Fracas Noir – Susanne Waldau – te Brake ~ for better or worse

The best with maternity leave, pre-baby arrival, is that you can sleep in late. So it didn’t really bother me to stay up until 4 am. I was finishing off the Reapers by John Connolly. For the first time, having read all of his 9 or so books, I felt disappointed. Like an anti-climax having [...]

My body has been acting up today. Like it is preparing for the major event. It’s a feeling I have. I tried to convince Reinout that my feelings are a strong indication to future events. But to him it all sounds pretty flaky. Besides statistically speaking it’s not unlikely we will have a baby in [...]

My mother told me of certain events in her life when she felt she was truly part of world history; the landing on the moon, the assassination of JFK and later Bobby Kennedy and when the news of Marilyn Monroe’s death was announced. These were events that inspired and shocked, that changed the world for [...]

I’m getting into a phase which is somewhat difficult to describe. I feel nervous, restless, agitated. Every sound seem to be multiplied, every touch has an impact. Words and sentences, written or in speech takes on new meanings that previously would not be the case. I cry, less than I did a few months ago, [...]

Last night we were watching TV the three of us. As the saying goes, two is company and three is a crowd. This is certainly the case when one TV and one remote is involved. As most of the times, Victoria and I agreed to compromise. She wanted to watch Nickelodeon and I preferred anything [...]

Yesterday, MJ was over for takeaway and chat. It’s such a cosy feeling whenever he is here. He’s like part of the family and one day (in a vastly bigger house) I can see us all living together in some sort of collective. I chateau collective nevertheless. For some reason one of the first topics [...]

When life changes drastically around you, you need strategies to cope with it. I believe the latest word for it is lifehacking, although to me I don’t see the difference from the endless tips in Cosmopolitan on how to get a better sex life, cope with stress, or find that dream job. It’s all list [...]

I just got a good thrashing from Reinout regarding my approach to a certain project I want to do.  He has of course given me plenty of those in the past, and I’m not sure how well I have in fact adopted his advice. Not too well I suspect. But there comes a time when [...]

Many people have asked me what’s the difference between being pregnant this time versus when I was pregnant with Victoria. My standard reply is “It’s 11 years ago. Different age, different time, other circumstances.” It’s the short version. I have never been one for long verbal ramblings, especially when you get the same question over [...]

I’ve received several beautiful and touching emails from people in response to my “An Anniversary” post, sharing their own experiences with the death of a loved one. Loosing a parent, or a close friend or relative for that matter, has a deeper effect on one’s life than one might think. Nothing can really prepare you [...]