about the invitation

i sent out a bunch of invitations for the wedding, to people that i have the address of (that means that i would have sent cards to all my american friends, if i had had the addresses. heh.)


the card is in dutch (sorry) and it basically says that we are getting married on may 19th and that we would love for you to be there. now, i know not one of you is flying out here to attend this three hour event. in fact i wouldn't let you because that would be ridiculous. but i wanted to send out these invitations anyway, to let you know that if i could beam y'all up, i definitely would. speaking for myself, you will all be there in spirit.


what can i say? i'm a sentimental sucker :)

in my life

so my friend and wedding planner elvira asked me to come up with a list of names of girls that i would like to have invited to a bachelorette party. now, *that* was a depressing activity. i was harshly confronted with the result of three years of: "no can do cause i need to study/spend time with my boyfriend/move twice/reconstruct a house". the result being losing track of 3/4 of my old friends. wonderful. in that respect, overseas friendships are less hard to maintain, since both your expectations are less high and simply e-mailing is good enough (most of the time).


at work, we decided that little old me has met the boundaries of what she can do - if i want to keep my sanity. being pregnant, working more than full time, attending classes, planning a wedding and trying to write two thesises (is that the plural in english?) and doing field research is a bit too much. so for the next two months, i'm taking one day a week off work. so i hired an intern and she's a blessing. first, she was keeping me rather busy, but now she's really taking a load of me.


i know i'm rather blessed to begin with, being able to take days off work for two months. did i mention how much maternity leave one gets in the netherlands? hold on to your seats: 16 weeks. i'm starting 5 weeks prior to my due date and no matter when mikey comes, i'm entitled to 10 weeks after the actual delivery. but in this case, at least 11. so i'll be back at work at the end of october. right now i can't imagine not going out of my mind with boredom, not working that long, but when i say this to my friends who have kids, they laugh in my face.


my mom said not to worry about delivering. she says it's... *fun*. at first i thought she was talking crazy, but now i get why she would say that. i'm going to do something that i've never done before and it's something that i probably won't do so much. and although i'll be in a lot of pain (no drugs here, people), the end result will be amazing. at least to me. cause let's face it: ever seen a newborn that was actually really realistically objectively beautiful? (excluding cesarians) no. there is no such thing. newborns look like mini versions of walter matthau. but i suppose i will think my newborn is the best looking thing ever. cause that's what endorfine does.

hang on - brb


i completely forgot what i was going to say next. oh right! i was going to tell you that last night i had a dreamed that mikey was born. and he was in fact a he. but then when i changed his diaper, he didn't have a thingy! how weird is that.


ANYWAY.

hallelujah

spring is here!

bring on the sun.

last wave, for now

so. second ultrasound.


she puts on the machine. i see a baby. i mean, i see skull, spinal cord, ribs, bones, a heart, all wrapped in skin. it's a freaking miracle. no really - as corny as that may sound: it's un-be-lie-va-ble that this perfect human being is growing inside me. it's incredible. i can't help smiling. that's my baby. my baby is waking up now (who wouldn't when some giant probe is poking your home) and stretches his legs. *click* and we can see the result. in this picture, you see the head, the body with spinal cord (i'm so proud of the spinal cord - that was a tough thing to build) and the thigh. which looks like a giant penis here.





so now that mikey is stretching and pressing his foot against my belly, the ultrasound lady changes the angle of her probe and we see the sole of mikey's foot. i count 6 toes but according to ultrasound lady, there's only 5 of 'em.





ultrasound lady then proceeds to tell me what mikey does not have: no waterhead, no split jaw, no open back, no hole in the heart chambers. he's got 10 toes, ten fingers, 4 heart chambers, perfect measurements (ha - enjoy it while it lasts). really - i never even thought my baby could have a waterhead until she mentioned it. thanks, ultrasound lady.


so we're done. i wave goodbye because if everything goes well, i won't see mikey again until he's/she's born. i say: "see you soon - i'll be the one screaming". ultrasound lady's not laughing. she must have heard that joke a million times. she asks if i want to know the sex. i'm tempted, but no. mikey could just as well be mika. i'm just saying 'he' all the time because i'm too lazy to add the 'she'.


he or she, mikey's absolute perfection. oh god. i've become that sappy pregnant lady i swore i wouldn't be. but i can't help it. it's a freaking miracle!

new dilemma

turns out there does indeed exist another dutch alo fan and she is willing to sell her spare for face value. you'd think: 'yay'. but really, i don't know if i can just write dan of alo saying: 'hey thanks for trying, but i got a ticket so whatever'?


the stuff that keeps me occupied, eh?

fries. with mayo, please

really, people. get it together. when i ask a question regarding american etiquette, you need to give me an answer, mkay?


alo update: dan lebo wrote back and said things are looking good, regarding the ticket! yay! double yay! look at me getting my hopes up!
i'm supposed to hear more in about a week or so.


i entered the food cravings stage. today, i suddenly had to have fries. not like: "hm, i could do with some fries", more like: "FRIES. NOW." i never eat fries. well, hardly ever. i particularly wanted the fries they have at this tiny place in kapellen, belgium. but since i figured that would be taking it a bit far, i just went to the nearest village and got some fries there, which i ate at my desk at work. they weren't yum. but the "FRIES. NOW." feeling was definitely gone.


all this talk is making me want in 'n' out


did i mention i went to the obstetrician again? good heartbeat, great blood pressure. which means i can still have a limited amount of coffee. hooray!!! i'm getting another ultrasound on monday. portraits of mikey to follow. like it or not.

on the tip

in the states, when it says 'service included' on your bill, that means you still have to tip, right? well, not 'have to', but you'll be considered a cheap b*tch if you don't tip, right?

right?
right?
well?

knock knock

mikey moved! at least - i felt him/her moving for the first time. awesome! even better than that! it felt like something 'pulling' inside. maybe he/she was just rocking out. i hope they are having fun in there, either way.

in other news: i wrote an e-mail to alo but haven't heard back, maarten gave me a huge chocolate easter egg yesterday (bit early, but just as yum yum) and i'm so tired today that i think i might just go home in about an hour. and take a nap. hmmmmmmmm - i love naps these days. oh, and i can't wait for april, when i'm back in the states.

later.

how to behave

so i haven't heard back from alo about possibly being able to buy a ticket to the amsterdam show. is it okay to write another e-mail, kind of like a reminder? or is that totally not done? but what if they just simply forget - they're only human. and what if all it takes, is a simple e-mail asking if they have an answer? aaaaaaaaaaaah. really don't know what is done or not done here.

mood swing, who needs 'em?

pffft. you ain't got nothing on me.

of course

oh.


wonderful.


alo is opening at a couple of dmb shows this summer.


that's like my ultimate show.


ever. EVER.


als;yr0912490`2y4liasehfklqwhe9r87 1235uy10236 rvf32grk!!!!!!


(nb: since north carolina and new york are on 'my' side, do you think i could swim there?)

until now, the annual tour dates announcements always get me very excited. although i never get to go. this time - not so much excited. depressed would be more accurate.


BLAH.