Crepeys/Hagsnet - come to the candlelight!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

As the last thread is now full...

I have skived off school sports day, pointing out to DD2's lovely Bloke Teacher that it brings me out in the urge to skulk behind the bike sheds with a fag . Will redeem Good Parent points next with much backstage support of the production of the Lion King....

Blimey, rubes, 6 hours + w/e matches? No wonder you are stressing. Do your other dc also have major after-school commitments?

Ds (remember missing coat?) went to school looking even more urchin-like today wearing a lightweight pac-a-mac of mine. God alone knows what the school thinks. Maybe they will call Social Services, neglected child that he is :)

Ruby - any tips? I have tried slopes and holding on and all that

Ruby - DS1 also has many hours of football per week, as he plays for two teams. Luckily DH does the lion's share of standing on rainy touchlines. I only spectate when the sun is shining and there are bacon sandwiches on offer!

The cycling club isn't a "learn-to-ride" thing, it's just something arranged through the school for Y3-6. They have a local guy come in, and they ride around the school field. I thought it would be tedious stuff wobbling round cones, but he has them doing racing starts, learning cornering techniques, speed trials etc. and they love it.

No velodromes round here (but we are about half a mile from the Olympic road course, so cycling is quite a hot topic round here at the moment).

Blimey, this thread moves fast!

Blackduck - may I also say your restlessness may also be a lot to do with losing your friend. Grief makes it hard to concentrate on day to day stuff, and also often brings an urge to change everything. After my mother died I gave up my job and moved out of London to be with (now) dh. Although it was good for our relationship, and meant I got married and had babies earlier than I would have otherwise, it was a terrible decision career-wise. At the time it seem the ONLY things to do, but now I'm about why it was so important.

On a lighter note - my shopping trip was semi-successful. I found good navy capri pants in Monsoon in the sale (yay) but failed to find espadrilles or a bikini. I lost the will to live at the bikini racks and, as dh predicted, I had left it too late to have a range of sizes and nice styles to choose from. I did buy a mac (to go over my bikini, arf), which I have been needing/wanting for ages, and it was a good price in Peter Jones' sale so I am about that. I also tried on this top which was incredibly pretty and flattering, but then I didn't buy it because it was so bright and not in the sale. Now I'm kicking myself about that and a pair of shoes I didn't buy - why don't I feel I deserve something pretty and full price?

Re HRT - before Christmas last year I splurged some cash and went to see [[
www.drmariongluck.com/ this doctor]]. I had raging, raging PMT that turned me into a crazy red mist lady for much of the 2nd half of every month - it had been building since ds2 was born 6 years ago and was affecting the kids and definitely making me depressed. It wasn't so much yelling at them (although that happened a bit ) as just being strung out on adrenaline, so that whenever something went wrong, or we were late for something, I just got unbearably tense and snappy. She prescribed a bio-identical progesterone cream and I cannot say enough how much of a difference it has made. I am mild crabby for a couple of days before my period, but nothing anywhere near what it was. Last month I forgot my dates and didn't start the cream until a few days late and the PMS returned - started the cream and all fine. I realise it is not the same as HRT - but she does all female-hormone related stuff, didn't do any expensive blood tests on me as I had classic symptoms and am only just on the brink of peri-menopause.

Wilbur, I am pretty sure that is part of it, but her death has also come at a pretty crappy time for me anyway. I have had an awful few years, a real sense of having wasted life and her death has accentuated that. When I met our college friends the other day I thought I want to be that person again. (and I don't mean 25 years younger although that wouldn't go amiss, I mean that person who has somehow somewhere got buried under a pile of crap).

Love the top - you should have bought it!!

Thanks god ds has no interest in football whatsoever as no way am I standing on the touchline cheering in the rain (and neither would dp...)

Hmm, wilbur, I think I will get that doctor's book.

Ruby, I can see timetabling that lot must be a nightmare.

Blackduck; I am so sorry. I think this is a very hard decade, that sense of wasted years. I was feeling that acutely yesterday, although in my case it was I think linked to the final and tumultuous onset of my period.

Lovely top, Wilbur - v glad you found trousers. I can report that Sainsbury's a chic local boutique is doing a very good line in peacock-blue linen tunics, although do go down a size if you're looking - they're a bit swampy otherwise. Mine went down to mid-thigh, although admittedly that is not hard for a top to do on me.

Ruby, I feel your pain - DD does 6hours gym a week plus comps (admittedly, not weekly , but it's drop and go!
DS does only 4 hours football training a week, plus matches / tournaments nearly every Sunday, even in the summer (was at a 7 hour tournament on Sun!), but I am a fair-weather supporter only - DH does all that

Also, is that starting off thing true for left-handers too? Can't say I thought about teaching my two about that and not sure DS would have listened as he was only 3 at the time

CV, our local velodromw is definitely worth a trip - weekends or hols. It is as cheap as chips and run by really nice folk. They do BMXing too! PM me if you want details - to fill the summer hols?!

I dread my ds suddenly becoming interested in playing football (doesn't currently look likely, he's crap at it in comparison with his peers), because I don't want to have to get up early on Sundays and stand on any touchlines or do any cheering. I suspect this counts as a Bad Parenting Attitude.

Isn't that sense of having wasted life tied up with the whiff of your own mortality that you get in your forties (although maybe some lucky folk don't get this until later. Or maybe not ever)? That's what I've always understood by the term "midlife crisis". The sudden pressing need to go out and make the most of what you have left.

I don't care if it is bad parental attitude Stropps, I am not doing it!!

Yes, undoubtedly all connected to sense of mortality, but rammed home when someone not much older than you dies. We all think we have so much time, and then we realise that actually we have so little. BUT it STILL doesn't stop me sweating the small stuff!! Crazy isn't it. I think I have given so much time to jobs (won't say career as I stuffed that a while back), and what for (besides the pay check), because they forget you pretty damn quick whn you are gone.

And while I am at it, what's with this bloody weather! It's liek November outside!

Blackduck, if (and as mentioned above, this is v. unlikely) ds joins a football team, I shall have an inflatable me made and I shall get it delivered to the touchline. With some pre-recorded cheering. Hmm, an inflatable version of myself might absolve me of other responsibilities as well... Oh no, let's not go there.

Re: midlife gloom and mortality - we had an "interesting" time 6 or so years ago, with four deaths in the immediate family (including the suicide of dd's dad, my ex) all within a year. I kept it all together for dd as I felt I couldn't do otherwise, because dh was struggling to keep it together as well. Until my beloved old dog died about 18 months later (yes, folk, I know it's ridiculous). Then I cried for about 3 weeks straight and completely lost the plot really. Bizarre old thing, grief.

I am loving the life-size doll - can I have one for the poolside?
Oh yes grief as a weird thing indeed although I haven't had to deal with the onslaught you describe. I guess I am just having a bad day!

Ah, the one for the poolside might be a little more expensive. Would have to be heat-resistant. But it could just lie there in shades, looking enigmatic. And wearing a v. nice bikini, obviously. I would get inflatable me to appear on all my holiday photos, rather the shrivelled, slightly deflated actual me.

Crikey. After school clubs - another thing to (not) look forward to. In my day it was brownies and piano. Althogh as a teen I did have a pony, which took up pretty every spare moment.

No flo-based woe for me. Which is odd, as by now I should be in a foul mood, with a headache and a cake craving. Cramps for a week, but nada. Makes me wonder... But very cheered by departure of the hideous melody f
From the apprentice.

Now then. Is it going to rain in london on Saturday? Do I need a gazebo for the party?

Gah! Herbs, you swine, what a major spoiler - I've recorded The Apprentice to watch tomorrow!! Waaaah!

I had to make a quick dash to Ikea this evening. Again! We went yesterday evening, but we were so intent on rushing the DCs out before they destroyed the place that we forgot a vital item for the new wardrobes currently being built. At least we managed to feed the family for about 12p, so it wasn't all bad.

Wilbur - very interested to hear about your progesterone cream - I vaguely remember it being discussed on a similar thread. That top is very pretty, by the way. Order it online - you know you want to! If in doubt, I usually buy, but then I am a serial returner. I just would rather make a leisurely decision in the comfort of my own home, away from the flattering lighting, fawning shop assistants and skinny mirrors.

Fun and games in the house at the moment - we are having our bedroom gutted and the aforementioned wardrobes are being built. DH and I are sleeping in the playroom; getting dressed this morning involved finding a shirt and shoes in the loft, a pair of trousers from the bathroom, and my undies in the living room. The house resembles my end-of-summer-term brain - utterly scrambled.

Me too Herbs - I cheered as he pointed at her. And Tom to win (though I know he won't, but he's soooo sweet!)

Ahhh HERBS!! Like cv had that slated for tonight!! Out last night at theatre thing where due to mood I was the proverbial wet blanket and kept crying (damn - don't do crying)

I also have a dodgy back at the moment which isn't good.. Seizing up I think

GAH! Sorry sorry sorry! Forgot that people do that new-fangled Sky+ style recording. Hopefully your enjoyment won't be totally ruined - you can watch the episode knowing she'll get her come-uppance. And yes, BTM - I am majorly in love with Tom. He's so lovely. Too nice to work with Sralan.

Have hideous sudden-onset cold, complete with pounding head and sore throat. Just what's needed for party time. Maybe it will go as quickly as it appeared.

no SKy here - there is such a thing as i-player you know
So Helen on the losing team - guess it had to happen....I just wanted to see her at the interview stage as her CV was a hoot and Margaret would have taken her to the cleaners......Natasha next please God (or Lordalan...)