When I asked my husband to name three things he knows about me in response to Don’t Bug Me’s tag, his answer was: “You’re so small.” The problem? I’m not small, I don’t try to pretend like I am, but I guess when you’re 6′6″, just about everyone else is “small.” It’s not a problem, really.
It’s become a joke between us where he’ll say it when it’s totally irrelevant:
Me: I’m feeling so blah today. I don’t know why.
Him [in a whisper]: It’s because you’re so small.
Or when his arms are wrapped around me in a great big hug:
Him: MMmm, you’re so small and cuddly.
So, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. Now I’ve taken to telling him, “You’re so tall.”
DBM: Here are the three things my husband knows about me:
- I’m small (NOT)
- I’m an itchy person (you don’t want to know what look I gave him on that one)
- I read many English words incorrectly
Number one has already been dealt with, so let’s move on to #2: “You’re an itchy person.” Huh? Okay, it is mosquito season in the Yukon, and some people attract them more than others. At least that’s my theory. We’ll both be sitting or working out in the yard, and an hour later I look like I have the chicken pox, while Dave has a couple of little red specks that disappear within an hour. Life’s just not fair. Maybe I should correct #2 to read: “I attract mosquitoes”
As for the English, let me explain. French is my first language. I grew up speaking French at home and going to French school, but the community (and province) is predominantly English-speaking. So I don’t have an accent either way, but when I read out loud, sometimes I mispronounce words.
Several years back, I was talking with a friend and somehow the word “horizon” came up (pronounced HOR-rah-zon - emphasized syllable in large caps). She started to giggle, which turned into one of those belly laughs. You know the ones. To this day, every time I use that word, I have to mentally work it out.
A more recent one that came up:
melancholy - mel-ANN-kulee - my hubby didn’t even know what the heck I was saying.
Now, keep in mind that I know exactly what the words mean and how to use them, but because I don’t have an accent, I sound like a moron when I mispronounce words. At least if I had a French accent, people would attribute it to that.
And I’ve been hired to teach kids starting this fall. Ssshhhh…. I have to admit it doesn’t happen very often, but it’s embarrassing when it does.
So, DBM, I rarely respond to tags, but because you’re new in my blogosphere, and I like you because you like bugs, my work here is done. Now, don’t bug me (just teasing)! I can pass it on to:
Laurie the Librarian currently studying in Newfoundland, but will hopefully find the time
Kara in Faro, even further north
and Michael & Fawn (you two count as one, and I can’t wait to read your posts)
According to DBM’s tag, here’s what you do:
You have to ask your significant other to tell you three things that they know about you and then publish this information on your blog. You also have to pick more victims and then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged. The comment must end with the word ‘pthththth’. I don’t know why, I am just repeating what I was told.
Kara said,
July 16, 2008 at 5:06 am
Sounds interesting! I will wait a few hours before I harass my husband with this one- it is 6am and I have been up for an hour. I hate it when I can’t sleep!
Now a French question! I speak very very little French. Really all I can say is shut your mouth and shut the door. Not overly useful. But now there is a family who is from France that live a bit outside of Faro and they have a little boy who is 5 months old. They are super nice folks and I want to learn some French since they are all trying so hard to learn English. There aren’t many kids in Faro and even fewer babies, so I need to stalk whoever I can that has kids so my poor boy can stop thinking he is part cat. So do you have any suggestions on easy ways to learn French? Any good books/cds/anything that I could do?
Thanks!!
yukonchatterbug said,
July 16, 2008 at 6:46 am
Whad a ya mean there are “even fewer babies” in Faro? I know of at least two women from Faro who gave birth within the last week. You guys up there are obviously more affected by cabin fever than we are, because last time I checked, Faro had a population of five.
Kidding aside, it’s really tough for me to give you advice on learning French, because I was lucky enough to learn as a child. There was zero effort involved. What I can tell you is if this family is French from France, then you might want to forget the French Québéquois dictionary, cause they barely understand each other at best of times.
Actually, it’s not that bad. I always found that when I try to learn a language to communicate with a neighbour (Portuguese when I lived in Toronto), they usually appreciate the effort, and that itself opens doors. They shared their homemade wine, delicious desserts, and goodies from the garden.
I’d be willing to bet she’s trying to learn English because she’s eyeing those strawberries in your yard.
Kara said,
July 16, 2008 at 7:41 am
hehehe okay okay, yes a couple of babies were just born! Hurray for that! But a number of families do not have long term plans for Faro. Sad. This is the end of our 5th year living north of 60 and the quick turnover sucks. And the nice family from France has no plans on leaving- hurray again! And they speak English quite well, but I still think it would be nice for us to make an effort too. I will try to find some French stuff that is from France, thanks!
Moon said,
July 16, 2008 at 8:44 am
See, Mrs M would say that I am a terrible typer/speller.. but the whole world knows that now !
I know a little french, we go every year across there to play glof, and i can kinda get by … it’s better than my Slovakian !!!
Mrs M has the same issues with English words to, and then American words.. like H erb …
yukonchatterbug said,
July 16, 2008 at 8:49 am
Is Mrs. M. Slovakian? I didn’t know. Here in Canada, we’re so influenced by our neighbours (NOT neighbors) to the south, that spelling can get confusing. I remember being dinged for spelling in school once because I used the American spelling of a word instead of the Canadian. Plus, Canadian isn’t necessarily the same as British. We’re kinda stuck between the two and left to figure out if our spelling for this word or that word is British or American.
Meandering Michael said,
July 16, 2008 at 1:57 pm
You have been tagged. Muh-huh-hah-hah-Hah-HAH-HAH!!!!
Oh, and before I forget… pthththth.
yukonchatterbug said,
July 16, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Michael, ya can’t tag me back with the same meme I tagged you with, silly! It’s just not allowed and against all tagging rules that exist in the memesphere. Sheesh!
yukonchatterbug said,
July 16, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Okay, okay, I should’a read your post first. I’m sawwy. Anyway, I’m not much of a tagging/meme kinda person, though I do occasionally participate. OCCASIONALLY. But how, I ask you, can you tag me and not allow me to tag others, huh? Doesn’t that go against YOUR memesphere rules, huh? huh?
Okay, I’ll suck it up and get back atcha!
Don't Bug Me! said,
July 16, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Funnily enough, I am a very itchy and scratchy person as well. Same thing happens with Mr. DBM and me when we are outside - I get all the mosquitos, all the bites and all the itchy reactions. Perhaps we are just much sweeter than they are?
yukonchatterbug said,
July 16, 2008 at 7:38 pm
You’d think that by 2008, we would have found a way to get rid of those darn mosquito itches. Hey, you like bugs, and know bugs, no? How the heck do you get rid of the itch? I’m thinking of heading to the drugstore to buy some kind of topical anaesthetic, like Orajel for teething. You think that would work?
Don't Bug Me! said,
July 17, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I just scratch and scratch until I have destroyed the area and there is nothing left to itch. A few days later I have the joy of picking at the newly forming scab. Not very scientific, sorry! There certainly are topical anaesthetics out there, but they take away the joy of scratching. Besides, I find that the relief that they give is very short lived and I go back to the scratching anyway.
yukonchatterbug said,
July 18, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Dog-sled Stacie decided to tag herself. Go have a peek.