Stepping into 2012 in style, remaining WISE and AVID all the while

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New thread.

Hi looby, such lovely news! Great to hear from you!

Good idea emo. I can't do 'dry', but will do no sugar, once the Christmas cake is finished, and have bought the Food Doctor's seeded pittas for my January lunches. Need a low fat high protein filling for them. Any suggestions welcome. Egg and... tuna and...prawn and...hummus?? Does all hummus contain garlic? Don't want to be the French teacher with garlic breath!!

looby huge congratulations..when is your baby due?

fleecy I am going to enjoy your Spain plans vicariously..what an adventure!

I am definitely up for a Dutch MU..I'm picturing us all dressed in pink pajamas and curlers in the hotel singing into our hairbrushes(or would it be BBH?!)

Hi looby, congratulations on your news.

emo DH has decided to have a dry January too, and then to possibly extend till I have the baby....we shall see!

bloss, you could make your own hummus without adding the garlic. What about chicken and avocado as a filling?

reine, shame about the ear but hey, could happen to anyone.

Feeling stuffed full with roast chicken and now laying on the sofa with C bebbies providing some childcare for me. Was hoping for some fresh air later, but its pouring it down.

Wonder how ollie is?

Am impressed by everyone reigning themselves in for January..pre the girls DH and I would cut the booze/cheese and coffee but the coffee is definitely an impossibility for me these days when early wakenings are always a possibilty

verity I'm just shaking my head at your in-laws rudeness..your DH needs to come up with something good!

looby, lovely to hear your news, when are you due?

Bloss, I am in lesson planning mode today, are you all prepared for the new term? I was very impressed at you downloading French A level texts on to your Kindle.

When are the Christmas decorations coming down then? Do you all wait 'til Twelfth Night?

Verity, luck escape with the Next and Debenhams vouchers I say .

Emo, good idea, easier if you both do it, definitely. LoL at Bloss and I can't do 'dry' . Love the sound of your raspberry pink scarf btw - link?

lucky escape even Verity

Looby congratulations!

Pickled not sure, probably take the tree down next weekend.

Reporting in from central London! Have seen Russell and Flavia and he shook DDs hand . Great atmosphere and a good showcase for Londons diversity. It is now officially pouring and we have given up after seeing about half the parade and retired to the hotel, which is only about 1/4 mile from thermite thankfully! We have been upgraded from a studio to a two room suite and dd is like a pig in poo- currently curled up in her own double bed watching her own wide screen tv. Off for a swim when she has finished watching Prince Caspian. If the rain lightens we may venture out of the hotel later for lights and dinner.....or we may just stay here!!

Looby- how lovely to hear from you and what great news. Do keep in touch!

Im here, well, i say im here but not really with it iykwim!
Had lovely meal with DH and lots of fireworks and champers at midnight. Got to bed at 3am but ended up with mild food poisoning/bug in the early hours so feeling a bit washed out (great way to start the weight loss regime tho). DH ill too so def not alcohol related - honest! In fact i was quite restrained in the end, just didnt feel like drinking.

Glad you all had nice sounding NYEs. Ants DH and i have been playing tag team parenting today too! Smiled at your clean sheets and polish, just the sort of thing i do (when im not feeling this queezy)!

Lovely to hear from you again Looby and congratulations on your pregnancy. Are your DC thrilled too?

Our tree is coming down in the next couple of days Pickled. Some Dutch burn theirs in the street on NYE.

Am feeling the need to embark on a big room by room declutter/sort out. Im feeling in a post Christmas fug already, hate Januarys!

Thermite= parade route

Congratulations looby Lovely to hear from you again, especially with such wonderful news. If you could PM me your address I'll send a parcel this week. Exciting!

reine love the dyed ear - too funny!

I am planning to cut out sugar too bloss but not until all the cake is gone

Our decs are coming down tomorrow evening as our cleaner comes on Tuesday mornings so I want the place nice and bare (as bare as it ever is, anyway!) for her.

Tree came down today. Intact did it first thing with my mad tidying!!

ny sounds like you're having a wonderful time!

Tree and Decs down on the 3rd before return to work and school.

I also laughed at the ear Reine.

Zembo- thanks so much for organising the Midlands MU lunch. Will put it in the work diary when I get home tomorrow evening!

Fleecy good point about the cleaner. We do Tuesdays too, might take them down tomorrow.

Put a few photos on profile. Not terribly exciting, but took me so long to upload thought I should at least say they were there .

Thank you so much for the congratulations- v kind after such a time!
The baby is due in June so I will have one in each season if all goes well.

reine- v funny re your dyed ear. I had had a dyed forehead before now (lots of foundation needed for a couple of days)!

Congratulations on getting back into teaching, bloss ad pickled, I think. It all sounds so seamless!

ollie- sorry to hear about your bad tummies. Such a shame after a lovely meal :(

NY- hotel sounds fab. I saw a nice looking place down my way recently and thought of you. Will try to link later.

marsha- am I allowed to see your pics pretty please?

Fleecy- I will PM you.

Marsha your coat looks fab - you are so slim! As are all you ladies, by the sound of it - I will feel gargantuan at the next MU, and I'm a 10! that being said, one of my many resolutions is to get back to an 8. Sigh.

Thanks so much for the offer fleecy but I've only got 4ish weeks to go and want to get rid not add! Already excited about clearing space for some lovely new things and even looking forward to wearing the new pyjamas and cosy cardigans I've got ready for the first few sofa weeks. Normally I don't like Januarys either ollie but this year it all feels very exciting.

After our non event of a NYE we have had a lovely new year's day. DS got up at 8.30 and has been a well-behaved delight. We had breakfast out, then the park, a huge lunch at my lovely mum's and then a bit of browsing for my new car on the way home. DS and I cuddled up on sofa watching 'The Snowman' (again) while it pours outside.

notyummy it sounds like you're having a great time. Love an upgrade! Which hotel are you staying in and would you recommend?

Hope all of you feeling jaded are now on the mend. Lovely that tomorrow's a holiday too. I adore having DH off work, probably because it's so rare. With DS he didn't take a single day off (I conveniently gave birth Sat am) so it'll be interesting to see what happens this time...

By the way, love love the name Lara Genievive... I wanted Lara for DC2 but DH vetoed owing to ex-girlfriend!

Looby have added you. Nice to have you back on the thread.

Amber thanks! But I am feeling a bit podge after being seduced by the amazing chocolates at Fassbender & Rausch.

Blue sounds really lovely. I am really enjoying New Year's Day too.

The children stayed up so late last night after falling asleep in the taxi that dh and I hope to have a quieter, more relaxed time tonight.

Looby, that's great, congratulations!

Marsha, lovely photos.

Ollie, get well soon. Have you tried the BBH yet? I had a go this morning, my hair is a lot better than usual. Need to practice using it a bit more.

Great photos Marsha. So of your legs!

Sounds like you're having a wonderful time NY - it's great how many experiences you give your DD.

I'm also looking forward to midlands meet up but am of course now worrying looking like a blob in between the wendyesque blue and zembo and shredded to perfection NY.

Congratulations and welcome back Looby - I have some things I can send you in a few weeks time. Am slightly freaked out that I can now say I'm having a baby next month. Nowhere near ready.

Ollie - sounds like the evening was good although what a shame about the stomach issues. Just consider it a detox for the New Year.

Pickled - are you starting next week? How exciting!

Our tree is coming down tonight as we're recommencing kitchen & decorating work next week.

Sorry, fleecy, about sp re. Genevieve. Am ! Could I cheekily ask what other names you considered seeing as you have such lovely taste? I know I should be on the baby names thread but they're not so friendly over there!

icey I am not Wendy-esque at the minute; I am waddling! I too am not ready and have vowed to pack my hospital bag this week and dig out the maxi-cosi. Mega Boots trip needed too.. and for once I don't mean OTKs!

looby congratulations!

Are you up to date on Assessment for Learning and Thinking Skills pickled? Some good stuff available on the TES website and I have just ordered this.
I go back on Tuesday. I aim to Shred and do some prep tonight; more tomorrow!
Sorry you're poorly ollie. Good weight loss aid though!
Tree down tomorrow here.
Off to look at marsha's photos!

Lovely photos marsha - you all look so stylish! The coat and scarf combo is awesome.

Exciting times blue. I unfortunately reversed over DD's maxi cosi (she wasn't in it at the time thank goodness) so need to make a trip to my sister's to borrow hers. Hoping to escape house chaos for a long weekend there in a couple of weeks time.

Has anyone used these with babies? One of my abiding memories of DD's early weeks is constantly doing up the poppers on her babygros wrong during the night changes. Perhaps I'm just incompetent though