Thread 53 - Covid GCSE Cohort - Happy New Year 2025 to our fab young people

[Delphigirl]

New thread! Looking forward to traversing 2025 with this fantastic group 🎉😘

We had both at home, Chinese takeaway, boardgames, films, exactly the same as every year for as long as I can remember. We hit the socialising hard through December but have always had quiet actual Christmas and NY. Just catching up with a few end of year things today, I like to delete photos and make a book of good ones, update my list of books I've read, films I've seen, that sort of stuff. It has been a very busy year. Looking forward to more chat here in 2025.

Happy, healthy 2025 to all!

We had family friends round and DS ate with us then went out. It was very relaxed. We've probably spent 15 of the last 20 NYE together.

HNY everyone!

Doggo has definitely turned the corner, thanks for asking @AnneOfCleavage

A lovely evening spent with friends and their friendship group who host every year. DD rolled in at 04.30, am exhausted just listening to her evening shenanigans…

Happy New Year 🎊

DH and I had a nice meal while DD had friends over. They were asleep by 1am - sleepovers were never like that when they were younger teens. DS was out with friends and isn't back yet.

Today is being spent making a 21st birthday cake for DS and gently encouraging DD to get on with an essay. Back to work tomorrow but I feel like it should be the weekend already.

Happy New Year, all - looking forward to an exciting one with many of our DCs hitting the end of their studies!

We went to the pub with a few friends - it's not a NYE event so it's quite chill, which is nice, and in fact they close at about 11pm so we were home in time to watch the fireworks on TV. Eldest DD was here with her boyfriend so we hung out with them for a while - making the most of time with her before they leave for Australia next week 😢. Other DCs were out and about for NYE and aren't back yet so no idea what shenanigans took place!

Back to work tomorrow. Heigh ho.

We stayed up really late as we were tracking ds' flight and wanted to know he'd landed in Sydney before we went to bed! He landed at about 2.15am. He had a great few hours in Shanghai on the way and seems to be enjoying Sydney so I'm now enjoying the peace before dd and boyfriend come back again tomorrow! Ds just got his first uni offer too, from Essex, so that's a relief. It was the only one where his grades matched the usual offer, so it was his safe bet. Where in Australia is your dd going @blinkbonny and is it permanent?! Ds met a lad on the plane (well, early 20s) who's a physio and is emigrating.

@crazycrofter That reminds me of 2018 when DS was flying back from a rugby tour in Japan. The weather was really dodgy and I was convinced that if I stopped staring at his little icon on the flight tracker, the plane would fall out of the sky!

@KingscoteStaff That is so relatable!

Just putting this out there as it popped up and may potentially be of interest to some of the DC as spans ages 18-25.
www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/what-we-do/employment/paid-work-experience/work-experience-opportunities/civil-service-internship-2025

@crazycrofter First offer is always sweet! Nice start to the year.

DS is back in France, not without snowy drama. We couldn't get our car up the hill out of our cul-de-sac. It took nearly an hour of gritting, pushing, sliding and panicking. It was 2am so couldn't really go knocking on doors for help. He missed his coach to Heathrow so I had to drive to the next stop down the motorway, arriving just before his coach. Got home at 4.30am and was so hyper I couldn't sleep.
I took DD to the coach station at lunchtime for her bus back to Wales and there was hardly any snow in sight.
So the house is quiet and looks like a bomb has gone off. DD will be home for Easter, hopefully, and DS is now gone until July. Christmas and 21st birthday are over in a blur and I'm left taking the tree down. Apparently it's my birthday tomorrow, and then the diet can start.

Sounds v stressful @mummyinbeds ! Glad they both got to where they need to be. Hope you have a lovely birthday tomorrow

Extremely snowy here today. Hopefully gone soon!!

Happy birthday for tomorrow @mummyinbeds , well done for getting both of them off in spite of the weather challenges!

So nice to get our house back here, it’s been like a student hostel with a party DD has thrown for the last 5 years on first weekend in Jan. I’ve given up fighting it, but we do get to see how lovely and charming these YP are turning out to be. No mac cheese though ;)

We’re off for a short break to Bologna this week with DD, it got cancelled in summer due to IT outage, would not be surprised if I go nowhere due to another BA cancelled flight, but trying to remain hopeful!

Hope your boy is settling well into antipodean life @crazycrofter !

Thanks @ealingwestmum , he was supposed to arrive in NZ at 11am today our time but I could see from the tracker that he was still in Australia at 10! Turns out he didn’t realise that his luggage wasn’t automatically transferred at the Gold Coast airport. By the time he realised, the gates had closed for the flight to Christchurch. But he sorted out a hostel for the night and paid a bit more to book a flight 24 hours later, so all is good. He’ll miss the introductory day for his course but the first hike doesn’t start til Tuesday. To be honest, it’s a good way to introduce himself, at least they’ll know what they’re dealing with!

Hope you have a lovely break @ealingwestmum !

That sounds really stressful @mummyinbeds but well done for getting them to their respective locations in time!

Happy birthday @mummyinbeds
DD went back to Austria a week ago and had the most amazing New Year's Eve celebration. The uni has semesters so Feb is a break for them so she'll be home then for at least some of the time!
DS needs to knuckle down for a levels now to get the ridiculous grades required...

Was there someone on here whose DH works for Hunted?

Happy birthday @mummyinbeds. Tomorrow would’ve been my grandma’s 109th birthday.

That sounds very similar to what happened to me when I went to NZ in my early 20s @crazycrofter I missed the connection in LA because I went to the domestic departures check-in desks instead of the international ones for the same airline which were miles away (LAX is huge) and missed my connection. The airline put me up for a night in a hotel which was very good of them and then I flew on the next day.

I took DS back today, journey there was straightforward but had a hellish journey back due to floods, I was going straight to pick DD up from work which is several miles further than home and satnav took me a back way resulting in several lots of having to reverse and turn in single track roads in the dark and rain, it was awful. Will always go the main way in future even if it is longer.

Happy birthday @mummyinbeds !
Yesterday was DHs birthday - managed a family meal out with no arguments to celebrate.
DS has got a couple of interviews coming up for grad jobs so fingers crossed. None of them start until September, but at least the end would be in sight!
DD doesn't go back until the end of January as she doesn't have exams. Progressing well on 3 essays, has managed 2 days volunteering at the 'local' National Trust place (20 miles each way) and is hoping to be able to get a few sessions with the conservators cleaning the house after Christmas and getting it ready for the spring opening.

Happy birthday @mummyinbeds !

Can anyone recommend somewhere that does balloon delivery online? DDs birthday is in the middle of exams so will be stuck at Uni and wanted to do something nice for her - except she doesn't drink and has food issues so the usual ideas are out!

Happy birthday @mummyinbeds

@handmademitlove Moonpig do balloon deliveries although not used them myself. Florists also do them so you could try a local florist chain that has a branch near to DD's uni!

DD started her placement today so she's right back into work mode after a relaxing although over very quickly Christmas break. So lovely she could find one near to home so she can stay here for two weeks while doing it. She's on my insurance so can borrow my car on the days I don't need it.
I got my insurance renewal and it's gone down quite a bit as DD now a year since passing and no longer a teenager - assume that's why it's lower. I know it would be a lot more for her own car but she won't get one til uni finished she reckons.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. It's a strange one without DD and DS here although I've spoken to them both.
DS had one piece of good news today - so far in Toulouse he's lost his driving licence, room keys, student card and two Pastel cards (Prepaid Metro/bus/tram card). He went to replace the Pastel card today and it had been handed in at a Metro Station some time in December. There are some honest people out there 😁 It would be good if he could find his keys as he admitted to leaving his room unlocked over Christmas 😱

Happy birthday @mummyinbeds hope you had a pleasant day notwithstanding and glad ds found his Pastel card.

@seeline goodluck to your DS with his job interviews and same to all the others in the middle of the process.

DS has gone back to his placement bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Omg @mummyinbeds that's quite impressive to lose them in Toulouse (do you get my pun?!!)