August 24, 2018

Was overwhelmed at work. This is becoming more of an issue. Sometimes it is actually no problem and I just soldier through but other times I think my anxiety will crush me. Still it was a Friday so I had the weekend to look forward to. 

We went out for sushi in Kødbyen which was not only nice but we both needed to get out. Julia was an angel in the carrier we got from Gyða. 

August 21-23, 2018

Lots to do at work and at home. Can’t remember a lot but I tried writing at Absalon which was fantastic. I sometimes wonder how much I should say on this blog. Will anyone ever see it maybe I should change it to private. It can be so liberating when I’m completely truthful. 

August 20, 2018

I worked from home which was difficult with all the visitors but they were wonderful company. Jana and Maggí left at around noon.

We had a doctor’s appointment at Hvidovre and a misunderstanding with the LetsGo car got me a bit stressed for time. But we were not late and the results of Julia’s hearing test was all good. Back home Julia pooped all over her dad and then tried her play blanket. We got pizza for dinner and watched Star Trek. I’m my diet is just plain bad. Which is not good because of the high cholesterol. 

August 19, 2018

All five of us went to a flea market were Gugga and Raggi had a booth. It was very difficult to push the wagon without waking Julia but I managed. Guðrún and I got some lunch at Kafe Dyrehaven. The food there is always good but man is the service bad. Jana and Maggí joined us and we stopped at Abasolon on the way home. They all stayed there while I went home to write and I got a lot done which was great.

In the evening I read the first 2 chapters of Way of Kings. It’s so long!

August 18, 2018

Saturday and Marta and Peter came for visit with the twins. They stayed for almost 3 hours which was so nice. 

It was Pride weekend so Guðrún wanted to see the parade but we couldn’t as Julia is so small. Instead we went out for a walk. That evening Jana and Maggí came back from Holsterbro. 

August 17, 2018

Back to the office and work went well. At home, I relaxed in bed with the family. I 

read about a friend on Facebook that is publishing a book, felt happy for him but sad for myself. Another year and no book. It’s been 5 years since I published my novel. Every year writing seems like an unattainable pipe dream. I tried to make myself feel better and put out posts about my steampunk short story that was published in connection with a con here in Denmark but still feels like I need to do more. Am I a fan or am I a writer?

Julia was crying a little at around nine like in the past evenings but this time it was much better. 

August 16, 2018

Work from home but start the day early I sat down at the desk at 7 am with Julia by my side so Guðrún could sleep in. Damn some mornings I miss writing full time a lot. 

I picked Mom and Dad at just before 11 pm and drove them to the airport. I had booked the car for an hour and a half but still it was too short so there was no time for coffee which was a shame. 

When I got back home we had leftover Thai for lunch. I worked until five and had a nap. 

Took out the laundry in the evening and tried to do some writing but this nice American lady just wouldn’t stop talking. Not how I wanted to spend my time. 

We were all in bed by 10 but Julia woke at 11 and I took her into the living room she finally wore down my patience so Guðrún had to take over and put sleep. 

August 15, 2018

Day off so we slept in and went to Mad og Kaffe with Mom and Dad. They were really happy with it. After that all of us went to Prologue and had coffee. Guðrún was a little frustrated to breastfeed there. But it all went well. 

Mom and Dad went to Fisketorvet while me and Guðrún went to Vester Kopi to get a gift for Mom. We all then met up at Dessert huset for a shake. After that we went back home. Mom was really happy with her gift of baby pictures and shampoo. Julia cried a lot and didn’t sleep which made Guðrún tired. I went out with Dad and got Thai for dinner but Guðrún couldn’t join us because Julia was crying and feeding. In the end Mom and Dad had t left without a good goodbye but understanding 

Julia cried until 11

August 14, 2018

Went to work but Mom and Dad stopped by for lunch. We went to a nice little restaurant close to the office and had brunch. We started by sitting outside but had to flee in due to an abundance of wasps. 

After work, we met up again and Guðrún and Julia had joined them. All of us went to Magazine were Mom bought me and Dad new pairs of jeans (I’m almost 40 and still I let my Mom spoil me). I also got a wedding gift fir Bjarni and Hulda. We all had so much stuff that we took the bus home.

We went to dinner at Dim Sum in Kødbyen which is always nice. Mom and Dad had never had dumplings before and liked it a lot. 

August 13, 2018

Started the day by letting Julia sleep on my belly and Guðrún slept in. It was a wonderful moment. I wish all mornings could start this way. 

Mom and Dad came over at eleven and the four of us had lunch. Dad took a short nap on the sofa. After that Mom and Dad went to Magazine Guðrún and I followed them a little later after Julia had finished feeding. 

There was a little friction between me and Guðrún as I answered a work email on a holiday. I was annoyed and felt like she hated my job but we talked it through and it was all good by the end. 

We walked Strøget sat down until we met up with Mom and Dad. We had beers/ and ginger ale the 5 of us at Strædet. After we walked to Vesterbro and bought pizza at Dybbølsgade. We then took it to Mam and Dad’s apartment and had dinner together. 

Julia was a little fussy but she fell asleep wrapped on my belly and Guðrún and I walked. On the way I said a bad joke about how I could sleep with earplugs because of work. Don’t know why I did it but I apologized right away. But this and Julia not getting to sleep caused friction but finally everyone fell asleep and we all slept as well as possible when you have a month old baby. 

August 12, 2018

On this day Julia is month old so everyone Mom, Dad, Jana, Maggí, Vippa and Klaus came over and had brunch. Although Jana and Maggí were both staying at the apartment. Maggí was so much help, both in preparing and cleaning after. 

After brunch I so tired. I mean as tired as I’ve ever been since Julia came home. Guðrún wanted to go downtown and meet her friend’s mother. I wanted to take a nap. I lost that argument, well I gave in. If she wanted me to of course I went. Still, I was so tired on the bus and just walked around like a zombie. We met Hulda (the friend’s mother) at Cub. It was nice and Maggí and Jana also stopped by. They were heading to Maggí’s so we said goodbye bu quickly which was strange but Jana would be back within a week. 

After we were done at Cub we walked up Strøget and met Mom and Dad. We sat down at an Expresso House where Julia got some milk. It was nice to sit and chat for a few minutes more but after an hour we decided to walk home. This was a mistake as it rained all the way. Not a lot but enough to be a bother. We were getting hungry and decided to get something to eat an the Jensens Bøfhus in Vesterbro. This was also a mistake. Don’t get me wrong there was nothing wrong with the food but the kids at the next table were loud and the place was loud in general. This was really bad for Julia and she was completely overstimulated when we got home and cried a lot. It took a long time to get her to sleep so it will be a while before we go back to Jensen’s with her. 

August 11, 2018

Nameday! Finally, Panda got her name and will no longer be called Panda but Julia Svana. 

Got the keys to ma&pa’s Airbnb. It was a very nice place and close to our apartment. After that, I tried the Let’s Go car sharing for the first time and got the cake for the naming ceremony. The bakery called Bake My Day was absolutely lovely (and the cake was beautiful and tasty).

My sister Vippa came over with her partner Klaus and had picked ma&pa up at the airport. Mom was so happy to meet Julia. The naming ceremony was at 17 and after that, we all went to dinner at the French restaurant in the next street. 

It was strange to see how tired Dad was, he still has something to say but the illness has really taken its toll. But it was so nice to see how good Vippa was to him and how patient she was.

August 10, 2018

This was a Friday and stayed the longest work which was a bummer but when I got home there was still a lot to do. But I got to hold Panda which was great.

The plan was to let Jana babysit and me and Guðrún could go out and have some sushi. This didn’t work as Panda was not falling asleep. So we had stay in until 11 pm. When she finally fell asleep the sushi place was closed. So instead we went to Kiosk and got some crackers and cream cheese. I got a fancy beer but it didn’t taste good. Still it was nice to get out and just be the two of us. 

August 9, 2018

This Thursday is almost a complete blur. Got a decent amount of work done. Still very stressed both at work and at home. Jana was still staying with us but I suspected Guðrún wasn’t using her help as much as she could have. 

August 8,2018

We decided on a name, even ordered a cake that was weird because how can I choose someone’s name? It’s so much responsibility and I don’t want to choose the wrong one or God forbid piss someone off because it wasn’t the name they wanted. But in the end, we just had to choose. For future reference, the names that were almost chosen were Elísabet and Katrín. 

Good day at work. After that, it was so nice to get to hold Panda while she slept but she was a little fussy but then again the weather was still hot. 

Jana has finished Grimm and moved on to Sleepy Hollow, I’m really impressed with her taste in urban fantasy series. 

Went to bed and was beat after a long day. Panda didn´t want to go to sleep but I managed to sooth her by rocking her 300 times, I counted (there was nothing else to do). My body aked after this. I´m in such bad shape.    

August 7, 2018

Work went fine. Finally, there were a bunch of people there so everything is getting back to normal after the summer vacations. 

Guðrún sent me a message at around 3 pm and Panda was not doing well. I just felt how frustrated Guðrún was and went an hour home early. 

First thing I did there was to get Guðrún to take a nap while I sat in the living with Jana and took care of Panda. 

It was very hot so Panda wasn’t doing well. Things looked okay but the baby was still fussy and on top of that there was some misunderstanding which ended with Guðrún sulking in the bedroom and me trying to comfort the baby. Finally things quieted down and I got to talk to mom as it was her 74th birthday. 

August 6, 2018

Work until 14:30, still got in some good hours. First proper workday I felt, I figured out what was needed and what had been done or I hoped so. The reason I had to leave early was that the nurse was coming. This was a different nurse as the other one was on vacation. 

She weighed Panda and she was 4,8kg, so she had gained a little too much weight. 900gr in two weeks. Guðrún a little sad to get this news and felt like she was doing something wrong. Also, she really didn't like the nurse and felt like she was being criticized for her mothering although I didn't agree. But after a little while everybody calmed down and the two of us spent the evening playing sequence with Jana.

August 5, 2018

We slept until 11, which was great. When everybody was awake Jana got to hold the baby for the first time which was a really nice moment. 

Went to Mad&Kaffe with Jana and Maggí and hand brunch and after we went Cafe Plantagen for a cup of tea and coffee. The baby stayed out for too long and got very tired. This frustrated Guðrún a lot and she even tried feedding on Lithuaniaplads which didn’t go very well. I felt like a burden unable to help, powerless and frustrated like I couldn’t do anything right. Guðrún got even more frustrated when we realized that we had forgot about Nemlig.dk and had missed or groceries. But the said they could ship us to us later which worked out. 

Maggí came over with her friend Drífa before she left for Aarhus and after that we had a quiet evening

August 4, 2018

Slept in, took out the laundry and did some writing which was nice. After I got home I got to hold Panda for a while which was nicer. 

At around 3 pm my sister in law, Maggí, came for a visit. She was traveling home to Aarhus from Iceland and was the first person that got to hold Panda, except for me, Guðrún and the nurses. 

My brother Bjarni called in the evening. It was nice to hear from him. He was in Múlakot and was enjoying the summer house. He told me dad was getting worse from the Alzheimer’s which I knew but it’s always difficult to hear. 

My mother in law, Jana, came late in the evening and got to meet Panda for the first time. She’ll be staying with us for a few days. 

August 3, 2018

Worked from home but unlike the previous day, I didn’t get much done. Then again I received almost no emails. 

Guðrún went out with Panda and I felt depressed, I think it was because I couldn’t get anything done. Which then made me more depressed. But I felt better once Guðrún and Panda came back and I was back to my old self once I took a short nap. 

We watched the Lego Ninjago Movie that evening which was good stupid fun and later I finished A Hobbit, A Wardrobe and a Great War which was a letdown. It focuses too much on history and religion and not enough on writing. 

Panda’s name is finally being decided but still we are not 100%. 

August 2, 2018

Worked from home which was great, did more work than yesterday which surprised me. I started to listen to the A Hobbit, a Wardrobe and the Great War. I always love to learn more about genre fiction. 

I and Guðrún had a nice lunch with eggs and mushrooms. It’s been a long time since we had that kind of brunch at home. After lunch, we took a long walk and got a bunch of packages that we had ordered online.

After dinner, I did a bunch of redecoration at home so we are ready for my mother in law to come for a visit. 

We are still thinking about a name and it´s hard to choose one. It is is final and she’ll have to carry it for the rest of her life. So it has to be right. I don’t know, maybe we are over thinking this. 

August 1, 2018

Finished changing the third chapter in robot book. I’m happy with the progress and the outcome. 

Went to work but it was very warm and I was craving sweets all day. Also didn’t get as much done as I wanted. 

When I came home I ate a bunch of 70% chocolate. Apparently, Guðrún was feeling the same way. 

We went to bed early and I did´t write a lot. But I did finish the Cuckoo´s calling, which was a nice mystery novel. 

July 31, 2018

The second day at work was a lot more difficult. It was so hot in the office and I missed Guðrún and Panda a lot. But finally the workday was over and I got to go home. There I took a nap with Panda which was so nice. We are still thinking about names and are trying out two. I have my favorite but in the end whatever we choose will be wonderful. 

Panda was a bit over stimulated at from 22 to 23 but then she slept for 5 hours which was great for everyone. 

July 30, 2018

This my first day back at work, well if we don’t count last Thursday. So I woke at 7:10 super tired and tried to take a nap in the living room. That didn’t work so I did some chores and took a shower. 

Work was nice there were only three of us and Pedersen had a nice chat with me about birth and having a new baby in Danish (which I was proud of following). Guðrún called at around noon and was very frustrated. This set the tone for the day and I was scared she’d still be mad when I got home. 

This was definitely not the case as she was super happy when I came home. So my worries (which are a big part of me) went away. I made spaghetti bolognese for dinner. We ate while Guðrún fed Panda. 

We the tried to get her to go to sleep but she resisted, which has been a problem lately. I played her the guitar for the first time to try and soothe her. It might have worked but I’m not sure. Guðrún cried at least, she always loves it when I play the guitar. I should do it more often. I used to do it every day but not anymore. I just write in my free time. I haven’t even written a song in years. 

We went to bed before ten and I wrote a bit which was nice. Chapter two in the robot book has been changed to the first person.