Bless this mess
I've never been a cleaning freak. I've never even been really tidy. I am messy and disorganized but i do the job when it needs to be done. Lately i'm getting a lot better at scrubbing and mopping and shining and sweeping, but that's for the oddest reason: i feel urges to do it. I wonder if it's the coming of age, the pregnancy or the fact that i no longer live alone, but i like to keep it clean.

So let me get a little scatological and give you some very random and quite disturbing principles:

Fact #1 Flushing the toilet with the lid up ejects an aerosol-like plume of germs around the bathroom that float for up to two hours.
Fact #2 One gram of house dust can contain up to 500 dust mites.
Fact #3 A year's bed-making is equivalent to a four-mile walk.

Gotta go. I'm going to take a four-mile walk now.

Updating on the baby status

I'm currently 27 weeks pregnant.

Which makes it tricky to move, but it's not too bad (yet).

I crave all sorts of food all the time. So i don't think those are cravings. I'm just hungry. Hungry for sugar and spice and everything nice.

Liam moves a lot. It feels great to feel him inside. I know that sounded dirty but, hey, you know what i mean.

I find myself tired most of the time. And out of breath, which is why not wearing high heels since last september comes in handy.

Do you like what you see?



Let me know. And then i'll let you know. We'll all be 'in the know'.

Gotta rush now. Wish me luck in the ice covered roads of this town.

Baby updating: the last three months
This last lap in my pregnancy makes me want to have the weeks speed by and also has me craving for time to slow down. Ambivalent feelings, of course, and as usual.

You can read more at Coming Up Next.

Coming into the closet
This week's theme at Photo Friday is "crowded". It made me instantly think of my wardrobe. And don't get me started with the handbag/scarf situation. Click here for the rest of my Fridays set, or follow this link to see some of favourites.


Yeah. I think i have a thing with baby feet too.

Have a jolly good weekend, boys and girls. As an unusual exception to these last months weeks, i'm actually going out tonight. Dinner chez a friend. Four girls and a home menu. Pity i'll have to skip the wine.

Random and very useless information
(via Sherry)

Grooming Products:
Shampoo ...... The yellow one from Elvive L'Oreal.
Moisturizer ...... I'm currently using Johnson's Baby Lotion because i'm not allowed perfumed stuff on my belly. For the rest, i'm loving the Korres travel set i got from Kurt on my birthday.
Cologne ...... Coco Chanel. Sometimes i cheat with Gucci or i just have a splash of vanilla&cinammon.
Razor ...... I'm your Venus!
Toothpaste ...... Some boring brand from the chemist.

Electronics:
Cell phone ...... Nokia. I forget the model but it doesn't have a cammera. Just colours and silly ring-tones. The usual.
Computer ...... Blue and silver laptop by God Knows Who.
Television ...... Kick ass not too huge but great Phillips. Wedding pressie along with movies and a home cinema system.
Stereo ...... Pablo's cute Sony in the sitting room and my half broken!Sanyo compact system in the bedroom.

Home
Sheets ...... Anything bright or romantic or designed with taste. Duvet covers, always cotton.
Coffee-maker ...... Regular italian coffee maker and our new Bodüm devoted to visits (it makes rivers of coffee).
Car ...... Red red wine coloured Fiat Bravo.


Beverages
Bottled water ...... I like all the normal ones, i hate the one with 'a touch of lemon'.
Coffee ...... Marcilla Mezcla Molido. Not always available. Eager to walk to the next store when this happens.
Vodka ...... I'd rather have Rhum (Captain Morgan, Cacique, Pampero) or Gin (Bombay), darlings.
Beer ...... Heineken.

Clothes
Jeans ...... I wear weird maternity jeans from H&M. Not too comfortable, if you want my opinion, so i tend to use a maternity jean skirt my sister got me at Sisley.
T-shirt ...... As long as they're cotton and publicity free, i don't really care.
Briefcase or tote ...... I hate briefcases and i have way too many purses, according to a male's opinion. I like big bags, too.
Sneakers ...... Nike.
Watch ...... I have a huge yellow one that i never wear and a slinky silver one that has a dead battery. I think no one wears wrist watches anymore, except maybe Kurt.

Favorite Places
Madrid with time to walk around; Québec city in autumn; Manhattan in spring; Cádiz and around; the Freeway bar (i can't believe i haven't been there in such a long time).

Necessary Extravagance
Pick the clothes for the following day at night. Iron with the TV or the radio on. Never completely finish up a cocktail.

Karl's membrane
From the Land of Brilliantly Funny Blogs, not only do i heavily recommend a visit to the Manolo Shoes, but i reproduce my favourite of his recent posts, accompanied by the text: Manolo says, clearly the Lagerfeld, he is insane in the membrane. If i may add something, i believe the man drank the entire content of one of his H&M Liquid Karl bottles.

Basket case
I've got something that looks like a basketball under my belly. I don't look that huge in other parts of my anatomy, not that i'm KateBloodyMoss, but the arms, legs and face department seem more or less regular. The belly, though. Wow. I know this post should probably fall into the Coming Up Next category, but i'm not really talking about Baby, i'm giving out about poor old Uma.

The basketball doesn't get me seats at buses, but it keeps me up at night. It doesn't prevent weird people from giving me weird looks (seriously, what is it with the pregnant girl thing??) but i am certainly not who i used to be, nor will i ever really be that person again. At least in the inside. The basketball is heavy at times, and it gets tense, begging me for exercise. So i walk a the equivalent of thousand imaginary miles around the neighbourhood, only to find i can't take the next step due to extreme exhaustion.

The basketball can be very uncomfortable. But then a tiny part of the ball kicks you. You put your hand on it. Generally the left side. And it touches you again, with both feet. You smile. And you proudly stick your basketball out to make it visible to the world.

Liam's liquid fun
He makes me get up a thousand times every night. He makes me smile in the middle of lunch, or while i try to get a seat at the subway. He gets his father amazed simply by touching my belly, especially late in the day, when i'm lying sideways and Liam starts his little flamenco routine. Or kick boxing. Or limb experimenting.

(More on this at Coming Up Next)

Future tense
Life flows while i daydream. So life is, after all, what happens while you're busy making other plans. I have the feeling that i'm missing today by thinking too much about tomorrow. Still, i think life is forcing me to stay put and just watch for a while.

I keep living in a future state of mind in which i'll have a successful dream job, or i'll be gingerly walking with my son to the park, or i'll be finally organizing a dinner party for the people i miss the most.

I wonder if it's ok to be permanently looking forward to. If it's healthy to sit back and tell yourself that the best is yet to come. "I will": Future tense. But where is the present (in)tense in all this?

Do you cross your fingers and toast with champagne to the future? Or do you act in order to make things happen in that ideal future? Sometimes i wake up as a believer in positive thinking, i wear my inspirational outfit and i give myself a broad inner smile. And then there are those mornings when i get up with no sleep remains on my pillow, agitated and suspicious about anything that smells of tomorrow.

Is it all right to be this afraid? Is it compatible with feeling this serene?

Watching it
I'm hooked. We both are. Addicted to the screen. If there's a tv set on, either Pablo or me will be caught staring blankly at it. And i hate that so much it makes me afraid. So there are measures to be taken. We're turning into dvd freaks, just to stay away from the regular crap.

Movies and foreign tv shows are the option, boys and girls. It began with Friends, continued with Absolutely Fabulous, then came the ladies (Sex and the City) and finally, The Sopranos. I must admit i couldn't really stand the mob at first, i thought it was dull and slow, but i've just finished the first season and i'm eagerly waiting for the second, third, fourth...

To top it all, Pablo has got his hands into dvd recording, so i guess we're pretty much unstoppable now. Regular tv, you've got little to do in this home as of 2005. Move on. Go bug someone else. Become something else. Just go.

And now, if the person who is currently holding my first season of Sex and the City would be as kind as to remind me his/her identity and hand it back... please? The same goes to he who has my adult edition of Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Thank you, dears. Don't hesitate to claim back any belongings i may be unfairly holding on to.

Only half myself
This is not the full Uma talking, just half of her. I hadn't been this sick since i was a child. Which is not fun at all, especially when you have your own child growing inside.

Still, I think the worst part is over now. I better dash out of this blog now, before i cover you with germs. I'll be back in no time, boys and girls.

How this thing started
This is how 2005 kicked off for me. There was a lot of food on the table. It was New Year's Eve and Pablo's family in Madrid had prepared a dinner for History. I kept drinking water and secretly craving red wine. Everything was delicious and familiar. Except i knew my mum was spending the night alone out of pure obstinacy, and i couldn't help thinking about her all the time.

We were meant to show up at Dixie's for a bit but couldn't make it. On the last days of the year i felt weak, sick in my stomach and sometimes about to faint. That night was not different. The weakness has currently mutated into some sort of flu, taking away my voice and my entire energy. Also, for some reason, my early pregnancy sense of smell is very strong again, so i keep wanting to kill the cook at the bar downstairs from home... But i'm losing my story telling skills.

Arrived at home around two, sat on the sofa for a while, giggled out of exhaustion and slipped into bed. On January 1st we were up late and we experimented with our new coffee maker (xmas gift!), until we discovered the first day of 2005 was disguised as a spring afternoon. We took a walk around old Madrid and then went to see 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow': It's exactly like reading a comic.

Yesterday we spent the day cleaning the house and nursing my cold, while Liam kicked, tossed and turned, and i ironed the entire pile of clothes that had been threatened us for weeks. I feel so proud, i even blog about this. I know, i'm unbelievable. I cooked spinach cream and other delicatessen for lunch so the day ended with a tasty slice of pizza and an episode from The Sopranos.

Today, i woke up thinking about my sister, who turns 37 (yikes!) and is currently enjoying the Saint Lary slopes with the whole Mountain Family. My throat is begging for hot drinks and the biggest effort i've made all day is cook green beans and window shop for Baby.

And so the year has begun with homely activities, easy tasks and relaxation. I'm feeling homely. I've got the attitude, the flair and the eagerness. Now all i need is the home. Cross your fingers.