking when I get online (not very often) but only just plucked up the courage to dive in.

AuldAlliance - about broken polystyrene inserts for car seats......we had a 7yr old car seat from DP sister given us for DS1 and had same problem. I phoned Britax on an offchance, thinking no way as quite old, but they posted us a new insert and, as far as I can recall, only for about £5. Worth trying.

Just found out about being due £190 just for being due after 6th April - fab. Dilema now is do I own up to DP and see it dissapear into the communal pot or be selfish and spend on myself. Mind you 'spend on myself' usually ends up as spending on DS1 and DD1 .

Just heard DP come in so will have to get off for wifely duties

Oh My God, I know it was an epic post but you lot are on fine chatting form tonight!!

Frekkles, I think your DP should be a bit more considerate - it's your baby after all - as in yours together and he should share in this part of it as well as the next!!!

Schulte, I think that is fine, my company said the same about me 2 months ago and now my boss is so worried about me not being there he is considering paying a freelancer £400 a day - that's £2000 a week to cover my work - WTF - I will come back the day after it is born for £2k a week - you have to be kidding!! Apparently they would have to come to some arrangement but still!!!

hmm yes, can you get them or anyone else to help you with the work?

Frekkles - I don't want to stir the pot here, but is he going to slow down the drinking when your LO arrives? If he's not that keen to stop now, how will he be when he's responsible for a baby?

BB - How many sleeps till mat leave??

I am very flattered you all think I am so brilliant. I must hang on to those thoughts. One of the reasons I have done so much is because a) I am very old compared to some of you, b) I had to find diverse ways of earning a living at various points in my life and that led to adventure, and c) I get bored very easily so tend to trot off looking for excitement.

I originally studied music in London (having a baby in the middle of my degree course) and then sang for a year professionally. I then did a PGCE in music and drama, lectured a bit for the OU to earn extra £££, and ran a couple of school music departments, teaching singing and piano on the side. Teachers' salaries were very poor in those days, so I worked in the holidays singing at society weddings and doing various bits of journalism work (which I had done whilst at music college as well, as much to get free opera tickets as anything). I do happen to be trilingual (!) so I also did a bit of translating work. I then got pg with DS2 by accident (Persona machine special - avoid them like the plague, ladies), and packed up work for a bit. I then got very bored so I did a Masters and PhD at Cambridge, and ended up being an academic, sort of by default, because all the other jobs seemed to require selling out in one way for another. While I was a mature student I had DS2, did some training the trainer type stuff for the university for extra £££ again, and also did some computer support to pay for luxuries like childcare, knickers and food (my studentship from the Research Council didn't quite stretch to things like that). I am now a lecturer (half teaching and half research) and do some consultancy work as well.

I am hopeless at things like waitressing, customer service, retail sales, nursing, most branches of medicine, putting up with nonsense in the City, scrabbling for status in a law firm, tolerating fast track idiots and sucking up to head teachers. Plus a multitude of other things. Honest!

Plus I was Miss World 1986 (now I am kidding actually).

I know you are all right and DH has been saying exactly the same thing and if it wasn't for fear of having too much to do next week I would leave it this weekend. Hope you are all around tomorrow as I will need some distraction from the work!

Oh believe me there will be some princess strops on Monday - am at meetings until 3 but once I get back there will be some definite 'chats' about commitments and priorities.

Bleu you are right and I am a RUBBISH liar so the police would see through me straight away!!!

Welcome mumblemum - so glad to have another newbie

lol Boffin such adventures. You should write book.

miss bolat, how on earth are you managing to work such long hours? and then having to do 15 on your weekend? that's amazing. are you ok? i don't know how you do it. sorry you've had such a stressful day

hello mumbles mum x it does seem a bit scarey when you're reading, but really it;s not. welcome in. everyone's so nice

hello everyone else tonight too! keep me company? me lonely. I missed the shop so am ice cream less.

Frekkles, he does sound genuinely caring but doesn't make you feel any more loved!