leise rieselt der Schnee - for all those lovely people in Germany and Austria or whoever wants to join us!

[Canella]

a new wintery thread in honour of Hupa's first snow of the season!

We only get the two free channels, but having seen all the rubbish my ILs pay for, I don't think we'll be subscribing to any more unless things improve dramatically. We can get BBC Prime here, but I've heard that it's not that great.

silken - can totally understand why you dont watch german tv!! it is beyond rubbish most of the time!! the woman on the ZDF news at night - Marietta something? - god i could poke her eyes out!!! she is the worst newsreader i've ever seen!

I like to watch Wetten Dass when its on and Schlag den Raab on ?ProSieben but nothing else regularly! there used to be a programme called Vermisst on RTL about people being reunited and it was quite good but not seen it on in a while!! youtube is definitely my friend!

Linzer - i also dont get german humour!! didnt get why Dinner for One was such a huge hit but its just typical of german humour (even tho it was in english!!)

Hupa - now jealous of you as well getting to watch the kings speech! might have to look in one of the bigger cities near us to see if its on in English!

Was driving to get some shopping this morning and the dashboard on the car suddenly said "check brake pads"!!!!! was panicking but the brakes seemed to be working so i texted dh to ask him what brake pads would be in german - knew it would be bremsen...... - his answer "i have no idea!". He is no use! went to the garage we go to and felt like a fool trying to explain while having no clue what they were! think i explained the right thing in the end! they think the back and front pads need changing and something else i didnt understand! its booked in for monday - that will be a few hundred euros i bet!

ps its bremsebelag ( i think!!)

Yes, Bremsbelag does sound familiar - I wouldn't have had a clue if you'd asked me what brake pad is in German, though. Will have to check this evening whether DH knows what it is, and show off my superior German knowledge if not! (Am still very proud of myself for teaching him the German for mallard, and won't let him forget it. )

Off to visit a friend now. DD1 and I have made a carrot cake to take with us and I was about to ice it just now when I realised we'd run out of icing sugar. So I've just had a mad dash to the baker's, who stocked it thankfully - it didn't really look all that appetising without the icing.

Hope the car doesn't cost you too much canella. It's a pain when those warning lights start blinking isn't it? We had an air bag warning light which didn't bother us but we had to get it fixed to get the MOT pass. I suppose there is a safety side (ie with breaks).

Dd was quite fed up today, she read her poem out at school and the teacher thought she can't possibly have done it by herself because it was too good (but she did do it alone, and it was very good). Poor girl, she can't win.

Oh no, how frustrating for your DD admylin. It would almost make you think it's not worth bothering. DD1 isn't doing brilliantly in German at the moment; she's had loads of Verbesserungen to do over the last couple of days, and the last two comments in her book were "Aber [her name]!" and "Das musst du noch viel üben". I'm sure she does far more than most of the other children in her class as it is.

Well, I asked DH what brake pads are in German and he suggested Bremspedale so he wouldn't have been much help either! I must admit I leave anything car-related up to DH as I don't feel confident enough about my German being up to it. I've also asked him to phone the Krankenkasse for me tomorrow as they still haven't replied to my e-mail, which I sent about a week ago, and the ?2500 is due at the end of the month.

I was on Wetten Dass once.

That's proper celebrity that is, none of your local newspaper rubbish

Not actually wetting, I hasten to add.

I've been looking for you lot but couldn't find the thread? Finally tracked you down by doing a search for Admylin, is everyone ok?

Ds sulky moodiness driving me MAD.

It's super cold here again, snow on ground still. Inching towards faschingsferien

I know ernest, I've had those moments with both mine - deep breaths, cup of tea and repeat to yourself it's a phase.

Apart from that are the other 3 settled? How is the flat survey coming along? Did you find a transport company for a Beiladung? Had another thought - you could put it on MyHammer.de, you have to give an approximate price that you would pay and then they bid against each other to get the job. You don't have to take any of them but it might give you an idea of how cheap you can get the job done.

Linzer, poor dd. It's so demoralising getting those remarks isn't it. I mean it's not as if the dc do it on purpose is it (the mistakes I mean). Dd tries so hard but she just brought a test home where she got a 3 (in English) and it was all because she had made so many spelling mistakes. She wrote happyly and wours instead of worse, alredy, erly instead of early and angryly. Next dyslexia test is mid March so we still don't know for sure. Thank goodness she's started reading alot more now, I'm sure that should help abit.

wow silken - you have definitely trumped me on the celebrity stakes!!!! but if you'd been doing an actual bet then we would have had to bow down to you!!!!

Ernest - stroppiness here too!! Sent dd away from the table yesterday - couldnt bear the backchat! think we'll need to support each other thro these hard few years! maybe with lots of

admylin - god thats frustrating about the school! she cant win can she! and especially hard when she's done well at it despite her maybe havign dyslexia! teachers frustrate me somtimes!

We were up early this morning - it was the Elternsprechtag at Kiga and they kindly fitted us in at 7.30 so dh could also be there!! they wanted to talk about ds2 which made me nervous (he'd had terrible trouble at kiga last year) but she had only positive things to say about him!! it nearly brought tears to my eyes as to how much difference a year has made - this time last year he was aggressive at kiga, wouldnt interact with the staff and hated going! thankfully they've had a change of staff and he's loving it these days! and they are loving the change in him! i'm a proper proud mum about him today!!

Aww, that's so nice to hear isn't it canella! Praise him when he gets home!

Isn't it hard when the hormones set in though! What was your dd back chatting about? Most of our problems are fighting (brother and sister) ds just delights in bothering his sister and his typical cheeky lad tricks just drive her crazy then she yells at him and then I'm stuck because I'm in the middle of telling him to leave her alone but then have to tell her not to yell like a wild creature from hell...I suppose it'll be all peaceful and harmonius next week when ds is away and she'll miss him.

great news canella. It is amazing what a change of staff can do. Two stroppy tantes are on sick leave at DS Kindergarten, they have been replaced by some lovely friendly staff and in only 2 months I can see the difference.

admylin and Linzer - I am fuming at those comments. Poor dds. I just wish teachers would be more sensitive, hardly encouraging is it? I hope your dds confidence and desire to work is not too affected by it.

ernest- how old is the sulker? Patience and wine for you. We also send them away from the table to finish their food in their rooms alone. At the moment they are keen to eat up and come back to join the fun. However I can see that soon they might be quite happy to be sent to their rooms.´And I will be quite happy for them to stay there till they are 20!

hupa- where did you have your baby? 5 days in hospital just looking after a new born sounds fantastic. I spent 3 days in hospital with DS last summer and I now call it my "mother´s spa break", he was not seriously ill and I only had to look after him. Though I came home and burst into tears (the built up stress and relief all was well and we were home) and I guess you don´t get that after a spa break.

Thanks for the Hammer comments. At least I know that I have a solid reference book there and will have to learn to get on with it.

I am on Facebook Linzer, though not very active at all on it. I´ll pm the details.

ds off kiga today with a bad bad cold and an eye infection. Off to the dr shortly...funny Ordination times again, and my inability to keep track of them. Have a good weekend all!

Aargh, I've now lost two long posts thanks to my laptop freezing on me. Am not going to write everything out yet again, so to summarise:

Canella That's wonderful, you must be so proud of your DS.

admylin It's great that your DD is reading more; I should really encourage DD1 to read more English, as her spelling is atrocious.

Ernest If you look under Living Overseas in the Homes and Gardens (!) topic, the German thread should be fairly near the top.

bananas Hope your DS is better soon; doctor's opening hours are a pain, aren't they? We should definitely try to meet for a coffee sometime, either in the city or in B. if you're ever out this way!

I'm really looking forward to seeing The King's Speech tonight, but am slightly worried about whether I'll be able to stay awake as it doesn't start till 9 pm (getting on for my bedtime!). Strong coffee will be needed, I think...

bananas- Hope your ds is feeling better soon.
I had ds here in Hessen. I must admit with dd (pfb) I also stayed in for 5 days and that time I hated it - I just wanted to go home. Dd had jaundice and needed UV light treatment. I remember bursting into tears - not because she was ill, but because I couldn´t go home. By the time ds came along, I´d learnt to appreciate having a break.

canella - that´s such good news about ds. I remember last year how worried you were. Well done him.

admylin - dd must be so frustrated. As Canella said, she can´t win can she?

Ds is the sulker in this house. It´s a real shame as he used to be such a happy boy. He always had a smile on his face and now his bottom lip spends so much time sticking out, it´s in danger of staying there. Dd on the other hand is really cheerful. It´s only when she gets tired that she gets stroppy and then we get to the see the teenager she could become - very scary.

Hello all,
Canella- so nice about your ds
Admylin- lovely to hear your dd did well, pity the teacher didn't appreciate it.
bananas- sorry to hear about your sickly one :(

Stroppy kids- I've got a 2yo stroppy child, anyone want to trade me for one that I can at least not have to carry when they're being bitchy annoying a pain in the arse- 'adorable'? I nearly tossed her in the pond the other day I was so tired and annoyed dealing with her...at least the cold water probably would have stopped her screaming at me about who knows what (for a moment)... Didn't help that I had some German woman yell at me at the same time. I just did my best to ignore her- which is far easier when you don't have a clue anyhow (the German lady).
I have to admit part of it is my fault, my patience wears thin these days (especially in the afternoons), and I cannot be quite as reasonable myself.

Linzer did you ever sort your internet connection problem with your laptop? I've just paid 25? to get ds's laptop back on line. I used a technical service offered by the internet provider. Somehow the laptop had changed settings and something called Bing had been set up which was also a problem. It's so annoying because I'm sure it'll happen again. It has a life of it's own.

It kept saying something about the driver being deactivated or something but I could only find activated ones.

Hope you stay awake for the film. I really used to love going to the cinema. I usually wait for the dvd's to come out now though! Still, it's great that the 2 of you get some grown up going out time, wish I had in-laws around!

Hi bebe, sounds as if your dd is still feeling abit ill maybe. This freezing cold weather can't be helping. Did you check that Familienzentrum out? Any plans for the weekend?

I'll be giving ds all his favourite food this weekend starting with bacon butties and ending in a big juiicy steak at a restaurant with dh on Sunday! He goes on his school trip on Monday and is convinced they'll starve them so he has to stock up!

hia, i looked in the living overseas but it just wasn't there. I didn't believe no one had been talking for so many days I think somehow the thread had been hidden (kids messing around) so it eluded all my searches, even when I found it and posted on it last night it still didn't show up on threads I'm on? Weird.

Anyway, ds1 (sulker) is 11. He's driving me mad. Last night dh actually came home early, so we went for a meal. Ds first of all sat with his headphones in, dh told him not to, so then he's playing games in his ipod under table, then he doesn't talk, answers and Q with 1 word answers. H is like a bloody dementor. He just cast a bad atmosphere over the whole evening and it put me in a bad mood. I hate that, as I couldn't send him away and he spoiled the whole (rare and expensive) evening.

Bebe, have you thought yet about where you'll have the baby? I've had 4 babies in 3 different countries, and I'd say my birth here was the best of the lot.

Our Internet connection seems to be fine again now; it was ridiculously temperamental at one stage, but DH phoned Telekom Austria and they told us we should install a later version of our Internet software as there had been some kind of bugs with the one we were using.

DH has just e-mailed ne the details of a job going at the university in London where he did his PhD, which he said sounds "quite interesting". He's always annoying me by doing this, as I start imagine going back to the UK and what it would be like (even though I'm perfectly happy here) and it then turns out that he's not seriously considering it. Anyway, I e-mailed him back to ask if he was tempted to apply and he said "a bit". I think he'd be mad though - it would mean a salary cut to go and live in London. I sort of like the idea of moving back to Britain, but I think the reality could be quite different and we're probably best off where we are.

Oh I know the feeling Linzer! It is tempting but then you have to remind yourself that the dc are settled etc etc!

Dh often sees jobs in London but the salaries are always a joke. I did hope he would have been offered the job in Canada a while back but he didn't get an interview. He has contacts in Texas who keep saying they'll take him on but again, it's too risky with insurance, not having a base back in Europe, starting from scratch again and the heat in Texas...!

Ernest, you found us! Things do sound bad if ds is like a dementor, I'll remember that next time one of mine is like that, it might get them thinking if I tell them they'r ebeing little dementors today! Well, they'll be back soon so we'll see how long it takes for them to start fighting although after lunch we're off shoe shopping (and for slippers) so they won't be in the best of moods as that is not one of their favourite passtimes.

I did have agood look at I think we'll try to get into the English group on Mondays (but I haven't called as I only have a UK line and the bills are racking up even with essential calls). DH got me a German phone, but for some reason we cannot register the sim online so we've got to go into a Vodaphone store this weekend and hope someone speaks English and can help. (The number I had to call if I couldn't get the internet seems only to be manned by German speakers too.
I think dd will benefit from having other kids (who speak her language- or as much of it was she can speak) to play with as she was trying to talk to some German kids (about 8yrsold tho) and she was quite disappointed when they didn't even say 'goodbye' as we walked by poor girl.

technically we're back in the UK 3 weeks before the baby is born (tho the agent who we went with get ths job is already talking extension) Dh and I have been talking a lot about things and he's really not happy with the job. He said there's nothing cutting edge about it, it's just maintenance, and the product is way less efficient and far more bumbling then it needs to be because instead of updating it properly they just keep adding new bits on to make it look like it's updated. (This is one of DH's pet peeve's in developing) He said half the time he sits at his desk surfing or day dreaming and but will still fix his 'problem' by the end of the day and everyone is still telling him how efficient he is and how he works so fast. SO, to make a long story short(er) unless nothing else gets offered to us, we're very unlikely to stay.
Plus I'm so not looking forward to having a baby over here. The idea of staying in the hospital does not fill me with any sense of ease. I don't like the idea of not having anything unless you 'go medical.' I feel a lot of anxiety about not being able to speak the language and would feel worse if I was in a hospital with things going on and not understanding what. Plus we'd have no one to watch Moo when we went in to have the baby (even tho this still may be an issue back home as there are not anyone near by really to watch her if it happens in the middle of the night). DH would have to take time off of work to watch Moo and would not be able to spend so much time with me (if I'm stuck in the hospital) which would cause us both a lot of stress. In fact I've just worked myself up into a frenzy just now (can you tell?)....
How did you ever manage in 3 different countries?

Hope you all have had good weekends. x

It looks snowy this morning, ie grey sky. But supposed to be sunny and warming up the rest of the week.

Dh in Italy next couple of days. need to get my arse in gear going.

Also need to buy slippers today. And do some major tidying.

Wish I had someone to do some garden planning with.

Kids on holidays next wek. All the boys are going skiing. I opted out for first time! But still haven't decided what to do with myself!? WHile I love dd v much - obviously - she is a slight hindrance. I know I asked ages ago, but come on, what do I do? Krippe is open Tues Wed Thurs, closed Mon & Fri, which is really inconvenient. If it had 2 closed days together, I would have gone to UK for say 4 or 5 days.

What did you all get up to?

Did you manage to get your phone sorted out at the weekend, bebe? I can understand you not wanting to give birth in a country where you don't speak the language; I've had antenatal care in four different countries (only gave birth in two, though) and it was fine, but I could speak the language in each case.

We had a lovely weekend at my ILs; we went to see The King's Speech on Friday and Made in Dagenham on Saturday, both of which were excellent. We also made the most of having the GPs on hand to go out for an Indian meal after the film on Saturday; luckily we didn't have to pay again as I'd helped them to update their English menu at the end of last year. We also went out for lunch for FIL's 75th yesterday with the whole family, which was OK - well, about as OK I was expecting! No vegetarian options (but they're quite accommodating), it was a bit on the early side for me (11.30 am) and DH's niece was sulking because her dessert took so long to arrive (you'd think she was 6, not 16 - not that I can talk, with a 6 year old who's still at the terrible two stage sometimes). We came straight back home afterwards as DS's coughing and wheeziness were quite bad by that stage; I think we'll have to stick to one night at my ILs' in future.

WOuld you be allowed to travel so close to due date?

Have you made contingency plans (dd was 3 weeks early)? How are you managing your ante natal care and birth if planning to return to UK?

I moved to Switzerland 6 months pregnant with barely a word of German and it was fine. Better than bloody London, that's for sure.

ANd I moved to Munich 8 months pregnant and it was the best birth of the 4.