I'm feeling better, y'all. I've got a shiny new (albeit used) computer to replace my precious drowned Macbook, and I'm actually feeling like writing again. The problem now is that I'm completely overflowing with things to say.

I've still got about ten blogs in draft in my series on "Having a Baby Abroad" and the NHS. I'm trying to decide just how personal to get. Birth stories aren't really my thing, but many of you have asked about it. I also feel someone obligated to share what I learned during the process, seeing as I feel like I could write a dissertation on the subject of childbirth. Most American women I've talked to seem scared and baffled and intent on having as much medical intervention as possible. That seems pretty backwards to me, especially when America has worse infant and maternal mortality rates than other developed nations. I came to my opinion from the opposite end of the spectrum, however, and I don't want to sound preachy. Still, I feel like childbirth is a huge feminist issue, and y'all know how strongly I feel about health care systems...

And so my blogs sit in draft.

But I digress ... there is music, and there are babies. Those are the two things on my mind of late. Both are pretty great, to be honest.

Are y'all on Vine? It's my newest addiction. @davidcaldwell44 is on there too.

St. Stephen's Church

I miss Scotland. I know I'm not supposed to say that. I'm supposed to be excited to be back in America. I'm happy to be close to my family, and I do love Louisville. But I miss looking out my window to a cobblestone street overlooking a winding river, just steps away from the Royal Botanical Gardens and a magnificent view of the Castle. I miss our lovely neighbor, Joan, who had us over for cocktails post-baby and gave us our wee boy's favorite bouncy chair. I miss the local coffeeshop and the friends I made there.

I was browsing Edinburgh real estate today, and I saw this for sale. It's the church that was the center of my favorite neighborhood -- Stockbridge -- and they only want £500k. That's a lot of money, but that's a lot of old stone building, too. Like most of the churches in Edinburgh (at least so it seemed), St. Stephen's Church operated as a community center rather than a religious center.

So who wants to go in on St. Stephen's Church with me?

Don't come to Headliners on Monday, May 13! Well, at least don't come to see me and Martha Wainwright. She just canceled her tour.

Sorry to tease you.

In other news, I think I've found a replacement computer, which cheers me tremendously. You see, my precious MacBook (the one that drowned) was not only my only means of recording and writing (my fingers cramp when I use a pen, so I can't even be old-fashioned), but it was our entire home entertainment center. Remember that our television (and liquor collection and David's shoes!) was stolen while we were abroad, along with our DVD player, and much of our CD collection. So when my precious laptop met its demise, David and I were forced to play dominos and read and hold hands.

Really, it wasn't so bad.

What are you reading? David is tearing through every single Inspector Rebus novel in chronological order, while I try to beat him with Agatha Raisin mysteries. Apparently, when you become parents, you start reading mystery novels. Who knew?

Just as I was finally starting to feel better -- actually wanting to write again -- my precious MacBook drowned. I try not to get upset about material things, especially when so many of my friends have lost so much more this week than a stupid computer. Still, I mostly just felt like I ripped up a thousand dollars.

I've managed to procure another machine for a bit, so I thought I'd at least let you know about some upcoming shows.

Saturday, May 11
10:00am-10:45am
Louisville Free Public Library, Main Branch
I'm doing a little Q&A and a few songs and a little talking at the library's How-To Festival.
Free

Saturday, May 11
7:30pm
Clifton Center
Kentucky Homefront Taping
I'm playing solo during the second broadcast. They tape two shows that night -- the first at 7:30 and the second at 9pm. I'm on stage during the 9:00 show, assuming I can stay awake that late.
$12

Monday, May 13  -- UPDATE AS OF WED MAY 8 -- THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELED, SORRY!
doors at 7pm, show at 8:00pm
Headliners Music Hall
I'm playing an opening set before the Martha Wainwright show.
$15

We like to do things all at once here in the Kaelin household. Weddings, international moves, pregnancy, more international moves, a few domestic moves, and two people balancing self-employment (not recommended with a baby). There's been some big stress in our little family. Things are looking up, though. Whether you're into The Prayer or The Secret or just The Good Thoughts, send a little our way today, would you? Something big's afront.

Much love your way.

Here's some baby cuteness for you.

I used to write about gardening all the time. Then I spent a year and a half away from the dirt. Our garden in Scotland was prim, proper, and probably planted by people of yore -- a problem one doesn't usually encounter in shiny new America. My plot of land in Kentucky, however, is mostly a blank canvas.

Perfect Scottish Garden -- but with nothing edible.

This weekend, David and I filled our front-yard raised bed with seeds. We'll have radishes and lettuces within a month -- herbs sooner. The mint I've let go wild in the yard over the past several years is back with a plan of dominance, already making the yard smell like Derby.

I can't tell you how much I'm anticipating the first tomato.

What are you planting this year?

We are trying not to be obnoxious with our use of UK terms when it comes to the baby. Some things just roll off the tongue more easily. Also, we've been way isolated since moving back to the States, so we haven't exactly heard people use the American terms.

Here are some baby-related British words we've adopted. We probably sound like jerks when you hear us in public, but we aren't really in public very often ... so I guess it's cool:


Pram.  It's just so Mary Poppins! I love taking the wee boy off for a walk in the pram.

Nappy. Diaper sounds medical and weird to me. It's much more cute to change a nappy.

Poppers. As in, I prefer the nappies that have velcro, as opposed to the poppers. Or, "This outfit has too many poppers for my arthritic hands!" Poppers are snaps, if you don't get it by now. How cute is that??

Lie-in. This is the equivalent to sleeping in, except you "have a lie-in." We don't actually use this one anymore, though, because who ever has a lie-in when you have a baby?

We've had a rough several weeks over here. I once posted with glee about the time the wee boy went from 10:30-4am without waking. Well, that was a one-off, apparently, and it's been sleepless nights for the most part since then.

Wee Baby Boy currently seeking representation. He's not earning his keep, but he sure is purty.

Please don't offer me sleep advice. I've already read seven sleep books, from one extreme to the other, and have heard anecdotes galore about what worked for everyone else's baby. I, however, have the most stubborn boy in the world (karma, I'm sure).

Just when David and I had pretty much convinced ourselves that we have no friends (surely our own fault for being terrible at email and unable to return a phone call), we had two people come by and visit us this week. One of them brought a craft project, and the other gave me an unexpected therapy session. It was great fun, and it reminded me how much I do like spending time with my friends.

So yeah ... if we haven't returned your email or phone call (and I'm sure we haven't), it doesn't mean we aren't thinking about you. It means we forgot how to put words together. It means we don't have hands-free headsets for our phones (my new recommendation to new parents), and the baby won't let us put him down. It means when you called us at 8:30pm, we weren't ignoring you. We were already in bed.

In case you didn't learn enough interesting facts about me yesterday (smile, please), here's an interview I did for another ex-pat's blog. Stephanie lives in London, hence her blog Stephinlondon.com.

Reading fun blogs likes hers makes me wish I could pull myself out of these baby blues and get back to what I love: writing. Steph has done a series of blogs for International Women's Month, and you should go check them out.

Here's the interview about me, where I babble about ex-pat life, EX-ex-pat life, and feminist issues.

Tuesday night I went over to my friend Peter Searcy's studio and played some music. Even more fun, I played BASS for him. It's weird, but that was the second time since I got back that someone has asked me to play bass. I mean, I can play the bass, but I would never consider myself a bass player. I've got to say, though, I didn't suck. And I kind of liked it.

Time to get the ol' bass out of storage and start a new career. It's definitely a lot lighter than the accordion.

Also, in case you didn't see the Louisville newspaper, voila! Me and the wee boy.
It's nice to know y'all haven't totally given up on me. I'll be back soon enough. Working on booking an actual live, full-band show.

Conclave!! I know that I'm not the most likely person to be obsessed with the papal election, given that most of my knowledge of the Vatican come from a Dan Brown novel, much like most of my knowledge of Christianity comes from Jesus Christ Superstar. (Seriously though, I think Angels and Demons is a great read, and I don't care if you roll your eyes at that.)

Anyway, I woke up at 4am with the baby, and my first thought was, "Ooooooh! It's 9am in Italy. Conclave time!" If our television hadn't been stolen (along with David's cowboy boots and all of our booze), I would have absolutely been up watching live coverage at St. Peter's Square. Instead, I got a little bit more sleep and have had this on in the background since I woke up for real.

I thought I'd publish my photo of the Sistine Chapel ceiling -- one that probably looks exactly like the one you took when you were also trying to be sneaky and break the rules. It's a pretty awesome building. The coolest part (to me, anyway) is imagining Michelangelo hanging all upside down on scaffolding. I also think it would be pretty distracting to have all that magnificent art on the walls and ceilings during conclave. But then, maybe that's why I'm not a cardinal.

In my many google searches this morning, this was my favorite tour and informative look at the Chapel and conclave:


And if you need to watch live coverage, here's my favorite site:

This article was sent to me by multiple friends and family members, who all have excellent senses of humor. It's kind of a travesty, but thousands of litres of scotch were accidentally flushed down the drain by mistake while some workers were cleaning equipment. Oops! That's worse than when that farm in South Africa accidentally released 15,000 crocodiles into the wild back in January.

Why did they send this link to me? Well, not just because they know I love whisk(e)y. If you don't follow my music, you don't know that I've got a song called "Whisky in the Faucet," a daydream about a similar accident.

If someone out there would care to make a YouTube video for the recorded tune, I'll give you twenty bucks. Instead, here's a live version of me singing that song at the Musicport Festival in England.



And because music is free nowadays, I might as well give away the recording from my first studio album. I think if you click "download," you should be able to get it in whatever audio format you wish. Savor your whisk(e)y, my friends!