Crepeys Not Crêpes

[Cremolafoam]

Oi over here hags

Oh and MI and I had a lovely evening quaffing cocktails and eating Mexican food. And she was sporting an excellent hair cut (less brutal than the last time we met) and red lippy, and looked most glam. I looked tired and frazzled, as had had to cope with late train, AB and the unglamour of a Travelodge (it was like an isolation ward in hospital, all grey gloss paint and fake wood, and the bathroom had that non slippy floor you get in hospital).

I grew up in a village not dissimilar to yours, Strops. We had a pheasant reserve in ours, where we used to have a little shoot (you couldn't miss) to liven things up. My friend used to take them home to his Mum ("found them dead on the road"). The muck cart used to go down the (unmade) road every evening. We used to swim in the river unsupervised by adults. There was one shop in the village, which was (helpfully) a pet shop. When my father died, my mother sold the house and land to a developer and they have built nasty "executive" homes and got rid of the orchard. The houses have these hideous black and gold gates and it looks like something from Desperate Housewives.

I grew up in a village, and I live in a village. I'm a Village Person.

No news on my car yet, but I'm happy for now driving round in a car considerably newer and more flash than the one I left in bits by the roadside in Banstead. It beeps when you reverse, and even tells you when to change gear!

Herbs, the chap behind me who was hit head-on by Mr Dozy Volvo ended up in hospital, but luckily he wasn't badly hurt, just whiplash/shock. I'm going to pop back there tomorrow, mainly to take a Thank You card, a big tin of Celebrations, and a bottle of wine to the lovely people who looked after the DDs.

DH is back from Berlin tomorrow evening; it has been odd without him here for so long, although I have to confess I enjoy the quiet evenings once the DCs are out of my hair, and I can watch rubbish on TV and eat random stuff for dinner.

Apart from being born in and spending my first year in a city, I sized-up from primary school in a "village", secondary in a small town, university in a city to job in the capital!

TGIF! Off for my mammogram at 9, eek!

BTM - that's my progress exactly. Village -> small town -> city ---> megatropolis. Part of me feels I should 'move out of London for the sake of DS education, but then I remember that I hated living in a small town, especially during the Thatcher era when everyone was out for themselves, and it was all about status, etc. Any variation from the norm was viewed with great suspicion.

CV - you'd be proud of me. I've been low-carbing quite successfully (apart from yesterday), and have lost four pounds! Soon I shall be as sylph-like as your good self [creeps].

I have an appointment this morning to get DS a passport. We have to get it by next Friday as we're going on holiday on Saturday. There's a guaranteed week's turnaround. I'm thus nervous that I've cocked up the form in some way, and won't get his passport, and we'll thus not be able to go away, and it will be All My Fault.

I shall pop in to the shopping mall at Victoria to pick up a few holiday essentials...

Herbs, there's always a lot of panic amongst Londoners about moving out for better schools, but when we looked at the pro's and cons, we just couldn't do it

Good luck with the passport - one of my worst fears as we get to the airport is having a non-valid one!

I don't think we'll move out of London. It has too much going for it. And at the moment, DP's job would mean we couldn't go any further out than commuter-ville, where houses are equally, if not more, expensive, and I'd have to associate with Tory Wives.

BTM - good luck with the boob squeeze!

I now live in a village.... :) Have moved from a city. Buses are two an hour (I think), the Sunday papers are sold in the pub, we have a smal 'emergancy' shop, the milkman delivers alternate days.....
But we do have a hospital and things and ds is loving playing on the village green!

BTM - you look fab....I, on the other hand, look about 90 today (not sleeping - hot flushes appear to be back with a vengence...)

MrsS, the village where you lived must have had something going for it if a developer bought the land. The place where I grew up is very much in the middle of nowhere and still looks the same as it did 30 years ago as no one wants to move there. My parents sold the house back to the farmer on whose land it was originally built. We had no neighbours, as my father wasn't very keen on the rest of humanity. And db and I weren't allowed out by ourselves and were only allowed to socialise with certain people. There was something of an oppressive regime.
The only shop in the village was the post office which was run by the great-granny of someone I was at school with. It was in the front room of her little cottage and sold stamps, stale crisps and penny sweets. She did sell various other items but they were stored elsewhere in the house and needed to be fetched by "Bert", her equally ancient and extremely deaf husband. The service was not what you would call speedy.
I've lived in several cities and spent 5 years in London (6 if you count the year I spent teaching there and coming back down here at w/e), but need my countryside access too much and the Tube is icky as I hate big crowds.

PMSL at the idea of Catford Village

Am v flattered by MrsS' description of me as 'glam'. We had a most pleasant and not even overly alcoholic little soiree

I don't like the tube either Strops, but have had the realisation that I don't have to use it! I get the train and bus in rush hour, and leave the tube for out of hours...

One week into secondary school, and DD1 went in this morning with her skirt hitched up to her knicker line, and wearing mascara. DH is already polishing his shotgun.

Herbs - well done on the weight-loss, and lucky you, having a holiday on the near-horizon. Enjoy your last year of term-time-travel.

I lived in London for a couple of years pre-children (Barons Court and Wimbledon) but always felt like an alien, like I wasn't really at home. I couldn't contemplate bringing children up in a city, personally. Perhaps I'm a Tory Wife....

Anyhoooo.....it's my day off today, and I have planned a whole day of productive domesticity. Hemming and hanging curtains, customising a couple of charity shop items, a rare bout of ironing and (wait for it, excitement is building....) clearing out the linen cupboard which is bursting at the seams. If you see me on MN without good reason before 3pm tell me off.

Tilly - how funny that we had our mammograms only 5 days apart! I wonder if they do it by postcode?

I'm not moving out of London for the sake of my children's education. Where would I go? Back to my home town? (Winchester) ... it would just be like a sort of expat community from where I live now!

Going out to the shops now, must pop into Boots for a copy of their latest Health and Beauty mag .

Something mad has happened to me ... I've got my period. First one in at least 9 months. Had to scrabble around in the back of the cupboard to find some tampons. Must say I feel quite cheerful about it. The 9 months of pmt I've been suffering has all but gone away.

Christ. What a balls up. Rocked up to passport office with carefully countersigned form and photos. But I had the 'wrong' birth certificate. It's the only one we've got, but it doesn't have mine and DP's details.

I dashed home, searched frantically for 'correct' BC, couldn't find it, went to register office where we registered his birth, but as he was actually born in Hackney, had to go there for a duplicate birth certificate. Thank CHRIST they could do it, for a fee. Now have the blasted thing.

Now I have to go to Peterborough tomorrow to go through the application, and hope they can fast-track the fast-track service. If we can't get the passport in time, we can't go and I will feel DREADFUL.

Oh and CV - didn't mean to imply you're a Tory Wife! I guess my prejudices about small towns are deep-rooted...

Wrong birth certificate?? I didn't know there were right and wrong sorts. What a palaver. Fingers crossed that Peterborough can sort it out in time.

Tory wife I don't think so....

I had a 'notification of birth', which didn't include mine or DP's details. I dimly remember being told that we could pay extra for a full one, but I don't think anyone told me that this full one would be essential for life itself, and that the lack of it would cause such stress!

I may have to go back to P'borough next Friday to pick the passport up to ensure we have it for the flight. As if there's not enough to do for holiday prep.

That all sounds hideously stressful, herbs. I hope it all works out OK. I didn't have a full birth cert for dd until a few years ago when a relative pointed out to me that it was necessary. It obviously didn't used to be because I got her her first passport at age 3 without it.

BTM, hope the mammogram went OK.

CV, sorry but I'm sniggering at what one week of senior school has done to your dd1 . I found this to be a major benefit of the 3-tier system: the short skirts and mascara didn't kick in here until dd started upper school in Y9. She was bare-faced and happy in trousers all the way through middle school.

Herbs, agree with Stropps, how hideously stressful for you. We have full birth certs, but DH is still listed as not married to me on DD's as we got married 9mths after she was born. Not sure if it will ever be an issue!

Mammogram was fine - really nice lady (very well-endowed!) did it and I tried to look away rather than have the embarassment of seeing my fried eggs squashed even further! And I made the mistake of going into the sexual health clinic first. Oooh errr!

CV at your DD after one week - I'm sure it must have been at least 2 before DD turned!

And I've just realised that I have completely outed myself with the Boots mag. And I haven't even seen the picture yet!

I feel like such an arse for leaving it so late, but I didn't really. We booked the hol about six weeks before we were to leave, and at the time the passport office was saying it would take six weeks to get a passport. So rather than risk it, I phoned up to organise a fast-track version. The first appointment they had was weeks away, on 14 September.

I read and re-read the leaflet, and it didn't register what 'full birth certificate meant'.

In other news, I've seen some lovely ankle boots I might buy to help me over the trauma.

I have in my dim and distant past registered births and worked in a passport office. We got the DDs 3 copies of the long birth certificate simply because I had seen problems when people didn't have these (and just as well because the Child Benefit People managed to lose at least one of them).

I think I may need to get us new passports for the States as DH's and mine don't have a chip. Anyone know about this?

DD2 has come back filthy and with matted hair after a week in the mountains. DD1 has gone off to London to play football with the school. She is playing the school she really, really wants to go to if/when we go back to London. The only misgivings I have are the horrendous journey (tube to Baker Street and then school bus to Hillingdon).

Herbs - I'm sure the irony of the earliest fast-track appointment being weeks in the future wasn't lost on you....I'm sure the nice people in Peterborough will sort you out, even though you might end up spending rather more time in the place than you would like. Fingers crossed for you.

Anyway, share the boots! I bought these but unfortunately my heels lift out of them when I walk, so they are going back. I need more inspiration.

DH is due back in a couple of hours. I'm feeling most content - the house is tidy, the linen cupboard looks like an OCD-sufferer's wet dream, and the DCs are scrubbed and bedward-bound. The Friday night is going down well.

Hello - DREADFUL WEEK
On wine

Oh I didn't know about full BCs either, although I got Ds one because the short seemed so cursory compared to my handwritten scroll
Registry was at absolute pains to point out I couldn't change ds's surname - Dp and I not married, Ds has both our names NOT hyphenated. I am frequently asked at passport control if he is my child...,
Ds came back tired and happy with a bag full of wet clothes, had a fab time..,