Sunday, 31 October 2010

The trouble with the tropics

Ok, my feet itch. Badly. I look diseased.

This is my own fault, I know, for being for some strange reason highly attractive to mosquitos. And then compounding the issue by spending an evening sitting in a boat club handily situated by a swamp. I got chewed.

To cap things off I went fishing today with the husband (first time in ages - he can't understand why I don't like getting up at 3am to go and bounce around in a boat - apart from the fact that getting up that early makes me sick even without the added problem of trying to brace for waves you can't see because it's still pitch bloody black. Anyway...) and, despite covering myself with lashings of sunscreen - factor 30+ no less - every few minutes, I burnt my knees. No other part, just my knees.

So, in summary, I look terrible from mid-thigh down. It's not a good look when most of the clothes I own these days (do I hear shocked gasps?) are skirts.

Hmmm.

Oh, and did I mention that my feet are on fire!!!

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Names

I've been thinking a lot about names recently. There are some Welsh names that I absolutely adore but I know that I can't use while we live over here. Two names may give you an example of what I mean...

1. Megan. Pronounced with the 'e' the short sound you get at the start of 'egg'. Lovely name. Here, they pronounce it 'Me-gan' as in 'you and me'. Irritating.

2. Sian. To you and me, this is a simple name. The 'Si' is the soft 'sh' of 'shop' and the 'a' is a long round sound 'ah'. Sian. Easy. Not to the Australians. Oh no. Here, they say 'see-ann'. I despaired until I heard someone called 'Sian'...until I saw that they spelt it 'Shaan'...

Grrr.

Saturday, 16 October 2010

Great TV

We've recently gained some new free to air tv channels, namely 7 'mate' (which is frankly a take off of Dave in the UK) and Nine Gem. 'Mate' shows mainly shows along the lines of 'That 70s Show', 'Scrubs', 'Family Guy', 'American Dad' and 'My Name is Earl. Generally, great favourites with both the husband and myself. Gem, on the other hand, didn't look too promising. It specialises in old movies and shows and for the first two weeks it seemed to show nothing but 'The Virginian'.

It redeemed itself last week however, by showing 'Swallows and Amazons'. I was converted! This week it went even better and showed 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'* So, I wait eagerly to see what gem they have on next. I'm sure that, amongst all the dross, will be another movie I haven't seen in years - and I can't wait!

Unfortunately, today's treat has been being made to watch not only Jurassic Park, but 'The Lost World' as well and I've just been treated to the sight of someone's lip being chewed off by mini velociraptors. Yay.

*this celebration was slightly muted by the fact I recorded the repeat on early on a Saturday morning and the husband did not realise that I actually meant to record that 'silly looking western sort of movie' and turned it off. When I pointed out it was a musical, he said that no-one was singing in the bit that he saw, which means he saw the only 2 minutes of the whole thing where no-one bursts into song or nicely choreographed dancing (or chopping wood, or dumping snow on someone). Anyway...

Thursday, 14 October 2010

New born baby goodness

I got to hold a 2 day old baby this evening. So tiny and lovely and gorgeous enough to make any one melt. I lived in a happy little world of my own for a good 10 minutes, just me and the baby whilst her mum chatted to other friends around me. Can't begin to imagine what it's like when the baby is your own. Can't wait to find out either.

One day.

For now, the memory of that tiny little person snuggling up to me will keep me all gooey for a good while to come.

Monday, 11 October 2010

Saving money

I'm going to have to start saving money. Need to afford flights!

Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Skype

I love Skype!! I got to not only talk to but actually see my mother, brother, sister-in-law and my two adorable nephews this weekend for the first time in two years! I cannot even begin to describe how happy I was to get this finally up and working.

I have also talked (well, there was some miming involved in one case) to two of my best friends in the last couple of weeks. Getting the internet was a brilliant decision.