Summertime...and the Crepeys are easy

[motherinferior]

With much love to BD.

(We are going to county cork btw in frugal manner.)

Herbs, a good carer can suddenly make everything easier - in our case one of the night sitters in my mum's last fortnight got the measure of my parents, alerted relevant agencies, and was generally wonderful.

I am finding DD1 very hard work. It's the undefinable scorn and faint distaste. I'm backing off and being quite frosty when she does like that.

MI oh dear spunds like full-on teendom - I think frosty response is the way to go.
Herbs the home mum was in was good. They were very supportive - I think that our parents generation have a certain imagine of them in their heads which is miles away from the reality.
CV glad DH is back. BTM dp always brings something back (or orders via Amazon :) )

I am on my way home as there's not much I can do practically at the minute. DBro will run ddad around tomorrow and I'll come back down to clear the bedroom with him next weekend. As DBro said it's the kindness of others that is the hardest thing to bear.

Have a good Sunday peeps :)

Herbs, that all sounds really positive So glad the new carer is nice and that your DM is thinking about Care Homes. Now you have to find some to look at

MI, sounds totally normal but very annoying teen behaviour. Sadly!

BD, glad your DB is stepping up to the plate - you need to get a breath before you help your DDad with the next stage

Ah BD, you are genuinely wonderful and sound pragmatic today. I hope you can find some time for yourself today. Huge hugs.

When my ddad used to travel, we awaited with great anticipation for potential gifts from for rain parts. I still have a little Taiwanese doll he gave me ( the joy!) and a tiny Chinese dress from HK , which dd used once for a show and tell about China and tea or something ! Special things. I have an old steamer trunk full of letters, photos and ephemera from my childhood. One thing Dh and I have in common is a hoarding and sentimental love of The Past. Which is why this house is not big enough for our combined crap. . I tend to curate though. Dh just never chucks anything meaning we are drowning in computer related shit.

CV what about job offer? Just thinking I never heard whether you went for it or no?

MI delighted you are sorted in the hols department. Cork will be lovely.

Herbs, what a relief that the new carer is a Better Person altogether. So glad that dmum is well enough to make sensible decisions for herself. It's not long since she would have been unable to do this.
A breakthrough I'm sure.

Still abed with kidney pain and wan face. willing self better as was threatened with hospital by gp yesterday.
I will be going on my hols in a week time no matter what.

Oh crem I do hope you feel better soon. I trust you are on the strongest antibiotics?

BD do remember to take some time for yourself and allow yourself to feel. This has been my downfall ie not allowing it, and I am now bearing the consequences. Xx

GGG herbs mrsS I can do either of those days/times so long as I don't have to travel too far....Anyone else? GGG would you like to suggest somewhere near Highbury and Islington station? I think when we once spoke about it, you said there were loads of nice places there?

DH always brings back gifts from his work travels. The ubiquitous bottle of No19 for me (yawn) and shapeless slogan t shirts for the DC which I usually put in a charity bag when he's not looking.... CV do say your DH bought you something?

Oh no Cremo - I am willing you to get better asap!

I will be away up to visit DM with DD next week, so sadly not around for a MU. But when are you going to Maaaaaargate, MrsS? Maybe we could have a crepey day out there?!

Oh, you've got a Chanel 19 stash too, Rose

I am mostly feeling annoyed by all my fellow-inmates, which doesn't bode well for a holiday, does it.

MI, your DD1 always seems nothing but charming to me, and I find it hard to believe that she can behave in such a way! (Slight relief to find out that she is Like The Rest of Them After All.)

Crem - I am married to a hoarder. It seems to me that I just keep getting rid of my stuff and he keeps all of his and acquires more.

FB question for you: Numbers 1 and 2 on my "people you may know" list are slightly concerning to me (they have been the same for weeks) - I have two mutual friends with both of them, but am slightly worried that they have been FB stalking me (one "likes" every comment I put on a mutual friend's wall). Might this be the case, or is it just random. And if it is just random, why aren't people with whom I have 13 mutual friends coming up first on the list?

MI, I ALWAYS feel like that before a hol and most of the time really

MrsS, I don't know. I always wonder where those suggestions come from. I get the DC's friends as suggestions sometimes. I think if you click on their profile, maybe FB suggests them some more?

My fb keeps suggesting my ex-bf from a thousand years ago. I only nosily stalked him once or twice, after discovering he is now with a friend of a vague friend of mine and has two very young kids. Does that mean I pop up on his 'friends you may know'

Herbs, so glad your carer is better. Can you hang onto this one or do they have to rotate?

The Brits have arrived on the campsite en masse. We met a couple with the same van as ours, which was obviously an excuse to invite them over to our pitch and quaff vast quantities of wine.....

Ds is in with an older crowd, spending most evenings well into the night on the beach with beer. He just mutters 'go away' to us randomly if we approach him, so presume he's having a good time

Mrs S , exactly the same here with Dh , especially as he is King of Hobbies. We are now equipped to run a fancy patisserie shop, try out for the Olympic archery team, carry out professional tailoring ( he went on a spending bender after watching Sewing Bee -wtf?) and of course offer full maintenance or refurbishment of a Harley Davidson ( there are two bikes in pieces at the bottom of the garden.) this list is not exhaustive, given the ancient computing equipment and accompanying shit. I fully despair, and MIl makes no denial that she was delighted that he moved out and married me. Thanks for that.
I am at a charity shop weekly, giving stuff away on the sly. am very anti-clutter, either that or organised tidied away shit. It's fine if I don't have to look at it all the time.

Yes to strong ant-b Rose. It's making me a bit swirly. < goes to lie down>

DH has a telephone exchange. Fortunately it's in his DBro's loft, along with his collection of music papers from the 1970s and 1980s... So nothing useful really, like patisserie stuff.

I have gone through DD2's bag of unwanted clothes and am listening to Claude Francois.

Oh and he also has five (5, v) synthesisers. For when he becomes top DJ at the Ministry of Sound, obviously.

but also
Oh yes, the future. Because in their parallel universe it is infinite.

MrsS just seen your Hotter post on FB - I have just been into Bonmarche to buy a few clothes for DM. No idea if they will fit...

I feel very distanced....

That I think is par for the course, BD. I texted a friend the day after my mother died saying 'I feel very odd'. It is, I think, a self-protective mechanism. Expect to be very, very tired soon too - not least because you can sleep now.

We are here.

BD it must feel quite unreal I guess. You need to take time for yourself - off work for a few days, especially givenue the crapness of your current work sitch.

Oh do take bereavement leave BD and also a bit of A/L as well, if you have some left. Tis v important to be away from assholes and idiots who think you can just behave as if nothing has happened.
MI is right. I think the exhaustion will follow. Do not fight it. It is part of the healing process.
The disjointed feeling is shock I think. Do just talk if it helps. We are here.

No, I didn't get gifts. DH's safe return was gift enough for me. Although I might pinch the super-kitsch waving cat when DS isn't looking.

BD - this is normal. It will take time to process everything.

Crem - I said yes to the job, although nothing will happen until the autumn. I think I'd be crazy to turn it down. I have confided in one person (who's a contractor, so impartial, and knows me quite well) and plan to pick his brains next time I see him away from the office.

DM and DSDad have just popped by for lunch, bringing their nearly new dining room carpet, which is now being repurposed for DD2's bedroom. DH and DS had a very amusing Right Said Fred moment manhandling the roll into the loft, which is where it will probably stay for months until I muster the energy to redecorate.

Now trying to plan day out in London for DN, who's never been before. She's requested London Eye, Madame Tussauds and London Zoo, which I think will be too much for one day. I'm trying to book as much as possible using my Tesco tokens.

I don't recommend Mme Tussauds. I went with worK on a freebie. We had to get the DC yo read the labels so we knew eho the waxworks were meant to be

Ooh that's great CV.Well done.You'll be amazing, I'm sure. The very idea of those 3 touristy things in one day makes me feel ill. The zoo yes, but Tussauds as well might break you, although I suppose they are nearby. The Eye followed by a show might be good X.
At least some of that is sitting down.

Agree with BTM, the Eye and the Zoo will be more than enough. If you do the Eye in the morning there are loads of good places on South Bank to get something to eat and nice for a wander, then Zoo with lovely Regents Park / Primrose Hill to hang out in after....

Thinking of you BD. Hope you're as Ok as sad circa allow.

Get well soon Crem. Poor you.

Well, DD1 has veto'd the zoo, as she doesn't want to see animals in cages. I have now booked Madam Tussauds via Tesco. Don't worry, BTM, DH and I intend to drop the DCs at the door and head straight for the nearest bar/cafe/shop while they traipse round by themselves; we have no interest in the place (having said that, I held the same opinion about London Dungeon, and that turned out to be really rather fun). I will probably book London Eye for the evening (again, Tesco), with a bit of hop-on-hop-off bus touring in the middle so she can tick off a few of the sights.