April chat for locals

[mellow2]

New thread for new month!

bunyan! you're not supposed to answer questions with more questions lol

not sure about seat on train tbh. it is bound to be busy but if i could then there's work i could do while travelling.

yes I would drive more I expect. dd still talks about our old house so that worries me a bit.

it is the only area i am considering as i can't see the point in moving anywhere else tbh. i'd rather stay where i am and mount a campaign against the horrible neighbour.

i just found out that a standard day return is £40 a weekly is £83 and I only intend to travel 2 days so this may now all get blown out of the water.....

ps: mortgage won't change

pc - I know someone who drives up to North Acton from that area Monday-Thursday. You could always car share with her - she'd be glad of some extra petrol money.

Or you could drive and park on my driveway and get the tube in (A40)

Ha ha sorry for the questions! dd still talks about our old house, too. Hmm - sounds like it could be more expensive for you in Oxfordshire although of course childcare costs will reduce in a few years. Have you visited the messageboards on upmystreet.com? You may be able to find out more about the commute there. Also, is it worth staying with the GPs one night and actually DOING the commute? Or maybe you have already done this. Mrs Recycle has made you some good offers there! Although aren't you moving, too, Mrs R?

MrsR, that's interesting. Not sure I fancy 2 hours driving each day tho.

I just cannot believe it'd be £80 per week to travel by train.

It'd be cheaper to buy one of their "carnet" things. You get 12 open returns for the price of 10 so I'd get six weeks travel for the price of 5 iyswim.

Still would cost me £400 every 6 weeks

Then there's another £20 per week in parking & tube fares.

hi all
hope you're all well..
got shedloads of work to do which sure as hell ain't going to get done while i stare out of the window

have skim-read thread so apologies if not keeping up..(story of my life..)

oh paddle, what a bloody hard decision, eh? i'd love for you to stay and get the buggers evicted, but just hate the thought of you and dd living on tenterhooks.

thing is, dd would be fine, wherever she lived because you are her home - she'll ultimately be happy wherever you are.

but maybe when she's older (thinking teenager...far off it seems i know). most teenagers get fed-up and want to escape, don't they?

sorry, not being very helpful, am i? bit tired today so my thinking head isn't working.

sfx..very envious of all that dh baking..

sing..the curtains are fab. i do envy, sorry, people who can sew and, er, do anything domestic really.

got parents evening later. nothing makes me feel more like i'm pretending to be a grown-up than perching on a child-sized chair listening to a teacher, practically young enough to be my daughter, but still feeling slightly intimidated because she's an 'authority figure."

actually, most stressful part is briefing dh not to be too blunt and not to blow my cover as a functional parent
toodlepip

PC,
Would it help if you start looking into a new job near your parents? Then it would give you an idea of salaries and job prospects etc.

If that works out, that will cut out the long travelling time and hefty transport costs.

escape small towns, that is, not you

..and welcome back, sushi

steppie - truth is I can't sew either. Only stitched curtain roughly according to internet guide on how to make curtains, then took it to local laundrette who sewed for a small fees. (Who used dark blue thread which shows up on the lighter patches, but you can't have everything ...) Ikea fabric makes me want to learn to sew though...

PC - sorry nothing useful to say that you have not heard ... except ... Don't move to the sticks! (I know, it's a bit thick coming from someone living in deepest darkest Hanwell ...)

We are getting schools admission result this or next week. Can't be sure. I'm sure they'll send us a letter ...

sing..that is sewing

she drives pc anyway so you could just have a lift with her. And she has LOs so lots to talk about. Could you not change your days to two together (eg Weds/Thurs) and stay up town one night whilst GPs have DD.

What about halfway? My other dfs have relocated from Greenford to Stokenchurch and love it there. School is brill and they have made loads of dfs already.

I spoke to a Mum last year that had moved from Chiswick to Devon 17 years ago and she said the key was to move whilst LOs were in pre-school/primary school as you get to meet mums at school. Her social life was a constant whirl. I know you'll miss Kew Gardens but there are other places to visit in other parts of the country.

When we were in Harrogate, it made me realise that England has got so much going for it, and, whereever you go there are always places to visit, things to see (for all ages young and old). Its just the focus that changes.

Bunyan - I'm in two minds whether to move, I love it in Ruislip, have made loads of dfs, like the town, have a great social life BUT if we moved down South, like pc, we'd be close to GPs, I could give up work, and we could have a bigger house than we have now. So such a better quality of life. My old APs family moved her from Sweden to Denmark when she was 11 and hated her family for doing it, at the time. But a few months later she said it was the best decision they'd ever made. She had such a better quality of life/education.

Decisions? Decisions? what to do eh??

paddle this seems to be a real choice now. personally I dread small towns (organic farm in Somerset after lottery win excluded).
I think it work both as a refuge and a prison according to your personality/ stage in life etc. having said that it is nice to be near family.
It is a personal decision of course. and I guess the crim neighbour will be back in jail sooner or later

slng curtains seem fine to me, I think I can sew but might be one of my imaginary skills, not really sure.

steppie so what kind of thing does your dh say? I can imagine mine laughing at grand pronouncements and saying ffs just teach them to read write and count.

bunyan yes I remember those 4stone I put on, mostly toward the end, still carry 2 of them

and the near family thing is providing they are reasonably sane

I knew someone who lived in Luton and drove to Hillingdon everyday for work she did not like it much

cov meant to say sorry about that playground accident how awful for you, they are always fine it seems but the blood the wailing and the subsequent swelling stay with you, not to mention the fright.

NO Paddle you cannot move. I will help you wage war in your neighbours or just sell and move somehwere local which has nicer neighbours. If you are the only one of your siblings near your motehr then you will end up being her carer rather than her being DD's carer and DD will want to escape to London like I did. And my frined commured from Brighton for a while - she said it wasn't the journey that was a problem it was the frequent delays cancellations etc which added another 30-60 mins to her jounry about once a week that were the problem.

Be honest the only thing you don't like at the moment is your neighbours. Don't throw everything out because of that - why not just consider moving locally - or send a firebomb to neighbours (actually not so smart being the flat above).

Not that I have a vested interest or anything. It won;t be long before our kids will be able to have sleepovers together and you'll get a social life back wihout having to be dependent on your mother.

PS - if I survive today with DS ill as well then I may live after all - it was touch and go yesterday.

MrsR, indeed it is "decisions, decisions"!

I would probably switch office days to Weds & Thurs to get them back to back as it were.

As I really need to be flexible I think I'd have to buy a weekly ticket. Annual would be 3.5k.

I have considered High Wycombe in the past but tbh I can't see the benefit of such an enormous move to only go half way.

Or perhaps I am being short sighted and narrow minded. Maybe HW would be a stepping stone move but then I'd only be looking to move again when dd was about 10yrs. We moved from Liverpool to Oxfordshire when I was 11 and I hated my mother for it. Best thing in retrospect for sure tho.

I quite like the idea of finding a forever house near the GPs but the thought equally terrifies me!

I grew up in small town and I have a flawed personality as a result.

post some heroin through neighbours door then call police with anonymous tip off

pmsl at the thought of you being able to get hold of some for pc - so you're not such a small town girl after all....

QC,
Sorry to hear that both ds and you are still unwell. Dd and I both have colds at the moment but certainly nothing major.

It really sucks that the weather has been rubbish for weeks and we're ill when the weather is nicer.

Sorry, PC. I can't offer any helpful advice. I do sympathise with your predicament though.

brilliant idea kew!

i grew up in a suburb on merseyside and a small oxfordshire village. explains why i'm so weird.

honestly tho, i do think dd would benefit from a childhood out of london.

fair comment wrt to the parents but i am destined to be their carer anyway aren't i? rock chick sister won't be moving back from australia and bro might consider it but would be very flakey i should imagine.

as for moving to another area locally. there just isn't anything i could afford elsewhere that ticks all the other boxes in terms of childcare.

it is a very valid point about the trains being so unreliable too.

tbh i probably want it more now that i can't have it.

shuffles off to find some heroin>>>>>

anyway, virtual slap for me and i will stop being so self centred!

CoV, hope ds is feeling better now. I live in fear of dd doing something similar. i don't really have an aversion to blood but the thought of pints of it pumping out of hysterical PFB makes mine run cold.

Kew, sorry you and DS are ill again. Glad to hear you think may just survive tho

Bunyan, if you can't sleep you might as well eat I always say

Bet Foxie's having a fabbo time

Slng, very impressed with your curtains. You are progressing towards Martha Stewart territory now y'know

Am very in with the hip crowd I'll have you know mrsR. Will speak to my dealer about a stash. Once blew my cool cover by talking about snorting smack. I gather you don't. Ah well.

off to bed fr a few hours whilst DS is asleep.

Blimey you wouldn't have to go far - round the corner would do!

(PS they have drug dealers in Oxfordshire too)

paddle you work in the city don't you, just how hard can it be to get hold of drugs?

Paddle - what's the benefit of a childhood out of London? Answer me that if you can. Ha!