Please stand for Mr & Mrs Cruandall

Well folks, it finally happened,

Stood still whilst

and the (not so) lovely

exchanged these

The bride had finally found a dress (after buying two that were too small)

That was perfect to hide this;

whilst the Groom realised that he had just

to the hope of ever having any of this

Reality hit home and he realised it was time to

to his new life............

We are so happy for you both,

True Cruella Style

Arrrrggggghhhhh!!

It's school holidays this week and Mr M and I actually have some time booked off to spend with the kids. It's also the bank holiday weekend, so there are loads of events on. We had planned to spend time with our family on Saturday, Friends on Sunday, Family on Monday then fun days Tuesday and Wednesday.

The best laid plans........

Last night Charlie sent a message to Mr M:

'Hi dad, got things planned with mum all week and going away. See you on the 31st'

WTF??

So Mr M rang Cruella and had this conversation with her:

Mr M - Hello, I've just had a message from Charlie saying the boys wont be coming until the 31st. I'm a bit concerned as they are due to arrive on the 23rd and stay until the 27th - we have made plans.
Cruella - 'You always fucking do this'
Mr M - Do what? I'm just stating what Charlie has said in his message and I would like to know whats happening.
Cruella - Randall works in construction and only gets this week off. We've had things planned for ages.
Mr M - I understand that, but you could have told us sooner as we too have made plans
Cruella - I did fucking tell you - you just don't listen.

With that she slams the phone down and quite clearly the conversation is over!

Did I tell you how much I hate this person?
She did not tell us they were going away this week and Mr M certainly does not 'always' ring her up to challenge her plans and she has a mouth like a sewer!

So, it looks like Mr M & I are going to have lots of time to spend with Lola and Dora this week - Every cloud has a silver lining I suppose.

Anyone for chocolate?

I thought I'd Blogged about our dilemma with Cruella's Christmas present, but looking back it seems I cut her some slack - must have been having a good day!

Each and every year, we have bought Cruella a Christmas gift from the boys. We've always bought something nice and a lot of thought has usually gone into the gifts. When she hooked up with Randall and his two children we decided to buy them a shared 'family' gift from all of us. Again we have always bought a nice gift and for the past couple of years they have bought us something - just a token gift for all of us, but it was something.

This year we decided that due to Cruella's behaviour, she was getting sweet F.A from us. However, we agreed that we would pay for a token gift for her from the boys. I took Charlie shopping and he chose a lovely triple box of fudge from Thorntons for Cruella and Randall and a small novelty chocolate gift each for Randalls children. I took great delight in wrapping them and writing the gift tags - which although said 'From Charlie and Woody' -she would know it was me who had bought them!

We did not expect anything in return as I'm sure she would have rather have poked her own eyes out than buy a gift for us!

To our surprise the boys arrived on Christmas eve with a tub of chocolates stuffed into a carrier bag, with a tag on saying to Mr M, Mrs M, Lola and Dora. Mr M and I were very surprised, but in the spirit of Christmas we thanked the boys and put the chocolates to one side.


Fast forward to today. I decided it was about time I had a sort out and had discussed taking our unopened tubs and boxes of chocolates to the girls' nursery. We have 3 large unopened boxes - including the one from Cruella.

So as I sort them out I look at the tub from Cruella and something twigs. The seal doesn't look quite right and on closer inspection I can see that she has used selotape and a piece of red paper (to look like the seal) to close the tub. As I took the selotape off, the lid lifted off and inside the tub mixed in with the chocolates, were loads of wrappers!

Can you believe it - she had no intention of buying Mr M anything from the boys and was obviously shamed into sealing up a half eaten tub of chocolates for them to give to us at the last minute.

Rather than feeling angry and cheated, the fudge set we bought was lovely and the boys told us that she ate nearly all of it in one go - wide load coming through, I have laughed so much this morning and Lola and Dora have had a field day with the remaining chocolates.

So freaking angry.

I've been fuming over this since Sunday and only now feel calm enough to blog about it.

The boys had been telling us for months that Cruella was buying a shared Christmas gift for them and Randall's two children - she had told them that they were having Guitar Hero* for the PS3* - The one with the guitar, Drum kit and microphone. That was their main gift as the family had just bought a new 50" Plasma TV for the lounge (they were lucky enough to get a free LCD 19" TV in the bargain).

So Christmas eve comes and the boys were with Cruella, they opened their present and low and behold it's Guitar Hero. They have a few other stocking fillers and are generally happy boys. They were with us Christmas day and Charlie spend most of the morning checking his mobile - he had text Cruella to enquire what gifts Randall's Children had recieved but never got a reply.

So the boys returned on Sunday and I was horrified when they blurted out that although they had been given the Guitar Hero* - it was expected that they share it with the other two. Fine, it's good to share. But tell me how Randall's daughter is going to share HER PSP (£160) and his son share HIS mobile phone (about the same price)?

Is it just me, or are they way out of order on this? I am gutted that the boys have been given something thatis obviously meant for all 4 kids, and yet the other two have very individual gifts.


Oh, hang on - I forgot that they boys were also given the Free LCD TV as a gift between them!

Home Alone

Today I cried - big, fat tears with uncontrollable sobs!

Mr M & I had a wonderful 5 days with Lola and Dora on our winter break. The girls loved all the wildlife and Lola went on two pony rides - she's a natural. She looked so darn cute and had her picture taken for next years brochure! We came home yesterday on such a high & couldn't wait to see the boys today.

Cruella dropped them off at 1pm and by 1.15pm the tears wouldn't stop.
We'd told her in February that she would have to make arrangements for the boys for this week, yet just a few weeks ago she claimed she didn't know we were going away. Sorry F*ck Face, but I've got the e mail delivery confirmation that clearly states you recieved and opened the email & just to be doubly sure, I handed Randall a copy of all of our booked holidays for 2008. Sorry, but my eyes are not painted on!
So the reason for the tears? Woody (10 years old) had the winter vomiting flu Monday and Tuesday with a spiking temperature of 40 degrees. What did Cruella do....... she went to work 8am till 8pm!
She left him home alone - both freaking days! But wait, don't condemn the evil bitch of an excuse for a mother just yet, please hear her plea.....
'Woody wasn't home alone all day, Randall called at home evry 4-6 hours to give him paracetamol to try to get his tempertaure down'.

Whoopyfuckingdo!

Mr M & I feel like crap now, and in some part feel that we should not have left the boys with her on our contact days. But what we fear most is that if she is willing to leave him home alone when he is obviously very poorly, she will not have second thoughts about leaving him home alone at any other time. What beaks my heart most is that neither of the boys can see any harm in what Cruella has done.

So Monday morning will bring a elephone call to social services and our solicitor - we just can't let this one go. Are we totally off the mark here?

10 years from now....

Charlie had to do a piece of homework for English over the holidays, where he had to write a biography of his life 10 years from now. I often worry that he takes me and Mr M for granted and feel that we often come second best. But after helping him last night with his homework I am feeling reassured. Here's a few sentences.....

....' I'm happy, healthy and really settled. Mr M's just celebrated his birthday by running his 18th marathon, Cruella is still waiting desperately for Randall to propose - don't think he has any intentions! My little brother, Woody is a computer nerd, but makes lot of money!
Randall is now living off of his son's fame and my (not so wicked) step-mum (Me!) has just beat Dad in the marathon for the first time ever - Dad's not happy but what does he expect at 50?!'
'.....Lola has just completed 10 A* GCSE's at 13 and will be taking 4 A levels next year, whilst Dora is a fantastic actress and has been approached by Hollywood'
'....Randall's daughter is off at uni and we don't see her much, whilst his son is a famous sports personality - so he should be with the money they spent on him (only him) for private coaching!'

God I love that boy!

Cruella is Scrooge?

So Cruella does it again - picks her punches and throws them well.

Charlie and Woody spent Christmas morning with us last year for the first time and they absolutely loved it. This year they have asked to do the same again - come to us Christmas eve tea and go back to Cruella Christmas day at 3pm. We have said they are old enough to express their wishes and we would respect them.
Cruella, being the bitch she is, wont play ball - oh no, it's not about what they boys want! She will let them know what HER plans are when she has made them and they can tell us so that we can fit in around them.

Can you believe how selfish she is? The boys have pointed out to her that they don't want to be with her Christmas morning, looking at presents which they are not allowed to open until Randall's children arrive at 2pm, only for us to pick them up at 3pm. Yes, that's right - the wonderfully caring Cruella thinks nothing of making her own children wait to open their Christmas presents on Christmas morning as long as it fits with her plans!