We May Be Crepey.......

[CointreauVersial]

.....but we are still Stylish (if not Beautiful).

Living - I like all the items you linked to a couple of pages back. We may be more inclined on this thread to waffle on about our daily trials and tribulations (with the occasional foray into deep and philosophical), but are always happy to comment on potential style buys.

I did like that 13 tasks article and chuckled at the outfit he bought for £13. Interesting that this is almost exactly DS's age. He would probably give most of the tasks a go, except the piano one. I did laugh at the outfit he bought.

School gate catwalk? I'm glad to say I neither notice nor care what everyone wears at school - most people tend to turn up in whatever they are wearing for the day (work clobber for me 4 days out of 5). Don't be intimidated by those cliques.

Ruby and Stropps, I feel your pain too re DD's! Stropps, I am in aw of you taking the fuse out of the TV - way to go!
I took DC to Westfield shopping before the Paralympics yesterday (which was amaaaazingly good), spent an hour with them in Primark and then rushed up to JL to get DD measured up for new bra's(as I think she is now a 28D). Bad move - she completely refused and had a massive toddler tantrum (twice) which both embarrassed and enraged me, so leading to a mum melt-down too Afterwards I realised that my overreaction was probably because
a) it was horrendously busy in Westfield
b) I had a headache
c) I knew DD didn't want to get measured, but wrongly thought if I sprung it on her she wouldn't have time/face to argue. How wrong!
d) I am feeling stressed about working full-time and so not having the flexibility of shopping during the week, etc and not sure when I can next take DD to get measured
e) I was feeling sorry for myself as it was my birthday and I wanted it all to be perfect

After a coffee and a Krispy Kreme, we made up (DS had been giving DD a hard time for upsetting me, and she was pretty apologetic!) and met DH and had a brilliant time in the park/stadium

Anyhow, my problems with DD are small-fry in comparison to yours fellow crepeys.

Happy birthday BTM - belated.

BTM - happy birthday.
Stopps and Ruby sorry to hear things are tough at the mo...my brother once cut the plug off the TV and another time heaved it out into the garden :)
We currently have no internet (being sorted tomorrow) and the TV is still in a box...dp and I actually listened to some music at the weekend and talked
Went back to old area last night (dinner with some friends), very odd.....our buyer is bing a tad needy and I am getting lots of emails - I am rapidly approaching the 'you bought the house, work it out' stage......
I gave boiler instructions (followed by RTFM, and a gas telephone number) and a link to curtain hooks yesterday
School tomorrow and I am taking Friday off as the weather is good, and I am hoping dp will have stumped up the cash for my bike!...

FFS. I've been low(ish)-carbing, counting calories and exercising for two weeks. At least. I'd lost four pounds. I went to Southend yesterday, and the mere presence of all those donuts and ice creams (of which I had NONE) has put on three pounds. How the hell????

I have also had the odd error in low-carbing - ie eating cheese and ham for lunch, then having a roll as well. But haven't eaten more than 1600 cals a day for weeks. It's Not Fair.

Happy birthday for yesterday, BTM! And glad you had a nice time at the Paralympics. It's not nice for any of us having to deal with giant toddlers (aka teenage dds), but it doesn't half buoy me up hearing that other people are having meltdowns about this issue too (sorry ) . I was up past midnight thx to dd as well. Gah.

Fuse still out of the TV and it's staying that way until both dcs have got back into term-time routine AND are helping with household tasks when asked. As DH is about as useful as the dcs around the house, I have reached the end of my (not very long) tether and am taking steps to change our domestic culture.

Thx for the link to Winston's Wish, Crem. I investigated the organisation a few years ago, but dd flatly refuses to have anything to do with anything like that. I am, perhaps somewhat controversially, of the opinion that her current behaviour doesn't have all that much to do with bereavement, but is more to do with her inheritance of self-destructive and utterly arsey genes from both parents.

Oh herbs, that is v. frustrating. Those 3 lbs must surely only be fluid though. Either that or you need some new scales :)

BD, I second Ruby. I mean - curtain hooks?? WTAF?

I feel fat. And thirsty. The two may be related.

As for your house business, maybe if you were desperate to move it wouldn't have to be perfect, but as it's more of whim (am I right?), it should really be. Or something.

Agree with Herbs...
Perfect doesn't exist. We wanted to move, the area is spot on and in that respect I know it was the right thing to do, the house? Meh, less so. I am not convinced, I may grow to love it once I have eradicated the previous owner..... But most of us have a limited budget, what I really want here, I most assuredly can't afford :)

I think others are right re perfect not existing but if you're thinking of moving because you fancy a change rather than having to you've got to be pretty keen on the house to make it worthwhile! Moving is always a real stress and a hassle and the cost is eye watering... keep looking until you've found something you really really like.

oh and much sympathy to fellow mothers of teenagers. 2ds s here rather than dds... the competitiveness and bickering and physical "play" that gets out of hand.... it really is like having hulking toddlers some of the time. Sometimes I truly despair. The rest of the time they are very lovely though. They've just set off for first day back at school and I feel a bit sad the hols are truly over. We had a good summer. The loveliness outweighed the awfulness!

Oh I understand the 'now or never' - that's where dp had got to, we had to get out of the area (not the house) or that would be it. New house is not my dream house either, and in terms of mortgage is only slightly more than we were paying (but back to 17 years, when we were 10 years off paying it off). I think we will move at least one more time (possibly two) - a final move to the coast when ds leaves home, possibly once more in this area...
OQ is right the stress is only worth it if you really really like the new house, or, like us, its a location move....

There is never a perfect house IMO, unless you have a bottomless pit of funds. You just have to decide which compromises you are happy to make.

In our case, the house is ucking fugly from the front, and has suffered some slightly dodgy construction shortcuts, but it is in a lovely village, perfect size and layout and, with our budget, was the best we could get.

I'm very of your lack of mortgage, Ruby. We have 21 years left on ours. But we'll be staying put until there has been a sizeable decrease in the number of children in residence, then our priorities will be different. Are all yours still at home, Ruby?

I've been nervously reading about all these teen girl traumas - DD1 is 11 and is currently going through and "angelic and mature" phase; most enjoyable (especially as DD2 is whingeing for Britain at the moment). We spent a backbreaking hour last night shifting furniture so she has a desk in her room for that all-important secondary school homework, and she tried her new uniform on and pranced round the house. Surely she'll never change?

ruby you can't be that crap at it if you have managed to be mortgage free :)

Ruby - surely you should be downsizing at the earliest opportunity, or your offspring will still be lounging about emptying your fridge and filling your laundry basket in their 30s?

I went off to university, and by the end of the first term my bedroom had become a study. DMum wasn't taking any chances!

Oh, and Happy Birthday for yesterday, BTM. Any nice prezzies?

Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes everyone No prezzies, just money - much safer bet from DH and DM I was supposed to be spending at least some of it yesterday at Westfield, but what with the hoardes and DD/my meltdown, I lost the oomph!

First day back at work was a bit frustrating as we spent the entire morning revisiting our vision, etc as our deputy is now "interim head" and so there wasn't enough time to sort out our rooms... it's a right old mess and we apparently have (someone I know coming in to do yoga all day (children's yoga) and then the kids start on Thursday.

But DD was a star today and stayed in all day for a fridge handle menderer and the replacement chest of drawers. She looks really pissed off now (as I would be) but seems to have planned a day out tomorrow - she's not in till Friday!!! DS just went round to his mates all day. Males!

Oh and ruby, maybe my DD isn't such a wierdo then for not wanting to get her bra size measured up if yours wouldn't do it either. She is doing a good Babs Windsor in a little vest top today