mardi 24 septembre 2013
The best thing about being pregnant is that you can blame pretty much anything on it.
See examples-
I'm three days late in handing in my report? Oh gee, I'm so sorry, it must be 'pregnancy brain', plus you know, the fatigue and projectile vomiting....

Oh, please excuse that horrible belch. I'm pregnant you know, and it seems to generate a lot of gas in the intestines. 

The worst thing of course is that pretty much everything gets blamed on it.
See examples-
Honey, the reason you are mad I am three hours late for dinner is because of your pregnancy hormone mood swings.....

Doctor, I think I am having a heart attack!
- No, no, it is nothing, just some acid reflux from your being pregnant.
No, really, I think it is a heart attack.
- Well, if it is, too bad for you, we can't do anything since you are pregnant!

***

Otherwise, the nausea seems to have subsided (for which I am sure I just jinxed myself to six more weeks).
Strangest symptoms thus far - lots of drool and facial twitching. Good grief.
Not even getting any 'perks' yet, such as people giving me their seats on the meteo, but I am twitching and drooling like crazy. Fun times!
dimanche 22 septembre 2013
I couldn't help it, after doing so many crosstitches for other people, I finally did one for me, with a green and white Irish theme. My childhood bedroom had a large black iron four-poster bed, with a canopy. I had fake ivy winding up the posts, with lace enclosing three sides, green and white sheets, and pillows, cushions, and curtains with an ivy-and-lace theme. I loved it. 
Anyway, here are some photos.



She is holding a four-leaf clover, which was not easy to do.
It doesn't look as nice when it isn't stretched and framed, but oh well. It isn't like I was going to hang it up in our bedroom, which leads Alain to ask, what's the point of doing it?
Men. They just don't understand.
I can't wait to do one for our daughter (assuming it is a daughter) but first we need to decide on a name. I'll probably wait a few years anyway, and let her choose the colors and style.
Little girls are so much fun!
I bought a baby name book yesterday and have been browsing a few sites. Truthfully, there is too much choixe nowadays.
And people put so much emphasis on names.
Maybe we will just name her Mildred and be done with it.

jeudi 5 septembre 2013
We are moving back to the United States!!!

No. Not really.

We are having a baby! 

Yes, really.

It is due March 20th 2014 by the French way of calculating due dates, March 13th by the American way.

So far, the doctor thinks it is a girl, but isn't sure.

We have absolutely no idea for a name. Any suggestions welcome, preferably not starting with P.

Had really bad nausea throughout the month of August, making life difficult for me and uncomfortable for everyone else, including coworkers.

By the way, who ever knew that having a baby was so complicated? It is like organizing a space launch.

I am pre-enrolled for a hospital, right across from my work, but don't have the confirmation yet. 

I have sent in some of the official forms, and we have to wait until six months before requesting a place in the city daycare. (Which are so in-demand, good luck getting a spot. And yet, France wants women to have more children. Maybe make it easier for the kids to be taken care of, and women will)

Ah well. One thing at a time I guess, starting with not throwing up.


jeudi 22 août 2013
Our vacuum recently decided to permanently retire. We can't complain too much, Alain's parents gave it to us for free when we set up household eight years ago.

It seems though that we are at the point where everything needs to be replaced- steamers, hot water pots, hot water bottles, pots and pans, mattresses, pillows, sheets, towels. I guess everything has an eight-year programmed replacability, or whatever the official term is.

We didn't use it much, would usually sweep first, vacuum up the pile of sweepings, and then mop. (And usually not more than once a month. Whoops)

So Alain was tasked with going to Carrefour one saturday and buying a new one, since obviously it would probably be difficult to find a repair place and probably cost more than it is worth.

Yes, I let him go chose our new vacuum alone as I was indisposed and well, let's face it, he is usually the one to do the floors. 

He complains more doing it, and is apt to vacuuming up gold bracelets and the like (no matter how many times I ask him to not vacuum the tops of furniture) but does a better job at it. I help though, running around getting everything off the floor, preparing the mop, and fishing things out of the vacuum bag.

So anyway, the new vacuum is on the right (but you could probably tell that already). It is small and light, which is perfect for our needs. We lost the attachment thing long ago, so maybe now with the new one, we will sweep less.

It's been an exciting summer.

mardi 16 juillet 2013
Here is a picture of my office. It is on the sixth floor (Americans: seventh) of a building with nine (Americans: ten) floors. It is on one of main streets of Marseille, not far from the center of town and the beaches. The desk was recently installed, and I am very pleased with it. Before, I had one large table and one computer workstation, a small unstable desk just large enough for the computer screen and I couldn't put my legs under it because of a shelf, I guess to put a printer on.

The chair is new too. Behind the desk is a radiator/ac unit and there are some cupboards on the left, out of the picture. Across from my desk is my "Monet" painting, which I had specially made from a site in Germany.

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