Mardy Crepeys

[SheherazadeSchadenfreude]

Done it...

You're right, of course. Of course he knows when he's being out of order, and it no doubt adds to the burden. I shall continue a deflection policy for now, and see how it goes.

The reason for my cleaning, as well as trying to make everything seem fine at home, is that I have the NCT girls coming round for brunch. I've noticed that whenever I go to a friend's house, I'm struck by how clean and tidy it is. That either means I happen to have lots of house proud friends, or that I'm a bit of a slattern.

Herbs, they are probably all just like you - panicking before the NCT mums come round!

I am having a lovely evening - met DH and DS for a bite to eat in the pub after circuits then they went off to the footy and as DD is at Beyonce, I havr the house to myself

I'm a slattern.

Can I have a bit of a moan about the bad luck in my family? In the last ten months we have lost my aunt to cancer, my uncle to a heart attack and my cousin to an unknown cause, but probably related to his heart. We buried my cousin yesterday, and his brother was diagnosed with throat cancer on Monday. Another cousin is in remission with cancer of the jaw. I WANT TO KNOW WHEN IT IS ALL GOING TO FUCKING STOP and we can have something to celebrate.

Oh no.

How bloody awful.

Oh MrsS It does seem to me that some people do seem to get more than their fair share of bad luck. Usually those who don't deserve it.

Aha - found you all. And have sort of caught up, so much going on in Crepeyland (piercings, broken lamps, school places etc)!

MrsS - so sorry about your family, that's grim. I hope you stop getting all this bad news soon. We had a similar thing some time back - over the space of about 5 years we lost several uncle/cousin-type people, both my parents and a swathe of their chums, really close family friends. It was dreadful, like some sort of ungodly cull. It has stopped now, mostly, and those that are left are pretty hale and hearty into their 80s.

I think I read briefly that there is a plan afoot to meet up? I have been skim reading a bit this past week, but can't find the posts. Can someone enlighten?

28th. Drinkies chez QQ then stagger en masse to local Vietnamese. Metallic outfits if poss.

MrsS so sorry... that is truly rubbish.

I think we've had the slattern debate before - pretty sure I beat the lot of you ;)

Love that summary MI.

Here ds's chosen secondary has just been Ofsteded and the outcome is not great - feck.....

But it also means it'll be under pressure to change smartish, BD.

MI that's exactly what dp said!

MrsS, you are seriously in need of a break from gloom and doom. I hope there are no more funerals for you for some time to come.

Herbs, hope you had a jolly brunch, with or without an untidy backdrop. :)

BD, I'd still go with my gut feeling about a school, no matter what Ofsted say. My dcs have attended a couple of schools rated "excellent" by Ofsted in the past and these schools have been, quite frankly, not very excellent at all. Ofsted's criteria have recently changed, so what constitutes "excellent" now is not what was deemed "excellent" a few years ago. Therefore if a school is judged and found wanting now, it's not necessarily got worse, it's just being judged more harshly.

I had my second assessment for psychological therapy last week and have now started CBT. Have homework and my first full-on CBT session is on Thursday. Am waiting to hear about medication assessment.

Dd phoned me yesterday (I was in the supermarket) to apologise for her behaviour yesterday morning. Progress continues to be made.

Golly, Stropps, good news all round! An apology from DD must have warmed your cockles.

And yes, Mrs S. Surely you've now had your ration of bad karma for the rest of your life. Maybe you're now due to win the lottery.

Brunch went well! Posh bacon in a 'large bloomer' (snurk), with both red AND brown sauce. Plus tea. Then cake. Minor incident when baby pulled cat's tail, and it did that 'resting teeth on hand' thing, but not actual biting. He is the world's most placid cat, and puts up with just about any amount of toddler fussing, but draws the line at that.

DS v sweet last night. DP came home just in time to see him, and DS gave him a big hug 'to cheer you up daddy'.

Stropps, good advice about outstanding schools. And great news about your CBT and DD apologising!

Awww Herbs

Can I put my rasher in your bloomer?

I love your boy.

You can insert your pork into my buns any time, MI.

More sweetness from DS. I'd just dusted, cleaned and vacced 'his' bit of the sitting room, when he decided to empty out all his school work folders on to the floor. I asked him not to, or if he did, to tidy it up afterwards as I'd just cleaned the room. I forgot about it, then went in a couple of hours later, and he had! Nothing left on the floor at all!

Though we haven't told him Dadda's dying, he knows something's up. He keeps asking if he'll die, and when, and if I'll die, and when, and that he doesn't want to die, he just wants to 'stay at home'. Tales of becoming a star seem to appease him for a moment, then he wails 'but I don't want to be a star I want to be with you...'

Re schools, I reckon the time to catch them is as they bottom out and are headed upwards. From 'outstanding' the only way is down. At least, that's what I tell myself!

I can think of a couple of schools round here - v sought-after ones, though one is now losing cachet - that are classed as 'outstanding' and I think are living off v long-standing reputations without enough to justify it. That's what I tell myself too.

I don't madly want to be a star either, it must be said.

No, me neither, but it's better than the truth - you will cease to exist, and you're body will moulder in the ground, or get burned in a giant furnace. You can see why someone invented 'heaven'.

MI - I saw this thread and thought of you.

See earlier rants re 'am I the only person in this house capable of organising a piss up in a brewery'.

Oh yes, I saw that.

It's not quite so bad in the Inferiority Complex but it is the ghastly awareness of background noise. If you know what I mean and I bet you do.

BUT, remember that unpaid invoice they alleged had been paid? I checked and no, it hadn't. Well, they said, we'll look into it. It May Take Some Time...

...today I got a quiet little email saying it's paid. HA! So take THAT, company beginning with the second letter of the alphabet and rhyming with Shower, it's YOUR accounts dept which messed up, not me.

Yay, Wilbur! Are you free on the 28th? Do you have metallic clothing?
I have indeed rashly bravely invited the crepeys round to mine for a get together... hope you're up for it.

MrsS, so sorry to hear about your awful run of bad luck; can only hope that it gets better.

Congratulations to CrepeyDC who have got places at their preferred school and commiserations to those who didn't. On the subject of Offsted, I heard of a local school which was marked down because the leaves hadn't been swept up in the playground and therefore constituted a hazard.

Herbs, I love the sound of your DS - and how lovely that he is caring of DP.

We have been out to lunch with the baby so that DD could go out to lunch with her DH to celebrate her birthday today. Still no news on their offer on a house.

Wanted to share this article with you all, written by a friend and former colleague, which was published in the Guardian a couple of days ago.

Jo Harris

Neurological conditions are fucking vile

Just been writing about them. I do a lot on them and it's just...vile.

QQ, how incredibly sad that article is. Jo must be an unusual person to be able to write about her experiences in this way.