40 + yummy mummies with baby tummies and those who've 'popped' - come hither!

[jeanjeannie]

Come join our merry (talkative) band of ladies who lunch - feel sick - are getting fatter - sleep deprived or run off their feet with babies! Some of us suffer all of the above - while trying to retain an air of calm and mystery

All we ask is you play nicely, eat cake and indulge in the occasional gossip and moan about our ills....or anything else that we can think of.

We're like grumpy old women....only not so grumpy...

Thanks ermintrude, that's just the kind of thing I was looking for. The salmon is coated in sugar, mustard powder, ground ginger amongst other things so that should work really well with it.

Oh, and by the way, just how many fiances have you had?

I bought 4 pieces of salmon as am pregnant and greedy. DH has just called to say his pal is coming over and is it okay if he eats with us. Do you think I can still have 2 pieces of salmon and make them have one piece each?

ladymac how horrible of Annie Lennox Is she one of those celebs that has her head up her arse? Sorry, I sound like Jim Royle today with all my arse comments....but is she?? She looks the sort. I'm take it or leave it when it comes to her music..whereas you're more leave it!

Yes, Ebay is getting to be a bit of a rip off and the average seller probably isn't even aware of it. There are a few tricks but if you get caught then you get a slap from Ebay or banned...so I don't really advise them

Still deliberating going out but it's chilly and I know I'll spend money. I've already ordered from Peace & Jam AND Bohemia Design last night...so today I'm reading 'The unbearable lightness of bank account'.

I've found now that K is in her big cot that she only gets to sleep if she is at a 45 degree angle to where her head should be. This means her head is resting on the wood. I bought a bumper to match the decor but have since read that these have fallen out of favour over the years and are not recommended by FSID. I think that I've found a happy medium in this product which lets air flow through it. I've ordered one so I'll see how I go with it. Not sure if this is endorsed by FSID either but seems to make more sense than the traditional material/padded bumper.

Now I'll have to Ebay the M&P bumper

ladymac you can always do the 'eating for two' thing. My DC now eat a whole piece of salmon each, the beasties, and DS still calls it chicken.

I was affianced to my uni bf but broke it off BEFORE I started going out with DH. We were too young etc. Actually, we got engaged aged 20, the weekend when we found out I wasn't pregnant after all! .

I had a scary moment when my first book was published though - went to do a promotional reading in a library and his mum and sister had turned up. They'd moved to the area and I hadn't realised. I didn't have time to talk to them beforehand because I was just sort of ushered on, and then at the end I asked if there were any questions and his mum put up her hand and said, 'Why didn't you marry my son?'. That went down a storm. But she was just joking . He's v happily married himself these days, honest.

I would marry Eddie Izzard in a trice ermintrude or Morten Harket. Or both. I'm very hormonal at the mo. Even the singer out of Ash does it for me and I don't like bald chested, pale, skinny bodies on young men. Beggars, choosers and all that.

hahahahahahahahahahahaha@ex fiance's mum! I would have done the same in that situation. How embarrassing for you though.

And now it all becomes apparent with the 'weekend when we found out I wasn't pregnant after all'!

ladymac you could add any or all of : honey, oyster sauce, sesame oil to a noodle stir fry

omg- about ten posts appeared in the space of me writing that last post - also meant to say rice wine

oooh ermintrude can you give us a wee hint as to what sort of stuff you write? I would love to know if I have read any of it!

Hahah I so 'do' ponies. I'm teaching Iris at the moment to say "Daddy, Daddy I want a pony and I want one NOW" as soon as he walks in the door...followed by "can I?", "can I?"

ladymac I'm with you - I can't bear Annie Lennox and she's never done a thing to me - althugh I was pushed out of the way in the girl's loos by pop midget Natalie Imbruglia - so I don't liker her! I also loathe Chrissie Hynde. She almost ran me over once in Queens Park London so I shouted "get yer fringe cut yer silly mare!"

I put a dash of rice wine vinegar - or sherry to wetten a stir fry. Or maybe a little splash of sesame oil. What time do you want us round? It's easier for us to get to yours - the others 'up norf' can go to Ermintrude's place

BTW: you're ex really sounds an a*se...don't know him but he sounds like he might be a lot older than you - he just gives over the impression of a 60 something crisis man! Hope his chakras break in half while he and wifey#4 'find' themselves in Kerala! 'Ommmmmm'

tee & duchese flip flops are evil - those toe posts just rub away at the skin between the toes and, if like me, you're flat-footed then it's akin to a baby elephant stomping along.

Only buy off ebay - can't be bothered to sell stuff....too much like hard work!

mrsb my lips are sealed, largely because I've been somewhat ahem free in my comments on MN and walls have ears etc. Most frustrating that I can't make sales this way though! I write literary and light literary/ commercial fiction (if you're a woman it's categorised according to subject matter rather than style, I find). NOT chicklit! Am hoping that new agent sells next book before I drop...

Wow - like MrsB 10+ posts in time to write 1!

DPs aunty (FIL's sis) went out with Morten Harkett for some time She's VERY exotic

I tell you - I reckon ermintrude is either Barbra-Taylor-Bradford or JK Rowling Am PMSL @at your first fiance and not being preggie!

ladymac insist on the two salmon steaks - men probably believe you've got to eat for two - you'll get away with it.

shame, you shall forever have to remain an enigma ermintrude but hurrah! not chicklit! now I know that I don't have to avoid making derogatory references to same just in case . Have never really read any of it but I hate hate those prettily covered books about "shopoholics" and silly bints and their quirky little searches for Mr Right. Grrr. ahem. sorry.

JJ you guessed it! Barbara T-B and JKR are one and the same person. I don't even type these msgs myself, I get my people to do it for me

jj how did you guess? He is indeed in his 60's and I'm hoping he pulls a muscle at the very least and that his viagra gets confiscated at the airport! In the time I was single between getting rid of him and meeting DH I only shagged went out with younger men and knew that I would never again go out with another older one. Then I met DH and he was (and still is) wonderful as well as being 12 years younger. More of a man than my ex could ever be.

my sister recently found herself in the unfortunate position recently of having nothing but a BTB book to read. When she was stuck at home with pleurisy she ran out of reading material and had to ask her bf to buy her a book - he never reads, hadn't a clue and pitched up with a Taylor Bradford. She said it was unreadable and that she could easily have written better herself but the bits she recalled to me were hilarious.

Wow. I go to work for a few hours and there's two pages to read before I post. Yes e-bay is getting crappier by the minute. I haven't sold anything for days and only get "I never received this item " Which I posted on 27th December and now they decide to tell me!Mega Grrr. The stormy weather we had yesterday blew the horses into a frenzy and they smashed one of the fences down completely. I have to go in a minute and put some temporary electric fencing up.

To those who kindly enquired.
Ps. no bleeds today and feel much better than yesterday-where I stayed on the setee for most of the day feeling grotty.

Ah yes ladymac We've all been there haven't we.....the shags after a marriage breakup until you meet the next Mr Right? I had lots of shags...in fact, 4 shagtastic years. Couldn't do it now though. Shagged out Crikey, I'm sounding like I'm married to Austin Powers.

Eugh@B-T-Bradford. It's always obvious what happens.......young poor girl, works in service, pregnant by the rich squire's son, shunned by all, happy ever after etc etc.

ermintrude are you Kate Mosse? I like her books. This is turning into a literary version of Cluedo or Guess Who!

neddie glad that you're putting your feet up and that the bleeding has subsided. Stay on the sofa and get someone else to sort out the horses

Nope, not Kate Mosse. I liked Labyrinth. I'm not at all famous so you won't get it, but am going to be tight-lipped from now on anyway, just in case.

Rumpelstiltskin x

sorry ermintrude not trying to out you honest! just I am an avid reader so am dead interested. Mind you the last time I managed to finish a book was when I was in labour

I have read Labyrinth ermintrude aka rumpelstiltskin and it was very enjoyable. She has a new one out I believe but there is not chance for any reading at the mo.

DH also bought me the The Outcast by Sadie Jones for my b'day last year and I've still not got around to reading it.

ermintrude I never had the horse phase either. Lovely creatures, never had any desire to own one or sit on top of one!

ladym yes. Eating for two and all that!

I myself am feeling some better today, although very sniffly around the nose area. Can't decide if its an actual cold or if its one of those pregnancy things they only tell you about after you're knocked up!

ladymac I have gone the other way and gone for a slightly older one (with more money- well anyone would be more economically stable than my DX).I was very good though I did the for poorer bit of my marriage vows for 18 years and then suddenly thought- enough of this foolishness and 3 jobs all at once - I shall find someone who not only loves me, doesn't moan all the time and can keep me in the lifestyle I would like to enjoy. Within 6 months of leaving my DX I found my prince charming- and he's solvent! Hurrah! Am I shallow?

have just been reading one of these advice websites about getting a baby to sleep through the night. It says that by five months a baby should not need to feed in the middle of the night unless it is underweight and if they haven't managed to wean themselves off night feeding by six months you should consider doing it for them.

Mr D has adhered to more or less the same feeding pattern since he was born - sometimes he will wake once in the night and sometimes two or three times - which does seem a lot to me. He is nearly always hungry when he wakes and finishes his bottle so its not a comfort or feed to sleep thing. So, how in buggery are you meant to wean a hungry baby off feeding in the night? Apart from one or two notable occasions he has never gone more than four or five hours without feeding. I would love to get something approaching normal sleep when I am back at work...