What’s in a name?

When I booked the flights to go to Brisbane for Christmas, I was 5 months pregnant and didn’t know the sex or name of “Littlefoot” so on the booking form, I had to fill in “TBA” for both categories. Once Chance graced us with his presence, I had to ring Virgin Blue to let them know “male” & “Chance Harry”. Funny thing was, they made a typo and we ended up with an itinerary for “Chanbe Harry”. I was going to ring them but it was the day before the flights when we realised and I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal.

The thing is, the name has stuck.

Hubs and I call him “Chanbe” as much as we call him Chance. Hubs even asked if it was too late to change his name officially, as Chanbe has really grown on us. Hee hee! I have to warn you, now that I’ve told you this story, expect our little man to be referred to as Chanbe every now and then. Or, you know, all the time 🙂

Technology can be a bitch

So as you know, I’ve had my run-ins with various technological gadgets and gizmos, with mixed results. I think I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to trying new programs, e.g. for our music and photos, and if I’m shown how to use something once or twice (sometimes 3 or 4 times) I can usually pick it up pretty easily. And out of all the gadgets in my life that were going to be the next to potentially cause me grief, the last thing I expected it to be was my mobile phone.

I like my phone. It’s a slidey Nokia that I acquired off Hubs when I gave him the iPhone I got with my plan 2 years ago. I didn’t think I had much need for an iPhone and I knew Hubs really wanted one, so we swapped. This phone has been so good to me. I can use it with my eyes closed it’s so simple.

So yesterday I decided, for some reason, (maybe cos I have all this time on my hands) to make my phone more “adult”, particularly my contacts list. Instead of having contact names like “Hubs Mob” or separating “Mum & Dad Mob” and “Mum and Dad Home” I grouped all the numbers together and got rid of duplicates. I also changed names like “Erika Med” (hello!!!) to her full name, and for some people, if I thought I would wonder in a few months who on earth they were, I put a little note with their contact. Like for our Real Estate agent, I put “Real Estate” in her notes section. I also made sure all the mobile numbers were listed as mobile numbers, and home numbers as such. It took about 2 hours all up and I was so happy with my work.

As I was going to bed last night, I thought about how all my contacts are stored on my phone, and how if I lost my phone, the contacts would be lost too. So I decided to move them over to my sim card instead, as Optus backs up your sim card for you on their database so if you lose your phone, you don’t lose your data. Great idea right? RIGHT??? Wrong.

What I should have done is told Hubs what I was about to do and he would have said “sim cards can only hold 1 number for each contact so if you do that, it will split them all up again.” Why oh WHY did I not tell Hubs I was about to be clever and do this! I pressed “OK” thinking I was so clever, only to be horrified 5 minutes later when I browsed through my contacts. Instead of having, for example “Mum & Dad” I had “Mum & Dad1”, “Mum & Dad2” and that was for everyone with more than 1 contact detail, including the notes. All the mobile phone numbers had been changed to general numbers. All my notes were attached to contacts separately. I just couldn’t believe all my hard work had been tossed out the window.

In my despair I told Hubs I wanted a new phone. This may have been a little over-dramatic, but it was late and I was annoyed. I think the worse thing about this situation is that I thought I was being really clever, you know? I thought I was making my life easier. I should have known better.

Technology 1, Wifey 0.

“Aaahhhrum”

That’s the noise my childhood doctor used to make when he was pausing and collecting his thoughts. Instead of your usual “aaahh” or “um” he used to combine the 2. Why do I remember this? I don’t have an answer, other than to suggest I used to be somewhat of a hypochondriac (there, I admitted it) which meant frequent visits to the doctor. And why am I telling you this? No reason really. Just cos this is my blog and I can write what I like and that just popped into my head…

Also, you may (or may not) have noticed a lack of posting in the last week or 2. There is a reason for this that isn’t related to laziness. Well, not entirely. You see, this is my 399th post and I’m feeling all sorts of self-inflicted pressure to make post number 400 an absolute cracker, even more so than my usual wittiness and awesomeness. (I seem to be brimming with self confidence at present.) I used to have a tendency to get bored of new things quickly, and not stick them out, so the fact that this blog has been running for over 2 years and I have posted regularly is quite an achievement for me and I feel quite proud of myself. So I’ve had a few ideas for my next post but haven’t quite decided on a course of action to take as yet. But there will be photos, I can promise you that.

In other news, tomorrow is my last day at Wangaratta City Council. I can’t believe I’ve been here almost 3 months! I’ve really enjoyed my time here, though I’m sure it’s partly due to the great people I work with, and the fact that there has always been an end date with a whole new adventure on the other side. Pregnancy is still going wonderfully and my tummy is getting bigger by the week. Littlefoot kicks and moves around a lot, and has taken to digging his/her heels into my ribcage which is fun. I’m still feeling fabulous most of the time, with spurts of extreme exhaustion which is manageable. I’m looking forward to a restful few weeks, waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the little person who has already become such a big part of our lives. Oh, and I’m also looking forward to being able to see my feet again, and being able to get off the couch/out of bed without making a “heeeyumph” sound. Hee hee. Hubs finds this particularly amusing.

So if you can be a bit patient, post number 400 will be along in the next few days, and hopefully it will meet all expectations, even if they are all from me 🙂

Pop culture in our marriage

Hubs and I have many running jokes that we just don’t get sick of, and I’m sure people think we’re quite strange when we start one of our “runs”. And I’m sad (and happy at the same time) to say that Beached As Bru changed our lives. We can’t get enough of it. And we refer to it almost daily, even if it’s just an “Aw noo” here and there.
Have I lost you? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well clearly you need to spend some time on youtube 🙂

Here are some other pop culture references that we throw around on a regular basis:
– Beached as bru – “Want a chup bru?” “Can’t chew bru!” “Aw shut.” “I noo.”
Withnail and I – “Ching ching”
Boston Legal – “Denny Crane” and “Lock and load”
Hercules Returns “eh eh eh eh”, “I love classy lines like that.” “Ooooh you could pick the bones outta that one.”
Rowan Atkinson LIVE – too many references to choose from!!
Scrubs – see above
Eddie Izzard – “Cake or Death” “uuuh cake please” “Well we’re OUTTA CAKE”
– Eddie Izzard – Death Star Canteen – “You’ll need a tray” “Do you know who I am?”

I may have lost y’all very early on in this piece, but I’ve been wanting to blog about this for months now, so that in 20 years time, Hubs and I can look back and go “Aw noo!” and remember these silly things that always make us smile.

Quite Interesting

I’m about to go on one of my “you HAVE to do this thing which is so awesome” rants, in this case, watch a particular TV show, where most of you will be thinking “yeah Wifey, I’ve been watching that show since it aired in 2003 and have told you before to watch it, and now that you’ve discovered it, you need to give me some credit for already telling you about it.” Or something along those lines.

I’m talking about QI, or Quite Interesting; a British panel comedy that Hubs and I have fallen head over heals in love with. (Here’s the Wiki link that gives a great run-down on the show.) We’ve been watching it on IView (something ELSE a friend told me about AGES ago that we’ve only just tapped into) the last month or 2 and it really has become one of my favourite shows. I think we’ll have to look at acquiring the earlier seasons as well. We get great belly laughs and Mutley gasps every episode, and no matter what mood I’m in before I watch it, I’m always in a better mood after.

So if you haven’t already checked it out, I can highly recommend it. If you’ve been watching it for years, tell me if the novelty ever wears off!

The name game

A conversation currently in progress:

Hubs: “Remember how I used to call you Mags? What name could we give our child that could be shortened to Mags?”
Wifey: “If it’s a girl, Margaret?”
Hubs: “Hmmmmm…. and if it’s a boy?”
Wifey: “How about Magnum”
Hubs: “Middle name, P.I.”
Wifey, giggling…
Hubs: “And then, we can put the Pi symbol as his middle name and he can be called Magnum π”
Wifey, uncontrollably laughing at this stage, but he’s not done yet!
Hubs: “And then!!…….. We can call him….. Magpi!!”

Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

My Hubs is hilarious. Feeling sorry for Littlefoot yet people??

Time out

Wifey and the folding machine are taking some time out to think about their relationship – mainly wondering if they can go on this way.

Wifey is leaning towards “not”.

Lunch at college

College is quite a strange beast. You get thrown into a mix of 272 students who are undergrads, post-grads, male, female, Catholic, not Catholic, shy, smart, funny, social, silly, confident etc etc etc. At meal times, there will be certain people who you might sit with regularly, and get to know them quite well. There is generally some segregation between the Junior Common Room (under-grads) and the Senior Common Room (post-grads) but that’s more out of habit than anything sinister.

Towards the end of the semester, and over the mid-year break, the numbers dwindle to about 30 people, and often lunch and dinner will consist of only 2 or 3 full tables. This is one of the best times to be around college. The food is better (last night we had beef osso bucco and mini pavlovas) and you get to sit with people you may never have even said a word to the whole semester. And there are some characters, let me tell you.

The table that Hubs and I sat at today at lunch time was an unlikely mix of people, and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. We had an American, 2 Germans, a Pole, Hubs and I, a Fijian, and a Daylesfordian. We started with a joke about 3 philosophers, then covered topics ranging from “the best joke ever” (it wasn’t, but the delivery made up for it), to the Smurfs, to the best action movie about to be released (the name of which escaped the person who told us about it, but it could be this one), to peppermint tea (I had my first today and I’m so hooked), and so much in between.

It will go down as one of the best meals I’ve had at college, and seeing as how we’re leaving in 10 days time, it was a fitting way to wind down the clock.

“That’s naw how you make porridge”

I was chatting with a Scottish lass living in Australia the other day, and, of course, the Uncle Toby’s Instant Porridge ad came up. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, do yourself a favour and take a look. It brings back so many memories of my childhood! (Is that a bit sad??)

Of course when you look for a video on youtube, you always get distracted by the “related videos” and I couldn’t go past this one.

Absolute gold!

Mudburgers

Prepare for some nonsense. When I was 10 years old, I was involved in my primary school’s production of James and the Giant Peach – a play based on Roald Dahl‘s famous book. When the time came for auditions, everyone wanted to be either Aunt Sponge or Aunt Spiker, (including me – I was a follower), cos clearly, wanting to be one of the insects – a male insect no less – was totally weird. My grade 5 teacher, who I’m not ashamed to say I had a HUGE crush on, suggested I give the Centipede part a try. So I did. And it actually ended up being one of the main parts, with a few solo songs to sing! (I may have been a follower, but I always liked like a bit of attention!)

Mum and I made an awesome costume which consisted of a black shirt, black pants, black top-hat and lots of legs made with stockings stuffed with newspaper, all strung together, dangling off my arms. Was it the best costume there? Well. That’s not really for me to say 🙂

I practised my lines diligently, and learned my songs by heart. I recall that I was very nervous leading up to it, but I believe I performed well and don’t think I forgot any of my lines. And it was a LOT of fun.

So what is the point of this little story, you may ask? Well. The point is, I may not be able to remember what I did a week ago, but I can still remember the lines to one of my songs in the play:

I’ve eaten fresh mudburgers by the greatest cooks there are
And scrambled eggs and stinkbug’s legs and hornets stewed in tar
And pails of snails and lizards tails and beetles by the jar
A beetle is improved by just a splash of vinegar

I’m mad for crispy wasp-stings on a piece of buttered toast
And pickled spines of porcupines and then a gorgeous roast
Of dragon’s flesh, well hung, not fresh, it costs a pound at most
And comes to you by carriage, If you order it by post

For dinner on my birthday shall I tell you what I chose?
Hot noodles made from strudels on a slice of garden hose
And a rather smelly jelly made from armadillo’s toes
The Jelly is deeeee-licious, but you have to hold your nose

Now comes I do declare
The burden of my speech
These foods are rare, beyond compare
Some are right out of reach
But there’s no doubt I’d go without a million plates of eeeeeeeeeach

For one small mite
One tiny bite
Of this fantastic peeeeeach!

Ridiculous, no?*



* Oh my gosh I just googled the first line of the song and it came up! AND I remembered all the lines correctly! That IS ridiculous…