Forever Autumn Forever Crepey

[cremolafoam]

The summer sun is fading as the year grows old,
and darker days are drawing near,
the winter winds will be much colder,
now you're not here.
I watch the birds fly south across the autumn sky
and one by one they disappear
I wish that I was flying with them,
now you're not here

I have bath envy.

I am so tired. Have no excuse - haven't even done this sodding meeting yet...

The boss arrived at 3pm...had I known this I could have dropped dd2 at her new school this morning

She said nothing...she didn't seem annoyed with me at all, but she is quite fickle and all over the place.

Hope dd2 is ok Beachy and new school was ok today.

I am v jealous of all the fancy porcelain going on. I have a roll top with a corner bit so it fits in the small bathroom. I always wanted room for a chair in the bathroom. And my fantasy bathroom would have a fireplace .#swoon

BD that's all a bit grim, what happened today at school.i hope they deal with it well. I'm sure it has scared some of the kids. I'm glad they found the boy too. He must be in quite a bad state. Very sad that his young life came down to wielding a knife at a teacher.

Mrs S we need more outrageous gossip about loincloth man.

MI agree with the "peering over glasses approach" no doubt the consultant will be 28 , harried and in crumpled Top-man.The only well dressed consultant I see is the dermatologist and he's very hands off. I will be thinking of you. I hope your mum is glad of the practical help and support. And that you get some answers and A Plan.

NU here's to better weather at the lakeside.

I am completely shattered and feel dh's lurgy descending on me . I can't believe this time next week I'll be without dd.

BD, what an extraordinarily mature and sensible statement from the pupil - the incident it sounds frightening and sad but does also sound like a one off that was well handled.

Crem, hope you are wibbling on OK. We've managed to buy dd a whole load more Stuff. I suspect this is because we can never find things like scissors ourselves, so have none to send her off with. She can open a Rymans when she gets there.

MI, I hope the meeting is informative tomorrow but if it isn't there will be others - I think sometimes this sort of information emerges not to schedule, especially if the person concerned is giving off mixed messages about how much they want to know.

Yes, all the best tomorrow MI.

A good question is: if we think of more questions as soon as we leave, who's the best person on the team to phone/e-mail?

BD, sorry to hear about school incident, it can't help but take the shine off things for the new term.

Beachy, who's fickle and all over the place?

Very best of luck tomorrow, MI. Whatever you wear, you will look fab.

Lalsy, my ds is like your dd: will not go onto forums/fora to meet fellow students, will not read Student Union gubbins. I am relieved that there are others like him.

BD, I think the meeja are trying hard to make your school incident into a US-style school emergency thing. Clearly it's not. Hope everyone is calm and sensible tomorrow.

Good luck Rudy and MI

Molly - I guess it took the light off of the Sottish Ref for a while

I feel sorry for the child and the parents - how did it get to that? (And apparently it was a penknife and not the large (raise the spectre of a machete in the public consciousness) style blade) - not justifying it but just saying that the reality and the reporting contains a couple of huge gulfs.....

BD, a pen-knife? Flippin eck, how far from the truth can the media get? Definitely a case of deflecting the public from Scotland. But yes, poor kid/family/others who were terrified by the whole thing.

DD had a long chat with me last night, and it appears that her day wasn't quite as bad as it seemed. The people were really nice, clients interesting and she had to design a flyer and write an article for the newspaper. I have told her we will take it a day at a time - today won't be nearly as bad as she now knows she can get there and back and knows the route to and from buying lunch. She is going to wear a pair of flat shoes and trousers - got a lot of unwanted male attention on way to and from said lunch buying in her smart heels and fitted dress yesterday which should help in reducing stress.

Good Luck MI - Auriga's question suggestion is a very good one!

Best of luck, MI today. I drove my mother to various oncologists, but she wouldn't let me come in to the actual appointment. Very frustrating for me, but her choice.

Auriga, it's my boss who is hugely flakey, fickle and flits from one thing to another all the time. Very hard to know where you stand with her.

BD, horrible incident but that quote from the other pupil was excellent.

Rudy, please advise on handbags. I am now regressively using old handbags just to mix it up a bit, dust them off after a year under the bed, empty out old train tickets and we are good to go currently I have about ten monkey nuts in the bottom of my bag, rescued from dd2 after she got them from a machine in a restaurant.... In mid August

Thinking of you, MI today. You will handle the situation well and I hope the news, if not easy listening as such, will point to a way forward for your DM.
Gosh Beachy! Fickle can't be a desirable quality in a boss!
BD Hope the chaos at school is calming down. I also had the picture of a machete wielding hooded maniac in a school uniform. Clearly a very unhappy boy. Are the offering any of the kids counselling?

I have just driven DD in to school (she generally gets the bus) to allow her to get up a bit later. She went to bed very late after a homework meltdown…which actually started at the weekend. I feel emotionally drained, since if I'm honest, the meltdown was really between me and DH…over his ineptitude in helping her. The trigger last night was a log in they'd been given for some maths homework which just didn't seem to work. (Why oh why did they just not send home a sheet????) When I wearily came to see what all the shouting was about (having delegated this to DH as I'd helped with a load of RE, Art and French) it was that the username DD had chosen was already in use and she was refusing to change it. She then called DH a douchbag. I just changed a couple of the letters to capitals and it was fine. She then, of course had to do the actual homework …hence the very late bed time.

Herbs we can hardly hang on to our own members….attendance is utter crap. However we do occasionally get enquiries form the other side of the A10 and I will recommend your choir …promise!

Rudy - I want a new handbag but am holding out for a Lancel which will have to be severely discounted.

Rosebag - I known how you feel regarding log ins - have spent ages wrestling with the school internal communications system.

Have been to gym and am now contemplating the hall wall. I painted it darker as an experiment yesterday - I don't like it and want to repaint lighter but DH walked in and unexpectedly said it was beautiful so now I have to live with it for a month to see if I can adapt.

Beachy, she sounds awful. Must be hard to stand it.

Just me and Herbs for the crepey sing-song then?

Auriga I am in a choir, but no where near the standards of you and Herbs! I'll leave you to it ;)

Am I totally sad to be that ds got a merit point in French?!

I wasn't aware of Lancel, but they are very smart. They have a range called 48-50, which sounds perfect for a Crepey....

We've got an open rehearsal next Monday evening - with wine!

DS's potential new school has swung into action, saying they have a place and are keeping it open for him. We can visit, at a time of our convenience, and she'll sort out all the forms for us. We don't even have to pretend to be Christian. She told me about all the lovely things they do, children in small groups, creative curriculum, visits by Shakespeare workshops, etc, and I wanted to cry. This is so different from his current school, and definitely the right move. Despite the whole God thing.

And yes - Auriga. Looks like you and me babe. I'm flying high at the moment, and hit the top Bflat at the end of Climb Every Mountain last night.

Gah! Got to pick up DS. Have yet to complete my MI assignment - too busy doing yoga, having lunch with friends, and fretting about school.

So when is he going to move Herbs? New school sounds great. Lots of non-worshipping children go to church schools, so it surely won't be a problem.

Herbs new school sounds great.
Ds went to a CofE primary - wasn't an issue, he hasn't become a bible basher ;) (he tells me he's Shinto....). Lots of services in the local church but I don't think that was a bad thing.

My dc are at a CofE (sort of) school, religious assemblies, chaplaincy, hymns etc, both committed atheists - but they have thought through why and like the singing . Loads of CofE schools take a mix of faiths and none. If the ethos and leadership are right, that's what matters. It sounds great.

Herbs - so pleased for you - go for it. Mine have been through a Catholic school here and are not scarred for life. Actually I thought it was quite good for them to go to mass from time to time. I have to say though their knowledge of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, leaves a lot to be desired even from a general knowledge point of view. They are very good on Joseph and his multicoloured coat though. This has nothing to do with me buying the Donny Osmond version - oh no.

Have picture on my too green wall and it looks a bit better - I obviously need some serious artwork.

Said goodbye again to lovely American friend who's moving to Boreham Wood. Hope to be able to swing by and visit her en route to uni or my parents one of these days.

The weather has gone so beautiful that all I want to do is sit outside and sip rose. It does not feel like the beginning of term.

MI - hope things are OK.

Not sure of exact timings. We've got to visit next week (this week they're too busy settling in new reception kiddies), then she'll sort the forms and it sounds like it would be pretty quick.

Naturally I now feel guilty, as this is my default setting. I collared the early years leader at the gates this morning and asked about reading groups, etc, and she said they will be benchmarked and streamed, and all that. But meanwhile I still haven't met his teacher, have no idea what he's going to be studying, what the curriculum is, or when PE is. We're not allowed into the classroom, there's no reading with the children, etc etc. Everything I find out I have to dredge out of individuals, once I track them down. Very nice and helpful, once you get them, but there's no collaboration between school and parents.

Herbs, you've given it a year. That's long enough to get a steer.

I am extremely tired and a bit not at my best. Everyone including doc was v pleased I was there to take notes. Nice doc and nurse. Not so nice cancer. She has gruelling schedule of biopsy/stent in kidney (tumour is pressing/ three (3,iii) cycles of chemo each over 3 weeks, then op.

He was v good at not volunteering TMI till asked but when asked says he is fairly sure the cancer is stage 3.

This is not a good stage.