Dec 2011: The one where they sit on potatoes. And turn TWO!

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

New fred! Roll up roll up, potty adventures and birthdays galore!

Haha hinky second lol this evening. k
Keep it up ladies! you're cheering me right up!

northern, the trouble with the house is that if it's got a ropy non-BR loft conversion then it's NOT perfect at all. you'd have a hell of a job to shift it on later, in order to get BR you'd have to comply with TODAY's standards rather than when it was built (she says looking at her house full of big heavy fire doors)... and it may not be safe to put storage stuff up there etc.... what really concerns me is the rebuttal, makes me wonder what else they are hiding to be honest. I wonder if the house would be insurable? When I got my buildings insurance renewed the other week they made a big point of asking if the house had had any alterations, if the vendors are being coy about safety checks etc it may be that if their dodgy loft wiring (eg) caused a fire you wouldn't be able to claim.
if it was hard to get a buyer for your place it's tempting to say sell and then be in a cash-buyer position for the next place- I couldn't bring myself to do that and we ended up in a chain, but at least your DS isn't school age yet so that's one thing less to complicate it.

It may be that they think you are so sold on the place you'll buy it anyway (or they are worried you'll drop your offer if you find out it's ropy). Maybe it's worth an ultimatum from your solicitor to theirs that you need clear information by xx date (end of week) what paperwork/info they have on the conversion or a written admission of absence of said paperwork otherwise you walk away? How much do you REALLY want that house?? (sorry, it's a horrid question to ask)

and can I just say hinky.....EWWWWW!!!!

Still lurking whist amazon shopping. Amazon has broken. It wasn't me.
Euwww snot.
Uurgh house difficulties.
Rahhh Christmas jumpers!
I'm wondering if I should poas... Then change my name to OiMmaculateConception.

That would be an awesome namechange Oi!

I hadn't thought of the giant cardigan as being a sympathy throw in to cover up the Xmas jumpers I will of course be posting the family portrait on fb when we all get dressed up (and getting it put on a giant canvas to reveal with a flourish when the dc's are teenagers and mortified by it

Anyone know anything about custom charges? Think we've found the rug we want for dd's bedroom. It's a business seller in Germany, so the delivery charge is almost as much as the rug. But we should be exempt from customs charges within the EU surely?!

I need a Xmas name change just can't get into the spirit this year.

Who's birthday is next?

Just to be clear I did spit it out to check what it was and then was so repulsed i nearly yacked!

Xmas namechanged got some make your own bunting and Xmas decs for DS and i to make on Friday when putting up the tree and lots of glitter to make reindeer dust for his bday party bags on 22nd.....thought it would be better than junk toys 3 days before xmas!!

Must not eat entire chocolate orange, must not eat entire chocolate orange, must not eat entire choco... well, fuck. Ate an entire chocolate orange.

And three mince pies.

There's no calories in a chocolate orange. Scientific fact.

Am loving my new washing machine. It is still washing stuff whenever I ask it to. Yay.

And DD has learnt to play Jingle Bells on her trumpet! More Yay! (It actually sounds pretty good, I'm v proud of her)

On a musical note, aethel, I could hear minim upstairs in her cot last night singing the tune to twinkle twinkle in tune. Was v surprised!

You're musical too aren't you mopsy? Must be lovely to be in a house of tunefullness!

Will your DD being doing any Xmas concerts/carolling aethel? There's nothing better that the sound of a Sally Army type band at Xmas, could listen to them forever.

Agree with all, Xmas jumpers are the best. They have some lovely ones for DCs now- would love to get the Fairisle one from Lewis' for DS, but it's a bit pricey.

And I know you're right aethel, I do, and I agree, but all the options are so crap- lose house, lose buyer, or rent....

Testing festive name change

Renting mightn't be too awful Northern? You'd be in a great position to buy. We are actually thinking of doing that after Xmas - putting house on market (finally!) then renting - as I'm applying for at least one job elsewhere so it would be good to be flexible. I would be wary as aethel says of non BR conversion for insurance reasons for one. But I'm sure you will get all the necessary info anyway to make an informed decision. Just that they are dragging feet so much is a bit worrying... ?

I'm wrecked for some reason. Although Minim was awake a LOT last night, so I guess there's my reason. I only had to go in once but she kept waking me up.

Feeling stressed about all the work I've to do over the 'holidays' ... teaching ends and then all the zillion things I've been putting off need to get done and I don't have enough time. I forgot to factor in marking. It will take so long. Ugh. Need to not panic as it won't help.

I don't have a Christmas jumper. I mainly wear dresses. Don't think would be a good luck somehow!!

aethel are you going to have all 3 on brass and have your own mini brass band at home? We had a quartet between us plus a clarinet player and clarinet/guitar player (6 of us)! Was handy for weddings!

Well, I was meant to be doing a late-night shop while the DCs were abed, but I'm whacked too so I wussed out and will go tomorrow instead.

I must confess a brass house is likely (or poss brass/wind depending on their preference). I've always coveted a cello but strings can be quite restrictive in terms of styles/opportunity (prepares to be shot down in flames by liberated string players) and there's far too much tendonitis for my liking if little wrists are straining.... Musical Carols "out" are not that likely this year , carols "in" are already happening!.... She's only been learning a term northern and is preparing to join her first "junior band" next term . I think DD2 would make a great euph player personality wise, which means DS will end up with a trombone I expect!! I play the trumpet and trombone (both badly), it's the first Christmas in a few years I've not had the fun of local church band carols :( . Wonder if I could join the local Salvation Army as a Christmas carol tourist??....

I'm a violinist aethel and it is wonderfully versatile. I have tended to stick with symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras and quartets as I love playing classical music but jazz, folk, anything goes on a fiddle! Very easy to cart around as well. Cello also versatile in terms of styles but pain in the bum to carry/transport.

My husband is a trombone player. He is keen to get minim going on brass. I want her to try a stringed instrument. We have decided we should let her choose what she wants herself come the time!

I've woken up with another bbleedin sore throat and ds has another cough its only been a week since the last 1 poooooo

P'ed OAS, then 1hr later AF arrived.
No worries. As I implied, it would have almost been a miracle.
There's always next month, although I was also hoping for the reason why I've put on so much weight recently. Whoops!
Off to Zurich today, back tonight. The office is near the airport, been many times, have yet to actually visit the city. One day...

Boo for poorlies figgy

Oi All this international travel is not as glamorous as it looks, eh?

V jel of all you music folks. I played flute, but could never be bothered with the regular practice.

I threw a proper tantrum last night because I was nearly finished sewing my niece's birthday present and then my ancient sewing machine died. A piece actually fell off in my hand. My mum keeps going on about getting it repaired but I'm sick of it. I want a fancy new machine that does more than two kinds of stitch and doesn't fall to pieces because it's 30 years old.

Also, spent most of last night awake, trying not to be sick. Have discovered today that I am OK as long as I keep eating constantly. Think I ate bad soup yesterday - paella soup from Sainsbos. Reheated rice = bad.

Oigah that is annoying hope it was a £1 job from poundland rather than a flash expensive test? Happened to me last month too.

I will spend the next 2 weeks wondering if i am pg even though i know due to dates it is very very unlikely, Been feeling a bit squiffy today, had some brown spotting type stuff over the weekend which have never had between periods and so am symptom spotting most likely just got the lurgy again. Prob due around the 19th Dec will look out for the pre AF rage kicking in a few days earlier.

ELC have the happyland funfair down to £20 today.

Will try to catch up later

Boo to AF oi.

northern sympathies for house related stuff, hope you get some clarification soon.

hop check out JL for sewing machines. DH got me a mini one for Christmas a couple of years ago, half price but should only have been £60 anyway not that I've only used it once

Very jealous of all you musical types, I wish I'd learnt to play an instrument when I had the time!

It does take a long time Santa. To be honest, it takes years before you get any good at the violin. Literally. I'd say my parents put up with a least 5-6 years of non fabulousness before we really started sounding nice. The first two years is just scratch screech squawk!! Is worth it though!

Is that seven in there?

bah humbug too lazy to namechange

queen are you lurking? We haven't heard from you for a while

Heading for bed soon. DS randomly decided that 4am was a good time to get up this morning. I did not agree!