Crepeys of a consistently high standard

[Stropperella]

So there. :)

Oh Happy Birthday MissStropps. That really sounds lovely day

BTM blimey , how can dd not have found any shoes. She should try living here! ( Dunnes or Debenhams). I ended up getting dd a fab hardly worn pair of violet stilettos for £1in the Sally Army shop. Being as she was only wearing them once! Send her down to Sue Rider- lol!!! Mind you she'd probably quote that as one of the reasons we were "shit parents" She is refusing to speak to us now.
tbc when I'm calmer

Auriga: waves, nice to hear from you.

Off to watch masterchef and cool down.
Beachy am of your day.

Oh and ds made her a fantastic stop-motion animation for her birthday present, which she loved. This included a stickman labelled as "all Dd's boyfriends" with a speech bubble saying "Best girlfriend EVER".

Ahhhh, Crem, sorry to hear things are no better. So damn hard.
Auriga, thank you very much for your good wishes. Hope the work stress lets up. Have you got anything nice planned for the summer hols as a reward for keeping battling on at work?

Oh Cremo so sorry :(

Here I'm a feeling maudlin and despite the fact dp drives me bats and I have threaten to LTB many times I don't want to be alone for 11 days :(
And the pub is about to be taken over by a local about whom the best thing I have heard tonight is 'he's an arsehole'. The majority of the locals are basically saying they won't drink there..... :(.

It's crap.

(For context I live in the sticks - next pub over a mile away and back home is up hill) - and he hates kids......

Oh dear BD. I too would feel peeved if DH was away for 11 days (he has not dared do this since the infamous school cricket trip to Barbados when DD was a baby) particularly now they are tricky teens.

Stropps how sweet that your DD wanted to do her birthday like she did when she was small. Hope she has a fab time partying too !

Cremo, sorry things haven't improved yet. There are many charity shops here but DD would go mad if I suggested it However, she did buy some false eyelashes today so I am hoping that she may be getting her friend (who is my friends DD and v good on the makeup front) to help her. Because if not, she is leaving it bloody late for me to book anything.

Happy Birthday to the Stroppette!

Sorry to hear that things are no better, Crem.

Found out today that a friend who has cancer has developed pneumonia as well and is unlikely to last the weekend. She has essentially been terminal for nearly two years, is paralysed and has had zero quality of life for most of that time. Now she has gone blind as well. She wanted to go to Dignitas about a year ago, but was too ill to travel. I haven't had much contact with her in the past year or so. I feel I should have done more, but a mutual friend told me that she didn't really want to hear from people, and didn't want to see anyone, so most contact has been via mutual friend. Mutual friend saw her a few weeks ago, and said they both just sat there sobbing as they knew it was the last time they would see each other. So what did I do tonight? I went to see a play at the National with DD1, which was set in a cancer ward. Really not the right thing to do at all.

MrsS, how very very grim and sad.

And Crem, so bloody tough.

11 days is long. Small treats littered throughout the time?

Mine won't go near charity shops either. More fool them

Aww...love the thought of your DS's birthday stop-motion, Strops. My DNephew has put some fabulous ones on YouTube. So creative.

Anyway, I am On The Train to DDad's, feeling pleasantly blurred after a can of Gin & Tonic (how did I not know such things existed??). Had a faaaabulous day off. I can confirm that the Totem Pole is still standing at Virginia Water Lake; we had a gorgeous two hour stroll, then a leisurely pub lunch nearby - I felt as if I were on holiday somewhere exotic, and not in boring old Surrey. Anyhow, I've left the family to their own devices; they will pitch up at some point tomorrow, but at least I'll be on hand for any pre-party duties. Starting to wibble about my speech, though....might need to keep a can of G&T about my person to ease the nerves.

Oh, and we are chuffed once again that DS managed to "pull it out of the bag" exam-wise, not once, but twice. One mark off a B in his Maths mock, and one off an A in his PE written exam. This follows on from the meeting with the Head of Upper School last week who told him that if he met his current dismal predicted grades he wouldn't be able to do A Levels. At all. Oh, I'm praying so hard he did OK in his Science GCSE; it will be such a boost if he gets that C.

Oh MrsS.

Stropps, that sound like a lovely day. Happy birthday to your dd.

CV that's fab news about your DS - am hoping for something similar with mine..

MrsS so sorry to hear about your friend.

Late Happy Birthday to MsStropps, and wow re ds doing an animation for his sis. Sibling affection - what's that? Auriga, sorry to hear about your work stress.

Some very nice dresses upthread...and congrats to Stropps re ongoing keenness from potential employers. Well done to CV ds.

MrsS, sorry to hear about your friend. There is that thing of "turning your face to the wall" when death is quite near; they say people are less inclined to see friends. Hard for you to bear though.

And Crem, hope you can continue to bear the insults with fortitude. Sad but I'm quite sure temporary.

The heat and storminess is not great for my health - if I lost more weight of course I would bear it better. Nights are hard when humid, though; Auriga, is that adding to work stress do you think?

Good luck with the speech tomorrow, CV.
Sorry to hear about your friend, MrsS
Dd has gone off to a cowboys and Indians party. No prizes for guessing what she went as. I had to smirk when 2 cowboys came to pick her up. Apart from shorts and a t-shirt, she is wearing some of her great-granny's eccentric jewellery made of nuts and seeds, a headdress made of feathers salvaged from the chicken run and a load of facepaint. V. stylish.

Sorry to hear about your friend MrsS
Good luck with the speech CV.
I shall mainly be in a field today....

We have just waved off one set of visitors, another arrives this morning, leaves Monday and more arrive Monday. Welcome to Hotel Schadenfreude...

Molly I think you are right re friend. She has only seen our mutual friend in the past year or so, and has often said she doesn't want to see her, according to friend. Her son is in the US, and she didn't want to tell him or see him either. She managed to hide it from him for a very long time, and finally told him at Christmas (she had no choice - he was coming over, and while she could skype in a good wig and dark glasses, from a chair, there was no hiding it in person).

Have a good weekend, peeps.

Oh flip me Mrs S, I can only think of all the duvet changing, and in this heat too. You poor thing. Are the dds home? Hope they are helping out. Possibly just start on the prosecco as soon as its civilised to do so. Or even beforehand.

CV bloody well done to your ds. Sounds like he pulled it out of the bag. That's just wonderful.

BTM , my sisters children would be the same about charidee shops. Oh how they are missing out! Yesterday I swagged a teal Boden velvet jacket for £2 and a linen Next dress new with tags for £1.50 in some weird missionary shop in a small country town. I was on the way to meet my old school friend. We had planned to have 11am coffee, but ended up yakking until 4pm. Trying to set the world to rights and failing desperately. She is about to marry for the 4th time. I have to admire her belief ! I also met her lovely son ( ex-daughter) who is just fantastic.

I am sitting watching the thunderbolts and lightening. It's spectacular .

Ps injun outfit made me giggle Stropps !

Oh and very good luck with the speech CV. Knock em dead

Oh MrsS. I am so sorry.

BD, agree re treats. It's a long time to be In Charge.

I slightly regret last night's G&T followed by prosecco but the effects will wear off by tonight's concert. Lovely Cousin has taken DD2 to dance while I wait for the replacement car (ahem). Being a fellow-practitioner - indeed fellow-teacher - of TMATDNSPIN she strongly agrees with DP dedicating his weekend to it. -why am I surrounded by mad hippies??

Were the cowboys wearing short shorts? Or just humming YMCA?

Happy Birthday Mini Stropps.

Mrs S - that's so hard re your friend.

Here I didn't sleep a wink as it's too hot and DH gets short shrift if his arm so much as brushes against mine. Have got up early and ironed, cleaned toilets and washed floors and been generally grumpy with adolescents who are draped languidly around the place and who are much more capable of coping than my 50 year old menopausal self!

I am regretting my red wine. Any more than half a bottle, and it's into 'regret' territory. However, going out to lunch to a friend's house, where no doubt there will be a hair of the dog awaiting.

So, doing a spot of assignment-writing to make self feel virtuous.

In protracted wrangle with BT over its/our useless box. It's the second one we've had in the space of two months. The first one gave up entirely. We got a second one. That has been most unreliable, and I keep having to 'reset to factory settings' which takes ages. Then that too ceased to work last week. Patronising young whippersnapper told me that I had the wrong broadband plug extender thingos, sent me new ones, and they've made no difference. Once again awaiting engineer. I really don't want to go over to Sky, but frankly can see why people do.

Hope the party and speech goes well CV.

MrsS You poor thing - that would tip me overboard. I hope they are all taking you out to eat rather than you having to cook every meal.

Stropps, the outfit sounds fab! I can only hope that DD will have the chutzpah to carry off something like that as she gets older. But maybe without the chicken feathers

Here I slept like a log, despite there apparently being massive lightning strikes all over - they showed a pic of one in Brixton on the Beeb this morning!

Good start to the morning - gym, shower, coffee and sale-swoop all done already! I got 4 lovely tops at 60% off from a local boutique and 2 new geraniums for £3 DS is back from his sleepover and we are going off to DPIL (picking DD up from coaching on the way) later - it's his 70th. No huge parties or speeches - just going out for dinner and a BBQ tomorrow. DH got proper told off by his DM last night on the phone for not calling or sending his DF a Fathers Day card, so he is keen to pop into the shops to get him a voucher en route

Oh and the greeny-yallery frock has arrived and I am informed I am to keep it. It works the fifties-floozy look quite well.

Oh and yes, Mrs S. I am full of admiration for you even considering putting people up. I simply can't be arsed with house guests. Quite apart from the fact we have no spare room and only one loo, in the bathroom, which makes mornings awkward. But all the faffing and cleaning and attending to their every need... No thanks. I have to like them Very Much.

Impressed with your morning so far, BTM. Annoyingly I slept like a log throughout the amazing lightning storm, which I had been looking forward to, and then woke up at 5.30. That's red wine for you.