Living in America....... summer 2010!

[redflipflops]

So.... new thread.... please join me

introductions:

redflipflops - California (central Coast)

ooh, just checked in to see how jenny is, great news.

we've booked a spur-of-the-moment trip to the UK for thanksgiving week (d'ya think we should ask tech for special smilies just for us btw?)

i am now compiling a list of food to enjoy whilst over there

bacon
fishfingers
jaffa cakes
tea

what other goodies should we be ordering from the parents?

my Mum's steak and mushroom pie! Fish and chips, a decent takeaway curry, biscuit selection box, some good cheese. Should be enough for a week!

CURRY!!!!
you're so right, though there are a couple of indians near here, but we never seem to get round to getting them (near = about 8 miles away)

Not long till you go now kickass - how is the list making going?

lucozade, there's another one.

dh is going to watch a rugby match with his best friend one day - he is vv excited, and thinks that it may just about make up for having to see his parents.

i'm not going anywhere near tad, or i might be asking your mum for some pie - though tis something i can make myself here.

how are you jenny? are you feeling ok, or just knackered?

ooh, ooh, ooh, mince pies & brandy butter!!!

in fact, bearing in mind that my mum's having an operation on her shoulder 3 days before we arrive, and may not be able to move her right arm at all, would it be unreasonable to ask her to do a full christmas dinner, with tinsel & trimmings & crackers?

british sausages

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

You could perhaps supply all the trimmings and peel the spuds? Good sausages that don't cost the earth! Yum..

may suggest we do it the second set of days we're there - problem is mum & dad can't bear anyone being in their kitchen, they will hover & fuss, dad won't sleep at night etc, otherwise i'd just go & get the stuff & do it.

not only will they be v highly strung about it, but every two minutes one of them will pop in to ask how i'm getting on, or dad will peer over my shoulder, grunt & say something disparaging, like 'are you sure it's meant to look like that?'

at which point i shall be totally mature & not shout back at all. oh no.

remind me, why am i looking forward to this trip?

(believe it or not, my parents are the easy ones to get on with)

My parents are really laid back and don't suggest much, which can be a bit annoying. Dh's Mum is control freak completely in charge and would say every five mins, 'is there anything I can do?' even in my house. A happy medium is not to be found! You're only going for a week, aren't you? A quick M&S fix and back to the high life in AA!

yep, dh is going to see england v south africa at twickenham - it's his reward for going to see his parents for the first time in 2 years.

i love going to see my sis & nieces, as does dd, and i like my parents enough that sitting round & chatting is nice, but the in laws are hideous & part of the reason that we left the UK!!

food is going to be our compensation - we'll need an extra seat each by the time we come back.

I'm sorry about your in-laws. I have an up and down relationship with mine (well his Mum really, but then so does everyone) but they are ok at the minute. I am still a bit peeved that she hasn't said congratulations on the pregnancy. Should just let it go, shouldn't I?

Have fun eating lots of yummy food! Are you taking dd out of school for a while, or do they get the whole week off?

dd has 3 half days that week, so one of the reasons that we chose to go then. dh has a couple of day & holiday, & flights were no more expensive.

someone i worked with got told off by her mil for 'ruining christmas' because she was due to give birth the week before & refused to travel 100 miles to fit in with mil!!

i swear, when dd is older, i will stand back & let her be herself, not keep trying to control her. (by older, i mean about 55, when we'll let her start dating)

Sounds like a, um, fun trip, Kickass.

(It's Dooney, btw. I figured I needed a new name, because I'm no longer a purse fiend, and definitely no longer a girl)

Is Dooney a make of handbags then? (I should probably remove Tad from my name as I no longer live in Tadcaster and never will again).

Although Bendjenny sounds more than a little dodgy

Why yes they are. Dooney and Bourke. Mostly I changed my name because the girl part was highly untruthful, and Dooneymiddleagedwoman was quite cumbersome. I wanted to be Mrs. Bucket, but someone who hasn't used it in forever had taken it. (I actually have called DH 'Bucket' years before I ever saw the show.)

Patricia Routledge is superb, isn't she?!

dooney, it is going to be difficult getting used to the new name. Is it [buk' et] or [boo kay']?

I wish I could get the accent down, but it is probably good that I can't, because I would constantly be saying 'vicar' and 'candlelight suppers'.

And screeching Sheridan when answering the phone!

I'm telling you, it makes you enjoy the show multiple times more when you can turn to DH and call him boo-kay.

are you sure you won't miss it?

jenny - you CANNOT become bendjenny. it reminds me of all the awful 'ben dover' type jokes that every lad called ben has to endure - please, please, don't go down that route. (to rhyme with out, not root)

fwiw, whilst we're being truthful about names - i'm not really an angel, although i do Kick Ass.

tad you're not allowed to lose the tad part, it's illegal or summit. I don't really really climb much (atm) and I'm not really a chick

dooney Mmebcket that will take some getting used to (even though I've not really spoken to you before

I don't really do handbags (more evidence o my non-chick status)

I've got enough of them in my closet, kickass. Unfortunately for me, the Crazy Purse Lady has moved out of the neighborhood, and I don't get deals on bags she's used once or twice and gotten tired of them, or even better, bags she bought with the tags on them and decided not to use at all.