Monday 28 November 2011

This time last month...

Right. Well. I think you can probably guess why I haven't been around for the last month...

Yes. The Baby-Formerly-Known-as-Squidlet was (finally) born on 28th October, and has been keeping Ze Husband and I busy ever since with the whole feeding/nappy changing/feeding/nappy changing thing. So far, we're managing... I've had to reduce my expectations in terms of sleep quite considerably, but I take comfort from the fact that this situation is temporary and I will get some sleep at some point! (Naps are clearly the way forward, in any case. Who needs to sleep for more than three hours at a time, anyway?). 


The Baby-Formerly-Known-as-Squidlet managed to acquire a couple of new names (quite apart from her real name) in the days after her birth, and will henceforth be known as Baby Mole/Bébé Taupe. She was born with quite a lot of hair, which, contrary to the expectations of everyone except her mother, is dark brown and not blonde. Add to that the fact that her eyes were practically black at birth, general newborn short-sightedness and the way she moves her hands when she's looking for milk, and she really did look a lot like a mole... The moleishness has worn off now, but the name has stuck.

We've decided not to post pictures on open-access parts of the internet (or Facebook, for that matter), but if we know you in real life, drop us a line and we'll send you a link.

Now, people of the Internets. Time for you lot to help me with this whole baby thing...

We're thinking about switching to washable nappies (or diapers, for those on the other side of the Atlantic). Thoughts? Suggestions? Recommendations? Patterns? (Yes, I'm thinking of at least attempting to make one or two to see how that works out. Trying different options here).

Oh, and I also appear to be addicted to Speculoos. Please send help (or more biscuits).

Thursday 27 October 2011

39 weeks

So. After all that, the Squidlet seems to have decided she's in no hurry to come out after all, and we've got to 39 1/2 weeks. Because of her early escape attempt, I've been more or less mentally prepared for her to turn up for the last three of those weeks, and I'm starting to get a bit frustrated.

Also, it's gone relatively cold here, which would be fine except I only have one pair of maternity jeans. Cue cut-offs with knee socks on the days my jeans are in the wash... the giraffe print socks look particularly classy. Oh yes.

(No, I don't go out much, why do you ask?)

Come ON, Squidlet. I want to be able to wear skirts again. And to be able to walk at normal speeds. And drink vast quantities of beer eat things with raw eggs in. I have plans for a chestnut tiramisù which are becoming increasingly urgent.

Oh, and while we're at it: one bump picture.


I wasn't consciously attempting to imitate the penguin in the corner, either. Honest.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Rawr!

You may vaguely remember me talking about a top secret project a while back, the results of which I would not be able to reveal until after our wedding anniversary.

Sorry to have left you all in suspense for so long. No, really, the stress of not knowing must have been dreadful. :-p

Here, without further ado, is what I was up to:


For those of you who don't understand the French (or the original dinosaur), it says "RAWR! (that means "I love you" in dinosaur).

The inspiration came from a couple of tshirts I found on the internet with the same caption (in  English) and from  Subversive Cross Stitch, an idea I find extremely appealing in principle although I don't see why they have to use swear words all the time. I don't usually have much patience with cross stitch and my inability to finish a project is widely recognised, but what with being on bed rest at the time and all that, this time it did actually work. And yay for using up bits of leftover embroidery silk!



Friday 21 October 2011

Angry Bird

We moved house a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still getting used to the house - every place has its own crashes and bangs that happen in the course of a normal day, and I've always found it takes a little while to get used to them (cue lots of jumping up and down to see what's going on).


The other day, I heard some strange banging noises coming from upstairs. Being pregnant and tired downright lazy, I decided not to go and find out what was going on. Half an hour later, the same noise started up again, but coming from street level. I looked out of the window, only to see a crow crashing repeatedly into the neighbours' front window. I wasn't sure whether to put this down to birdbrained idiocy or possible avian alcoholism.


Yesterday, the crow was back, and this time it was clearly attacking its reflection in our bedroom window. Thank goodness we have double glazing- the way it was going, I think it might have broken anything more fragile.


That is one seriously angry bird.

Thursday 6 October 2011

Of Babies and Blackadder

If you've been following French news closely, you may be aware that the midwives are Not Happy at the moment. In all honesty, I think they're right to be annoyed- their work really is undervalued and the service they provide is fantastic.

That's not really what this post's about, though. No no no. 

The French word for midwife is sage-femme, which means, literally... wait for it...

Wisewoman.

"Two things, my lord, must thee know of the Wisewoman. First, she is... a woman! ...and second, she is..."
"Wise?"
"You do know her, then?" 


It's just one of those things that make the constant prodding and poking with needles more bearable.
 


Tuesday 4 October 2011

Update

No, there are still no bump pictures. I have found the camera charger, but in the meantime, we've misplaced the camera. It'll show up eventually, and then YES, if the Squidlet hasn't arrived by then, there will be a bump picture or two!

Now. In case anyone was wondering, I thought I'd post a bupdate (bump update) because Things have been Happening.

Two weeks ago, at my 8th-month checkup, the midwife put me on bedrest for two weeks with anti-contraction medication because things were a bit further on than they should have been at 34 weeks, I'd had some pains the weekend before, and, well, they'd rather the Squidlet stayed put for a bit longer. The bedrest couldn't really have come at a worse time, covering the week before and the week after we moved house, and Ze Husband was en deplacement (away) in Eindhoven for the second week. I did manage to behave myself, though, and, erm, "supervised" the move from a safe (but frustrating) distance. For the second week, I went to stay with the inlaws, A) in case anything happened and B) because our house was still in chaos (also, no running water - a minor problem, clearly).

Last Friday, in spite of the rest and medication, I started having pains again. I eventually phoned the hospital, who told me to have a hot bath, take even more medication, and come in if things didn't improve. The bath and medication seemed to do the trick, so I went to bed.

Saturday, more of the same, only this time, I was having definite contractions on top of the general background pain at fairly regular intervals. We headed to the hospital mid-afternoon to see what was going on. At this point, I was at 35 weeks and 6 days- note that here, a baby born at 36 weeks can be considered full term if they've reached a certain weight. After 6 hours of monitoring, prodding, various blood tests and a scan, they gave me even stronger anti-contraction medication, on the understanding that if that didn't work they'd let things run their course, and sent me home.


That's more or less how things stand for now. I'm coming off all medication on Saturday or if things start moving again before then, and the general consensus is that the Squidlet is not likely to want to stay in for much longer. The scan showed she's a decent size and weight, with no visible health problems, and they haven't found any conditions which might have provoked the contractions- so it all seems to be down to the Squidlet herself having decided it's time.


Off to practice mental metric/imperial weight conversions now- I can't deal with baby weights being in kilos, it just seems wrong somehow!

Sunday 25 September 2011

One Year

One year ago today, Ze Boy graduated to the status of Ze Husband, and I became the third Catherine Prady in the family (a potentially confusing situation, but it hasn't posed any particular problems so far). It all still seems a bit surreal- the wedding part, at least. Marriage itself is (reassuringly) very real, even without the Squidlet kicking me in the ribs periodically to remind me... 

(Warning: Those averse to mloo-mlee-mlooting might wish to look away now).

This has been the best year of my life so far, and I'm looking forward, God willing, to a lot more like it. Yes, marriage means adjustments. Yes, it means I have to change my ideas of what constitutes an acceptable level of tidy in our office, and, generally, put up with all that stuff that comes with LIVING WITH A BOY. But I will always have someone to whinge at when things aren't going according to plan, someone to make food for, and someone to discuss the finer points of ninja shrimp with. I will always know that at least one other person on the planet understands the decidedly peculiar way my brain works and, even more surprisingly, won't run away screaming in terror or call the men in white coats.

This time last year, I signed on for a lifetime of this, and I don't regret it one single bit.

Monday 12 September 2011

Ze News

So. There hasn't been much news round here lately. Time for a general update, I think...

Things have been fairly busy recently, what with one thing and another. The kind of Things that call for a List... So, what have we been up to recently?

  • Ze Husband's cucumber plants got all excitable, and then the cornichons joined in. We made our first ever jar of pickles last week, which was exciting (more on that if they turn out to be nice when we open the jar).
  • We were back in the UK briefly trying to escape from the heat and move some of our stuff, including a hatstand, back to France. It is a Very Long Way from where we live to Woods HQ.
  • During this time, I also acquired a new penguin. It's big. It goes by the name of The Beast. We managed to fit it in the car with all our stuff, but only just.
  • I got a few new translation clients. Exciting! (no, no, that wasn't sarcasm).
  • My current inability to eat raw eggs resulted in a New And Exciting lemon mousse recipe (which I will also share at some point). 
  • I finished a quilting project which has been on the go for just over ten years and cleared out my old wardrobe. Result? Lots of new projects... which may go a bit quicker, seeing as
  • We're getting a sewing machine. Woohoooo!
  • I started a couple of new craft projects, one of which is Top Secret until our wedding anniversary. I shall try and post something about the other one once I find the camera charger (still AWOL). This may be sooner rather than later, because
  • We're packing everything up into boxes again, because
  • We bought a HOUSE. Yes, a real one! This is going to be a very exciting new adventure, especially with all the projects we have planned... for now, though, we're just concentrating on moving in and getting settled before the Squidlet arrives in late October/early November.

I'm getting tired just looking at that list... I would add "list-making" to my List Of Things That Are A Bad Idea When Heavily Pregnant (or LOTTABIWHP, if you prefer), but that might defeat the object.

Saturday 13 August 2011

A la recherche de choses perdues

Helloes!

I have lots and lots of things I want to post on here at the moment - various recipes and projects and oh, loads of stuff.
The problem? All of these posts would be far better with pictures, and we've lost the charger for the camera battery.

Usually, I'm quite good at finding stuff. Ze Husband misplaces things fairly regularly- I think his keys/cheque book/paperwork/phone etc. are ganging up on him. Seriously. He'll spend ages looking for something, it will hide from him, then as soon as I start looking it jumps up and down going "I'm here! I'm here! Pick me!". (Well, not literally, although that might be useful...)

In this particular case, however, the camera charger is hiding from me, too... I suspect it may have gone on holiday, like the rest of the French population does for the whole of August.


Monday 8 August 2011

Vampires

Today, I went for blood tests.

This is not something particularly unusual at the moment - having failed to contract toxoplasmosis at any point in my life (clearly I didn't eat enough raw meat...or something) I have to be checked every month. In France, they don't take samples at the doctor's and you have to go to the lab, but so far, nothing too complicated.

This morning, in addition to my usual tests, I had to get a blood group card made. My UK one isn't considered valid, clearly. Enter French medical bureaucracy...

For a blood group card request to be valid, two samples have to be taken, from two different points, by two different nurses, on the same day. Clearly, if just one nurse stuck needles in my arm, I might be able to bribe her to say I had a different blood type, since, you know, there are vast advantages to be had from being rhesus positive. Or something. Add to that the fact that all the veins in my left arm have gone into hiding (I think they're sick of the needles), and all in all, I had a rather fun morning.

If only getting hold of a Carte Vitale was so simple.

Friday 5 August 2011

Actually, yes, the penguins can be useful

When I said "no more penguins", I meant no more NEW penguins. Having a few around the place can prove useful in life.

Example:

As some of you may know (and some of you certainly don't, given I've not been around much recently, and any Facebook updates on the matter have been decidedly cryptic), I'm six months pregnant. As anyone who's already been there knows, this poses certain logistical problems in terms of sleeping arrangements.

Lying on stomach: out, clearly.

Lying on back: out, not only does this put too much weight on internal organs, it also causes backache, cuts off blood supply to legs and provokes "snorfling" (special word invented by Ze Husband, meaning "snoring in a manner disproportionate to one's size").

Lying on side: Yes, but requires wedging with cushions...or... STUFFED PENGUINS.

It's amazing. They're exactly the right shape. Seriously.

Hmmm. Nap time, methinks.

Tuesday 17 May 2011

BN for Vendetta

Slightly worrying phenomenon observed in the biscuit tin the other day:


There's a definite resemblance there! Should I be worried?

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Humphrey

There are several major differences between life in the UK and in France.

The language, for one.

The food, for another (although to be quite honest what we eat as a family hardly changes. I bring Branston Pickle and other such necessities back every time I go home...)

The weather. We're already averaging 26 or 27° (Celsius- sorry, I don't do Fahrenheit) here in the afternoons, and that's pretty normal for this time of year.

These, you might think, are pretty big things.

What, then, is the difference I notice most?

LIZARDS. Yes, really. I believe there are some in the southernmost parts of the UK, but having never lived further south than Cumbria (non-Brits, that's a long way north by English terms) for any length of time, they're still something of a novelty to me.

Humphrey pretends to be shy
This here is Humphrey, the first lizard I met when we moved to our new house. He came out of hibernation some time towards the end of February. He lives under the windowsill with Mrs. Humphrey and The Other One (another lizard, but we haven't/don't want to think about what their relationship might be. This is a Christian household, we will not have lizard immorality going on under our windowsills).

This afternoon, I was working, like a good little translator-elf, when I heard a clattering noise on the other side of the room. The culprit? A lizard, which had somehow managed to fall through the open skylight. (It wasn't Humphrey, though. Humphrey would never do something as silly as play on the roof).

I got the lizard out, in the end, using a waste paper basket and a comic book (yes! They DO have a use after all!) - but it took a good ten minutes of chasing it round the office, in and out of the stacks of paper and shoes and plastic dragons Ze Husband leaves lying around, all while laughing manically to myself at the surrealness of the whole thing.

Now THAT wouldn't happen in Edinburgh.

EDIT: I'm pretty bad at the whole picture thing, but if you want a better view of the Beast, just click on the picture to zoom in!

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Chain mail

'elloes!

This week, Ze Husband and I are lurking in the Netherlands. We are not on holiday, no no no. He is working (training week) and I am, well, sort of working, except I'm waiting for author comments on six chapters which are supposed to be finalised by 5.30 UK time tonight and I can't do anything until they arrive. Hmmmmm.

Now. This being a work-thing, we are in a nice hotel, with a swimming pool and suchlike. Last time we were here, it was for two weeks and we were in a long-stay room, with a sitting room area and a KITCHEN (yes, a kitchen!) and working internet.

This time, we are in a normal room on the ninth floor. The room is very nice and everything, but the internets don't seem to want to work (maybe they're afraid of heights) so I'm having to use one of the hotel computers. All well and good, except for the QWERTY keyboard and the fact it won't let me look up mass times for Holy Week because it has a block on all websites linked to religion. NO KIDDING.

The other problem? The room was recently redone and it's all design-y and pretty but not massively practical. The bathroom walls are GLASS. See the problem here?

They seem to have realised that the glass bathroom might be a bit disconcerting to some, so they put up a sort of curtain accross one of the walls, which doesn't help much with the privacy thing, but certainly adds comedy value.

The curtain is CHAIN MAIL, people. The BATHROOM is wearing CHAIN MAIL.

Hmmm. Maybe my cupboard would look better with armour?

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Seasonal

I've been looking for an excuse to explain my three-month absence from nomorepenguins.

Possible explanations include:

  • gnomish abduction
  • too much work
  • illness
  • lack of internet access
  • lack of inspiration
The REAL answer? None of the above.
It just wasn't the season for aubergines.

Also, I had a rather evil work project to finish, Ze Husband got a new job, we moved house, acquired a piano (about which, more later) and met a lizard named Humphrey. Lots of Good Things have been happening generally (we've been incredibly blessed these last few months, everything came together all of a sudden) and I've been a bit distracted, what with tidying our new cupboard and all.

So, there you have it. No excuses, still no penguins, and I plan on restarting the regular posting as of now. If not, I give you permission to send gnomish mercenaries to poke me with sharp sticks.

Catherijn, posting from the New and Improved Cupboard.