Anal, me?

The interview went really well and apart from a few words I did it all in Danish so I'm very proud of myself. I probably won't hear anything before August as most people take their holidays in July. This suits me fine as it means if I get offered a job I will have a couple of months to finish up my project at my current job before I leave. The job sounds ok and I know the people I'd be working with already and they are all nice so we'll see.

I was home just after 10am (the company is a 15min bike ride away) for my day that was supposed to be spent working at home when I started playing with library thing. This resulted in me spending the day entering all my books onto it and getting absolutely no work done (oops). Since I'm a book geek I've added a library thing widget and signed up to amazon associates so if anyone follows the links I'll get amazon vouchers to feed my book addiction. I've also messed around with the layout of my blog a little so the day has been productive even if it's not what I should have been doing.

Cake and a confession

In honour of Mels blogiversary I made chocolate brownies yesterday. Here is the obligatory picture:The recipe was sent to me by LJ as part of the braces bunch fun and I must say they are delicious. I will definitely be using this recipe again.

My confession is that I fell off the caffeine-free wagon. It happened when I got my period this month and since I'm travelling to the land of Sta.rbu.cks next week I may say bugger it this cycle and then try and be good again next month. The fact that at least some of my trip will be spent in wine country could also be a problem...

Also I have an interview tomorrow for a (hopefully) better paid job back at my last company. I'm really not sure about this so may blog about it properly soon to try and sort out my feelings.

Sunday reasons to be cheerful

I've been a little cranky lately, as you may have noticed, but today is a good day and these are some of the reasons.

Lazy Sunday mornings in bed with sex just because it's fun.

Dancing around the living room to Frank Sinatra, given to us by a friend who hasn't been around long but who I love because she really "gets" me and seems to understand even though she hasn't had the same experiences.

All the wonderful, strong, funny, brave and caring new friends who I've met through blogging. I love that I can write about my thoughts and know that people will understand, even when I'm at my angriest and hating myself for the way I'm feeling.

Fresh strawberries from our garden, one of the many reasons I am grateful to the people who loved our house before we did. This was how many we picked today. We'll be freezing some of them to "save them for the lean months, like squirrels" as my husband says.

The latest episode of Dr Who with 2 of my favourite actors in it, David Tennant and John Simm. John Simm was also in the brilliant Life on Mars. Not that I choose TV programs for the eye candy - but it helps.

Because you asked - assvice business cards version 1

Since herveryown already did the assvice bingo I thought I'd steal use Jen's idea and make a business card instead. It's version one so colours can be changed and I may add or remove things on later versions. Feel free to put suggestions in the comments. Oh and if you want the file, email me and I'll send it.

Blog things

Apparently this is because I've used the words "hell" and "bitch". Must try harder to get the rating up.

I love my bike! - updated

This is my bike, it has 8 gears (way more than is necessary in extremely flat Denmark) and the baskets are great for shopping. I'd forgotten how nice it is to plug into my mp3 player and cycle to work instead of sitting on a hot sweaty bus.

We don't have a car because we just can't justify the cost here. You pay 180% (yup, you did read that right) of the cost in tax and registration fee on a car which makes it extremely expensive and when cycling is easy and the public transport is good it just doesn't seem right to buy a car.

Oh and to those who said watch out for the cars, don't worry, it's actually pretty safe to cycle here. They have these wonderful inventions called "bike lanes" on pretty much every road which means you are separated from the traffic except at junctions and the drivers are very well trained to look out for bikes because so many people cycle.

I also love the commentathon, I've found so many great new blogs and have been adding them to my bloglines list.* As soon as I work out how to turn a bloglines list into a blogroll I'll update my sidebar with all the new ones. One problem with having so many great blogs to read is it's not conducive to getting lots of work done (oops).

Oh sadly I won't be able to prove the standard assvice correct by having a "made in the USA" pregnancy, the slightly early arrival of my period means that ovulation will almost certainly happen before we leave. Hopefully the holiday will keep my mind off the two week wait though. Maybe I will be able to get an "implanted in the USA" t-shirt instead (oh yes hope never quite leaves does it). Thanks also for the winery tip, any other tips for places to go in San Fran and Napa regions will be written down and added to the complete lack of plan we have at the moment.

Finally, I couldn't resist joining in the google game that everyone is playing, type in "*your name* needs" and write down the first 10 answers.

So, Caro needs:

1. CARO needs to be a fiscally sound and stable organization (umm yes money would be good I guess, but who are you calling unstable?)
2. Caro Needs To Go (go where? hope it's somewhere nice)
3. Caro needs to find genious (yup it really was spelled this way) solutions (that would be good, any geniuses about?)
4. Caro needs to expend on the fate of Inquisitor Grey (riiight, whatever that means)
5. CARO NEEDS MORE than two hundred pages (I know I've been blogging a lot recently but ...)
6. Caro needs four floors of two galleries (whatever for?)
7. Caro needs to update his book and get rid of all the pictures from the 70's (but I like the pictures from the 70's)
8. Caro needs to change the formation (oh so that's what the problem is)
9. Caro needs to post about U2 (I like some of their songs but really?)
10. CARO needs supplementation with function ontology (ok I'm a geek, I actually know what this means)

When I put in the longer version of my name all but 2 of the first page of results are other blogs playing this game so I guess it's been going on for a while.

*I worked out how to make a blogroll from my bloglines list, it was ridiculously easy of course, new list is on the sidebar.

and relax....

The in-laws left this morning so tonight we can watch crap TV sit around naked (if we want) and generally relax in our own house. Yay! I'm also planning to kill some weeds on our paths with weedkiller and maybe play a mindless x-box game.

I think I made my MIL sound worse than she is in my last post. The weekend was 90% fine and I know she means well with her "helpful" assvice and comments. It is nice to have this space to come and rant about it though as S doesn't need or want me ranting about his parents to him.

When I got home yesterday, more weeding had been done and all the outside wood had been treated - decking, shed, bits around the roof and porch. Yay for this as we'd have probably taken several weekends to finish all of this and now it's done. I think S has been worked fairly hard the last few days by his parents though and is probably enjoying being back at work for a rest.

They did get a couple of parting shots though, MIL told a heart-warming story about some couple (or was it 2) she knows who adopted and then got pregnant. Don't you just love these ones - I'm not sure if the point is don't give up or adopt now to get pregnant. Either way you all know how helpful it is to be told this kind of story. Actually has anyone got a tick box for standard assvice (mel?), I think I might have collected most of the set now. Maybe I should make up an assvice bingo card for their next visit.

And FIL, not to be outdone, came out with "I'm still trying to work out what you do". Presumably this was because they'd been hard at it all day while I was at work and due to feeling shitty last night I didn't do much when I got home apart from chat on the phone to my sister who I hadn't spoken to for several weeks. I only wish I'd been quick enough to retort "quite frankly that's between me and S" which I came up with several hours later when I couldn't sleep and the conversation was running round in my head.

Oh I've decided to start cycling to work everyday again, I'd been avoiding it in case the (6 miles each way) ride was too much and somehow affecting my chances but hell I've got a wedding to go to in a couple of weeks and I can stand to lose a couple of pounds.

I've been tagged again to do the 8 random things meme so I'll try and get around to it this week, no promises though as I'm not sure I can think of 8 interesting things.

survived (so far)!

Well I survived the weekend and lots of gardening has been done. Hopefully when I get home a lot of the wood outside our house will have been treated too. S and his dad will be off to the DIY store on bikes to fetch the things they don't have. I kind of wish I could see that as I'm not sure his dad's legs are long enough to reach the peddles on my bike and I could do with a laugh.

There have been a certain number of "helpful" comments since S told our in-laws what's been happening with us. First of all advice about how to arrange the house to allow for the kids bedroom. Um yeah, thanks, we won't be making any kids bedrooms until I'm 8 months gone at the earliest but thanks anyway. I think my actual reply was a little less polite, something along the lines "we might never get any kids".

Number 2 was the comment " you know we don't mind if you never have kids". This one didn't get a reply because one, I call bullshit and two, why the hell does she think it's up to her to mind or not. I will certainly mind and so will S.

The final one was telling me all about some program she watched where they tested the sperm counts of loads of men and then gave them diet and exercise advice and all the sperm counts got loads better. Right because obviously my husband isn't eating properly or exercising enough and that's the problem. My paranoia makes this my fault too like she's saying I'm not looking after him properly.

Oh yeah and there was the number of times father's day was mentioned yesterday on the day that should have been S's first father's day.

Yup there is a theme here, lets just say my father-in-law hasn't handed out any assvice so far.

Unfortunately as you can see from my ticker the evil blood lady didn't stay away until they leave (tomorrow morning) but since I'm at work today and only have one evening to go hopefully a little self-prescribed wine will do the trick. Talking of the ticker, maybe it's the period rage but does anyone else think it's a bit bloody insensitive that there are hundreds (well it seems like hundreds) of cute little babies to choose from as the sliders. Couldn't they separate these out for the TTC ones?

Finally, I've signed up for the commentathon this week, arranged by the lovely Mel, so expect to see me popping into your blogs and leave a comment if you're lurking so I can come and find you.

Weekend

Three posts in three days - what on earth is going on??

Well the in-laws arrived safely last night and so far everything is fine. They didn't sleep well so we will have to make changes to the sleeping arrangements tonight but that's not too big a problem. S has filled them in on our "(in)fertility story so far" so hopefully there won't be too many awkward questions. I think I'm OK answering anything they ask now that they have the background but we'll see.

They also spent the morning asking S for things to do about the house. They seem to be happiest with a project and can't just relax or go out and see the sights. I guess this means that we'll get a lot of the stuff we've been putting off finished this weekend. As long as I'm allowed to relax a little this weekend this should be fine and it's nice that they want to help us out I guess.*

I'm beginning to feel excited about our big trip next month. We fly into San Fr.an.cisco and then head north to Son.oma County for my cousin's wedding. After this we have two weeks to explore with a car and a tent before heading home again. I plan to relax a lot on the trip and won't complain if I become a cliché but don't expect it's very likely (double whammy, relax and holiday!). So far the flights and hotel for the first few nights (including the wedding) are booked. I just have to book the car and we're all set.

We also get to see the OB/GYN lady a couple of days before we leave which will be good although potentially a little frustrating as we won't be able to do much before we get back.

*yes I know this sounds ungrateful, it's partly because of how different I am to them. I don't expect guests to come and do work in my house. I expect them to relax, however it seems they are not happy without something to do and, unlike my folks, don't consider eating out, seeing the sites and relaxing in bars/cafes a suitable way to spend time.

Unbelievable

I came across this today, apparently the Vatican has told Catholics not to support Amnesty because they support abortion. I'm not sure I personally can think of a charity/organisation with a better record for doing good and am appalled by this. In fact I think I'll finally get around to joining Amnesty as a result, so up yours Mr Pope*.

More info at the BBC.

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The in-laws arrive tonight so I'm not sure how much posting there'll be over the next few days. Our house is spotless in preparation for their arrival, or as spotless as it ever is (probably not up to mil standard but hey). Also the two-week-wait continues without a trace of hope that it's worked out, I fully expect my period to arrive right on schedule next Tuesday (doesn't mean I won't be disappointed when it does though).

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*I'm not intending to offend here. I personally do not believe in any kind of god but I realise many of my readers do so I'm sorry if this upsets you but I stand by the sentiment.

OMG how good is this girl?

from Britain's got talent

I can't believe she's only six! I'm crying watching this.

Change and heat

A few things in this one:

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The weather here has become really hot, almost unbearably so for someone as pale as me. In fact the thermometer was reading 28 degrees at 8pm and it's expected to be as much as 31 tomorrow (that's 87 Fahrenheit for those who use that scale). It's not conducive to getting much work done my brain feels like mush. Remind me not to move anywhere tropical.

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I applied for a job today, it's back at the firm where I worked when I first moved here. I left that job because my contract ended and I would have stayed if they renewed it.

My current job is not really difficult but it's not stretching me either and to be honest I'm bored. I took this job when I was pregnant for the second time and I expected that it would work out, after all lots of people miscarry once. This meant that even though I wasn't sure it was the job for me I could put off the decision until later (like when I was on leave). Well it's been nearly a year and it's time to stop putting off that decision. The job I've applied for would be more money and better conditions with good colleagues who I like. Although it's not thrilling either I will be busier which will be good for me and there isn't a lot of choices in this little country I live in. So fingers crossed that I get at least an interview.

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I don't have any symptoms at all this month so I'm sure it hasn't worked, all I ask is that my period holds off from starting until after the in-laws leave next Tuesday (they arrive on Thursday).

Party report

As promised.

We had a fantastic weekend, friends arrived from the UK at various times on Friday and we took them out for a few drinks on Friday night. The catching up finished at 3am as we all realised we should be getting to bed.

On Saturday, we crawled out of bed at about 11am and sent a couple of people of to the shops from bread and Danish pastries for brunch. At 2pm people started to arrive and it soon became the kind of relaxed gathering we were hoping for. Everyone chatted to everyone else and good food and a little alcohol helped. The party wound up in the morning as the sun coming up allowed for a final game of badminton.

Sunday was a little more relaxed with a trip to the beach and the fair. Starting a cold on Saturday meant that I did very little during my days off on Monday and Tuesday but reflect on the fun we had.

as for fertility stuff:
Well we've timed things about as well as in previous months and it hasn't worked so far so I'm not confident. Hope seems to be fading that we can do this without intervention of some sort. My in-laws are coming to visit next weekend and I dread them asking about grandchildren since S hasn't told them all that we are going through and never mentioned the second miscarriage to them.

Pictures 1

So as requested some pictures (party report to follow soon)




This is the place where I go to drink beer, it serves real ales and interesting beers from Denmark and Belgium among others.





Here is the inside of my fridge on Saturday morning before the party. As you can probably see it's pretty full of beer and food.








Here is the rest of my kitchen.






Here is my pillow, my mum made the cover from offcuts of my wedding dress.







My hands - not a great photo but it's hard to take a picture of your own hands




I'll put up some more soon and if you have any requests put them in the comments.