Eggshell Green

Silly things in silly places

Yesterday I made 54 pretzels as requested by my husband for an Octoberfest thing they had at work. It took me about two hours to make three batches of Alton Brown’s Soft Pretzels. They were needed them before 4pm, so I planned it with plenty of time to spare. Come 2:30, I had them all cooked, cooled, packed and ready to go. But I couldn’t find my keys.

Took me an hour of frantic searching before I gave up. At 3:30, the husband said to call a taxi and have him deliver them. I had one last search under couches, beds and even the fridge (as I now have a sneaky baby that likes to hide things) before I called the taxi.

Murphy’s Law – 5 minutes after the taxi came and went, I grabbed my drink on the kitchen table and spied my keys. They were on the table all along. But they were inside a jar. Why..? Ah! I remember now…

When my parents were visiting, my mum had, for some reason, decided that the best way to store a brand new unopened sachet of curry paste was to put it inside a jar, then in the fridge. My mum is great for “putting things away”. She also put pens in the candle holder, and rubberbands around jars in the pantry. To her, that’s tidying up. To me, that’s making it impossible for me to find my stuff. She’s a funny lady. Anyway, after they had gone home we found this sachet inside a jar inside the fridge and had a bit of a laugh. Then the husband sarcastically put my car keys inside the jar so I could protect them from the harsh elements of our kitchen environment. Of course, we forgot about this and hence I had no idea where my keys were when I needed them, and had no reason to look inside a jar for them.

Just goes to prove that you shouldn’t put silly things in silly places. We also shoud have a spare car key.

Tags: parents

The parents have landed

Yes, they are here for a few days, and already taking over the kitchen.

Mum loves to cook while dad likes to instruct her and they have a constant “You should do this”, “No, I do it this way” dialogue the whole time. She’s already planning our meals out for the next few days. Being pregnant, I don’t really mind as I don’t have to do anything!

I’m surprised at how well they’ve reacted to the dog. They have however told us we should stop picking him up after the baby is born because it’s “dirty”.

If you know my parents at all, you’ll know how they can be about things being “dirty”.

The hubby and I spent two days cleaning up the house to minimise any issues. We forgot to wipe down the window sills in the guest bedroom (I didn’t even think about it) so dad was looking for a vacuum today to clean it.

And a seagull pooped on one of the car doors a couple days ago but we didn’t get around to cleaning it up. Both dad and mum commented on it today, with mum using my drink bottle to wet the poop so she could clean it up with a tissue – while we were out at Queen Elizabeth Park. She just couldn’t stand it anymore.

The first time they visited, we went out and bought new curtains, knowing that the ones that came with the house when we bought it was not going to be up to their newness standard. The first thing dad said when he came into our abode was “You should get new curtains. These are old.” Um, yes, a day old… we should’ve opted for bright red instead of the neutral “old” colour.

Nevertheless, they mean well. It’s just their way of showing they care, and I’ll have to keep that in mind to prevent me from going insane…

Ooh – today they told me I shouldn’t hold back if I have any cravings. Not giving in to cravings makes for a dribbly baby. (It’s true they say.) Gotta love them.

Tags: parents

Super-duper-stitions

I was doing a bit of reading about sympathy pregnancy, where a husband exhibits pregnancy symptoms when his partner is pregnant, and came across this quote:

Changes in sexual activity, shifts in social priorities, time off work, or the arrival of a mother-in-law for a potentially stressful extended visit may also contribute.

The part about the mother-in-law cracked me up!

I love my mum but she’s certainly got some weird ideas (mostly old wive’s tales) that I don’t agree with and we often end up arguing.

Wanna know some of those weird ideas?

In addition to her latest bit of advice as mentioned in Baby Update at 17 Weeks, she tells me:

• Don’t watch scary movies during pregnancy to avoid having an uncute baby (!)
• Hang pictures of random cute babies in your bedroom to encourage your baby to be cute (!)
• Eat sesame seeds and oil often during pregnancy to make the birth easier.
• Don’t eat over ripe bananas soon after giving birth to make your next one easier…
• It’s important to keep your head warm after birth, even if it means wearing a beanie inside during summer for several weeks.
• Only eat hot soups and other hot meals after birth to stay healthy. Screw that! It’ll be summer and I’m hanging out for sushi and ham sandwiches!
• Don’t get caught in the rain or you’ll get a headache if not a cold.
• Make sure your clothes cover your belly when it’s windy or cold, or else you’ll get a stomach ache.
• Don’t wash your hair during your period or you’ll get dark spots on your face.
• Wearing jandals will result in bad circulation.
• Stretching in the morning makes you taller. I did this growing up and I’m still just 5ft tall!
• Being patted on your head makes you dumb.
• Eat all your rice or else each grain left over means a pimple on your future husband’s face – hehe! The hubby rarely has pimples – lots of moles though.

So many superstitions!

Tags: parents, pregnancy, superstition

Baby Update at 17 Weeks

Ooh I think I’m beginning to notice the quickening that should occur around this time. I was lying on the couch when I felt a flurry in my tummy that didn’t feel like anything else but a baby moving around. How exciting.

Not much else to report, which I think is a good thing. I’ve just been feeling tired as usual, and like I have a cold coming on a lot of the time. Wellington winters are horrible. At least I have shonpluck‘s parker that will keep me dry, albeit a little big but at least I can zip it up :)

Mum has been giving me more ‘advice’, and that’s in quotes because they’re mostly old wive’s tales. The latest was not to tie knots as this will have adverse effects on the baby. She says it’s true because she tied something when she was pregnant with her first daughter and she was born with a bump on her ear. I think I can safely dismiss this one. (By the way, I talk about my “mum’s daughter” because I have never met her. My brother and I are the youngest of four children, and the only two remaining. Our two older sisters were toddlers during the Pol Pot regime and did not survive.)

Moving along, we went to the Salvation Army store yesterday to see if they had any cute bassinets. They didn’t, but what we did encounter was the loudest tantrum ever thrown by a child. So much to look forward to eh!

Tags: baby, parents, pregnancy