June 08 - 42 days til Christmas, and Deb is coming home!!

[KnittingisbetterthanTherapy]

The old one was taking too long to load!

At home this morning but going to GP shortly - pray that the acupuncture actually works. God, I feel awful! The house is kind of becoming a slum with laundry and stuff everywhere but I feel too sick to do anything...

I remember Diana's ring too, Amber! I wanted one the same. It's quite big and kind of dated though, I think - and KM has smaller fingers than Diana had (judging by the film they showed of Diana and Charles getting engaged). Ooh - am I allowed to say Diana had fat fingers what with her being a saint and everything?
I did think his sentiments in giving the ring were ok though - he is a boy who lost his mother young, poor thing.
I was 4 or 5 when D&C got married and I was all very excited by it and made a scrapbook.
Knitting I'm anti-monarchy, but I'm not at all anti-celebrity!
I did start to cry last night though (hormones...) when they said on the news that Kate had just become one of the most famous and will remain one of the most photographed women in the world. I wouldn't want to put any child of mine through that.

Dewin when I was pg with Caitlin the house was irredeemably appalling the whole time, and I was only feeling nauseous and not even actually sick. I was extremely stressed about it at the time and looking back think I was far too hard on myself. Really hope the acupuncture helps (and also interested to hear when you will get an idea about dates - have they booked you a scan yet?)

Trying not to show any interest in the royal wedding as I am in principle against monarchy and interest in such things, but secretly very pleased that our next Queen will be the daughter of a mail-order businessman and an air hostess the snobbish side of my family would be whispering 'trade!' under their breaths in horrified fashion (not that we were posh, we were trade too I hasten to add!)

I haven't got a problem with monarchy - as usual I am the opposite of everyone else. I think they are good for tourism and part of our identity and history. I wonder how much £ they make in tourism versus how much they get from the tax payer - genuine question!

I am pleased they have got engaged, but find the wall to wall news coverage excruciating. Most irritating though is that there will probably be a glut of baby Williams in the next 12 months. William wasn't even on the shortlist as it is 10th most popular and that put me off. When Knitting was trying to name M I remember her rejecting William because it was too royal . However when he was born none of the short list seemed right and then in the middle of the first night I thought of William and it seemed to fit. Never mind, still happy with our choice.

Amber - I am kind of with you on the monarchy. Intellectually I get why we shouldn't have a monarchy, but I think the world is more interesting with them than without.

Quick post cos I'm at work and have so much to do .

spider, I did think of you with the whole William/wedding thing - I suspect it will jump straight to the top of the list!

Amber, the whole revenue from tourism thing is a complete red herring as far as the monarchy is concerned - there is no way that people would stop coming to this country if we didn't have a royal family and it's impossible to extract the figures (although I'm sure Buck House would do it!).

Obviously everyone knows my views and I'm bored bloody stupid of the whole nonsense already - as for the ring . That ring was the symbol of a desparetly unhappy marriage and a husband who treated his wife like shit from the start, I certainly wouldn't want it on my finger .

On an entirely unrelated point, DG I stopped using cloth nappies about 18mths ago . Just never got on with them!

(Oh and Dewin, sorry to hear the m/s is back ).

Hi to everyone else. Parent has just turned up so must go!

Argh! Apologies for my spelling of desperately!

Very quick post to mark my spot. I'm also a bit of a republican (no surprise there ) but I do love a bit of celebrity and I also have a strange fascination with royal history so will no doubt be following everything.

I know someone who is related to KM! So there's been much talk of it in my office. She's not seen her since 96 though so not expecting an invite.

On the ring - my first thought about it was all about the symbol of such an unhappy marriage, but actually, I can completely see where he's coming from. It might be the world's worst marriage for us, but for him, it's about his mum and he is after all a product of that marriage (no matter how it turned out). 'Tis a bit ugly though [shallow]

at the nappies Knitting, you kept that quiet .

Spider, I also thought of you on the name, but to be honest a big event can make a name popular at any time so it's no big deal at the end of the day. I'm sure there were a glut of Diana's born 31 years ago, but I don't know a single one now. I think 'Kate' will get the big bump up the popularity charts next year.

The ring is lovely though - I like coloured stones compared to diamonds.

I admit I like the monarchy. I think cost is an issue but I'd be sad to see the end of it.

spider i wouldn't worry about the name - she'll be pregnant quickly enough and then that will be the name that jumps the queue.

Are you going to use Will for a nickname? I love the name Will and would have shortlisted it for our two except I have an Uncle Bill i'm not a fan of....

Spider I didn't think of William and you. But maybe I'm just thick... Anyway you could be lucky like us. We picked an uncommon name for Iestyn, but it was creeping up in popularity. Luckily (!) there was a nasty murder not far from here and the man arrested (likely guilty) is called Iestyn. So it's nosediving now!

Abdn you'd like my engagement ring then - it has a deep red ruby in it. I adore it.

Saw GP. He reckons I'm probably 6-7 weeks, and that last month was likely a little m/c. He also did acupuncture on me, and I'm not feeling so sick!! I really hope this works! My mum phoned - she was really worried about how I could carry on with the puking and looking after Iestyn etc - and said if it does work, I'm to go every single week, even if I have to pay masses per session!

Totally bored of the royal wedding too! I am a republican and hope when the queen dies there will be some sort of movement in this country to get rid of the monarchy. Not likely but I can only hope. How much inheritance tax will Charles pay when the Queen dies? Not much I bet. It will all be tied up in trusts etc no doubt. Paying taxes is for poor people isn't it . didnt have any thoughts about the symbolism of the ring but i think it is pretty ugly! i would have wanted a humungous diamond . i do think it is funny that future king could be grandson of air hostess .

dewin, so sorry yyou are feeling so ill. it is horrid. dont worry about letting the house go to pot.

sorry, typing one-handed.

my baby slep thru last night again , my 2yo daughter did not! she woke at 3.30am saying 'cuddle cuddle' so i went in thinking might have fallen oiut of bed. She hadn't, she was asking for all her teddies so I tucked her in and put her teddies back etc and she went straight back to sleep. An hour later it was 'cuddle cuddle' again! I went in, tucked her in again and said 'next time you wake up, just go back to sleep, don't call mummy cos mummy needs to sleep' . How bad is that?! She didn't wake again tho

Neenz that is not a bad thing to do at all, you are teaching her good sleep habits it is one of the best gifts a parent can give!!

Both mine slept through last night for more than 11 hours for the first time in I don't know how long. I sat with Caitlin to fall asleep (which I never normally do) and she didn't get up again, so now I wonder whether she's had a touch of separation anxiety and I made it worse by shouting her to sleep ... wouldn't it be easier if we could see directly into their heads? still, maybe I'll try it again tonight and it won't work!

Dewin so glad the acupuncture helped.

Lol DG - I think I posted quite a lot at the time we were having problems with them (smell and stuff) but we never managed to solve the problems so we gave up . I do get them out every now and again and think it would be nice to try again but it's too much hassle now .

Neenz, Charles won't pay a penny of IT of course .

Talking of waking up, last night I heard Luke get out of bed and switch the fan on in his room (which was there from the summer) and then get back into bed and go to sleep - really funny!

I was watching this morning and they said that the amount of revenue brought in to the country by people coming for the wedding would pay for the whole thing and loads more! There just seem to be so many people around the world who are Royal obsessed that I can't believe they don't bring in a penny in revenue. I'd like to hope it is enough to cover what they get every year.

Is it the cost that most people are against?

I'm happy to shorten William, but we haven't hit on anything that has stuck yet. I like Will, but we have actually been calling him Baby Bill in jest. It's in danger of sticking though. both great grandfathers were Bills. He is also still getting called "Little Baby" (as opposed to P the big baby) which is what we called him as a bump. DH is awful at names, even his own children's, and I caught him calling him Michael this morning. Where did that come from it was not even on the shortlist?

quick note as unwell.

Hope you feel better soon Dewin, waves to everyone else

oh, and I so would not want that ring.

Amber, who said they don't bring in a penny in revenue? I said it was a red herring re: tourism as it's impossible to prove that people are visiting because of the Royals. How many tourists actually get to see a Royal? They just see the buildings, etc.

It's not the money that bothers me the most (it's way more complicated than that) but the cost of the wedding bothers me hugely yes. His grandmother is one of the richest women in the world so she should foot the bill in full. I don't want one penny of my taxes going to pay for it, especially at a time when nurses, teachers and other vital members of society are losing their jobs.

Lol at your dh calling William 'Michael' spider!!

Hope you feel better soon Sybil

Glad the acupuncture helped Dewin.

Royals - my objection is around the fact that the Head of State (however ceremonial that function might be) is appointed by birth right. I'm also not keen on the links between the monarchy and religion (but don't know enough about that side of things to string together a robust and coherent argument about it).

I'm a republican (this sounds like an AA meeting now...!) because I object to the fact that it's a birth right too - I'm a believer in working for what you deserve (interesting given that I'm nowhere near what I deserve despite my hard work - but seriously, probably why it hurts me so much.) They are born to be extremely rich and live a cosy and beyond comfortable life. Also the cost...
Incidentally was discussing this with a v. good friend and colleague, RG, today. We were discussing a 14th cent manuscript I work on which is still in private hands. (This is unheard of normally: it's the only medieval Welsh manuscript known to be privately owned.) It's owned by some landed gentry, and RG and I were saying how we thought landed gentry living that kind of life went with the war. But not on Anglesey! We were discussing how to get to see this important manuscript - I've seen the real thing, once, but the owners won't let anybody see it these days. Plus RG was wondering, if they have one 14th cent manuscript, what else might they have? Nobody knows, no catalogue. There's obviously preservation issues too, although manuscripts are surprisingly tough and long-lasting! (They don't survive fire though and burn really well - big risk. All major libraries with manuscript collections have extreme fireproofing and firefighting conditions in place ever since the Cotton library incident!)
There are other issues with the family too - they really are lords of the manor in the Victorian sense - think Downton Abbey!

Anyhow now I'm rambling - get me started on manuscripts and it becomes a lecture...

Sybil hope it's nothing serious - full sympathy and hope you're better soon.

Spider love that your DH is confused with names! Strangely enough, I am at the moment - I keep calling Iestyn by DH or my brother's name. Mind you, when I was pg last time my ability to remember names completely and utterly disappeared and it was totally embarrassing. e.g. I was at an academic meeting, where I spoke eloquently, and got chatting to an important man from St Andrews (who published my latest book since then so clearly not a complete disaster!) and I told him I had a good friend working at St Andrews. He said 'oh, who?' and I completely and utterly went blank, and started saying stuff like 'he's really tall, and has fair hair...' The name never came to me.

Must tell knitting about my republican moment recently - DH was having kittens. It was to do with the 'national' anthem.

no IT, what a surprise

My objection to the royals is the birthright thing. imo they are just like you and me. i would not curtsey to the queen (does this mean i will have to turn down my mbe ). i dont see why they should live such priveleged lives on the back of the taxpayer (not just the queen but all the hangers on like princess michael of kent). all their assets should be sold to pay down the national debt.

We have had competitive weeing here today. E did a wee on the potty (only one accident from her today and she puts herself on potty now ), so then t did one, then e got back on and squeezed a bit more out! they are fascinated by watching it go down the loo. t is a little behind cos was still in nappies til monday, but he had 3 wees on potty today, just got to sort out his poos now!

I imagined you and your DH joining in with the competitive weeing there, Neenz!

Oh Dewin, you're going to have to spill now!!

Might have to do it over text - don't want to offend anyone.

Lol! Ok - will wait for my phone to bleep . If it's about standing up for the NA I never do !

Luckily I don't hear the national anthem too often!

Dewin, x-posted back there. C'mon please tell us about your republican moment.

Spider, that's hilarious calling William Michael. Sleep deprivation?

lol at joining in with the weeing. They are so funny... when E sits on the potty she says 'it's not coming yet'. Before baths I've been saying to them 'do you want a poo before you go in the bath, because you don't poo in the bath, do you'. well tonight before bath she said 'you don't poo in the bath, DOOO YOOOOU' . This morning I said to T: 'you're going to do all your poos and wees on the potty today aren't you?' and he said 'no... sorry mummy'