Sunday, March 18, 2007

Spring cleaning

Well, big day yesterday - we moved A into the (previously) spare bedroom to start to get his bedroom ready for the baby. The reason for this is mainly because A's room is next door to ours, and the other room is down three steps and along the corridor, which makes a difference at 3am...

Anyway, it was a HUGE job, much bigger than "swapping the beds over" - copyright me, 16th March 2007 . At one point, both A's bed and the spare room double were in bits on top of our bed, with clothes all over the top of them, and books and lamps all over the landing. At lease, as I pointed out to M, it meant that we did not have the excuse of giving it all up as a bad job, as no one would have been able to get to bed. So now A is in his new room, which he loves, his old room will remain a spare room for a little while longer (10 weeks till the baby's due and then another few until it goes into its own room) and we have had an opportunity for a bit of a clear out which is good. Next job - rearranging our bedroom so that the cot fits in - a lesson learned from when A was a baby is that a cot is a more solid base for a Moses basket than a Moses basket frame. So the basket will go inside the cot.

It did feel good to get it sorted out.

I have decided that I need a cleaner/ironing person. With M away so much working now, and me still working full time for the next few weeks, and being pregnant and then having a new baby to take care of, and a five year old, it feels like a sensible option. I have been getting a bit overwhelmed domestically, and too tired and pg to do too much about it in the week. I have more energy at the weekend, but I don't want to spend weekends doing chores. And by that, I mean the basic stuff - hoovering, mopping floors etc, never mind the bigger stuff. I also need to get back into the on line grocery order, as shopping is also getting to be a chore, although this will be easier when I am on Mat Leave. A friend has recommended a lady who does, so I'm goign to investigate that this week.

Only 2 1/2 weeks to go, but it feels like forever - there is so much to do before I finish, it's like a marathon.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Where have you been????

I cannot believe that it is well over a month since I posted. I knew it was a while, but not that long! I also can't believe that it's a comeback with a meme, but I really like this one of Dix's, which she stole from Kara.

1. Go to Pop Culture Madness. Click on "pop music" on the left sidebar. Scroll down a bit and find the hits for the year you turned 18 years old.
2. Copy and paste the top 75 songs of that year.
3. Bold the ones you liked; strike the ones you disliked; and italicize the ones you knew but didn’t exactly like or dislike. The ones you don’t know will stay plain text.

However, these are US charts, so it's not necessarily a good representation for me.

1. Love Shack - B-52's
2. Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc (strike)
3. Bust A Move - Young MC
4. Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
5. Like A Prayer - Madonna
6. Joy and Pain - Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock
7. All I Want Is You - U2
8. Patience - Guns N Roses
9. She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
10. Kiss - Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones (strike)

11. Lay Your Hands On Me - Bon Jovi
12. Put A Little Love In Your Heart - Annie Lennox and Al Green
13. Angel of Harlem - U2
14. Get On Your Feet - Gloria Estefan
15. My Perogative - Bobby Brown (strike)
16. The Best - Tina Turner (strike)
17. Paradise City - Guns N Roses
18. Wild Thing - Tone Loc (strike- clearly don't like Tone Loc)
19. Every Little Step - Bobby Brown (strike)
20. I'll Be There For You - Bon Jovi
21. Another Day In Paradise - Phil Collins
22. Love In An Elevator - Aerosmith (strike)
23. Keep On Movin' - Soul II Soul
24. Don't Know Much - Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville
25. Eternal Flame - the Bangles
26. Express Yourself - Madonna

27. Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson (strike - I HATE Michael Jackson, and I always have)
28. After All - Cher and Peter Cetera
29. Buffalo Stance - Nenah Cherry

30. Love Song - the Cure
31. So Alive - Love and Rockets
32. Back To Life - Soul II Soul
33. Listen To Her Heart - Roxette (strike - can't bear Roxette either)
34. Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) - Enya (I had sex for the first time to this song - Orinoco Flow means something different to me...)
35. I Feel The Earth Move - Martika (strike - I mean how DARE she??? This is Carole King's song!!!)
36. When I See You Smile - Bad English
37. Birthday Suit - Johnny Kemp
38. Heaven Help Me - Deon Estus and George Michael
39. The Look - Roxette (strike - see above)
40. Baby, Don't Forget My Number - Milli Vanilli (strike - I like my singers to actually sing)
41. Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crew
42. Heaven - Warrant
43. She Wants To Dance With Me - Rick Astley
44. Me, Myself and I - De la Soul
45. Walk The Dinosaur - Was (Not Was) (Strike - this is not a song)
46. Once Bitten Twice Shy - Great White
47. I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty
48. On Our Own - Bobby Brown
49. A Little Respect - Erasure
50. You Got It (The Right Stuff) - New Kids On The Block (strike - no!no!no!)
51. Me So Horny - 2 Live Crew
52. Soldier Of Love - Donny Osmond
53. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
54. Hey Ladies - Beastie Boys
55. The Living Years - Mike and the Mechanics
56. Stand - R.E.M.
57. Trouble Me - 10,000 Maniacs
58. Miss You Like Crazy - Natalie Cole (strike - nepotism rules ok)
59. 18 and Life - Skid Row
60 Closer To Fine - Indigo Girls
61. Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul (strike - see Milli Vanilli)
62. My Fantasy - Teddy Riley Featuring Guy
63. Blame It On The Rain - Milli Vanilli (strike - and again)
64. End Of The Line - Traveling Wilburys
65. Two Hearts - Phil Collins
66. Don't Wanna To Lose You - Gloria Estefan

67. Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx (strike - yuck)
68. Mayor Of Simpleton - XTC
69. Anchorage - Michelle Shocked
70. Straight Up - Paula Abdul (strike - again)
71. I'll Be Loving You (Forever) - New Kids On The Block (strike - again)
72. Pop Song 89 - R.E.M.
73. Hangin' Tough - New Kids On The Block (strike - Good God, were they that popular)
74. Dear God - Midge Ure
75. Now You're In Heaven - Julian Lennon

So, apart from the meme, I am ok. 29 weeks now, and really rather big. I had the most appalling flu for a fortnight, and foolishly only took two days off work, but I'm afraid that the working guilt kicked in, and I couldn't stay off any longer. Only 3 1/2 weeks of work left - eeeek! My first two weeks are holiday, and my official maternity leave doesn't start until 17th April. Bring it on, I am knackered! It's hard crawling around on the floor with 5 and 6 year olds when you have a large watermelon attached to your front...

Having had a huge "girl" vibe for the first 5 months, I am now feeling "boy" loads. Either will do nicely quite frankly. With A, I had the whole "boy" thing going on, although I didn't have any surety, I had no doubt in my mind that he was a boy. It really is going to be a huge surprise!