Another path ....... the journey begins

[chopc]

Hello @321zyx @AvocadoPlant @bendmeoverbackwards @BigWoollyJumpers @Braveheart35 @calculatorqueen @ChimneyPot @Dobbyisahouseelf @Eastisup @jano69 @Majaso12 @MidLifeCrisis007 @NCTDN @Notagardener @OnTheBenchOfDoom @Parsonage63 @Pumpkintopf @Peaseblossum22 @quest1on @Peaseblossum22 @SATSmadness @SeasonFinale @Tenpastseven @Vargas @Xenia

Apologies for anyone I omitted to tag

Different Unis and jan exams is interesting. Any Durham DC having exams in Jan?

Shame @chopc I'm just trying to work out if late March is safer. Some people say numbers in London are already starting to drop. I don't know.

Dd has exams this week @chopc . Open book

Sorry to hear about your situation @Majaso12. You must be utterly hacked off with it all. Roll on a negative result and freedom x

She’s just done another test and is still positive and has gone mad and acting like it’s my fault. She went to a club New Year’s Eve and picked it up, given it to me and probably the others are going to get it and we won’t be having our kitchen done. She said she can’t stay in her bedroom any longer and needs to get back.

@Majaso12 time for some tough love me think

@Majaso12 struggling to see how any of this is your fault?!

@SeasonFinale I think I should've gone in with DS when we dropped him back at halls on Saturday. His younger sister who went in to see the halls having stayed home when we dropped him off in October, said his room was a tip. I just couldn't imagine how it could be as he brought all his clothes home for washing! 🤷‍♀️ Enjoy your holiday- how lovely to have that to look forward to, this feels like such a miserable week especially now the students have gone back.

@bendmeoverbackwards I'm so sorry you're having stress over whether your dds will be ok having afternoon tea together for your birthday. What causes the conflict between dd1 and 3? I understand it must be difficult for your daughter with autism- would she be able to put her views on your eldest aside for the sake of your birthday celebrations? Party also tricky - I agree with chopc, think you might get some cancellations, poss last minute- but if you're happy to go ahead and aren't, for example, paying for a caterer per head - based on your guests saying they're happy to come I'd go ahead.

Re: January exams - DS had his today. Said it was a nightmare and everyone struggled. Basically said he shouldn't have had any days off at all over Christmas and should have been working constantly. That's not sustainable surely?! I felt as though we hardly saw him as it was!

@Pumpkintopf. I know!

Your ds started his exams early. My dd had more days off than your ds I think, so dread to think how hers are going to go! She’s so stressed out with the situation as well so that won’t help either. Someone asked how much they’re worth out of the whole degree and they said 1% so that made her feel better.

Oh that's reassuring majoso. Honestly I sort of thought their first year would be a bit of a doss, time to kick back and socialise after a-levels - clearly not! (It was for me )

Hello lovely people

So sorry to hear of covid blues and isolation misery for chopc and Majaso12. How rotten for you both, although there must be some relief to know you've had it and can move on to some degree.

I feel for you Majaso12, your dd is going through a tricky time and you seem to be soaking up all her frustrations. I'm sure this phase will pass soon.

DD has not been easy this holiday either. She came back quite sulky and hasn't been great company, speaking little and rarely engaging with us. She came back from Durham before Christmas with tonsillitis which we thought had been cleared up with a course of antibiotics, only to get a second bout last week. So she's back on antibiotics and hasn't been able to return to college with all her friends. Fortunately she doesn't have exams this month which is a relief. She's just started to turn a corner, and my lovely smiley funny daughter is starting to return. I haven't seen "her" since last September! I hope I don't lose her again.... tough isn't it?

I have been spying on the Oxbridge 22 thread. Oxford results are out today (11th) - feel for the small minority who will struggle to come to terms with their rejections. I hope we hear from old friends with updates on how their dc have got on second time round.

Happy Birthday bend - I remember wishing you the same this time last year. I hope your girls can do their best to get on for your sake. Keeping my fingers crossed you can celebrate the big one with friends and family.

Almost a year since my dad died. He was rushed into hospital on the 12th Jan when DD was rejected by Oxford and passed away on the 14th. What a week that was. Sending 💐 and 🤗 to BWJ too. So lovely we can still share our different experiences a year on....

DD's room is turning into a tip at home. She's catching the train back to Durham on Thursday (assuming she's better) and I can't wait to get in there and give it a good tidy and clean!

x

Nice to hear from you @jano69

I remember your awful news about your dad last year, I can’t believe a whole year has passed. I hope the anniversary isn’t too difficult for you and hope you have lots of happy memories of him.

Sorry to hear about your dd. I think the first Christmas home can be difficult for them. They’ve settled into their new life at uni and however much they appreciate being home, they probably miss their friends and new found freedom. We expect our 18 year olds to be fully functioning adults but that moody, stroppy teenage behaviour can still be around!

How's everyone doing? I'm feeling like this is a bit of a miserable week, first full week back and the students back at uni...

DS is now starting to talk about house options for next year. Eye wateringly expensive seems to be the common factor.

Hi all. Hope you are all ok.
@jano69 Good to hear from you- I hope your Dd is starting to feel better and getting back to her sunnier self. I hope you see some of that sunny before she goes back

We picked up a poorly Dd so she was also out of sorts for some time. She had spent quite a lot of the first term unwell and tbh was not overjoyed about returning at all due to impending exams and the prospect of at least 2 weeks of mainly online teaching. She spent most of the holiday working on an essay and preparing for exams. I think she’s going to be in the library a lot these first weeks when she doesn’t have face to face sessions as wifi in her accommodation isn’t great.

@Pumpkintopf- Yes I feel like another week of holiday would have been nice. I’m hoping Easter will be less frantic as its a bit longer.

Thankfully Dd has sorted accommodation for next year . We did a drive by when we dropped her off . Convenient but expensive is all I can say!

It is expensive isn't it longtime - makes halls look cheap by comparison particularly when you factor in 52 week contracts vs 39. Ah well!

@Pumpkintopf. DD hasn’t started looking yet. Worried now it’s going to be more expensive than what we’re paying now and didn’t think about it being 52 weeks. Do you mind saying roughly how much it is? Then they’ll be the bills on top. Told DD once the exams are over, could she start thinking about it.

If you don't mind asking - what is "expensive"? In Durham DS will be paying £149 a week inclusive of bills (I think)

Dd is already paying £272 a week for 39 weeks.

Not going well here. Dh not coping well with working and me self isolating. He’s sleeping on the sofa and hasn’t slept for 2 nights and he’s driving DD back to uni so is worried about that, especially with lack of sleep.

Oh majoso sorry to hear that.

DS has literally only messaged us yesterday to start taking houses now he has his exam out of the way- he has one friend in their prospective house share who seems quite 'on the ball' (thankfully) and is sending them lists of houses to look at.

We're currently negotiating the budget with DS - there's a fairly wide range, one of his friends reckons she can afford £330 a week 🙈- we can't so are looking at about £250 (incl bills) which will hopefully get them something decent a reasonable distance from campus - Shepherd's Bush has been mentioned.

I've pointed them in the direction of the uni accommodation service to see if they can help. This link www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding/managing-your-money/living-costs/ - seems to suggest £186/week is average. Not sure what price/location we'll end up with as very early in the process. Is your dd still planning on sharing just with her boyfriend next year?

@Pumpkintopf. Thanks for that. Yes she is, but they’ll need others to share with them as well. She said her and bf would have separate rooms. I said it wasn’t a good idea to share in case something was to go wrong and at least if they had separate rooms, someone else could possibly take the room over and also she does need her own space. I said even married couples need their own space! She seems to think their relationship is going to be long term and after seeing them together, I’m not so worried. They call each other most nights, if not every night and speak for hours and seem to get on really well. Don’t think I’m going to be able to stop her.

Sounds sensible to have their own rooms at least! They'll certainly need their own space to study given the instance workloads at Imperial!

Yes, she needs her own desk to work at and I’m worried she won’t get as much work done if they share! I think we should say we won’t agree to pay for it if they say they’re sharing a room!

That should sort it 

@Neapolitanicecream - how about your DD? Has she started house hunting yet?

Sorry meant for that to come with a majoso.

When do you get out of isolation?

@Pumpkintopf. Going by symptoms, I should be on 9 today but not sure I am. Still had a positive result this morning. Got a new symptom today - metallic taste. Track and trace said I can come out of isolation tomorrow but according to the email, I still have to send isolate tomorrow, so Friday. I’m not convinced on what day I’m on though because lateral flows were negative all last week including Friday, even though PCR was positive Friday. Lateral flow didn’t pick it up until Saturday morning.

Self isolate!