Welcome to Skottustelpa's page of fun and games. Skottustelpa is amazing, beautiful and incredibly talented. Everyone loves Skottustelpa. Go, Skottustelpa, go!
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| Skottustelpa, The Continuing Saga Welcome to Skottustelpa's page of fun and games. Skottustelpa is amazing, beautiful and incredibly talented. Everyone loves Skottustelpa. Go, Skottustelpa, go! |
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Saturday, January 28, 2006 I got this link from Halli's page. Check it out: Overheard in New York. posted by Skotta | 2:00 PM | I have not felt like I have had much to share lately. Yet I have been blessed with so many beautiful experiences. Strange. One of my favorite experiences is having guests over for dinner the other night and having them share with me the beauty of their baby making. Yeah, take a good think about that one. Nope, I didn't observe them making love in that sense. We are a bit too ... well, how shall I put it ... boring? ... to be voyours. But they were trying to get pregnant (well, working on it), in my living room. And it is one of the most beautiful, loving acts I have seen between a couple. They were going through fertility treatment which means they had to fix shots of hormones at regular intervals. I never knew how this was done and I have learned so much. I am so greatful to them for sharing this process with us, and I feel thankful that I am allowed to get exited and hopeful with them. Now we are all keeping our fingers crossed. The fact that they are not afraid to share gives me strenght to be more active in participating, and not be afraid to ask how things are going. In Denmark, if you need fertility treatment, the first three times are free. If you haven't gotten pregnant by then, and want to try again, you have to pay for it. It costs a fortune. When I was told I'd have a hard time getting pregnant I remember being so grateful for the fact that I wouldn't have to pay for the first rounds. I think I imagined that if I lived in the US I'd never be able to afford the treatment. You always think that if there is a will, there is a way. That anything is possible if you just want it enough. Well, I guess that when it comes to life (and death, but mainly life), no matter how much you want to, it is not yours to control. It is just not a choice. To be honest, if I had a say in the matter I would have spared my friends from hormone treatment. I really dislike being powerless sometimes but have been told on numerous occations that I am not God and I have to learn to live with it (some people even told me I'd suck at being God!). I did get to witness some real love and intimacy that special evening and for those little gold nuggets of life I am grateful. And I really, really, really hope they'll get pregnant! posted by Skotta | 1:16 AM | Wednesday, January 25, 2006 Ouch. Always the optimist ... We need him to throw one last party. Then we need to get witnesses to the noise. Then that damned letter will be written. It's just a question of time. On the positive side, one can say that now we will enjoy the peace and become joyous when he throws a party! That's a new twist. By the way, to those of you who know about us checking out a house: Yes, we went and looked at it yesterday, and yes, it is our dream house. And no, we are not making an offer on it. There are no pavements or bike lanes along the road which means I can't get to or from the house with a child unless in a car. We can afford the house, but another car is just too ridiculous. There is a 170% tax on cars in Denmark and I won't get into the insurance costs. The whole idea of moving out of town was to be able to live somewhere where the baby, once it can be called a kid, could bike or walk to school. I should be able to walk it to the nursery/kindergarten. Unfortunately, this house would keep me pretty isolated since I can't take the baby out for a walk in a stroller. I'd be run over in no time. Such is life when you build houses by a country road and then the road all of a sudden is the one connecting two highways ... posted by Skotta | 10:39 PM | Sorry about the lack of updates, I am on "holiday". AB's mother is in India so we have her apartment for the week. I am loving it. Not only does her place have a TV and a bathtub, but it has another vital thing. Silence after 10 pm. It is only when you are out of a situation when you realize how it has affected you. Out of my apartment and away from the neighbour issue ... well, I notice how tense I have been. Not to any dangerous point but I definetly have had a very nice, relaxing time away. I am only home for a short time during the day so don't expect any fun posts for a while. As I am writing this I am already hearing my upstairs neighbour and thinking "damn, he's up already!". This is his regular wake-up time, it is 3 pm. Hey, B-person. What's the big deal? 2 years of noise after midnight, that's the deal. Well, tonight the letter is going to be signed ... the letter that tells him he has a week to empty his apartment and move. Exiting, isn't it? Not that any of us dreams of it ending there. No wonder I am tense. posted by Skotta | 2:54 PM | Sunday, January 22, 2006 Up at 6:30. Not bad. AB and I flirted with the idea of going to IKEA today to see if it would be less busy. We'd have to get up early though wich didn't induce my faith in the project ... especially after AB got Age of Empires III working on his laptop. Surely enough, he won around 5 am. I guess I'll be looking for other play-mates to spend my Sunday with. Anyone feel like having brunch with a plus-sized lady? Hell, maybe I'll get lucky and fall asleep again. posted by Skotta | 7:35 AM | Saturday, January 21, 2006 Okay. Got to IKEA 45 minutes before closing time. It was mad! Well, we thought, we are hungry so we might as well grab a bite here and then leave. No shopping today, it was way, way too busy for us to be able to handle it. The food court had just closed so we got ourselves out of there, drove back downtown and went to La Galette. We ate crepes ... mmm ... and I got a Belle Helene for dessert. Yummi. Not bad, not bad at all. posted by Skotta | 8:09 PM | I am waiting for AB to finish showering. We are going to IKEA to buy a baby bath tub on sale for 29 dkr.  This is the first ting we go out and buy together for the baby. Cute, right? We might even buy the baby a bed ... posted by Skotta | 3:15 PM | Wednesday, January 18, 2006 I have a fly. It's a Fruit Fly. If you want one of your own, you can order it here. I didn't order mine. It just appeared. It's very social. There is just this single one so I am assuming that is why it prefers my company. In Danish, a fruit fly is called a Banana Fly (Bananflue). This is because if you leave a banana out for long enough you will eventually get loads of those little friends. They miraculously seem to disappear once you throw your banana out, unless you have more jummy stuff lying out in the open. Maybe you thought that these little ones were just a pest showing up around drowning plants during the winter and your garbage can in the summer (if you experience a warmer summer than in Iceland)? (By the way, drowning is the most common death cause for house plants, didn't know that did you? Hahaha, you thought it was the other way around, that it was most common for plants to die of draught because you forget to water them! Nope, it's drowning.) Well, they are but they are much more than that. Read what Nasa has to say about Fruit Flies. They are being used as genetic models for astronauts. Enough about the fly. Now about other insects. Like my upstairs neighbour. I have figured out what is wrong with him. He is actually a vampire. His life starts after dark and on a lucky night it ends with female screams around 5 am. (Make note of the fact that I know that a vampire is not an insect). We are funny situation in this neighbour issue. He has gotten a letter from the board of the co-op (bestyrelsen af andelsboligforeningen) stating that if he keeps breaking the house rules he will loose his apartment. The guy has held at least two loud parties since then on top of playing loud music after 11 pm on evenings where there is to be no noise after 10 pm. How stupid can you be? We are talking about an amazing little gem of an apartment in one of the most desired locations in town! The prices are sky-rocketing in this neighbourhood. Now it is a mere formality to throw him out but our lawyer has told us that although we have a mighty strong case it would be even stronger if we experienced one more party and got witnesses to the noise. Complaints, so far, have come from the three surrounding apartments to his, and only one of us complaining has gotten witnesses to how loud the noise is in her apartment when he plays music. In any case, by the end of next week he should be getting a letter from the board telling him that he has a week to move out of the apartment. If he doesn't move the lawyer will get a suphena and the nice police people will help the guy move. He can appeal and go to court with it but we have a pretty strong case. This can take up to three months, while in the meantime, me and AB are having to escape the apartment up to three times a week to make sure we get some sleep. And here's the funny situation. We are hoping for the guy to go on a good bender. After all that time of getting irritated by the noise, we are now praying for one more party. Now he is simply not loud enough! His girlfriend is though but I'm not calling the neighbours to listen in on that one. Bloody hell. posted by Skotta | 5:06 AM | Tuesday, January 17, 2006 I've been checking out some internet chat forums to see what other pregnant ladies are up to. I have done this from the start but I can't say I have had many benefits from it up until now. Apart from when I asked about the fibroids, that was really helpful. I mostly check out what the American women are wondering about during this time and the Icelandic ones. This gives me a chance to compare and to get some insight into the cultural differences. It is really interesting and would probably make a fun study to do sometime. Anyways, the cool thing now is that I can check out how other women are doing who are due in April. And I have found out that I'm not doing too bad. Most of the others are also experiencing the sleep disturbances. And when looking at the photos they post of themselves I can see that I am not looking that bad at all ... meaning, I am not any bigger than the others. In fact, I kind of look good! That is a very cheerful way to start the day. I guess this is on my mind because yesterday was our first pre-pregnancy class. I don't think they'll be teaching me any breathing techniques, this is the practical stuff. A friend of mine in America reccommended that if they'd offer me to take the baby out during the night I should consider accepting that. This sounded really good to me, as the argument was that this would be my only chance for sleeping in a while ... and since I can read from the chat forums that most of the women have trouble sleeping the last couple of months of pregnancy, plus the estimated 10-16 hour birth ... I decided to ask about this yesterday. The midwife almost barked at me. Apparently, this is not Danish practice and was not a part of the "baby friendly hospital" philosophy they go by at the Royal Hospital. According to that concept it is the babies needs that come first and the baby need to have access to it's mother and her breasts 24/7 in the beginning. Of course I hated her immediately. She had just said to the group that there were no dumb questions, just dumb answers, and you just don't bark at a woman that is filled with all the wrong hormones to think rationally. But hell, I'm a grown up and got over myself quickly. Ignorant woman, never lived anywhere else but Denmark, how should she know. She was only doing her job. And I can see her point. This might not be done in Iceland either. I know it was done in the old days because I remember my mother telling that women used to want to hang out in the maternety ward as long as possible because they needed the rest. It was not expected, nor financially possible for the man to stay at home after the birth to help out (not that there is paternity leave for the first 14 weeks in Denmark). This week in the hospital was the mother's only chance for recharging the batteries before going out in the field again. When joking about it the other day, in connection with us maybe moving house, I said that if we moved out of town I'd hope that I wouldn't start labour during rush hour. My mother answered seriously: "Well, you can actually put it off for a while if you relax and breathe in a certain way ... " My dad giggled. He told me that my mother had actually "held the baby in" until she was ready to go to the hospital once. This was when she was in labour with their 6th child, my brother who is born at Christmas dinner. You see, the steak wasn't ready, and the other 5 kids and her husband needed to get a decent Christmas. No trusting my dad with the preparations. So she held in the baby until she was finished and then left for the hospital. Today, it is expected that the father of the child assists with the home and housework. It is important that he gets to know the child and part-takes in the child care. In reality, for many people in America at least (and I am figuring India has even less options), this means the loss of wages or loss of vacation time, loss of sick days. Optimal paternal attention is the luxury of the rich. Hell, in most countries of this world, optimal maternal attention is the luxury of the rich. Which is probably one of the reasons they still offer the mothers some sleep time at the hospital. They know that many women need their sanity and energy when they come home because daddy is earning some dough for food and health insurance. Or that the mothers need to go to work. The midwife also added that they had no staff to take care of the babies during the night. Budget issue. By having the babies at their mothers side 24/7 they save money on staff. Husband is allowed to hang out the whole day and they are preparing what they call "Family rooms" which means that later this year, if you are lucky enough not to give birth on a full moon like all the others ... the dad (or your registered partner aka. your girlfriend) can stay overnight. In the family rooms there is less service, you change your sheets yourself and if you need assistance you go get it because they don't really check on you, can make tea and have a bit of food in the fridge ... So, if I am to choose between them hireing doctors to take care of me and sonogram machines, and an extra night shift so I can sleep for a couple of nights, I definetly opt for the ultra sound technique. Hell, I'll change my own bloody sheets for those scannings. In Denmark, I guess this means there's no rest for the wicked. Single mothers, you just have to suffer and hope you don't shake your baby unconcious once your brain goes bananas from lack of sleep. I want to just give birth and go home. I don't like hospitals at all. I probably won't get that luxury. Chances are I'll bleed to many pints since my uterus has an extra load. They'll probably want to keep an eye on me because of the fibroids. I have already been told there is no chance for a family room because of the possible complications (translates: they want to be able to rush me into surgery if things go bad). Which leaves me with sleeping the first few days after labour in a room with 2 other women and their babies that wake up at every hour. This is the part of a well functioning social system ... low budget ... Well, I've worked at a fancy New York hospital and they hardly had staff, it was largely run by interns and volunteers! And the patients paid in full for that on top of paying their taxes. I am not ungrateful. I love that I get to give birth at the most compitent hospital in Denmark. It makes me feel safe. But wouldn't it be lovely if babies were synchronized? posted by Skotta | 8:00 AM | Friday, January 13, 2006 Okay, the day kept on being optimal for AB who took turns sleeping and reading Basic Helicopter Aerodynamics until it was time to feed him again. When he told me which route I could walk to quickly get to the burger joint he preferred I'd visit I decided that this would not come un-rewarded. Negotiations were needed. Little Miss Belly waggled out to the burger joint that serves Normal Burgers, Luxus Burgers, and Gigantic Burgers. He got his Gigantic Double Cheese Burger and I have now earned a day of total pampering. Then I rented a couple of movies, waggled back home, fed him, and we crawled into bed with the laptop and the movies. I just want to write that again: Have earned a day of total pampering. Now, since I seem to be Ms. Fantastic these days, let me tell you about Mr. Fantastic. Yip, the two movies I rented were The Fantastic Four and The Island. The Island was chosen since there was a helicopter on the cover (AB's wishes) the second chosen because I had to have a back up in case the Island was crap.  I wouldn't say that the Island was crap. It was just a bit ... crap. Nothing new in that film and even though there were some great scenes with a lot of cars rolling many times over, somehow it turned out to be a film to corny for my taste. The slavery of the black man reference almost made me puke. The Matrix was also a film that came to mind ... I am a previous fan of Ewan McGregor and even though I really liked Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation, they just didn't do it for me this time. I am expecially disappointed in Ewan McGregor who has otherwise been so good at picking roles, even Hollywood roles, that needed more acting and had more edge. Maybe the Star Wars curse has hit him. I can't say anything about Scarlett Johansson. She didn't really register and after then seeing The Fantastic Four, the only thing left is her lips. The leading ladies of both films kind of ran into one ... all lips, same type. Scarlett had bigger boobs.  Now, The Fantastic Four was the better of the two. Jessica Alba did not impress but Michel Chiklis did. Julian McMahon was a decent villain and Chris Evans did a good Jhonny Storm. I loved the Vfx in this film. I am definetly going to see the sequel but probably through Blockbuster. I will await that film with the same joy as I will await X-men 3. I don't really go to see these films at the movies, I always rent them as something to cuddle up with at home. They are perfect for that, just like a comic. I've never read a comic with others and I always regret lending out my issues ... posted by Skotta | 7:51 AM | Thursday, January 12, 2006 AB took the day off. It means he's sleeping through the day and when he wakes up I will stand ready with American pancakes, smoked salmone, creme fraiche, choppped onion, and maple syrup. With this he'll get a nice cup of tea. Anyone surprised that the man is still as excited about being my boyfriend as he was during our first months of dating? I love being fantastic. Just love it. posted by Skotta | 10:59 AM | Monday, January 09, 2006 AB and I got this sudden urge to leave town for a night. This is where we went. Not at all as posh as it looks, but I would have enjoyed the pool if I had fit my bathing suit. Only an hour from Copenhagen, this little island is an oasis which feels nicely deserted during the month of January. The Junior Suite came cheap and was exactly what we needed, some peace and quiet, a bath tub, a big bed and a remote control. We are definetly visiting this place again. Fine breakfast buffet for a Danish place. (Sorry, nothing ever tops my experience in Italy, Rome had the most exquisite breakfast I have ever experienced in my life. It makes me all happy inside to think about it). We realized this weekend that tomorrow, the 10th of January, is the second year anniversary of our first date. Yip, we have been boyfriend and girlfriend for two years now. And for those of you flirting with the idea of a great party in the honor of us getting wed ... forget it. We love being boyfriend and girlfriend and have no intentions of changing that situation. You can flirt with the idea of a great party in honor of our baby sometime during the first week of August. It will be held in Iceland in connection with the baptism. All are welcome, further time and location info when we get closer to the date. posted by Skotta | 3:24 PM | Friday, January 06, 2006 Up at 4:30. Pain in the bladder. It is probably being used as trampolin as it holds about 10 drops at a time now. Kind of hungry but kind of nauseous. I am trying to drink a lot of fluids because it is better to have something to pee when you have to be peeing all the time anyway. So, computer is on and I check my home-page and OMG! Notice that my counter has reached 5998! Only two more visitors and my page has been checked out 6000 times. These statistics are mostly fun for me, and they sure don't beat 4593850 ... and that actually makes me happy. It means that it is only my friends and family who bother to read what I write. Kind of like finding comfort in knowing that the world isn't interested but I have a few around me who care. Get my drift? It is actually a small miracle that somebody bothers to visit my page, well knowing that the post might start like this: Up at 4:30. Pain in the bladder. I apreciate you guys even though I still primarily consider my writings to be a great exercise in creativity and semi-anonymity. Thanks for reading. posted by Skotta | 5:50 AM | Thursday, January 05, 2006 News of the Shrimp and the Shrimp Mother Shrimpo had his first noticable hick-up on January 1st. Wild. He has been kicking quite a bit and I have gotten used to that. So used to it, in fact, that I have no trouble sleeping while he plays. AB hasn't felt him kick that much until last night. Somehow it seem that every time I tell AB that the baby is kicking, as soon as AB's hand is on my belly the baby just calms down. Then came last night. I was exhausted so I slept through while AB and the little one played. Apparently they had a lot of fun. AB was scared the baby would wake me up. He loved it. I am so amazed that my big guy and my little guy have already formed a relationship that has nothing to do with me. It is just beautiful. Needless to say, AB slept in this morning after last night's fun. posted by Skotta | 5:27 PM | Tuesday, January 03, 2006  I just needed to share this with you. It's AB's this year's annual confectionary masterpiece. The 2005 Christmas Piglet. How can you not be in love with this man? posted by Skotta | 1:18 PM | I have been so effective this morning. I have posted a blog, I have surfed the web .. Called my doctor's office and gotten my 24th week check up date (although getting close to 26th week of pregnancy). Called the lawyer and said "Show Me The Money!" after which the lawyer hastily arranged that my money will appear on my bank account today. I am very good at politely and smoothly getting my message through, like "I know you are eating up my interests right now and I know that you know that I know it's not kosher". Yip. I have sold my apartment to a guy I adore. I know he has recorded a whole album there already. That place has a lot of space for growing. I loved living there, so did the people who lived there before me. I have officially lived with AB since 12.01.2004 (in European this translates 01.12.2004). I guess that means it was in November 2004 he suddenly said: "I can help you move next Sunday". It had not been discussed in any lenght before that although we were both tired of living two places. He really misses my old place. It was a place without obligations and a place to eat, rest, and be merry. And in love. So I just moved. He rented a car. He helped until his knees gave in (carrying my boxes of books from the 6th floor storage room and down) and a very dear friend came to the rescue. She didn't hesitate when we called her around 9 pm that Sunday night and asked if she could help carry the boxes. I can't believe it's been over a year. Time sure flies when you are having fun. And now to other things. This is my dishwasher.  It is the most magical thing I have met in my life. When I talk about it I turn into one of those sales ladies on the TV-Shop channel. All teeth and shouts. Estaticly happy. Not kidding. It's a scary thing. Where ever I will move in my life again, this maschine is moving with me. If I'd ever get married and get a divorce, I'd fight for this machine like it was one of my kids. Not that this situation will ever happen. Bless you AB for letting Asko D3530 enter the house. posted by Skotta | 11:18 AM | Happy New Year! (Again) The week has been a bit marked with our continious escapes from home. One thing is not taking any chances on New Years Eve, when we know that there will be partying in every house around us, but on two other occations we have left the house because of our upstairs neighbour. Three outings are many in the same week. Now we are at the point where we have a bag packed ready to leave the house. At least we don't take any chances, we need our sleep, so when we hear that he has guests, even early evening, we just leave. When that has happened we have heard from the other neighbours the day after that the guy had a party lasting to 5:30 am and so on. The house is holding it's breath until the lawyer comes back from his Christmas break. Whatever. I blog less when I am away from home, that's what I am trying to explain. Well, well. This isn't all bad. We have for example discovered that we are never going to be totally at ease in the city. We are therefor looking at buying a house. Yip. Not kidding. Your play-girl is working on becoming a suburbian housewife. I WILL DIE. But just so you all know, I won't be dying without a spare bedroom so if anybody feels like part taking in the suburbian houswife escapade you can totally do so. The truth is that I love living in a small flat downtown. I love that I am able to walk out of my house and have a choice between Tai food, Chinese, Persian, African, Japanese, Italian, Indian, and French food. Not to mention a burger, fried chicken, and a kebab. I love that I can run to the baker in the morning, or to buy croissants or ice cream in 7/11 at any hour. I love that I can crawl out to the pharmacy when sick because it isn't that far away, the bank, the post office. I love that I can shop groceries at any hour. A suburbian housewife has to decide at least the day before what she and her family are going to eat the day after. I know you are giggling now because most people do fine with their fridges and food storage rooms ... Trying to find out a whole day before I eat what I will feel like eating is just as against my nature as deciding the day before I put clothes on what I want to wear. Not possible. Only during this pregnancy have I been able to say "yes, I want to have milk in my fridge" and then drink it. Before this period it was a total waste of money to go shopping unless on the day the food was to be eaten. Everything got bad in the fridge. I threw out tons of food until I faced this fact of my life and started using my money more wisely. Another aspect of the surburbia is that it is ... well, in the suburbs. Nobody drops by. Nobody. When you live downtown people drop by. They are going to midtown anyway so they might as well use the trip and have a cup of tea at my house. They hang out. Eat together. Ring you up and say: "hey, I'm at the cafe next to your street, wan't to come meet up with me for a cup of coffee?" Not a chance in hell I'll get a knock on my door and someone saying "I was just passing by here in ... Holte ... " Juping on my bike and going for a coffee with a girlfriend will no longer be an option. It will be more like: planning for a day outing, and taking an hour to go from door to door. Same with the "hey, I'm home alone with the kid, do you wan't to drop by and eat with us?" Wait, I did that all the time in NY! I forget how small Denmark is. I said it wasn't all bad. It isn't. It is just something I expected to happen three years down the road. If our dreams come true (and I have no doubt that they will as AB seems to be an expert in fulfilling our dreams) I will only be 20 minutes into town. 20 minutes on the highway and 30 minutes with the train. And I might meet a few other suburbian houswifes and become friends with them ... and go shopping at the mall. I will not miss the sounds of the city ... because the only thing we can afford so close by is a house with the train running through the back yard. And it probably won't be the Hallelujah Train. I am spoiled. I know I am. posted by Skotta | 7:38 AM | |
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