Crepeys who try not to look like creepy clowns....

[BeachysSandyFlipFlops]

Would that be OK?

Must try to avoid a thread switch on a Friday night

I am not sure about going with old friends - dd decided against even tho she knew it would be tough, and I think it was the right decision for her.

MrsS, you do not sound good. Can you kick something?

Magi (I think?), Woolovers are not marvellous I would say but reasonable quality and prices for basics. I WAH and need jumpers because I sit for so long!

Mooncup/uni joy unconfined here - dd home for weekend applying for PG, ds doing (sort of) UCAS. dd's first choice says (reasonably) discuss in your application the options you will choose. Less reasonably, it doesn't list those options. ds laid back as a pancake; dd a-quiver with nerves, uncertainty and existential doubt, expecting derision and rejection at every turn. I am making a cake.

Stropps, hope doc can help.

BTM, sounds like a wearing weekend. How are you feeling?

And Beachy! Hope this week goes smoothly.

I am making a Roman wreath. It involves ridiculously delicate golden leaf skeletons from HobbyCraft that really aren't man for the job.

I am also making Roman Wrath. DS maintained he had no homework all through half term, and while picking him up from a friend's party became aware that he does. A fact file on the Romans, a comprehension exercise about said Romans, and a maths board game. By 7pm.

If you were closer, Herbs, I'd bring you laurel.... ds had many dress up days in a sheet and laurel round a clothes hanger from our massive, view blocking laurel hedge!

Herbs, you are a marvel. You do take after your mum. She and her friends look fantastic. I love that picture.

Magi, glad the horizon is levelling for you. Easy does it though.

Cocoa , I am glad a decision was reached and your dad is will be comfortably installed some where nice.
So much less anxiety, knowing he's in the right place.

Mrs S, I did not knowingly let a vegetable pass my lips until I was 23 or so, and had my first ever curry. ( quite exotic to me, living where I lived) I barely eat anything but veg and fruit , given I live with a vegetarian. I have survived though.
Sorry to hear dd1 fell of her perch. Hope the ankle is ok.

Poor wee puss is still hanging in there. We are hand feeding him, stroking him to promote purring and keeping him close. I procured some morphine for the vet yesterday as I couldn't bear him suffering.
He is a minuscule better for eating, peeing and walking today. The outlook is not good, but it's good that he can do a few things and be like his normal self , if only momentarily. I am more philosophical today.
But feel very blue al in all.

Auriga, I'm so sorry to hear you are in the same position I was about two years ago with the back. I had the epidural too and it had no effect at all. For me pain relief at a decent level plus physio really really helped me. Totally unable to move until I got proper meds and that took two years to get to that point.
I have. On physio's advice continued exercise with Pilates. This keeps me mobile.
Just thought you should know there is hope.

Cremo, sorry to hear you're feeling blue. And for your ill kitty.

Beachy, it's wearing isn't it - worrying all the time. I am OK, I think, but not looking forward to tomorrow!

Herbs, you are a better mum than me - I don't remember faffing with anything to make outfits for my two. Certainly no laurel leaves!
Re the homework, do what you can to help him do it and then stop. He needs to explain anything lacking to the teacher, but he's likely to not be the only one who hasn't done it all. And he's only 8, not in Y11, so it's not life and death!

I don't usually go to much trouble with the dressing up, usually just binging him in either his buzz lightyear or Jedi costume and bending the definition. Not sure what's come over me today. DP is helping DS with his homework, the small part of it. I'm a great believer in learning through consequences - ie if he doesn't do it, he's the one that gets in trouble. Though I think he did genuinely forget...

Rosebag I thoroughly recommend a Slow Cooker. It's a brilliant bit of kit, and needs absolutely no watching over at all. I still have a pressure cooker that was a wedding present, and it scares the hell out of me when it comes up to pressure - even the dogs dive for cover.

I have joined a FB page called (I think) Slow Cooked Wonders. Inbetween the recipes for SC fudge and SC cake (from cake mix and fizzy drink - URGH) there are some great ideas. Made a shed load of curry sauce from scratch which sat in the freezer in portions, once upon a time.

Crem glad DPuss is comfortable.

Aruga my DM had terrible back problems and narrowly avoided an operation, mainly through lots of physio and lying (almost) flat on the floor for several hours a day. It's a fragile beast these days, but she continues to play tennis and lead a pretty pain free life. Hang on in there.

I'm about to start week 4 of a never ending cold - nothing particularly serious but I am so fed up of blowing my nose and being generally snotty.

In uni news dd1 phoned to say she's not going to get the work she had planned for today done as she went out to a Halloween party last night and doesn't think it sensible to attempt coursework today. I don't know whether this is a sign of maturity or immaturity but she assures me she is not behind with her work. Given the memory of the stress of her resit has not yet faded I am not completely convinced. Dd2 on the other hand is well placed with her work. She is still undecided about future careers but (with thanks to all the Crepey careers advisers) has put in a civil service application. So, Mrs S, if you end up assessing her please be nice! And dd3 has got her first offer for next year from Bristol. It's not her first choice but she says she'd be happy there so we are all very pleased - particularly as the offer is comfortably below her predictions.

So all in all it's been an ok half term. We haven't phoned parents or in laws but no news is good news and fortunately all seem to be in a stable if ageing health position at the moment. Best wishes to those of you with a less happy current prognosis - I know I've likely got that to come but am refusing to worry or even think about it until I have to.

Hello crepes, I'm butting in having seen all the bad back postings. My dp is on a mix of neurontin & amitryplinline plus the meds. it has helped with the pain but is causing memory loss/confusion and other side effects. pain clinic discharged him 6 months ago afther injections helped. He has cut down recommended does & I've said he needs to go back to GP but I'm dealing with resistance. Any ideas please?

I'm a long time lurker/unregular poster on here but follow all yoy ups 7 downs with empathy.

sorry for typos in my other post.

Hi again DQ. Sorry to hear of dp's back probs. I am one for taking the meds I've been told to take, but I completely understand the strong desire to come of debilitating drugs. I know my memory is shot to pieces and I can be a bit slow of the mark sometimes. I would suggest that he has a frank conversation about his various meds with the pharmacist. Most of them offer a service to look at the contraindications of the meds and talk you through what they are for and how or why it would be good to come off them.
Might that work? My pharmacist was brilliant in this respect. It gave me a lot of confidence.

Mrs W, three girls ? Respect.

BTM and Beachy, fingers crossed for your boys and you tomorrow.

DD back from half term up north and v wobbly about teach first. can't say I blame her given the intensity and lack of support but worried about what to do for the best.

Not absolutely sure DS has been revising as advertised.

And likely to be heavy week next week at work including extremely unattractive convo.

Crem, glad you're getting more time with dpuss

Life is knackering

Sorry to all the sufferers - first hand as well as vicariously.

Mrs W, what subject does dd3 want to study?

Ahhh, the usual flurry of homework activity on the last evening of half term.....

I have forced DD1 to send some emails regarding work experience - she's supposed to have it sorted by the end of this week, and she's done nothing. Emails duly despatched to a variety of art/design-based companies....we shall see if anything is forthcoming, otherwise she'll be stacking shelves in Sainsbury.

I'm almost looking forward to going back to the office tomorrow. This weekend has been hijacked by the bloody decorating. I hate mess, disorder and dust, and have been in a murderous bad mood all day.

What provoked the decorating flurry, CV? I hate it too - we always seemed to do something that caused loads more problems, like peeling off a bit of wallpaper that was holding a wall together. So don't any more.

Oh, it has been long overdue - postponed many times because we knew it would be a nightmare. They are the last two rooms in the house that have not been touched since we moved here almost eight years ago. Both bedrooms have had awful condensation mould - I keep it at bay with various sprays, but it has got under the wallpaper, and it all had to go.

And indeed, the walls are pretty crumby. I also discovered a socket behind the radiator in DD2's room.

CV re the socket! Is there anything long-term that can be done about the condensation mould? We suddenly got a bit of that (well, I think that's what it was) under our bedroom window a couple of years ago. We had a builder come and take off the plaster and re-do it (or something!) and it has been fine since.

Addle, reassure your DD that it is normal to feel wobbly after a holiday - loads of teachers feel like this, even quite experienced ones. It WILL be easier than last half-term because she already has a half-term's experience under her belt. She has to feel the fear and do it anyway. Like my DS (and yours Beachy, when he goes back!) Remind her that the pupils will be really looking forward to seeing her - she is now one of the most important adults in their lives.

And re slow cookers, I have one and it is fab - had slow cooker shredded BBQ beef last night - yum!

Btm thank you. Will pass that on. We walked down to the tube together this morning and she seemed braced.

Braced is exactly the word! And half an hour into the day she will have forgotten the fear and be doing a great job

GGG, dd3 has applied for French and German. Last minute proof reading stopped her applying for Film Studies and German.

I am thinking of Beachy and Tilly and DSs first day back after half term/managing another week off in Beachy's case. and hugs.

Also to all chronic back pain sufferers, and also to Cremo caring for poor DCat.

I sympathise , CV although it may comfort you to know that we've been in current house about 12 years, and I am still living with the previous owner's bathrooms and kitchen. Nothing ever gets done as we don't DIY at all, and DH has a real mental block about getting work done on the house until something fall off around his ears The spare room has little back mould spots around the window. I expect I should be there with a tooth brush dipped in bleach but, hey...

Our day rapidly descended into a pear shape after lunch yesterday with DD not being able to format her assignment properly and the computer going all wonky. Cue plenty of screaming from several of us...then DH and I had a not inconsequential ding dong about something which has left me feeling very out of sorts and lethargic after a sleepless night, worrying and coughing.

I would however recommend the movie, "I, Daniel Blake" very strongly after having seen it earlier yesterday (when we were all being nice to each other and having a family outing....)It's the kind of movie where everyone sits in silence at the end, and no one leaves until all of the credits have rolled and finished...Deeply shocking and brilliantly acted imho. Has anyone else seen it yet?

Happy Monday everybody - here, as it is a bank holiday tomorrow everybody has taken their Mondays off. DS has friends coming for a sleep over and DH and I are banned from the house for most of the day - so we are going to walk round Paris.

Rose - hope, computer/argument problems have been resolved - it's horrible having a sleepless night, especially after an argument. I don't know the film - will have to Google.

Addle - I watched the documentary on Teach First a couple of years ago - your DD is very courageous. I remember they made the nice Biology teacher cry (but as I remember she did stay the course).

CV - Another who hates decorating - and DS will be stacking shelves in the local supermarket, having failed to get other work experience. I do feel though he is at least experiencing real work, whereas many of them sit in an office and cannot really participate (except to do photocopying and make tea).

Mrs W - well done on the proof-reading - I've always found the Higher Education boards on MN a really helpful sounding board for all uni application related problems.

Best wishes to all back sufferers.

Crem - how is darling puss this morning?

It is not a Happy Monday here; the nice chap arrived at 9 to take up the laminate in the kitchen and utility room, preparatory to laying some Karndean. All went well until he removed the flooring in front of the washing machine, only to discover that we had obviously had a long term leak and the ply board was completely rotten. Oh, yes, and part of the joists will need replacing, too. The leak isn't from the new washing machine but obviously the damage had been done. Thank goodness for the nice man who is sorting it out.

Saw my NDN earlier who told me that they had been woken at 5 am the previous morning - the neighbour on the other side had come back from clubbing, she thought, and decided that it was a good time to use the hot tub. Cue music, giggling etc., and running around naked.

How are you today, Crem?