March 06 *#* all around the world

[UniS]

sorry couldn;t think of a funny title. but here goes.

Anyone with Dcs born March 06 welcome to come on in and introduce yourselves.

Can I come for pizza too? Had a brilliant day on the village sledging hill, must have been 30 ish kids plus assorted parents and friends of parents.

We made a sledge this morning from bits and bobs of scrap, so had 2 to play with. A lightweight plastic job for the boy and a heavy fast wooden one for DH and I. As the big one won compliments from a blacksmith AND the nearly teenage lads who tried it, I'm happy.

sympathy for your lack of Dh and car woes LL. heres hoping he gets home before teh next dump of snow on Tuesday.

Uni, your sledging sounds fun - I love sledging (just wish the girls did too!). Like the sound of you homemade one - our neighbour has a giant one made out of a bath on skis!!

DP has bought a car today off my sister's neighbour and is driving home with sis and the wee boys tomorrow - wahay!!!

I've cancelled a work meeting again as snow and sleet forecast but not much happening out there yet...quite a few flurries I suppose.

My digibox has lost nearly all its channels, am watching BBC 4 prog about ancient libraries in Timbuctoo - very interesting actually.

ll I am still laughing at your being surprised by my RL name... If it is any consolation, I don't really like my first name and sometimes don't acknowledge when I am being addressed. (It is not a horrible name but I don't know what my parents were thinking.)

Only now that there are four other people in our household that might answer to sweetheart or some other term of endearment, does dh dare to call me by my name. It always makes me cringe and gets my back up.

Great news about the car and in-coming visitors!

We have also been out enjoying the snow on the sledge runs. We had a fabulous afternoon in the mountains yesterday with friends of the ds's but I am paying the price today as the house is a tip and I am expecting a potential replacement tenant round at 7 pm.

Dh is supposed to be in Phnom Penh on February 16 and I am dreading having to stay behind to finish off the loose ends in Geneva. I would not enjoy the long flights on my own with four dcs and a bump. Why oh why do we always leave things 'til the last minute?

Have you decided on Cambodia then Caddy? I really don't know how you manage at home on your own, never mind on a long haul flight!! I have found that I have been more organised this last week and also played with the kids more but have really missed adult conversation and have developed a late night MN habit! I've also not slept very well until about 2am but I think this is directly related to the MNing.

I am fine with your name, in fact was just texting my friend of the same name. She is a district nurse and has been and redressed my friend's mum's leg wound. I was looking in on Gran and keeping her supplied in bread and veg whilst friend is in Tenerife but felt that dressings were a little beyond the call of duty.

I met the bulldozer crew earlier and they have promised to 'come and look at our road'...would be better if they bloody cleared it and then DP could actually park the Grandad-mobile when he gets home.

I think sis will stay at my parents but may tempt her over for a curry night or two...would be a bit hectic with us all here. Bad enough with the four of us!

Oops! I keep forgetting that I lost the post where I confirmed that we have chosen Cambodia over NYC. I think that dh has likely made an immense sacrifice career wise but that it will be better for all of us in the long run.

I am not really prepared to be a single mother to five in the Big Apple while he works insane hours again. I also could not cope with the possibility of having another baby there either. How pathetic does that sound? I have yet to come to terms with the entire experience. I need to repeat the mantra: Healthy baby + healthy mother = perfect outcome.

I was slightly shocked to find that when I sought advice from other Ex-pats about having a baby in Phnom Penh that 8 out of 9 respondents told me to go to Bangkok, Thailand for the delivery. Assuming this baby is full term, this would mean a minimum of 8 weeks there in order to fly before the 36 week cut off and then wait for the Canadian Passport on the other side before flying back. Yikes! Doesn't bear thinking. I will try and speak to the one mum who did deliver their daughter there 2 years ago. Thankfully, she seemed happy to answer any questions that I may have.

Far out Caddy, I can feel the panic rising as I think of moving in a few weeks and starting DS at kindy and HEing DD...and that pales in comparison to what you are about to do. You are amazing! Great you have made a decision re your move...must be better than being undecided yes? Even though now its all systems go on the planning and packing? Whats this about your name?? Hope you can find a solution to the baby delivery problem.

LL, great DP and car are on their way soon, and lovely to have dsis around for a bit to eh? Curry nights in the snow sound perfect

Uni sledding sounds brilliant! Hows the boy? Any less grouchy? Mine is a bit of a grump too atm, and also a lot more agressive suddenly (not mean, but just seemingly unable to control self - craching and climbing and pushing). I do remember reading that boys have a testosterone surge around 4 years, so maybe that accounts for some of the behaviour?

Stinking hot and horribly humid here at the mo. DD generally sleeping a little better (3 or 4 hours at night) but had a shocker last night and DH had a tanty too and slept on the couch while she cried and fussed...its just too hot. Send me a bucket of snow!

Still holidays here, so nothing much on in terms of activities. Not applying for any of the houses we looked at on Sat. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. None were ideal, but maybe nothing better wil come up? Hard to know, but we'll give it another week anyway.

Aha Astro, are you on your summer hols over there then? Seems so alien to us here. Keep looking for the perfect house and don't get down hearted....reckon you and Caddy should start a 'Supermums thread' that us mere mortals could look at and thank our lucky stars.

Re Caddy's name: when I found her on Facebook I was suprised at her RL name that's all! It is a perfectly normal name I must add!

Well DP and sis and boys arrived safe and well and after settling sis in at the farm I drove our car home....automatics are weird. As the bulldozer had cleared our road I drove down and got stuck on black ice. One good thing about it being auto is that it can kind of creep along so got back to the top of the road - phew.

I tell you, being apart does wonders for the libido!! No wonder you have so many kids Caddy.

at you LL, enjoying dh being back then So new automatic car then, well at least it works! good to hear your road has been cleared, I nearly got stuck on ours earlier, but luckily rolling backwards, got me going forwards again

Caddy, Cambodia then If it helps I have a mate whose recently (8mths ago or so) given birth in Bangkok, she lives out there, so if you want someone to meet with and chat about it, she's there too (teaches at Harrow International school and AUA) Mind you I wasn't too impressed with her birth out there, strapped down for most of labour, then they had 3 nurses jumping up and down on her tummy pushing the baby out she was rather brusied afterwards, not to mention torn Then they took baby away for 3 days to nursery, allowing him back for feeds only whilst she got tummy flattening lessons and parenting lessons Oh how things are done differently around the world eh!

Astro, I'm sure the right house will turn up soon, its not fun whilst you're looking though, especially in the heat you guys have going on at the moment, whew.

Uni, guessing you had lots more snow overnight too, sledging today? some of the drifts I've seen on the news down your way are a tad on the large size....

Ice day here, (school on a hill) which has turned into a snow day as its gone on. took dd2 to swimming earlier, only one in lesson!

wow, you guys all snowed in and schools closed...never happened when we were there, it's pretty unusual huh? I often hear people say it used to snow more when they were young, what do you guys think? Friz, I love when yours is only kid in swimming lesson - feel like I am getting such good value!

Yes, summer hols here. Not even sure when DS kindy term starts as they wrote a very strange date on the form which I don't think could be right. No ballet, no classes, it's that funny kind of limbo time when most people are back from their holidays but school term hasn't started. It usuallu starts around end jan/beginning feb.

LL, went and found Caddy on FB too now was searching the thread trying to see what I had missed re. her name! I love autos! Very common to drive autos here, not so much in England as I recall, although we had 2! Wonder why thats the case? Glad you have wheels again now.

so now I should go and find Caddy too! lurking as dh still not quite home yet..I wanna go to bed! but I need him to warm my feet on

Astro, snow very unusual hasn't snowed like this since 1980's I'm enjoying it though, particularly the weather man tonight, trying to say its warming up over next two days, thaw etc, then he quickly skimmed over what's looking likely on saturday, which is mega wind up westernside of uk, with cold on east = blizzards in middle......or maybe I'm just reading too much into that

No more snow!!! Do not send me any Friz!

You're right Astro, we haven't had prolonged snow like this for years. The Snake Pass, Woodhead and all roads over the moors here are still closed. Luckily I don't have to get into Yorshire for work at the mo or would be a long way round.

Friz, did you find Caddy on FB? Are you rolling around on the floor laughing at her name?

Took car on m'way today....getting used to the dodgem car-ness of an auto. Feels much faster than my Ford Focus as is noisier and very low profile....has curbed my speeding habit somewhat so prob a good thing eh?

Caddy, you found anyone who has given birth in Cambodia yet? I will try and drop in on cousin tomorrow and ask her opinion....I'm sure cambodian women must give birth! Maybe you could employ her as a nanny and then she can get back out there.

Uni, are you stuck in a snowdrift??? Do you think we should send a serach party out looking for a unicycle upended in a drift??

LL you must stop laughing at my name. I am going to develop a complex!

I will obviously need your help in naming db5. I am petrified to even consider one that might make her/his future online friends laugh.

I did manage to hear from one person who had her baby in Phnom Penh. She is an Ex-pat married to a local. Thankfully, she is willing to chat with me about the experience once we are settled there. I am really thinking that unless the placenta does not move which will leave me in a situation where I require a C-Section that I am brave enough to try and stay in Cambodia. It seems like an awful production to get to Bangkok before the 36 week airline cut-off time and then have to wait for all of the paper-work to be sorted out with the Canadian Embassy before we can head back 'home'. That sounds like the kind of drama that I could do without.

Friz Please don't think that I am making light of your friend's experience in Bangkok when I say that my labour and delivery with Charlie was almost as charming without the nurses pushing on my bump. That can be replaced by how grotty the hospital was and the lack of hot water on the deliver and recovery floor. It was only my hysterical production that led to baby being brought to me for a feed 5 1/2 hours after her delivery. No need to worry though as they had already given her a pacifier and a bottle or two...

Astro: Just when I thought that Australia was on the books for this year, I discovered that a flight your way is 13 hours from Phnom Penh. That makes it further than from here to the West Coast of Canada...

Uni Are you out there? Do you need mountain rescue sent in? Was there pre-school this week or just more boundary testing?

Oh cripes Caddy I'd forgotten how bad your USA delivery was you know if you take the bus to thailand, the baby will be bounced out after the 1st half hour seriously though, I'm sure you must be able to give birth ok somewhere in Cambodia, good that you've found someone willing to talk to you about it too, whose experienced it 1st hand

LL, well its rain with a bit of sleet mixed in here this am, so it may clear your roads a bit? go on, you have to tell us what type of car you have now

Uni, where are you???

Astro, any more houses to view this weekend? how's the heatwave?

Off to blt class this am to try and shift the xmas (and autumn) weight sounds nicer class than it is! then dd1 has a ballet thing this evening to get her certificates, so one mad rush of a day, with dh fitting in collecting ss too! am exhausted just thinking about it..

I'm here. sorry. RL geting way, not much MN time. Had a friend from up north drop by yesterday as they were on way back from a meeting in cornwall. Always nice to see people like that unexpectedly, havn;t seen them since June, tho we talk on phone a bit and e-mail.

Have spent part of this evening playing a card game with DH ! unusual but quite fun. practising for when we see the rest of his family... I thought we could play said game with standard playing cards rather than the special deck his sister has, and indeed you can.
Friz- Do you have a set of cards for the game "Falling" in your shop? its a long shot as seems to be out of print . I can get the "goblin edition, Falling" from USA but the pictures are bit brutal compared to old edition.

DO you think 3/ 4 yr olds get growing pains? Boy went all weary on us late afternoon and complained his legs hurt and didn;t work ( tho they did work just fine when he wanted something from across room. The other night he woke in early hours complaining his legs hurt. wonder if hes growing again. he looks longer legged every time he has a bath.

We had a lot o snow but its nearly all gone now. the moor went from white to brown and green in about 4 hours.
here is a pic of teh sledge we built. its not me on board tho. Lots of people tried it out. this one has me in. I'm in red. DH in blue. Husband of the lady on our sledge in the middle.

humm, lets try that again, with links.
here

this one

Hello all!

Quick post to say that I think I have posted a photo on my profile of dh with the 'Big Guy' in Copenhagen. Thankfully, I was able to set privacy settings so that it is only visible to you lot. It is an especially unflattering picture of both of them. I suppose that 18 sleepless nights and harried days can have this effect on people.

Let me know if it doesn't work and I will try something different. Enjoy your Sunday. My big three are skiing in the Alps and Char and I are headed to the local skating rink.

Pics!! Caddy - what a toothy grin from the man himself!!! Uni, love the one of you all watching the sledging. Would've been better if Gordon Brown had been with you of course...

Caddy - but I have NEVER laughed at you name!!! That's my point - I think it's a very normal and lovely monicker. Went for a short run with my 'friend of same name' this morning...just over 2 miles of dodging ice and the vast amounts of dog poo that the melt has revealed. Yuck.

Friz, what's a BLT class - do you eat sandwiches???. Sound good...is their a veggie alternative??

Car is a Honda Aerodeck with leather seats and a mahogany trim!!

Caddy...my cousin says that the hospital in Bangkok were opening an International hospital but in Siem Riep...would this be any good? She said she'll see if she can find any first hand reports...

Growing pains...Kiah gets them alot. I looked it up and doesn't mean they are growing, just tired legs so usually after a mad day of running about a lot. Calpol and cuddles is the cure.

We went geocaching yesterday (what dweebs!!) and found our first cache. Couldn't find next 2 but having read the logs I see I must reverse the clues....will trek back up at weekend...I will not be defeated!!

Uni great sledgeing pics and great sledge, Oh how I wish I was handy enough to make things like that! We don't have that game in stock, but I will check with distributors tomorrow just in case its available, then I can let you know if it is still possible to get it at all
dd1 get growing pains here, mainly in her feet and legs and she does go up a size in things shortly afterwards.

Caddy fab pic with el presidente too Did you have fun skating?

LL, BLT is sadly not eating them, its bums, legs n tums and I couldn't get down to the dvd player without considerable difficulty on Sunday, so it must be working
I've put on a stone since last summer, so have some severe weight loss/exercise to get on with
I'm going to have to look your new car up now! sounds wooshy though

dd2 is very excited, she's just gotten her 1st proper birthday party invite, from two of her 'boy' friends and its at her favourite soft play (not mine, cause the coffee is crap) so she's bounce central! I'm sure she's grown too....

another Geo cache hunter here. in a very minor way. We treasure hunt on our dartmoor explorations. Boy is rather keen on finding treasure boxes. Couldn't find the micro cache we may have been standing on top of on Sunday, but did find a letterbox we weren't looking for and refound a mini cache we have visited before. I'm just about to write check and send off for the dartmoor letterbox clue sheets, as there seem to be a lot in our area.

Ned to buy a new dartmoor map some time as ours is geting holey. BUt the shops selling maps in nearby town don;t take booktokens and DH has booktokens to spend. so will go shopping in city later in week.

Thank you for asking about Falling, friz. Appriciate that.

Hi Uni, we can get it! (Goblin Edition) I've ordered a copy for the store, which you can have if you want?! its £7.99 and I reckon about £1.50 P&P, let me know. I'll email you as well

great to see photos uni and caddy!

Whats geocache??? letterbox treasure hunts??? Read through a few times and can't make head nor tail...

made an lower offer on a house to rent. it is the one which is a great location (near friends, near lovely park, cycle way and kindergarten and shops and potential school for DD1 in 2011) but a real dump.

The agent said basicly -don't bother applying if we are making a lower offer, because somone else had made the full amount...but then rang us to say other party had pulled out, so were we still interested? And I said yes, but drop the price by $20 a week... Should find out today.

DD2 is such a grump. Teeth? She is 'talking' lots - "ga, ga, ga, ba, LA LA!" that sort of thing, which is beautiful. Sleeping so badly. Started solids yesterday - pear and rice. She seemed to be going ok then gagged on thwe spoon and threw it all up! better luck today!

Off to ikea...If you don't hear from me by Friday I am either lost inside, or DH has killed me for spening too much

IKea! eek. have you taken some string so you can a: find way out and b: tie up people that get in your way.

Letterboxing- scattered across dartmoor are a bunch of hidden boxes. each of which contains a rubber stamp which you can take and impression of to prove you found said box. Clues to allow you to find said boxes are often cryptic and rely on a bit of knowledge and or compass skill. Clues may be bought or passed on by word of mouth.

Geo Cacheing

• much the same thing but world wide and using GPS to take you to right location, then you have to hunt again as the cache will be hiden to protect it from theft. GC seldom have rubber stamps, generally have a vistors book and may contain small objects of desire to swap for small object of desire that you( the finder) place in teh cache.

Both GCs and LBs are owned by the person who placed them and set the clues . GCs are logged at an internet site, Letter boxes are logged by someone working from home .

Does that help, or are you even more lost now? Google may help.

I've tried something new tonight. It was cold and draughty and I'm going to ache tomorrow. Will take a long time to learn to a standard acceptable to join the team. Any one want to guess what I got up to?

uni cycle chess whilst lifting weights? In a draughty old barn? Thats my best guess.

letterbox and geocache sound fun! will google to find out more

escaped from ikea only $30 poorer! coathangers, pic frames, beach bag, plus of course hot dogs and icecreams. My friend emerged about $600 poorer!

Bellringing. Our church ringers are a bit short on numbers and recruiting beginners ... so I'm giving it a go. Supposed to be a good work out.

Ooh a campanologist is our midst!! I know a couple my self....strapping women.

Just had a most pleasurable evening at the thai restuarant with my lady friends...book club at ours was last night so that's 2 nights with wine on the trot!! Unheard of these days.

Could really do with the girls having a lie in tomorrow but bet they're up super early. DP took them to Ikea for creche, pasta and ice cream - cheap dates.