June 08- the shoes, the food, the glamour!

[pureeandpearls]

Struggling to load pages these days and saw we were over the 900 so took the liberty of starting a new thread.

I have those, ktpie (but mine aren't quite as jazzy as that!) They were a big hit here - Iestyn still plays with them sometimes.

BDQ a pass rate that low (or a failure rate that high) is suspicious to me. Questionable teaching and admin on the course? Questionable course content? I'd lose my job if 50% of my students failed an exam set by me. Does the examiner run the course? If so, contact him. If not, contact the person who does, and ask why the pass rate is so low. That should be flagged up in an audit at the very least.

Essie it's a nationally set exam by a professional body. The course provider is a seperate organisation. Unfortunately the course content is massive, so it's really hard to know every aspect of it really well . I'm actually resitting the exam (having failed it when 8 1/2 months pregnant) and have just found out that a new textbook was published late last year. HAve mortgaged the house to get it sent to me tomorrow express delivery . Of course it has loads of new chapters on a subject the chief examiner has said will feature prominantly. Fck fck f*ck, why do I leave everything to the last minute. completely agree with you though btw - I think the examiner should be replaced! He strikes fear in the heart of everyone!

You may not see me for a while...

BDQ, sorry to hear exam stress is looming - I'm still in awe of you being able to study at all. I struggle to string a sentence together about changing a nappy, let alone write an academic piece .

Neenz, stacking cups strictly for the bath in this house - and he loves them! Think we could throw away all the other bath toys tbh and he would just be content to play with those!

ktpie, no those are much fancier than mine - they really aren't that exciting honest, it was just a joke between PP, Spider and me!!

just quickly Essie, remember you don't need to be the expert in the field, you just need to know more than the students, and if they're undergrads that's not going to be hard.

sorry that sounds wrong, not a slight on undergrads in general! just that with a PhD and research background in a different but related area, you can't help but have picked up more than people completely new to the field.

and good luck bdq, and deb hope you're ok, and ktpie reins good idea, buggy useful too - I was all about the babywearing till I was pg 2nd time round, have been very pro-buggy since then - in the later months I used to cling to the buggy to keep going!

must pick up kids, bye everyone else

LOL at stacking cups chat. It was simply that I couldn't find any anywhere at the time (M&S, argos, ELC, Ikea) I seemed to be jinxed. We have some now and Ry still plays with them, he loves putting lids on things too. Thank you for remembering Spider!

KTPie - we've been using this for a while now, highly recommend it! Means they can carry their own milk and snacks too! Mama Bebe stock it if you don't want to wait for amazon delivery.

PP I have been thinking about that rucksack reins combo. Yesterday P managed to roll off a footpath and into a ditch. It was dry though, and quite funny. No tears.

P loves his stacking cups. Probably one of his favourite toys both in and out of the bath.

BDQ sorry about the exam stress. Hang in there. I am in awe of you studying anything.

Deb - how are you feeling?

Essie I was going to say what Systems said about the teaching. If no-one else in the dept can teach it, then no-one is in a position to know better than you. Hope that is comforting rather than worrying.

DH came home the other night saying that he has been contacted by a headhunter for a role in Hertfordshire. I think he is really keen on the role, but neither of us would particularly want to move there. Also the role would be a bit insecure as the company is going through a merger. He needs a change though as he is getting miserable where he is.

These 4.30 starts are beginning to get to me. Feeling a bit miserable this afternoon, and I think it is purely down to a lack of sleep. Must, must, must get to bed early tonight.

Feeling OK thanks here but Nigel still feverish and in bed, good job that mil is here to sort out the boys!

Sorry to hear about job woes, early starts etc... sending hugs to all those who need one.

Thanks all for the encouragement. Just waiting for DH to put S to bed and back to the books. Sorry for me, me, me rantyness!

Deb, sorry that Nigel is ill. You're only just over the cold aren't you? Fingers crossed you're all well soon.

Can't do a link on the iPod (well I could but too faffy) but I was also looking at some bush baby reins/bags the other day. Quite cute. JL also have a turtle shaped one - whinegums may have it I think, she was def looking at them a while ago!

abdn I got some togz on eBay! Just the waterproofs all in one, not the warm and dry. They look fab so if DH and I can force ourselves to play out with S in all weathers then I'd def get the warm and dry next year.

Stacking cups in the bath - what a great idea, I actually never thought of that. And they won't go green and mouldy like all the other bath toys . Will try that tomorrow!

Essie,k I agree with others that I am sure you can teach legal history with your eyes shut - you just put too much pressure on yourself... you don't have to be the best legal history lecturer that ever walked the earth... just adequate

BDQ, I don't envy you your exam - I used to hate studying, I think because no matter how much you do it never seems to be quite enough and you could always do more

Spider, tricky one with DH's job - how far is Herts from where you live now?

Neenz, the cups can go a bit skanky with limescale sometimes, but dh now always turns them upside down to drain to avoid all the water sitting in them. They have holes in the bottom and A loves filling the cups then holding them up to watch all the water drain out.

He also loves filling them up and throwing them at me but that's another story!

I soak S's bath toys in coke every now and again. Cleans them up a treat!

Am a bit giddy on hearing that Spooks is back next week

Ooh, will have to try that Coke trick.

We have an octopus toy in the bath which is basically a cup with holes in the bottom - they love seeing all the water come out like A does. Our stacking cups have holes in bottom which has also made me think they would be an excellent bath toy. I am beyond excited about tomorrow's bathtime now

Allnew is that thread in Style and Beauty especially for you??

Neenz - lol at you being so excited about bathtime!

another good thing for the bath - is one of these - ideal for putting things on and pouring pretend cups of tea etc, whereas when you do it on the side of the bath it goes everywhere.

the coke idea is a good one, will try that

bdq - good luck with the studying/exam. I haven't done at exame in over 10 years and I still have the odd nightmare about having an exam and not having done any study

essie - the zara one? Went in to buy a dress and was horrified that I could only fit in a large. Although now I feel better after all the lovely ladies on S&B agreeing with me. I also posted on AIBU yesterday about my colleague who insists on setting the department clock 5 mins fast because he has a problem keeping time (trivial I know, but I was bored!). It was set back to the proper time on Monday and he missed his train (hehe)

Thanks for reins tips, I have actually got some my Mum bought, just need to start using them.

I did wonder about the stacking cups why you hadn't just bought them online!

BDQ - sympathies on the exam, exams are something I don't miss!
Good tip about Togz on ebay too, and good news about Spooks.

Debs - we used to have one of those when we were little and it was great for playing in the bath.

Allnew - I barely ever go in Zara anymore, the sizing is really small and it's too depressing. Plus I was talking to a girl once who was a store manager for them and she said that their quality control is shocking, they get loads of stuff taken back because it is faulty (eg missing all the buttons!) and the sizes vary between items. So double check before you buy anything that it is put together properly/complete.
Your colleague sounds annoying.

Allnew no there was a thread (about Boden) called Allnew* !! (And your colleague...er, that's a bit stupid really and he needs to get a grip! )

Meant to say thanks to everyone for kind comments yesterday. My main problem is getting to the stage where I do know a bit more than the students - I'm starting from nowhere! I was also overwhelmed because I'm a bit overworked at the moment. It's all part of a longer story but I'm in talks with my Union now. Not because anything much can be done about the debacle of two years ago (with the jobs), but mainly so that my 'case' is kept 'open', as it were; I want people to remember the screwing about, because if a job comes up and I apply for it, I want A&H to be a bit scared of screwing me around again, IYKWIM!

Head down now...

Haha essie, I have only just see that thread. Yes it was specifically for me - can't believe I've now had a mn thread posted just for me!

I think it's telling that it's about Boden, Allnew!

yes - must start spending less