Oh Ella, sorry to hear about this, Whooping cough is horrible. You will be low in health so stay away from swine flu germs.Get better soon.

I hope you get better fast Lioness!

Thanks guys. I've got something else on top of it now - a cold, I think.

That's awful, lioness. I hope you get to feeling better soon.

Aww, hope you're feeling back on your feet soon, lioness.

First the good news. I have known for quite a while that my daughter is pregnant but was told to keep it quiet but I am now permitted to tell people as she has had her first scan and all is well. It is due in mid-February.

Then the not so good news. My grandson has had a hearing test as my daughter was suspecting he might have a problem, she has hearing loss herself. He has very severe glue-ear, as she did, so that accounts for why he appears to be saying things but it is just babble but with expression. I don't think they are keen to insert grommets these days but I think she will be asking for them otherwise he will be missing a lot. She could talk before her hearing was affected, he can't talk.

OH dear, poor Alex. My own son suffered with undetected glue ear and lost a good % of his hearing. It affected his language acquisition and his learning of social niceties and body language. It only cleared up with the insertion of grommets, which he had in place for many years (one lot came out only to be replaced by another lot the following winter). With the family history I think she's right to insist if they're not listening to what she says.

Just goes to show, once again, that you can't beat mother's instinct.

Wishing them all the best.

Oh, and congratulations, GRANNY!!!

Oh Sue! What a shame about Alex. I hope something can be done to help him. My thoughts are with you and your family.
And warmest congratulations "Granny" Sue! Babies bring so much joy

The poor little mite, he must be so confused as to why no one responds correctly when he speaks to them. I must admit when he was staying here I did wonder if he had a hearing problem but didn't interfere as I knew they had already arranged for a hearing test for him. His father is a paediatrician so is more likely to get his views listened to regarding Alex's treatment than many people, also Vicky is 'very forceful' and since she probably knows more about how it feels to have glue ear than many people she will put her foot down and insist on treatment.

Sue, I hope your grandson's hearing loss will be curtailed now that it has been diagnosed, poor lil fellow. And congrats on your daughter's pregnancy!

My highs and lows seem to be one and the same these days as I prepare to relocate to the other side of the planet- equal parts excitement and anxiety. I bought milk this morning and the expiration date was the same as my plane ticket. I started to hyperventilate in the dairy aisle.

Lol!! Mom of 2 ,you will be fine! You are going to have a great time!

Momof2, I will admit to a chuckle at the image of you in Zehrs. I echo ren's sentiments, you will be fine! The start of a brand new adventure!

Congratulations Sue. Grandbaby number two, how wonderful for you. I hope Alexs hearing is sorted out soon.

Momof2, if I remember correctly you are going to the Middle East? You will be fine. Hope you move goes smoothly and like Mags said, a start of a brand new adventure.

Good news for Funtrivia tonight, I corrected a radio presenter last night after getting a word origin wrong which I'd also written about in one of my quizzes. I emailed including the quiz and he read out the lot on our local radio just now including my little ad for Ask FT as up till recently they also had a similar quiz on his show which often kept me up till 4am.

I'm now hoping we see a few new faces saying they came via LBC radio, keep your eyes open around the new members in the next day or so.

Way to go Satuguru. Hope they identify themselves so we can welcome them.

A bit of background first, the London borough of Camden was the first in the country to start anti car policies in the 70s and has led the way ever since. They blocked roads and were one of the first to charge for parking in their shopping streets. So to be welcomed this morning by a demand for £60 for driving along a road that was supposed to be blocked was the final level of victimisation.

Rather than do what they did when I lived in Twickenham closing the gate at the end of the road every day during the rush hour they had the same arrangement but relied on cameras so people simply drive through and get a ticket. Having been brought up with restricted roads being gated this was new to me and as totally unfamiliar drove through assuming the gate hadn't been closed so didn't apply. I'm sure 90% of drivers who use this road do exactly the same thing and have no idea that a road which is passable isn't usable for 4 hours a day. The sign is there but the system is so foreign to everyone it's not that easy to understand when driving past it at 30mph, which I'm sure they rely on for their income. It's one thing catching motorists but I wish they'd do it fairly.

This is a definite high, I think.
I am teaching in our Summer School and have two girls who really need to catch up as they missed a lot of school, having dropped out and been asked to leave through misbehaviour. I asked one of them to write about her Mum. This was what she wrote
"My Lovely Mummy
I love my mum very much. I think she is important only to me. In my life, I always made her cry and be sad before.But now I say to myself I should only make her happy, because I was always hurting her and everyone. I really hate myself. So I will tell you what is best about her now. I think you will want to make friends with my mum. Many people call her 'Yu' . It's a funny name! (she means nickname I think)
She was born in Hong Kong, she has two sisters and three brothers and she was third in the family. She is a very nice, helpful and kind woman, so she has many friends. She is good for many things. Everyone calls her Superwoman too. She is as strong as man. For example, driving, finding anything and not afraid of difficulty. I really admire her. She likes to go for tea with her friends but if we need her she will say goodbye to them and go to find us. So I have this mother. I feel very happy and very lucky, because I did everything to hurt her , after sometime she will forget it and do many things to to make me happy.Everyone thinks how kind my mother is. They say ,"I want to have your mum instead of mine."

Aw, how sweet.

Aw ren, that is lovely! How old is this girl? I hope her Mum gets to see what she wrote.

She is 14 and Chinese. Yes she copied it out and decorated it and her Mum had a good cry!

High of my week is that we had a dance comp on the weekend, and DP and I came first in every event! Or private lessons are really making a difference, and we'll be moving up devisions soon.

Also, DP has been trying to write a novel for the last 3 years, and as of tonight (hopefully) he is finished his first draft! I'm so happy for him.

Oh wow, Lioness, that is great news! Well done on your 'competition of firsts', and congrats to DP for getting his draft completed!

Hi of Day (so far):

Watching the cats play-wrestle on the living room floor. It's like watching a little nature video right in my own home.

Low of Day (so far):

Fill Me In game. I just booted yet another one - will I EVER figure out how to do well in that game?

Hi of Week (so far):

I just sold another technical manual, for a laboratory centrifuge. The deliverable isn't due for 3 months (pretty much an eternity in the technical writing business), I've already written 9/10ths of the material, and the contract is lucrative enough to pay for a vacation and all my Christmas gifts this year.

Low of Week (so far):

The unending extreme drought here. Not one single drop of rain has fallen here since May 11, and my garden and most of my plantings are totaled. If you look out my front door, you can see smoke from wildfires in every direction. And the long-range forecast is for hot and sunny up until at least Thanksgiving.

Ah Ren, how sweet. Every mom wants to hear their children acknowledge what little stinkers they can be and what paragons of patience and self sacrifice their moms are.

Congrats Lioness!!! What an accomplishment!

asgardshill hoping your home remains safe from the fires. And congrats on the manual sale. Any vacation ideas?

Awww Sara. I am so glad the girl's Mum saw it - it's the sort of thing every mother would love to read.
Everything is going well in "Jane's world", Elliot is xoming along with leaps and bounds, and my niece has found a house which is more or less ten minutes from our home, so close enough so we can see her and the boys regularly. She hopefully moves in next week. Her partner returns from Afghanistan in November
August 22nd is always a special day for me. It's a day that turned my life around, six years ago. I'd never done much exercise and slipped into bad habits - pastries, cakes and biscuits were my downfall. I could never had just "one" biscuit, it was always a handful. I had constant aches and pains, regularly at the doctors, and my quality of life wasn't very much.
In August 2003, I decided to bite the bullet, and have a blood test - not a easy decision, seeming I am terrified of injections. My doctor got in touch a few days later, to say I haf borderline diabetes. If I didn't change my lifestyle, I'd have to inject myself every single day. There were two choices, and there was no doubt in my mind which I wanted.
So I changed my lifestyle. I was 13 stone (and probably more!) and barely five foot. So the simple solution was not to have biscuits and "goodies" in the house. And now, six years later, I'm a shade under nine stone - I've lost four stone in six years To show what it looks like, here is Before and After pictures. Instead of having "goodies" seven days a week, I enjoy them three days a week, and special occasions obviously.
I wouldn't have been able to do this without Mum and Dad. Dad was so proud of me. I don't do much exercise even now, but my quality of life has vastly improved. Also, thank you to all at Funtrivia to keep me going xxx