We Wise ladies Avidly are buying gifts that traverse afar...l

[bunnymother]

Oh my God, I choked (try and hum along to We Three Kings...)!! But here is the new thread.

DON'T GO YANGY or I will be the ONLY one whinging on incessantly and boringly about my loathsome job and boring life. And am rather embarrassed at having spent the 1st 6 months of this thread whinging on at not having a job. . I felt so good this morning as had actually managed to get both cars to the garage to put the winter tyres on before it started snowing (yeah, I know, wow!), then realised I'd sent ds2 to school in the snow without gloves or hat, and ds1 without his sport bag, which he needs every thursday (ffs, he wears trackpants and trainers every day anyway, but for some reason his evil, child-hating sports teacher insists he changes into different trackpants and trainers - not uniform, just different ones - for sport or he's not allowed to participate). On to work, I haven't started the paper that I'd promised to finish by the end of last week, I meant to do it last night, but computer kept crashing so wasted 2.5hrs precious time trying to work stupid office computer, went to bed late, woke up feeling tired and crap, yelled at kids etc.

And I actively hate the content of my job: it's all politics which I don't share.

And dh is in Canada somewhere.

And bonkers ap is still here.

And it is snowing and freezing.

Hope everyone else is having a better morning, and good luck Bunny !

That sounds rough, Yangy and Roma. I feel a bit guilty for wanting to go back to work!

MM, I think you should get the Alexander Wang bag. :) How about lamb and artichokes? Though more of a spring dish.

Bunny ? more time for us to get excited - but sorry for all the ups and downs for you!

Carciofi ? I have an Oushka from last year and the quality is good ? though I sometimes think the colours are not as they look on the website (lovely but different ? particularly a brown one I ordered)

Love the pods!

Yangy ?Having been poorly will make everything seem even worse. Are you coming to the meet up? It would be so good to actually talk this through rather than via words on a screen.

On an A&W note - I love love love my gap skinnies. I am wearing them today and I think they are very flattering. Could you get these as an alternative?

RG ? not sure on either (but I?m notoriously unadventurous with colour ? if you shown me a plain grey skirt I would have been in raptures!).

LTEC ? sounds like a rather wonderful evening

I've got surveyors coming round in minutes to start measuring up the house and seeing whether our grand plans are possible (silk purse/sows ear possibly the situation here )

DD is here ready to help with my meeting

GOOD LUCK BUNNY.

Quick catch-up.

Pickled - I like the pod - I have seen before in magazines and thought they looked marvelous. We have a huge conservatory/family room/'garden room' (depending on which estate agent you are...) that is is 30 foot by foot with a solid wood floor. It is lovely and was the main reason we bought the house. Everyone ooohs and aahs when they see it....BUT it means that our garden is comparatively small because it has eaten away a lot of outdoor space, so a Pod would not be possible for us. (Unless it was more of a 'shed', and that kind of misses the point!

Reine - TY for the coated jeans tip - alas it sounds like the TS ones are selling fast so they may not be any left by next month. I agree with your point about the Gap vanity sizing!

Yangy - I love that photo of you and DD2 - beautiful! Please don't beat yourself up - but there is no harm on moaning here. I think we all have at some point (I refer you to my heating/car crash/DH constantly away rant of a couple of weeks ago.....) As you reading your posts I was trying to think of practical solutions, although I am sure you have many of them in place already. I do find taking 10/15 minutes during the working day to try and tick a couple of things off my 'to do'list is helpful. (Like doing an Ocado/Tesco food order etc.)Much as hate to say it, some of the tips on the 'fly lady' threads can be handy in terms of keeping the house running smoothly when you are time pressed and want to spend time with DCs rather than organising.

Well, I am sure everyone must be cold at the moment. We have a severe weather warning out for snow - but not a flake so far. I am wearing the Gap charcoal 'curvy' trousers that I now REALLY wish that I had bought a size smaller in. They were slightly loose when I bought them, but a combination of loosening off after wearing, and losing a couple of pounds (I assume from stress, as no diet here!!) has meant that the trosuers are now officially a bit big. Have got them on with blue batwing top and trusty H & M wedge boots.

Have a great day all.

Roma - I thought the AP was OFF. Why still with you?

RG - Wasn't ignoring your clothes options, but I can't get the first to open (probably because work computer only has antiquated programmes.) Second quite nice I think.

yes to vanity sizing. I had to get a size 4?? (uk 8) which is NOT my actual size (size 6/10 everywhere else)

Yangy, it's lovely to have you here. Don't go! You are not moaning at all.

Bunny ooh yesterday must have been very tiring, good luck today lovely.

Ltec very sweet Lion story. It would make a gorgeous little story with pictures, or blog.

Bonsoir your afternoon with your dd was very sweet too!

Ds hideous still with waking, congestion makes him startle and wake up. And he ends up on me, then uncomfortable. Oh well one day soon he will sleep all night I suppose!

Yangy I couldn't not reply to you. You sound just like me a while ago. I am just a bit further along the path as my youngest is 3.5. What it took me a long time to realise is that the dc are really really fine, it is you who will be suffering, not them. I learned the hard way through getting ill, that you have to look after yourself. For me it was realising that sometimes housework can wait, and that at other times I can say "no" to social things or to helping others out. Evenings are the key for me. DH and I make an effort to buy a good quality ready meal in once a week instead of going out and it helps. It does get easier, but part of that is trying not to be hard on yourself. Oh and retail therapy and making yourself feel attractive officially helps! If you weren't a good mum you wouldn't be worrying so much about it all - some people don't! The hard thing is feeling trapped, and as if you have no choice. Hope you feel better soon, and you have to vent too!

Gosh what work woes! If it makes you feel any better (it won't), I had dinner last night with a girlfriend whose H left her for a colleague two years ago, when her DD was 4 and her twins just popped . Her H lives in Shanghai so hardly sees the DCs (his idea of fathering is staying in a central Paris 5 hotel twice a year with his new GF and their baby and taking his DCs out for lunch/tea on rotation). So my friend has everything* on her plate - full time job with travel (lawyer), three little DCs, and she tries very hard to keep her adult social life on the boil. Grrrrrr.

I'm stuck at home today slightly hungover waiting for our new coffee table to be delivered and nursing DSS2, who is decidedly off-colour and who I forbade to go to school this morning. I think housework calls .

Morning everyone.

I liked both those skirts rg. Great colours for me too!
My sahm dilemma is what to wear when there's snow and ice on the ground outside and I have a downhill to negotiate on school run! I need to wear my walking boots because they're lovely and snug, but they look frankly ridiculous with skinnies as I have thin(ish) legs and massive feet, with massive walking boots on. So I dug out my old bootlegs, Paige, nice dark indigo colour and they're hanging off me. Which is strange as I bought them when I was last at this weight. It must be the shredding, and muscle weighing more or something?
So I'm quite unhappy with the bootlegs as I only find them flattering with a high heel, I feel I look like a womble otherwise. What I need is a warm welly. Anyone tried sheepskin inserts?

Excited for hells and ollie with the home improvements. Hope it goes well.

Sorry to hear of your woes roma and yangy.

Great work on the lion ltec!

Hi to everyone else, and bunny. I wonder if the gorgeous babies are here yet. How would you decide which one to name which I wonder?

Ooh, I just found these. I think I might get them! Great price, no? (I'll try anywhere if it means I can go back to my skinnies again!)

Is MN showing up differently on anyone else's iPhone today?

Bloss I have Celtic Sheepskin insoles and love them. Also fluffy long M&S socks that are very toasty.

Erk! It is on mine.

They look toasty, Blossoming.

Bloss I could recommend woolly scottish hiking socks with the Timberlands Carciofi linked earlier. They are waterproof, non-slip, warm and comfy. And look a lot nicer than the Lands End ones. But practicality is obv the main thing with ice on the drive.

mn all squished up on my phone too.

Dilemma. Do you think I can go for a pee while on a conference call? Can't work out how to mute my bberry?!

ohh...despite my promises - potentially good cashmere on the outnet...worth a look

Banana Republic have 30% off knitwear for the next few days.

What are you wearing to keep warm today? Me, True Religion skinny jeans, battered old Frye campus boots, navy white company cardigan that I bought last month but looks ancient already (agree that it is not great quality).

Thanks everyone. They were out of stock in my size anyway. I may go to Betws y Coed tomorrow after I pick up the car and get proper snow boots. Forecast is very wintry. I like those timberlands carciofi, and yeah to long Scottish socks I say!!
If there's snow at the weekend as promised can I bring out Santa's sledge? How would I explain that?

Bloss sheepskin insoles for fiver on ebay were my best winter purchase ever, I wear them with DKNY boots that were about a half size too big - the feel like Uggs, but look good.

Yangy you poor thing, you sound under so much pressure. huge hugs to you.

Zembo yoyu sound like you are doing great. I always wear red when life is getting me down, it is instant cheer.

Cakey your lion story brought a tear to my eye

Had to borrow ds1's ipod yesterday to keep up to date with Bunny, fingers crossed for today

Bonsoir dd nearly fainted when she saw that limited edition Corolle doll and wardrobe in Bon Marche. So did I when she said she wanted to get it from Santa! Luckily her love for Sylvanian families won out, but I have a Les Cheries doll for her, and I am working on a wardrobe of clothes for her as we speak. I have the BM christmas toy catalogue to copy for reference!

Sorry no time to catch up. Was without Internet on my phone yesterday. Why was bunny's CS delayed?

Having quick coffee, then quick browse before big supermarket shopping which I hate. I so wish we had Ocado!

... Browse in Zara I mean. Might need another coffee!