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!

I couldn't go without breakfast - I'm starving within about an hour if I don't have any. I'm getting a bit fed up with what I have at the moment (muesli, yogurt and banana) but there's nothing else I'd rather have instead; I like bran flakes, but you can't get them over here.

I'm definitely more of a morning than an evening person, but getting up at 5am to go swimming would be pushing it even for me! The DC all go to bed fairly early (7-7.30pm) but it's still a struggle to get them up for school/kindergarten in the mornings; I have to wake them at 6.45am as school starts quite early here. The upside is that I'm back home from the school run at 7.45am, which is quite a productive time of day for me; the downside is that the DC are home before lunch.

I don't do mornings or breakfast either. But am living on Frosties and cornflakes at the mo, which is terrible... My diet/eating pattern is generally awful though and has got worse since getting PG. There are so many foods I can't stand! I'm hoping baby will be a night owl but not a picky eater...

I'm very jealous of all the snow. I know it's no fun to live in but we're entering the hot and humid season (which also means cyclone time) and I would love to go snowboarding :(

I can't manage without breakfast either! When I lived in Cyprus I had a job that started at 7 but it took an hour to drive down the mountain to the RAF base so I was up at 5 having breakfast. The sandwich lady came round just before 10 and I ate a large sandwich then, finished at 1.30 so found myself eating a late lunch at nearly 3 and then had tea later! Put on nearly a stone! Gosh that is half my lifetime ago - I was 20!

When are you due again frakkin?

Glad to hear I'm not the only one, jenny - I was beginning to feel quite greedy! I also put on a stone at about the same age (can it really be 20 years ago?!?). I was au pairing in Berlin and I'm not sure whether it was to do with homesickness, the cold or the unaccustomed stress of coping with 3 DC, but I used to eat 2 breakfasts, have 3 sandwiches for lunch and a second helping at dinner! I only managed to walk it off in my second year at university.

We're off to my ILs tomorrow as it's a long weekend here, although will probably be back home tomorrow evening so that we also have a day at home (my ILs are lovely but best consumed in small doses!). We weren't sure until this evening whether we'd go or not as both DH and I have had bad colds and DS a nasty cough (which we think might be allergy-related), but everyone seems to be on the mend now and the DC would be very disappointed if we didn't go.

Have a lovely time Linzer and hope the colds and coughs disappear in double-quick time.

(Yes 20 years - that is quite some time!)

Thanks, jenny - we had a nice relaxing weekend at my ILs (apart from the stress of trying to stop them continually stuffing the DC with sweets!). I unsociably managed to read quite a lot of my book, although still have 150 plus pages to get through before book club on Wednesday, and we had a lovely (and free ) meal out at an Indian restaurant last night.

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend.

Sounds lovely Linzer! Dh is flying to Regensburg on Tuesday so I will be sending him armed with a Christmas shopping list! Hope you finish your book in time for book club. I quite fancy joining one, but with teaching German one night and learning Spanish another night, seems a bit unfair to dh to leave him for another night.

Great timing for your DH's trip, jenny - how long will he be away? I love this time of year in this part of the world and am looking forward to all the Advent and Christmas markets (I particularly appreciate being able to have Glühwein after about 6 years when I was either pregnant or bfing!).

I'm looking forward to the book club but am slightly worried about whether I'll have enough energy to go out in the evenings! It's in Vienna so will take about an hour to get to, but it's only once a month so I'm sure I'll be able to cope.

We're off to Bratislava today (no school and DH has the day off) to stock up on Christmas and other goodies at M&S and Tesco, so must go and get ready.

Frakkin - if you are still reading this thread - thanks for backing me up on the other thread. I am pretty upset by what people said and composed - then deleted - about ten replies telling people how f**cked off I was. I think I must be feeling very sensitive at the moment but somedays MN is my only contact with people other than the dd's and dh so I rely on it.

Linzer and Jenny - I am so jealous of how Christmassy everything sounds. I keep forgetting it's nearly Christmas as it's still 30 degrees every day and apart from a few blow up Santas you wouldn't know it was coming.

Can't wait to get home!

I had a brief childish moment when he said he was going! He's only in Regensburg for a few days then he's off to Bulgaria for a week. I love Gluhwein ( you have a German keyboard, don't you!) but I love Lebkuchen more! Hope you have fun in Bratislava getting all the Christmas goodies!

I'm sorry you were having a hard time on a thread stranded. I quite like AIBU sometimes but at others it feels like people are just ganging up for no earthly reason. I know what you mean about MN sometimes being your only adult company too. It won't be long till you're in Cheltenham and meeting up for coffee with old friends. Enjoy the sunshine while you can!

jenny Oh, I can be very childish when DH announces that he's going to be away on yet another trip (although to be fair, he does travel less than he used to). I'm very good at sulking, although tend to reserve that for when he's away at a weekend. Must admit I'm more of a fan of Glühwein (my laptop is English but I've also installed German as a keyboard language, so switch back and forth) than Lebkuchen, but then I do have lost time to make up for!

stranded I rarely post on AIBU as I'm far too sensitive - a couple of times I've made what I thought were fairly innocuous comments, only for people to jump down my throat. There's blunt and then there's unnecessarily rude.

We had quite a successful shopping trip to Bratislava, although DH and I agreed it would have been even better if we could have gone on our own - the DC tend to get fed up after about five minutes' shopping. Still, we managed to get lots of Christmas presents and food from M&S, some clothes for the DC and went to the cafe twice (for morning coffee and lunch) - we like to do our bit to support it as there's hardly ever anyone in there and we're worried it might close down!

Thanks guys - I know, I know, stay away from AIBU. These days I think just the letters AIBU is seen as a free for all to be as rude as you want. It was a stupid thread about internet safety and when I reported something my dh had said I was told to question his motives and his sources! Anyway it wasn't the initial bit that pee'd me off - as people didn't know the whole background. What annoys me is people feel they can be as rude as they like but then not apologise and/or explain themselves if they are challenged.

Is gluewein (no German keyboard here) like mulled wine?

Yes, gluhwein (glowing wine) is like mulled wine and perfect for drinking while browsing round a Christmas market or after coming off the mountain in winter...... Yum! Maybe some people like to let out their inner bluntness on AIBU when they are usually polite in real life? It's still not easy to take, though.

hope you've recovered from your venture into AIBU stranded

Linzer any excuse to go to Vienna should be grabbed with all available hands IMO. I love walking through Vienna, especially at night.

Stranded - no worries. I was quite worried about posting that because it could have been construed as identifying and I worried you might be mad at me for saying it but honestly the stuff that people were saying was outrageous

If I were anywhere near Bratislava I would be going to M&S to support it! It's one of those really British things that you don't appreciate when you're actually in the UK.

I'm excited because DH is going away and that means I might be able to go home for a trip just before Christmas to see my family and for my dad's 60th birthday celebrations! If he wasn't going off visiting dots in an ocean then I wouldn't be going.

Will you still be ok to fly then frakkin? Sounds very exciting.

Yep - will only be 22 weeks.

Going to SA at 28 weeks!

I wouldn't mind a glass of Glühwein now, but will have to make do with normal red... hopefully not too much longer before the first glass of the season, though!

Climber Ah, but you're an evening person - whereas I'm worried that I'm going to fall asleep on the train on the way into Vienna. I also have no sense of direction so am slightly worried full stop.

frakkin That's great; how long is the flight back home? It sounds like your DH's trip has come just at the right time.

frakkin - no worries. I just wish some of the people who had been particularly rude had come back and apologised. But that's not a very "MN" thing to do. Not cool!

I flew back to the UK from Jamaica when I was about 34 weeks and it was fine. Mind you I did fly business class

We still don't have any piped water, although we do still have water in our tanks. It's so hard to know how much water to use as we don't know when it will all be back properly.

hey tad and thumb just wanted to check in and see how you're both doing?

I'm doing well, thanks climber. Dh is currently flying cattle class to Germany and will be away for nearly 2 weeks. How's the weather in S B? It is supposed to snow here at the weekend. In the mountains they will get 30 inches! Ski season starts next week! Hope your joker of a grad student has learnt some manners.

still sunny and in the 20's here.

Just been for a 1 mile run, still took 10mins (and got a stitch again, don't what's going on there) which is a bit disappointing as I was trying to go medium fast pace.

Grad student:I've been putting him in public situations that are starting to show his true colours to the others. You know just casual q's of help in the group meeting . Today the prof asked if he would help with a new project to try and electronicate the lab and he said he wasn't interested so now I know it isn't personal, he's just a cock and I was the unlucky one who was dealing with him.

I going to meet a potential climbing partner on Thurs at the wall. Hopefully we'll click and I'll start going regular again. He's also got a 9 year old boy so at least he won't be a carefree student. I'm a bit scared to find out what my new level is. It's going to be embarassing.

wow that was very me, other people have to follow suit now

climberchick - trying to catch up here, where are you again? Presumably, given the name, you are into climbing! But is the grad student and the climbing wall linked (confused!)?

Nothing much to say today except I felt a small earthquake yesterday (something like 3.5 I think) - now scared we're going to get a proper one....That will be closely followed by the plague, some pestilence and a swarm of killer bees....

Bloody hell stranded - how long till you go home? Am I right in thinking you are pg too? Or is that me, maren and frakkin on this thread? I get a little confused at times - must be my age!

Good luck with the climbing partner climber. Dh hasn't really found one yet though he's been outdoors climbing with folks from work. He is really quiet though and we often joke that we wouldn't be together if it weren't for me making the first moves! (I didn't give him a choice ).

Haha no not pregnant and no intention to ever be again! Been there, done that, don't want any more of the sleepless nights (although still get severe bump envy from time to time).

33 days until we leave, And counting!