I got you, Babe

Tomorrow Mr KE is back at work and I will be at home with the Pip on my own. Actually, I've already had a trial run because he had to go in to work last Monday. However, this is officially the end of his paternity leave so from now on...it's just me and you, baby.

To be honest, I don't think it's going to be a problem - I'm sure I'll be fine on my own. Mr KE and I have done the last few weeks without any help from friends or family and one good thing is that we have had to find our own way. There is no one to tell us how to do this or that, offering wanted or unwanted advice. As a result, we have gained so much in confidence every day.

Not that we haven't had offers of help. My parents offered to stay for a few months to help us out, but all things considered I thought that it wouldn't be a good idea. For one thing, it's a horrible time of year to be in the UK. Nasty weather and gloomy skies combined with being stuck indoors all day with a newborn baby...a recipe for stress and anxiety.

Our little family

My lovely little boy is finally here! Mr KE is still at home on paternity leave and we have spent the last few days getting to know our son. It's been tiring but we are both really happy.

I said to Mr KE today that I must be coming back to my normal self because I am starting to make lists again, haha the control freak returns. Although it would be nice to have some help, it is also nice that it's just the three of us at home on our little "babymoon". We are learning as we go along but seem to have slipped into a routine already. Yes, thank you Gina Ford!

The Waiting Game

Well, the flat is as tidy as it as ever been. The fridge/freezer is full of food. I have enough toilet paper, shampoo, soap and other household necessities to last me weeks without a trip to the shops. Lots of coffee, tea and biscuits for visitors. Hospital bags are packed and on standby. The baby's clothes are all washed and ready. The crib is made up (although I still have to figure out how the steriliser works) and the camera battery is fully charged.

Mr KE has told me not to call his mobile at work unless things have kicked off because he gets into a panic when he sees me flash up on his phone. So I have to text him unless it's action stations; he's been very calm, bless him.

Sunday Night

It's Sunday night and still no action. There's no rush; I'm just enjoying these last few days of living according to my own schedule. Which mainly consists of napping, watching daytime TV and wandering down to the local shops. I think I've watched more Poirot in the last week than I have in my whole life.

Mr KE seems to be in a last-minute panic. He is wandering around the flat, tidying up and throwing things away. Four full bin bags in the last two hours! He is one of the worst hoarders ever, from a family of great hoarders, so for him to throw stuff away is a very big deal indeed.

On the other hand, I am displaying zen-like calmness. Repeat after me : Everything is going to be alright.

New Year's Eve

It's New Year's Eve, Mr KE and I have got absolutely nothing planned and it's great. We have had a lovely Christmas break, just the two of us taking it easy. I haven't even been sale shopping; haven't even been into town....which is very unlike me (contrast with last year) but oh well, I have other things on my mind! This year I have spending my money on buggies and baby clothes :)

So what have we been up to?

• We had roast chicken for our Christmas dinner; with pigs in blankets (cocktail sausages wrapped in streaky bacon), roast potatoes, baby carrots, peas, bread sauce and gravy. No christmas pudding because Mr KE doesn't eat it and I'm not such a big fan. Instead, lots of chocolates and sweet gooey things all day.
• On Boxing Day Mr KE went to watch our local football team with his friends while I snoozed on the sofa.
• We have been sleeping in, going on long walks in our local parks and eating lots of indulgent food.
• Mr KE has been DIY-ing while I watch TV ....yes, it's a hard life....

It's now 7pm, we have no plans for dinner (takeaway? forage in the fridge? just eat more chocolate?) and the lack of pressure is really relaxing. You know what I mean - it's New Year's Eve...must have a good time.....even if you get totally stressed out doing it!

Happy New Year everyone!

The Hospital Tour

On Monday afternoon Mr KE and I went on a tour of the hospital's maternity wing. We waited there with a few other couples...and waited ...and waited. The tour was supposed to start at 4pm, then at 4:40 a doctor popped her head round the door and told us that all the midwives (who normally give the tour) were busy. So she would give us a short tour instead, in a little while.

Fair enough, in a busy hospital, us "tourists" are not the priority. So it was 5 o'clock before we actually had a look a round the delivery suites.

The delivery rooms themselves were OK, you get a private room with en-suite bathrooms, armchairs, birthing balls and CD players. Some of the rooms had facilities for water births. We were advised to bring pillows (!) because there is chronic shortage in the NHS...people steal them apparently. Even so, they are still hospital rooms with lots of medical equipment in the room eg resuscitation equipment, monitoring equipment. So not really an environment where you would to spend a lot of time.

You are only allowed 2 people in the suite with you, for security reasons, infection control and also out of respect for the other people giving birth. It made me smile thinking of the Brunei hospitals which are over-run with visitors.

We also found out about admission procedures. When you come in, you get assessed by a midwife and there is a triage system (like A&E) where the more serious cases get prioritised. So there is no point going in too early as you will just have to wait in the corridor. As the doctor said, there is nothing more annoying than seeing someone else walk straight in when you have been waiting with contractions for 2 hours. But they will just take the person who is more advanced in labour, regardless of how long you have been waiting.

After watching lots of movies where someone starts contractions, and it's quick quick get to a hospital; it's quite reassuring to find out that it's more like start contractions, go the hospital, the midwife will probably send you home and say come back when you are really in labour. Like in 8 hours time.

So the lesson of the day was: stay at home as long as possible. That's what I'm going to do (hopefully).

Chocolate Making

While my workplace seems to be all doom-and-gloom, Mr K-E and his colleagues have been defying the recession with lots of office outings. Two weeks ago they went ice-skating at Somerset House and on Thursday night, his team went on a chocolate-making evening.

I was really jealous, so I asked him to take lots of photos for me.

The set-up was a long table covered in greaseproof paper.

To start off with, the instructor explained the difference between "real chocolate" and "confectionary bars". It is all to do with amount of actual cacao in them. So Cadbury's Dairy Milk is a confectionery bar, not strictly speaking "chocolate".



I remember a few years ago there was uproar when the EU were going to impose a standard i.e. only a product with in excess of 50% cacao could be called chocolate. This would mean that most of the "chocolate" in the UK would not be allowed to be sold as chocolate....well, that idea was quickly shot down and manufacturers still call their low cocoa/high vegetable fat bars chocolate bars.

Anyway, back to the chocolate making.

Everyone has their own "stations". You start off with the fillings, a bar of soft dark chocolate (like a ganache) and a bar of semi-brittle nutty paste.

The funny looking fork is for dunking in chocolate. (More about that later)


You get mini cookie-cutters in different shapes. You can see the round one in this photo along with big bowls of dark, milk and white melted chocolate. On the table there are also saucers of dry toppings (cocoa powder, coconut etc) and caramel-covered almonds.

They used a special kind of chocolate which stays melted at room temperature.


In short, you cut a shape out of the "block" and then use your fork to completely cover it in chocolate. Shake off the excess and leave it on the table to dry. If you want to decorate it, you need to do it before it is completely set.

People were quite sceptical before but everyone really enjoyed it.

Look at the state of the table!



You also get two glasses of champagne to help with creativity :)


These were Mr KE's efforts. Some people were eating the chocolate all the way through, but Mr KE was concentrating so hard on making them look nice that he didn't eat any during the session.








He wrapped them up nicely and brought them home for me to eat.








They are lovely, really fresh - the nicest chocolates I've ever had. And I'm not just saying that because my husband made them!

A different kind of shopping

This morning we got up early and drove to the DHL depot to pick up our Mothercare stuff, then unpacked it all at home before going to our NCT class. All before 9:30 in the morning, on a Saturday : a time when when I am normally still in bed. Well, they say parenthood brings new experiences.....

Woohoo, I feel so much better that we have all the stuff we need now. The only things we need to get now are the car seat and the car. Oh yeah, pretty big item :)





We checked the delivery in the living room. We already have a cot and a crib, but we decided to get a Moses basket too so the pipsqueak can sleep downstairs while I watch trash TV.

Mr KE bought Arlo from Mamas and Papas.











Mr KE's favourite outfit for the pipsqueak is this bearsuit which is a pramsuit for wearing when we go out.

It's really cute and soft. It has ears, mittens and even bear footprints!

He also spent ages playing with the Bugaboo, changing it from mode to mode. Rear facing to stroller mode and back again. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon.

Architecture in Liverpool

A few months ago, Mr KE went on an "official mission" to Liverpool with his colleagues. It is the European Capital of Culture this year (hard to believe, I know) so there were lots of cultural events and architectural exhibitions talking place.


Here are some interesting photos from his weekend away.

The last photo shows a famous Catholic Cathedral. I don't like it myself - a bit too spiky.

Breathing as a form of Pain Relief?

Mr KE and I signed up for NCT ante-natal classes and yesterday we went for our first session. We had to go to Brixton because our local NCT classes are only on weekdays, which kind of defeated one of the main reasons to join the NCT i.e. to meet other mothers in your local area.

Anyway, it was very useful; there were 7 couples there and one woman who was there on her own. I felt really sorry for her because everything was set up for couples eg giving massages during early labour, breathing exercises etc.

I had heard from friends that the NCT are good, but they have very strong agendas eg they are very into breast feeding, natural births and non-intervention during labour. Almost religious, I would say :) The instructor wouldn't even really talk about "formula" feeding but just pushed the "breast is best" mantra. She also said that women should have "realistic expectations" of childbirth .....uh, ok but I don't think it is necessary or noble to suffer through extreme pain in the year 2008. I guess we will go through that in more detail next week when we discuss pain relief.

There was a couple there who were interested in hypnobirthing. Eeek. Mr KE wanted to laugh, but managed to stifle it. And yes, it is very middle class - the couples were doctors and accountants...even in Brixton.

On Tuesday evening, we will have our "NHS " ie free ante-natal class. It will be interesting to see the difference.

Five things that have been keeping me busy.

Five things that I have been up to lately:

• Fending off agents (aka recruiters/headhunters/bloodsuckers) calling me about positions in the Middle East. As the economy in the UK seems to be heading into a long recession, a lot of companies are expanding their operations in the Middle East and there is a big push to recruit suitably skilled staff. It so happens that I work in one of these "niche" sectors and if I were in different phase of my life, I would be very, very tempted....but it's not the right time for me.

• Discovering a whole new world of shopping for things that I never knew existed! Who knew that there were so many different types of buggies, baby car seats, cot mattresses etc? One item that we chose fairly quickly was the buggy. There were three main requirements: I wanted the lightest one on the market, Mr K-E wanted one that he wouldn't mind pushing around and we both wanted one that could face either way. So the Bugaboo Bee it is!! (With all the accessories, of course....)

• Making long lists for all the stuff we will need in January. Our plan was to buy everything from Mothercare in one big hit and get it delivered all on the same day, thus missing the Christmas rush. Sounds pretty stress-free right? The only problem with on-line shopping is that someone has to be in the house when the stuff gets delivered. Suddenly our straightforward plan doesn't seem so straightforward afterall.

• Getting used to the idea that I won't be wearing high heels for a while :(

• Being excited / scared /happy /anxious all at the same time. So much to do; we still have to buy our new car, clear more junk out from the flat, buy Christmas presents and send Christmas cards etc. Mr KE and I are always busy at work in the run-up to Christmas (I'm actually moving office on 5th December) plus we have our NCT & NHS "parentcraft" classes to attend. And try to meet up with friends and family before Christmas. Happy times!

Octoberfest

I've been very distracted lately, what with all the stuff going on at work, visitors from home and Mr KE and I trying to get ready for big changes. So I haven't been keeping up with the blogging but will try to get back to doing it regularly.

While everyone at my work was been fretting about redundancies, Mr KE and his work gang have been ignoring the credit crunch. Last month they celebrated Octoberfest at a German bar in Old Street.

I haven't messed with the photo, his friends always look like this after a few litres of beer!

The food doesn't really appeal to me...sausages and sauerkraut...urghh. I guess it's just stomach lining for the beer.

Hooray!

Clever Mr KE has fixed the car! He had to go to Halfords on the bus with the old car battery in a rucksack and bought a new one. Then he fitted the new battery and voila!

So there's no big rush to get our new car now. At least that's one less thing to worry about :)

Cuts

I'm sitting at the kitchen window watching Mr KE downstairs fiddling with the innards of our little car. He's so cute when he gets out all his spanners, pliers etc. He doesn't really know what he's doing, but with the help of the internet, anything is possible, right?

I'm still very busy at work although there is a overall feeling of pessimism as the country seems to be heading towards a long recession. On Monday, all the staff were all called to a meeting (actually it was more of an announcement) and told that the outlook was bad for the next 18 months. Yeah, no shit Sherlock.

The dreaded R word (redundancies) was not mentioned but it was highlighted that 80% of our costs are staff costs. The London and other SE offices are doing OK but the Northern offices are in dire straits. Unfortunately, the company can't just shut down the Glasgow office (for example) because of long leases on company premises and also because it wants to maintain a presence throughout the UK.

So the pain has to be spread throughout all the offices. Realistically, this means that every office will have redundancies, even London. I have heard off-the-record that a list has already been drawn up although staff will be told that everyone is at risk. The word is that the cuts will be at all levels - from top to bottom. The redundancies will also be made at the same time; so not 2 or 3 one month and then 2 or 3 next month etc which generally leads to widespread breakdown of morale. Short and swift is the aim. Let's wait and see.

Duck Tour

Mr K-E went on a team outing last week. They went on a Duck Tour, which is a ride on a World War 2 amphibious troop carrier converted into a bus. The bus takes you round Westminster and then onto the Thames.

Mr KE said it was quite fun, especially for kids. You can join the tour near the London Eye.

He is also of the exclusive :) "over and under club" which means he has been over and under a bridge in the same vehicle.

Thames Festival: Sunday

We had such a good time on Saturday we went back to the Thames Festival on Sunday for more. We watched more free-running under the London Eye.

It wasn't as packed as Saturday but it was still very busy.

There was a Night Carnival which started at 6:30. We were right at the front so Mr KE took lots of photos.

Apart from the floats, children in costumes, puppets etc, there were also lots of scantily clad ladies dancing along the route. For some reason Mr KE took lots of photos of these ladies ...hmmmm.

One of the best floats: dragon and rider.

It was a bit cold standing on the roadside while the floats went past; but it was worth it. We went home tired but happy.

Tired on a Monday night

Sorry for the lack of updates; we have been busy lately and I have been too lazy to blog :)

Some things we have been up to:

• Mr K-E's work had their (late) summer party at the Royal Festival Hall. It was on the 5th Floor Terrace and the guests enjoyed a lovely sunset view of the Thames, drinks and canapes. There was jazz band in the early evening and then later, a covers band to get the party into full swing. I didn't stay long, just long enough to do the "supportive" wife act, hahaha.
• We have been trying to clear out our flat...not easy...where does all this stuff come from? Aaargghh, all my books and shoes.....
• I had the day off on Friday and spent the afternoon in town shopping (hmmm, see point above...this is where all the stuff comes from..) I discovered a Busaba Eathai behind Selfridges. A Thai version of Wagamamas, v v good.

I'm sure we have been up to more, but at the moment I am too exhausted to think. I'm just sitting on the sofa waiting for our pizza to be delivered. Yep, it's a lazy night.

I'll just leave you with this picture of a cute coffee van which was parked outside our flat a few weeks ago. Doesn't it look like a toy?

Selfridges, Birmingham

Mr K-E was in Birmingham earlier this week because of work and he had a look around Selfridges while he was there.




It's strange to see a building with no windows; but it makes perfect sense because it's a retail building. Retailers don't want any natural light.

The facade is unusual; normally architects try to break up the facade into sections that give the impression of windows, even if they are fake windows. Maybe impart a sense of scale to the structure. (I'm not an architect myself, so I'm only guessing) For example, if it wasn't for the two people at bottom of the photo, it wouldn't be easy to gauge the size of the building.












Detail of the facade.

















The interior continues the "rounded" theme.















I think this looks organic. Mr K-E thinks it looks rude.

Mr K-E hates saxophones

Mr K-E doesn't like jazz, so I was surprised when he wanted to come along to see Polar Bear at the Roundhouse. Polar Bear are an "experimental jazz-electronic band" - not really my thing either, but they sounded interesting and I was curious to see what the music would be like.

The warning bells rang when there were two saxophonists and no vocalist. Okay. The drummer was truly awesome and no doubt the saxophonists were too; but as the performance went on, I could sense Mr K-E becoming more and more agitated. The venue was sold out and the rest of the crowd were obviously loving it. There were people shouting, "yeah man" and not in an ironic way.

After Polar Bear finished their set, they came back on for an encore and Mr K-E lost it. He said, "OMG, I cannot take anymore of this crap", grabbed his coat and walked out. I had to apologise to my confused friends and tried to leave discreetly. Not an easy task, as it was cabaret seating (little round tables) and Mr K-E was practically stomping as he left.

I guess "experimental jazz" isn't for everyone.

On a different note (geddit, hahaha) we saw this Banksy original on the way to the Roundhouse. So it was worth a trip to North London anyway.

August Bank Holiday

We kicked off our bank holiday weekend with a family dinner at New World restaurant in Chinatown, which has been a family favourite since I was a child. I met with some relatives from across the sea and we had a lovely dinner.

My favourite sister :) and her husband were in London and stayed over too, so that was an added bonus.

Then on Saturday, after a full English breakfast, we waved off sister and husband, before heading off to the South Bank...one of my favourite places in London.




We went to see Psycho Buildings, an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. It was described as "artists take on architecture"...and it was good. There were only about a dozen installations but they were all original and thought-provoking.











Our favourite installation was snappily titled Normally, Proceeding and Unrestricted With Without Title by Gelitin. They had created a "lake" with rowers on the roof terrace on the Hayward Gallery. The best thing about it was that the public could participate; although we had to queue for an hour to participate for about 5 minutes.






I hate small boats so I was really nervous. This photo shows the rickety floating platform that served as the alnding area.

I was also paranoid that we would actually row off the roof...to a 3 storey drop below.

Aaarrgghhh.

Mr KE loved it.






After all that excitement, we had an early dinner at Wagamama.

Mr K-E had Chicken Katsu Curry and I had Yaki Soba (fried noodles). We also had some gyoza (little dumplings) and tori kara age (fried chicken pieces).











Then we were off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.

(The summer production at the Royal Festival Hall)










We weren't allowed to take photos of the set, but here's a photo of the Hall before the show began.

Mr K-E had got us seats in the 3rd row (clever Mr K-E!) so we had a great view of the performers and orchestra.

The Royal Festival Hall is a brilliant venue, not stuffy and poky like the theatres in the West End. It opened after a complete refurbishment last year, and it is super-duper. It has proper air-conditioning!! (My number one complaint about theatres in the UK)