Life In A Far Away Land

I've gotten pretty well used to be being far away from my family, and while I hate missing out on family get-togethers, I've learned to live with it. It's a part of life, albeit a sad one.

So what a surprise when I came across this and this on my sister-in-law's flickr! My grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday last week, and I was sad I wouldn't be there for it. But like I said, it's just part of life now, which I have no choice but to accept.

Thanks, Kristen, for posting those pictures of my Mamaw and Papaw. It made me very, very happy.

(In other news that I've been dying to announce, I mopped my kitchen floor! I know!)

Who's Coming With Me?

I've officially crossed over to the Morrison's side from having been a loyal Tesco shopper for over two years. (Groceries are really the most interesting thing you could possibly want from a Monday morning post, right?) Not only did I fill my cart (with many things NOT on the shopping list) and still spend about £20 less than I would have at Tesco*, I found waterproof drawstring washbags for 99p! Ya'll, I have seriously looked EVERYWHERE for some waterproof drawstring bags to put dirty nappies in when out and about. I ended up having to order a couple from Tots Bots for like £4 each. And then, right in the middle of the toiletries aisle... there they were. And in different colours! I bought two - pink and purple - for the baby, and I'll use one of the boring navy blue Tots Bots one for myself.

Myself, you're asking? Please be warned - if you are male, squirmish, my brother or any combination of the above - SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH. Yes, myself. I'm going to start using washable menstrual pads. Ahem.

I've also fallen for Morrison's because they made finding cream of tartar so darn easy.

Unfortunately, though, Tesco is reading over my shoulder, and in an effort to lure me back, they've dropped an envelope full of vouchers and ClubCard points in my letterbox. Dang it. Well, they might win this battle, but they will lose the war! (Oh gosh, what on earth am I talking about?)


*This might be due to the fact that Morrison's doesn't sell baby clothes, and had I been at Tesco, there's a fair chance that £20 would've been spent not on groceries but tiny pink onesies.

Blueberry Cheer

Each morning I wake up deciding I'm going to be happy today. So far, I've not been highly successful.

I stayed up late last night reading Pollyanna - you know, the children's book by Eleanor H. Porter, which was also made into a movie. It made me quite cheerful (and tearful!), and I slept well. This morning, however, I was up early to head into Glasgow for a funeral. The funeral was really sad, one of the saddest I've been to.

I came home feeling down but not depressed. Scott was already away for his LAN party ('Losers And Nerds' party as Cheryl aptly puts it), so I had the house to myself. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with myself all evening, but I was happy to have the quiet and solitude of an empty house. Our overhead lighting in the living room is acting up right now, so we only have lamplight. During the day, with the blinds up, it was fine, but now its dark and moody. I like it.

I read for a little while (I'm now rereading In the Face of God (Michael Horton)), then decided I was hungry. I've been craving blueberry muffins, but Scott has the car so I couldn't pop into town to get a mix. I considered making cookies or pudding because I have all the ingredients to make those from scratch when it occurred to me I surely had the ingredients for blueberry muffins too! So I googled a recipe and found this. When the recipe's author titled them 'To Die For Blueberry Muffins', she wasn't just tooting her own horn! They really are to die for.

I've already eaten two. I am afraid I'll eat the rest. So I'm taking them to a friend's house tonight to pass them around and get rid of the glorious temptation. I'll get picked up in about an hour and a half for a 'girlie' night, where we gaming widows will congregate to complain about how much time our husbands spend playing computer games. It ought to be a good laugh.

(However, speaking of computer games, I shouldn't make too much fun at this time. When Scott was testing the expansion of World of Warcraft - yes, my husband is so 1337, he was one of the testers - he showed me the new features for creating characters, and for fun, I created a total hottie character I named 'Sexy Smith'. In order to 'bond' with Scott - because if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - I created a real character in the game and had Scott show me how to play him. I've actually leveled up 'Smithe' (all forms of Sexy Smith were taken, oddly enough), the Blood Elf paladin, to Level 8 and have enjoyed it. Smithe is a blacksmith and a miner, but most importantly, he's totally hott. Soul-patch and everything.)

Anyway, so back to the main point, I've had a good day so far, in spite of the funeral. Quiet and solitude can be quite healing to the soul, or something like that. And when you add homemade blueberry muffins, you can't help but be a little bit more cheerful.

Gales

Here in Greenock we get what Scott called 'the shadow effect' (or something). There are hills on one side, hills on the other side and a river in between. This means (something like) the moisture from the river evaporating into clouds gets trapped between the two ranges of hills and thus the rain stays inside its little 'valley'. This is why Greenock gets so much rain.

I do not, however, have any really interesting explanations for why we get such strong gales at our house except that we are on the top of the hills which protect the 'valley' below from these gales.

I do, however, have an interesting picture of the effect of said gales.



Fortunately we didn't have much in that shed. But the neighbours' outdoor cat is pretty bummed.

Birth, Death and Everything In Between

My friend Fiona had a baby girl yesterday - 8lbs 13oz!

My friend Jamie's father passed away the day before yesterday - not an old man.

My previous boss from the University of Arkansas also passed away about a week ago - also not an old man.

About three weeks ago, I saw two kids get run over by an SUV. One was around 9 or 10, the other around 15 or 16. They thankfully survived but suffered major injuries.

My husband's wonderful grandmother has been diagnosed with cancer.

I'm having a baby in approximately three weeks.

It's hard to comprehend that death is a part of life. They sound like opposites. But everyone starts with birth and ends with death. Life can be so unbelievably overwhelming.

Maternity Leave

Today is the official start of my maternity leave. It feels so good knowing all my workmates are back at work today, and I'm sitting in a stripey t-shirt and yellow sneakers trying to decide if I should shop first, shower later or shower first and shop later...

Should probably shower first, huh? I could dry and straighten my hair and feel fab, then go for a coffee...

I need to buy milk and ice cream (essential), pick up Scott's prescription and pick up some more of these comfy t-shirts at Primark for £3 each.

I am going to phone up the physiotherapy centre at the hospital to register for aqua-natal, starting next week. Wish I could start tomorrow, but tomorrow is my scan and midwife appointment.

I'll probably do a bit of tidying. I need to wash the cover on the baby mattress, and this week I'm going to start washing the baby clothes and sheets so they'll be fresh and ready for the arrival of Schmooker. I'm doing my best not to fall for all the consumer traps like special sensitive skin baby laundry detergent and what not. Did mothers back in the medieval times have special sensitive skin baby laundry detergent? Did their babies all die? I'm trying to keep some perspective on this whole new-parent thing. Perspective being something I need when you look at how bananas I've gone with buying stuff.

Speaking of stuff, a friend of mine, Cheryl, is throwing a baby shower for me! She's married to a Canandian so she was aware that baby showers were big in 'North America'. So she asked if I wanted one. I was tickled pink! The idea that someone would throw me a baby shower is so touching. For those not in-the-know, baby showers aren't really done here. A lot of people think it's bad luck to buy stuff for the baby before the baby actually arrives. And many, if they do buy ahead, won't keep the things in their home until the baby arrives. If that's the case, then that explains all the morning sickness, backache and heartburn I've experienced throughout my pregnancy, because I've been buying baby stuff since I saw the two pink dots!

Still on my To Buy For Baby list (consumer trap warning!):
- some newborn prefold nappies (for those first few meconium days, so I don't ruin my beautiful shaped nappies)
- a room thermometer (I know! Medieval mums didn't have those either, but I can't help but be convinced that my baby is going to sweat and/or freeze to death in our temperature-unstable house.)
- my sling (I've been saving up for this thing for months)
- my nursing pillow (I've been assured by internet and real life friends alike that this pillow really is the best)
- the pram/carseat (which is being purchased by my mother and father-in-law. I'm going to go for a three-part travel system with an infant carseat so I can put off buying the real carseat a bit longer. It's something I have yet to research, and I'm actually pretty terrified of the carseat research process, because I don't know what I'm looking for.)
- the bedside cot (which I'll get when my mom gets here)

Ah, maternity leave. It's bliss.

And as an interesting (?) sidenote, I've lived in Scotland for almost 2 and a half years, and I don't know the radio frequency numbers for a single radio station. Radio 4 is starting a series today on the perils and pitfalls of working from home... and I don't know where Radio 4 is.