WWW's 10 year younger bootcamp, it's still September, still serious, all welcome

[WideWebWitch]

Hello everyone, old and new.

This is about feeling better about yourself and looking and feeling better etc. But mainly we chat and laugh quite a lot, which has all got to help towards happiness etc.

The rules (anyone can join):

• Sunscreen at all times

• No or little booze. Wine or Champagne or whatever at the weekend is allowed if you want it

• Walking is important, a small amount every day if possible. 30 mins if you can

• Lots of water, aim for 2 litres a day

• Apply body cream as often as possible

• Use hand cream

• Go to bed early, by 10.30pm if pos

• Eat healthily

• Be happy

The idea is that we all feel happier, healthier and glow with the good food, sleep, exercise, water and lack of sun damage.

Some people are doing India and Neris's Idiot Proof Diet (Atkins, more or less), others are doing Slimy World, others are just being as healthy as possible.

Welcome everyone, have a good week.

blu - thanks so much - a friend actually recommended this, and I've been um-ing and ah-ing about whether to subscribe - you've swung it for me. Really sorry to hear about your son's pain - sounds gruelling for you both. Good luck with sleep tonight.

quick hello to everyone.

Sorry to hear your news L&S and hope you boy's pain diminishes very soon, blu.

Hello all. This Lehman news has made me jittery, anyone else? Dh's boss has resigned today along with anothe rmanager, and now dh is worrying about his job too. No reason, just change so IF a job comes up for me, I will take it I think, just until we've got 6 months+ expenses in the bank.

Have had an ok day

3 sausages
spinach salad with tuna and anchovies
salami
camobzola
brazil nuts
and having duck breasts for supper
have had lots of water

no wine, obv
will have early night, am knackered

Oh Blu, hope your boy has a better night tonight

Snaf, welcome to I&N, good innit?

Marina lol at jobsworth public sector. It's looking more attractive by the minute as a place to work, non? (see Lehman etc)

JJ, I hope your cold improves soon. If oyu need something to just get through it Benelyn day and night tablets are FAB, just allow you to get on with it for 5 days and by the time you stop taking it your cold is over.

I know what you mean, www.

dh and I both know what it's like to be suddenly without a job.

Hope all the city mumsetters I know are ok.

I know what you mean, www.

dh and I both know what it's like to be suddenly without a job.

Hope all the city mumsetters I know are ok.

I know what you mean, www.

dh and I both know what it's like to be suddenly without a job.

Hope all the city mumsetters I know are ok.

My husband works for Morgan Stanley. It's been a hell of a year so far and bound to get worse. I'm a little worried about his job but extremely worried about the toll this is going to take on him.

My bil worked for Lehman Bros and I have a feeling we will be supporting them in some way soon. This won't be good for my mental health, tbh, as I get quite resentful about these things as history has shown. It will have to be conditional support for the sakes of all involved, I think. That's if we can afford to help; I'm not sure about that.

I rang my poor husband this morning (well, my noon, his 7am) to have him tell me it all would be ok. So far, so good. [wan smile]

oh jj, good luck - am thinking of you!

(That was in answer to WWW's "are you jittery" question)

Hi tigermoth!

Good evening everyone.

L&S, sorry to hear your news. Hope you can both be as amicable as possible and work things out between you.

Bad news about the six day week Marina, but yes there are advantages to the public sector at times like these.

All the best for tomorrow yoyo. Will be thinking of you.

Hope Bluboy (and you) have a better night tonight Blu.

Hope things remain stable for DH JJ.

JJ - it's not a lifestyle change I need, it's a personality transplant! (or at the very least a temperament transplant).

• Sunscreen yy
• No booze
• 30 mins ex bike, plus 3 mile hike.
• Lots of water/weak tea
• Apply body cream - yy
• Use hand cream - yy. and feet.
• Go to bed early - midnightish last night.
• Eat healthily - perhaps too many potatoes on the carvery lunch I had but other than that ok.
• Be happy. A neighbour I don't see very often uttered the immortal words tonight:

"Blimey, you look 10 years younger!"

How ironic. Quite chuffed though, and immediately thought of this thread.

Actually, MS as a bank should be ok (knock on wood). They've just been asked to look at what options there are to bail out AIG so that's reassuring, I think. Places like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are still ok too. Not everything lost / is losing money, eg foreign exchange had a banner year last year.

Anyway, I shouldn't be more worried than normal. I'm just easily wound up sometimes, ack!

ureb - I know what you mean. I think I need a "10 years less worrying" or a "The enthusiasm for things you had 10 years ago" bootcamp. Congrats on the compliment!

anniemac - yes, and then there's the presidential election and, on a more personal level, the whole secondary school thing. It's going to be a stressful time all 'round.

I am not gymming today because I woke up with a productive cough (eeewwwwwwww). When the pharmacy opens, I am going to get Benelyn Day and Night tabs as suggested (thanks WWW) then stop by the bookshop and get something comforting (ie a book where bad guys die and get what's coming to them, the bastards) and come home and rest. I am looking forward to it!

Good morning all!
Ureb, little did I think my quip about public sector wonkery could be seen in a very different light just hours after I posted it. Most of my WOTH mum friends at school are in investment banking, as are their dps. Am whistling in the dark with them in solidarity and as am in murky precincts of Temple of Mammon (albeit in my final pension bunker) am thinking of all the families whose lives have just been overturned and realising how lucky I am, really.
JJ, I'm sorry your BIL's predicament is likely to affect you too. Would he be a prize pill, by any chance?
Work is v. hectic. I feel like a quark or whatever being whizzed round the pipes in CERN - deadlines, paperwork, e-mails and plimsolls keep hurtling past me.
So not enough walking, water, cream or happiness yesterday, alas. And train malfunction took care of my walk this morning too
Moreover, I have another six-day week this week thanks to sodding bloody Open fecking House .
However, onward and upward. Am in early stages of seeing if we can cobble together a holiday with our closest friends next summer, and don't want to be the fat bird on the beach - even though they are the least image-driven family I know.
A wry smile for ureb, looking ten years younger is good (I once trilled "what a gorgeous new look" to a colleague from another office whom I had not seen in months - v. smart short haircut, you guessed it, she had had chemo - but her hair did look smashing actually).
Ds was asking after BoyBlu when he spotted your post, Blu. We have some puzzle books and things if you think they might go down well? I hope you all had a better night.
Good to see you here TM, and L&S, as many of us are the MN equivalent of dear Tubbs in terms of "been there and done that" with sweaty suburban panics on childcare, please let us know if we can help in any way.

get thee to a pharmacy JJ

I'm charging through thread as hellishly busy.

L&S - sorry about the current situation, your sister is a goddess amongst women. I have no advice at all so it's lucky everyone else does. Isn't MN brilliant!

Good - food, water, moisturiser and exercise - 5k run on Sunday though I did walk up the hills. Have been swimming almost everyday for the past week.

Bad - too much work, too many late nights.

Pre-school AGM tonight. I should be standing down as Chair, after 3 years, but no other bugger has come forward to take over. [mightily fucked off face]

Hi all
Am having a better week this week, feeling better physically and emotionally. Think it may be the gorgeous sunny weather at the weekend which has given me a lift, plus finally being back in the swing of the new term and realising that, yes, I can do this! Spent the weekend producing a timetable for both kids with lists of what they need for which days - am now being tough and expecting both of them to pull their weight and help get bags/ clothes ready for school. Working so far (only two days in though).

Lovely woman on the train today heard me coughing and walked down the carriage to give me a cough sweet! Such a small thing but made my day, mired as I was in the doom and gloom of the Guardian. So my resolution of the day is to try and do a small kind thing for someone, every day, not family. Am going to collect good karma.

L and S am so sorry to hear the latest developments. I came very close to separating earlier this year and I know the feeling of the abyss opening beneath you as you contemplate the future. You sounds though you are coping admirably though and that you have supportive family to hand.

marina - six day week two weeks on the trot? they're 'avin a laugh aren't they? Will you be able to recoup it?

Blu - lidl ryvita sound foul! Hope your ds is back on the up. I have read your blog - he sounds like such a plucky little chap.

L&S whereabouts in NELondon?

Blu are you sure you are eating the contents and not the packaging?

Marina - the packaging actually looks more inviting!

Really sorry for everyone involved in the fallout from Lehman collapse - whether directly or by ripples of worry. V unsettling. I was thinking last night about al the people who will be affecte - sandwich bars & dry cleaners next to the offices etc etc...All v frightening.

L&S - we found our nanny through SimplyChildcare - I was looking for a CM but she was advertising as looking to care for a child the same age as her 8 month-old - and was cheap enough because she reduced her costs considerably because she was also providing her own childcare. It worked brilliantly fo 3 years.

BoyBlu slept much better last night - phew, and we see his consultant tomorrow. I just want her to agree to take off the frame above his knee - but i know it will be a few weeks yet. He's starting his after-school club today - the school call it 'Textile Art Club' but fro the activities it sounds like a fany name fo 'sewing club'!!

I was doing SO well on eating, then arrived at work at the exact moment our new cafe manager had arranged a staff consultation about who our cake suppliers should be, and we all had to (yes, HAD TO!) sample carrot cake, brownies, lemon and almond.....all from a small local producer who sells at a farmers market, all buttery and golden and crumbly...and now I feel like an pver-stuffed sofa!

But am doing v well on my resolution to eat lots more fruit and veg, and am feeling more upbeat for it.

Sleeping: Good
Drink: one v small V&T last night
Excercise: crap - but managing more brisk walking than usual
Mood: improved by observing v sexy decorator /actor dealing with our rotting soffit before leaving house. Will try to track down his Spotlight listing to e mail to everyone....
Demeanor: have decided to walk with head held high and think positive at all times instead of hunching about brooding - takes years off you instantly!

lol blu! am gagging for pics of decorator

glad boyblu sleeping better, good luck with appt.

the Cake Quality Control made me snort out loud!!!!

Rushing through too as about to leave work:

3 sausages
smoked salmon and boursin wraps
Austrian smoked cheese
Marmite cheese
port salut
brazil nuts

loads of water
forgot sunscreen
was in bed by half ten
no wine

feel RUBBISH and look worse but suspect it's effect of no sugar/carbs for a few days.

Really sorry to hear your news L&S and all who are caught in the terrible economic developments (although the phrase 'credit crunch' makes me want to spit blood, it's used so indiscriminately in every other line of all newspapers/mags/tv progs/water cooler conversations).

Yoyo - hope all went well for you today. Sadly, my friend at work had a worrying result today at the hospital and now has to have a biopsy and MRI scan next week .

WWW - enjoy your 'sabbatical' - I would so love to have Nov - Mar off I think (despite having complained about 1.5 years ago of being a SAHM - I think an oil-rig type regime of 4 months on/4 months off would suit me actually).

All the niggles and complaints in my life feel very trivial atm and I feel a bit like a whingy child so will not offload. Suffice to say I doubt I will be given any nice compliments in the near future. I am, however, on my way to becoming a reasonably fit grump....

The good news: I'm feeling human again after the magical Benelyn Day and Night drugs. And I can smell and taste again! Yay!

The bad news: I am now officially very stressed about the whole banks going under thing. I have been reading far too much about it and who thinks MS and Goldman Sachs will go under. We are just f*cked if they do. Ah well, we'll see.

Have eaten pizza for dinner with re-awakened taste buds, it was good but life is not going to be better if I stay fat, sob.

Marina - he's a decent guy but just wet. And I shouldn't complain as we might in the situation soon of needing help from my parents.

Blu - I am very jealous of your cake tasting day.

foo - I love things like that! Definite restorer of hope in humanity.

moonshine - excellent on achieving reasonable fitness! I am hoping to reach that point soon.