Crepeys do Christmas...

[oldqueenie]

Will this fit the bill. Dull but seasonal?

CV I didn't even finish the first - thought it was utter shite. But what do I know?!

Just back from friends party - DH is trollied (started at 4 and was drinking with NDN who is twice his height...) and DD has been spotted with afore mentioned boy by the mums mafia. She was very

CV

Oh that's lovely... mine's asleep on the sofa and wouldn't notice if I was wearing a tassled bikini......

Had a lovely day day in Brighton and bought some skinny jeans in Urban Outfitters (mainly just to piss off dd1 who is 15 and regards it as HER shop!!!) and some leather gloves for £5 as I assume, no-one who actually is supposed to shop in Urban Outfitters wears leather gloves.....

On the leaving school early, I think it's fine as long as it's not a significant year... we took them out a day early last year and it was the end of Year 6, so he missed all the shirt signing etc... He didn't mind, but your might... Isn't one of yours in Yr 11 though, so, like me, they will have been at home since about early June.... Just check for proms etc..

Back to snow play tomorrow...

2nd birthday night out thwarted (yesterday norovirus, today bloody trains...) I despair.
Ds having major meltdown about feeling lonely (most children here have siblings), and the fact we don't play with him during the week......
CV glad yours notices, mine doesn't!
Ahh well tomorrow's another day, will spend time with ds and plan half term and maybe think about cutting hours or something.

Morning crepeys. We have been having fun in the snow this weekend, and will go out again later. Or rather I will take dcs out to freeze on the common again as dh has decided to go to the bike show at Excel. CV - well done on the skinnies looking so fine!

This week I have the most frustrating issue that I think is going to scupper a really fabulous opportunity to go to Washington in a couple of weeks for work. . I am a dual US/UK citizen, but my US passport has expired and I am only allowed to enter the USA on my US passport. So unless I can sort out a new or emergency passport from the Embassy here in the next week, I can't go. They have an emergency service, but it says life or death issues only, so I am trying to get though on the normal helpline (£1.23 per minute) but it keeps just saying that the call volume is too high and I should call back later . Am very cross with myself as I filled in all the forms last year to renew it, but didn't get around to getting photos and sending it off. The problem is that the emergency service, if I do get through to anyone who can help, requires proof of travel so I would have to have work book the flight but risk not being able to use it if they decide I don't qualify for an emergency passport. AAAARGH!

Can they not turn it around in a couple of weeks, Wilbur?

Why can't you go on your UK passport, Wilbur?

Because the Americans will string her up by her short and curlies in the arrivals hall and revoke her nationality, CV.

A friend of mine gets round this problem by keeping her US passport in her maiden name and her UK passport in her married name, and has been known to slip into the States on her UK passport when her US one had run out. But she wasn't born there, so she wouldn't have been "automatically American" at a casual glance.

Could you possibly go up tp the Embassy in person, Wilbur?

DS has been out sledging and snowballing with friends all afternoon. Meanwhile DH and I have spent the afternoon at DD's gym comp. She is NOT happy that she missed going out in the snow and both of them are moaning about having to go to school tomorrow. Grrrrr!

School is closed tomorrow due to snow. Cue much whooping from the DDs, and moaning from DH.

MrsS does that mean he's on duty?! We have cleared the school playground so I think we are open!!

S&B top tip - Primark fleece-lined tights. Got mine on now, and they are Supercosy. Though probably helped by the wine consumed today. Had pals round, and got through six bottles between five of us. Not unrelatedly, burned the delicious casserole I'd spent hours making. Thought it needed a bit of liquid boiling off, so turned the new induction hob up high. Cue unpleasant burned smell. Still, turned out with a nice smoky taste, and everyone had seconds, so no harm done!

I am back from Paris. Where I had the most faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous time and ate LOADS but it took me about EIGHT HOURS to get back....

Ooh, MI, I am v. of your w/e in Paris. Glad to hear you had a great time.

I suspect we have much less snow than you peeps in the SE, but everywhere is like a skating rink. Aside from the bits outside our house, which we have diligently cleared . Ds's bday today and we were supposed to be driving off to see my ma, but the country roads are all so icy it didn't seem like a great idea. So we loafed at home and ate spaghetti carbonara and chocolate brownie buns instead. Ds seemed quite happy with this arrangement.

The dog loves fresh snow, but has been in a bad temper for the last couple of days as he doesn't like crunchy snow with an ice crust at all. He has been walking around on it like a 90-year-old, but annoyingly speeding up when he comes to a smooth patch of ice as he doesn't mind that. Am just hoping that I will not end up on "You've been framed"..

And, uh, am also hoping that I do not end up in A&E waiting in the queue to get plastered. Have previously broken both wrists (on separate occasions) falling on ice - an "old lady accident", as my mother gleefully informed me both times.

Ooh, fleece-lined tights, they sound awesome. I have been rocking the layered look (max 7 layers, otherwise you can't actually move) all weekend and am very pleased I was able to find my walking trousers which are lined and super cosy.

BTM - I've been trying to get an appointment at the US Embassy (no walk-in service), they have this tantalising page on the website where you can book to see them in person if you fit certain criteria, and it's all things like getting an American baby's first passport, or renewing one that was issued before you were 16, or one that is over 15 years old, blah blah blah. I don't fit any of the criteria. And because I was born in New York which is obviously on my UK passport, I can't do the sneaking in thing.

Ds1's school is open tomorrow, although not sure his bus is running, but another lovely mum has offered to take him. Ds2 and dd may end up staying at home as the streets around their school are still closed due to the awful helicopter crash (had to drive to school on Thursday and it took 2.5 hours ) and it looks like the train we usually take may not be running. Will have to see in the morning.

Glad you had a fine time in Paree, MI.

Eight hours???

Typical! Saturday when I wanted to go partying trains were screwed. Today they are running fine!! Ds's school is open, but all my team's children's schools are closed, cue a flurry of text messages today. Looks like I will be Billy no mates and I live furthest away, up a hill in the sticks - they all live in the city - how does that work

We had no snow overnight and the car windscreen wasn't even frozen... However all the trains into London are a bit crazy. Still the view out of the window is pretty.

Ruby, I wouldn't worry about a few days at the end of year 9, as long as the school don't get completely ratty.

I'm wearing my dog walking shoes into work. Real style and beauty I am this morning! (Not sure they are going to come off once I hit the office, either. I'll try to walk the mud off on London Bridge)

I'm the only one going in today - DH's school is closed and after having WW3 all last night and this morning (including a big ding dong with DD when she stomped off and then came back - not my finest hour!), he has finally given in and is letting the DC stay home. Glad to get away!

Secondary was open here too today, and as I work about 100 metres down the road from the school I didn't have any excuse not to go into work myself, so I left DD2 and her mate in DH's care for the day.Then the secondary decided to close at 1pm (why?? Not a flake has fallen today), so I had to pack up early and bring them home. Grrr....

DH was on a speaker-phone conference call when we arrived home, but when it finished we had a good old chit-chat about the day in general. Ten minutes later he gets an email from a colleague still in the conference call asking him if he could perhaps hang up, as assembled groups of people listening in from Geneva, Weybridge and Leicester really didn't want to hear any more about what I picked up in Asda, the size of the gas bill, or the fact that DS had forgotten to flush the loo.