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Original poster

A Crepey is not just for Christmas...

999 replies

oldqueencrepey · 30/01/2013 08:43

It had to be done.
Phew that feels better.
Over here crepeys. All very welcome (but only if you're crepey).

OP posts:
MrsSchadenfreude · 20/02/2013 21:03

Can do Paris meet up if you get here before August. Can put five people up if you are not fussed about sharing a sofa bed.

MrsSchadenfreude · 20/02/2013 21:03

And can take you all out for a haircut if you like.

Cremolafoam · 20/02/2013 23:03

Lol - mrs s
If the current nhs waiting list suddenly reduces and I get my op out of the way by summer ,I may hold you to that....Grin

I have just had THE MOST ANNOYING half hour with my mother trying to explain how to print from her computer . Aaaaaargh she had 4067 emails in her inbox that shed never deleted ( in case they were important) and couldn't work out why the thing had ground to a halt.
Dh is muttering manically about older people and computers.

MrsSchadenfreude · 20/02/2013 23:08

My mother won't have a computer in the house, Crem. Apparently "they" can see what you're up to if you do. Grin

Cremolafoam · 20/02/2013 23:15

Oh yes dm is convinced the computer is
A) broken
B) conspiring against her
C) has been accessed by a higher power and has hacked into her emails
When actually the damn thing is so full of shit its got no memory left; she is incapable of actually doing anything on it except booking cheap flights. Even then I have to go round , clear the clogged up printer of a zillion documents ( Christmas lists from 2004) and actually turn the printer on as she has switched the thing off at the wall in case ' the house goes on fire'
Li

hattymattie · 21/02/2013 09:42

I'm crying laughing at computers seeing what you're up to. Better get off MN quick. Mind you - not so good at deleting old e-mails myself

hattymattie · 21/02/2013 09:43

By the way - I think "helmet head" may be "tete de casque".

Stropperella · 21/02/2013 10:20

Catching up here: Crem, I've just now listened to the interview your dd did. Wow. That is one self-possessed and articulate young woman. Amazing. You must indeed be very proud.

I have to admit that I listened with somewhat mixed feelings on my part, as the bit about funerals hit a nerve. My dd was not able to go to her father's funeral as I wasn't welcome. And as his mother made a unilateral decision to have him cremated and then took the remains and didn't tell us where, dd never had a chance to say goodbye. It was 3 years before I found out that his ashes were interred somewhere a couple of hundred miles away.

MrsS, I'm sorry to hear the job search is proving so frustrating. I hope something will come up soon.

MI, I gave up reading mainstream UK and US women's mags long, long ago because they, um, did my head in. Coincidentally, I dipped into a few yesterday morning as I was waiting for dd at the hairdressers. All the obsessional guff about "celebs", product placement and utter cack about the latest "treatment" we are supposed to be spending vast amounts of cash on in the name of "beauty". I put these in quotes because botox, fillers etc and plastic surgery do not a beauty make. And yes, there was plenty of that "Cissy Trumpeter-Smythe-Fluffweasel and her Chelsea-based interior design shop" cobblers. I always end up taking it all too seriously and getting in a frightful Decline and Fall rage.

About a year ago I started subscribing to a German women's magazine aimed at the over-40s which only enrages me occasionally. It has a much broader mix of articles, deals with subjects in a less fluffy fashion and includes reports on politcal and cultural issues from all over Europe. I dislike very Anglocentric publications, particularly because the mainstream mags appear to just have one party line that they follow in terms of what they think women are all interested in. I'm afraid to say that I am the sort of person who completely fails to see the point of Grazia and the like. It is one of my life's little ironies that the only bit of MN I have ended up hanging around on is the S&B section. Grin Grin

Stropperella · 21/02/2013 10:21

Belated birthday wishes to CV!

Cremolafoam · 21/02/2013 10:52

Stropps
I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you. It must have been so hurtful to have had decisions made without consultation .
Of course it is not always possible for children to be at the funeral. Dd was not at her mothers funeral at the age of three. In fact nobody would have been able to cope at that time including her dad. Dd barely remembers her mum but is only now q interested in hearing about her mum. We are only now able to look at photos ( 15 years on)
I don't think the fact your dd was not at her dads funeral is something to worry about. All you can do is be there to answer questions honestly about him when she wants to know.
There's lots of advice about keeping memories at winstons wish website.
www.winstonswish.org.uk/
Everybody does things their own way- there is no formula. It sounds like you had no choice.

Stropperella · 21/02/2013 11:29

Crem, I think it's a very different experience for the bereaved when the deceased parent has behaved badly and the child has predominantly negative memories and is not sure whether they were loved. The backstory is very messy, almost surreally unpleasant and there were tough decisions that had to be made for my own and dd's protection. Dd won't currently entertain the idea of nurturing any memories.

Cremolafoam · 21/02/2013 14:11

Fair enough Stropps. Sad
Categorically none of my business whatsoever.

Stropperella · 21/02/2013 15:15

Aww, Crem, I hope it didn't sound grumpy, it really wasn't meant to. I was only trying to explain, but I absolutely don't want to put any more of the backstory on here, not least because it wouldn't be fair on dd. And I have nothing but admiration for you - you have clearly done a fantastic job in the most taxing of circumstances. It takes a very special person to do what you have done.

I only wish I had somebody like you who could be there for dd if I popped my clogs (a subject which is often the elephant in the room around here). Dh doesn't have PR (another complicated backstory).

Cremolafoam · 21/02/2013 15:30

Oh no Stropps I just meant not to sound prying. But supportive.
One of those conversations that just doesn't translate when written down I think. Please don't think I'm offended at all - this stuff is so personal and private . Also didn't mean to sound how it came out.( arsy)
ThanksThanks

Stropperella · 21/02/2013 19:38

Thanks to you too Crem. :)

MrsSchadenfreude · 21/02/2013 20:22

I love the Crem and Strops love in with all the Thanks Grin

I lost it in the office today. Completely and utterly. Sad Not looking forward to going back in tomorrow. (AB related...)

MrsSchadenfreude · 21/02/2013 21:00

DD1's visa for her school trip to India has added 200 euros to the cost of the trip. I guess we won't be planning a family holiday there any time soon... It cost twice as much for a UK national than other nationals. Hmm I can't think that this is going to do their tourist industry much good (particularly as completing the visa form was a stressful experience in itself).

Blackduck · 21/02/2013 21:15

Have Indian visas gone up then? Thought last time was in the region of 30/40 pounds.. (About 18 months ago)...
MrsS what happened?

Stropperella · 22/02/2013 09:15

Wishing you a calm and collected day, MrsS.

Stropperella · 22/02/2013 09:19

I'm knee-deep in work and have no idea how I'm going to find the hours to do it before the deadline next Thurs. I have to take ds and dd to my mother's today and then work tonight. Dh is also swamped and is really not well. Can't tell if it's a worrying-type of unwell or just a normal bug. And dd's fecking turbo-charged hamster is managing to keep everyone awake with his wheel antics. Am searching "silent hamster wheels" on the net as dd apparently can't be arsed. Angry

hattymattie · 22/02/2013 09:40

Mr S - I paid (and moaned about) 80 euros for an Indian Visa last year for DD's trip. She has a british passport and I had to go to that processing centre in Paris. It definitely wasn't 200E.

CointreauVersial · 22/02/2013 10:10

It's my day off today, and I'm still in my dressing gown. I was contemplating popping out for a run but a) my knee is a bit sore, b) it is snowing and c) I can't be arsed

DH is taking a half day, and we are vaguely thinking of " doing something" en famille. This always invites a shedload of moaning from the DCs, reluctant to be dragged away from their various electronica, but they normally admit to having a good time once we've actually ventured out. Although they still haven't forgiven me for the epic walk I dragged them on during last year's Feb half term. I didn't think it was possible for DD1 to maintain a sulk for 10 whole miles, but she managed it.

Original poster
oldqueencrepey · 22/02/2013 14:00

Oh God yes, still have nightmare flashbacks to the living hell that walks with our dss could be when they were younger. Ds2, who is stubborner than a stubborn thing living in stubborn town, once got halfway through a walk along a beach (it was February half term and sleeting in a face numbing fashion) and sat down and refused to move. In the end dh had to carry him back to the car (about oooh, 2 miles), while the rest of us ploughed on as planned. Why did we think that would be "fun"?, Why??

OP posts:
motherinferior · 22/02/2013 14:05

I (also having half term day off avec les enfants) have just persuaded my beloved children to get dressed. They veer between 'we're bored' and 'we don't want to go anywhere', in manner inducing child murder.

Blackduck · 22/02/2013 15:33

Ds and I have been to see the mappa mundi - lovely and fascinating... Now back and have feet like ice blocks.

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