Well well well, what a surprise. Australia's biggest outdoor advertising agency has refused to display ads for the Australian Atheist Foundation. Christian organisations get to advertise, why can't the Atheists? Is this not making sense to anybody else? Naturally I'd like to hear the other side of the story: this article is all from the point of view of the Atheists. But the advertising agency has so far been unavailable for comment regarding the refusal. Interesting, ja?

Well, I had my first ultrasound this afternoon! A little earlier than originally scheduled, due to some slight bleeding. But all is fine! I saw the Bean! The Bean is currently an indistinct blob, with a tiny flashing white bit indicating a heartbeat, or so the ultrasound tech said. It was just a flashing white thing to me. She estimated its age at 6 weeks and 6 days, and my due date is 11th July 2009. "No abnormality was demonstrated", which I think in doctor-speak means things are fine.

Ok, Jewel has tagged me, and I must put here "15 things I'm not afraid to admit". It could be difficult to come up with 15 things you don't already know, but here goes...

1. I love Meat Loaf. The musician, not the meal. I saw him in concert a few years ago, it was awesome.

2. I have attempted to lick my own elbow.

3. I don't like Dan Brown, for literary reasons.

4. I'm enough of a geek to love text-based online games. No fancy-schmancy visuals for me!

5. I'd much rather read a book than go to a nightclub.

6. I had a crush on David Tennant ten years before anybody else. By the time he was Dr Who, I was over him.

7. I neglect my fingernails terribly. What's a nail file?!

8. I don't care to have matching furniture or a tidy house. I LIVE here, for goodness sake, it's not a show home.

9. I'm clumsy. But I have a medical excuse. Labyrinthitis. Never heard of it?? You're lucky.

10. I don't get the hype about Guitar Hero. It looks lame, and I'm not even slightly tempted to try it.

11. I still wish I could go to Hogwarts. I would totally be in Gryffindor.

12. My idealism constantly battles with my cynicism. Sadly, cynicism usually wins.

13. I have three thick dark hairs growing near my belly button. No matter how many times I pull them out, they always seem to grow back!

14. I hate shoes. Shoe-removal is the first thing I do when I get home.

15. I hate the colour orange.

Wow, last night was panic time. The tiniest bit of old blood, and I was certain something was wrong. However, upon calling the healthcare hotline, I was assured this was perfectly normal, and this morning my GP sent me off to the hospital for a "just-in-case" injection of anti-D. Aidan (who was on duty, in uniform, armed, etc) came to collect me from work to take me out to the hospital, and we spent about two and a half hours waiting in the emergency department to get this little jab... admittedly we were hardly a high priority - I wasn't about to die or anything! They were pretty busy, poor things. The medical registrar seemed run off his feet. So anyway, by the time I got back to work, it was lunch time, and then after lunch I finally did some work! And that's my story, wasn't it exciting?!

hehe Thank you all for your comments below. Cazzie, you're slow off the mark ;)

It's nearly six weeks now, my baby is the size of a raisin (they always measure it in foods), and has a heartbeat. How cool is that?! There's a tiny person inside me. In a week or two it'll have its own blood type - that's something I have to watch out for; my blood type is O-, and if baby's blood type is positive, there's a chance my immune system may react against it. However, we'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

My writing is also going very well - I have just over 15,000 words now, and I think they're rather good words. Whilst this month is more about quantity than quality, I'd still like to end up with something a little bit good!

I'm catching up with the Canberra writers again tomorrow, even though I can't stay for the write-in as I don't have a laptop. But it's good to get together and kick around ideas and stuff.

Here is a short extract from somewhere in the middle of my "novel":

Her wanderings that morning were aimless, indecisive. She simply felt that any direction was better than none at all. The rain had stopped, but the clouds were low, dark and menacing. She tried to keep moving quickly, but was frequently distracted, and forced off-course. A rat-surrounded corpse would make her hesitate and change direction, or a blocked street might send her retracing her footsteps to find another way around. In one place, an entire section of the street had given way and only a flooded hole lay at her feet. Before long Susan had lost her bearings, her sore muscles and tired mind only adding to her confusion. Only when she stopped for a moment and saw a droplet fall to the ground at my feet did she become aware that she'd been crying.

It was at that moment that she looked up, her eyes seeking further ahead than simply the next laboured step. She had reached the suburbs, where once houses had stood in neat rows, painted cheerful colours, with well-tended gardens. The houses had long-since been burnt; only charred black piles of wreckage remained. But the gardens remained. Overgrown, untended, but there still. Susan wept and silently thanked those with the foresight to grow vegetables, fruit trees, and herbs. The quality was poor; vegetables were choked by weeds, fruit had been feasted on by birds and insects. But it was food, it was fresh, the two runaways could eat.

Five Weeks


Feeling:

Tired, very tired

Irritable

Weepy

Sore bosoms

Flatulence

Fortunately no morning sickness to speak of, I suppose I should count my blessings!



In non-pregnancy related news: What I Did On My Weekend

The local NaNoWriMo kick-off lunch was held at the Pancake Parlour in Civic, so I went along to that. There's always something weird about a gathering of people who, almost be definition, are anti-social nerds. (Who else would volunteer to write 50,000 words in one month?) But it was a lot of fun, and the ideas being kicked around really helped me with my "novel". So I'm glad I went.

Also, I wrote a lot. I've got just over 8,000 words now, and a public holiday tomorrow on which to do a whole lot more. Hooray!