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The 'N' key has fallen off my laptop. You dont realise how much you need an 'N' until the key has dropped off and you have to press gently on a funny little rubbery nodule where the key should be. I now have whizbang computer envy. Meh. s x

from teranika :

SHEEE'S BACK! I won't make it to Bristol on this trip...but now it sounds like it would be a cool place to visit. dang.

from stepfordtart :

Both entries were there, dear. D'land is having a bit of a wobble at the mo. If you think someone has updated but you can only see an old entry, go on their archive page, hit refresh and the new stuff should pop up for you. Its happening a lot at the mo. Bristol's nice, isnt it. I like it there. s x

from stepfordtart :

Hmmmm. We've just had the 'choosing of the options' thingy. Oh and what a bundle of joy THAT was. Not. Year 9 can kiss my arse. s x

from stepfordtart :

Squeee! Is it full fee? Too much to hope for, surely? s x

from teranika :

I've always loved your garden. In fact, we just bought our tickets and hopefully will be seeing it in early June!!!

from teranika :

Just read about Nicole's banner day. Wonderful! Looks like we may be in London this summer earlier than we thought - at the beginning of June. You still there?

from stepfordtart :

*clamps mouth together and goes blue with the effort of not laughing*. Awww, poor lad! s x

from stepfordtart :

Hahaha! Im going through a 'Mum is God' phase at the moment with mine - not sure what I did to deserve it. Jooj got a message from one of the boys in her class just now "How's your mum? She's EPIC." It wont last, and then we'll be back filling in the rest of those dwaves names for you - Morose and Grizzling-over-nothing, I think they're called. s x

from blujeans-uk :

Not at all! Random surfing is good... Incidentally, your german swimmer wasn't from Goppingen was he? We used to do that every Easter until I was about 15, it was amazing!

from teranika :

Poor Sam. And he naturally takes exams so seriously! I hope that he isn't in need of blood pressure medication on this one. I have no doubt in his abilities. And actually, he can be such a cheerful, chatty and generally positive boy, that he will make the best of life no matter where he is.

from stepfordtart :

You live somewhere where they still have the 11+???? oh, JOY! None of that stuff down here - you have what you're bloody well given (in our case, not even our third choice for Jooj). Luckily she is super clever as has pretty much risen above the tide of low expectations. I fear for some of her friends tho. Best of luck to Sam. s x

from stepfordtart :

Asda does fully complete nativity outfits, baby Jesus, shepherds crooks, kings gifts et al. Me and the kids think they're a complete con. jooj said (in TOO LOUD voice) "any mother who cant be arsed to stick a tea towel on their kid's head or make a halo out of tinsel shouldnt be allowed to bloody well HAVE kids". I laughed so much I forgot to moan about the swearing. s x

from stepfordtart :

Hahaha! Great entry. With one Wiccan in the house our feast days are sometimes a little of the beaten track, too. s x

from stepfordtart :

Mine go back Monday, too. I am such a bad mother that I sent them BY THEMSELVES to the uniform shop for new stuff. Ijust couldnt face it. They seem to have managed OK. Hoorah. s x

from teranika :

Allelujah. I'm with you on that one. How's the fridge situation? (or, oops, maybe you wrote about it and I've just missed it because I've been crazed doing thousands of other things...)

from teranika :

Oh GOOD you saved the COW!!! And I had the image of your children sitting around eating beef popsicles, so that you could save the ice cream. yeah, right.

from stepfordtart :

oh, DOOOOO tell me when you'll be in Beastly Eastleigh. I'll buy you drink - honest! If you have musical children they may wish to visit the studio too, although possibly not as L can be very boring when he's doing the tour. s x

from stepfordtart :

*snort* - give him another year and it'll just be 'dark place to take girls, place to hide and have crafty cig, bit of garden where I can hear mum calling but she cant see me, basketball hoop for sulky lone tournaments', then you guys can do 'hot tub, fire pit, sunny spot where drinks can be consumed'. Garden design is SO tricky, isnt it?! s x

from teranika :

heee. What a lovely entry about Susi. We had so much fun visiting you guys. We gotta come back, y'know.

from stepfordtart :

We do leave Jooj for the odd day...but not a fortnight, and 13 is such a funny age - too old for kids clubs and too young for...ummm, everything else! Does your local sports centre do anything for teens? I remeber very well the stupidly long holidays they get at private school - you pay all that money and they're never bloody well there! Maybe you could come to some arrangement with one of the other (non working?) mums? Lets face it, they dont need too much 'watching' once they get to that age, you just need to know they're safe. Best of luck! s x

from life-my-way :

But of course, dear! It's user: life and pw: onthesly. Thanks for asking--I was going to be an ex-pat too, and may yet (after Obama leaves the White House). I'll be reading you too.... K

from stepfordtart :

Generally speaking, you just leave them a note asking (nicely!)for the password. Most people dont refuse. I havent been reading her for very long - she added me and I asked for the pw so I could reciprocate. I dont think she'll mind if you ask - she seems jolly nice! s x PS We have a basketball hoop...but its perilously close to the fire pit! Its one or the other round these parts!

from stepfordtart :

Im not telling my kids that you bought your kids a trampoline. L says we cant have one 'cos they muck up the grass'. Yeh, cos we do play a lot of croquet and crown green bowls. *raises one eyebrow in a pissed off fashion*. Merry Half Term to you! s x

from stepfordtart :

*snort* Righteous indignation coupled with smugness. Dontcha just love it! And, yes, that very Harvester. Somewhere on my diary is a picture of it with a rainbow coming down right on the roof. I took the pic from my upstairs landing. s x

from stepfordtart :

Sorry - I didnt read yours properly. The Holiday Inn is where I spent my wedding night. Its at least...ummm...a five minute walk from me! s x

from stepfordtart :

Ummm...thats where I live! Im from Southampton originally but Ive been living there for the last three years. There's 3 hotels there: the Gateway, the Holiday Inn and The Travelodge which is opposite my house. Please dont tell me I could see you from my upstairs window and we still didnt have a beer! s x

from stepfordtart :

You went to Paultons?! Heeee! Thats just down the road from here - my kids practically LIVED there when they were younger. Of course, Jooj is WAAAAY too cool for it these days (unless she thinks no-one is looking!). Next time you go, call me up? s x

from teranika :

Interestingly, I have never dreamt of having fake boobs. Go figure.

from annanotbob :

Gotcha. But what do Americans call those stringy knickers?

from stepfordtart :

Thongs are Aussie flipflops arent they? I like this list, I may steal it one day, but not today - I cant be arsed to think that hard! s x

from annanotbob :

I've never heard flip-flops referred to as thongs - thongs are those bits of string people wear instead of knickers. Maybe it's a London thing. xx

from teranika :

Methinks that Ben will not be recognizable to you in October...he will be scarily well-behaved around strangers, too.

from singledadguy :

Its a funny sort of thing about kids, teens especially. They go to another household, and suddenly - all those manners that you have been drilling into them for years and they never seem to use, pop out of nowhere. =\ As proud as I was the first time my own boys did it, I was equally and vocally frustrated with them. :D

from stepfordtart :

My brother did a 'football exchange' when we were kids, with a team from Germany. Lucky us, we got the immigrant kid who was from Slovenia and didnt speak English OR German. He wouldnt eat any of our food and just sat on his bed staring into space. At the 'Farewell Disco' he slow-danced in an...ahem..inappropriate way with both me (I was about 11) AND my mother! I guess he was just trying to tell us he did like us, after all! s x

from teranika :

I will do my best to look as put upon as possible when visiting YOU, so as to keep Ben thinking that children are a pain. Wait. Does he know where children come from?? Make sure he knows that...

from stepfordtart :

*shudder* The French Exchange!! How grim! I remember mine with a mixture of horror, humiliation and incredulity. I was paired with a girl who's father was a consultant at a swanky hospital. They thought it was an appropriate match because my mum worked part time as a lab technician. Her mum wore chic little silk scarves and had a chignon. Outclassed? Oui, je pense! s x

from stepfordtart :

*snort*. Perhaps he was thinking of JLo? s x

from stepfordtart :

DUH! How come I didnt think of that? Thanks. Thanks so much. Almost looking forward to the next eye infection so I can try it! s x

from stepfordtart :

"I have finally worked out an easy an untraumatic way of administering eye drops".....and you're going to SHARE IT???? *hint hint*. Had a peaceful weekend,too. Both mine gone to their dad's. Got TWO parent's evenings this week tho. I know how to live, me! s x

from teranika :

you must remind your fair readers what ever happened to the woman who was hired to replace you??? (oh, and the cheesy popcorn failed. we were out of popcorn. :-( got potato chips instead :-)

from teranika :

I think I remember one of those stories...Leave it to BEN the three-year-old to know what a SPRINGBOK is. sheesh!

from blighty :

I can just hear singing "I love big butts." or NOT. I shrank the photo and hope you like the new layout. I will change it if you are too shocked. If you want to put the picture right into your diary, just type the following into your entry: <IMG SRC = "http://blighty.diaryland.com/images/agirlandherocean.jpg" border = 0> (obviously, you would be changin' the name for a different image...)

from stepfordtart :

HAHAHAHAHAHA! you didnt ever shag my husband by mistake, did you? Cos that SURE could be the kind of stuff coming out of the mouth of someone having his genes! Priceless - gave me a right laugh. s x

from hey--now :

That make me laugh incredibly =) Have a wonderful trip.. COW =D

from stepfordtart :

"insects"! Heeeeeee! Priceless. Ive just been to watch Jooj playing Marys Boy Child in the steel band. Two carol concerts next week (Tues and Thurs) and Treacles birthday next fri. I iz NOT going to Spain. meh. s x

from stepfordtart :

London? Golly! Your closer than I thought! I, too have school plays this week. Treac is a reindeer (costume provided). Because I am a sad martyr, I am secretly disappointed that I dont get to make a fabulous costume. Can I do your angel one? oh Pleeeeeease! I'll bring my own tinsel! s x PS Have a good trip (said through jealously gritted teeth)

from teranika :

umm...which sis-in-law would THAT be?? Because if it's the one that I'm thinking......ummm, there are words other than perfect that come to mind....oh and by the way, congrats on Mr. Man.

from stepfordtart :

Does that mean I can't moan about the (non existant) shelf in the sitting room for another 5 and a half years? Its been a mere 3 and a half years. *weep* I may have to put the damned thing up all by myself. meh. s x

from stepfordtart :

Yeh, but your sister in law picks her nose. She does! I saw her at the traffic lights and she was up to the second knuckle. s x

from stepfordtart :

Yes! Gypsy Tart! Will post it with my next update! s x

from stepfordtart :

OMG, do we have some kind of parallel curriculum thing going on here? I have, only in the last week or so, impressed the holy hell out of Jooj by reciting great swathes of teh bloody periodic table, which I learned by rote a quintillion years ago (with the help of a selfpenned and abusive-in-a-teenage-way mnemonic). I didnt bother to tell her about the mnemonic, I just rattled off K, Na, Ca, Mg etc until her mouth was wide with wonder. She'll have to make up her own dirty little rhyme, she's not having mine! s x

from stepfordtart :

Ah, Year 8 - isnt it a JOY! Jooj is refusing to do the dissections (an eye and a heart) and wrote a convincing speech objecting to it on the grounds of "detestable curiosity" (quoting Darwin!). Im not bothered either way, she can do it if she likes or not if she's that concerned about it. I dont think they'll force her. Quite interested to see how it pans out, actually! s x

from teranika :

MIght be worth reminding the 12-year-old that vets actually try to put animals BACK TOGETHER.

from teranika :

yes, a vice chair does sound a bit kinky..hee hee. 75 bucks is not back given plummeting stocks...

from stepfordtart :

A vice chair?! Ooooooo! Where can I get one of THOSE??? Your life sounds exactly like mine. Ridiculously crammed with stuff that other people COULD do.....but dont. Meh. Tell you what, its 11.15 now. Take the rest of the evening off. No, no. Dont thank me. s x

from teranika :

Hey there - yes, it's kind of a sport these days - watching downward spirals. We've been watching what happens with K's brother, too. K thinks that he won't have a job much longer.

from stepfordtart :

Happiest of birthdays to you, albeit belatedly! s x

from ladyloo :

Oh man, you are making me absolutely PINE for my husband's business trip next week.

from stepfordtart :

Haha! Reminds me of an old saying of mine "The single girl's idea of 'preparing for company', is to wipe the lipstick of the milk carton". I hope you're wearing unflattering track suit trousers while you're slobbing out! s x

from stepfordtart :

Mmmmm. Back to school! My fave! Jooj is also in grown up sizes (clothes AND shoes). Its crippling. Then, second day back, the bills come home for the swimming lessons and the recorder lessons and the keyboards lessons and the drum lessons and the ski trip and....*weep*. Glad you had a good trip. s x

from stepfordtart :

Oooch! Cant you drug them or something? Oh, and kids packing? Three tops and three bottoms each. That gives you three days to find a Walmart with multipacks of t-shirts on special offer when you get there! have a good trip. s x

from ladyloo :

You are a brave, brave woman.

from stepfordtart :

Woo. You sure know how to have fun. *snort* s x

from enfinblue :

Eric Estrada. Now that IS cool. Great rainbows!

from enfinblue :

Thanks, blighty! You're so sweet. I will not tie myself in knots about it. To be honest, I was all in knots yesterday and I had no clue why until I woke up thinking about my family. And I didn't know what I would do until I wrote it down. I will be just fine, fortunately. I think it helps to have a sense of humour. :) Hope the smalls are enjoying being free of school!

from stepfordtart :

Haha! L is a big hair gel freak, they just never grow out of it. Jooj is more a 'back comb it til its just one big fat knot' kinda gal. s x

from la-the-sage :

Hello. Wandered in from Step-ford's place. I'm a grown woman with electrified hedgehog hair so find your son a kindred spirit. Thanks for a good laugh on a very soggy Sunday morning! ~LA

from enfinblue :

That was hysterical! Thanks for the laugh. :) When I was that age my peculiar hair thing was a curled *up* and then hairsprayed fringe. It drove my mom absolutely crazy. And my step-father would complain because I would always play with the ends of my long hair. C. is now 34 and his thing is to put on this ridiculous tonic that he thinks will prevent his hair from falling out. :) I guess we all have hair things... :)

from stepfordtart :

9 cinema tickets?! Man! You could have had a weekend in Paris for the same cost! Jooj turns 13 in November and we're already in heavy negotiation for the party. She wants...wait for it...a (non alcoholic) cocktail party. *sigh* s x

from enfinblue :

Thanks, blighty. The same to you and your family!! :)

from enfinblue :

I love this birthday dinner tradition - very cool. I would like a birthday cake in the shape of the senior economist at my workplace, so that I can cut it up and put my fingers in the eyes, please. :) My birthday's in May. ;-)

from stepfordtart :

I, too, am a victim of the over-enthusiastic birthday cake construction. Ive done an igloo (yes, with penguins!), a Barbie ballgown (you know, where the dolly comes outta the top of the skirt!), tellytubbies, a bed, Stuart Little Mouse Firework Party, a globe and sing a song of sixpence. Thank goodness theyve nearly grown out of them now! The weather's been nice here today, I think you're a bit further up-country than us, we're south coast. Yay for nearly the end of term! s x

from teranika :

Carmina Burana with 10 recorders! HA!

from stepfordtart :

Hi! Ive been rootling about in your archives - hope you dont mind. Aside from some shared buddies, we have some stuffin common, Id like to carry on reading you if thats OK. s x

from enfinblue :

Those fairies. :) You know, I really like the sound of a "chocolate fountain." Mmmm... Hoping that it doesn't rain on your head.

from enfinblue :

That's great! I always feel best about my job when I am really busy, too. I think in part why I dislike my job is that my priorities aren't always clear, and of course because that bozo senior economist is always stealing my flame. Hope you continue to enjoy the day and your not-so-uptight work environment!

from teranika :

I'm sorry you're feeling so tired - and I hope that you get some restorative sleep tonight. It probably goes without saying that I LOVED your RANT. AHEM. And in honor of your run across London, K and I watched Run Fatboy Run (or whatever it was called). There was no rain. But a lot of very funny running bits.

from enfinblue :

That is a VERY civilized time for a long run. :) The St. Louis story is hysterical! You know, when I lived in Australia I remember having a conversation with someone who tried to argue with me that Coc@-Col@ is an Australian invention. And this was an adult! He had all sorts of misapprehensions about bands and so on as well...very funny.

from enfinblue :

Well the head of state is really the Queen, of course, but you know what I mean! :)

from enfinblue :

PS That's pretty funny about the history thing. You'll be pleased to know that in Canada they eliminated the mandatory taking of CANADIAN HISTORY in high school about thirty years ago, so that Canadians of my generation don't know a stitch about CANADIAN history. Most can't even name the first PM, and he became head of state in 1867 and not 1789, say. Oh and he's on the currency. And he was colourful and a drunk and a great orator and also in cahoots with some American businessmen over the building of the railway that crosses the whole country and basically gave it a reason - if extremely tenuous - for existing. But no matter. Most Canadians know a little bit about ancient Greece and Rome, and more than a few know something of American history. I'll attribute the first to the grade 9 English curriculum. The latter I'll attribute to those little blurbs that sat in between Saturday morning cartoons in the 70s and 80s. DO they still do those I wonder? I remember the first time that I understood that I was NOT an American. I was probably 6 or so. Someone explained it to me and I was mightily disappointed. What exactly am I, then??? Oh. What's that? I don't think that even my parents could explain it adequately. :)

from enfinblue :

You're so sweet! Honestly, I'm pretty happy at the moment, and also pretty happy to be single! :) I've stopped dating for the time being, mostly because I feel as though right now I need to focus on the art stuff and the general sorting-out-what-I-really-want-to-do-with-my-life stuff. I feel poised for a very productive period! And you just never konw when things will change. I'm really not in a rush. :) Besides, I would be a terrible married person at this point- too self-centred and too impatient. ;-) Hope you are well and that work is keeping you interested whilst not tiring you out too much.

from enfinblue :

You sound like a brilliant mother! These things he can learn really quickly, and how great that you're giving him the opportunity now! (Or at least that's my non-parenting humble perspective.)

from enfinblue :

You know I had a thought about doughnuts - if there are not three the same could you cut up three different ones each into three pieces and then kind of reassemble them into three the same? ;) You're such a nice mum to do that after working! :)

from enfinblue :

50 minutes is brilliant! I am not in condition at all at the moment. I am no faster than you are. And I still consider myself to be respectably fast. Have fun and break a leg. ;)

from enfinblue :

Oh my gosh, Blighty, I just read about your visiting gentleman and your return to work. I was so touched by the story of that man. I have never been able to forget someone telling me about the poor people in Montreal (where there is a large, elderly Jewish population) who with Alzheimers are sometimes reliving the war. It is such a dreadful disease. On a happier note though congratulations on returning to work! I hope that work doesn't, indeed, put a damper on things. Finally, thanks, as always for your voice of reason and kind advice.

from readersguide :

Oh dear. I'm commenting about your visiting gentleman. But it's nice that he can come to your house, I think.

from teranika :

ah, I love your dad. you know, it's really quite easy to dance in 7/8 time...

from theswordsman :

Hi. I just happened by your diary. When my Mom started to get Altzheimers but was still living at home, she used to feel compelled to walk across town and visit her own mother, who was long gone. My sister lived two houses away from the childhood home, but Mom always went to her old house. Please give your husband a hug for me, and make sure he gives you one back. Cheers.

from teranika :

hee hee so you finally pulled the COW!! out of the deep freeze. Enjoy! I can already picture your kitchen and I'm getting hungry. again.

from enfinblue :

It sounds both fun and delicious - hope you have a wonderful holiday.

from elliestuff :

Have a sweet holiday. Cute puppy by the way. When you mentioned chocolate, made me think of the SNL skits.."Death by Chocolate".

from enfinblue :

Thanks again, blighty. My goodness I need the encouragement. And if you have any tips on becoming less analytical, pleeeaase pass them on. Everyone points out to me that this is my achilles heel, so it must be true, but I honestly don't know how to stop. :) Have a nice weekend!

from enfinblue :

Thanks, blighty. Except I reread it and realized that I'd misspelled "breathe." I'm so jealous about this weekend! I love that marathon - such a joy to watch. When I went last to run it I ended up getting really sick with a bronchial infection in the last week. On the day I went to the athletes' pickup area at the Tower Hotel and then decided to can it. I was so depressed! So I walked slowly along the river and stood at Blackfriars and watched the whole thing. It was thrilling. Love it! I think I'm all about the 5k and 10k events myself, this year. Hope you're enjoying some solitude.

from enfinblue :

Yes, I second Harriet on the P&P. Wow, alone! That sounds great. As for the sea...nice to hear that I am not the only one yelling out of car windows. Funny though - I think I'm afraid of the sea. Hmm... I grew up landlocked, too.

from harri3tspy :

You know, I don't think I've ever read the book of Scarlet Pimpernel. I've been a big fan of the various movie versions. I'm going to have to read it one of these days. As for brain candy books, my fallback is always Pride and Prejudice.

from teranika :

that's GREAT! the picture is the actual SIZE OF YOUR GARDEN! AMAZING!!! i'll work on it and mail you smth.

from enfinblue :

Well, sick as I am, I must say that I find that to be pretty. :) Ouch about the plane tickets!

from enfinblue :

Very kind of you to read through my endless drivel of yesterday. Yes, it's all about the Italian leather... :) Your Lord of the R!ngs story made me laugh. I've never been able to read that book. Even skipping the songs I believe I would still rather be plucking my eyelashes out one by one. I wish I had suggestions for silly books, but I don't at the moment. For some reason I'm really into comparative religion right now. I enjoyed A History of R3ading recently, if that is your cup of tea. Oh and the S. Pimpernel is excellent! It is my mother's favourite book. She made me read it when I was about 15, and I don't believe I've read it since. Good suggestion to read that one again.

from teranika :

there's always elizabeth peters...

from ladyloo :

Any of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. Very, very light.

from enfinblue :

I want to be in that class, too. Sounds wonderful!

from teranika :

ok. call me a sadist. I want to be in this class with you. I want to discover my ____ useless body parts. but at least I would being doing something different... (btw, check out my helpful note of advice about pumping).

from teranika :

The second one is my favorite too! Thanks for the virtual flowers! We lived through meltdown HELL last night.

from teranika :

You just gave me a moment of nostalgia - remembering those little Valentine's Day shoeboxes we decorated with crepe paper and glue and markers. And those little cards that we had to give to everyone. And when Matt Coleman gave me a Valentine I was sure he liked me. But of course, he gave a Valentine to EVERYONE, because we had to. hmph.

from enfinblue :

You know, I have to agree with you re. Cadburys moments and chocolate in general. On the Valentines though I think it is cute! The commercial stuff, no, but sending the love is good! My boss gave a valentine to his little daughter and she then insisted on giving him a H3llo Kitty! valentine right back, only his was in crayon. :)

from enfinblue :

I think you're on relatively safe ethical terrain re. the football. :) Gosh, your house sounds like mine with my brothers when I was growing up, only without the brother regularly putting me in a headlock, when he wanted to practise piano and I was in his way. PS Thanks for the pussy story...made my day. :)

from enfinblue :

As teranika has said, you really are hysterical. I was very amused. A friend of mine has recently booked a trip to Disney in Florida and frankly he made my head spin with talk of all of the restaurant dining with varied characters that he has pre-booked. My parents forced me to go to Disney to look after my two younger brothers when I was...17. It was hell. I persist in liking Disney more or less and in sincerely liking American friendliness. GO figure. :)

from enfinblue :

I tried to leave you a note earlier but it seems not to have taken! The poor lad! I feel for him. It's such a disappointment when you're doing well in a race like that. I hope he's not too crushed. I had a fall in my last-ever x-country race, although in that race I hadn't been expecting much. (I was basically doing it as I wanted to be able to say that I had competed in national x at least once prior to hanging up my shoes. :)) The fall, in my case, was highly amusing. After being jostled, I literally slid over the backside of a hill and tumbled to the bottom. I then had to slide my way back up in the snow in order to recommence running where I had left the course. My coach was laughing his head off as he couldn't see that part of the course from where he was standing. "You fell off the face of the earth, Walter! I was about to send the ambulance out after you." I was rather amused, myself. Although it doesn't hurt to say that Athl3tics Canada is foolish in persisting in holding our championships in December, in one wintry city or another (to spread the wealth across provinces). It's always a battle of endurance against the elements more than against other competitors. I will say that Monct0n had a very fine Santa Cl@us parade that weekend. Anyhow. I'm very envious that your son is running x-country in England! I have always admired the English club system and greatly enjoyed the few races that I did there. PS If I remember correctly you're a marathoner, too, so your son should be mightily proud to wear your socks! :)

from enfinblue :

That's so kind, blighty! I hear you. And do I ever wish that I were someone more assertive and so on. At this point I wish I had stayed at my last job (where they were starting to truly appreciate me), but I needed to take the gamble as the reputation of that particular shop had declined greatly in recent months. I'm glad to hear that your husband has found a place in which he feels respected and valued. I hope that I eventually find my perfect spot. I'll have permanent status in the government by May (sounds awful, but trust me the pension makes it worthwhile :)) and then I'll be free to move around almost at whim. :) On to other matters. The child safety stuff cracked me up. I must say that I was an incredibly paranoid child, so I can kind of relate to the one poor kid. :) I never quite recovered from a fire safety program that my mother made me watch when I was about six. To this day I can remember all of the bits in which actors pretended to fall asleep in bed with cigarettes in hand and were burned to a crisp! As for your issue with your son, I have no children so I should not comment, but my first response was to say don't bug him and then see how much he enjoys running without socks! (I'm a runner, in case you can't tell. :)) If you're really lucky he'll ask if he can start doing his laundry so that he will always know exactly where his stuff is come bag-packing time. ;)

from pennyjar :

So frustrating! My son is nine and is already exhibiting the same symptoms. Yesterday, I washed a bag of grapes, and left them on the kitchen counter, in a lovely metal-work colandar for the children to pick from freely. Sonny gets home from school, finds the grapes on the counter, decides he would like to EAT some of those delicious grapes, walks out of the kitchen, down the hallway, into the computer room, and asks me to get him a bowl of grapes! Cannot get his own bowl and fill with grapes. (plastic bowls are kept KNEE-LEVEL in the Lazy Susan cupboard.) Then he gets mad when I tell him to get his own bowl of grapes, and slams back down the hallway. We also do the nightly song and dance about packing the bookbag. I am just so mean, always wanting him to be packed and prepared for life! I have created this completely helpless, surly, spoiled little monster child. I plan to shake things up in his priviledged little world, however...

from ladyloo :

I remember this exact same conversation between my mother and my brother. In fact, I may have had a similar conversation with my husband. Maybe it's a boy thing.

from ladyloo :

Please! Like Trinny and Susannah always look so hot. I think Trinny (or is it Susannah) have been showcased on Gofugyourself.com quite a few times.

from pennyjar :

Thanks, and right back atchya! Yay! A new bud!

from enfinblue :

That was absolutely hysterical! :)

from teranika :

Okay - I want to mail your NY's Day entry to my mother. That was hysterical.

from harri3tspy :

Thanks for the comment! I've been lurking on your page via teranika too!

from ladyloo :

Thanks for stopping by and reading. I hope it's not the glaring typos that are making you laugh, (although really I'll take my laughs where I can get them).

from teranika :

My niece was awake at 4:11am this morning. She had been out and saw that Santa had come..the parents told her that she had to wait until 6:30. So every ten minutes she jump around the bed saying, "is it 6:30 YET??" Until finally at 5:30, my sister-in-law gave in.

from teranika :

I really like this tradition of having your children choose charities for Christmas. That's pretty cool. And do you remember when we first got off from our first semester of Junior High School? I remember vegging in front of the TV for 8 hours...It probably was necessary for Ben to get Hogwarts out of his head for a day...

from teranika :

I'm sorry that Ben is being such a pain. My mother had a lot of suggestions...but I wasn't sure if suggestions are really what you need right now. Sounds like a big hug would be better. She did suggest a couple of books that she really likes - keep in mind that my mom is not an earthy feely crunchy type - she prefers more academic styles of thinking about these things. I can send the book ideas to you if you want, honey.

from teranika :

too bad...I would have wanted you to say hello from ME too! Hope N. is better soon. I am trying to figure out how to input my grades.

from teranika :

ha! fixed already! that was easy.

from teranika :

I think I was wrong about pennyjar after all. But hey, can you email me your d-land login code? I'd like to improve your template a little bit...

from teranika :

hey I think I found our old friend M-on-roof in a new place - pennyjar.

from teranika :

That has got to be my FAVORITE Sam-ism.

from teranika :

Just read about ben's glorious transition into his second bout of teenage years (truthfully the only child I know who started teenage yrs at age SIX.). I'm wondering if you could sit down with him when he's finally back in a good mood again and talk to him about the swearing thing. You can just say the same thing that you wrote in the diary - You don't like the idea of his swearing, but you know that it probably is going to happen. But YOU don't swear. GRAHAME doesn't swear. And certainly not in the house and in front of younger children. He has to be held by the same rule. Anyway, this was my thought of how I would handle this (as a naive person who has no children and, well, no clue, basically).

from teranika :

Sounds like you had a GREAT trip! Glad to have you back. Oh, the adventures you've missed (or not). Thought of you several times. You won't believe the time I devoted to thinking about diapers yesterday. What monster have I become??

from teranika :

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I'm so sorry I missed it!! but it sounds like you had a good time with Rabbi. And second of all, it is very very nice to know that you are finally over the LASTING TRAUMA I imposed on you when you were but a 17-yr-old waif!

from teranika :

I'm SOO glad that Ben's first day was a good one.

from teranika :

what a great name for a band: Lesser Weever Fish. Music with a Sting. YoW!!! poor kid. Guess you will be wearing shoes in the water next year?

from teranika :

Hey - I heard that fountain and those teenagers from your daughter's bedroom - although in my jetlagged, first-trimester fog, they sounded a million miles away....I also turn and cannot imagine being in a mummy case all night.

from teranika :

Hooray about the scanner! And what a pain about going to the office - well this will be a good test of whether or not you think this job can stick...if it is one day per month.....?

from teranika :

That story always reminds me of screaming "GET OUT OF THE CUISINART!" to Cavendish (for some reason, when she was a small kitten she preferred to hang out in there...)

from elgan :

Hello. I'm a friend of Karen's, first from here, then in three dimensions. It's very difficult watching our children experience what we ourselves did as adolescents. My daughter is 21, my son 18, and they are surviving very nicely. They have so far managed to outrun the slings and arrows.

from teranika :

hey dudette, at least the kids are commenting loudly - that shows good training. I'm confronting a big Vancouver thing - next week is "bike to work" week. hmmm...trying to figure out how to get up the mountain...

from teranika :

And I've never quite understood the St. George thing. And he's all over Europe y'know. There were icon paintings of the dude in Moscow. And a huge statue of his Georgeness in Stockholm. Was there a dragon in the parade?

from teranika :

oo I'm DYIN' to hear the Macarena played on a xylophone.

from teranika :

what's THIS? Are you DRINKING COFFEE regularly now??????

from teranika :

Hallo. congrats on the area rug. I like area rugs on hard floors. you can have that hard feeling, you can have the carpet feeling. hard. carpet. hard. carpet. wooo how versatile!

from teranika :

poor poor loaner dog. poor poor YOU. I hope she's okay for the trip. I hope that YOU eventually get some sleep.

from teranika :

woo hoo! I AM proud of you.

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