fudge it

yessssss! rather than giving in so easily my persistence paid off and i managed to secure the matching under-cot drawer for the cot! all important storage for the all important changing kit and possibly all those pop button suits. the preparation phase of this whole baby project is almost complete. having gotten the 'giant' purchases (read: bath set, cot, cot bedding and er, an ocean wonders aquarium*) out of the way, all that is left is picking up feeding, bathing, clothing and changing supplies. easy peasy. though i think i might be making it sound too easy. anyway, mother of four sister #2 has got all that in the bag for me. and i'm done! right? oh wait, there's this whole childbirth business to come...

*note to brother #4: no you can't play with it.

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awesome google hits and that:

(scroll down)

'tell me what to do if you have to play playstation while there is your big sister sleeping and you do not want to wake her up because she would kill you'

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rant rant rant. ish. the next time someone (that's the mister, and even you, sister #4, much as i love yer) tells me that with just over six weeks to go it is too soon to buy baby things i will seriously consider office person D1's suggestion of what to do with D batteries: stick 'em in a long sock and swing 'em. right for yer head. especially when it's becoming more obvious that i'm the only one who seems to be taking an interest in preparing for this baby. i've been dying to order a cot and sister #4 was trying to talk me out of it last night. but i went ahead and ordered it, and the estimated delivery date is approximately two weeks before my drop date. now, if you know me at all, you'll know i don't like to take unnecessary risks. plus, i was hoping to assemble this thing myself (note: this ikea purchase is a bit bigger and i managed it just fine, thanks.) so if it's easier for me to get something done in advance i'm going to. so there :Þ

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bah. couldn't find the changing mat. i think someone needs to relax.

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get. out. of. my. way.

is it a soccer mom thing? you know, those obsessed mothers determined to get the details right? the trains are all chaos, cos of the weather, obviously. i was annoyed at letting the mister talk me out of picking up a humphrey's corner bath set in the sales t'other day. with the trains a mess i figured i'd pick a set up in my lunch break and work from home in the afternoon innit.

so yesterday. in order.

arrive at bradford forster square at 7:49 am. station says 'all trains to leeds? head for the interchange'. i turn to see the mister's car has sped off. so i call him. no answer, he's left his phone at home, innit (must consider surgical implant so this never happens again).

huff and puff to the interchange. is it me or has there been some sort of continental drift and the distance between the two stations has grown? manage to get onto an 8am train. only to have to stand the whole way there. get frowned at by an asian guy for having a bump and invading his airspace because i'm holding on to the back of his seat. another woman who gets all philosophical with the passenger opposite about people running madly to get the train and putting themselves through 'false stress' notices me and looks away sheepishly. oh, and did i mention how interchange trains love to travel in slow motion?

get into work, and resolve to leave at 11-ish to grab bath set and work from home in the afternoon. at leeds station i wait patiently at platform 12d, as instructed. calling the mister every few minutes to arrange a pickup, but no answer. grr. 2 minutes before the train is due to leave (though it isn't here yet) a dude comes along and declares it is departing from 1a. great. watch the 8 month pregnant woman run. i didn't, but i didn't look cool either.

platform 1a, platform 1a. that would be the train right at the end, past the eight carriages not in use. manage to get on and huff and puff my way to a seat. 5 minutes before the train arrives in bradford the mister finally answers his phone. he won't be able to pick me up from the interchange but can meet me at the forster square retail park. another long walk. whoo.

arrive at mothercare and finally pick up bath set. brag to the sisters about my first practical baby related purchase (the real first purchase was a toy, but of course).

me: a humphrey's corner bath set! in the sale! 10 quid off! and it's got everything! baby bath, top and tail bowl, an ickle hair brush, a sponge, a thermometer, a mitt, one of those hooded towels...
sister #5: did you get a changing mat?
me: changing mat? wha-? what? changing mat? oh, f*ck.

so today is like the sequel. because i simply have to have a matching changing mat innit!

office person D1: you ladies.
me: don't blame me. blame the Bradford Wives.
me: must infiltrate without allowing them to suck out my brains.

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also. other stuff: niece #2 has discovered the power of YouTube (high school musical, innit). and a very cool Tetris link (i managed to download the songs for my phone, so if anyone wants them...)

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phew! i got me a few minutes. things have been soooooo mad. on friday, nephew #6, son of brother #3, was born. and i got offered a ride down to go see the baby while i can still get around. and i ended up staying for the weekend, catching up with everyone and fixing sister #4's pc. speaking of sister #4, congratulations, innit! she found out today she got a 2:1 in her degree (electrical engineering and business management at birmingham uni)! woot!

i have been off work this week but somehow still keeping busy. a wedding of the year is coming up, to be held by one of the more prosperous families on the killing ground at the bradford hilton no less. i won't be going cos i refuse to wear bradfordian maternity wear (floral or other colourful prints in size sackcloth, innit) i prefer something with a bit more fit but then my visible bump would be inviting too many evil eyes, or something like that. instead everyone has been absolutely mental since like, january, trying to work out what they are going to wear. went up to york on tuesday and leeds today so sister #2 could kit out her kids. niece #2 is going to look like a fairy princess, honest!

how am i? ah'm ok. ish. i dunno. sickness still lurks around, still get the odd headache. had another midwife appointment, only it was someone covering for my midwife, she was kinda grumpy! iron levels are reasonable, they will be keeping an eye on them but i don't need any tablets (yes!). once again my blood group came back as B Positive (hmm, is that a message? and why did they need to check my blood group twice?). this midwife actually pulled out a tape measure and measured the bump, a bit small so i have to go back in a couple of weeks. credit to her for finding the baby's heartbeat in an instant, it has taken some time before. that's all to report, for now. plus i need to go...

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one of the things office person A has helped me with since she joined here was being more assertive:

A: weren't you supposed to make the tea?
D1: shit yeah! bushra!
me: yes?
D1: would you mind?
me: would i mind?
D1: would you mind making the tea?
me: would you mind a smack in the mouth?
D1: ...
me: was that assertive?
A: definitely!

sorted!

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spider in the bath, spider in the bath...

ordered this on DVD, i saw a couple of episodes on TV years ago and liked the songs. but it's obviously not for me, obviously.

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brother #4 and i have been hatching a plan for him to come up for a surprise visit to bradford for a few days. yesterday i had resolved to avoid sister #2's house for a few days on account of her recent bad mood (women!), and i'm wondering how she will react when brother #4 appears...

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chocolate chip bagel with strawberry jam. nice!

not sleeping properly again these days, can't seem to get comfortable. so i'm a bit headachy today but the bagel helped. the bagels always help. also, the father-in-law works in a bakery and came home with honey and sunflower seed bagels from morrisons. they're really nice.

random people are commenting a lot more on my eating habits, all preceded with the line 'bushra doesn't eat curry'. no i don't. you try throwing it up. bleh. they like to do that a lot around here. they learn one thing about you and repeat it as a statement over and over again. the kids and the elders especially. it's all 'bushra's favourite colour is blue. bushra doesn't eat curry. bushra can make pasta. bushra has a new phone.' i wish i knew what that was all about. why do you have to repeat stuff about me to me? all i can do is look back at them all baffled. yeah, and?

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tuesday. it's only tuesday.

me: morning!
office person A: morning! how are you today?
me: livid.
A: livid? living?
me: livid.
A: oh.
me: well. the mister asked me if it was ok to reschedule an appointment at 36 weeks so he can go camping with his friends for the weekend.
A: 36 weeks?! but you could pop!
me: exactly!

this is after sunday, where the mister mentioned he had nothing planned that day and why don't we go out, you know, seeing as it was your birthday yesterday and all that? wow, i thought, a sunday without football. so he had a shower and did his two hours of grooming only for his friends to call him: 'where are yer?' and it was off to his sunday game! uh huh, just like that! has anyone seen any of the four episodes of doomed TV show Drive? an army wife deletes her husbands voice mail because she doesn't want him to go back to eye-raq, only for him to find out two episodes later that he's AWOL and expected to report for a court martial. i know it's not the same, but i did have the chance to intervene with the mister's phone but i didn't. doh.

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oh, look! sort of birthday greetings from brother #1:

'are you not fed up of blogging yet?'



thanks, i think. and no i'm not fed up, in fact, i think when i start maternity leave this blog is going to get crazier than ever.

and thanks to all who have sent birthday messages. nice!

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er, save the date?

D2: so, when is your last day with us?
me: friday the 13th of july.
D2: friday the 13th?
me: friday the 13th.
A: what, friday the 13th?
me: friday the 13th.

sitting at sister #1's with her nieces the other day, watching part of the British Soap Awards. cue a montage of clips of all the soap births (how's that for the name of a birth plan?) from the last year:

me: ew.
S: feeling scared?
me: not really. i have this idea i'll be like, oh wow, it's happening! finally, the morning sickness is coming to an end!
N: i'll bet you'll take your iPod with yer!
S: yeah, she'll be sitting there humming along and then at the end of the song she'll look up and say 'oh look, the baby's here!'
me: yes! that's exactly how i planned it!
S: really?
me: no.

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work is busy busy busy, and the authority is messaging office person A from home (just go with the techy stuff, it's the last few lines that made me laugh):

the authority: how was the publication
A: not good. the page you created doesn't work so I've had to add all the links again. the right and left hand frames don't work etc etc etc. I'm creating another patch, going to incorporate that and then publish again over night
him: Aaagh
him: We need a new system
A: we just need to follow the current system
him: Ok

i think office person A has jedi like properties, obviously, where what she says makes sense. and of course, i'm not just saying that because she gave me a couple of bars of dairy milk with creme egg for my birthday tomorrow. thanks very much!

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