...especially all over me. We took Nimbus swimming for the first time on Sunday, which he really enjoyed and then on Sunday night we started bathing the two boys together.
Nimbus loves drum his heels on the floor when he's being put to bed and he does exactly the same in the bath. When Cirrus is in there as well, he gets into it too, and the bathroom isn't big enough (hence our intention to make it bigger) to escape all the water flying through the air.
I may need to invest in a mac.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Transferring Inheritance Tax Exemptions
This may seem a deathly boring (pun intended) subject but since I don't have many readers to bore in the first place and BW specifically asked anyway, here it is.
I finally managed to track down some specific information, with examples, about the how the new threshold is calculated when unused inheritance tax exemptions are passed from one spouse (or civil partner - can't be seen to be discriminatory, can I?) to the other.
Essentially, what you get is the unused proportion of your spouse's exemption, multipled by the current exemption, which is then added on to your own.
So, regardless of the fact that the exemption was only £64,000 when my grandfather died, since he left all of it to my grandmother, 100% of the exemption was unused and therefore, at today's rates, his exemption is worth the full £312,000. And since her estate is worth nowhere near £624,000, we won't be paying Mr Darling anything at all.
If, on the other hand, he had left £32,000 to my mother when he died then he would have used up half of his exemption and the unused part would now be worth £156,000.
Simple, really. I just wish it was a little more obvious in all the commentary written about it when the change was announced.
I finally managed to track down some specific information, with examples, about the how the new threshold is calculated when unused inheritance tax exemptions are passed from one spouse (or civil partner - can't be seen to be discriminatory, can I?) to the other.
Essentially, what you get is the unused proportion of your spouse's exemption, multipled by the current exemption, which is then added on to your own.
So, regardless of the fact that the exemption was only £64,000 when my grandfather died, since he left all of it to my grandmother, 100% of the exemption was unused and therefore, at today's rates, his exemption is worth the full £312,000. And since her estate is worth nowhere near £624,000, we won't be paying Mr Darling anything at all.
If, on the other hand, he had left £32,000 to my mother when he died then he would have used up half of his exemption and the unused part would now be worth £156,000.
Simple, really. I just wish it was a little more obvious in all the commentary written about it when the change was announced.
Monday, December 15, 2008
And then they came
So far my composure has held up reasonably well but last night saw the first small cracks.
L came into the room and said that she's got to pick up the photos of Cirrus we've ordered from the nursery when he's ready to go back this week. And that she doesn't know what to do with the fourth copy.
It took me a couple of seconds to remember why we might now only need three and then the tears came. A couple at least.
I might take a pack of tissues or two to the funeral on Friday.
L came into the room and said that she's got to pick up the photos of Cirrus we've ordered from the nursery when he's ready to go back this week. And that she doesn't know what to do with the fourth copy.
It took me a couple of seconds to remember why we might now only need three and then the tears came. A couple at least.
I might take a pack of tissues or two to the funeral on Friday.
Friday, December 12, 2008
A pox on all of you...
...or on all of Cirrus, at any rate.
I'm at home today, having booked it off weeks ago because it's L's work's Christmas lunch and the second performance of the Christmas Play at Cirrus' nursery (the first having been yesterday, which L was going to see).
The trouble is, Cirrus, like a significant proportion of the rest of the cast, has come down with the dreaded pox, so I won't be seeing him dressed up as a shepherd or hearing him sing the songs he's been absent-mindedly practicing for the last couple of months.
What is it about chicken pox that makes people so worried? I mean, at the first sign of it the nursery packs an infected child off home to try and stop it spreading further. But is that such a bad thing? I mean, sure, it's not a terribly nice illness, with the open blisters all over you, but it's not as if it it lays kids up in bed or makes them feel more than a little off-colour. And it can be much more dangerous, for a man at least, to get it later in life as it can cause fertility problems. So you'd think that you'd want kids to have it when they're young. Or am I missing something?
Anyway, Cirrus has spots all over him (including one on the edge of one of his eyelids) so I've got to stay at home with him (and Nimbus, of course) watching DVDs all day. It's a hard life.
I'm at home today, having booked it off weeks ago because it's L's work's Christmas lunch and the second performance of the Christmas Play at Cirrus' nursery (the first having been yesterday, which L was going to see).
The trouble is, Cirrus, like a significant proportion of the rest of the cast, has come down with the dreaded pox, so I won't be seeing him dressed up as a shepherd or hearing him sing the songs he's been absent-mindedly practicing for the last couple of months.
What is it about chicken pox that makes people so worried? I mean, at the first sign of it the nursery packs an infected child off home to try and stop it spreading further. But is that such a bad thing? I mean, sure, it's not a terribly nice illness, with the open blisters all over you, but it's not as if it it lays kids up in bed or makes them feel more than a little off-colour. And it can be much more dangerous, for a man at least, to get it later in life as it can cause fertility problems. So you'd think that you'd want kids to have it when they're young. Or am I missing something?
Anyway, Cirrus has spots all over him (including one on the edge of one of his eyelids) so I've got to stay at home with him (and Nimbus, of course) watching DVDs all day. It's a hard life.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
A Farewell
It won't be long now. That's the message that makes work seem suddenly unimportant. All I can think of is getting there before it's too late.
It won't be long now. Waiting impatiently at the station, I read to try and distract myself. Finally the train leaves. Half an hour and I'll be there.
It won't be long now. On the bed is a woman who lost her husband almost a quarter of a century ago and kept her illness secret for many years. Her family is gathered around her, waiting, thinking.
It won't be long now. Her breathing is rapid and shallow and we wonder whether she knows we are all there. My mind drifts to memories of trips into London during school holidays. Can the last of those really have been almost half my life time ago?
It won't be long now. Eventually, I say my goodbyes and take my leave. There's no reason to stay right to the end. I'm just glad I was able to be there to see her before she left. Now starts the wait until the phone rings again with that last, fateful message.
It won't be long now. And then the tears that stubbornly refused to come during that long afternoon may begin to flow freely.
It won't be long now. Waiting impatiently at the station, I read to try and distract myself. Finally the train leaves. Half an hour and I'll be there.
It won't be long now. On the bed is a woman who lost her husband almost a quarter of a century ago and kept her illness secret for many years. Her family is gathered around her, waiting, thinking.
It won't be long now. Her breathing is rapid and shallow and we wonder whether she knows we are all there. My mind drifts to memories of trips into London during school holidays. Can the last of those really have been almost half my life time ago?
It won't be long now. Eventually, I say my goodbyes and take my leave. There's no reason to stay right to the end. I'm just glad I was able to be there to see her before she left. Now starts the wait until the phone rings again with that last, fateful message.
It won't be long now. And then the tears that stubbornly refused to come during that long afternoon may begin to flow freely.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Family News
Nimbus is now almost four months old and weighed in at 21lb 12oz yesterday (that's a nice round ten pounds more than when he was born). He's now wearing 9-12 month clothing and, amazingly, cut his first tooth at the weekend. We're going to see some friends on Saturday whose first daughter is just a couple of weeks older than Nimbus - it'll be interesting to see the difference between them.
Cirrus (now three and a half), meanwhile, is doing really well at nursery, beginning to learn how to read and do basic arithmetic. A month ago we had just finished applying for a primary school place for him so now we are just waiting for confirmation that he's got into our first choice school.
When we moved house eighteen months ago, we knew there was a primary school within a hundred yards of the front door but we hadn't looked into it at all so we didn't know whether it was any good, so it was with some surprise, when we went to see it, that we found out it's more than just good - it's one of the best schools in the town! And with a two-form entry, it's exceedingly unlikely that there will be 60 other children who either have siblings at the school or live closer than we do (the two main criteria), so we're not at all worried about it. Two more months and we'll know for sure.
Cirrus (now three and a half), meanwhile, is doing really well at nursery, beginning to learn how to read and do basic arithmetic. A month ago we had just finished applying for a primary school place for him so now we are just waiting for confirmation that he's got into our first choice school.
When we moved house eighteen months ago, we knew there was a primary school within a hundred yards of the front door but we hadn't looked into it at all so we didn't know whether it was any good, so it was with some surprise, when we went to see it, that we found out it's more than just good - it's one of the best schools in the town! And with a two-form entry, it's exceedingly unlikely that there will be 60 other children who either have siblings at the school or live closer than we do (the two main criteria), so we're not at all worried about it. Two more months and we'll know for sure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)