'supporting each other through really tough times'

fuddle

Makes me worry when we have toughies go awol Mar but I guess life gets in the way. I hope she's ok. Another wave from me too MrsC

SDG there's nowt like being out of fettle to through moods all out of kilter. Be kind to yourself

savingqueen

Good news about Bess Byatt.

Are you back from your appoinment jem? Wondering how it went?

I am hiding upstairs with the lappy, should be making dinner but have a headache brewing and needed some space on my own for a few mins. Picked up some stuffed pasta and sauce so dead easy 10 min job, really can't face cooking and as Operation De-Ice is going so well, I only have random items left in the freezer ready for The Big De-Ice next week.

Meeting went pretty well with head and learning mentor but obviously stressful and still a bit unbelievable that it is all happenning. Anyway they have upped his support, DS gets brief daily meet with learning mentor and 2 longer weekly sessions and a review in a few weeks( unless anything major happens I guess.) If learning mentor feels he needs referring elsewhere at that time then that will happen too. I asked for further info about referrals but they wouldn't play ball, they want to take things one step at a time. I like to know all possible outcomes "in case" but am going along with the school and DH and I just wanted them to know we are going to work with the school. We both still worry he could potentialy get expelled - we don't (yet?) have a label or statement or anything to "protect" him.

Although they were positive and professional as you expect, we both felt a little like we had to confirm our parenting style was acceptable. We know we are being looked at as a family and the school has to know we have good routines etc, its just tough when we both try so hard to do the right thing as parents.

Anyway we are going to try going right back to basics with routines and discipline. I am going to do a simple timetable for pre and post school so DS2 knows exactly what is happenning and when. DS1 has been playing up a bit lately too (probably due to stuff with DS2) so he will be included but he gets to stay up a bit later. I wonder how DS2 would be if we were like some parents letting their kids stay up til midnight and then giving them a bag of crisps to eat for breakfast on the way to school.

decided to have a glass of wine and a chill out tonight and then tomorrow will be clean, tidy, clean, tidy for the party. Have most of the food and done party bags. need to wrap pressies and make pass the parcels. Think the promised home made cake will have to be a shop bought job tomorrow.

right DH has taken on pasta heating duties so will go and eat now

hope you all have a good evening - thanks for all the support, it really means a lot to me. Fuddle and kidcat in particular your comments have helped me an awful lot, I can't thank you enough :T

laters
sq:)

fuddle

sq a school will try their very best to avoid an expulsion in my opinion. I was ear wigging a conversation in the staff room one time and heard the head and deputy talking about avoiding expelling a child because it looked bad on the school and their record. I guess if a school has to expel a child, it could be seen as the school not coping.

RosiePuddingPaws

Evening all

Have been away from the computer for a few days so a lot to catch up with.

Firstly, hooray for the impending move, Fuddle, and for getting the girls into a good school.

Secondly, I have serious stove envy, Byatt. It's gorgeous. As you are local to me, I trust you are not too badly affected by the flooding. I hope you get your dog back soon. Dog-napping has a lot to recommend it!

I hope everyone is staying safe, warm and dry in this dreadful weather. Hugs to everyone else who needs them.

Can I ask for advice from the halogen oven owners? I hadn't heard of them until I started reading here. They look really useful and I was thinking of asking Santa for one (well, okay, my mother, but she was asking what to get) for Christmas. In an ideal world, she would like me to buy my own present (and wrap it up) to save her the hassle!!

Anyway, my question is, which of the various accessories are the most useful? They seem to be sold either alone and you then buy extras or as a deal with included extras. I know that many gadgets are not as useful as they try and tell you they are so would like to know which ones are regularly used (I do like the look of the chip cooking accessory though). I can then suggest to Santa which is the best option.

Your pearls of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks.

RPP

Mrs_Chip

Hi, I'm here! :wave::wave::wave:

Sorry, I have been reading but not posting, which is very remiss as so many of you have been having difficult times. Sometimes I just don't think what I have to say is much help .

So glad about the house Fuddle, will be much better for you I think. A nice shiny new house for Christmas - what a great present!

Sorry you are crocked Kate, what a flippin pain, in more ways than one.

Too many others with sadness, illness and trials, with a sprinkling of good news - glad doggy is ok Byatt! And your stove - great!

We had a rare trip out today, took Mr & Mrs OG with us to a big farm shop a way away. Frankly a disappointment as it was an overpriced show-pony of a farm shop, should have guessed really. Anyway went into the big town nearby and realised I have forgotten what it is to have to deal with busy shops - a quick foray into M&S had me scuttling out.

We were supposed to go yesterday, but thought better of it. God this weather is driving me slightly loopy, it never seems to stop raining!

I have news - I have spent money. I have bought a shopping trolley!. This one.



I am going to walk up the hill to the shops with it tomorrow, it's first outing. Now for a name...

It took an awful lot of umming and aahing for me to buy it, I faffed about for weeks worriting over it, but if it means I have to walk up the hill to justify it that's good, I really need the exercise.

Thats all for now, hugs for all, whether you need them or not!

ETA - hope the scan went ok Jem!

Rainy-Days

Oh Boy do I need some supportive words big time!!

Two weeks ago changed from Sky to BT. BT told me I would be off for a maximum of about 2 hours while they transferred everything across. They said it would be "a smooth and seemless transfer"! Yeah Right :mad: 6 days later after my phone went off and I finally get my phone back on and then 10 days later I get internet back. In the meantime I am climbing the chuffin walls with BT and my mobile phone bill goes up stupidly.

I then started to get odd phone calls so rang BT and they said no problem we'll change your number. Gave me a new number but didn't tell me it had been registered to a firm of taxis before hand. You guessed it, every loon and his bit of stuff was on the phone trying to book a taxi and it went through the roof on Saturday night and Sunday morning at 4am :mad: BT said oh sorry we didn't tell it was previously registered to a business!! !!!!!!

So I said look can I have my old phone number please. There was nothing wrong it at all and I just want it back. Okay they said and even sent me a letter through to confirm it. On Monday it transferred over and had no phone calls all week. Didn't think much about it. Yesterday I got some silent phone calls and wondered what was going on! Then tonight I got seven calls all from different women trying to book beauty treatments - what the hell :mad:

Oh it gets better than that. I then rang my old original number from my mobile to my landline but the number was dead. I then tried to ring my mobile from my landline to see what number I had but it was a blocked number! I rang BT faults. I had been given a number that I did not know, that BT did not tell me or give me and didn't even confirm, but yet somehow I got this number. Yet all the paperwork from BT on Monday was that I would get my old phone number back. I was nearly on the verge of going mad. I rang BT faults and I went berserk down the phone. I said what number have I got exactly? They said err it's not the one you should have! Yeap I know that. So I have had a taxi number and a beauty therpists number none of which BT told me about and to add insult to injury I didn't even now the last damn number for the last one anyway.

I'll tell you what there is a huge complaint already going into OFCOM about them, this is the final nail in their coffin. I am sooooo angry. How difficult can it be to confirm a number and put it into action. What is the point of giving me a number that I didn;t know they were going to give me and they failed to even tell me about.

They think - yeah right - that they are going to have my old original telephone number back in it's correct position as of tonight.

We'll see, we'll see :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

SDG31000

Ok I am feeling calmer. I have a huge hyrid mac and cheese/pasta bake in the oven with onions, sweetcorn and chicken hotdog bits in a 4 cheese sauce. It's used up all the bits that were lurking and needed using up and hopefully it tastes ok. I've also had a dig around in the freezer and found the Waitrose Tarte Tatin that I got as a subsitute ages ago and have never cooked as the monsters won't eat it. It's going in the oven next and I'm claiming leftovers for breakfast.

SQ I'm glad the meeting went as well as can be expected. Fingers crossed things settle down now xxx

*waves back to Mrs Chip* Hello there and what a stunning trolley. What are you going to name her?

Rainy-Days I would have read them the riot act too. I hope it's all sorted now. Fingers crossed

Byatt What good news :T
Thank you fuddle xxx

Oven is beeping at me. Time to round up DH and the monsters.

Take care ((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))

Rainy-Days

Byatt - I am now at 'deadlock' with my BT complaint after they offered me £2.70 in compensation. I asked to be released from my contract as there is a Breach Of Contract is in place - they have refused that. So I am at a dead end with them and OFCOM has now got to sort it all out!

fuddle

Rosie I don't have any accessories with my halogen and I manage fine. I did buy a round tin to cook on but other than that my meat, sausages, bacon etc go on the racks. I don't even have the expansion ring. Mine really was the basic model and I manage just fine. I could do with that big expansion ring when doing bread but it's a want not a need for me... so I aint got it Stubborn I am, stubborn!

I'm on my home brew. Please excuse me as 1 glass of wine for me = 3 for a normal drinker. I may be all over the place in half an hour

2tonsils

Well had a bit of a strange day today but in the end it turned out quite good...if surprising! We went to the party last night and didn't really enjoy it, no reason in particular just not the right atmosphere. We left at midnight which is early to leave a party here.

We both woke up at six and finally got back to sleep at 7.30 only for the alarm to go off at 8 for me to go and help out at the gym. Had a good morning there then went for a chicken lunch as a treat before heading for home.

On arriving home the phone rang and it was a lady who owns a real estate agency here (a good one) and she wants to see me for an interview on Monday evening! Last night I saw a message on facebook saying she needed someone with real estate and marketing experience. I sent a short letter and my cv saying I had studied real estate law here and had experience marketing online properties. Then I noticed the date on the message was early October and thought I would never hear any more about it.

I have not been actively looking for a job as we can just manage on my OH's Navy pension if we are careful. But something about her message just caught my imagination. It sounds like the kind of thing I would enjoy doing and is not far to travel for me. I am going to meet her on Monday to see what she has to say to me. Wages are generally very low here and it may be that I would end up paying even more tax than we do now so I will have to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages to it. I am a bit shell shocked to be honest!

A strange thing happened about half an hour ago....I could hear a loud rumbling noise outside that went on and on...at first I thought it was a truck...but then it continued. I went out to see and the sky is very pink, even though its night time here. It was continuous thunder, but there has been no lightning and once it had stopped after about four minutes there has been no sign of a storm. How strange..

We are being affected by the solar flare from a couple of days ago and our communications are really playing up. Land line is on and off and the mobiles are ringing with no one there or crackling like a wood fire....last time I lost my signal for ten days and all my free calls!