Sounds very interesting, Hil.

Hey Fay! Tell us more about date boy. He seems right geeky, but in a good way.

Well, he's more expattish than me, but not obnoxiously so. I think. (Reserving judgment there - was a bit startled that he didn't know the Arabic for 12.) Watched Blakes 7 when he was wee, went to see War of the Worlds premiere recently, knows an awful lot about cartoons from the 50s and 60s, especially Hannah Barbera. (?sp?) Not a Buffy fan, per se, but did say "Grr Argh" at one point, which cracked me up. I was pimping Serenity like nobody's business, incidentally. He has a pirate copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but hasn't watched it yet because it's supposed to be coming here at some point and he'd rather see it on the big screen. First got into HHGttG via the radio show, which gets him points, although also has the TV show on video or DVD at home.

I liked him. I think he needs to relax a bit, but he seems to be a good egg. We'll see. He was cool about me paying for stuff too, which is a blessing after the whole dating Egyptians thing - we went dutch. He made me laugh. It was nice.

eta

Oh, fuck, Plei. Not touching the car thing other than to will car-ma to you. Re: clothes - would it be prohibitively expensive to have something made? I'm guessing yes?

Forgive the ignorance of the question, but is breastfeeding-friendly clothing basically something with buttons/zip down the front? Or is it more complex than that?

A worthy rant, Plei. I was just coming here to do a little minor rant, but mine's not worthy.

I can't help with the car issue, but for dresses, how formal is formal? Could you wear a top built for nursing like this [link] with a longish black dress and maybe a dressy jackety thing to cover when you nurse?

Or something like this [link] which would be formal for me, but YFMV.

Sounds lovely, Fay. I can imagine much worse dates.

Oh, Plei. I wish I had something, anything, more substantive to offer, but... cars suck. Big expensive major-life-appliance purchases suck and are insanely stressful. You're not stupid, just stressy.

Also, until further notice I deem that car dealer officially a dick.

Also, Raquel's links are lovely.

What JZ said.

waves to Fay

Woot on the snoggage and the nice-boyness of him, and especially woot for his appreciation of your Fayitude (though I am completely unsurprised at this).

Majamas, sadly, do not fit me.

We have a fancy-shmancy maternity store in town that carries their stuff. I tried on, and wept at the lack of things in my size. The damn boobs get me every time, as it seems even the XLs are designed for a C cup. However, at least I've been saved from ordering online and THEN weeping.

Forgive the ignorance of the question, but is breastfeeding-friendly clothing basically something with buttons/zip down the front? Or is it more complex than that?

It's a little more complex than that. There are layers that hide all the non-functional skin bits. If I'd known how hard it was going to be to find something to wear, I think I'd have tracked down a seamstress.

but for dresses, how formal is formal?

Fairly formal, would be my guess, just based on the income level of the family in question. Late July is one of the hottest times around here, so if I can find something not made of petrochemicals, I'll have a chance of surviving without terminal flop sweats.

Also, nice date there, Fay!

I think I just need to start thinking of this car as a hard-luck adoption, like the ugly cat in the corner of the pound or something.

I just wish that the various private sellers had been able to get off their asses enough to return calls on their cars, saving us the pain of going to dealers. Also, I need to remind myself that this car only needs to last us a couple of years, until we are in theory more secure in the money department and can afford to get a slightly nicer used car.

Oh, and the part of my rant I left out? Time spent on billable work this week? An hour.

Plei, tomorrow I'm having lunch with my matron of honor, the gorgeous busty blonde you admired so at the wedding. She knows the special hell of the collision of huge cup size, breastfeeding and formal wear; it's been a few years since her son was nursing, but I can ask her if she recalls any stores/websites/designers that did right by her.

Ima gonna rant anyway, just because I need to put it somewhere where others can laugh at it and make it go away, and I can't put it on my website. It's an abbreviated version of the Parental Differences of Opinion About Childrearing Rant that was originally scheduled.

When we first discussed "Mallory" as a name, I said that people would think it's a girl's name. Robert disagreed. I pointed out that we had originally considered it as a girl's name. He counter-pointed that was because it was unusual. I fretted about it for a few weeks, but ultimately acquiesed, as I liked the name and the nick.

Last night I told Robert there was some gender confusion. One friend asked if we'd named him after the sister on Family Ties. The nurses at the embassy have all said, "Oh, that's a great name? Who did you name her after?" Another American at the embassy said, "What's its name?" and when I said Mallory he continued, "How old is she?" I summed up with saying that people really have been thinking it's a girl's name.

Robert said, "No they don't."

I reviewed my points. I described the nurses' reaction when I told them Mal was a boy. It's clear to me that they do. Honestly, it could be either, but we should be aware some folks will think it's a girl's name.

Robert said, "No they don't."

Why was I not gifted with this kind of Denial Ability? It's like a superpower. Life gets so simple.

*sigh*

What JZ said, Plei.

Yay on nice-boy datage, Fay. (Datage? Dateage? Date-age?)

Sounds very interesting, Hil.

It was. So much stuff just looks so totally different when you're standing in it than when you're looking at pictures of it. I've also never had so many political discussions in so short a period of time in my life. (The mix of speakers they had was interesting. At one point, an Army official talked to us about the security fence. He started out by saying, "I am in uniform right now, and therefore I am giving you the official Army viewpoint. If you talked to me on the street, I might say something entirely different." Then he gave an entirely unconvincing spiel, which almost none of us bought at all.) There was also a Knesset member whose party just started a "Not all kipahs are orange" campaign, which has apparently pissed off a lot of people. I thought he was really interesting, and that his arguments for disengagement were the most cohesive of anyone else we heard.

Israel is also, I think, the first place I've ever seen religious graffitti. There was a ton of it in Tsfat, but also other places.

I definitely want to go back, and see more stuff with more time to experience it. And I want to learn Hebrew and Arabic, because there were so many things where I just didn't understand what was going on because I couldn't understand the languages.

And now I'm rambling and should probably get some sleep and try to get back on American time.