Crepeys/Hagsnet - come to the candlelight!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

As the last thread is now full...

Oh and strops, I had typed a paragraph about your son being a 'plucky' individual, and being glad to see that he hopped straight back into the saddle, but it got lost in an 'mn upgrade' moment.

Is it just us three here then?

Was really looking forward to seeing an old pal this afternoon, but her kids have been ill so she's blown me out. Blown out on Tuesday, too, when other old pal was scared to come to the zoo with me after the riots in Camden. Which I suppose was fair enough. So, operation 'make new friends and reacquaint myself with old ones' is only partially successful. Did you see I started a pathetic thread on it in 'relationships'?

So glad to hear your ds is fine, Herbs. Shame your social appmts have not gone according plan, though. I'm beginning to feel that I have no time for friends, which is probably why I haven't got any My "proper" ones all live so far away that it's a major expedition to see them and our dcs are all different ages, which doesn't always work. Haven't seen my bestest friend in 5 years. Because of various things, we don't even talk much on the phone, not least because once we get on the phone, we don't tend to stop quacking for 2+ hours and neither of us can afford the time.

Talking of time: my mother is here to referee the fighting between the dcs so we can get some work done. Better crack on (but it's v. v. v. dull, dammit).

Btw, have the Parasites arrived yet, MrsS?

My concentration is not very good today. I blame the half bottle of wine I had last night to recover from the WW2-themed day out at a local castle which we went to yesterday. ds found himself a bunch of new friends and helped orchestrate a battle (v. normal for him). He went in costume and another boy (also in costume) approached him saying "Do you want to play with us? You have a gun and that will be v. useful." See, this is the way to make new friends dd was not so pleased. They made her be "The Enemy". She said "I am 13. I am a grown-up. I cannot do this stuff."

Well, I survived the camping But can't believe I missed the riots (just round the corner, gulp)

Have tried to read through what I have missed - nipple hairs, failing eyesight and friends or the lack of them seem to be the main themes.

Herbs, well done to you and your lovely DS - how is he now?

Hope you had a lovely holiday, bTM. Excellently timed to miss the riots.

I have an excess of work until the middle of next week so managed to persuade my mother to have the dcs for the w/e. This is not a frequent occurrence, not least because she is 81, but also she believes that dcs must be gainfully occupied at all times and fed shedloads of homecooked food, so exhausts herself looking after them.

And so - obviously - I have got plenty of work done today, but tonight we are off out The last time dh and I had an evening out was, er, a year ago.

Oooh, have a great night - where ya goin? I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks time when the out-laws will have the DC for 5 whole days and we go to a nice hotel for 3 nights

My mum is 80 and there's no way she could look after my 2 for more than half and hour, though she could probably manage DD on her own for a weekend. She gets exhausted when we all go to visit, even though we take them out most of the time and I do lots of the cooking!

We are off to a Thai restaurant, which I wouldn't be able to get the dcs to go anywhere near as they don't like Thai food, and then on to a music pub. Oh yes, living it up, we are .

My mum is quite a kick-ass 81 year old. As my dcs well know. They tend to behave v. well for Granny... (don't think some of her management techniques would be sanctioned by the MN jury).

Sounds good to me

I have to say that the plus point about going camping for nearly 3 weeks is that when the DC get home, they LOVE being in their bedrooms And they are so used to no TV that we haven't had any moaning to watch some today!

Hello, hello, I'm back from my week of PGL fun. Best holiday ever, and that's the view of the DCs too, I can heartily recommend it to anyone with kids between the ages of 7 and 15 (after that they are waaay too cool to be seen abseiling with mum and dad).

The accommodation was Spartan but we were far too busy to spend much time in it. Also, a week of cooked breakfasts and carby dinners has left a small tyre around my waist, but boy was it fun. Even activities like raft building, which I was dreading, turned out to be an absolute giggle (and yes, we ended up in the lake). I am about to start recruiting for another trip next year.

Anyway, must go, DH has summoned me for curtain pole hanging assistance. Laters crepeys!

I have arrived home. So has the extra half stone I acquired while out of the Smoke; and the email saying I have an interview tomorrow (for a six month part-time gig at one of the big housing charities - I can do this, v easily, as used to run commmunications at another big homelessness charity, but cannot fit into interview trousers ); but not DD2's suitcase.

DD2 is only eight. Must remember, in future, that bonkers normal eight year olds cannot be expected to remember their own luggage.

OTOH thank heavens for sociable children who have friends whose parents will take them tomorrow while I attempt to present simulacrum of employability.

Good luck tomorrow, MI. Don't forget, main thing clothes-wise for an interview is the upper half, the lower half will be hidden under the table. There must be a decent shirt-thing in your wardrobe.

Cointreau, where was the PGL hol? DH is keen to do an activity holiday with the DC......

Good Luck MI Where is the suitcase?

There's a PGL centre in Sussex. DS went there for his end of year 6 trip. It rained the whole time but he loved it.

Suitcase is in Devon, chez Fennel (the wonder of MN, eh?). I will dig out a respectably nooood bra and wear that under a linen top. You're right. I did once have an interview without a desk (for which I was wearing bright pink wool trousers) but that was, ahem, 22 years ago. (And I got the job.)

Pink wool trousers. Do they still fit? Fingers crossed!

Good luck for the interview, MI.

Enjoyed a very nice proper night out with dh last night, but this meant that we have spent today working with filthy hangovers. We retrieved the dcs from Granny's this evening. Everybody had a great w/e. Result! (OK, we could have done without having to work today, but hey, we're taking a day off next Wed instead).

Glad to hear that PGL hols were a great success, CV. I'm sure my dcs would probably like that kind of thing too, but I could no more get my dh to go on an activity holiday than I could get him to run round town with his pants on his head.

The PGL place we went to was Barton Hall, near Torquay. Not all the places do family breaks; some just cater for school trips etc. There is another place in Hindhead; the DCs are already booked in there for a 3-day unaccompanied break at half term (with six mates).

There were no doubts beforehand about DH's Action Man proclivities, but I think the DCs were surprised that I agreed to go. I'm very proud to say that I took part in all the activities. I've learnt a few things about myself - I'm quite good at climbing, not scared of abseiling, rubbish at archery, find fencing rather dull, and seriously need to do some work on my pelvic floor before I go near another trampoline.

By far and away the best aspect of the holiday was that between activities the DCs were able to come and go as they pleased; if they wanted to go for a swim, or join in the karaoke, off they went, leaving the grown-ups in the bar peace.

MI, we also appear to have left 8yo clothing in Devon; DD2 went to bed in tears after discovering her favourite hoody never made it home with us. Anyway, good luck with the interview tomorrow.

I am in Tokyo and it is hot, hot, hot. I didn't think it was possible for a human to sweat this much and not internal combust. Dp, ds and I are in the smallest hotel room in the world and the aircon is worse than useless. Dp and I are reminded of holidays long ago when we were much younger. Dp says we have become newly poor!!
Glad to hear everyone is well. Death of three less than mile from where I live in Brum so all a bit scary before we left.

Welcome home, wandering Crepeys! Good to have you back.

Sad day yesterday. One our cats had been off colour for a few days, sleeping in weird places, not eating, etc. Yesterday morning he was much worse, all weak, panting, staring eyes, couldn't really walk. So I took him to the vet hospital, where the guy said he had a huge growth in his abdomen. The plan was to stabilise him, then operate today to see what was there, and hopefully remove it. I left Arnold there, hoping all would be well. At 3 I got a call from another vet, saying he'd got loads worse, may not survive the day, and probably wouldn't survive an operation. Even if he did, the tumour was so big - and had probably ruptured - that post-op prognosis was very poor. So we decided to put him to sleep.

We went back to say goodbye, and had to take DS. He didn't understand, of course, and while we were blabbing over the cat - panting and glassy-eyed, with an oxygen mask - he trilled cheerily 'Bye bye Arnold!' That even set the nurses off.

So now we're down to one cat. I feel guilty, though. The remaining cat was always my favourite, and I didn't give Arnold as much loving. Maybe I should have spotted something was wrong earlier.

Can't yet believe he's not here. It was all so quick.

By 'blabbing' I of course meant 'blubbing'. New computer with its new-fangled auto-correct.

Oh dear Herbs. I'm sure he didn't die of a lack of love, and I'm not sure how you would notice something like that in a cat. It sounds like it was very quick.

No more riots here in London AFAIK, thankfully. However, the main shopping street here got trashed and is covered in boards, one with post-it notes from locals saying how much they love the area which is lovely.

CV, they have PGL in France too - just googled it

Aww Herbs, sorry to hear about the cat. At least it wasn't prolonged for the little chap. I'm dreading the moment when our rabbit eventually shuffles off to the great dandelion patch in the sky (he must be about 5 already).

I have taken the plunge and finally booked a doctor's appointment to address my peri-meno woes. My regular doc (who's a chap, about my age, who saw me through three PGs) is on holiday so I'm booked to see one of the female docs, who I haven't met. I'm kind of hoping she isn't some fresh faced young thing who regards menopause as some distant and inconsequential cloud on the far horizon. We'll see what she suggests.

CV, I know not everyone can / wants to do HRT, but I am definitely feeling better and I have almost completed two packs - may just be coincidence of course! Hopefully she will do blood tests for you as part of my problem was / is very low iron which also makes you feel knackered!

Ahh everyone sorry for the various woes. We went to Kamakura yesterday (beach) this is NOT the place for a crepey with a bad body image. Surrounded by lithe twenty somethings in their itsy bitsy bikinis and flat stomachs. Blackduck strolls out in costume that has long legs ffs - I swear there was 30 seconds on stunned silence I don't think my attire will be the next big thing on Japanese beaches inwardly I was mutter 'I had a bode like that once and I still didn't flaunt it'
Herbs we had similar With our cat - ds too young to remember. Our question is how long will the hound last!?

BD, you are just going to the wrong kind of beach.

We had a fantastic day out with friends yesterday - lovely sunny day, long bike ride round coast, picnic, swimming and sand on the beach, yummy ice-creams, rock-pooling and fish and chips on the beach as the sun went down.

And I was one of the thinnest and best swimming cozzied (IMHO ) on the beach. It was, of course, a British beach!