Introducing...

...Miss Megan Caroline Holmden Leake.

 

It's a rather belated introduction I know, she arrived here nearly five weeks ago now, but it took me a while to escape from the hospital, and then it's taken a while for me to get back at the computer.

But the discovery that while she currently is refusing to sleep in her carrycot/pram (the screams before she settles break my heart too much), she will happily sleep in a sling (I'm becoming a babywearer) means that I am gradually doing more and more during the day (even if this is just one load of washing and making dinner).

I have to keep reminding myself that it's been a very long time since I've been doing things normally, what with the three months of bed rest, then going back to work (and just wanting to sleep the entire time I wasn't there), then being off with crazy blood pressure, then having a not very straightforward hospital stay and delivery.

So here's to a new normal. (I'm not promising more blogging mind you)

Gosh...

...so much for saying I'd be blogging more.

To be fair, I've got a pretty good excuse.

This picture was taken on the 15th of November.

Then these pictures were taken on the 13th of December.

So I'd say that's a pretty good excuse really. ;-)

What with my dreadful past history and all (2, 3, 4), the doctor signed me off work as soon as I went in there with my positive test. This was a very good thing, as apart from all the pre-planned pills I needed a course of antibiotics that basically led to me sleeping right through November. Seriously. For five weeks I was awake for about three hours a day and either asleep or dozing the rest of the time. Thank goodness for audiobooks!

But since I'm 14 weeks and two days pregnant today, oh and cos it's my birthday, I thought I'd spread a little bit of sunshine into the post-Christmas gloom. (I'm back at work tomorrow too!)

I also want to say a massive THANK YOU!!! to the lovely folks who have been aware from the start and kept me going through my paranoid days. You lot are real blessings.

(I won't finish this post by saying I'm going to blog more, cos that'll just jinx it...again.)

Well...

...that was number 4.

A few of you might remember this post about history repeating. (If you don't, follow the link and read it).

Well it did.

The day after we got back from our lovely Lanzarote holiday I peed on a stick. And it told me that I'd probably be avoiding chocolate for 8 months or so.

Unfortunately last Tuesday there was another little bit of history that repeated itself.

Namely, this bit.

Once again we went for the first scan, and once again there was no heartbeat.
The plan then was to go back in the following Tuesday (tomorrow) for another scan, and then to be "surgically managed" on Wednesday. My body had other ideas and tomorrow's scan is now to check that it's done it all itself with no help from any doctors.

I have spent the last week in a bit of a fog, well to be honest a lot of a fog. Anthony is pretty much the same, he just doesn't know what to do with himself or how to help me. Therefore when he hasn't been at work he has been getting himself hooked on The Walking Dead or having mad organising sprees in the garden.

I have been lucky enough not to have to go into work (fat lot of use I'd have been there anyway) and have instead been blasting through some achievements on WoW.

This had its own side effect, the PC had a fatal error on Saturday morning and we had to go and buy a new one. But that's another post

However every terrible thing brings good things in its wake. In this instance it has brought postmen bearing chocolate gifts from fabulous people, it has had me giggling at links on Twitter posted by people trying to get me to smile, it also had me in tears with surprise when the person knocking at the front door turned out not to be a salesperson, but instead a Kayels bearing flowers and cupcakes.

These people are my real true blessings from this. The people who may not live just round the corner (and those that do and offered to post me bread through the letter box one slice at a time so as not to disturb me) but who are no less my friends because of their geographical distance.

You have all been real heroes this week, thank you so SO much.

A meme about..

...Twitter.

Thank you to the lovely Caron for tagging me with this meme. I especially like her description of me as: "the lovely book loving, F1 loving, Lewis Hamilton loathing Kate"

When did you join Twitter?

On the 4th of March 2007. Yes. I know! Having read back on my old blog for March 2007 it turns out I joined Twitter before I joined Facebook. Now that's just scary.

Why did you join Twitter?

I had a few blogging friends who joined it at the same time, namely Keris, Caroline and Soraya. A couple of others like Jamaila joined a couple of months later. I thought it seemed like an interesting thing. It has become a fascinating thing.

Who is/was your first or oldest follower? Who did you follow first? Tell me all about them.

The first people I followed were/are:
Keris
EmLah
DianeShipley
Sorayaleila
Caroline_S

The first people to follow me were/are:
Keris
EmLah
ClaireAllan
DianeShipley
Caroline_S

(this is what happens when you're an early adopter!)

Do you have any celebrities following you, or have you ever had a DM from a celeb?

I have a couple of celebrity followers. Like a few of the early adopters, I'm followed by Stephen Fry (although I very much doubt he reads my tweets). I'm also followed by Jason Bradbury (from the Gadget Show), Meg Cabot (another early adopter bonus), Katie Fforde (one of my favourite authors), and Phill Jupitus (who sent me a DM saying he loved my use of the word "ditsy" in my Twitter profile and promptly followed me).

As for DM's, I've had a few from the above mentioned fabulous people, plus Suzi Perry has sent me a few (she tends to reply to messages via DM, unlike most other celebs I follow who often reply in the main feed). I also had a couple from Nelson Piquet Jr. after the events of last year.

If you could follow anyone not on Twitter – alive, dead, real or fictional – on Twitter, who would it be?

Hmmm. That's a tough one. There's quite a few fictional characters that I would love to see on Twitter, but to be honest none of them are actually the kind of people that would use Twitter! I do sometimes wonder what my ex Jamie would have made of it all. I suspect he'd have introduced me to it!

Which came first? Twitter or blog?

Oh the blog, the blog. First ever blog post

------------------------

I now apparently have to tag a few other people. I shall go with the usual suspects, Keris, Clover and Caroline. Plus Kayels and Jay to get some Twitter-first people in there too!

This day...

...two years ago was crap.

This day last year was pretty cool.

This day this year was bloody brilliant.

Firstly my Anthony's visor finally arrived (it got lost in the post and bounced back to Monaco)



Then a bit later on Jane came up to me and said "A lady's just walked in who looks exactly like Michaela Strachan, but it can't be her, can it?"

But it was.

And she was lovely.

And we all ended up so totally giggly and star-struck that it's almost unimaginable. (we nearly had to send Richie-Fingers upstairs to have a little lie down).

Then when it was time to go home my very lovely man came and picked me up so I didn't have to walk the mean streets of Wolverhampton with his precious visor.

At home there was a large parcel under the doormat that turned out to be my prize from Lovely Caroline. I won a signed limited edition copy of The Equivoque Principle by Darren Craske that I am really really looking forward to reading.

So today was a very very good day and I enjoyed myself very very much.

Thank you universe for lovely friends and lovely people and meeting childhood idols and discovering they're just as lovely as you thought they were.

(apologies for the overuse of the word lovely in this post. But it is lovely and I do love it)

This day...

...last year was more than a little bit pants.
So when I woke up this morning I had no great expectations, I just wanted to get through the day without falling apart.

In the end it's been a pretty brilliant day.

• I've had paperwork from the divorce people at last. I just have to get an affidavit signed and then that's one step closer to my divorce coming through.

• Lovely Caroline's book arrived at work. I sent her pictures, and she has blogged them. (Yes I am pink, three flights of stairs I ran down to open the box they were in). I am up to page 275 and loving every second of it. Loving is a strange word to use about this book, but it works.

• My iPod has been spooky and played just the right songs at just the right moments.

• It rained a bit today, but whenever I've been outside it has been glorious sunshine.

• Lewis Hamiltwunt lost his appeal against his illegal overtake in Belgium.
  

Basically, life is good.

I am aware that it may all go a little pear-shaped later on in the evening, and it certainly will in the wee small hours when my usual night-time routine kicks in (sleep for two hours, wake up after a nightmare, cry for a bit, fail to sleep until about 5am then get two more hours of sleep).

But at this time, and in this place, life is good.

Sorry...

...that I didn't post about soup the other night, I didn't get out of the bath til about 10pm (mmmmmm, lovely three hour bath) and then I got distracted by the widget again.

There will be a soup post at some point.

In the meantime I would like to say HELLO! to all the lovely people who have been here via the widget and hoped that I get better soon.

So hello and thank you to:

Trousers, nmj, spacedlaw, ken, Susan, Lady in red, Country Girl, Ashley Ladd, Kathryn, Papercuts, Brom, hullabrouhaha, liz fenwick, Nik's Blog, DK Green, Twinville, Pamela Terry and Edward, Crystal Jigsaw and Leigh. (I now have 35 new blogs in the Widgetness folder on Google Reader - wah hoo!)

Also big hugs to Michelle who has also had the lurgy (as have her two adorable boys), and of course the fabulous Caroline who wrote the book that needed the widget (as built by Stray) in the first place!

I am feeling much better today after an unfortunate incident yesterday when I laughed so hard at Lewis Hamiltwunt qualifying in 15th that I actually made myself sick.
Nice...
Luckily the afternoon/evening spent flopped on the sofa, flicking through cross-stitch magazines to find my next project (this one at last) while watching Season Three of Buffy has restored me to nearly normal again.

As I am feeling better I have been very grown-up and written myself a To-Do List.

1. Do washing-up.
2. Watch Italian GP, hopefully laughing at Lewis throughout.
3. Do some work on either my mothers present, or this cross-stitch (that I found in a drawer, half-finished and neglected since 2003).

I hope that you all have a very nice Sunday and I will leave you with Sebastian Vettel's reaction to getting pole position in qualifying yesterday (and becoming the youngest driver ever to do so)


(I just want to give him a hug!)

Edited to add: Hooray!!! Vettel just won his first Grand Prix. Youngest driver to do so and an absolute sweetie to boot!

Widgets are very, very...

...distracting!

Lovely Caroline has a new blog widget for her beautiful new book Black Boxes.

<---- There it is! (possibly down a little bit too)

This is a brilliant widget because:

1. You get to go and visit loads of blogs that you may not have been to before.
2. Loads of people come and visit your blog!

However this is also a very bad thing because:

1. You get to go and visit loads of blogs that you may not have been to before - therefore you spend all your time reading so that when,
   
2. Loads of people come and visit your blog - all they get to read is a post from me saying I'm busy and not actually writing anything new (plus a scary Maths post).

So thank heavens for the Google Reader. Everywhere new that I end up I am adding to it (in a new folder called Widgetness) and everyone new that comes here and comments gets added too!

This way I still get to read lots of lovely new blogs and meet lots of new people, but when I decide to have one last go on the widget before bed, I can just add the new blog and read it when I have time.

I now have to go and read some of the 178 posts (!!!) that are waiting for me in Reader, so I shall leave you with a picture of some of the planes that hang from the ceiling at the Imperial War Museum.



(I am working on the rest of the London pictures, but you might get to see a few this week...if I can tear myself away from the widget!)