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!

Snowing like mad again here, my poor dc wil be covered in it when they get out of school and I really daren't get the car out now, even if I got it up the slope the roads haven't been cleared yet. We're right down the last street on the edge of town so no chance.

Anyone still out shovelling? They siad it'd be milder and all melt at the weekend. More hot tea anyone...

No shovelling to be done here (yet), but I never say no to tea! I might even have time to drink it too, as DD2 is being given a lift home so I don't have to venture out for another two hours.

Completely stopped here and the sun is shining! But it's very windy - I guess all the clouds are being blown over your way, Ad.

Is mumsnet on UK time? I just noticed it.

Yes, just stopped here too so I hope the dc get home before it starts again.

Pile of clothes to be ironed coveres the whole sofa. Oh well atleast it'll keep me warm if I'm ironing!

Still no answer about the laptops. Westvan can you ask your 2 in-the-know-teens what I have to look for in a laptop please...I mean dual core, GB, MB etc, no idea what is best and what it all means. I googled to try and inform myself but it just made things worse!

Yes, it is on UK time - so I sometimes manage to post at what looks like a ridiculously early hour (before 5 am). I've also confused people by seeming to go to bed at 8 pm and talking about a late night if I'm up after 10.

snowing here too!! must have been over 10cm in the night and its been on and off all morning! losing the will to live with the snow shovelling!

Admylin - i'm no help about the laptops but i'm sure you'd get some from amazon! and i read somewhere here that amazon uk are offering free uk delivery if the exchange rate meant they were cheaper there? we got dd a nice desk last week from Lidl - been looking for a few weeks for one and they were all abotu 300? - this one looks exactly the same and was 99? and is height adjustable right up to adult height! but that was last week - doubt they'll be there now!

Linzer - are you having a rest now for a few days from translating? hope dd is ok at the docs!

westvan - think after shopping at Aldi, snow shovelling is the next big German obsession! wish dh would get it tho - he just buggers off to work and leaves me to deal with it! and it breaks my back! Do your ds's help you?

well dd is home today because of the snow - the bus hadnt turned up by after 7.50 so the teenager (?!!!!) responsible for them told them all to go home! they are supposed to wait till 8.05 so i sent dd back (and her friends mother did the same thing) but by the time they got back the bus had just left! so all the village kids are at home today! not sure if the school will be too pleased! wondered whether to drive her in but no-one else did so i just followed what they did !

Ad - I'll ask the 14 yr old expert when he gets home from school. He bought himself a laptop recently so he knows what's what.

Canella - my husband usually sweeps away the snow a bit before he goes to work and I do the rest, it's not much, really. We've got a good shovel thingie and then I just spread a bit of gravel/salt around. It's just the one neighbour who's fanatical about it, the others do it when they feel like it or let it pile up.

So all this time I've been running an hour behind? That explains a lot!

i just used dd's ruler to measure the snow outside - 17cm on the back patio!!! and it had nearly all melted yesterday! thats a lot of snow thats fallen! going out sledging in a mo - we live at the top of a hill on a very quiet street so the kids can go down the street! (and me too!!)

Just back from DD2's appointment - the CTG didn't show up any problems so the doctor said she should grow out of the heart murmur, and the ultrasound was fine too (her stomach aches are probably related to her starting school).

Canella - Well, I was hoping to have a break from work today until I got the phone call from the restaurant owner yesterday to say that they needed the menu translating by the end of the week! I wouldn't mind having the rest of the year off now, but work can always arrive from one minute to the next - I don't know of anything coming up, but then again I very often don't know in advance.

DS and DD2 both have friends over (a brother and sister), but DD2 is refusing to play with her old friend (who is still at kindergarten) and wants to do her homework instead, despite the fact that I told her she should leave it till afterwards. In the meantime, the other three are no doubt causing havoc in the cellar so I really should go down and check what they're up to.

That's good news linzer, one less thing to worry about atleast. HAve you tried sending them all out to do a snowman building competition? Best one gets a prize!

Ds just got a call from on eof his friends to say there's a big snow ball fight going on and he should join them but he didn't feel like it. Dd is fast asleep on my bed watching me ironing must have put her to sleep.

Thanks westvan, all I need to know is what sort of processor I need to get or even if it makes any difference and the other sizes of whatever it is in GBytes.

Bit worried about ds's friend whose mum died. He often misses a day of school and we think they just sleep in, today he missed again and when he rang ds he said he'd had a cold but is better now (bit of a quick recovery from a cold) and that he also has a black eye from slipping on the stairs. They live on a ground floor flat. Other boys have been noticing too that he wears the same clothes all week and smells abit. I've told ds to invite him to sleep over or to come straight after school for lunch any day. Feel really sorry for him.

aw ad thats proper sad about that boy - he's just not old enough to be able to look after himself with things like washing clothes etc but the dad must be in a really dark place to not be noticing whats going on with the son.
could you not invite him to sleep over then secretly wash and dry his clothes in the night? i dont even know them and i feel sorry for him!

linzer - thats good news about your dd. I'm another one with a dd with regular stomach pains. She was about 6 or 7 when it started but its now developed into migraines and we've read that young children can start with "abdominal migraines" where they have no headache but the tummy pain is relieved with a sleep in a dark room like a migraine would be. But she now gets the headache too and is sometimes sick but we know how to deal with it mostly and making sure she eats and sleeps regularly seems to keep it at bay!
Hope your dd just grows out of hers!!

OK, I asked my boys about laptops and they said you should get a Dual Core processor (which they all are these days, I think) with 2.2 GHz, 2 - 4 GB RAM and a battery with a long running time. They said that sometimes the really good, powerful lap tops will suck up the battery in no time.

That's very worrying about the little boy. Sounds like they are really having trouble adjusting.

Thanks to your boys for the help westvan! Just had internet down for ages and have just got back on with explorer (usually use firefox but must be a problem).

The boy is coming round tomorrow straight after school so I'll do a good lunch (beef stew and a coule of veg and potatoes) then at 5pm they go to table tennis together. Feel sorry for him too. I'll help as much as I can but can't do much for the dad, he's really stubborn and abit bossy but he can get quite rough with the boy and then the next day he'll treat him to something to apologize but it isn't a long term way of bringing a dc up. I know he's allowed the boy to stay up half the night watching rubbish on MTV and playing computer games. It's not good for a 12 year old.

Anyone know where to get decent ski-wear for ds except Tchibo where all the dc stuff seems to be cheap but sold out!

He is going with school for a week in the new year and I think I should slowly start getting some stuff together. Also do you all wear helmets when you go skiiing?

All of the DC's ski wear has come from Lidl or Hofer (or been passed on to us from my SIL) - not much help if they don't have anything on offer, I know. They always wear helmets but it's against the law for children not to in Niederösterreich; they introduced a law a few years ago. DH hasn't been skiing for years but I think he'd probably wear a helmet too (he alway does when cycling with the DC to set a good example).

It sounds like you're doing as much as you can for the boy ad, but it's difficult if his dad won't accept help. It's such a sad situation all round.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a work-free morning today so that I can actually get on with a few things - Christmas cards, etc. DH and I are planning on going out for a meal this evening as the DC are all staying overnight at friends'; just hoping I can stay awake as I've been so tired recently after too many late nights!

yeah most of our ski stuff is from Aldi too!

grrrr - we are turning into Britain - the schools in the Landkreis are all closed because of snow!! i dont think its particularly bad but maybe the roads havent been cleared to the villages!

taking dd to my german lesson! no choice!

soooooooooooooooooooo
quiet here

the novelty has worn off

everywhere room is tidy now

well till the dog wanders through

linzer maybe
the Mog thread was in chat

and was toooooooooooooooo
old and died
the irony

take care all

Ah, that would explain it Cinders. I always used to think that threads in Chat disappared 90 days after the last person had posted, but then a living overseas thread that quite a few of us were posting on suddenly vanished and we realised it must be 90 days after the thread was started.

I can't believe your school is closed Canella! Maybe it's different if there's a school bus; most of the pupils at the DDs' school are (theoretically) within walking distance although I'm sure that some of the teachers drive from further away.
Did you get to the Christmas party OK in the end, hupa?

I'm starting to feel at a bit of a loose end with no work to do, even though there are plenty of things that I should be getting on with. Must just make sure that I don't spend half the morning on MN...

The Christmas party was actually really lovely. When we left it was snowing heavily and it was so beautiful with all the children with their lanterns and torches walking through the trees.

admylin - you could try C&A for ski clothes. I got a couple of skihosen for the dc from there and they were quite reasonable. H&M also have a few pieces, but I´ve never tried them.

It´s dd´s birthday today. I really can´t believe she´s turned 8. Schools break up here next Friday, so we´ll have her party in the week before Christmas rather than trying to fit it in now with all the Christmas parties etc.

Linzer - after all that work I think you´ve earned a morning on mumsnet. I on the other hand should really get going writing my Christmas cards.

Happy birthday to your DD, hupa! I always think it's a nice of time of year to have a birthday as everyone's in a festive mood, although fitting in the party can be a little tricky as you say. DD1 will be 9 on the 26th December and we've decided to have her party before Christmas this year - on the 23rd, the day that school breaks up. We've booked a couple of hours at a pottery studio and will then go to the Christmas market for the last hour or so; I'm quite looking forward to not having the party at home this year!

Time for a cup of coffee and some Christmas card writing now, I think.

Finally a chance to catch up. Sorry to hear about all the illnesses, and good to read some are fully recovered. I hope you all stay healthy for Christmas, not a fun time to be ill, especially when travelling.

Linzer- smiling at the thought of you feeling at a loose end after all that work. But, as said, you do deserve a break now. Great that you got it all done. Have a great time with DH tonight. Good to hear all is fine with your dd. My eldest has also been having stomach aches?it must be a stress thing.

Ad ? that is so sad about that boy. The father sounds like he needs some serious help with parenting?you sound really caring and like you are doing as much as you can for him/them. I have resorted to buying ski trousers on Ebay. I could not find anything for DD1 for a reasonable price ? all sold out or really expensive? and since we do not ski, but just walk in the snow, I decided to try Ebay. The ski trousers are yet to arrive?. Next year, I am buying them in August!

Canella?did your dd enjoy your german class?!? It is amazing to read those UK in the snow stories. I am glad I am not there?our rented house in the UK felt freezing at around -2C (really poorly insulated) so I can´t imagine how it must feel like any colder. My 96 year old gran lives in a house with no central heating?.family says she is doing okay, but I really should give her a ring to check.

Thought of this thread yesterday as I sat in the dentist chair and she did a filling without a shot. She said it was not worth it, she was right, it was very superficial, took under a minute to drill and did not hurt. It´s a new dentist?I decided the previous one was a passive aggressive monster who treated her staff and patients appalingly?.

Well done on the Christmas cards?I have done no Christmas cards and hardly any shopping. Oops. This course is taking up so much of my time and energy. And it has turned out to be a bit of a waste of time?the trainer is not committed, and keeps going out of the room. We have 3 hours, and on Tuesday she was in the room for about 45 minutes (yes, I timed it). It´s a shame?.

Have a good weekend all!

After a very productive morning, time for a short break on here!

Linzer, hope you're not too tired to enjoy your night out. Going somewhere nice? You might have time to sneak an afternoon snooze then you'll be fit! Spray a few lightbulbs with polish and when dh gets in he'll think you've been slaving all day with housework!

Canella, bet your dd had a great time at the German class, she can speak much better German than all those grown ups! There wa sa heck of a lot of snow yesterday, not surprise dsome of the villages are maybe cut off and I bet half the teachers can't get in as they often seem to live far from the school. I asked a teacher once at a party why he lived so far from where he worked, he said because he didn't want to be bumping into his pupils when he went out inthe afternoon with his dd or to the corner shop, he had enough of them during lesson time.

Hupa that sound slovely, bet the dc thought it was great. There's something magical but also a bit spooky about a forest at night. Happy birthday to your dd too.

Bananas. very brave of you to put your trust in the dentist and go wothout an injection! Your integration is going really well. I can't tick that one off my list yet!

Thanks for the ski wear tips. Will try C and A, had a look round aldi today but nothing there, and atthe weekend I'll be near Intersport so will have a look to compare prices. Tchibo dc's helmets were 40 euro so bit worried about the price in a sport shop.Not sure if I have to buy one but I don't suppose they are there to rent like the skis are they? Can you tell, I've never been skiing!

You can usually rent helmets too, ad - I lent a friend the DC's helmets for their skiing holiday last year and she was really grateful as she said they would have been quite expensive to rent otherwise. Cheaper than 40 euros though, I'm sure! We went to a specialist sports shop and I think the helmets there cost around 30 euros, certainly no more than 40 euros - Tschibo can be quite expensive sometimes.

Or even tchibo...

Tchibo. Aargh!