All I Want For Crepemas Is Youth

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Phew

I've often thought that taking DM to live with us was the worst decision I've ever made but dealing with these anxieties remotely would be even harder. You're all making me count my blessings

Crem, sorry it's shit at work. Hope you're finding a way through it. you too, Beachy.
Stropps, great start especially on no sleep.
Herbs, hope you're sleeping better now the term is launched. More parties? How do you keep going?
Enjoy rest of the holiday BD.
Addle, good to see you, how's DH?
Rose, sorry you're feeling under-appreciated at home. Sublimating it into a play is a great way of using the anger but I hope you have some arse-kicking strategies as well. Sounds like encouraging news about your script.
GGG will you be at the place where we bump into each other this month?

I seem to have lost weight over the holiday, which Does Not Compute. But I'm a bit under the weather (only physically) so maybe that's why.

Confession - tree is still up. None of us wanted to dismantle it. Mum asked me tonight if I've taken plenty of photos of it . Tomorrow, definitely.

Photo was Gozo which I recommend over Malta if anyone is thinking of a trip...

I am very tired despite my lovely hotel bed as Dp snored a lot and ds muttered 'shut up' for a large portion of the night.......

I think my weight is about the same, but twitchy eye has stopped which is a good thing.

Last day - Villetta - and then home and I'll be taking down the tree on Friday.

Auriga, you are a saint - I could not cope with DM here (not that she would want to come/could manage all the stairs and the teens!), despite it being very tricky to manage from a distance. Your tree must be lovely. And at losing weight!

BD, enjoy your last day!

Herbs, that Gentleman's mask has scared the bejjaysus out of me. !

BD have a lovely last day, for tis wild here.

Auriga, thanks for asking. DH was doing less and less and ended up in bed on Monday and most of Tuesday but we talked yesterday and he thinks he's turned the corner. We reckon over a month of quite bad stuff. And of course he won't use the SAD light/eat properly etc when it is bad. Bit stumped as so often happens over December/January, but we've had the AD discussion once again and he's set against.

I loved our Christmas tree, was sad to end the ritual of switching on lights all over the house in the morning, but glad to get back the space and light. Now if I can only polish off the chocolates, biscuits and cake, and stop buying 10p boxes of mince pies, we'll be into the new year austerity regime.

My lovely ILs at one time proposed we buy a big house in the country for us, them and my DH's Dsis and BIL to share. Not a chance.

BD - have a lovely last day. Bucketing here. Looking forward to living vicariously through Cremo's trip next.

It's still raining here: I don't think it has stopped for over an hour since it started last Friday. The good news, though, is that the heavy snow forecast for Sunday seems to have disappeared. DD is driving up to Berwick today for her work, so I am hoping that the roads will be clear.

BD, enjoy your last day. I do agree with you re Malta v Gozo, although I think that Malta has some wonderful history. I was surprised how built up Malta is.

BD sounds like a successful trip all in all. DH ended up sleeping in the bathroom in our hotel in Nice last summer for a night as I think I was about to murder him for snoring....

crem definitely work to rule. What a horrible situation. Keep that holiday in mind to keep you going...

addle you've been dealing with a lot, very quietly. I do hope DH has in fact turned the corner. If he won't consider ADs would he do taking therapy?

I could never have had grandparents living with us, and they wouldn't want to....however it's different strokes for different folks. A friend of mine's DM moved in with her her DH and three DC when widowed at quite a young age and has lived with them ever since. Said friend never needed childcare or baby sitting, so could work full time.

Nice meeting this morning with fellow teachers. Rain has been torrential here from the early hours...woke me up before 5. Our roof is leaking....finally convinced DH to get a roofer to look at it today. Dreading it's going to be a Big Job.

In other news, I got a request yesterday to teach a workshop...booking for May so a bit ahead but its not for either of the organisations I normally teach for...I was approached independently. I was discussing with DH what I'd charge, and when I mooted an amount he looked sceptical and said it was too much!!! When I phoned the organisation and quoted, they said " are you sure...that doesn't sound enough. " Hoiking Bosom a la molly and feeling very miffed with DH...

Boo hiss to your DH, rose. Git.

I have just returned from my lovely year 2 voluntary morning. They're so sweet. And are making little breakthroughs. One boy, with various SENs, wrote an actual sentence today, with actual 'finger spaces'. There was much rejoicing, and giving of stickers and certificates. His coy but shy smile warmed the very soul.

Rather less warm is our house, as the boiler has broken. As it does most years around now. So I've got to get A Man In to come and fix it, juggling it around my various work things. And I've got to get the car MOT'd and serviced. And do my tax return.

Auriga - I'm not that much of a partay animal. This 'disguise party' isn't until 16 Jan, and is in Sheffield, at my good chum's house. The one with the twins. It's going to be bedlam.

Hello all.

Addle - had a convo with My DH about how once I'd had my morning go on the SAD light, I would hotfoot it down to him in the kitchen, where he hangs first thing.

Rose - brill on new workshop clients. And great typo: 'taking therapy.' I tried that for a while in my teens: earrings from a shop in Richmond, makeup from Woolies, a pencil from Smiths in Ealing....

I think my mum gets SAD. I keep meaning to get her a speical light, but fear she won't use it.

In an unexpected turn of events, the boiler man can come this afternoon!

Sounds like you are very calm and supportive Addle.

Rose. Make sure you tell him.

Herbs, it's great when those children make progress - much more so than the "normal" ones who do it so much more easily

Just got DS's short report - significantly better in terms of effort and organisation, so I am going to reward that. Don't really understand the levels, etc - reporting seems to have changed from last year!

Rose - thank you. DH did do some taking therapy about 5 years ago, the last time it was really bad. He found it useful (it threw up A LOT of issues about his Dad) but he appears to consider it done

WAF - hmmm ... maybe I should take the SAD light upstairs at the moment - it waits for him in the kitchen

BTM - SAD Lights extraordinary but great. Also useful for reading/proofing by when your eyes are tired. We got ours from Lumie. Also, DS school's reports completely impenetrable IME

Just had day off work, scoured the sales and came away almost nothing but a satisfactory sense of having been thorough. JL womenswear too much for me unless going with a friend and Cos having one of its seasons of extra special shapelessness and weird fabrics

My ds school reports went from being hard-nosed but comprehensible (ABC etc) touchy-feely, skills, resilience etc (all very good stuff I am sure). We occasionally get mildly disappointed letters saying it seems that we have not all understood the new ways .

I am feeling shattered. Longing for bed.

My DSis2 has her results: local recurrence of breast cancer, she needs a wide excision a week tomorrow and then at least four weeks off work while they decide about further radio/chemo therapy. She also has a nodule on the lung, of unknown significance. So better than it might have been and, in another sense, worse.

Managed to take DM out today and got her to the bank, hairdresser, mini-market and coffee shop. She enjoyed it and didn't get too breathless.

DD seems to think mocks went OK, hard to tell.

I am deep in Kipling. Does anyone here know much about him?

Auriga, sorry to hear about DSis, the poor woman must be wondering what has hit her. Let's hope that they can get it under control again. I do think that you're fantastic with your DM, it must take a lot of organisation (and goodwill).

Lalsy, I hope DH continues to do well.

I am loaded with cold again - I have been fighting it on and off for weeks now - perhaps I could do with the lamp as well?

Sorry, I meant Addle,

Oh bugger, Auriga.

I know a little about Kipling and ought to read Kim for my Effusion but I can never face much of it. Am curiously find of Plain Tales from the Raj.

Oh no, Auriga
Well done with your DM - you are a saint. As I keep saying!

Bit off track, but if you are deep in Kipling & you can get down to Sussex go & visit Batemans.

Never have I been anywhere that is so redolent with the spirit of the person who lived there - it was uncanny.

Auriga - I hadn't realised your DM lived with you! I am fairly certain that if something happened to DSDad, DM would almost certainly suggest some sort of joint-house-with-annex arrangement, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it came to pass at some point. But who knows what the future will bring? They are both fit as fleas at the moment

BTM - DS's mocks results are coming home in dribs and drabs - mostly Cs and Ds, and largely disappointing. He is adamant that he will be OK when the actual GCSEs, that he will do much more revision, take them more seriously, do better. OK, he did pull last year's Core Science GCSE out of the bag, but this is not good for my nerves. He has an interview for the local sixth form college on Monday; they will see the results, and I will be very interested to hear what they have to say.

Addle - sounds like a good shopathon. I had an hour to kill in Britain's Dullest Town, aka Leatherhead, this afternoon. I returned a jumper to Next, filled my basket with cheap shampoo and loo-cleaner in Poundland, then went to Sainsburys and bought some chicken goujons and a new spatula. Zzzzzzzzz........

No, no, Britain's dullest town is Esher.

Kipling - apart from liking the Just So stories - I think of his grief after he enabled his son who had poor eyesight to enlight in WW1 and the son being killed at the age of 18, quite early on in the war. Also tried to learn Italian by translating a Kipling short story back from Italian into English. Magi - I've always meant to go to Batemans - will make it 2016 plan.

MI - did you read Strangler Vine? and if so what did you think of it?

CV - Poundland - that's all I needed to round off my shopathan but I was weighed down with post-Christmas 50p chestnuts and 25p mustard from m&s

I thought Andy Murray had declared Worthing the most dull place on earth and he should know!

Last day with dd1 before she treks off west again for another term.

Boss was fine - we 'didn't mention it', so work rumbles on. God, these mornings are dark, aren't they?