May09 - Christmas is on it's way and Grumpycaaa is comin' to town!!

[essenceofSES]

Hope that works!

Cocktail anyone?!

sniff sniff sniff Afternoon everyone, I am soooo ill and DD is too and has had to have the day off today

Edinburugh was fab, we got back yesterday night. I developed a "cold" type thing yesterday morning all of a sudden, which is now really bad, I can't stop sneezing, coughing, and blowing my nose, at least I'm keeping kleenex in business though eh!
It's my birthday on Thursday and I'm going to be ill, does anyone know any fast track way of getting better by then? I had a flu jab, so it can't be flu can it? I feel sooo crappy.

The hotel we stayed it was amazing, the Spa was fab fab fab, it had a roof top hydro pool which DP fell in love with we felt so good afterwards, and not being woken up by baby J in the night for two days, gave us like rest that we needed. A top chef worked in the hotel so we ate there for DP's birthday, and the food was incredible, so all in all, wicked weekend, loads of shopping done in Edinburugh, I'm just so glad this cold thing waited until now to come on, or it would of ruined DP's day...

J's tooth is poking through a bit more it's his top incisor (sp?) so it's giving him alot of pain and coming through verrry slowly.

Jael XX

flip your GP sounds sympathetic. I'm sure he was just trying to be helpful in his suggestions but you know what works for you. How long is the counsellors waiting list now?

jael what a fab weekend (rooftop hydro pool????!!!!!) but sorry you are now poorly. I swear by Lemsip when I feel full of cold.

looby as others have said, off load away. You are having a rough time of it, and a good old rant will help. I can't imagine how idifficult it must be to see your mum poorly, but your MIL has spoken words of wisdom.

momi how did the shopping go? I can't face it. SO far everything has been done on line but I haven't finished it yet.

running have you finished the cards yet? Lap wrist if you haven't!!

R seems better but during the day, he is fine anyway. Its when he lies down at night so have bought some good old fashionned Vics |Vapour rub to try tonight. He's currently chuckling away with his toys showing off his new trick of shaking his head.

Am out tonight on a nursery mums do. I think we will be going with the back up choice as the current one haven't properly got back to me yet except to say they are waiting for people on the March list to get back to them. March is no good so sadly it looks like we will have no choice but to change. Oh well.

Carpets are down. And they look fab. We've gone for stripes up the stairs. A bold choice!

Oh dear the chuckles are now cries. Better go...

Just popping back to apologise for my spelling of Edinburgh, blah I feel so poop

LadyH - when O was ill last week, it was the nights that made it worse. I used some vapour rub and also had an electric vaporiser plugged in most of the night and that definitely helped.

Jael - am very of your wkend away without DC! Hope you get a good night sleep and feel better tomorrow.

Jael of your weekend. I can't wait for a DC free night away. We might have to wait a year or more though until we have willing grandparents in the same country as us. Sorry you're struck down with the lurgy. I hope you will feel better soon.

Ses O sounds like he is doing really well. R is also sitting up this week and even sat up in the bath tonight which DD loved.

Flippin I totally understand your decision Re BFing. With all my health woes at the moment my mum suggested to try to drop some feeds and maybe wean him off me a bit to give my body a break but I love Bfing and couldn't be doing with the faff of FF (not that there is anything wrong with it, don't want to offend anyone). I have cut down feeds to 4 or 5 a day from about 8 but I want to go until 12 months so I can go straight onto cows milk at that point.

Evening all

Sending the healing wellness fairy over to all ill mners on here. Hope you get better soon.

ladyH I think stripey carpets on stairs will look very classy. What colour stripes are they?

flippin Sounds like you've got a nice GP. I completely understand what you mean about the bf/ff thing. Personally I think it wouldn't give me a break, because I'd constantly be worrying about making it up, timing of the making up process, etc... Personally I haven't set a goal re weaning of the boob. Like with the other 2 I'll let them be my guide. I set goals with ds, but kept moving them and in the end he self weaned at 19 months

looby It must be so hard to see your mum the way she is. I can imagine that dealing with dementia must be very trying, upsetting and hard. What sort of support will be put in place for your dad when your mum comes home? Will home be the right place for her?

llare I'm also wondering what google wave is

momi definitely attend a slingmeet. Also put a message on the board that you're looking for a buckle carrier or you might get there and find they've only got wraps on them (happened to me once, lol).

sitting C's also sitting well. I packed away the babynest now. It was taking up loads of space and she didn't seem to need it anymore.

Right now I've got that out of the way I'd like to have a little rant myself. I saw the GP today about the teachers' worries abotu dd1 and this pain I've got in my left foot and thumbs (unconnected I think). Anyway. Basically he said re dd1: watch and see, not worried (even her inward turned feet, which I think might need insoles) and about my feet: Hmm, don't know what could be causing that. I told him I thought I might need new insoles and could I have a referal, but he didn't listen and just gave me a card for a private sports physio and told me to see how I go (which I have for 6 months now) You know, if he doesn't know what could be causing the pain in my foot, why not refer me to someone who specialises in feet?! And for my thumbs he said to just take some neurofen, which I'm doing anyway. Why is it that half the time I go to see a GP I feel like it's been a waste of time? Especially the foot thing annoyed me, for both me and dd1. This is probably all an incoherent ramble, but I just had to get it of my chest

ladyh stair carpet sounds lovely

belgina at your GP

saw my mum this afternoon, she was very confused and angry again - can't believe they're happy to send her home like that spoke to the OT about my concerns but didn't get much joy

having a meeting with the social worker tomorrow so will find out more then

OK, this is pretty random. Did Dandylioness call her baby Dashiel in the end?

She commented on one of my baby name threads aaaaages ago (9 months or so ago) and said she liked my idea of Dashiel, but I was too chicken to commit to it (had a girl in the end, so all academic)... and she said she might use it for her DS due in May...but I now want to know... did her boy become little Dash???

Carry on.

looby - sorry to hear about your mum. You're going to need to push social services, the hospital, anyone who'll listen to make sure that your mum gets the support she needs. Is she being assessed to see if she is safe to go home? When I say safe, I mean all the stuff like being able to make herself a drink/food etc without hurting herself? A friend of mine has just been through this with her MIL, after quite a long fight and a lot of assessments the MIL is now in a home where she can be looked after properly.

belgian - how frustrating your visit to the GP sounds, what a great help. Can you go to see somebody else in the practice? Or just go back to the same one again and demand more help?

Thanks all for the reassurances about my GP etc. I'm feeling frustrated now - I know what the problem is, I just don't know how to fix it. Grrr. Anyone got any plates I can throw?!

Right, back onto happier stuff. My girls are lovely! A is the happiest little thing around, she's so mellow and smiley. And DD1 is hilarious - we were making pizzas for tea tonight and I told her we were going to put olives on the pizzas. I got a very stern talking to from her (with a pointed finger) about how spensive (her word) olives are and that when I get the jar out of the fridge I have to be very careful so that I don't drop them and break the jar and get glass everywhere...oh, and mummy please can I have an olive to eat now! She was so serious and fluent, it was great. She also told DH when he got home from work that we had been shopping to look for slippers for him (not as naff a present as it sounds, he genuinely wants and needs some!) - and I hate December as I have to find Christmas and Birthday presents for him.

flippin I will go back and see another one. On Tues they've got a late night surgery and we went at 6.30, so maybe he was annoyed at having to be there and didn't fancy doing much work . How sweet about your dd1. They can be funny, can't they?

C had her 1st meet Santa today. I took her to M&T group today and it was the xmas party (I'd forgotten). She had a blast. It's the 1st time ever we stayed the whole time with her sitting in the baby section playing with the toys and watching the toddlers play. She didn't like Santa much, which surprised me, because she's still little and hasn't shown any fear of strangers so far. After she had a 3.5h nap, unfortunately it was with me next to her to keep her in that sleep state. I've realised today that she reaches out for me when she's in a lighter sleep and so when she doesn't find me she wakes. If I stay with her she carries on sleeping. It's very sweet and all that, but I'm going to have to get her to stay asleep on her own during the day or I'll never get anything done. DH tried to lie with her for a bit, but she wouldn't have it and the minute I went to lie down with her she relaxed and went back to sleep within seconds. I do feel honoured that she feels like that about me though

boobz Not sure who you are, so you'll have to wait until dandy arrives to find out about her baby. We're don't tend to out eachother's baby's names on MN, due to it being a public forum and all that

Farmville not working!!!???!

Belgian - I'm taking O to meet Santa tomorrow with the other 5 NCT ladies and babies from our group. We're all going for lunch first too
Your GP sounds usless!

Had a big upset with DH this evening but I think it's blown over now. I think it's just a matter of each of us appreciating (or not!)what the other one does on a daily basis. Wasn't helped by the fact that O refused to go to sleep at bedtime which is most unusal for him these days. I'm sure his top teeth will be with us by Christmas. Today he had a dribble stream, red bottom and red cheeks. He also seemed to be off his food for the first time. Thank goodness he's asleep now though!

hiya all

just checking in on y'all to see how everyone is... I have been reading I promise but still poorly so forgive me for not name checking. Hugs to all that need , Yay's & Boo's to visits to doc's, at new swish carpets, rolls royce fireplaces & week ends away sans dcs & get well really quick vibes to all poorly ones...

in the Firelight household... G is the only one not poorly! DS has an awful cough and the conjunctivitis in both eyes so is off pre school until it clears and HATES having the eye drops with a screaming thrashing kinda passion. DH has been in bed all day... he's feeling worse than he was the other day and i'm just totally fed up of cough cough coughing until my sides ache and I end up dashing to the nearest sink to hurl G was awake at midnight last night, DS was up at 2.30am till 3am and then DS woke for the day at 7am so i've been a short fuse/tired/grumpy/shouty mum today and not liking myself for it. I felt so sorry for him as I knew he was just being a sorta poorly 3yr old but so hard to cope with on little sleep and when poorly myself. Ah well tomorrow is another day and hopefully won't feel as frazzled

On the plus side i've treated myself to a new top to wear on xmas day

evening all.
belg, grrrr at your GP, glad you're going to see someone else, a 2nd opinion would have been my advice.

ses, I'm unhappy with my DH at the moment as well. it's mainly about not finishing projects in our house. our kitchen has been a building site since last mar. i wish we could just pay someone but DH is stubborn and wants to save money. but nothing is getting done!

flippin, i love the anectdote about your girls, it really made me smile. also glad you could lean on your GP.

Jael, sounds like a lovely weekend (rooftop pool!) and hope you're feeling better.

Hi to everyone else. hope you're all asleep or relaxing.

dd1&2 have returned and it was lovely to get the cuddles. I'm hoping they stay asleep tonight as they've got into the habit of running down the hall screaming in the middle of the night just for a drink of water or to turn the music back on . funny things, toddlers.

shopping wasn't too bad in town. i've done the bulk of my xmas shopping online so just have a couple ofthings to get. this trip was to the cake decorating shop since dd1's bday party is this saturday so I needed all the provisions for a pink fairy cake (glitter and all!). does anyone have a recipe for chocolate sponge? otherwise, i'll look through my cookbooks.

Fi, love the things you bought yourself and G!

ladyH, stripy carpet up the stairs sounds very elegant!

momino cake decorating shops are one of my fav browsing shops & i can really recommend runnings choc cake recipe she posted... i'll see if i can find the link for it. Really easy and delicious tasting, not too heavy & moist too!

ok found it...

going to paste it instead of linking if it'll work..

By runningscared Wed 21-Oct-09 14:09:29
Ok here you go:

5oz SR Flour
6oz Caster Sugar
6oz Marg/butter (I usually use utterly butterly type thing)
3 large eggs
3oz Drinking Chocolate - don't know why but cheaper the better, instant works well!
3 tablespoons of boiling water

Heat oven to 180 deg C. Grease and line 8 inch cake tin (or 2 sandwich tins)

Bung all ingredients in bowl or food mixer and mix well until all ingredients are well combined. Pour into cake tin(s) and bake in centre of the oven for and hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

(The cake mixture is usually v runny, probably why the cake is quite moist)

For a quick cake I usually top it with melted dairy milk and then sprinkle with crushed smarties, or you can make choc butter icing/ganache if you want to posh it up a bit.

enjoy

fi I only go on FV once a day. In the evening to harvest and replant, lol. I can see how it can become a proper addiction though. Hmmm, chocolate sponge. Will have to save this recipe and try it myself

re outfits... i was tempted to get this one for G but have a feeling DH would have been horrified it goes from 3months to 2yrs!

fi - sorry to hear there's still so much illness in your house. Speedy recovery vibes.

ses - sorry to hear about arguments. Hope the air is clear now.

farmville - I'm only on there once a day...it's just all evening! Harvest everything, plough, replant, it all takes a while. And I keep tinkering with my farm too. I'll get bored soon.

That chocolate cake recipe sounds good and simple. I usually make one out of one of Jamie Oliver's books, I think it's the first naked chef book, not sure. Anyway, it's called party cake, and has a recipe for great very chocolatey ganache type icing too. Always a hit!

I'm a bit sad - we now have a Lakeland store here, I was very excited! How tragic is that? I've done nearly all of my christmas shopping online but nothing has arrived yet - all ordered last week but nada...it'd better arrive soon, I'm starting to worry about it.

fi, thanks so much for going through the trouble of posting the recipe. it sounds yummy and simple. I'll try it!

fi, that outfit is hilarious! i dare you.

choc cake, excuse me, what are 'sandwich' tins? how diff are they from regular cake tins?(the american in me doesn't understand some british terms still after 12 yrs)

will have to find out answer tomorrow, am falling asleep. good night all.

it's a really lovely tasting cake the drinking chocolate i had in the cupboard was the green and blacks organic one and it worked really well. Tasted just as good as the choc cakes i've baked using melted plain really good quality chocolate!

sandwich tins are the flat circular ones you'd use to make a victoria sandwich type cake..