Walking in a Crepey Wonderland!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

I couldn't see that anyone else had started a new thread, after Stropps carelessly finished the old one without starting a new one, so here you are.

So we popped to Tesco to replenish supplies of bread and milk etc. and picked up food for this evening - nothing fancy, just chicken kievs, coleslaw and salad.

SIL says "What did you buy all that for? Are you taking that home with you?" No, said DH, it's for dinner. "Well, I'm not hungry, and (DNephew) is having sausages, and (BIL) won't eat that......" I can't win.

It's always wise to get these things checked out if you are worried. Dd went through a very skinny stage between 7 and 11. Then she filled out in various areas. Still slim, but definitely not skinny. Ds, OTOH, was born immensely hefty and overly fond of food and remains that way. I think they take after their fathers

Now, Viakal. Crepeys, I got me some today and I now have the same feeling that I did one evening at boarding school when I asked my glamorous Brazilian friend how come she had lovely smooth shiny legs, whereas I had hairy scaly ones. She looked at me strangely and said, "Well I wax them and put oil on them OBVIOUSLY." I had honestly no clue that people did that. I thought some people just got allocated smooth legs and having hairy ones was just another of my many failings.
Well, I just had no clue people had lime scale are moving sprays. I've had a glass shower screen for 3 years and no idea why I couldn't get it clean. It's clean now, after I followed CV's instructions. The entire family has just been standing in the bathroom going "Wow, that is sooo clean".
Truly, I am a clueless nitwit and never cease to amaze myself with my level of otherworldly nitwittage.

X-posts, CV. Hey, you tried, what more could you do?

"limescale-removing spray" bloody phone.

'It's the Viakal fizz that does the biz.'

I'm pleased that such a pleasure can still be had. I've become almost jaded about the joys of Viakal, and find myself havint to take more and more to get a high. It starts with shower screens, and ends up with compulsive kettle descaling.

Herbs

DS and I are just back from a lovely day catching up with an old friend and her DC

DH has announced that someone he knew from NZ 25 years ago is coming over for lunch tomorrow. Perhaps with his wife.
Apart from the fact that our cleaner will be here I hope (so we would be in the way) and I have nothing special in and no desire to provide food, AIBU to insist that we go out for lunch? Just to a local café or pub.

First death of the year... DSIL's ex. Abroad, no insurance. NOK is their barely adult DD. DH trying to sort out some of the mess. V bizarrely, I knew him slightly when I was in my early 20s in Poland (and must have met her then too). Huge mess.

It's abother one of those moments on these threads isn't it - descaler, bonkers sils, skinny children, death........... all human life ;)

Here am full of cold and the usual question arises 'where does all the snot come from'? - I mean seriously - do we all have little snot factories in our heads (thinks of the numbskulls...)

Menawhile it is dps significant birthday today and I haven't bought him a thing (as he has been most unhelpful). I am getting a cake and will put 'L' on it in candles.....

DS seems to have an opposite problem. He's not remotely fat - is still in age 2-3 trousers for the waist - but is incredibly DENSE. He weighs nearly three stone, and is much more difficult to lift on to climbing frames, etc, than his pals.

DP's niece, the one we went on holiday with and has a diet of entirely processed carbs, is only 6, but cannot do the waist up of AGE10 trousers. She really is chubby. But her mum just doesn't seem to listen to any advice about food, just gets incredibly defensive. Unsurprisingly, she too is v overweight.

Re snot, I too am host to vast rivers of the stuff. Isn't it lots of white blood cells and pus?

MrsS, how awful, I hope your dh is able to help .

Snot - I went to my GP as a young adult because I produced such large quantities of it - all winter with colds, the rest of the year with hay fever (pre decent anti-histamines). He confirmed (without looking too revolted) that the quantity I described - and indeed produced during a ten-minute appointment - was remarkable but reassured me that it was unlikely to be affecting anything else. I am so pleased to have found a community of fellow sufferers.

I am a snot factory too, as is DD1. I find that avoiding all dairy while plagued with cold really helps on the production front.

DH had call from DSIL last night - her DD is in no position to cope as NOK (she is 20 and recovering from a serious accident a few months ago, which has left her disabled and unable to work just now - it gets worse, doesn't it?), the authorities won't speak to DSIL as they were divorced. DH has gone into work to try and sort stuff out. He was quite blunt last night with DSIL - if her ex had no insurance, which seems to be the case, then someone is looking at paying thousands to get the body back, or they can bury him there, or get him cremated and bring the ashes back. Either way someone is going to have to stump up some money. His DD is in no position to do so, and the only other living relative is the ex's elderly father who is in a home.

Today I am trying to sort some order into the chaos of the flat. I am getting annoyed that all of the stuff that DH deems "crap" is mine. He doesn't seem to be getting rid of anything at all, whereas I have already got rid of stuff that I am already regretting.

Oh god major sympathies to all, bereaved and/or snot-ridden.

MrsS How awful for his DD, especially given her current circumstances.

I am trying to dig DS out of bed for a haircut, requested by him

What does NOK mean? Not OK?

Busy day ahead. Round to a friend's house, then into Covent Garden to meet another pal, over from Bristol, to take our coterie of small boys to the London Transport Museum. Then Pizza Express, or similar. Then home, drop off DS, then back out again for drinks. Sadly, I still feel like shite.

Sorry to hear your bad news MrsS. Has your niece got someone looking after her? Is she on good terms with her Mum?

Next of kin, Herbs.

Must drag kids to Aldi (glam). In other news I have redyed my lashes and this time with greater success.

Don't know Herbs - feels like a missing piece of my education!

Next of Kin, Herbs. She is with her Mum and brother. I don't think this is something you expect to have the responsibility of at 20.

Did he have a will, MrsS? If so, the executors are charged with sorting out all the crap, are they not? Can the executor get a loan against the estate to repatriate his body/ashes? (dd was the NOK when her father died, but a minor, obvs, and I had to answer for her in various issues and my cousin was exh's executor)

Not sure, Stropps, but a good point. I will ask DH to make enquiries. DSIL does not need this crap, neither does her DD. DH is kicking ass on this and pulling strings to get things moving and find out what is going on.

God, it's grim, all the fall-out from an untimely death. It makes one think about whether one's own house is "in order", should the worst happen. There's no instruction manual for dealing with such things, is there?

Back in the wild west of Ireland, having been kept awake last night by the howling wind, DH is suggesting a visit to the Famine Museum. Oh, the irony....

Famine museum? Seriously?
I am plodding to the end of the day here and then will go home and collapse in bed for the weekend....

on a side note my coughs are clearly on an interesting register as the dog, who is definately partially deaf, wakes up and shoots off as soon as he hears me! Who needs a whistle....

Actually, the Famine Museum is Quite Interesting (I've been once before). Fun fact for you all to cherish: the daily diet for the average pre-famine adult in Ireland was 7kg of potatoes. The nutritional value was so poor, that's how many they had to consume to stay alive.

There's a serious dearth of museums/historic places on Ireland in general; preserving the past wasn't really a top priority for the Irish tbh; too busy boiling those spuds.

Anyway, we decided not to go out, and have had another lazy day slobbing about. Even DH is now keen to get home (we leave tomorow).

Re-reading some of my posts about SIL, I must come across as a moany cow, expecting to be waited on and looked after, but DH and I talked yesterday and concluded it is mainly down to a clash of expectations regarding planning. I like to plan things, and discuss things beforehand, so I know where I am, but SIL just goes with the flow. So if she said to us "I'm off out, sort yourselves out for lunch/tea/whatever" then it would be fine, but nothing is ever said, as a result we either do nothing (and starve), or take matters into our own hands and cook something/eat out (and offend SIL because she was going to do dinner, and clearly her hospitality isn't "good enough"). It isn't just the food, it's activities too; she was most offended when we went off shopping in Sligo the other day, mainly because she had given no indication of wanting to do anything with us, so we just went off by ourselves. She is a very prickly character, even with DH, and I've given up making small talk because I inevitably say something that she misinterprets.

BUT on the other hand, she has a heart of gold, is a good laugh, and has coped amazingly well with a houseful (and I mean houseful - at least 15 sleeping here one night this week) of guests without having a meltdown. I guess I should embrace the differences and get over myself.

Rant over

MrsS - so sorry about your news, that does sounds like an awful situation. I hope he was at least in a country that is reasonable to deal with for this kind of thing. for your niece.

Hey, don't knock the potato famine! I'm descended from Irish famine immigrants to America, which is presumably why I love my carbs so much.