Where have all the fit, interesting and available men gone? Part 23

[Monty100]

These threads are finishing faster and faster!

As you were.

Omg i am overly excited. Dp just called and said he had got us a football table!

hi all how strange we are planning a trip to London tomorrow and doing the South Bank thing! my friend's dc have never been before ever so it's pretty special and also we are doing free stuff of which luckily there's plenty
monty lol at steam engines, remember my ex and his 'unusual' hobby?
eve glad you went to festival. Agree with you about tent, the one I bought is a 3man one but the main thing is it has a separate living section which is going to be a godsend esp if when it rains and when if dc are asleep. I struggled to put it up on a trial run but that's cos I had it backwards. With 5 helping and calm weather it went up in the end. Not sure how it will go with just me and ds lol
sounds like life good with you lou
what's up with x asbm?
waves to everyone else

yes, i am poor but happy

it's been years since i went to the south bank, tell me what i could expect if i dragged the kids and dp there one weekend?

i wont drive that central into london cos it does my head in, hammersmith/olympia has been my limit so far and that was bad enough, even though i lived that way years ago, so dp will be driving seeing as he is used to the stress of central london driving in his van

i am used to driving with manners and letting people in etc, saying thanks and the like, couldnt believe how bloody arsey and rude some people were yesterday, tho it was amusing seeing dp not taking their shit and them getting really pissed off when he got past them

one guy was awful, two lanes were having to blend into one cos of road works and redirected traffic and cars parked, and this guy could fully see what was going on but 100% refused to let us in , tho also wouldnt even look at us, so dp just made him move by forcing him out, then the guy did it to someone behind us, so dp stopped where he couldnt pass, to let the other driver in, then carried on v slowly

other guy was getting really pissed off in a way that assumed he had more right to anyone else to be there, lol

we ended up timing it so we went through amber lights slowly enough to make him stop for red which gave him almost heart failure looking in the rear view mirror

stupid man, all he had to do was let one or two cars blend in and it would have been fine

its so much more civilised driving round where i live

I learned to drive in London so I don't mind, my first lesson (and I mean I hadn't even turned a key in the ignition before) was on the Marylebone underpass below the Westway strangely enough I never had the same instructor again
has been a while though, last time I was in Central London by accident was cos i missed the turn off on the way back from Southampton ah well the dc got to see Harrods all lit up lol
I find country driving just as hair raising with all the unpredictably narrow lanes and kamikaze tractors - but you are right - on the whole they are polite-ish
Will let you know how our South Bank trip goes. They will like just seeing stuff like Big Ben, London Eye, then there is Gabriel's Wharf further down and the Tate Modern, I am desperate for them to have a memorable first trip (ages 8 to 14) and the river views are a must
not sure what we are doing the rst of the time. I do hate rushing around trying to cram too much in, so much of it will be different they are asking what tube is like etc
and poor but happy, yes i think you could say that about us, too!

another poor but happy here.

Have to see if my cm will accept payment of about 200 at the end of August rather than now. If not have about 150 to last till 23rd August. She might be OK with it I know I used to pay her weekly which was difficult and we then switched to monthly which I was really nervous about but she was quite happy to accept.

My mate on hol thinks I should be trying to get more out of exh given he is living life of luxury whilst I am struggling. And that he doesn't fulfill terms we agreed therefore costing me more dosh.

Ninah hope you have a lovely time. South Bank is lovely.

we have had quiet day today recovering from holiday. House invaded by flying ants which we dealt with by powder and drowning.

then went to cricket nets - I sunbathe watch while they play for about four to five hours. Was counting planes today - there is one about every three minutes flying quite low.

Could you ask ex scl? how do you think he'd take it?
and thanks, i'm sure we'll enjoy

That's a good thing about London, the free stuff and just walking around by the Thames is a day out itself. By the South Bank do you mean London Bridge way, sorry for being so Northern.

Tent sounds good Ninah. Had a chat with someone I met at the festival and he said Sunday night was awesome, still reeling that I missed it. There is always next year. lol

Talking about money think I mentioned this before, always worked these hours, earning about the same and getting help for a long time and even though I'm not spending anymore I won't make it through till the end of the month and OD is at the limit. Times seems to be getting tough.

ninah, how the hell do you end up in central london from missing a turning for southampton?!!!!

scl i sympathise re money, i have about 50 quid til fri to get food and i have nothing in

i ended up cobbling together some ready made crap tonight cos the mince i defrosted looked dodgy

i felt terrible guilt, but the kids quite liked it as a refreshing change

Ninah - I did exactly that once, coming back from, it was either Southampton or Heathrow, and missed the A205 I think it is, turn off and ended up sailing passed Harrods etc lol.

I also missed my turn off on M25 travelling south once and nearly ended up in Gatwick . It was pitch dark, lashing rain and really low visibility and just me and dc's in the car. I was a little bit freaked out, I don't drive on motorways any more if I can help it .

Eve - you want Waterloo for the Southbank, or Embankment Tube or Charing Cross Stations and you could walk over the wobbly bridge (that no longer wobbles) . The Southbank is great. Covent Garden has always got street entertainment going on too. The Tate Modern is on the Southbank, that's probably worth a visit although I don't know what exhibits they have at the minute.

Lou - have you done your shopping? £50 is loads til Friday.

It isnt loads at all for five of us plus i need to get petrol from that too.

thank for sympathy - my dm and df kindly paid for our hol but I had to find spending money. It was of course more expensive than I thought.

NInah - I will approach exh and tbh he does pay his 20% of net income plus a few extras (such as cricket courses and a contribution to uniform) - and I know that is alot more than most.

But it does slightly stick when he goes on about luxury holidays - I think the one with the boys is his third this year, they are planning to move into a 1.2 million pound house.

And moreover our agreement,which clearly means jack shit said one weekend in two and one night per week after school and that is what the maintenance is based on. Plus half holidays. What he actually does is every other sat for 24 hours plus 2-3 hours in term time after school.

And this holiday I am doing three weeks and he is doing two.

I also do alot of ferrying round taking kids over to his (he doesn't drive) plus generally covering every sports activity. He uses the dts routine as the excuse reason he can't do that!!

All the little extras above (when it should be his time) add up so I have no compunction (?) about asking him for a bit extra. However rather than me having to grovel /ask for it would be nice if he recognised the shortfall and stumped up.

He will also retire when ds2 is 14 so I have that to deal with in due course.

scl my exh prob pays more than most too but it still isn't enough and like yours it would be good if he would actually realise that there are times when a little extra would not only be appreciated but is actually needed
oh and it would be nice to not have to ask grovel for it
agree with lou that 50 for four hungry kids and fuel in the car will be tight til fri esp as it's the hols too

Lou - needing fuel certainly puts a different slant on things that's for sure and for you I know that's a necessity. Hope I didn't sound flip. I certainly wouldn't have meant to.

SCL - omg that is truly shocking. What a tight fisted a**e. Ask/tell him to pay the cm???

ASBM - and yours. Grrr.

Exh popped in last night. He was whingeing about his gf's ds who is about 25 and a dosser doesn't contribute blah blah. Exh says 'I'd rather stump up for my own dc's than him.'
I just didn't know where to look. He never ceases to disgust amaze me.

I don't know how they live with themselves. I really don't.

OMFG!!![anger]

You couldn't make it up. Could you?

nope as nobody would believe you except all of us lot!

We certainly seem to be in the same boat on that score.

'Stump up' though, wtf???

He then stuttered out something about saving up for this famous holiday that he's taking ds on. Whenever that is.

I've ended up working in AUGUST , I'm totally knackered, but I don't want to book anything off until I'm satisfied that ds is actually getting this famous holiday!

That's made me quite teary writing that.

We shall be eating pasta a couple of times, and i have eggs and bacon too, plus bread cheese juice salad, some muller rice puddings some fruit and some Spanish tortilla. I should be able to make it last til fri wuth luck. If it wasnt holidays it would be easier to eke out

Lou - my dc's love bacon with pasta and cheese. It's cheap and it's easy. I bet you eat better in your house than we do here this week. I'm rubbish at thinking of things to cook.

Pasta and pesto tonight so hardly inspirational. I am thinking cheap as poss this week!

Lou - how was it?? We'll have to menu plan for you, or have you already done it??

I always try and menu plan

It's a good idea, I'm too chaotic for it. I do cook huge portions and freeze tho.

Very quiet tonight. I wonder where everyone is.

hello, just got back, bloody knackered
know exactly about cooking on the cheap is stressful, have about mastered it now but is quite draining thinking of functional, as in protein carb vits plus cheap
we have lived on chicken sandwiches all day, were lucky enough to get a 'family' trian ticket as was me my friend plus 4 children (and one freebie littlie) so fares not too bad
all the stuff we did was free
embankment, tate modern - god that place is massive - nat history
the only expensive moment is when my friend ordered 7 lollies from an icecream van and the bill was £14! ffs
London was lovely and I have missed it so much but today I did mind the crowds, heat, delays in getting from a to b and it was almost as lovely to get home
scl I do know what you mean about lifestyle etc, and you're right we shouldn't have to ask for essential support for our dc but it is what it is -just say I need x amount for y and z it's not begging it's stating the obvious
you know this asbm. They don't get it. They never will
just think of them as conceptionally disadvantaged or some very big company with poor customer relations
persist without shame lol

Ninah - glad you had a nice day. It felt really cool today compared to what it's been. Anything good at the Tate? It is massive, I time myself when I go there, two hours tops, otherwise it becomes painfully tiring to me and I'd rather just have short sharp visits. £14 for ice lollies . You should have found a tesco express or something round the back. grrr.