Gunpowder, Treason and Crepes

[CointreauVersial]

Here we are again.....

Aww Cremo, that sounds really cute!

I can recommend the Samsung 5 - big screen but not too heavy/thick and the type-size can be easily increased so I can read it without my glasses

I am wondering what on earth we do next - another email from DS's HoY and a phone call from his Maths teacher. Waiting for DH to come in to talk to him

BTM, sorry to hear that but at least they are contacting you (Pollyanna emoticon)?

I have spent the day switching between a Windows and a Mac laptop (umpteen different file types to be absorbed), got totally confused and in the end have gone back to basics and the horse's mouth, as it were. Sherry.

Crem, that sounds horrible (the ear infection not the photo ).

Crem - that's very sweet of you. Let me have a think and PM you - I could hold on to it for dd for a few months til her one year of looking after a crap phone probation is up . If you're moving away from an iPhone yourself, I am v happy with my HTC One Mini - plenty big enough for Pinteresting without squinting and the sound is amazing, way bettter than dh's much bigger Samsung. I can listen to the Archers Omnibus and clatter around the ktichen at the same time . Oh and you now HAVE to post a copy of the droopy tights picture!

I had a velvet "shul" dress and patent shoes, Cremo I now have expensive hats….which cost more than my outfit, and am much more likely to sport the grumpy, surly face as an adult…. Hope your ears get better…sounds a bit like what Tilly had at the MU
Beachy it might just be that you are the one to get me back in the saddle…(s'long as we can have a cream tea afterwards)….roll on spring in Sussex….
Does anyone know if MI got away?
Tilly so sorry you're being pursued by the furies DS's teachers. Is it easier or harder that you and DH are in the profession, so to speak? At dinner last night, we had a great discussion around the fact that kids at school don't play "pranks" anymore…if the penalty was just a detention or something, or writing lines, I suspect they'd still be at it…but the constant phoning of the parents is a huge deterrent, we decided. The poor parents, meanwhile have a nervous breakdown …..
Reasonable day today…another scene written and had a nice breakfast bought for me….

BTM - sorry to hear about ds school woes, but it does sound like they are on it pretty quickly - better than you not hearing anything about it until the day before his GCSE's start. I realise it probably doesn't feel that way...

Yes Cremo, my ear thing came on after a cold and was sooooo annoying. It took ages to go, but I think I'm back to normal now. Which is actually rubbish hearing at the best of times!

Sadly the phoning of parents doesn't seem to be a huge enough deterrent for DS. Not sure if it is better or worse being teachers! I am glad that they are onto it, but just wish he would buck up in school. He is a very strong character (has always been so since he could talk) - makes us incredibly proud of him when we are out with our friends/family/new adults, etc because he is so mature, responsible, polite, caring, trustworthy, etc, etc, but then gets carried away with being the big I AM in classes (not all the time, but too often) Alpha-male dominating and bouncing off his mates, but not able to rein it in. Phone has been taken away and other gadgets will be confiscated at bed-time from now on. Plus having to earn all "treats" and he has to miss two footy trainings this week.... It won't solve the problem, but hopefully it might make him think, at least for a bit.

Sounds like a plan BTM. It's hard for teenage boys (well a lot of them anyway ime) to learn impulse control... your response v reasonable. Ialways think my being 'very disappointed' is much more effective than my being 'very angry' with my two... Much sympathy.

BTM that's difficult for you regarding ds. I hope things get better. I used to dread those phone calls : usually it was because dd had passed out in the school heat . I was made to feel so guilty if I wasn't able to drop everything and come and get her. She was usually fine after a glass if water and a biscuit.
Btw did the gp suggest anything for the ear trouble at all. Throat starting to scratch now too . Blast.!

He sounds very much like my DS1….NORMAL, tilly. DS1 improved a bit after a week in "Room 17" (i.e. boot camp, the cooler or whatever schools call it) He was bored into submission but it did count as an internal exclusion, of course. I was beyond horrified at the time, but now we all just laugh about it…This too will pass as they say. He sounds a delightful boy, actually. Have a nice to celebrate what good parents you are too. xx

Thanks! I know he is just like loads of other boys - lots of friends sons get into trouble too, though perhaps they are less forcefully gobby/difficult when they are in that sort of a mood, IYKWIM.

I actually find it a whole lot easier to cope with than the anxiety and related stuff with DD - I worry about her so much, whereas I know he will be fine, if we or one of his teachers hasn't killed him before he reaches adulthood

OMG Terry is on. Please God don't let them pan down to his crotch.

What joy I have to look forward too, crepesters.

On a jollier note, I have a birthday coming up, and questions are being asked about what I would like. Have any of you come across a life/wardrobe/face-transforming item/garment/slap that you simply can't now be without, and which would similar upgrade my plane of existence to 'celestial'?

If you find it, I'm getting it too

I want what she's getting too

If Money was no object I would buy from the Ren cosmetics range, go a bit bonkers at the Biba concession and probably invest in mucho cashmere.

Posh sherry does it for me . You have to drink it though, you can't put it on your face.

I had a velvet dress (navy, with a white lace collar and cuffs and a dinky red velvet bow at the neck) with white socks and patent shoes. I had to wear it to the school Christmas party, and everyone else was in jeans or trendy clothes and I got laughed at.

Here you are, BTM Terry Wogan's crotch

Re repairing broken phones, there are several little men on Tottenham Court Road who will do this for you.

DD1 sorted her railcard, although they refused to believe she had never been given one in the first place and charged her £10 for a new one. She was very pissed off.

The combination of Chanel No 19 Body lotion and then the perfume sprayed on makes me feel like a goddess. But you have to love No 19 in the first place, of course.
Liz Earle products leave me with velvet soft skin (if that's possible when one is a crepey) altho' it gets panned a lot on the main S&B board.
The Calvin Klein straight black jeans I bought across the pond (for a snip compared to the price here) fit like a dream.
Any Temple Spa product
Jewellery from Magnolia
Maxmara dresses

MrsS

Rose - I think MI is the Chanel No.19 girl - I think she has it stockpiled.

Herbs:

Coromandel perfume. Even if you look like a sack of shit, have acne to rival a 14 year old boy and your hair needs washing, you will smell amazing.

Filorga skincare. If you can't manage anything else, try the Sleep and Peel. And Bioderma Eau Micellaire cleanser is fab.

Slap. Try the new Bare Minerals Bare Skin serum foundation.

Jewellery. I don't really do jewellery. I have some fabulous earrings by Nicola Becci (I think) and a very modern design gold hamsah that was made for me by a jeweller on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, when I was living there and was being paid so much in allowances that I didn't even touch my salary.

Clothes. Get another Viv Westwood dress or something that makes you feel fabulous. Or fabulous fitting jeans - they don't need to be expensive, mine cost $10 in Old Navy, or something you will wear a lot. Some amazing boots?

Well Herbs, what I think these posts show is that what each person dreams of / desires as the perfect gift of choice is v individual... what sort of thing do you think would hit the spot and then maybe we can pile in with suggestions...

A smart bag for your new life as a teaching goddess?
Fabulous scent?
Gorgeous dress?
Jewelry?

My b'day is in December and I think I want lovely scarf...
maybe something like this leopard print beauty
...or perhaps some tickets for the opera house for seats in the middle of the Grand Tier
... or perhaps some 'Fracas' scent by Robert Piguet (uberTuberose which I realise is v 'marmite')

MrsS I am NOT clicking on that link!

Rudy for you too!

I am filing away all those suggestions!

VERY wise BTM

Sorry about the problems with DS, BTM. All you can do is hang in there.

My go to would be a new bag, Herbs. My problem then is that I don't use them as I can't be bothered to change from my every day bag, and then they look at me reproachfully from the wardrobe.