So far, I can't really say I've had much 'free' time. I'm enjoying filling it up with as many nice things as possible. One of the perks of being attached to CERN in one way or another is the availability of clubs, people and organisations who do stuff. Yesterday, I went along to the CERN Women's Club coffee morning (yes, I know) and became a member, which allows me to join any of the activity groups that they run. I think there are a lot of jam-makers and jumper-knitters and cake-bakers among them - although that is certainly no bad thing - but generally it is an organisation that supports us hangers-on, or the WAGS as I like to think of ourselves. Apparently, they recently voted on whether or not they should allow men to join, as CERN employees are not all male and there could, of course, be CERN husbands who have come along for the ride and are looking for people to get to know etc etc. I would have thought the clue was in the title 'Women's Club' but I hear that it spawned a big debate on discrimination and diversity and so on...
Anyway, for me the first port of call is learning French. I have an A in GCSE French but that seems like so long ago that I've forgotten most of it. I've decided that in the 5 months left before Baby Buckley arrives, I must at least get my French to a level where I can explain that I'm in labour and ask for the right forms of pain relief. CERN have a series of language classes for people from beginners to advanced, so I took an online test to see which group I should join. There are 6 levels, running through A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 to C2, with A1 being for total beginners and C2 being for near-native speakers. Alarmingly, given that the test was multiple choice and I had no idea what most of the words meant, and guessed at least 50% of the questions, I came out as B2: "On level B2 the speaker has reached a level of independence that allows them to express their opinion, elaborate a point of view and negotiate. The learner is well versed in using the acquired language and is able to correct their own mistakes." Well, I suppose I am capable of telling people that I have one cat, one husband, two brothers and two sisters, that they are called Bella, Andy, James, Martin, Helen and Julie respectively (elaboration) that I like some of them but not all of them (expressing opinion) and that I would be prepared to trade some in for others (negotiation), and I know to say 'Merde! Pardon!' if I make a mistake. But I emailed the teacher to say I'd prefer to join the B1 class. Her response: if you are joining B1 or B2 you should be writing to me in French. Ouch. Failure at the first hurdle.
I've also signed up to yoga, to give my body a chance to stretch now that I'm having trouble reaching down to put my socks on. I've been swimming in the lovely outdoor pool opposite CERN, and walking down to our local patisserie (work-based rewards system), and cooking lots and lots.I've also made my first contribution towards the baby's extensive knitwear collection, a pair of booties:
For those who are interested in such things, the baby is now a full-time kicker and if I watch closely, I can see my tummy twitch as it wriggles around. Andy says I have a little alien inside, which is a bit disconcerting. I'll be back in Edinburgh next week for my 20-week scan, so it will be fun to see just how many arms and legs it has now. It only had two of each at the 12-week scan but if the wriggling is anything to go by I fear it may have morphed into an octopus since then.
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