La Creperie - Home of the Hags!

[QueenLush]

Are you all nursing hangovers or just clearing up the post Christmas mess?

I was going to say fingers crossed ruby :) Hope it all goes well. Yes, early is good, get it over and done with....

Noooooooooooooooo! Timing hey.

In teh words of Biff, Chip and Kipper, "Oh no!"

Good grief, Ruby, you are going to need a drink on Friday. What a week. Hope it gets better for you.

Not medically qualified or anything, but I can say that I splintered a bone in my wrist/base of thumb when I was 20 and didn't get it pinned (there was an option to do that at the time, but I refused) and have regretted it.

Re: birthdays - I will be 47 in about 2 weeks. Does that still count as mid-forties or will I then be in my late forties? (this is obvs v. important :))

And I thought having no fridge was bad

Will get the drinks lined up for you on Fri!

Huffy, I turned 47 last September. I am feeling it is late forties now

Oooh, Huffy we are nearly twins. I think we can string out mid forties for a couple more years yet.

I am up at sparrow's fart with a slight hangover (I know, I know) packing madly for Eurostar. Something I should have done last night, but I was out getting drunk

Good luck today Ruby

I'm planning to be mid-forties until I'm 49 and 364 days.

Mild hangover here, too. Had committee meeting here last night, and had to break out the wine before anyone had even arrived. Then drink a bit more to toast the return of MasterChef to our screens as we watched it on record until 11.30. DP and I are obsessed.

Ruby your week sounds trying in the extreme. I have merely a double dose of soft play to endure.

Right, I'm still in my mid-forties then. For quite a while.

I am feeling virtuous because I went to an extra circuits class and did not have any crisps afterwards. OK, I still had wine and the only reason I didn't have crisps was because our cupboard was bare of salty snacks. But this is beside the point. :) I even managed those evil lunge jump things. And my knees are not even complaining (much).

I got back from exercise class yesterday to find that dd has now found her French exchange partner on FB and is now "friends" with about 30 French teens. Based on the exchange partner's name, I confess I was hoping for a modest and slightly retiring person who might need food to be halal. Ha! As she is wearing hardly any clothes in her FB profile pic, I suspect modest and slightly retiring were a bit off the mark. Am wondering what I have let us in for now. She is also a year older than dd. I am now remembering just how bloody bad my mother was at managing stroppy Euroteens and trying to convince myself that I can do better than she did.

Huffy - I don't envy you one bit. Teenage girls are a mystery for now, with DD1 not yet 11 and still very much a "little girl".

Ruby - how's the wounded soldier? If it were my son undergoing an op on his finger I would have to spend the next week or so mopping his brow and generally murmuring soothing and sympathetic things - he would be completely incapacitated. Hopefully yours is more robust, but roll on Friday indeed.

Sympathies on the heating front - we have a hot water issue at the moment, whereby, for some reason, the water sometimes just doesn't heat up for the morning, and we end up with cold showers (some "valve" issue, apparently). I have been trying since mid-December to get someone out to look at it, but I cannot for the life of me find anyone interested in doing the work; clearly they must all be swamped at the moment . I gave up on the first guy in early January, now I am being given the runaround by another one, who has til the end of today to confirm when he can come round and look at it, or I'll be looking for someone else. I wouldn't mind if they said up front "sorry, too busy at the moment", but it's all "I'll get back to you.....oh, I can't make it after all.....I'll call you back...possibly, one day". Grr...

Hope the op went well, Ruby.

I don't envy the exchange thing. Not sure I really fancy it. I found it quite an ordeal although my family were kind. A boy teased me about my trousers (toffee coloured, corduroy to set scene) which had been taken up over-zealously by my mum and asked if they were short to avoid getting them wet in London puddles.

The drums are in! They are behind me in my loft office. When I clear my throat they reverberate. We have just had an intoxicating thrash around and an hour disappeared in a trice. Prior to that I was just fearing they were a large and pricey folly and composing imaginary letters to Mr Angry next door ranging in tone from 'So I've got a drum kit, so what? You'll always be miserable and not like us so who cares a paradiddle what you think and why should I apologise' to 'please let me know how it's going for you. I will predominantly play them with the practice pads on, probably for up to an hour or so once or twice a day between 10 7. Let me know of any specific times you would like me to guarantee I won't play them'. I'm inclined towards the second but I don't want to be craven. She is OK but he is not even polite. Advice please.

Ruby, how did it go?

Maybe I'm not quite so keen on the exchange thing.... but I think I may have been the euro-teen on one of my exchanges

Duke, does she go out to work? Between 10 and 7 is reasonable. We have a lovely neighbour who actually enjoys hearing DS practise his cornet. Even at 8 in the morning before school - neighbour is an early riser and goes to the gym first thing, so we don't wake him

Ruby - glad ds home and feeling ok, sorry he had to have an op. Better to have a fully-mended hand though. I am watching ds2 at football and glad it's a bit milder today and I'm not frozen. Had a hell of a week and it's only Weds. Ds1 finishes his 11plus exams on Satrday morning, having done 2 and an interview in the past 10 days. Plus parents evening for dd, yet another ear appt for ds2 (doesn't need grommets even though he is deaf for weeks at a time, don't know what to do as he is getting a rep at school for not listening), trying to find new buyers for our house and in the middle of all that the Olympic people asked me to come to a volunteer training session in early Feb. Which is exciting as I'd love to be part of it, but the thought of the arrangements it will require for me to have ten days free in the school holidays makes my heart sink.

I do however have a working fridge and heating, so I should count my luckies.

Doesn't look like I will make Fri, boo, but if I can come for a drink, I will.

Ruby, glad to hear ds's op went well. Hope the painkillers keep working for as long as poss. Has he got metal bits??

Wilbur, you sound like you are having a gruelling week too. Have you told the SENCO (whatever they call them these days) at your ds2's school about his hearing issues? dd had glue ear and went deaf for approx 3 months every time she got a cold (still watches TV with subtitles most of the time) and I had the consultant write an official letter to the school so that they couldn't blather on about her not listening and had to ensure that she sat near the front and facing the teacher. For her, it was also sometimes a safety issue on school trips... Hope you will be able to make it on Friday.

Dukes, congrats on the new arrival. FWIW, I think approach (2) ought to work. Wishing you luck with the neighbourly negotiations.

Great news ruby

Wilbur, yes it's been a round of 11+ exams for DS's mates too. One has only done 2 full days at school in the last 2 weeks! So relieved that he has a sibling place at the local comp.
DS has hearing probs (as do I!) and had grommets fitted 18months ago, though the problems aren't nearly as bad as Huffy's DD's. I do wonder how much is due to not being interested in listening. The grommets seem to have made not a jot of difference! Hope you can make it for a drink on Fri.

Done both schools. Both nice but very different. Dp and I will need to have a long think. Looked at house again and I just kept thinking 'god it's small'. I know this is a comparison thing, but is seriously freaking me out.
It's like the difference between the medium skip and the mini skip they dumped on our drive.
Ruby, glad to hear went okay. Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday, but looks like I will only come for a drink as the packing calls...

BD, sounds like your good things come in small packages ATM?

So re: Friday - they wanted finalised numbers Can you let me know if you think you won't be able to make it. I'm sure it doesn't matter if you are coming for drinks only? Do you think I will have to tell them that too?

Evening all. We are gripped by tummy upsets in the Inferiority Complex but am hoping this will have improved by Friday.

I am 49 this year.

Good evening all. Sorry for total lack of participation, but have been laid low by foul throat virus which I have only now shaken off.....

MI, sorry to hear about your tummy upsets, how grim.

bigTillyMint, I'm afraid I have to duck out of Friday, SO SORRY. Having had all of last week off work due to throat nasty, now have work do this friday evening that I can't possibly get out of. Aurgh..... am gutted.

indeed. See you soon?

MrsS dropped in on me at work with HUGE bag of clothes for the Inferiorettes. She assures me she is planning to have a Temperate Early Night

I am up to my eyes in all the work I need to catch up with, so the LAST thing I want to do is something work related after hours....

(even without the crepey clash!)

MI, let's arrange an evening out soon.

Oh no, Orangina

MI, hope all tummy troubles will be a thing of the past v. soon. Harhar re: MrsS and Temperate Early Night

BTM, dd's ear probs most likely less bad than your ds - she was a borderline grommets case and I was told decide yay or nay on the op and I went for nay. Not sure it was the right decision, but it's history now. C'est la vie.

BD, am sure you will be a much faster packer if you have a little time away from it all on Friday :)