Page 9 | A follow on thread ...

charliecat · 28/12/2004 10:54

hopefully im back to cc...testing

fionagib · 28/12/2004 16:57

we've been v v lazy too cc - loads of wine and loafing around, apart from quick flurries out into the snow (which is gone now). So sorry to hear your dd's ill cc - lots of hugs to you & her.

mm am chuckling at the thought of your karaoke performance!!

Girls I didn't confess that I had a coupla puffs on xmas night ....am back on the wagon now! We had friends staying last night who we only see once a year, it was lovely - and even better not to keep sneaking out in the freezing back yard (they are v anti smoking and I would've felt such a ninny).

SO nice to have a break from work and spend loads of time with dh.

Haven't remotely felt like a fag these past couple of days. Hope everyone's having good times xxxxxxxxxx

charliecat · 28/12/2004 20:22

FG
LOL I always think "Your the one that started all this...how could you" when you confess to having a puff......
Well you were werent you????!!!!!!
Naughty lady. Glad the past couple of days have been puff free.
I am feeling rattly, need to go get a baileys me thinks...from one addiction to another..
Snow doesnt stick here either, you have to hope it does it at night and go out in the dark to enjoy it...or get up seriously early and you are sledging as it melts in from of your eyes

Has everyone else survived Xmas?!

merryminkmama · 28/12/2004 23:40

yes thanks, everything has strangely gone back to normal here apart from the decs still being up. i don't know about 'relaxing' and lounging around this house, everything seems to be on speed when the boys are awake! but we had a lovely christmas none the less and i had a good time with my sister coming round yesterday.

she and dp will be back for new year's and that's when i get to say 'tonight matthew, i'm going to be justin from the darkness!!!' can't wait

is dd2 any better cc? ds1 &2 also have v. snotty noses at the moment and ds2 is particularly sensitive to it.

bm are you back yet? i hope the dogs didn't eat you up.

jenni, how did it go then?

where is mammya?

charliecat · 29/12/2004 19:14

Still lounging here...getting a bit boring actually
Have nowt to say I have bored myself numb

bluemoon · 29/12/2004 21:33

Hi everyone,

I'm so so so glad to be home. The 3 days at dp's mums were very hard work indeed, including her shrieking at dd 'in MY house we look but we DON'T TOUCH' and dd quivering like a terrified kitten in the corner. She really is a mean, cruel-hearted old cow. And what made her remark especially absurd was that one of her monster dogs ate the contents of my handbag, including my mobile phone on the first night we were there. All she said was that I shouldn't leave my bag lying around...

All that aside we then went on to have a lovely restful 3 days with my mum by the sea.

Dd's eaten jack shit the whole time of course. She never eats when we're away. And I think she's coming down with something.

Urg ... next year we STAY HOME

Anyhow, good to catch up on you guys' Christmasses. Sounds like you've all had a good time!

fionagib · 29/12/2004 22:12

OMG bm she sounds terrible! Anyone who starts sentences with 'in my house' (or 'in my day') is bad bad news. What does your dd make of her? Hopefully you'll get to stay home next year! Hope you're feeling much better & hope you didn't crack with the ciggies..... did you??????

yeah I started to get a teeny bit bored too cc, with the blimmin constant tidying up & kids fighting, so dragged the family out for a day in edinburgh today which was lovely. def back on wagon with fags, but counter says a measly 71 unsmoked, bah.

have put on SO MUCH weight too, wobbly roll right round middle, gotta stop scoffing, start running! All my jeans actually HURT. Gonna check out mn diet section! Anyone else got belly expansion???

xxxxxxxxxxx

charliecat · 29/12/2004 23:05

Too pissed to type anything but OMG BM and Oh yes FG

minkmama · 30/12/2004 12:39

i am eating choccies in defiance of new year dieting

at least you had a rest after the trauma of the MIL visit! what does your dh say about the way she treats dd or indeed even yourself? i know someone whose MIL is also a nightmare of unusual proportions and her dh knows it but obviously it's his mother so he just tries to play it down. definitely stay at home next christmas, i love my PILs but it's also nice to spend it alone with your own little family unit. don't worry about the non-eating...i gave up on ds1 eating anything if we even go out! amazing what they survive on really. he's getting a little porkier which is astonishing and he actually looks malnourished due to body being titchy and belly sticking out! i think we just worry ourselves when they don't eat as they don't seem to care and are still happy and healthy!

just got my damien rice and franz ferdinand cds so off to listen to them! oh and cc, just remembered your question about maroon 5 ages ago! i kind of like them but their second song got so overplayed so i got quite sick of it. like the 1st and current ones though.

minkmama · 30/12/2004 12:53

i'm going to kill the little bugger...i've just found that he's drawn on the carpet in permanent marker. advice please...

charliecat · 30/12/2004 13:14

OMG...baby wipes usually are my first port of call...dont think its gonna help though...

bluemoon · 30/12/2004 15:20

Yes, FG, she IS a nightmare. I wouldn't believe how horrible she can be unless I'd experienced her. She said to me one day as I put one of dp's empty beer bottles into the wrong recycling bin by mistake: 'my God! Are you a complete idiot?' in a mad German accent. I can laugh about it now of course but at the time it was hideously uncomfortable. Another time when dp, dd and I were messing around in the bathroom laughing our heads off she put on a radio down the landing really loud 'to drown out all the noise' we were making. Dp's embarrassed about it, plus his dad died last Christmas so he feels obliged to be kind to her. But by the end even he was doubting her sanity!

Hey, FG, I've been reading your book over Christmas. I meant to tell you. I'm REALLY enjoying it. I've got loads of questions to ask you but don't want to be a bore. Do you mind being asked stuff about your writing?

Well, was hoping for a MN moment but dd's decided to make an 'interesting' smelling deposit in her nappy so will have to sign off for now. I'll be back later hopefully!

fionagib · 30/12/2004 19:19

No I don't mind at all bm! Hope everyone's fine? Am starting to feel a bit demented, been at home SO much - kids squalling now, asking, 'When does school start?' - off to mum's on west coast on Mon for 3 days (just me and kids, dh back at work) and can't wait for change of scene - seeing panto too much should be a laff.

poor mm with your carpet! I'd start a new thread for that if I were you, what a blimmin pain!

STILL haven't cracked and have no intention of smoking, never never.

aren't we all being good?????

fionagib · 30/12/2004 19:25

I meant to write panto 'so' should be fun. Brain has melted due to inactivity.

Malfunction!

Wine needed girls....

charliecat · 30/12/2004 20:10

My brain too has malfuntioned, had one of those...turn on the taps and leave the room so the kitchen sink overflows and floods the place days .....GRIM!!!!
Your MIL sounds like she could win a contest of the worst ever How did your dp survive living with her?????????????
Mink I guess the carpet is still not well? I hope you didnt really kill him...was it dh or ds1 BTW LOL
I am chonking madly, you need wine FG i need baileys....

bluemoon · 30/12/2004 21:30

cc, dp got out from home as soon as he could. So did his sister. I think she could win a contest for worst MIL but she'd be way too mean to enter it!

I succumbed to my first real attack of pester power today from dd. When we were at my mums we saw a 'Boobah' (you guys ever seen those weird things on t.v.? Dp thinks they're the worst thing ever and I'm not sure but dd was bought a dvd as a gift and LOVES them) in a shop and I told her then we couldn't buy it as we'd got too much to carry / no money etc. She's talked about it since and after her nap today she woke up and got very upset that she wanted to see the boobah again so I suggested we go to local Woollies and 'look' at one. Of course when we got there, dd melted into the sweetest smiles and cuddled it and it was reduced to six quid so I got it.

A slippery slope?

First question for you FG and it's a bloody dull one too. When you write a novel do you start with an overall plan and fill it out? How much do you 'ad lib'? Having only written a PhD as any kind of 'extended' writing I'm always fascinated as to how a novel-writer manages to keep things together and not veer off on from the main story etc. I've got loads of questions to ask about characters too but I'll wait until I've finished the story if that's ok?

charliecat · 30/12/2004 21:36

My dds dont do pester power! DD1 hasnt got the right social skills to ask and dd2 as shes learnt from dd1 doesnt bother...its very handy I must say!!!!
Your dd sounds incredibly cute...I dont think I would have been able to resist either, not with a reduced price tag
It sound like you are gonna ask all the questions me and Mink wondered but never got round too...woohooo!!!!!
Cant wait for Fionas replys...can you Mink???XXX

bluemoon · 31/12/2004 13:01

How do you mean, cc, that your dd1 doesn't have the 'social skills' for pester power? I thought they all did it, skills or not, as a kind of developmental milestone . It was dd's first time as she's used me to ALWAYS saying no to things in shops but this one she seemed to genuinly want and as she'd remembered it for 3-4 days I thought it wasn't a flash in the pan thing. As it turns out she's in love with the damned thing and won't put it down, sleeps with it, eats with it on her knee and looks thoroughly delighted. It makes me slightly sad as I look around and realise how toy-starved she generally is.

Anyway, on with the FG questions now my pester-powering little lady's in bed for an hour or two. So, the character of Ro is really interesting because she's quite all over the place really. Often with a hero you get quite a lot of onsight into what's in their minds / motivations, but she's curious. I keep wondering why hasn't she asked her husband about this Sarah woman yet?! And the way she is with Tod is very strange. Did you base these characters on people you've come across / yourself in any way? They're very real but very unreal in the sense that neither of them really belong in the world if that makes sense. I like them both a lot actually. But I don't know what's going to happen to them yet!

It's very quiet on this thread at the moment. Where's everyone? Probably busy doing family stuff while I, as always, sit around not thinking about smoking while dp works, works, works. Actually I've had a lot more of him during the family visits and also he's starting to teach a course on cinema in the New Year so has to watch lots of dvd's so I'll be using that opportunity to tuck myself underneath his shoulder on the sofa and grab what love I can!!

bluemoon · 31/12/2004 21:08

Happy smoke-free new year to you all!!!

Wouldn't it be amazing if we entered and left 2005 without having had a single puff?

Is this the longest time so far that you guys have managed to quit by the way? I quit in 1997 until nearly 1999 so I've got a big success to beat. Somehow it seemed easier then than it does now. I remember cravings etc. disappearing more quickly and my temptation to buy a pack going very fast. Maybe it's being a mum this time!

FG, I finished the novel during dd's nap, couldn't put it down. Very enjoyable read. I've got MORE questions but will hold them in until it's a more sensible time to ask

Anyway, see you all in the new year [kiss emoticon]

bluemoon · 31/12/2004 21:13

By the way, FG, my second set of questions are now of course defunct since I finished the book. I'm kind of thinking now that Marcus was just 'wrong' (despite his 'perfection') and his wrongness made Tod 'fail' and Ro become unable to fulfill her creative and other potentials. They both started to thrive without them. There's a tyranny to perfection, especially perfect men!

Blah, blah, blah, what do I know?

Where ARE you all???????

charliecat · 31/12/2004 21:24

BM today I have been busy throwing out clutter again as I could see the xmas toys getting mixed up with the old ones and I couldnt bear the thought so everything has been boxed or thrown out. Still havent quite finished but have hit the vodka so will probably wake up to a nice mess in the morning!!!
Your dd and her boohbah sounds lovely, let me reassure you if you had spent 200 quid on other such things she would still be sitting there with the boobah and the other stuff would be gathering dust. TBH the most played with toys from Xmas have been the £1 tamagochi rip off egg things from the pound shop....the gameboy and playmobil stuff of course have been played with, but most pleasure has been gained from the pound shop toy......lol
Cant put my finger on dds lack of social skills...shes got some form of communication difficulty...so she missed the pester power milestone
I would love to enter and leave 2005 without a puff OMG that is it really isnt it?????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today, finaly came on and my brain has been trying to persuade me to have a joint to celebrate the New Year (or any such excuse) but ive managed to bash the thoughts away with my more powerful...Er Hello ive been here 100 times before and I know what that leads too.......NO!
So thats an achievement.
My longest I think is 3-4 months thats embarrasing really isnt it...but thats also the reason im giving up and im not going to stop giving up regardless of what happens..
Have you saw the adverts??
I think they will get more people on the stopping wagon.
Must stop warballing on...lol.Happy New Year xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Let 2005 be the year for us the fag free few

charliecat · 31/12/2004 21:24

Crossed posts BM!!!!!!!!!

minkmama · 31/12/2004 23:19

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! lots of kisses for you all, wish i could do it in person as you have all meant so much to me in this short time that we've known each other. without you it wouldn't have been possible [big hug emoticon]

sounds like i'm pissed but am not yet, still waiting for the clock to ding dong. sis and dp have come to spend a couple of days here so we actually feel like an extended family for a change!

keep asking those questions bm, i'm also really interested and like you, cannot fathom how a writer keeps it together.

the whole boobah love your dd has acquired is so adorable! ds1 has Mr Rabbit who cost the same as boobah and he cannot live without him! which one did she get, the pink one?

cc, actually have a stain-free carpet thanks to nail varnish remover as i couldn't be arsed to go to the pharmacy to get the alcohol. thank god it was the corridor carpet, the rest of the house is cream! LOL when you asked whether it was dh or ds1 as when i was writing it i knew you'd get the joke

hope you are all happy and my love and warmest wishes to you all for the new year!! xxx

charliecat · 31/12/2004 23:24

Big {{{{{{{{{{{{{{hug}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} to you all xxxxxxx

(trying to imagine these past few months without you guys)

charliecat · 31/12/2004 23:46

Been over to the whyquit site tonight and read a load of the posts.
The ones that rang true I must say were the relief ones. The ones that say thank god its over now. I dont have to fight, to wonder if ill smoke in the morning, to cringe when I see someone who thought I had stopped as im hanging around in the freezing cold smoking..yep Relief I dont have to worry about that shit now more is good. Long may it continue Happy New Year again xxx