So things might be a little slow round here for a while as I start my new mum blog where I can blog about all the baby stuff to my heart’s content in a new incredibly pretty home, mamakate.co.uk.  I will continue to blog here about my various non-baby related interests as and when I get inspired.

On Monday, we had our first real chat for a long time about baby names.  I have had a running list held in our joint dropbox (so high-tech!) for months but we haven’t had a real discussion about it for ages.  I think we have a real idea now about our favourites although I think ricardo wants to have a proper peruse of the many, many baby name books which we have in case there is a name I have missed (I am pretty sure that I haven’t but we’ll see!).  I don’t think either of us want to officially decide on a particular name until either much nearer the time or when she is actually born.   I would hate for my very favourite and decided name to be ‘stolen’ by either someone on our upcoming NCT course or, even worse, some annoying celeb so we need to have a few options up our sleeves.

We  also bought a few bits at the weekend for Baby Girl including a nursing pillow (well, I suppose this is more for me), some white bedding, a cute little giraffe toy and an even cuter bumble bee fleece cozy.

Part of the house de-clutter meant that I had to move the storage unit which I had by my bed for make-up/hair styling stuff.  This storage seemed perfect for these select craft items and I knew it would fit discreetly under the craft table. The unit is a shoe rack from Homebase with 6 white baskets. I started by picking out the projects that I wanted to have to hand.

I stashed my embroidery threads jar and sundry notions jar in the first basket, the Halloween fabric I bought at the rag market last year (I still haven’t made anything but I will.  Probably.) in the second basket.  The third has my button jars and my crochet blanket squares and wool for the blanket I am making with my mum.

On the bottom shelf, I put the (unfinished) mini-quilt and some other Tilda fabric and pink felt for as-yet undecided nursery projects in one basket, the fabric / squares for Baby Girl’s quilt in another and then some pretty stationery and other gubbins in the last basket.

I also tidied up the shelf, inspiration board and desk top plus I finally put up the whatever clock. The funny thing is that I have done more crafting at my desk since the tidy up and I really love the easy access to my most important projects and supplies.

When (if) we move, I am definitely keep my craft area simple.  All the bigger items like wadding can be stored in the fitted wardrobe or linen cupboard whilst the rest of my stash is in the garage and it can stay there until I need a new project.  I can only make one or two things at the same time anyway so there is really no need to have everything to hand and the best thing is, it’s super easy to keep everything tidy.  For more pictures, check out my Flickr.

The first problem with this book is a rather basic one: the writing. It was atrocious. It made me cringe. That is not a good sign. Secondly, the characters that I had grown to love on the TV show were not a bit like their original conception. The characters in the book were selfish, immature, spiteful and I just did not like them at all. The TV show characters had their flaws, for sure. But they were likable which is kind of key when you are trying to get behind them. I persevered and finished the book but was glad when it was over. I won’t bother reading anything else by Bushnell.

Please excuse my daft expression...

According to the Alphamom pregnancy calendar, Baby Girl is about 2.5 pounds which means her weight has doubled in the past month alone.  Looking down at my tummy, I do wonder how I am going to fit a baby which is more like 7 or 8 pounds (or more!) – yikes!  Let’s not even think about getting the baby out…

This week, the hormone levels seem to be a bit more even although I do notice that I am generally shorter to temper and more tired so I am sure that is really fun for those around me! Sleeping is generally difficult – or rather getting to sleep – since I can’t sleep on my stomach, I have dreadful restless legs syndrome and I have this baby (INSIDE ME!) who decides that kicking about at 11pm is a hoot.

Tomorrow I have my next midwife appointment.  I have only met this midwife once before at my 24 week appointment since she was having an operation when I had my initial booking appointment and my 16 week appointment was with the consultant at the hospital.  I have to admit I did not take to my midwife at the last appointment – she was rather brusque and rushed.  I know it must get very routine for her but for me, this is my first baby and every appointment is a chance to track my progress and see how I am doing.

There is still no real news on the house front – we have had a few viewings and we have viewed A LOT of houses but until we get a sale agreed there is not much we can do.  We have about 4 or 5 properties which we have viewed which we would be happy to buy, though, so at least we know we have options if and when we ever manage to sell.  In the meantime, we continue to keep it spotless – every morning the bed is laid and dressed (throw cushions, don’t you know) and every piece of clutter is put away. It’s pretty exhausting!

I have set up a new Twitter account for to replace my Mama Says posts – they are must fun to write but I didn’t want to clutter up the blog with silly little posts!

Eddie Vedder

My first rock crush, Eddie Vedder had it all – the hair, the voice, the looks (and those arms!). Whilst he may have matured somewhat, he is still pretty amazing.  I have had a Pearl Jam revival of late, not only listening to my favourite early albums but also buying their latest music.  I really want to buy his solo soundtrack for the beautiful film Into the Wild (watch it now please. It’s amazing.). Before Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, my rock music had consisted of Bon Jovi‘s Slippery When Wet, Alice Cooper‘s Poison (on vinyl no less!) and amongst others, a large number of soft rock compilations (Soft Rock, Soft Metal, Pure Soft Metal and Precious Metal. I kid you not). Grunge came at just the right time for 16 year old me and I fell in love with the Seattle sound.

Dave Grohl

I have made no secret of the fact that I have had regular dreams which not only feature Dave but also feature him as a really good friend.  I am so lame that I fantasise about being really good mates with Dave Grohl.  Oh dear.  Still, his voice is remarkable – he can shout it out with the best of them in songs like DOA, Let it Die and In Your Honour and yet he has the sweetest timbre in songs like Everlong and Razor.  Let’s not forget his drumming for Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures the almighty Tenacious D, guest spots on Queen of the Stone Age stuff and more.  And crazy long locks notwithstanding, he sure has a purty smile.

Chris Cornell

I loved him in Soundgarden – my, he can wail – and I love him in Audioslave.  I haven’t listened to much of his solo stuff, aside from the Bond song which I actually ru-heeeely like.  Ricardo and I had a discussion about his voice the other day because it is just so bloody good.  He has a such an incredible range and is one of a few singers who can sing at the edge of their range and still make a sound that is gorgeous, raw, and generally rock ‘n’ roll.  I recently rebought the Temple of the Dog album – this was a band which formed for one album with members from Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Cornell and Vedder signing together = bliss. Oh and did I mention the pretty?

Billy Joe Armstrong

What Billy Joe lacks in The Pretty he more than makes up for in punkass cheekiness.  Green Day have been making me happy since I bought Dookie back in 1994 and they still got it.  Their concert at the Milton Keynes Bowl is one of my all-time favourite gigs and it is one of the few live albums to which I really love to listen. When Billy Joe calls us his ‘ brothers and sisters’, I feel like a teenager again, willing to follow him to the end of the earth!  He makes you want to change the world and that’s quite a gift.

James Hetfield

James gets the honorary mention despite his advancing years.  He still has a superb voice and he doesn’t scrub up *too* bad.  Metallica’s Black album is one of my all-time favourites (which makes me a totally lame Metallica fan, I know).  His voice is another rock voice that can switch from raw to beautiful and somehow it is all the more remarkable when it is coming out of his moustached mouth!  Pretty? Hell no.  But teddy bear? Totally.

This was an ambitious project and I am not really sure it was 100% successful.  The story was fairly weak and the acting not much better.  The special effects were OK but just what you would expect nowadays and certainly one of the more impressive parts – the giant sabre tooth tiger – was spoiled by being shown in the trailer.  I deinitely won’t bother watching this again.

I Love You, Man
29 May 2010

I had high hopes for this film since I love Jason Segal and Paul Rudd and I suppose I was expecting the usual buddy comedy gross out movie which all the marketing of the film pointed at.  To some extent, I suppose that this could be a true representation of the film which was generally really funny (although I do remember a fair few jokes just not landing for me.  I got them, they just didn’t really get me laughing).  What was unexpected was the almost sweet relationship which developed and the spotlight which was shone on the difficulty for adults to make same-sex friends.  As such, whilst the hilarity may have not been quite up to Anchorman / 40 Year Old Virgin standards, the poignancy and sweetness made the film very enjoyable.  Will watch again.

The Wrestler
29 June 2010

I can’t say I was looking forward to seeing this film.  Without wanting to seem unkind or squeamish, the thought of having to watch Mickey Rourke’s surgery ravaged face for 90 minutes or more was totally unappealing.  I was also not convinced about his acting ability (although this too is very unfair since I did not have much on which to base this opinion).  However, seeing him in Iron Man 2 changed my mind already (despite the rather shaky start) and when I watched The Wrestler, I was blown away.  This film was heart-breaking.  It was uplifting at times too but generally heart-breaking. The brutality of the sport and its exploitative nature was shocking and the cost to his body and his relationships was saddening.  Marisa Tomei was golden in this – I have never been disappointed with her though – and the only weak(ish) spot for me was the character of his daughter played by Evan Rachel Wood who on paper had every right to despise him but somehow still managed to come across as mean and peevish. Will no doubt see again.

Let The Right One In
29 June 2010

This is turning into a total love-in post! I LOVED this movie.  It was so touching, chilling, beautiful, stark, Swedish and brilliant.  The lead child actors were captivating and the whole thing was superb from start to end.  I barely want to tell you about the story but PLEASE go and watch this vampire flick in the Swedish original before the US remake is released – I cannot believe it will hold a candle to the original since so much of its appeal is the quirkiness of the setting.  There is not a sparkly vampire in sight.

Paranormal Activity
7 July 2010

It has been a long, long time since I have seen a film as scary as this.  I am usually pretty unfazed by scary films: slasher flicks usually only offend me and then bore me and a lot of the more intelligent ones can give me the odd jumpy moment but rarely make my heart race for minutes on end.  I actually considered stopping the DVD when we watched this as we were both getting freaked out.  It uses one of the strongest mediums of scary film: the handheld camcorder effect.  It also fails to show you most of what is occurring, leaving the screams and the thuds to tell the story.  Your own imagination is the most powerful tool to scare – are you listening to me, makers of Jeepers Creepers??!!  The multiple endings are worth checking out – especially one which was not on the DVD.  Creepoid!

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Some much needed light reading, Very Valentine is neither deep nor stretching but it IS fun. New York, Italian-American passions, pretty custom wedding shoes and love… what’s not to like? The eponymous protagonist, Valentine, is at times a little much and I couldn’t quite get on board with her taste in men but overall this was an enjoyable read.

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Encore Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

**spoiler alert** (for what it’s worth!) I started this straight after having read the first book and although I still enjoyed it, I downgraded the star rating for this second Valentine book because of who she ends up with – totally shallow I know but I am afraid I just didn’t get the attraction… it doesn’t matter how many times Trigiani tells me he is handsome, to me a 53 year old man just isn’t that appealing to me. Valentine is my age too so it’s easy to put myself in her shoes. Since this is a trilogy, hopefully all will be sorted out in the final book. I will most likely read it just to find out.

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