We've survived the first half term - go us! (starting uni 2017)

[flyingpigsinclover]

New thread....we've got to the first half term!

It's ~9pm here, by the way, in case anyone thinks I'm boozing at breakfast time grin

Yeah, yeah, we believe you !

brizzle Are you in the UK? Obscenely early start to the day for you if you are!

LazyDog - enjoy the hangover

HSM -

Not tomorrow (oops, today now!) I've only had a few beers. I'm home alone for a couple of days, looking after our 2 dogs, 2 cats and 4 tortoises. Dh and ds1 and ds2 went to visit my BIL's family this morning (who live 6-7hrs drive away.) They're due back on Friday evening. I left it a bit late to make pet sitting arrangements so had to stay home - oooops!

lazydog that’s quite a houseful of pets!! How do your cats and dogs react to your tortoises, out of curiosity? We have a tortoise that we just inherited with the house so I’d be interested to know.

Just to add to the conversation about relationships - DS is still with his lovely girlfriend from school, which is impressive considering the fact that she goes to Edinburgh now and he’s in London! They’ve been together since the summer after year 11. He says of his friends in relationships one split up just before they left for uni and one split up about 4 weeks in (having opted to go to the same relatively small Cambridge college... everyone told them it was a bad idea and now they have to live on the same staircase!), but the rest have all lasted the first term. It’ll be interesting to see which ones do last more than the first year.

I met DH when we were both at uni and despite the fact he bought me a coffee maker for my 21st birthday, we are still together 30 years on.

DS went off skiing on Boxing Day with his gf family. He was a bit ambivalent about going as he has been enjoying his time at home. I was worse waving him off this time than I was in September, maybe I was feeling a bit tipsy emotional

Quite down today. DD (already graduated and working away) had been home for Christmas and left last night to go back to the flat she shares with her DP.

She moved out not long before DS left for uni so it’s felt as if they were both away on a part time basis.

It suddenly hit me last night that this is permanent, she will probably spend next Christmas with her DP and when she comes home now it will just be for flying visits.

Which is as it should be and I’m very proud of her but it feels like the end of something and I keep having little cries. Watching Little Women last night didn’t help (even though much of it was pants).

It was so lovely having both of them home.

Mine bought me a coffee maker about 5 yrs ago, and a radio; both used all day every day. Don't knock it. Puppy is a dead ringer for the Andrex pup, btw.

I'm thinking if DD's boyfriend gets a job and accommodation in her uni town, then we are unlikely to see her in holidays. It's right and proper that they move away and become independent adults, but it doesn't make it any easier. He works in our town at the moment and that was a major plus for her having the incentive to come home.

Dd has stayed with her bf of nearly three years, she's hoping that they won't split up. I have reservations though, I suspect he's a bit controlling and don't know what to do.

I read somewhere that with facetime, snapchat and unlimited free minutes on mobile phone tariffs its much easier and more usual for partners to stay together when they separate to different Uni's. Not like the queues for the weekly chat on the hall phone in the olden days !! My DD has been with her bf since start of year 13 and they speak every night so don't see the need to meet up every weekend even though he's not far away.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread btw - been reading with interest since the start and loved the useful and supportive comments. DD1 on placement year between year 2 and 3. DD 2 on partly enforced but very beneficial gap year so got all this to come again hopefully in September

TabbyTigger Our current cats aren't allowed access to the tortoise tables because of a previous cat's tendency to view their enclosures as huge litter trays. I'm not eager to find out whether these two would feel the same way.

Tortoises and dogs being allowed to interact at all is a total no-no! Back in the UK I used to be heavily involved in tortoise rescue and rehab., and it was sadly far too common for dogs that had ignored a pet tortoise for years, to out of the blue just suddenly decide one day that the tort is actually an attractive chew toy, with predictable consequences

Thank you lazydog! We currently have no plans to get any pets luckily, so Speedy the Garden Tortoise should be fine

Hi user146, welcome!

Wishing a Happy New Year's Eve to one and all! 🍷 🎄

We have a gathering here tonight. It's lovely to hear them all giggling and having fun.

We are home for the first time in about 14 years. Dare not leave the house because of new puppy. Both Dc at parties. DS staying over, despite being only 16 (friend's mum in house where they are staying, though not at actual party), DD coming home but I have told her she has to get a taxi. I gave her money for this as I don't want her to say she can't afford it as loan run out. Love her but have done more than my fair share of being taxi this week. Happy New Year one and all! May be time to start a new thread when new term starts.

We are home tonight which I prefer tbh. DS1 & girlfriend have gone to watch the fireworks in London, staying over for a few days and DS2 is out with friends.

I'm mucking out DS1's room - those two are slobs will be having stern words when he returns.

Happy New Year to everyone, hope 2018 is good to us all.

Happy New Year everyone!

I was just wondering how all your negotiations with student finance have been - our loan still hasn’t been paid (been transferred into someone else’s account and student finance are being useless) so we’ve had to start borrowing and I’m having to pick up extra work (while heavily pregnant!!) to try and make it up. It’s a nightmare DS’s girlfriend also had her loan paid laid because student finance claimed they hadn’t received her documents, when she sent them off well before the deadline. The system seems like a total mess.

Happy New Year everyone. Living having everyone together again and dd1 has totally fallen for the puppy.

Tabby that sounds awful. After the initial application problems we had, everything has been fine with student finance.

HSMM it really is dreadful. They’ve been totally unsympathetic and unhelpful about it too - determined to say it isn’t their fault and just pass us to the bank!

That's terrible Tabby.

Student finance is hard work. I've asked them to send out a form over ten times now.

Oh tabby that’s awful. We had a problem early on when they claimed they didn’t know I was a single parent and didn’t give DS enough loan despite me sending all the evidence by signed and tracked and having a signature...I was told by a man at student finance “that means nothing the post office sign when they get put on the van...doesn’t mean we’ve got it..send it again!” Needless to say a few emails with That quote and his name to senior people suddenly produced the rest of DS’s money.

DS is heading back tomorrow taking his bike so planning on doing the 17 mile ride whilst to take the car and his precious computer.