Random ramblings from the Texan in London.

I am not a happy bunny today. I had a doctor's appointment last week to have some moles checked (pregnancy makes all sorts of stuff go wonky, moles being one of them). The doctor mentioned that it was time to have my 25 week checkup and had me book an appointment for today. I asked him what the appointment would cover, and he replied that it was just a general checkup. I got there this morning, he checked my blood pressure and asked if the baby was very active, all normal stuff, but then he asked me to hop up on the examining table. As this was a first, I asked what for. He said "to hear the heartbeat of the baby". !!! Had he told me last week that this would be the first appointment at which we would hear the baby's heartbeat, Himself would have taken the morning off work. That way, he could have been there for this milestone. Pardon me if I'm sounding a little overdramatic about it, but Himself has been there for all the firsts. He was there for the fir...

I've been pretty industrious since my return to the UK. I mean, yeah, I've spent an inordinate amount of time watching Gilmore Girls and napping with the cats (who are loving it, by the way), but I've also made two batches of soup, done laundry, run errands, and taken down the curtains to wash out the fifteen tons of cat hair that accumulated in the two months I was gone. Because yes, I washed them right before I went to Texas. People are always inordinately impressed that I make soup from scratch, which I never fail to find a little crazy. It's just so easy! Plus, this way I control the amount of sodium I'm putting into my body. I never used to give a toss about sodium, it's funny what being pregnant does to your interest in food... *lol* So, I thought I'd post exactly what I did to this batch of soup in the hopes that one of you out there will give it a go and be converted. For this batch, I went to the veg stall and bought just about everything the...

Brace yourselves, folks, this could be a long one. After four days at the airport, I finally made it on a flight. I was on the phone with Sister 3 when I glanced up and saw my name on the cleared list. I raced over to the desk to ask if I'd imagined it, but before I could get a word out the desk attendant ceremoniously handed me a ticket with my name on it. I might have kissed her on the cheek and then burst into tears from the relief. And, it wasn't just any old ticket... that's right, I got a seat in FIRST CLASS. It deserves the capitals. I was greeted at my seat with a flute of orange juice and a menu from which to choose my dinner selections...! I was given a real pillow, a real quilt, and noise cancelling headphones. Dinner was five courses. I managed to sleep for four full hours, and when i woke up I was greeted with a warm croissant and a plate of fresh fruit. I was given a fast pass through passport control. My hands, feet and ankles were not swollen. Ba...

Well, not exactly. That's right, folks, I'm still in Texas. I've flown non-rev loads of times in the past. It's always been a little frustrating not to get on the plane with everybody else, to have that uncertainty about whether you'll be proceeding with your plans as scheduled, but it's always worked out in the end. I've only been bumped once, and that was just from first class to coach during the trip Himself and I had to take to LA for my spousal visa. I've never actually not made it onto a flight. This is a wholly new experience for me. I started trying to leave Wednesday (was that only yesterday?!)... There were only two flights that day, so I was there in plenty of time before the first one and checked my bags and waited patiently like a good little girl. I wasn't even perturbed when I didn't get on and got rolled over to the second flight. It wasn't even that big of a deal when I didn't make it onto the second flight and ha...