October 2007 These Little Piggies chased the easter bunny..and stole the eggs

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Hiya

Inzi - She sounds very strange indeed. It just doesn't all seem to fit together somehow does it?! It's concerning her little boy only has a bare matress , is there anyone you could alert that she might need a little help? I agree with Heinz's advice, just stick with the other lady you know and hopefully she'll get the message.

hello
just a quickie from me. Haven't been about much cos dd been poorly. Called ambulance last week cos she just lost consciousness. Most likely a fit - eyes were rolling about lots but other than that quite still. Was ok once in hospital but they did notice her pulse was low so did an ecg. She is going to have extended eeg as well.

Seems ok now - acting a bit manic and exagerated but isn't sleeping good so maybe that's why. She did get in our local paper last week cos of some fundraising. Hehee - she's going to be in local broadsheet tomorrow

Had a big run in with SS (who say she doesn't meet their criteria of disability and cannot help with respite) and generally just been knackered and fed up Oh and looks like dd has some liver disease - glycogen storage - that's nothing to do with her existing probs and would be another genetic disorder I carry (as well as dh cos its an auto recessive thing). Will find out for definite in a couple of months.

My grandad is getting worse. Some nurse mentioned vascular dementia then backtracked. He is nothing like his usual self at all.

Have been signed off work by gp so least that's one less stress.

Sorry to post big me me me effort. Lots of love to everyone. V sad about lisa dh. I'll be happy to put to anything you decide to do. Oh and Inzi agree that woman sounds a bit much. Maybe suggest Homestart to her (do they do that in yr area?) They could buddy her up with someone better placed to deal with it

oh and well done with the weight loss. That's quite staggering

pixie i'm so sorry that you are having such a hard time. Do you have much family support to help you out a bit??

You sound like a supermum. I really hope your DD gets better soon and they get to the bottom of whatever is making her poorly.

inzi - 10lb in one week!! my god thats more than i did in 6 weeks! How are you finding it? I would really feel like i would be missing out if all i could have was liquid or bars etc for dinner...... you are more determined than i certainly am.

Pixie - Sorry things are hard at the moment, must have been scarey having to call an ambulance for dd . Hope the docs can help her to feel better soon.

Sorry to hear your grandad is getting worse too (((hugs)))

Good that the gp has signed you off, sounds like thats what you need at the moment with everything else thats going on.

Oh and at SS, what are they on about?!

Mine - Morning! How you finding weight watchers? I have done it before (just using the books from my sil) but never seem to be able to stick at it, i'm rubbish!

Inzi - Amazing weight loss, how you feeling in yourself? I had a look on the lighter life website just for a nosey but couldn't find the cost anywhere. Can you give me an idea, just out of curiosity? I couldn't do anything like that now but maybe in the future...

I'm still a snot monster today, I have an appointment with my counsellor this aft, can't wait to sneeze and cough my way through it. He's ok but I find it a little uncomfortable as he's one of those that uses the tecnique of just 'letting you talk'. I find i've finished a sentence and he just sits there staring at me but not saying anything, I can't bear the silence! I think I prefer the type of counsellors you can have a conversation with and bounce ideas of. Not much chance of that though cause he's the only one that covers this whole area!

Hi to everyone

Pixie..omg! How terribly frightening and worrying.No wonder you are exhausted. I'm for you at SS for their inflexibility and narrow minded policies and so sorry to heart about your grandad too.....thank heavens your doctor understands how stressfull your life is atm.I hope things turn around for you soon.

Inzi; this is another stress you could do without...I'm sorry for her, she sounds depressed and desperate and even more sorry for her ds but I suppose everyones parenting styles are different. I met someone who was similar (though nothing like as bad!or as persistant)at baby massage in the early days ... we met a few times after I stopped going to massage but I just made the gaps between meetings longer and longer and got more forceful in my opinions about attatchment parenting...she drifted off eventually...sorry I have no better advice

thankyou

Dal - take a book Nah I jest - kwym tho. I hate counselling sessions like that

Heinz ? I?m 24 weeks now so trundling along nicely. Not got SPD but back is getting ridiculously painful made more so by not being able to take painkillers. It?s not a prgcy thing as I?ve had a crap back on/off for years but I know being prgt doesn?t help. Am really hoping your dh finds a job soon, what industry is he in?

Inzi ? OMG! What a really tricky situation for you x How for the other mums get on with her at the toddler group? Does she hang around them/call them? Is it just you she?s latched onto? Re the little boy on a mattress in a dirty nappy coupled with the appearing to be drunk and drinking in front of you + the telling you she leaves him to scream all night and tied his door shut with shoes laces, I would be really concerned, enough even to have a chat with social services. Not sure if I?m overreacting but she is being very open with you and maybe she just needs some professional help? Great news on the weight loss!!!

Pixie ? hoping dd gets a little better soon. Mine?s right, do you have any support?

Hi everyone else xx

Lovely sun here, Ollie had a fab time at his mates house yesterday playing with the sand, their dog and all their different toys. I had a nice chat with the mum and she?s a really friendly lady so that?s good. They live in a barn in Kelmscott looking onto William Morris?s manor house, I had died and gone to heaven!!!

Ollie at school and Henry at nursery so I?m tidying and then doing my ou stuff. Got to write another report for the next assignment which isn?t my favourite thing. I?m much more of an arty farty waffly type essay writer so I find the precise and concise writing more difficult. Oh, well, I?m sure it?s good for me
Just got the confirmation letter for my exam ? 15th June I?ve never been good at exams so any tips gratefully received!

Love to all

xxx

Hello lovely ladies!

heinz! Fab to hear from you. great to hear your pregnancy is going well although really sorry to hear about dh's redundancy. Timing couldn't be worse really could it? Fingers crossed that something turns up soon... Hope scan goes well on 1st April. And yes we are moving house! Hoping to hear exchange date soon...

Muppet great news on H's crawling! Sorry to hear you're struggling a bit with pg though... Sending you big hugs and lots of chocolate x

Mine good luck for interview next week!

Inzi about the mum you met. Sounds like she is probably going through a really tough time at the moment but understand that you find it all much too full on and don't want to be dealing with this yourself. I am terrible in these situations - easy to advise but hard to do, especially as she is clearly struggling and desperate for a friend. I guess one way round it would be to say that you're too busy to see her or even talk to her ever day and that when she calls / texts asking to do other things then tell her you'll see her at toddler group. I would certainly be telling her though that it is not acceptable for her to call early in the am as you are asleep and she should understand how important that is with a small child. Agree with heinz's approach in toddler group too to use Jane as an excuse and try to start chatting to others too. About her little boy - do you know which GP practice she is at? Maybe you could call her health visitor and express your concerns and they could contrive some sort of visit and see if they are concerned too? Less drastic than social services and if you think her older child is fine and well cared for then maybe a more appropriate reaction?

Pixie sorry to hear you're been having such a shit time recently. Sending you big big hugs and hope they get to the bottom of what is happening with dd soon xxx

Hello to everyone else! As always I have left it far too long to do anythign other than quick skim read and so hopefully I haven't missed anything else important...

We had a carpet picnic for dh's birthdya which was fab and then I have been in York for a conference the last 2 days so all been pretty busy. Up side though is that I now have the rest of the week off and the sun is shining! Got to go now to do some admin jobs (including chasing an exchange date for our house sale) while the boys are still asleep. May get back on later as dh is out with friends tonight but depends on how much I get done now.

See you all soon xxx

Heinz - glad you are having a good pregnancy. Sorry your dh is struggling with interviews.

Dal - lol at Dylan giving you chewed up food. Glad Anya's not doing that yet!

Inzi - sounds like that woman has problems - it's difficult to know how to handle something like that. I think she should be getting some help though - think Alice's idea is a good one. Well done on the weight loss! Glad your mum got to have some nice moments with your grandad.

Pixie - fingers crossed for the liver tests. At least you don't have to worry about work at the moment. Hope things get better for you soon.

Muppet - Ooooh I can give you lots of tips for exams - I'm really good at exam technique. Top ones -

Spend the first couple of minutes checking the paper so you know how many questions you've got to answer (all of them, or 3 out of 4, etc) plus allocate how many minutes each one will take (you should be able to find out in advance the total number of marks on the paper and the total time you've got - so if you know you've got 2 hours and the paper's 100 marks in total then if a question is worth 30 marks you're multiplying by 1.2 to get the number of minutes (36)). Write the time allocation on the question paper by the question. This is my absolute top tip but it takes a bit of willpower when everyone around you is scribbling from the word go.

Do the easy questions first to help you relax a bit. Start each new question on a new page so it doesn't matter what order you do them in - you can rearrange the papers at the end.

Don't go over the time you've allocated for that question. EVER. You'll get most of the marks quite quickly - don't waste time trying to get the last one or two marks when that time would be better spent on other questions. If it's a really nasty exam and you don't even have time to finish the question - doesn't matter - leave it and start another one.

Write in bullet points and short sentences. Don't waffle.

If a question has 6 marks they're probably looking for 6 points. If you write down 6 then stop even if you think of more (unless one of your first 6 was a bit rubbish ).

Make a note on the question paper which questions you'd like to come back to if you've got time at the end. Some exams are really time-pressured and you won't get the chance but sometimes you will.

Get hold of at least one past exam paper before hand and have a timed trial run.

Am really tired today. Think I will have an early night while dh finishes watching the football .

WWAJC - Wow, you're like, an exam expert!

Thanks WWAJC!!!

For my degree it was mainly teaching practices, assignments and my finals were a 40 min recital which was fine. (My geographer friend had 3 x's 3 hrs exams and was spitting feathers!)

I tend to be good at the assignments and then crap in the exams so will take note in what you've said -I am making the assumption you are an exam expert in your lne of work

Ollie at home today with sore throat tiredness and very tearful. Currently on the sofa under a blanket watching the tv (not normally allowed) his star wars toys are out from yesterday but he's not interested so he's definitely ill!

Henry at nursery was lovely to see him in their garden yesterday bashing playing with the other children. He saw me, grinned then carried on what he was doing. Not unhappy there then! He needs a sun hat at nursery now as it was very sunny yesterday and they didn't have any that fitted him so he had a muslin bandana that seemed to do the job (wish I could've had a photo ) found a hat at home which is very girlie which is strange as it really suited Ollie but Henry just looks daft. Will do for nursery though...

Still lovely and sunny, Ollie on the sofa in the playroom as it is the only room that floods with light in our house -it's north facing with no windows at the back why do they not think of the light/heat issue when designing houses??? It's incredibly environmentally unfriendly as it's a very cold house and also dark. Want to put some windows in but not sure where to start re planning/finding someone we know can do the work and not just cowboys iyswim.

Anyway, need to go and clean the pit that is mine and dh's bedroom

Love to all
xxx

oh, and just found out how bad Swindon secondary schools really are....

Out of the 149 lea's in the country for achieving 5 A-C gcse's (any, not just maths/english so includes the 'easier' ones) swindon comes

148th

They are well below national average. (I think even Gordon Brown could figure that out)

So if dh loses his job we have choice but to move.

Apparently the primary schools are above the national average for sats rsults, so what the heck happens in the secondary school???

It is sad but true that I have done lots of exams. For my accountancy qualification we got sent to a specialist training centre and they drilled us endlessly on exam technique - it was needed as in our final year we had 3 x 3 hour exams in a day and a half, plus on the third day a 4 hour case study where the idea was you spent the first 2 hours making notes and didn't actually start writing the answer until the third hour. Ever since then I've actually managed to pass some exams on technique alone without actually knowing much of the syllabus . Having said that Muppet, I forgot a really important rule in yesterday's list - RTFQ (Read The F Question) - make sure you answer what they've asked, not what you wish they'd asked .

Poor Ollie - hope he's feeling better soon. Henry sounds very happy at nursery. at Swindon's school record. I've no idea what even the primary schools are like round us.

Anya fell out of the French windows today . We have the opposite problem to Muppet in that the sun streams through the windows in the afternoon and the house is like a sauna - today was the first day it's been warm enough to open the French windows fully (not just on the tilt) - Anya was standing I thought far enough back and I was just in the middle of saying "now you have to be careful and not..." when she leant forwards to where the glass would have been and did a comedy fall straight through the open window. She did give herself a nose bleed (small white lie to dh there then - "oh she got over-excited and tripped over outside" so as not to seem all terrible-mother-ish just before mothers day ).

Have a good weekend everybody x

hi everyone, have been keeping up but not having time to post, got quite a lot on atm.

WWAJC-your read the bloody question is what we have drilled into us at college too

Shannon has had the D&S bug, and isn't eating or sleeping much.
DD1 went to her dads tonight, less than an hour later i got a call to say that she'd scalded her chest with a hot cup of water, she was making herself a cup of tea so i had to go pick her up and take her to the chemist to get checked, its not blistered so i'm going to see how she is in the morning, she's been sat with alternative frozen curly fries and chips this evening.

i'm having a bit of a problem with benefits also atm here I am worried sick about it and on top of that my back is killing me, its like a nerve pain and goes all the way down to my legs and also i've been trying to detox with juices all week, and i'm so hunger and still have no energy.

sorry for the me me post. I am honestly thinking about you all, i just can't get my head round everything to post replies to everyone atm iyswim.
Love to you all

NC Dont worry about posting to us all individually, you have enough concerns on your plate at the moment.I'm sorry I can't help with the benefits people but it looks like you have been given some very good advice especially by Technofairy. Sorry to hear about your back, my gp had me take Tescos ibuprofen and paracetamol alternately as they work in different ways (ie 8am 400mg ibuprofen, 11am 400mg paracetamol etc)and when it was bearable she gave me several excersises to help..the best was down on all fours and slowly rise and extend left arm and right leg, lower and repeat on the opposite corners...hope yours improves quickly. And terribly sorry to hear about the girls...I hope Ds1 is ok, aloe vera gel is fantastic for burns and scalds and I hope Shannon is much better today too.

Muppet I think WWAJC covered the exam techniques incredibly well (I went to a school that was very hot on exam technique) I dont know if you need a tip on revision technique but they used to make us reduce our essays; so 20 pages became 20 paragraphs, then 20 sentances, and finaly 20 trigger words which we wrote on crib cards to cram at the last minute...I also used to use colours and little pictures as mnemonics too. Totally at those Swindon school results. We are in one of the few remaining Grammar school LEAs here and results appear to be very good but a lot can change in 10 years. I hope Ollie is better today.

WWAJC Have you been to Crackpots to pick up your imprints yet? I scuttled down quickly yesterday, Alex was disgusted that we only stayed for 15 mins and am thrilled with the pottery Grandmas day pressies for tomorrow...they look a lot better than I remember. lol at Anya [sorry] but rofl at you fibbing to Dh!!!...we went to a chinese restaurant just before the concert the other week and Alex kept walking into their glass walls they were so spotless he just couldnt see why he couldnt go through!...I could do with their window cleaner here!

NC - sorry you're having such a hard time atm. Hope both girls are better soon. Don't know much about benefits I'm afraid but looks like you're getting advice from people who know on the other thread - hope all goes well with the visit.

FT - no, not picked up the prints yet - hopefully will get down there this week sometime. lol at Alex walking into windows at the Chinese.

Anya was out in the back garden today and we had the side gate open so she walked down the side of the house to the front - it's the first time she's done that and she didn't half look shocked to find herself by the porch in front of the car - she'd obviously not worked out how the different spaces all fitted together. She stood there looking completely astonished and then started shouting at the car at the top of her voice . (She's been in a very shouty mood today.)

Not got time for a proper post as need to go and get boys up but wanted to send a big hug Needcoffee - sounds like you're having a crap time. Hope all improves soon. Sure the benefits thing is nothing to worry about but I can see why you were. Fingers crossed all settled soon so that you cn relax.

Hello to everyone else as always and hope you're all having lovely mummies days! We haven't done anything desperately exciting but its been a lovely chilled out day. And weather yesterday was gorgeous - we went to the beach and it was warm enough for both boys to take shoes socks and trousers off and have lots of fun running about in the sand! North east in MARCH!!!!

Be back later hopefully....

happy mothers day everyone!!!!!!!

Hi Ladies

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY ALL OF YOU XXXX

Hello ladies, just a quickie from me at the moment. Will catch up properly soon, I just don't have the patience to type loads at the moment. I have only managed 7 hours sleep over the past two nights and my eyes are killing me, just wanted to wish you all a Happy Mothers Day.

Went to a fancy dress party last night, it was fab, will post a picture soon

Happy Mothers Day to all you fab Oct 07 mummies xxx