Crepeys/Hagsnet - the moonlight beckons!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Because moonlight gives you a nice glow and doesn't show up your wrinkles or grey hair.

Eh????

I Spend Too Long In The Office (aka as attending work functions after hours, which he knew I was going to, but had forgotten). I had cooked casserole already, which just needed heating up, but he had forgotten that too (and hence it didn't go in the oven until late), so it was My Fault that we didn't eat until late, and the children were late going to bed yet again.

FFS

Because, of course, my presence is absolutely imperative to have a conversation about extraordinary rendition (DD1's homework). Particularly when everything I came up with, I was told She Can't Put That In.

Words fail me.

MrsS on your behalf. Although if I come in once more from work and dp says 'what are we having for dinner' when he' been in the house all day I may well kill. We are tidying house ready for EA - so I'm in my 'do I really want to do this' phase. The thought of packing up fills me with dread. Had feedback from EI test yesterday - this is part of a management course I have to do, and I am a bit about it.

Oh yes, ha ha - "The what are we having for dinner then?" question, as you walk through the door... like the sight of my presence triggers hunger pangs?

MrsS, a version of that happens in our house regularly. On Saturday morning it was DH expecting me to trawl the house in the 10mins before I was leaving, to find him a rucksack to carry DS's stuff to footy in as I was taking mine (which he usually uses)

BD, what is EA? East Africa?
And what is the EI test - emotional intelligence? Was the feedback not to your liking?

Oh god yes, the 'where is...' question. I now say 'where did you last put it' as I am sick of dp and now ds thinking I know exactly where everything is!

:) EA - Estate Agent.....we are not off to East Africa (or East Anglia for that matter).

EI - yes emotional intellengence - didn't surprise me, but I am dubious about the relevance to a management course. Some people are empathisers and some people aren't - doesn't make one a better manager than the other. I am, however, apparently not happy - which is very true.....

I have typed out a "suppers" list - this is divided into "easy" and "hard" sections. Whoever is in the house at the relevant time has to pick something from the list, examine the contents of the fridge, freezer and larder and get on with producing something edible for all of us. Obviously ds is currently exempt from this, seeing as he is still only 6, but dd and dh have now got no bloody excuse to sit around waiting for the cooking fairy to reappear. This works!

I have also perfected the ultimate "your stuff is your responsibility" meltdown. Mind you, I have probably shortened my life by 10 years whilst working on it.

Oh Stropps am liking that idea.....
ds has lost his fleece I have said if he can't find it, I will replace this one, but after this any further replacements required due to being 'lost' (i.e. too bloody lazy to pick it up) will come out of his money.

Forgot to mention: on my "do your own effing cooking" list I found it important to mention overall prep and cooking time. I have a "Quick" section and a "40 mins plus" section. I consider this all very educational for the dcs

Sounds great - and could possibly head off the 'I didn't want that' that occasionally gets bandied around.....

Strops, I am also likeing that idea. What kind of recipes fo you have in there?

Ha, re: recipes, this where it gets embarrassing They are all v. basic, balanced meals, but you could not call this food exciting.

Quick section
e.g. Tuna and pasta salad (including green salad veg and sweetcorn)
Scrambled eggs with rice and mixed veg (basically ends up looking like egg fried rice but is less hassle)
Sausages with couscous, spinach and tomato
Salmon fillet with boiled potatoes (remember to get mint from the garden" and veg.

That kind of thing. But I know that even dh can't weasel out of cooking these things.

Sadly, even they would prove a culinary challenge to DH who burns fish fingers and overcooks filled pasta, but the DC might be able to manage them

Ds's absolute fav meal at the moment is rice, smoked haddock, scrambled egg and peas - dead easy and even dp can do it....we then spice ours up with chillies and some other veg he won't touch.

He over cooks pasta ?! How? Has he not heard of a timer?

Of course there is the old favourite: pasta twirls with pesto, peas, ham and parmesan. Dh can manage that. We don't do spicy at all. Chilli hurts. Me no likey.

I have to say I quite enjoy seeing dh and dd dealing with ds's "Don't like it" when they experiment. Now they know how it feels

Oooh BD, DS and DD would like that too, especially with the chili!

Timer?

It's fresh filled pasta that cooks in the blink of an eye. DH doesn't do pratical tasks quickly and he cannot multi-task. Makes cooking very difficult! He likes eating though!

My dress got compliments today just as well, eh?

Job and childcare both like slotting together a jigsaw puzzle made of jelly, but colleagues are so Very Nice that I shall, as the lady says, survive.

Is it still only TUesday? I have editing to do before DP's supper. I have to say that in light of this thread DP suddenly looks shiny and new. (MrsS and I have a bet on what it'll be tonight - yes, chicken, but not with chorizo, his usual fallback.)

Blackduck - ds1 is having to pay for various items that I am refusing to replace AGAIN this year. His 4th pair of school football socks, yet another lost ruler, and as a finale he has nibbled away at the edge of his protractor (he bloody chews everything, it's like having an enormous gerbil) to the point where you can't really see the lines accurately. So he is paying for those things and if he eats any more items of school kit, he will pay for those too, I am fed up.

As an aside to this, there was a note on a local site earlier today saying that someone's kid had lost their iPod Touch on Clapham Common and had anyone seen it (ha, yeah) before she bought the feckless, spoilt kid another one.

I'm liking the meals crib sheet. I am blessed with a dh who is an excellent cook, and ds1 is also keen to learn, but I need to get a better store cupboard/freezer going so that I can just point them in the right direction and let them get on with it. I have been offered the option to work more hours (yay) which I would like to do, but it will take some rearranging on the domestic front.

Wilbur - DD1 had a friend who jumped into a swimming pool with her ipod shuffle and phone in her pocket. Her mother replaced both with an iphone. DD1 commented sourly "E sees, E wants, E gets." Which was pretty true. She also had her ears pierced as consolation because she didn't win any prizes in a dancing competition. DD1 just got told she would need to try harder next time!

We had Dull Risotto tonight. I cannot be Effing Nigella every night.

MI - has parcel arrived yet?

dh needs to work on his portion sizes. dd is currently snarfing a pile of crispbreads loaded with peanut butter as tonight's supper was a bit nouvelle cuisine.
MrsS, your family are v. lucky that you are ever Nigella. Dull Risotto would be a highlight of the culinary month here. My children go into raptures if they get macaroni cheese.