The BIG Scan

Just back from the BIG scan!

Following a few days of constant movement, Baby decided it would choose today to have a niiiiiiice long rest. The sonographer had a pretty hard time getting all the necessary measurements, and after an hour, gave up and sent me off for a walk. Cue ipod headphones carefully positioned on my stomach at full volume, and a bakewell tart. It seemed to do the trick. Back on the table two hours after our original appointment, Baby had regained some of the energy I'm used to feeling. We got all the measurements needed, declared Baby healthy as far as the scan can tell and sent us on our way. Happy faces.

And of course, we also now know what Baby is. I am dying - DYING!!! - to tell you all, but for a few more days it'll remain David's and my little secret. We were having a little get-together this coming week and, pretty much inspired by Maria Fe over at Layers of Meaning, we are going to use that occasion to anounce the gender to our closest friends and family before anyone else. I'll announce it here soon enough :) (Boy do I feel mean!!!)

But in the meantime, why don't you go ahead and place your bets? What do you think? Boy or Girl? :)

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London, An Elevated View

When we first arrived in England, back in 2006, we said we'd do one of those hop-on-hop-off bus tours of London, but never got round to it...

Almost five years later, we used our second wedding anniversary as an excuse to finally make it happen. Last weekend, in an early celebration (our anniversary is actually the 4th October), we headed into London. We started with an early lunch at Wagamama, then found a bus and hopped onto it.

It was cold, but the weather cooperated. And it was lovely. I'll leave you with a quick glimpse of London - as seen from the top of a double-decker bus.







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Ten...

Very exciting week. But it's not that that I'm writing about here. Ten years ago I was also experiencing an exciting week: I was about to start university. There's no denying it - even just the thought of that makes me feel suddenly old. Ten years? How am I even able to say that? It may as well be yesterday!

Fresher's Week was about to start. There were talks and meetings to go to, stands to see, bank accounts to open, and everywhere we turned, people trying to sell or make us join something. Typically, I avoided most of all that although I did open a new bank account simply because of the freebies that came with it. (I've always been a sucker for a good freebie.)

Soon enough, lectures started. I was all geared up with brand new stationery that always makes me feel fresh and studious. It worked for a few weeks. There were certain subjects I loved. Gender in the Media, Socio- and Psycholinguistics, ironically most Sociology subjects despite the fact that I was actually supposedly reading a degree in Communications with Sociology only as a secondary area. I was very confused throughout university... never really sure whether I was happy with what I was studying.

Don't get me wrong - I went into it determined to end up in advertising. It was as clear as day in my mind. I loved and still love the creative aspect of advertising. I hate marketing. Sure, I love the psychology of it, but numbers? No. Eventually it became clear that somewhere along the way, I'd missed the advertising boat and was somehow on a marketing boat, which I really didn't want to be on.

Still, I have no regrets. I made some great friends in those few years. And by hook or by crook, I got that degree and to this day I don't know what other course I might have chosen had it not been Communications, so I can only conclude that it worked for me.

I wouldn't say that university holds my most cherished memories. I know that many people say that it was the best time of their lives - for me that title is proudly held by my 6th Form years. It was 6th Form that was character-forming, for me, not university. But I can't help but smile when I remember how exciting it all was, looking ahead. Now we were adults, the world at our fingertips. No one and nothing was going to get in our way!

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The Calm Season

Well it's officially not summer anymore. As I've made very clear before, this isn't a bad thing. I've always had a love affair with autumn. The crisp air, the need for longer sleeves (but not yet jackets), the beautiful colours. My birthday... along with another four family birthdays. Autumn always meant parties, presents, smiles. It also meant getting ready for school, which after a long hot summer was never entirely a bad thing. Fresh books, new stationery - everything made the idea all the more exciting.

Nowadays, school doesn't feature any longer. But it still means birthdays and family and parties. It also starts to mean subtle Christmas preparations - although the shops aren't being so subtle and already have their turkeys and puddings out, and pubs and restaurants are advertising Christmas lunches.

I love autumn because it's a season of anticipation. A season of calm excitement, when the world is toning down and preparing for the long, cold winter ahead. It's a season of spices and apples and cinnamon. It's a season of blankets and books and warm mugs of tea, outdoors. It's a season of loved ones and friendship and second chances. It's perfection, in every way possible.

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To Kindle or Not To Kindle...

I love my bookshelves. I love seeing them stuffed with books. I love the feel of those books, being able to flick through the pages and smell the paper. I've always been very unforgiving of the idea of an electronic reader, have always shot down the thought without a moment's hesitation. As much as I am a gadget person, that's where I draw a line.

Or do I?

Deep in conversation with a good friend of mine just the other day... she was one of my reading buddies when, aged 13, we smuggled Danielle Steel novels into our English Literature school books and, the rebels we were, read them during lessons. Until we were asked to read aloud in class and that caused all sorts of problems. But that's another story.

I thought she was like me. She'd never betray The Book. And yet, she's just ordered a Kindle. I was horrified and I told her so. How could she turn her back on the beloved book?

Yet within minutes, I was asking questions. What made her decide to do it? How was the reading experience? Was it like reading a book off a computer screen? Didn't it make her feel like a traitor? Like she was partly responsible for the eventual collapse of bookshops?

She was very patient with little old-fashioned me. She mentioned things like the speed and ease of buying a book and having it there ready to read within minutes. She mentioned the weight issue - she can carry around several books in something that's lighter than a single paperback. And apparently, it's not like reading off a computer screen.

I have to admit, I'm curious. And tempted. But I don't know if I could ever go through with it. I'm a traditionalist at heart.

My friend has reassured me that she won't be giving up books entirely and still intends to buy them every now and again. I guess that's some consolation. I still think I'd feel very "Brutus" browsing a bookshop, as I love doing so much, with a Kindle guiltily hidden away in my handbag... Wouldn't you?



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