Blimey, reading that last page I thought I'd stumbled into Pedant's Corner by mistake. I am a pedant at heart too (less/fewer transgressions by newsreaders have me foaming at the mouth), but the practice/practise thing I'd clearly forgotten.
On the subject of tantrumming teens and tweens - I am wondering if there is something in the air. 10yo DD1 has been absolutely foul this week; I actually shoved her out of the front door at one point and left her to stew on the front drive as she was hurling shoes across the living room in a rage (after I'd completely unreasonably asked her to take a plate into the kitchen). Oh, you've so much to look forward to, Herbs.
I had a nice relaxing weekend at my Dad and Stepmum's. I'm not sure whether to admit to this, but DSM was throwing out some old clothes and I thought I'd have a quick rummage.......may I just point out she is a very stylish....er....74yo, with a large clothes budget.....anyway, I came home with all sorts of goodies - a Wallis jacket in a turquoisey tweed, a navy Laura Ashley chunky cardi, a Banana Republic cream lambswool poloneck, a Kaliko wrap dress, a cuddly alpaca jumper, a gorgeous black leather jacket and a couple of Per Una tops.
It felt wrong somehow, but hey, free clothes! She said "oh, I didn't know you liked wrap dresses; I gave a lovely Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress to the charity shop a couple of weeks back". Weep.