Crepes, Galettes, Pancakes and Brian the Bucket!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Here you go...

Thanks Stroppster!

I am extremely impressed by all of you whose Brian's can still get around the writing of an essay. My Brian just about copes with posting on here. Molto respec'

Hope you can get away as planned Crem. Whereabouts are you going?

I have spent this evening swearing and trying to enrol DD1 on a one day course. I have not succeeded, and will need to call them tomorrow.

I have also knocked out a short submission and an edited 8,000 words of my first novel, and have emailed it off to the MN novel competition. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute.

LOL at the hamster, Stropps. Most things that are ageing end up smelling of wee, I think. Like my gran's friend Pissy Lil.

I love Leonard Cohen. And Serge Gainsbourg, and Jacques Brel, and Marc Almond, and my latest fixation, Renaud Papillon Paravel. I ordered a bargainous CD of his from Amazon for £2.76 including postage. It has allegedly been despatched, but I don't think it is going to arrive, as the prices on Amazon (same seller) are now £19 plus, so they will claim that it has disappeared in the post (no great surprise as it is coming from France and the theft of stuff from the post in France is so great that lots of companies won't post stuff there) and that I need to buy it again, at the vastly inflated price.

Yes, Crem, long skirts and headscarves or hats for the laydees. Lots of sitting, until someone was moved to speak. My friend still goes - I went with her some time back, when I went to stay, and skirts seem shorter, and there were no head coverings, apart from with the old ladies. My parents clearly thought it was a good thing for me to learn about religion, and one religion was much the same as another. And it meant that I wasn't getting in the way all Sunday, whining that I was bored, which was another bonus.

Rushing in to say Crem, I hope you get away OK and have a lovely break (if it is a break).

And Stropps, missing the main point entirely, but you are a fine-lookin' woman (channelling Charlie from the West Wing). Bangs gavel.

Herbs and Stropps, once again full of admiration at what you have to tackle and baffled by how the numpties you sit alongside manage. It must seem such a long haul, and so relentless. I like your getting on with it phrase, Stropps.

I hope you have got away ok, Crem, and that the snow has relented.

Lalsy, couldn't agree more about Stropps and Herbs. I have so much admiration for them doing a heavy course with all their other commitments and it must then be especially difficult to have to cope with idiots on the courses.

The house is cold as the painter wants to do the gloss coats today. I am going for an exercise class later, followed by a half an hour swim. Can you tell I am fed up with being confined to the kitchen? I think the only other room which is tidy is our bedroom.

Go NU! My feet hurt so I omitted today's Ladyjog (I did one yesterday, and DP is still snuffling half the damn night).

In awe of everyone on this thread, frankly . Auriga, I share your eye makeup woes. That sort of tubey mascara stays on, I find. Have never got to grips with eyeliner. A shot of eyeshadow is apparently recommended for the older laydee (the expression 'crepey lids' is often used, which is quite a Sign innit) and one or two brands do appear to cling like glue...I have experimented a bit for Occasions Out, especially those when my usual fallback of red lipstick isn't going to work because eating is involved (unlike QQ, I also suffer Lipstick Woe).

Ha! No tidy bedrooms here (apart from DM's). I'm just properly getting over my New Year cold/chest infection & looking around me to find the whole house silted up with rubbish, filing, dirty washing etc. I've only been managing work & little else. DH can ignore routine tasks indefinitely.

And now DH has taken to bed with sore throat & cough. Must ignore temptation to neglect work and blitz house. Trying to write up research, so it's all too easy to get side-tracked.

Get on with getting on with things - Gowgowt, that's what I'll do. And try using my own brians, which have been missing in action for four (4, IV) weeks.

Cremo hope you get away!

Here my WFH was stymied by a meeting re audit next week which had 'no formal agenda' and yes, you guessed it, has now been cancelled (grrrrrr)

my Brian is used on useless things like audit reports and stuff. I am in aw of those doing courses, writing in their 'spare' time and generally engaging more than one briancell at a time....

Me: It's your brother's birthday today.
Dh: Really? Is it? Are you sure?
Me: !!?!**&@!! a) You have known him 65 years and really ought to be able to remember his birthday by now and b) his birthday is always the day before mine, WHICH IS TOMORROW IN CASE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN.

Lalsy

Auriga, yes Gowgowt. This is what I am doing!
BD, I am inordinately amused by the term "briancell"

I am slightly taking today off and trying to gussy up some of my own writing.

Stropps happy birthday for tomorrow

Snow abated so on way to Verona and thence Venezia for Carnevale activities. Or just necking small glasses of Fragolino in dark bars. Looking forward to the chicceti.

See you on the other side .

Stropps, I don't remind DH!

Cremo, hooray!definitely in order! What is chicceti?

Aahhh. Italian tapas, only found in Verona, it seems!

So glad you're on your way, Cremo! Have a brilliant time.

My DoubleWear mascara stays put, pretty much all day. And despite crepey eyelids I am being defiant and still using liquid liner (took practice and can't really do a winged effect very well…)I have to use Almay as I react to everything else but it doesn't smudge.

I have come back from a 4 hour development team meeting in a freezing but FREEZING room in the Bloomsbury area. Definitely suffering Brianfreeze , although cold or hot I always come away feeling everyone is so much brighter and More Important than me. Oh, and thinner….significantly so...

At most points in life I reckon there'll be at least one person brighter and more important than oneself. But also at least one (or at least 20, on more course) less bright and important.

I'm feeling rather 'chosen' at the moment. For our teaching practice we do some in a training group, and some with a mentor. This coming half term we all swap around, and get different training groups and mentors. The teacher who was taking the training group I was in sought me out on Tuesday to ask if I'd like to be her mentee. She didn't have to have me - she could have chosen anyone. She's quite fierce, but a brilliant teacher and will be very Good For Me.

Herbs, that's great!

I was at a meeting this morning where I was definitely the oldest teacher. And felt it! If I worked in a different part of the country, I would probably be quite average!

Still, TFIF

Sounds good, Herbs.

Forgot to mention that, while practising my sight reading, I effortlessly sang a top G . Was delighted & relieved that voice is recovering. Then (and this is true) woke up & realised I'd been dreaming .

That's rather better than a recent dream in which I snogged Ed Balls, who then morphed into David Miliband both of whom were surprisingly erotic kissers

Yes, I think I prefer my dream MI, even though it wasn't erotic

I am lying on the bed as downstairs is so cold: the heating is on, but loads of windows are open while the gloss dries. Actually the bed is the best place for me as I ache all over. The exercise class was divided into three sections: prancing about (otherwise known as aerobic), steps (I avoid stairs normally) and weights which were relatively easy. All bar one person was older than me, and all were thinner. But it was lovely at the end to throw my clothes off and go swimming (in my nice, very expensive TK Max suit).

Herbs, very well done - class will outside

Stropps, I do hope that DH was winding you up about DB's birthday. Have some and from me for tomorrow.

Auriga, I think I would prefer your dream to MI's.

Rose, I hope you're warm now?

Doh! Class will out, Herbs. Goodness knows where the outside came from.

DD1 in tears as she had a bad mock exam - actually I think everybody did bit her supervisor seems especially scary. The second years said not to worry as it's always liked this. DD1 very dramatic as usual I maybe can't do law and how should I know how to do a tort essay after just six weeks. I think her problem is nobody has ever told her she was crap before so the reaction is major. The supervisor does seem especially brutal though. The rest are lovely - it's just the tort prof who would outdo Snape.

Sorry to hear of DD's woes, Hatty. My DD did Law at uni and really enjoyed it: I hope she feels better about it soon - tell her that if she did have a bad exam at least she has time to do something about it.

Poor kid. It will improve.

BTW DSis says she got home yesterday and both dogs had had a lovely time with a six-pack of loo rolls. Her DS2 had helpfully got the hoover out.