MMXV (2015, twenty fifteen) : Here Come The Crepeys!

[CointreauVersial]

More crepey wisdom.....

Maybe we could have a mass crepey and DD spa-day?!

I am breathing a sigh of relief as DS seems to have managed to get 2 trains and a tram to the club he is now trialling for. With a million texts and DH ringing me to say a train was delayed and could I get in the car... The train wasn't delayed
And DD is home asking if she can go to a partaaaay on Friday night. Am a bit worried as she is exhausted and has to be up for coaching on Sat morning

Oooooh, yes, BTM, a mass crepey spa day with horrid dds, I am so up for that. Really I am.

Herbs, fantastic about your feedback! I wouldn't de-clit if I were you.

at Herbs typo!

Herbs, you are a legend

How are things now, MI? I have been thinking about you most of the day.

Well done with your assignment, Herbs, you should be very pleased.

Coincidentally I had discussed with DH arranging a spa day in March for DD and me (it's her birthday at the start of the month and mine at the end). We thought that DH and DSoniL could look after the GC for the day (and then I thought DDil might want to come too).

I mostly wear nude/white bras but I have got a few more interesting colours with matching pants.

We have been helping DDil by occupying the GC while she got on with trying to get the new house straight. And then it was a trip to the hairdresser to try to cut my locks into some kind of order.

NU, you are a dream MIL

Well, I'm waiting to start chugging back. The surgery is going to be radical at best (they'll definitely take out ovaries and womb) and they could well take out lots more including the bowel. I got the doc to explain things fairly clearly and in particular the different options around whether they'll remove the bowel (put simply if they can't get the cancer off it but can get all the rest, they'd want to). My mum looked flattened even before . My dad is as usual being hopeless but at least he didn't cry in the meeting .

I do worry whether it's worth doing stuff so extensive.

I am dining on crisps, gin and cake.

Oh MI, that's hard. But crisps, gin and cake is good for dinner.

I feel exhausted just listening to what DD has to get done. Never mind revising for the mocks in 4 weeks. No wonder she can't sleep

Oh, MI, sorry to hear about your DM - poor thing and so difficult to take it all in. Whatever you're expecting there is always that thought that it's not really happening and they have made some kind of mistake. for you and your mum.

You need chocolate too, MI.

If it helps at all, my grandmother was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 89. She had extensive surgery and a bag, and lived for another 10 years. Her quality of life only went downhill in the last year. Until then, she was still eating jellied eels, drinking Guinness and telling people to fuck off.

I think it is very hard to face up to your own mortality. My mother is incensed that her hospital checks (for cancer) have now been reduced from three months to six. She is 81. I'm surprised they haven't made them annual, or discharged her, as it hasn't come back in 10 years.

Oh MI, I am so sorry to hear about the surgery plans. Poor mum and poor you. Such a lot for you all to take in. I am sure that you were a real help to everyone in the meeting today. Is there a date in mind for the surgery?

Take it easy and make sure you have good snacks to accompany the gin. Thinking of you all

I am inclined to think that we should ditch GCSEs and AS levels and just go for a final baccalaureate type exam at 18, as they do in Europe. Three years of exams can't be good for anyone. At least when we were at school we had a year of respite in the Lower 6th. Do they still do S levels? I did S level French.

I shall not de-clit. Need to get one's kicks where one can.

MI, that is tough news and a lot to take in. I guess they would not even be considering surgery so radical unless there is a reasonable chance it will really help? Lots of and maybe try not to think about it tonight - let your [gin-fuelled] subconscious do some of the hard graft?. xx

MrsS, according to an eye-wateringly complex presentation I sat through last term, unless Labour win the election, AS levels as half way houses will vanish for the current yr 11s and below, to be replaced by what appears to be a pigs' ear of a system that may increase the weight of exams for some through the law of unintended consequences, and some universities are saying will undo years of hard graft to increase access. I really felt for all teachers at this level - it started with a whim and is now a bog (arguably like much of politics). Harrumph.

Herbs, well done on assignment and typo that made me snort and drop phone on the bus

MI , that's hard that they will do surgery, and especially given her age. However I doubt that it would have even been suggested , had the consultant not thought it beneficial . But it will be tough for you all. It's a huge decision, and not surprising that your mum is in shock. Is she the kind of person who likes to know all the details, or is she like my mum, and prefers to know NOTHING about it. If she's the former you will be able to help her with research , hopefully. Gosh, I do wish you well MI.

Mrs S - I agree most strongly about that dossing about year in lower sixth. Vital to rest the old brain, after being examined in 8 or more subjects. The pressure of another AS year is ridiculous and poor kids are close to collapse with the constant push push push.

Herbs I've been doing some de clittering myself and have listed 26 things on eBay. Ha, come buy my tat.

QQ respec' re tax return

Md ds certainly believes in brain resting. He had a small accidental snooze in one exam today and a deliberate 20 minute nap in another.....not sure he is quite on the right road .

I fell asleep standing up today - woke with a start and a dribble. Classy.

Ooh MI, what a lot to take in. For you and for her. Let the dust settle for a bit, I'd say, and see how everyone feels in a week or so. Including poor old dad.

My mum EMAILED me the other day to say my dad had a mini-stroke. Not that either of them treated it with any urgency whatsoever. Mum came back from choir, saw that dad's face was droopy on one side, and that he was slurring his words, but decided to GO TO BED. In the morning, she thought maybe she should ring the hospital, and dad was rushed in and had lots of tests, which discovered the mini-stroke. They can, apparently, be the precursor to major stroke, but he's on some preventative drug.

She didn't ring me, as she didn't want to worry me. Honestly, she seems to think I'm still 12.

Re tax return - gibber. I haven't done mine yet, and it's going to ask for quite a lot of money, which I haven't got, as I'm now a student. I wonder if there's any dispensation for those in my position?

Every sympathy, MI. It's just so awful, and really hard to take in, for everybody concerned. When will the operation be? I'm sure they'll only do what's absolutely necessary.

Crem - link please!

Molly I am far too embarrassed to link to the rubbish I'm selling. Bunch of 99 p stuff only . Cremolaspoundplanet

Herbs my mother has done similar with my dad, but an email is beyond the beyonds. Your poor father

MI so sorry :(
herbs fab re assignment, less fab re email.

Dp was a bit pissed off when I pointed out that despite closing the company down and thus being PAYE he will need to do a tax return until HMRC dain to tell him otherwise....

Here I am having my wfh (thank god) but need to give myself a swift kick up the arse and actually do some work....

Herbs, that is both predictable and appalling.

Am home. Met lovely friend at station so we had a train catch up. She announced she's getting divorced - the last I heard she and her husband were back together after a long separation because he begged...well, he is now going off with an Adoring Younger Woman he had known precisely three weeks before deciding he had to, just had to, be with her.

Oh and he made his initial announcement still convinced he could continue to live in the marital home.

Assume your mum doesn't know that the drooping and slurring are CLASSIC SIGNS OF STROKE and you need to do something NOW?

Oh and Crem, I can't work out how much my mum wants to know and not know. She certainly doesn't seem to have done much research but then does expect me to do it.

I did feel occasionally sorry for the consultant. I went into full Please Clarify This Point mode and So Is This An Accurate Representation and As I Understand It These Are The Options.

That is precisely the loved ones' dilemma, MI, in my experience. It is awful.

Sorry to hear about your dad's mini-stroke, Herbs.