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!

that is very cute, kickass - I remember having to wrap mine in loo roll and put it in my cardigan pocket [blech!]

awww that's well sweet

I also remember the loo roll packaging.

I'm doing well thank you kickass. I am sitting here munching my way through a box of guylian truffles so it could be worse! I have scary bleeding mole check on Tuesday and baby's heartbeat monitoring on Thursday so it will be a busy week, one way or the other. Hoping mole is still benign and baby is doing well. Had lots of Braxton-Hicks today, which were actually painful, though I'm only 25 weeks. The tooth think is really sweet!

jenny, baby worries as just so worrying. i had braxton hicks from about 4 months, and couldn't walk fast at all. i remember being late for a hosp appt & trying to hurry, but just having to stop and b-r-e-a-t-h. there was also a time when i put something in the bottom of the shopping trolley, only to discover that my muscles had tightened up & i couldn't stand up again - my bump was wedged into the trolley & i couldn't move til the b.h. went away.
must have been a nice sight for anyone behind me.

good luck with the various appts this week.

The trolley anecdote really made me smile, sorry

Tooth saver boxes are a great idea, kickass! DD2 made herself a Peppa Pig tooth box out of a large matchbox about a year ago, but is still waiting for her first tooth to fall out! (She turned 6 in July.)

Good luck with the appointments next week, jenny. I'm having a suspicious looking mole removed on Thursday, so am also keeping my fingers crossed that it's benign. My mum had a malignant melanoma (she's fine now) so I'm quite cautious about moles, but I'd have missed this one completely as it's right at the top of my leg, at the back. I'm just relieved that regular checks at the dermatologist are quite normal here and that the dermatologist picked up on it.

lol kickass (sorry)

tad busy week indeed, sending good luck vibes. Hope it all comes back OK, just think of addicted, it was doubtful she would make full term at times.

I remember 7 months pregnant, having been stung by a wasp, it was still in my boot (it had flown in the top, that's what I got for wearing a dress) which I was shaking frantically whilst trying to not show any pain with the bus pulling up thinking I can't take a wasp onto a bus. Got a few weird looks but luckily the wasp escaped in time while I limped onto the bus.

Not the same, but figure any funnies are welcome.

grrr - it's 1.50 here (am) struggling to get to sleep, then the battery got low in dd's smoke alarm, so had to remove it silently. of course, i went all round the house trying to work out which smoke alarm was beeping before i got the right one.

right, will try to get to sleep now.

kickass I have been lusting after the stand mixer for fifteen years, but never justified the expense (always something more important to spend the money on, which makes me sound like that persil ad), and DH knew as much, so after I took care of him + DD + all the household stuff while he had back surgery and was recovering for months plus quit my job in London so he could take his dream job in the States (and then moved the whole household because he was technically still in recovery), well, he saved for a bit to surprise me. FYI, apparently he did LOADS of research and the 'Artisan' is meant to be much sturdier than the 'Pro' because the engine parts are metal in the artisan vs plastic in the pro. Mine is fire-engine red, which is excuse enough for me for the kitchenaid [hgrin]. DH picked it out, which is good because I never would have been able to decide on just one.

jenny fingers still crossed for you. Let us know what you find out.

that's a very nice mixer.
I still have a Kenwood Chefette (smaller than a Kenwood Chef) - it does have a stand but I don't bother with it, I just leave the working part out on the bench so I can use it when needed. The whole thing out would be too big. I do leave the liquidiser out as well cos that gets used a fair bit.

I should be in bed - it's gone midnight but I am demonstrating my "owl" credentials by still being awake, despite a hectic day in Sydney, meeting other MNers at the Opera Bar - had to drive to Sydney because the trains were all on bus-replacement service, park at a local station and take the train in for the last part. It actually went remarkable smoothly - admittedly, I had DH's GPS in the car to ensure this - but still a long day. Yet here I am...

would it be too indulgent to get one in every colour, just to line them up & look at them? they're so pretty!

thumbwitch - i have never met a mn in rl! not likely to with where i live now.

Am very of the stand mixer - I just have a basic Kenwood model, but I don't use it all that often so can't justify spending any more on a mixer.

Hope you had a good time at the meet-up, thumb. I'm meeting another MNer tomorrow - only the second one I've ever met, as there's never been a meet-up either here or in my home town in the UK as far as I know.

It's a four-day weekend here (bank holiday on Monday and schools closed on Tuesday), but DH is flying to Turkey tomorrow and won't be back until late on Monday so I'm not best pleased. I don't mind him travelling during the week (in fact, I quite enjoy having the evenings to myself) but do get a bit resentful if he has to go away at the weekend - and even more resentful if it happens to be a bank holiday weekend!

Hi guys just wanted to say I hadn't forgotten you but we have been in Florida for a holiday (disney, princesses, mickey mouse, universal, harry potter etc) and now are stuck here because a hurricane has trashed st lucia and we can't get home! Very worried about our house and car, struggling to comunicate with people over there so so far haven't been able to get anything checked on. Booked on flight in four days but no news as to when the airport will re-open...or the road to the north of the island.

Still at least we are stuck somewhere civilized (staying with dh's brother just north of Miami).....

I'm glad you had a great holiday but so sorry about the hurricane. Hope things all get sorted really soon and you can reestablish communication. Take care xxx

thanks jenny - it's awful, at least 12 people have died in St Lucia and I think parts of the country have been pretty devastated. Not looking forward to going back - at the moment we are planning to fly in via Peurto Rico in the next few days, as the main airport is in the south and I understand the roads between the north and south are fairly well inaccessible.

Good luck stranded - at least you weren't there at the time.

On a lighter note, I saw some factory refurbished stand mixers in a posh kitchen shop yesterday. The price wasn't too bad. What does everyone think of them?

oh stranded - I meant to find this thread yesterday and ask how you were - glad that you weren't there when the hurricane hit but :( for you that you might find sad/awful scenes/situations when you get home. I really hope that no one you know has been badly affected.

Linzer - hope your weekend went ok, despite DH's absence (which I fully understand your feelings about) and that you had a nice meetup with the MNer. Our meetup in Sydney went very well - 6 of us there in the end, beautiful weather so we're glad it was postponed by a fortnight cos a fortnight ago it was peeing down! We had a long lunch and then went to Baskin-Robbins for icecream, so I could have my absolute favourite - Love Potion #31. Yum! Had to drive most of the way in because the trains were all on bus replacement from my area; but that worked very well, thankfully! Looking forward to doing it again in the not-too-distant-future.

Glad to hear you're OK, stranded - what an end to your holiday though. Hope all is OK when you get back.

Sounds like a nice meet-up thumb, and yum at ice cream. My meet-up (if you can call it that with just two MNers) went well too; it was so nice to be able to speak English over a decent cup of tea! I did cheat and get DH to drive me though, as it would have involved a scary (for me) drive through Vienna on Austria's busiest motorway otherwise (I would definitely have taken the train if I'd been on my own).

jenny Hope the mole check goes OK today; am thinking about you (and on Thursday too). Love the new name btw!

Glad everyone has had nice meet-ups and sending positive vibes to stranded so she gets home ok. I had the mole shaved off today and the dermatologist is pretty sure it's ok. She's sending it off anyway. One appointment down, one to go. And I'm going to see Billy Bragg tonight! It will be interesting to see how political he is so far West in America! Hope everyone is having a good Tuesday.

hope your mole turns out to be nothing serious, jenny. I had 3 removed before I left England - one snipped off my neck, one shaved off my thigh and a small one (more of a skintag really) frozen off my neck. The shaved off one has actually made a reappearance, but is flat now instead of being a little conical thing (it started to grow in the middle) - hope it doesn't grow again! All of them were fine.
Actually that reminds me again that I must get DH to sort out an appointment for me at the skin clinic (very common here) just to get a starting point check. Being very freckly, fair and mole-y, I should really know how dangerous the Aussie sun will be to me.

Billy Bragg - interesting indeed! Hope you have a good time.

consider yourselves marked

Billy Bragg was fab - I queued up at the end to get an autograph! He was really socialist but I think everyone there was a fan so he went down really well.

I have exactly the same kind of skin as you thumb so recommend the mole check. Do you remember what happened to Flynn in Home and Away? that I do!

Glad you enjoyed the concert jenny, and fingers crossed that your mole turns out to be nothing to worry about. I didn't realise you could have them shaved off; I'm having mine removed tomorrow and the dermatologist explained at my last appointment how she would cut it out and that I'll have stitches for two weeks afterwards.

thumb Skin checks are quite routine here too; you're supposed to go to the dermatologist annually, although this is the first time I've been. I'm very glad I went, as I never even realised I had the mole that the doctor picked up on. The Austrians are very into their medical check-ups, but it's no bad thing I suppose (although their obsession with dressing children warmly enough is another matter).

Good luck with that Linzer - I had one taken off my back last year and the scar seemed to pull every time I had to lift something like a 2 year old into the car. Medical check-ups are a great idea. They are obsessed with dressing children warmly in Germany too and I've been told off more than once!

My mum (who also had stitches in her leg after her melanoma was removed) has advised me not to walk too much, as her stitches ended up breaking when she overdid the walking. I'm not sure I could actually walk much less than I do (did I say that my blood tests showed I wasn't getting enough exercise? ), although I do seem to spend a lot of time running up and down all our stairs. At least I actually have an excuse to take it easy for once!

I've also been told off for not dressing the DC warmly enough, have had people coming up to them and doing up their coats, etc. Strangely enough, the DDs are never ill (but apparently that's because they're hardened ). DS is another matter, and we've been advised to get him tested for allergies and asthma (he already has dermatitis) - but I don't think it's caused by him going out without the obligatory 10 layers of clothing once temperatures fall below 10 degress!

Good luck for your appointment tomorrow too, jenny - will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.