DEC 08 - Welcome to the house of ill - We're riding a poonami

[MomOrMum]

This was the only thing I could remember some saying should be the next title!

Oh and Veggie - your photo's make me want to plan holidays - where is that wedding? Sardinia? It looks lovely!!!

Hello girls

Can I add myself to the queue of people wanting to hear about Urbane's night out at the Brits? I haven't even heard about her outfit yet Who was on the table? Was anyone indiscreet? Did anyone look gorgeous/dreadful?

Well, my night in Mayfair was less glamorous. There was lots of champagne and canapes...and a plethora of the former actors, former weather girls, clapped out old journalists and chippy authors that write for this particular section of this particular paper. One of my pieces is in on Sunday, which is good as it means I will get paid Anyway, there was a screening of a film which isn't on general release for a month, called The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Has anyone read the books by Stieg Larsson? I hadn't, and it was a good film but I found it very violent and I am not good with violence in films - think it's far worse than a few swear words or sex scenes (which don't bother me).

Speaking of journalists, I am sorry to hear of your experience Aubi, and sadly not surprised. I was doorstepped once and I know how horrid it is. It's invasive and leaves you feeling so angry with no way of expelling that anger.

Beans, I am sorry about all your DD's complaints (what a lot for a little one) but I am glad they are all easily treatable.

I missed the baby show last night, did anyone watch it again? What happened?

The pregnancy hormones seem to be making me quite cross at the moment. Not with DP or DD, but other stuff. Hopefully that will fade, before I alienate all and sundry

Ooh, I'm excited about the release of that film, LadyT - I have read the book and loved it. And I love a bit of film violence - sounds right up my street!! And last night sounds ok - I'm always keen for a bit of star spotting - past or present - as my life is so average! I wouldn't have it any other way, mind. Couldn't bear having to look glam!!! I saw a load of paps outside the Mayfair Hotel this morning - wonder if that was anything to do with your evening? I work in Berkeley Square, so quite often see that going on.

I'm so excited about going home tonight, it's ridiculous! I am so unenthused about work these days. It is literally a means to an end and am SO glad I'm up the duff, so I don't have to keep on doing it for longer than 3 months. Everyone else is so much better at their jobs than I am. But I think that's because my priorities now lie elsewhere and I am very much filling in time!!!

20 mins to go. Although not sure I'll make it to 5.30!

Aubs - I'm sorry about the journalist too. Waaaay out of my experience, but I imagine it feels like a real violation of your privacy. Horrible.

And Urbane! Why are you taunting us so with your silence?? We need to hear the goss! I saw some pics of Cheryl Cole performing today and I have to say, I was quite shocked by how close to peeping out her fanny was! Seriously, not sure how much of her foofoo is now private! She must have had a hollywood for that shot. I wouldn't personally put myself through that pain for a performance. Poor love.

Aubi - the doorstepping sounds horrid, but also sounds like you handled it well

I am also waiting with bated breath to hear about urbane's night out!

Beans - meant to say on the eczema, if the creams etc don't clear it up, don't hesitate to go back to the docs - what works is different for different people and its sometimes trial and error. DD suffered horribly until we saw a consultant who gave her a completely different set of potions which finally worked.

LadyT - I watched the baby programme last night. It was a slightly heavy handed "compare and contrast" between young feckless couple vs neurotic 40 yr olds each having first child. Ended in a crash C-section for the young 'un (after they had, possibly unfairly, painted her as a drama queen for losing it when only 2cm) and "a to be continued" for the older one, who had already spent days in the hospital trying to be induced...Trouble with the show is that it is obviously heavily edited and in this case it feels none too subtle.

On the whole talking thing, I wouldn't worry at all. DS doesn't say much mostly "dada", "no no no" or "cla cla" (clap clap). DD was definitely further along at his age (more vocab, and maybe starting to put 2 words together), but (not to boast) I think she is an unusually quick talker and she is a girl.

Beans, that IS where the reception was last night (how did you guess? (there are a lot of venues in Mayfair) But truly, the paps there this morn would be nothing to do with our lot. We were done by 11pm and the most famous person there was probably S.i.a.n. L.l.o.y.d - if anyone can remember who she is. Or J.o.h.n. C.r.a.v.e.n. (just making it non-googleable!) I just KNEW you'd have read those books. We got the second one in our goodie bags. At first I thought it was going to be dreary and incomprehensible but it swiftly got gripping, but as I say, the violence took my breath away.

Thanks for the slick resume, Invis, that does all sound rather crass. One thing which dismays me about documentaries is this forcing of everyone into a story or a role which suits the producers rather than reality. I know it's necessary to stop these things from being formless but sometimes it is really forced and manipulative.

Right - off to do a Big Shop. Urrrrrrgggggh.

Speaking of Goodie Bags - what was in the Brits one? Is it like the Comedy Awards (and indeed the Oscars) where they have graded bags? - one for the serious talent, one for important execs and less important talent, and then one for Everyone Else You gotta love showbiz.

Hello everyone,

I'm prob going back a bit but hey ho....

beans DD has a very similar comforter, it is a rabbit's head on a blanket! When we were given it I thought it was really ugly and of course, DD now wants to take it everywhere . Have you got a second one? My dad found one on ebay so even if rabbit is found covered in sick, he can be 'magically' cleaned .

JJ How lovely you got flowers! Well done Mr JJ.

I'm not enjoying the tales of MMR reactions. DD has hers next Friday and we're both fed up of illness.

daisy Glad things are getting slightly better for you and your family. I hope you are getting some time for yourself amongst all this upset and looking after the children.

Trace I hope you find out what's the problem with little Lu.

ladyT Oooh which paper?! Do tell! I had no idea about the graded bags. I have led a life well away from the glamour of showbiz!

urbane Please tell us the gossip!

invisible I was rather disappointed with the programme last night. It was really symplistically juxtaposed with the young mum with the unplanned pregnancy really struggling with the pain and being horribly patronised by the staff, and the older woman who had lots of rounds of IVF who was really bored waiting for her induction to kick in, getting annoyed about pillows and a lack of lunch.

I am sooo tired tonight. DH is away and I think an early night is in order. DD has woken the last few nights - it must be teeth I suppose, or her runny nose.

Oh I want a showbiz goodie bag. The best I get is conference bags, which usually consist of psmphlets, pens and those stupid woolie ball things with eyes that have stupid large sticky feet and an ad tag on them.

I bet Urbane is tired and went to bed early, or she hooked up with someone at the Brits. Maybe she & mr urbane partied all night with cheryl cole's lost underpants! Or those long haired unbathed looking (but strangely attractive) boys from Kasabian.

Aubie I think that should be wrong, surely you can't just talk to people on their own property if they don't invite you in. I know it's their job but journalism is really going a bit too far to draw out stories that aren't really there. When my cousin died in Afganistan a reporter looked up our surname (my maiden name) in the phonebook and started cold calling and asking if they knew veggiecousin (RIP). Thankfully they dialled my lovely uncle who is the older brother of veggiecousins dad, before his direct family. I can't imagine how painful it would have been if they had gotten to his mum& dad first. My uncle acted as spokesmen for the family so that the media would stop harrassing his parents.

I want a goodie bag too. In the Live 8 ones the performer got one if those Africa shaped guitars. Apparently anyway.

I am going to stick my head on the line and say that the young mum on last night did my head in but I do think the midwifes could have helped her more. She was hyperventalating(sp) but the midwifes didn't seem to tell her how she should have been breathing. The older mum had a right to moan I think. She didn't get her lunch when she was told she would and it could be quite dangerous if you are diabetic.

The young mum did have a blooming gorgeous baby though. [broody smiley]

I love the word juxaposed!

Are you watching this Kayz

Thanks for the new thread Mom. Am trying to do this on my new phone so excuse any errors! Not sure how to do smilies either so I may seem a bit grumpy.

Have had a nice day with the boys tho DS1 was trying it on a bit. Funnily enough he doesn't much like shopping.

Am also waiting for news on the Brits though I have no idea who any of these people are. Apart from cheryl cole. DS1 thinks she is his nursery teacher (he also thinks Serge Gainsbourg is DH).

Oh by the way DS2 is feeling so much better! He is sleeping better and is back to his old happy self. I had almost forgotten that this is his normal personality, not the grumpy beast that has been with me the last week or so.

Rubs the wedding was in Santorini but I also put up the photos of the short trip we did to Sardinia late last year. I love Sardinia. I've actually gone mental putting photos up as i have a lot of family on FB now including my MIL so catching them up on the boys.

I was once given some stuff from a goody bag at the baftas by the one from Holby City who plays a mean old bag but she's actually really nice. It is still sitting in my cosmetic drawer but included something called Highlighting Cream which I never knew what to do with. There endeth my very dull goody bag story.
In other news, have learned that DP is back from Vancouver on Sat night, not Fri as I thought, then off to Amsterdam next Wed-Fri. I know he has no choice and that there aren't any other jobs out there that would suit him as much or enable me to do things like write my book rather than work full time, but I can't help feeling resentful that I spend so much time on my own with T and he gets to do interesting work assigments abroad. I know they're hard work and he would like to be at home more, it's just that it would be nice to get a bit more balance.

There are some right arseholes working in the media who give the rest of journalists a bad name. I wish they'd call themselves something else as we appear somewhere down there with estate agents and politicians in people's estimation I find. Scum, for example.

evening
Phoebe slept from 6pm -6am last night! La de da de do de da Happy happy songs
Sorry - just had to get that out of my system.
I mentioned to dh that urbane was at the Brits, and that Spot's dp is in Vancouver for work, and that aub was hounded by journalists, and he thinks I have some pretty high class cool friends now
I'm going through my usual 'shall I have my hair cut into a choppy crop kind of thing?' I'm always tempted, then I get it sensible and safe again...
ladyT how was the Big Shop? DH and I were commenting the other day how our money doesn't seem to go very far in the supermarket these days. I'm getting old.
Beans so sorry that work is such a necessary evil at the moment. Hope these next few months fly by for you. Glad Whizz is perky today I agree with invis about trying several products of they don't have much affect. We found e45, diprobase and doublebase made Phoebe worse, yet Epaderm has worked wonders.
We're off to the North East tomorrow to stay with BIL and his wife for a night, which Lu will adore because his wife (primary school teacher) is fantastic with her. Perhaps she'd like to keep her for a while...
daisy where are you? Hope things are ok.
DH is out this evening so I'm just enjoying idling away the hours on MN a peaceful night on my own

golly gosh I took so long over that last post I cross-posted with about 10 posts!
spot that sounds very frustrating about dp's work. Can you and T ever go along with him?
jolly - here's hoping for a better night's sleep for you. Surely dd can't have many more teeth left to come

Yes Veggie I am watching. It's nail biting football!!

Aubs, that sounds quite scary. Hope they leave you alone now.

Trace, hope you have a good time away.

My neighbours have been having an awful row tonight. They argue loads but tonight he seems to have been 100000000 times worse. He has woken up D so we're now having to try and get him to calm down and go back to sleep. I don't particularly like her(can't put my finger on why though) but she is pg so I feel awfully sorry for her.

Hi Trace. I feel a bit bad you mentioned the person I had meant to mention. Oh & hooray for a full nights sleep, did you sleep though?

now about the unmentioned thing. Beans I do feel for you with the work sitch, not nice to have crap boring work when you could be with Whizz. Also diprobase is good but as has been already mentioned if it doesn't help go back to your GP to try something else. Also those bath oils, like oilatum child bath or Aveeno (no I don't have shares in Aveeno) are available on prescription so get your GP to prescribe it as it can get quite expensive. Oh and don't be sparing with the diprobase put it on as often as she will
allow, keep the areas moist.

Was she the one who said that she liked DH but you had had a homebirth, so she was a bit hmm about you?

Oh and forgot to say AK is loving the winter Olympics. I have been watching it loads too, I love the olympics. The biathlon is amazing. DS1 was amazed by the moguls the other day. He keeps wanting to watch the snowboarders entrance on the BBC website.

Oops that should have been not a link.

Yes. I was weird because of homebirth, breastfeeding and wearing a sling. Maybe that is why I don't like her too much.

Is this her first baby?

I'm in so much pain. That yoga session was really full on last night. Oh well it's all for a good cause.

Nope her 4th. That is what the row was about. Neither of them "wanted it but they will have to put up with it" her exact words to me. That's what the row was about. It's what every row has been about since Xmas!

Well, Trace, you are so right about prices - it was a expensive tonight as we went to Sainsbury's and since mid-Jan we have been going to Aldi with occasional top ups of odd items/treats that Aldi don't sell (eg good coffee, Quorn for me etc). It has been a revelation as I think their fruit and veg is excellent quality and it's always the biggest part of our shop. A weekly shop there is a third of what it is at Tescos or Sainsbos. DD loves going to the supermarket. She gets so thrilled I wonder if I am stimulating her enough. Have a nice evening. I am so glad P gave you a rest.

Ooh, Veggie, Santorini is gorgeous. It is the picture book Greek island, isn't it?

I am intrigued about Born Every Minute now and may need to watch this week's on Channel 4 iPlayer. Oh, that reminds me, Kayz, I meant to say ages ago what a shame it was that that maternity unit near you is shutting.

Jolly, the paper is the MoS I write for the travel section but I have never managed to get more than two pieces a year as they have a celebrity agenda so I don't cut the mustard I am just incredibly grateful they bother with me at all.

Effie, I am amazed your DS1 knows who Serge Gainsbourg is I barely know myself and I am 37.

Spot, sorry you are on your tod a lot at the mo. Can you go with him to Amsterdam? What's the latest on your book?

I am feeling a bit low about my career at the mo and so is DP. I think it is linked to the black hole in our finances that is looming at the end of the year, should I not have luck with writing work. We are a right pair of gloombuckets. I find it hard to work when I feel like this. I am usually quite a decent self starter but frankly all I feel like doing these last few days is loafing around in soft pyjamas bottoms and watching very undemanding and cosy tv or reading my book. Must pull myself together!

I swear to god that Arsenal are bad for my blood pressure!!