Winning isn't everything, but it sure is nice when it happens.

All right, I admit it. I really got a lot out of posting everyday in November. And I obviously haven't been keeping it at all up in December without the motivation of saying to myself, well, it's part of NaBloPoMo, I really should think of something to say and then go ahead and say it.

The really good part of the whole experience was of course the experience itself. Blogging really is different if you do it everyday. An added bonus was that it seems to have started me out on a mini-winning streak, which kind of makes me feel guilty (I feel guilty when I win things, like I've won victory at the expense of all those who didn't win, strange I know), but it's also sort of nice to be a winner.

Two things I won for the posting everyday. A randomly drawn gift of some beautiful soldered pendants with vintage photos. Which I will post about as soon as I have a photo of them (it's always something with me and my camera, and right now I have the camera and cord but not the adapter to plug the cord in). And some crib bedding, not randomly drawn, but specifically for me having announced my, erm, current condition before anyone else in the month. That one I felt the most guilty about as I hadn't even intended to announce in November. I had intended it as a Halloween post, but there was someone I wanted to tell in person before he read it on my blog. My Dad, to be precise (Hi Dad!), as it seemed a bit, well, a lot, tacky for him to find out he was to become a grandfather by reading my blog. So, I talked to him early in the morning (like 3:30 early) on the 1st, and then posted later that day. And won a prize that I didn't at the time know about.

But as I have said, the streak continues. The latest is a bet made with Thor about the gender of our baby to be. The prize, the loser pays for a luxury dinner in Vienna (where we'll be over Christmas). Is it wrong to bet on such a basic thing? Whether it is or not, I can afford to be Machiavellian about it. Because the ends have justified the means, as I've won. I've made reservations at La Ciel.

Alas, the winning seems to have taken away my stellar blogging everyday record. Here's hoping that a public announcement will make the winning streak end so that I can go back to earning things through effort.

Just in case you're wondering what I've been doing since NaBloPoMo

Actually, what have I been doing since NaBloPoMo? Other than working, eating, and sleeping, my main activity seems to have become:

Stomach-rubbing. Yes, I'm suddenly that stereotype of the pregnant woman, who cannot stay in a seated or reclined position without having an overwhelming (and seemingly instinctive) urge to run a hand over (and over and over) her slowly enlarging belly. So far, I haven't been doing this in public (though I'm sure that will start soon enough), but certainly on the privacy of my own couch, with accompanying book and/or laptop and/or soothing cup of ginger tea.

The question is, why? Just to feel that my stomach is different? Cause it's a very strange shape, compared to what it was like before. Preliminary bonding with baby? Cause it does sort of feel like I'm patting him or her on the head (or back, or bottom, or...). Is it an instinct? Cause it sure seems to be. Maybe in order to ward off heartburn? Well, I can dream, anyway.

Of course it's o.k. because it's my own stomach I'm rubbing. The big question will be how I'll feel if and when near strangers start to do this to me, as I get larger. Friends and family, they're welcome (assuming they ask first, of course)...I've had the honor of trying to catch a kick or other movement through the stomach of a pregnant friend (though never with any success), and I look forward to participating in this ritual from the other side. But anyone else than my actual circle, it seems a bit creepy. Yet I have the sense that the pregnant belly becomes part of public space.

So, I need to know...if you've been pregnant, were you possessed with this need for belly-rubbing, and if so, what do you think motivated you most? And did you find total strangers reaching for your belly? For those who haven't been pregnant, have you ever had the urge to touch a pregnant woman's belly? And if so, did you go with that urge? Even if you didn't really know the person whose belly it was? And if you did, what on the pregnant woman's part would have stopped you from doing such a thing?

Might not make any sense if you've never heard a Dane talk about Denmark

At a crossing of paths, during a walk in Dyrehaven:

Thor: So, which way should we go...this way is to Bakken, and this way is to the great plain.

Me: I'll go for the great plain. And when you say 'great plain', what exactly do you mean by this?

Thor: I mean it's big, hence the name 'great plain'.

Kim: Yes, but is it really great in a universal way, or only in the same Danish way that makes Himmelbjerget into an actual mountain.

Thor: Well, you know the Serengeti? Well, it's...

Me: ...totally different from this place?

Thor: ...well, apart from the lions? It's basically the same thing.

Kim: O.K., so you're saying it's great in the sense that, Everest, yeah, it's tall all right, but nothing that could remotely compare to Rundetårn, right?

Thor: (wiping fake tears from his eyes) I'm so proud. You're finally becoming integrated.

*Photo: a view of the great plain. There are animals in the far distance (my camera was not quite up to capturing them), but they appear to be deer, not lions. NB: To a Dane, all objects of size in the world are inevitably compared to either Himmelbjerget, Rundetårn, or more likely, both.*