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.

try try and try again. And if it ain't working yet, try not to get tooo stressed.

opps- didn't ACTULLY grow the spagetti or the salmon.

Have just had a lovely day with boy. swimming lesson, then a walk, found 4 Geo caches, toast in a cafe, trip to bakers for doughnuts, bus home, eat dougnuts, then play in garden till tea time. Boy very happy with tent , flag and train track, me happy with book. I think I will miss him when he goes to school.

Aww that sounds lovely Uni
We had success!!! a dry night
Settling day wasn't so good on the way in at school, headmistress carted my wailing dd2 away from me, whilst I ran for it but she was fine when I picked her up 1.5 hrs later! although she's still not admitting to liking it.....I think she'll be fine, she's just hankering to do her usual Wed thing, of going swimming herself, which she's sadly missed for the last two weeks (due to school!)

Afternoon ladies,

Just back form cycling an errand with Tilly on the tag along - dripping sweat as it's so humid!! Gave blood earlier so think I need to lie down witha mug of tea.

Uni, what sort is your tandem and how often do they come up second hand? I think I want one!

It sounds like you will miss that boy when he starts school Uni...I on the other hand can't wait for full days.

Friz, I'm sure DD2 will be fine! Kiah has her visit next week, DP will go with her as I am in London again.I'm assuming she'll be OK as it's only to the adjoined classroom in the unit. You never know though....

Tilly all teary as she had assembly today and didn't want to do it. She has 4 days off now though as Mon is inset and Tues is the sale of my Dad's dairy herd. End of an era.

DP busy laying last bits of deck which arrived unannounced on the drive yesterday from rubbish internet company who we have been in dispute with for over a month! Coincidentally we did get credit card frauded on Weds night so DP has his suspicions....

Our Tandem is a Thorn. nice make. Tandems do crop up second hand but are seldom cheap. As they cost an arm and a leg new, so hold their re-sale value quite well.

Some days I will miss boy like i miss banging my head against a wall, those are the days he winds me up and annoyed me intensely. other days hes quite pleasant company. Still, he doesn;t go till Jan, and I'm sure he will find ways to fit a days worth of wind up into teh hours around school.

In laws on teh way. They are stuck in traffic because they ignored DHs sugestion of an alternative route to avoid an incident he saw happen on his way home from work.

Uni, oopse is that a good or bad thing?

LL grrrrrr at cc fraud, not what you need, damn random company at least u got the decking tho.....
for sale of dairy heard, is it because of retirement, or just lack of funds?

I know what you mean about kids starting school! dd2 is finishing nursery same time as dd1 finishes school, so I could well be bonkers by end of 6 weeks holiday! (some of which they'll both be at work with me! )

Uni, I noticed how expensive they are those tandems! Other thing is they would need to go on car roof and not rack at back so more expense...maybe just a dream!

In-laws arrived yet??

Kids eh? Why can't they be pleasant all the time ??? I totally agree that sometimes they are good company but most of the time mine just argue.

Friz, like you i have the whole summer with them so intend to only work remotely and be off camping/at sisters when possible. We'll see if I can manage it.

Sale - my parents are retiring in March 2011 which is a good thing (Dad is 65 next Friday)but the herd going is a sad point. They'll have to buy milk next week for the first time ever .I'm worried that when they don't have to milk every day they'll be here all the time. They're always popping over to use the internet as they won't get a PC!!

LL my parents have a computer, but it's an old one that I gave them, they've never attempted to link it to broadband (or even old dial up come to think of it!)

LL sorry to hear about the herd - how are your parents adjusting?

My parents are duds with the computer too. DH is a wizz and my dad calls DH at least weekly for an hour long consult on whats gone wrong with his laptop!

We're still freezing - had a few sub 5 degree nights which is pretty nippy here. We bought a heater yesterday! The weather during the day is actually lovely though - crisp and sunny. We went to the park with freidns the other day and friends boy of 6 rides his bike quite well. My kids FINALLY really took off on theirs, because they wanted to keep up with their mate. They ended up riding about a km, just needeing help getting started, which is a big break through! Lots of riding practice planned these holidays to cement the new skills.

Winter mid year holidays now - 2 weeks off kindy and DD says its 2 weeks off home school too. I trieed to argue that as we only really do days a week of home school we don't get holidays, but she's having none of it!

Oh well happy holidays then Astro even if you weren't quite expecting them! you can't argue with them sometimes eh?

Hope the heater wasn't too expensive and the weather sorts itself out and starts heating up for you again soon, it was a lovely balmy 24 here today and it's not very often we can say that eh (yay a proper summer so far this year!)

news of teh day but very quiet, so I'll whisper.... dh had the all clear, I can get shot of a coil.

BIg news of teh day- we had a housewarming/ birthday tea party today, was lovely, lots of friends came and between them supplied us with much booze, plants and cake. Bliss.

DH unfortuntaly has cold brewing and is feeling rubbish, ho hum. I'll drag him off to bed early another night.

Uni that's fab news! on both counts!
Hope dh's cold isn't too bad and he's feeling upto celebrating properly soon.

Had lovely 4th July BBQ round at Meridians here lots of great home cooking. Kids have had a lovely weekend at seaside with grandparents, and got to visit Great Auntie/Uncle who have moved out that way too! good stuff all round I got to sleep until 10am with no interuptions this morning, how marvelous is that

I hope so too friz. We were rather worried, its been 6 months since his op, 1st test was clear, but 2nd wasn;t, and originally they had said 2 consecutive clear were needed, BUT his 3rd test was tested differently, involved sample being delivered in person on particular day and time to a hospital rather than to GP surgery for courier service. and now we have finally ( long ish wait) had consultants letter. I was fearing that he may have healed too well like your Dh.. he was not keen on the idea of doing it again.

Uni, your post made me laugh..'dragging him off to bed for an early night' sounded a bit celebratory!! House warming sounds great.

Friz at you staying in bed til 10am!!

Astro, just enjoy the hols and count bike riding as a vital new educational area! It took Tilly a bit of time to learn how to get herself started without us holding the seat but a week in France did it.

Big news here is that we are proposing to close down the playgroup at the AGM later. There are just too many factors against reopening in Sept, not least the fact that we have hardly any kids signed up. Obviously us committee members are not very popular but I think it just had to be done really. This way we can still pay redundancies out of our remaining cash reserves and pay fo some staff support during closure over the next few weeks.

My life will be so much less stressful without Panda playgroup I have to admit! I've been really ratty this weekend as tired out by it all. I walked 15 miles of the Pennine Way with my Dad on Saturday as he did 65 miles for his 65th birthday! Tilly did 4 miles with too which I was very impressed by. Achey today. Should go for a run later really.

Dad struggling with time on his hands! He's looking to get a road bike so I took him to Tesco for a magazine - the first time he'd been in Tesco!!!. Uni....any recommendations on road bikes??

erm road bikes? what sort of road bike, something sporty and fast or something to trundle about on comfortably?
Either way, its worth paying a little more to get something light, try before you buy, smooth tyres not knobby. There is such a varity out there, do try and get him to try a selection.

Uni - I think he is thinking sporty and thin tyres. he was quite a cyclist in his youth and often regales us with his cycle ride to Norfolk with only a tin of rice pudding to keep him going.

DP says Dad was engrossed in his magazine yesterday and is liking the look of Chris Boardman's carbon frames. he needs to go and try some next...

Am knackered after a night in London. Dance at Sadlers Wells was a bit disappointing as the company were much more exciting when I've seen them in the past. Night at the YHA was interupted by 2 very noisy women sharing my dorm....one seems to have all her stuff kept in crisp bags!!!

DP has just ordered a snazzy smartphone following extensive research (he dropped his Blackberry in the pond playing on the trapeze in the garden!)....I am going to get one too and move into the modern times. It's only a coule of £ extra per month to what i pay now for crappy SIM only.I still struggle with texting tho so how will I cope with email?.

I've not looked at smartphones? will go check em out! I don't know about you being of my lie in, you've just gone to London for a night out I'm guessing it was coupled with work? right? which YHA did you use? any good?
at your dad picking up a new road bike, my dad nicked my mountain bike a few years ago, he uses it to cycle to fishing and back (had rigged it to carry his box) luckily I've been given another one by a friend whose not using her's at the moment (as I can now use a bike again, with the girls getting bigger [smile)

Huge relief then Uni

Nothing much happening here, just work and more work!

I know it is bad taste to complain about work, especially when I feel responsible for 6 redundancies this week, but aaagggghhhh!!! When will my 'to do' list end?? Like you Friz it's work, work, work at the mo.

Yes, worked a day in London to justify train ticket and bed! Stayed at St Pancras YHA. Was OK but no kitchen and had top bunk...good job I didn't need a wee in the night! TBH I have decided I am def a hotel girl whilst in a UK city - we're going to London as a family (yes, I'm working!) in late Aug and will get a hotel deal as good as a night in the YHA.

My Dad does have DPs old bike but it's not fast enough it seems.

Big offers on at Go Outdoors at the mo if you want a look....we got Hedgehog shoes for £50 today....

Phones...this is what we are getting securesite.mobiles.co.uk/Cart.aspx and you can aatch it in action with the lovely Flora here reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39030108,49305369-1,00.htm. How exciting eh??

happy weekends one and all - we are off to friends farm for the weekend, back Tuesday Have packed a HUGE case full of all our waterproofs and wellies as its going to be v cold out there...maybe snow!? x

Sounds great astro - enjoy the cold...boiling here!

A friend called round earlier to get a bank mandate signed (still trying to escape Tots committee)...she walked dog poo all through the house. Who would leave a pile of shit right in front of someone's gate - disgusting. Have had to scrub may way from front to back, and wash down the drive and pavement..

for you LL, that's so annoying, horrible and disgusting, your poor friend must have been mortified. We get quite a bit of that problem on the street next to ours, very few houses overlook it, so I spend the whole time shouting 'look out for dog poo' at the kids whenever we have to walk up it (caught the next door but two neighbour not picking up after his dog up there too, gave him a piece of my mind but surely a grown adult should know their responsibilities and the dangers, eh?)

Guess you don't much recommend the YHA there then! one of the YHA's in San Fran doesn't have a kitchen either (from what I remember), but they do provide you with coffee and breakfast! 'croissant'

Astro, have a lovley weekend tis sooo hot here today! but for you possibly having snow, very unusual for you guys eh?

morning all. urrgh at dod shit incident. we had a chorus of "mind the sheep poo" as we walked preschool kids to BIG school yesterday. , it wasn't really a problem as we were going to picnic on the school field, but kids did all try and avoid it.

Minor giggle- the school field has some pot holes, they were caused by some cows breaking in during the winter!.

Minor niggle. Boy starting copying some of teh other kids and shouting in very fierce tone " I want you to be dead" at other children. Oh dear. I had a chat with him , about not saying nasty things to your friends and that is nasty thing etc. he thought about it and on way home
asked if it was OK to say " what you said I must not say " to children he doesn't like. Ho hUm, I'll keep trying to civilise him.

Had a nice days holiday today- a staycation. DH had day off work and we drove to Leisure centre with ice rink and fun pool about an hour away. enjoyed both activities and a picnic, then fish n chips for tea at home.

Oooh that sounds like a nice day uni

Sheep poo watch made me laugh, far more rural than us how I wish we were looking out for sheep poo!

Work, work and work here, nothing fun to report at the moment, though we did have a good storm earlier, it rained so hard for the first five minutes I couldn't see the store over the road!

sounds a lovely hoiliday Uni . We have similar problems with ours and other kids - trying to convince them not to say things like "My Mummy says that you are not saying nice words" loudly, and in front of other child's parents...

sorry but LOL at other YHA guests keeping all their stuff in crisp packets LL Yuck re the dog poo, some people are so antisocial hey. Hope your floors are all sparkly again now.

Friz, how is the shop going?

Well we had a nice time at the farm but it wasn't very cold afterall! Certainly no snow, and apparently where we were is too low really for snow, even when freezing. We had one gorgeous days and three damp ones, but had some nice walks and kids enjoyed seeing the cattle and horses and hens and all the farm machinery including tractors with wheels almost twice DS height, with which he was EXTREMELY impressed!

Kids were fab in the car (lots of fast food stops though - yuck!) but I think we will try to find a closer farm to visit next time - took us more than 7 hours each way. Now we need to wash the car which is totally brown (though kids are enjoying drawing in the dust!) and clean the mud caked wellies!

Last few days of holidays here - off to picnic in the park today, and kids are baking tomorrow and then opening their own 'cafe' on Saturday because they want to be waiters when they grow up . I have invited lots of people to come to the cafe but none have RSPVd ...I really hope some do, or DC will be devespated!

Shame about the snow Astro and at 7 hours each way! that's Scotland from here

at dust drawings on the car, every surface is a canvas when you're young eh?

I hope you get some takers for your cafe, sounds like a lovely idea, we may nick it in summer mind you Meri's son has been operating his own smoothie store lately, he did the signs, but is employing his mum for the hard work

Stores as doing ok thanks despite me having to close one the other day, as have people on hols and our beloved rust bucket broke down with me driving it on the way to work not an ideal situation at all.....
particularly as the garage couldn't find the fault on it the next day, as it fixed itself over night..they saw it was broken when the recovery lorry dropped me off, but by morning, the onboard computer thing, said no record of any ishoos on it when they ran a diagnostic.....ARGH! and it's been working ok again for the last two days.....I'm driving a time bomb......

Well I see it's not just me who's not been MNing!!

The school hols are upon us - hectic last week of term after a lovely weekend at Latitude (bar T's massive 'you love K more than me' meltdown during Flo and The Machine!!). Fab sunny weather and we camped with a lovely bunch of Londoners via a family we met at the festival 3 years ago.

Highlights were dancing madly to Vampire Weekend much to the amusement of the crowd whilst the girls slept in the bike buggy and watching a whole play in the woods on my own for 3/4 hour. Lowlights were managing a mooncup/heavy period at a festival and the tantrums!

So...Panda playgroup officially closed on Friday...went with more of a fizzle than a bang. We had a nice farewell party yesterday though - I organised flowers and chocs for staff and committee and the mayor came to do presentations. It amused me that we committee had to do our own presents but I would've been very suprised to get anything from the staff! Did an hour of sorting today...there is a lot more to do before we have a yard sale in a couple of weeks.

I've had a lot of stress lately which has brought my fibromyalgia back and also Contochondria in my chest. Can't run so am going a bit mad. Got some drugs today from the docs and hoping that a course of these combined with a holiday may do the trick. They make me a bit zombied though so watch out for even more moronic postings!

That's all from me..updates please ladies.

Back to the meal I am midway through cooking - from a recipe book!!