So when the UK sleeps, we know you other MNers are out there part II

[tadjennyp]

I was looking for thumbwitch's recipe for that cake and found the old thread has disappeared so Linzer and I thought we'd resurrect it!

thumb - sounds really interesting. Now wasn't it you who did threads about the dangers of aspartame? That certainly has made me think. I am a sucker for diet food as I always seem to be trying to lose about four pounds, but now I am trying to avoid too much crap.

climberchick - I used to work for the Foreign Office and my dh works as an overseas crime liaison officer. We met when we were both working at the British High Commission in Kingston. I got pregnant there with dd1 and we moved back to the UK. We had dd2 there then had a brief stint in Pakistan before being evacuated thanks to the Mariott bombing. He was then offered this posting as an alternative. It was a hard decision whether to take it or not. On balance I am glad we did - but now I have had enough (St Lucia is a VERY small island!).

Are you doing a marathon? I am impressed! I am trying to get back into my pilates classes but at the moment the dd's school is only open 8-12 so I have less time than normal. In fact I should really be getting going on our insurance claim (after our house was flooded) not wasting time on MN!

Climber I can't even imagine what it must be like to run 26 miles; I keep telling myself I really must do something about my (non-existent) levels of fitness, but am very good at finding excuses. I did start cycling more in the summer, but it's too cold for the bike now and nothing else appeals...

thumb DH is a chemical engineer; food science sounds far more interesting! I still don't know exactly what a chemical engineer does (my eyes tend to glaze over when DH starts talking about work), but at least I understand a bit more about what he does now that he's working in renewable energy (not quite sure how it's related to chem. eng., but apparently it is.)
I'll tell him to mention the dizziness at his next annual check-up, but I'm not sure I'll be able to persuade him to go to the doctor any sooner unless it happens again - he's one of those rare Austrians who don't rush off to the doctor at the first sniff of a cold. He felt sick initially but wasn't sick and then just had the dizziness, and was fine in the morning after a good night's sleep.

jenny I remember DD2 deciding she wanted to be a baby again when DS was born. She went through a very "babyish" phase, speaking like a baby, wanting to be carried, be back in nappies, etc. - I assumed it was to do with her losing her position as baby of the family. However, DS often reverts to baby speak now and will refer to himself in the third person - maybe he's realised that he's growing up and it's all going a bit too fast for him! I wouldn't worry too much about your DD wetting the bed though; none of mine were dry at night at 4 (DD1 was 6, DD2 about 5 but still has the odd accident and DS still isn't!).

stranded Pilates sounds interesting; I wonder if that would be an option for me...
Interesting to read about how you met your DH - your life sounds so exotic!

Linzer - pilates is the best!
My life has been exotic (my father was also a diplomat so I travelled a lot as a child as well) but I am about to go back to being Mrs Ordinary in the UK. People can't believe we don't want another posting. I'm like - no way, I've had enough!

Do you know what they say about the bluebird? You can look for it all over the world and you just hadn't noticed it's at home all the time.

Dcs are in the garden playing in the snow - hurray! That means I can get on MN in peace for a while! Actually dd was really sweet this morning. We were taking dh to work as he normally cycles and he pointed out that someone had in fact cycled. Dd thought that the person he had married couldn't have been very nice. I am going to hold on to that today!

I never heard that phrase about the bluebird stranded. Here a bluebird day is a bright sunny day to go skiing! Sometimes you have had enough of travelling. I hope it is everything you imagine it will be.

Climber I am so impressed by your marathon running. I am half thinking that after ds2 is born I should start getting into training and manage a 5k by the end of the year. I say that now! 14 hours went back to the UK for a trip and hasn't posted since, I think. I've seen the Boss post on feminist threads, maybe?

How are feeling today thumb?

I'm glad we haven't had any snow yet, jenny - it's nice for a few days but the novelty wears off pretty quickly (and it went on for months last winter). The school run is stressful enough as it is without having to dig the car out from under several inches of snow, the path needs to be swept several times a day which is quite time-consuming (everyone is responsible for clearing the pavement in front of their house - we don't have a pavement, but do share a longish path with our neighbours), and it takes ages to put everyone's snowsuits, hats, gloves, etc etc on (often only to have to take them off 5 minutes later when DS has decided it's too cold for him outside). Snow is good when DH takes the DC out into the garden to build a snowman and I get some peace indoors, but the rest of the time I'm not a huge fan!

I know what you mean stranded - I'd also had enough of moving every 2-3 years, having to settle in and find friends all over again, etc etc. It's good that you already have friends where you're moving back to; that should make things so much easier.

I have no energy today as I'm trying to stave off a cold with echinacea and zinc (it's working to some extent, but I don't feel 100%). I am very tempted to spend most of the morning reading, but I think I need to get a few other things done first - I can reward myself once I've got them done.

Hi,
just stumbled upon this thread.

thumb Interesting point about the jaffa cakes. I did not know that. Also, it is illegal in Norway to fortify breakfast cereals with vitamins and minerals, so cheerios here is really nothing but fodder in milk. Yet, it is widely accepted that all meats are stuffed with water and salt, to add to the weight of the product......

I bought some jaffa cakes this morning - one packet of "orange cake" and one packet of "berry cake".

Interesting to read about cereals in Norway; I've noticed that cereals and dairy products are rarely (it at all) fortified here in Austria too, although I don't know whether it's actually illegal. It's very difficult to find cereals here that aren't exceptionally sweet (without added honey/chocolate, etc.); cornflakes is about the only exception, so I usually stock up when I'm back in the UK.

We have a lot of alpen and weetabix style cereals here. We do have chocopops and cherios, and something called cruislie, which is quite high in fat and honey, consisting of clusters of nuts and oats, almost like crispy mini flapjacks!

Linzer- your description of living in the snow is pretty depressing but made me smile as I bet everyone thinks "oh how lovely for you all that snow for the dc's to play in" just like here everyone thinks we have a wonderful time playing on the beach all day long! I am dreading the getting them all dressed up in warm clothes thing. Luckily I guess we won't get quite as much snow as you do!

I hate breakfast cereals - they are either overly sweetened and total rubbish as a food or completely non-sweetened and taste like cardboard. Luckily for me my dd's actually don't seem to mind Weetabix so will have that every so often but otherwise will only eat honey-sweetened cheerios etc. This morning I gave them Special K with strawberries and they picked out all the strawberries and left the K!

I always laugh at those diet articles which recommend eating porridge for breakfast. Of course they don't mean the delicious maple syrup flavoured Quaker oats, they mean. Porridge. On it's own. Otherwise known as gruel. What they used to give prisoners.....

I also laugh at the idea of having eggs in the morning. Great. Who has time to bloody cook in the mornings???

Yes breakfast is a barrel of laughs!

(sorry I need to rant about something and it is better that I rant about breakfast than my dh/st lucian government/the water people/the school etc etc etc)

Quintessential - cruislie sounds delic!

Rant away, stranded. I certainly felt a lot better after my rant about DH moping around the other night!

Despite the fact that DS has a very sweet tooth, both he and DD2 will eat Weetabix and porridge for breakfast. Now I just have to work on getting DS to eat more than half a Weetabix - I remember DD2 was on three a day when she was going through a growth spurt at about 1.5! I couldn't eat porridge on its own either - it has to be a third porridge, a third brown sugar and a third All Bran, the way my mum makes it (not that I've eaten it for years).

I didn't mean to sound quite as negative about snow - if you like skiing or snowboarding, then this is definitely a good country to live in! Another positive aspect is that the Austrians are so used to snow that the country doesn't suddenly fall apart if there's more than a centimetre of it; the snow ploughs are out clearing the roads at 5 am or earlier and I've never heard of schools closing due to snow - you're still expected to get the children there.

Agree that cruislie sounds delicious; the only problem would be that I'd find myself eating it all day long!

Goodness, I didn't get a chance to post on this yesterday and it's taken off!

Hello QS, glad you've found us :)

Stranded - yes I contribute on threads about aspartame (godawful stuff, should never have entered the food chain, won't allow it house room in any shape or form)

I loved my degree. I learnt so much (still didn't get a good grade though, hopeless at regurgitating necessary facts under the stress of exam conditions!)

Am that it is illegal to fortify breakfast cereals anywhere - what an odd thing! Do they allow other foods to be fortified? For e.g. margarine? In the UK, margarines have to be fortified with Vit D to the same level as "summer butter". That doesn't include low fat spreads, though, I don't think as they aren't margarines (margarine has a specified fat level).

I love snow but only for a few days - I think the problems with it would soon outweigh the novelty value. And as for the beach - well we live right near the coast and have only been to the beach a handful of times in over a year!

DS (and I, for that matter) adores mini Oatibix with cranberries. Of course we can't get them here, had to bring 6 boxes out in my suitcase, but they're running out... have to get my friend to bring another 6 when she comes out with her family at Christmas! Can't get them or anything like them here.
I wish I knew how to make them myself, actually.

Am feeling a touch better, thanks for asking - might even drag my sorry behind out of bed early on Saturday morning to join some other playgroup mums in a new swimming venture - a bunch of them/us have got an instructor to come and bully us into actually working at it for 45-60 mins, to help us get fit. Only trouble is it starts at 8am and I so don't "do" mornings!

thumb it is annoying that the most obvious time to do exercise is in the mornings. I am a night owl, DH just laughs when I suggest doing anything in the mornings. Having a instructor is a great idea.

I used to mainly run at 10pm (but couldn't tell anyone as they got quite funny about it)

I don't eat cereal either (but even soy milk makes me feel funny) or have soft drinks (too sweet ot too fizzy).

We were discussing it at playgroup yesterday - one of the mums was saying something about getting up regularly at 5/5:30 to go swimming - there is no way on God's green earth I could do that, chances are I'd fall asleep in the pool and drown! ACtually, if I had to drive to the pool, it's doubtful I'd get there - I can't drive at all well in the early morning.

Our last lot of snow for the winter was June this year! The ski season runs for 6 months. It's not the snow that I mind particularly, it's the really icy roads that are a problem. They don't clear them unless there is at least 6 inches to save money! Every time there is a heavy snowfall there are loads of crashes and this is somewhere where most people drive 4WD, huge trucks, winter/studded tyres etc. I just get a bit scared really!

I go to the gym at 8am after I've dropped the dcs off at pre-school twice a week. They're only there for 4 hours so I have to go asap otherwise I'd have no time for MNing getting anything done! I had the glucose load test this morning and for some reason it's worn me out. I have dinner in the slow cooker though.

I like cereal, stuff like shredded wheat etc. and top it with the healthiest granola I can find, as it's often high in fat and sugar. I'm sure thumb can tell me how nutritious or not that is!

Quint was it you having problems with your elderly dps? I hope things are getting easier. (Don't answer if you don't want to, but you seemed really down last time I saw you on a thread).

shredded wheat = floor scrapings remoulded into "cereal". Lots of fibre, but that can be bad for some, especially if you don't drink enough fluids. Only one worse, IMO, is All Bran. As one of my lecturers said, you'd get more nutrition from eating the cardboard box it comes in . Too much insoluble fibre (aka bran) is not good because it takes minerals out the gut with it.

Many cereals, despite their "wholegrain-ness", are so processed that they have a very high GI rating anyway. The more natural a cereal, the better. So of course unadulterated proper porridge is better than e.g. cornflakes. Muesli is probably the next best option - but lots of add-ins, especially dried fruit, can increase the sugar content dramatically. And they all seem to be quite high in salt (except floor scrapings shredded wheat).

However, cereals have their place and they're not all that bad - but I do have serious reservations over anything that has honey-coated stuff, or chocolate stuff in it (despite absolutely loving Cocopops myself) cos there is no need for it - just sets the DC up with a need for sweetness all the time.

More protein in breakfast is a good thing - so nuts in cereal or yoghurt, or eggs, are better for glucose tolerance and energy levels.

I eat a lot of stuff with flax and pumpkin seed in it. I didn't realise shredded wheat was such dross! Weetabix any better? I never give them honey bunches of whatever, though I was seriously tempted by a box of Frosties myself the other day! I am going to put that down to being pg.

thumb I am with you about morning exercise. I am physically ill if I have to be up before 7am.

LOL! I feel much the same, Maren!

When I worked in a college, my boss used to say I wasn't approachable before midday - but she was exaggerating, I was usually ok by 11am

So thumb you have confirmed my opinion that basically any breakfast food with any taste is bad for you! Tbh I would rather just have a cup of coffee than anything like gruel plain unadulterated porridge. And I'm afraid the honey nut cheerios are the least of my worries when it comes to the dd's. I do make sure they get protein/carbs/fruit and veg at every main meal or at least every day though.

Maren - how do you get away with not having to be up before 7am, do you not have any children? Mine are generally up before 6am every morning, although this is when it starts getting light and the birds start singing. I have this vague fantasy that they will sleep longer when we are back in cold, dark England.

Mind you if they slept until 7am there is no way I could get them both up, fed, dressed, teeth cleaned etc in time to leave for school before 8am....

stranded I have a DD who is a night owl like me . As much as I am jealous of my friends who have kids who go to bed before 10pm, she doesn't wake up until about 7:30. She's pre-school, so we don't have to worry about forcing her. We have tried moving her bedtimes forward, but she inevitably ends up staying awake until 11 being grumpy where it only takes a couple minutes for her to fall asleep at her normal time! We've been through several drastic time changes and no matter how I try, she always manages to set herself back on the same schedule.

I have worked jobs that forced me to leave the house at 5:00 in the morning, but when I get up that early I'm unable to eat until 9 or 10 am without being sick, and even then it had better be something gentle like tea and porridge.

thumb I only made it through my morning classes because I was working nights. I could work from 9pm to 6am and roll up to my 7am class fresh as a daisy

Oh maren, my Ds is exactly the same! He has never happily gone to bed before 8:30, mostly 9pm - but the advantage is he sleeps in until usually 8am - suits me down to the ground!

Now he is dropping his daytime nap, it's easier to get him in bed earlier - but we managed a before-7pm the other day and he was awake again at 8:30 - and wide awake at that. So now I don't try and force the issue until at least 7:30 if he has not had a nap, and don't worry at all until 9pm if he has. God knows how we're going to manage when he starts school! But that's another year or two away so plenty of time yet to sort it out [deluded hopeful emoticon]

And yes, my stomach never used to wake up until around 10am either. I spent most of my senior school years going without breakfast because I just couldn't eat it before school. And then didn't really eat breakfast at all until I moved to Australia last year. Eating breakfast has contributed to my current fatness, I'm sure.