Crepeys do Christmas...

[oldqueenie]

Will this fit the bill. Dull but seasonal?

Is that cos you drink a lot Ruby

We have a wine shed and its very dark tripping up the path to it if you haven't collected enough on the first run!

Kitchen is fab... I have drawer envy... I used to have lovely drawers in my last house, all put in by us and just the right height, size etc... But now we have very old wooden cupboards where I regularly use a torch to find the right foodstuff...
I would love to meet up... I will watch dates with interest...

Brora sale parcel arrived. Pleated dress is actually v nice and will be good for work in the summer, lovely cotton and colour. It's this one. Also didn't realise that a pair of trews I ordered are in the same fabric as the shorts I bought dd, so we will have to go out matchy matchy one day to make everyone barf. Cute, eh? Otherwise I'm only sending back one pair of trousers which are hilariously large and not a very nice colour. New (cheap but posh) clothes. Yay!

I had a look at that Brora stuff, wilbur - some good bits and pieces and a nice substantial discount! I need new work trousers but I'm wary of buying them online as I'm very picky about fit.

I very nearly bout a dress from Bora last night £19 down from £109 but a. Wasn't sure it would fit b. I am trying not to buy unless absolutely necessary (damn you amazon, stop sending me links to those boots.....)

Please note Crepeys I am generally literate, but typing on an iPhone keyboard is a pain....

CV - the trousers that I am keeping are beautifully made, but I would say their sizing is a bit generous, especially around the waist. On one pair it doesn't matter as they are pull-on harem-style ones (which I planning to wear with heels rather than use as an elasticated stepping stone to a onesie) and will sit slightly low on my hips, but on the other pair, a more jeans-style, I am going to have to take the waist in a bit at the back. Having said that though, the back bit of the waist sits nice and high but the front is lower which is great - they look well-cut but without my vast rump sticking out of the top. They are long in the leg too, which would be good for you. Trousers are a 'mare online, I agree, I am also very picky and save my splurge budget for good trews and buy cheap tops. Which is why so few of my sweaters actually reach my wrists.

Ooh wilbur, I like that dress. Not that I need a dress, or have any money. I am MASSIVELY overdrawn, and my main client is being very tardy paying me, saying they have cashflow issues. Well, so do I matey.

Wow, never been on Brora before, but great sale.....Just bought these for work. And some dinky little pumps for summer time! Never bought trousers on line before, so time will tell....Can you tell I'm a linen fan

I have no money either; our post-Christmas Visa bill came out of the envelope and unravelled, cartoon-stylee, until it almost reached the floor.

One of my NY Resolutions is to "enjoy" the clothes in my wardrobe a little more, and resist the temptation to re-purchase items that I already have similar versions of. And stop buying "bargains" just because they're cheap. I have had a two-year clothes-buying splurge justified to some extent by losing all the weight (particularly off my bottom half), but I can't kid myself anymore, my weight has been pretty stable now for at least 18 months. That's not to say I won't buy anything (let's just be clear!).

Another NY Resolution is to get more sleep. I am going to bed on time but have spent many a night staring at the ceiling thinking about pointless stuff. I've no idea why my sleep has got so bad; I feel OK during the day at the moment but pre-Christmas I was like an exhausted little hamster on a wheel and really noticed the lack of slumber.

I'm wondering if it's because I decided to give up the pill a month or so ago? It has certainly unleashed hot flushes (although that's not such a bad thing; given our lousy central heating they are the only things keeping me warm in the evening), but AF hasn't been around for at least three months.

Evening, Hags. I got two dresses from Boden that I am going to keep, but I think the tops are going back. sales in Paris have just started and I haven't braved them yet.

I hope that they fit.

Am posting, thrillingly, from the train.

MI have fun!

Just realised that the coat I have been wearing for a few weeks has moth holes It is farly old, so although I love it, I didn't feel too bad about binning it. However, I then went to the cupboard to check my beautiful Damsel in a Dress coat that I got in the sales last year and have worn a couple of times this year, and it is covered in hundreds of mothholes

And I thought I was doing so well with stuff in my wardrobe and drawers.

Oh BTM - thats not good...

Ruby - I know the feeling......we have to wipe the dogs paws after every walk (and dp is rubbish at it), I have a pile of dirty walking boots in the hall (no room on the shoe rack - I need another one) and the fllor by the back door - well don't even think about it....

On the up side (I am trying to be positive) I smile when I think of all those 'AIBU to ask people to remove their shoes when they enter my house' threads, round here everyone does it without even thinking about it!

Still tempted by El Naturalista boots amazon keep flaunting in my face....could do with a new pair of long ones (my old long ones are old and need resoling....)

Ugh. For the past couple of years, DS has woken up between 7.30 and 8.30 in the morning. Very civilised, and taking after his mother in his slatternly ways. For the past 10 days he's been waking up at 6. Sometimes before.

I don't like it one bit. Trying to work out what's causing it. He's grown a lot recently, and has stopped having his milk at bedtime, so I'm wondering if he's hungry. He's also crazy for the computer, and plays games on it for a while until bedtime sometimes. So I'll knock that on the head, saying 'the computer is having a little rest', or some such...

In other news, and more proof that he's a genius, he is reading lots of words, some of them really long. He can read every single child's name at nursery (about 30), however they're written. He recognises 'London', 'station', and even 'Liverpool Street', along with words like 'of', 'your', 'play', 'exit', etc. So now of course I'm worrying that he hasn't learned via phonics, and will get confused when he goes to school...

Herbs, that is true genius.

I would like to put it on record that I spent this morning interviewing some fabulous people (adopters and foster carers) which is the sort of thing that reminds me why, at its best, I bloody love my job.

And then I came home via having my eyebrows threaded and picking up an adorable little secondhand vintage purse on a chain, for storing all the Stuff in within my bag. It's glittery. DD1, who has declared a love of kitsch 40s style, loves it. DD2, the girl who finds jeans a bit wussy compared to her beloved combats, despises it

Herbs Don't worry about the phonics - the school will should teach that anyway. He sounds as bright as a button!

But re the early waking, do something now (like get a clock for him, or give him extra food, or whatever) so that he knows he has to stay in bed quietly till whatever time

I have been looking at coats on the net and have found one to replace my "work" coat - hope it is as nice as it looks online

I am redoing my expenses spreadsheet after the sodding computer ate two months' worth of them. GRRR.

BTM - moths - what a pain! At least mice don't eat your clothes.

That coat is a great price and looks very warm, but I'm not a funnel neck fan - I rarely button coats up, then don't know what to do with all the spare flappy bits.

Herbs, keep doing what you're doing on the reading front, don't worry about interfering with phonics. I wish my DCs were keen readers (they can't be my kids; I read constantly and learned very early, encouraged by my mum, who used to ask me to look up the TV times on the back page of the Daily Telegraph when I was three).

I've been virtuous today - been for a run, cleaned the house. Funnily enough, I now feel knackered.

BTM, I can thoroughly recommend my smart new Uniqlo coat, especially now it's half blasted price in the sale! It gets compliments everywhere I go, and is v snug. No flappy collar business, either!

Re early wakings, I'm considering a glo-clock. As it doesn't get light until 7.30 or so, when he wakes up I suppose he has no idea if it's an acceptable time to get up or not, so just does. He does come into our bed sometimes, but just jiggles about, pokes me in the nose, chats, etc, so it doesn't make for a peaceful snooze.

I've got to babysit this evening, and forsee a damned good snooze on their sofa.

DP bought a book about the 5:2 diet. From flicking through, the science seems faintly convincing, and it's quite effective. I like the idea of being able to eat normally most of the time - less of a feeling of deprivation, perhaps. Howeve,r I realise from bitter experience that merely having the book will not miraculously make me thin. See also: exercise DVDs, too-small jeans.

Herbs, hope you get children who are in bed asleep - I decided it was time to leave our babysitting circle when I sat for 2 girls much younger than mine who would not go to bed easily...
The coat looks lovely, but maybe a bit too warm for me as I walk briskly to and from work!

I am feeling relatively positive about my WW ATM - have stuck to it for 6 days now, so will have to see if I have lost anything at all on Sunday!

Christ, so do I. I'm not in the mood for endless traipsing upstairs and being nice to stroppy kids.

I'm hoping/assuming they'll be in bed by the time I get there. She's an NCT chum, so I've known both her kiddies since birth, see them about every week, and have babysat the older one before. So hopefully I have a modicum of authority.