Class of '18 Best foot forward through the autumn leaves.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

old thread was getting big....

DS has two framed family photos propped up on his mantelpiece - his sister gave them to him for his 18th last year - of him with his little cousins on each side of the family. No photos up of us, but he has got his photobook of the first 18 years of his life with him - as a group of 4 families we have made one for each child as they turn 18. Might print him a few more photos to go in his stocking, think he might appreciate that.

|I think it is when you are talking or texting that they come up with these ridiculous reasons why they cannot do certain things.. The desire to always have an retort or an excuse doesn't mean however that they don't remember your wise words and may at some point purchase said drawing pins.

Today I witnessed ds1 who has never in his life shown any understanding of household tasks/simple helpful interventions remind me to take the fluff out of the dryer or"it wouldn't work properly"and his jeans wouldn't dry before he left..

I think I told him to take the fluff out himself at that point of course (if he was in a defluffing mood)and finish drying them himself, but it was just funny to observe

Ds also has no photos up. Uses his pin board for a to-do list and shopping list and that's it. He's the same at home - his room is always really tidy and organised. His sister on the other hand...
Ds is looking forward to coming home. Dd hasn't seen him since 27th August and am expecting one hour of sibling love followed by 3.5 weeks of bickering over who has eaten all the chocolate!

DS has a selection of family and friends photos on his peg frame thingy. He has put up some fairy lights that I'd bought as a gift for someone that he'd taken a liking to. They are little vinyl records in pink but he said he quite liked the colour.

He was home the weekend just gone - I saw him for about two hours in total as he was out the night he came back and I was away with friends early the next day. He is back again for a friends birthday this weekend - I might actually get to see him.

He has asked for a calendar for next year - one that "must have those boxes for writing stuff in"....

Dd is stil poorly but has gone back today. I tried to get her an appointment with the doctor yesterday but of course she is no longer registered with them. She tried to get an appointment with the doctor at University but no appointments for 3 weeks. I just hope she doesn’t run out of inhalers.

Ursula DS had joy with the local NHS walk in centre, is that another option for her? Otherwise she'll probably be home for Christmas before she gets an appointment.

Surely her GP would have seen her as an emergency patient? Isn't that was advised when they had to change their doctors to the university town? It's a bit rubbish - like being in no mans land.

The receptionist suggested the walk in centre. But it usually full of the great unwashed.

DHL then took a call later in the day asking for my feedback on the surgery’s service.

Oh how we laughed.

DHL? DH obvs.

For those of you who remember the potato masher issue from September, said DD has just bought one!!!!!!!!!! So proving that mum is right all along

One of the joys of DD doing a late shift at work means that she has to clean the glass cabinets and hoover the floor. I can't get her to do these things at home

The poor girl killed in a car accident at Newcastle University was local to me and in a friendship group of people DD knows. Truly awful.

When was this Ursula? I haven't heard anything on the news.

Just googled and found it. How sad.

It was mentioned on the FB thread so I googled as I know a girl at Newcastle. I was relieved to find it wasn't her, but today I've realised that she was very close friends with several girls I do know. There has been nothing on the local news. She was hit by a car when crossing the road late one evening and died in hospital.

Her family will be devastated. The son of a good friend of ours was killed in a crash three weeks after going to university.

Life is so unfair sometimes.

I suppose it could just as easily have happened at home, but it is just so horribly tragic when they have just started out on an exciting new chapter.

When you cross the road with lots of people I think that is when you lose your concentration, and are tempted to cross behind parked cars, not at a proper crossing. And when the road is empty, it is so easy to forget that a car can come very fast out of nowhere. And they wear these black coats!!!! And then there are these drivers who disregard the normal speed limits when the road seems clear.

Yesterday I heard a very sad piece of news which will concern anyone with a dog. Xylitol (and Stevia?) is a natural sweetener made of birch bark, and sometimes people who are trying to reduce sugar perhaps due to things like CFS or ME will replace sugar with it in their cooking, or buy protein bars, tinned products, or icecream, yoghurt with lower sugar yet sweetened in this way. So it is not necessarily just appearing in crap processed food that we wouldn't eat anyway. Anyway, it is lethal to dogs, snatching a homemade cupcake off the worktop, eating a bit of protein bar off the floor, licking a plate with sweetened icecream leftover. An acquaintance's dog died, and she is devastated, as she didn't make the link and nor did the vet until it was too late (thought it was warfarin poisoning). She has done a piece for LBC and Radio 4 about it.

I have read about Xylitol and how dangerous it can be.

BastardSpaniel had to go the vets after snaffling a fruitcake off the worktop. I had to sit in reception listening to him vomiting in another room.

Xylitol is the artificial seetener of the devil IMO, as are all the sugar alcohols - xylitol, sorbitol, basically anything ending in "itol".

They cause bloating and diarrhea if eaten in excess, but for many people if eaten at all. As an IBS sufferer I avoid them like the plague.

I either eat sugar containing foods or abstain altogether.

It is DDs birthday today. She shared a cake with her halls friends last night and has her course end of term party tonight so is enjoying it I think. She comes home tomorrow for a few days revision leave then will return for exams right up to Christmas week.

I was surprised at how sad I was not to be able to have a hug with her this morning. She had a tricky start in life, and her birthday always comes with mixed emotions for me.

She made me laugh last night though. We sent candles for her cake, but they were scared to use them in case they set off the fire alarm.

Hugs Hardwick. I found it really difficult not being there for DDS birthday. I got very sad about the idea of her opening her presents by herself.

Do a little something nice for yourself today.

lonicera xylitol is a "natural" rather than an artificial sweetener that is the problem, it will often be listed in products containing no artificial sweeteners just like "stevia glycosides" - I'm only saying this because I just ate the most disgusting tomato ketchup from Heinz yesterday and was convinced it had aspartamine in it, no..it was all "natural" but 50 percent less sugar..(bought by my crazy children) Today I went and bought some real tomato ketchup.

Hardwick it is a long time ago isn't it but always fresh. I sometimes look at my mum and think, oh yes, you probably feel the same about me but you've buried it under 50 layers of scolding and good advice

Ds1 rang me up yesterday to talk some more about Dr Who and the decline in standards. It was very sweet - that's how he touches base nowadays.