Better than a kick in the knickers with a winklepicker

Still pregnant. Still 26 (just). Still permanently hungry & sleepy (except at bedtime when I get all irritable).

Rarrrr! This is getting mighty annoying now! I was getting some interesting aches in the small of my back last night/this morning but it appears that these have done nothing, nor has my trip to the hospital today. ( A tale of gynecological woe - ye be warned! ) So anyway the long and the short of it is that labour doesn't appear in any way imminent, and it's looking more and more likely that I'll go over my due date.

I wouldn't feel so useless if I could actually *do* stuff. Took the tree down and got some groceries today, and that's been about it. Don't have the mental capacity to write whatsoever. Meh!

EDIT: Having listened to the latest installment of Trevor's World Of Sport on R4 I'm utterly falling for Sammy Dobbs. A self-obsessed, sociopathic, possibly Autistic character created by the men who brought me Damien Day and Colin Mathews - I never stood a chance. This week he ran the London Marathon on a day's notice and absolutely no training dressed as a Gnu in order to impress a humourless German Lesbian. Feel The Love!

Happy New Year, everyone! A quieter one was spent with Hubs & Mister Chode - a Beef Roast, a massive Trivial Persuit Grudge Match, the end of C4's Fame List (why is there no longer a Clive James style End Of Year Review? I used to love those!) The Bongs on the Telly and then a lengthy Soul Calibur battle.

Had about 4 weak wine spritzers, spread over the evening, to see in the New Year (probably about the equivalent of a single large glass of wine all in) and was very ill come 2am. Still feeling it now. Oy Vey, pregnancy has turned me into *such* a lightweight! *Sigh* Not long now...

Hope you all had good ones.

Hello, it wasn't pre-eclampsia, hence me being here and not in hospital. Still have a headache though, so still in a grump.

Rawr.

Three very Christamssy things:

1, We went out to get my Uncle's Birthday card (it's on New Years Eve) from a lovely little independant card shop that I really like. We were the only ones in there and the guy at the till was being really friendly, asking when the babe was due, etc etc. I've been putting coins to one side for the hospital car park so I was 30p short of cash and he just let me off it! I was prepared to go to a cashpoint but he was really sweet about it and was having none of it.

2, Got beaten at Scrabble by Hubs (Grr) then watched Blackadder's Christmas Carol, as is our annual tradition now. Very, very, very funny.

3, Just been to the Communitiy Carol Singalong, with the ArchBishy atop the bus. Great fun, and this year we were next to a group of really good singers who did harmonies so I didn't feel like a tit doing all the descants and twiddly bits because the girl in the group was doing them too.

Off to cook tea and then probably watch something like Die Hard tonight, so I shall bid you all a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS! Eat, drink, celebrate, enjoy your family and friends. Remember kids - you don't need Religion to feel that you're Blessed.

EDIT: Flossie, have you heard about this? - http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=20169

Firstly, two Baby related stories...

1st up - BOLLOCKS! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6192247.stm We have been trying so hard to be original-without-being-stupid on baby names and we really liked Olivia, but neither of us want her to be one of five Olivias in her class, so the name might now need ANOTHER rethink.

2nd, this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6197411.stm has made me woried and angry in fairly equal measures. Yep, that's the hospital where I'm booked to have McFly. I know the chances of me being there and Babe needing help from a machine at the same time as a power failure *and* it happening at the same time that some twatferret has decided they need the copper out of the emergency generator wiring more than the hospital does aren't that high, esp since Babe is now fully cooked, but still, the PregnaRage is out in force for these cocknockers yet again. I reckon if they catch them, the best punishment would be to leave them in a room with thirty-odd irate pregnant women. Then they will know the meaning of fear.

And a nice idea from demimonde...

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

Why, whenever I've been out clubbing (admittedly, it's been a while) do/did I always wake up with filthy fingernails? What had I been doing?

Where the Hell did my Red Dwarf and Eddie Izzard videos go? - Loads of my treasured teenage posessions went missing during my parents split (even though many completely pointless things were kept) but the ones that really bug me are my Izzard videos of The Definitive Article, Glorious and Unrepeatable (think that was what the 1st one was called) since, as I knew them pretty much by heart when I went to Uni I didn't see the point in spending £20 each replacing them.

How did Keynes College Breakfasts always manage to be cold even if you were there when they opened at 8?

What happened to my nice 60s style sunglasses back in 97? I think I left them in the Ladies' before Opera rehearsal but I checked in there about a minute after I'd been in... the only explanation possible is a super-fast sunglasses thief. This is why I never bother getting expensive sunnies - I break/lose about one pair a year.

Along a similar vein, what the fuck happened to my last pair of pink Gummi headphones? I destroyed a couple of pairs by catching them in doors/trailing them on the floor, but the last pair just vanished. I also never buy expensive headphones, since I kill them all.

Why have all of my socks decided to spring holes *now*? It's like there's a mass suicide pact going on in my sock drawer!

Boris Johnson: Crap yet strangely very funny with it. Not just plain embarrassing to watch like Widdy was.

Sue Perkins: Joy! She used to really annoy me when she did studenty teatime TV but I've really warmed to her over the past couple of years - mainly due to the 99p Challenge, but she was very good tonight too.

QI: Love from start to finish. Shame the delicious Ms Stevenson was rather quiet but hey diddley ho. I really liked Sir Steve's anecdote about when he lived with Hugh Laurie.

I overspent at Mothercare today. Meant to get some hooded towels for Junior and some maternity nighties for when I'm in hospital, but ended up buying some teeny tiny little socks and booties and some slightly smaller clothes for her as well (the clothes we got before were for 0-3 months and look a bit too big for a newborn now I've got them out and washed them, so I got some little bodysuits and sleepsuits in Newborn size too). I'm a menace to meself, I am!

Well then - that's it. Done. I am now on Maternity leave (or is it that I'm now redundant but still getting paid? Not entirely sure how this thing technically works). Boss bought me a lovely posh farewell lunch of wild mushroom risotto and fruity bread & butter pud from the swanky GastroPub (MMMMmmmm!!! And glad I wasn't paying because it was proper pricey), we talked Atheism, Homeopathy and Cinema and then I collected my various bits & bobs and off I went.

What to do... what to do... will be extremely strange not working, I'm so used to it. At least for the weeks before Tuppence arrives anyway. Hopefully this Nesting Instinct I'm meant to get will kick in and I'll make myself useful sorting the house out.

In unrelated news, Miss C for some reason my email to you yesterday has been bounced back to me.

Also, if there's anything more joyful than driving around with the full Dr Who theme tune on full blast I'd like to know what it is.

To quote Edmund Blackadder: 'I believe the phrase rhymes with "Clucking Bell".'
Yes folks, the crappity continues. The first lame part of yesterday (which resulted in me being covered in plasters) was my Diabetes Test which I found out this afternoon I have failed with flying colours - so, yet more blood tests tomorrow (have I mentioned my terrible phobia of having my blood taken, by the way? It's three-fold - I hate limb constriction, even for blood pressure tests, so I panic as soon as the torniquet goes on, I don't like needles in general and I also hate veins so the feeling of the needle going in, blood being drawn and the needle coming out again freaks me out no end... unless a Path Lab nurse is doing it it tends to result in my hyperventillating, crying and/or nearly passing out. Joy!) and a further restricted diet at best, possibility of lifelong Diabetes and problems for the babe at worst. Very despondant and angry with myself since there is no history of The Big D in my family - if I do have fully fledged Gestational Diabetes now I only have myself and my weight to blame.

Right, that bit of self pity over I may as well tell you that this will be a longer and more Everyday post than usual since I will be copying it onto http://www.historymatters.org.uk/output/page97.asp once I'm done. They want as many British bloggers as possible to record 'This Day In History', so my fellow British LJ Chums might want to get involved too.

Unfortunately, besides my Joyous news, not much has happened today. Much happened yesterday, which I still can't be bothered to go into, but in a nutshell I had my Diabetes test in the morning and went to the CAM Expo in London for work in the afternoon.
The list of annoyances goes thus:
Due to staff shortage at the KCC Birthing Unit and every heavily pregnant woman in the Canterbury area deciding to go into labour that day, waited an hour for first bit of test, listening to women scream and plead for an end to their agony, while thinking 'Only 3 months now and that'll be me!'
Panicked and nearly fainted at 1st lot of blood tests.
Waited another 2 1/2 hours for second bit of test.
Panicked again at 2nd lot of tests. The vein in the crook of my elbow had to be abandonned and they took it from my hand, which hurt.
Discovered far wing mirror was falling off - it eventually came off and swung around its wire on the A2 up to Smokey. Spent entire journey worrying that it would swing too heavily on the window and smash it.
EcXel was too hot and full of teenage girls (there was also a huge Hairdressing show on at the same time - it was like walking through TopShop on a Saturday) and their Car Park was very, very annoying. Cue much wandering around looking for a payment machine that worked, eventually going all the way back to the exhibition centre.
Traffic leaving Smokey an absolute nightmare at only 4pm - took an hour to get from ExCel to the Blackwall tunnel (5 miles if that).

Most of today has been spent complaining about yesterday. Although I did invent a song about a kitten hugging your foot to the tune of Deutchland Uber Alles:
Have your foot hugged by a pussycat,
Stick a tiddles on your toes...

Most of my actual work today comprised of keying in new leads from yesterday, chasing overdue leads and analysis of the Seminar Attendance Sheets from this year's show - hardly the most exciting aspects of my job. The lunchtime conversation with Bossbabies Nanny and the Cleaner (Nanny's Mum) about Vaginal Tearing. Whee!

The History Matters bods want me to say how History has affected my day, which is a little like asking me how Politics affects my day - it's too intrinsic to pin down! Although tomorrow is an important day in my own personal history - it'll be 8 years to the day since my 1st Impro Group at UKCD, where I met many of my best friends and the man who would eventually become Hubbily-Hoo. And I shook my head in despair at a flyer that claimed the inventor of a certain product was 'skilled in the art of alchemy' and was able to tell my Boss that Isaac Newton was also a keen 'alchemist', played with too much Mercury and went potty (apparently he was A Gay as well!). And the Cathederal bells were one of the many things that woke me up this morning, which I suppose is fairly Historic. The first thing that woke me up this morning was the usual Idiot's Parade of students at half 2, incapable as ever of walking home from a nightclub without screaming vaguely agressive inanities, which I suppose is as much a part of Canterbury's history as its Cathederal.

So I thought I'd end on current affairs, since today's is a special post...

Has anybody else heard about this kerfuffle over a BA (I think it's BA) stewardess sacked because she refused to hide a cross necklace from view? I worry about the escallation of silliness over causing Religious Offense usually but I can't see how anybody in their right minds would object so much to a small piece of jewellery to warrant sacking. Apparently they have the same policy on all visible jewellery, no matter what the meaning is to the wearer - does this include stuff like wedding rings, I wonder? I would certainly refuse to remove mine for anything other than hygeine reasons - even then I wouldn't be happy, since I never take it off. When I was in 12th Night since Fabian was obviously not married, I put a sticking plaster on over it, which didn't show from the stage.

And this story always seems to get linked to the Veil Thing, which I've got mixed opinions about - I personally think Jack Straw was needlessly picking away at the Muslim/Non Muslim divide by asking his consituants to Unveil - 'it bothers other people who don't understand it' is never, and never has been a relevant reason to stop doing anything. People tried to stop me doing/wearing oddball things that I wanted to when I was younger, and it's like a red rag to a bull. I merely thought it was all the more reason for me to do/wear it, since the terminally ignorant and 'bothered' would learn nothing until they were forced to face it. They never did of course, but it was never going to stop me. However, if you have somebody wearing clothing that impediments their job, especially if that job is giving kids with learning problems extra communication, it's very unfair to expect those you're paid to help to put in the extra effort to overcome how you have impedimented yourself.

And I just want to finish with the fact that I have come to the conclusion that the Dairylea Dunkers advert is pure evil. School Run Mum. In Urban 4x4. With one whiney kid who's old enough by far to have got a bus home in the back. Already you'd have to show Hitler raping a puppy to get a much more loathsome image. But no, it goes on. 'Muuuu-hu-hummm,' whines the Middle Class arsewit, 'I'm huuuuunnnngry...'
Now if School Run Mum were me, I'd have left him in the woods for the wolves to get long ago. If she were my own Ma, she'd have come out with the line she always used to give me and Sis if we ever asked for a snack/pudding - 'There's plenty of fruit in the fruitbowl'. But no, the waste of DNA need not fear eating something natural, for the plasticine cows are here to help Captain Whiney! In they parachute, leaving him with a pre-packed plastic pot of cheesy goo and the smug knowledge that whingeing will get him whatever he wants.
Two words, kiddo: National Service!

Although having a baby in the Bleak Midwinter is bound to have downsides, I am starting to enjoy the up-sides of going into my 3rd Trimester as the weather cools - The first is cosy big maternity jumpers - the second is that I have rediscovered the wonders of The Bath. Now, we only had a shower at the old flat, which did the trick all right, but I felt like I wanted somewhere with a nice bath when we moved, and yesterday, when it was so cold and miserable I had a nice long soak at around 9 o'clock, then spent the rest of the evening reading in my dressing gown. I've always prefered cold weather to hot because I find it easier getting warm than getting cool, and a nice bath is perfect for that. I'm so glad I'm at this stage now, and not 3 months ago when it was baking - it was no fun being 3-4 months gone in that weather as it was - if I'd have been as big as I am now it would have been Hell.

Had another Midwife appointment today - everything seems to be going well. I have my bloody Diabetes test on Monday morning though - boo!

And then when I got back from work we went and actually bought our first Baby stuff - they didn't have the Moses Basket we wanted but we're going to pick it up at the weekend. We didn't go away empty handed though - we bought some basics - terry sleepsuits, long sleeved vests and a few bibs. I'd started having nightmares about her coming early and us having to dress her in a jiffy bag and a sock, Jack & Sarah stylee.

Had another mdwife appointment this morning, and this one was far more positive! Don't need Anti-D and hubs doesn't need to have a blood test, they'll take our word (ie the Blood Donor Service's word) that he's A-. I forgot to pee in a bottle *again* this morning, but when I gave it a go on a nigh-on empty bladder at the clinic I managed to get all of what little pee I had into the tiny bottle. Go me! I'm getting good at this!

McFly complied this time with the Sonicaid, so I finally got to hear her fast little heartbeat. And at last we're booked in for an antenatal course and I'm booked for a breastfeeding workshop. AND I phoned the NHS Dentist people and they're going to see if they can get me into a local Dentist that I can see out of work hours. Yay!

Little Orly's on Extras tonight. I still live in hope that he'll be surprisingly good, especially since Kate Winslet and Patrick 'I've Seen Everything' Stewart were so funny in the last series. He'll probably be shite. He usually is. And then Mitchell & Webb, which I have high hopes for.

Hubs came out with a good quote yesterday:
'Wednesday - It's like Monday, on Acid.'