So when the UK sleeps, we know you other MNers are out there part II

[tadjennyp]

I was looking for thumbwitch's recipe for that cake and found the old thread has disappeared so Linzer and I thought we'd resurrect it!

i used to teach in a small rural town where there was only one school. a lot of families stayed there for generations (there were several whose family name was the same/similar to the area name), and quite a few staff who'd stayed there for 15 - 20 years. sometimes pupils would come with some very strange spellings. the older staff would look at their name and say 'oh, yes, i knew their dad, he could never spell when he was at school either'

the best one was meant to be melanie. sadly, dad, who was both dyslexic and prone to the odd drink or two, registered the name and spelt it melony. the poor girl had to keep explaining that no, they didn't think she looked like a melon when she was born.

strandead, i'm so glad that dd is not into team sports, some of those events go on for ever.

jenny, your birthday sounds perfect.

Stranded- It is number one but seeing as nothing has gone by the book I'm not holding out too much hope of getting one! I feel less exhausted than I was (ie it's no longer permanent) but I'm definitely not glowing and blooming and bursting with energy...How did the swim meet go?

You get some weird spellings here as well. Anglo-Saxon names spelt in a very frenchified way are my personal favourites. My own sister has a hybrid spelling of a middle name - it can be spelt about 4 ways and my poor father couldn't remember which one it was so he started it one way and finished another so she ended up with something like that Cath start for Catherine, ar from Katgarine and yn at the end to make it Catharyn which I don't think is actually a 'recognised' alternative! Tisnt exactly that though.

Woops I seem to be making a habit of unintentionally offending people on this thread, perhaps I'd better stop posting! Frakkinstein - ALL pregnancies are hard and tiring, and not everyone blooms. Just rest as much as possible and do all those things you won't be able to once the baby is here. When are you due? And are you going to have the baby in Reunion? What are you doing there anyway (nosey emoticon)?

The swim meet was, predictably, a nightmare. Everything was running late - as I knew it would - held up by the usual prayers and pledges before it could even begin. dd2 was the youngest racer out of about 120 children - she is still only 2 and the next oldest is 4 so I was so proud of her as she completed her 12.5m kick with float on front. Dd1 did her first race (as above but 25m and was only beaten by children 2 or 3 years older than her) but then we counted up and it would be 26 races - eg at least 1.5 hours - until her next race. Bearing in mind it is about 90 degrees plus here all the time we decided against waiting around and gave up!

Funnily enough, we were the only expats left by that point.....

Good grief, I wouldn't have waited that long in the heat either strandead! Don't worry frakkin, I am not blooming either. Positively shattered today as ds was up several times in the night with a nose bleed and wetting the bed. I do have more energy than the early days in that I don't want to fall asleep at 3 but I do feel more tired, more easily. I am approaching the third trimester and I definitely feel like this one is finishing me off! [tired emoticon]

I don't think I could have managed more than 10 minutes in that heat, strandead - I'm not one for extremes of temperature. It sounds like your DC did really well, though; you must have been very proud of them.

It's already starting to get far too cold for me here, and winter hasn't even started properly yet. I've just stocked up on ski wear for the DC but that's about as far as my involvement in skiing goes. DH is the one who wants them to learn to ski so he's the one who can take them skiing! (DD1 learned a few years ago but DH has decided that it's now time for DD2 and DS to learn too.)

Hope you manage to get a better night's sleep tonight, Jenny. I find it exhausting enough when I have to get up with the DC several times a night (not too often, fortunately) but it must be even more tiring when you're pregnant. I felt awful for a good part of my third pregnancy (more to do with the fact that I couldn't shake off a nasty case of bronchitis than the pregnancy itself, although the doctor wasn't keen on giving me antibiotics as I was pregnant), but I kept myself going by telling myself it would definitely be my last pregnancy!

Thanks Linzer - definitely my last! Love the name change, btw .

Yes don't forget that after 14 months of living in this heat we are slightly used to it. But I still don't think the locals realise quite HOW hot we find it! I am having daydreams about cold, crisp Christmassy nights at the moment..

Oooh and Lonzer (good namechange!) what age did your dd1 learn to ski? I think dh would love them to learn but I think it's a bit of a fantasy as money will definitely be tight when we get home and have to live on one wage and no overseas allowances...we might try taking them to one of those snow domes though.

Cold winter nights are more the stuff of my nightmares, strandead! I do like crisp autumn days, but unfortunately we haven't had many of them so far this year and it's getting a bit late now.

DD1 was 6 when she learned to ski; DH enrolled her and DD2 (4 at the time) on a week's skiing course. DD2 hated it (although I think it was more to do with the fact that they had to go off on the coach on their own and spend the day without us than the actual skiing) so only went for two days, but DD1 was skiing well by the end of the week. The good thing about skiing here is that it doesn't necessarily have to cost a lot of money; we're about an hour from the nearest skiing region so don't have to fly/stay overnight anywhere. There's the equipment/clothes to fork out for, of course, but at least with three DC we should get plenty of use out of everything!

Linzer we should just do an exchange! We can have your place for a week and get our fill of the cold and snow and the dd's can learn to swim - you can come here and get some winter sun and your dc's can learn to snorkel (if they can't already of course)!

That sounds like a great idea, stranded! I've just had to turn the heating up again, so even temperatures in the nineties seem quite attractive at the moment (I've forgotten the reality). Our DC do have snorkels but have never ventured very far into the sea (which we only see two or three times a year). Ah yes, I can just imagine it now... sun, sea, sand - I'm on my way!

oh er and I should have said learn to ski not swim of course. My mind is all over the place. It's the heat y'know.

I thought that was what you meant - although I did wonder whether your DC might need to learn to swim in a landlocked country.

Right, definitely stealing nightmarenmj!

Thanks, jenny - Maren is my mother's name. She spelled it a bit different with me (she is Marin) because I was born in the San Fransisco area and she didn't want confusion with Marin County, plus it's not pronounced the same.

I always avoid the baby name threads because I have an unusual name, and I have given my daughter and unusual name. So everyone going on about how names need to be lawyerly-worthy or not make the kid stand out get my hackles up. I'll admit that I hated my name when I was little and wanted to be like everyone else, but as soon as I got older I really appreciated being the only one with my name

I AM tempted to start a baby name thread just so I can show it to DH and prove why I am vetoing "Wolfgang" every time he brings it up :)

jenny your birthday sounds lovely!

strandead I am not managing pregnancy well either. No energy and even just a few degrees extra heat (such as someone taking a shower without the fan on) can send me to the loo heaving. I'm VERY glad it's going in to Autumn where I can be too cold all the time instead of too hot.

It's my first winter in the Seattle area since I was about 6 years old! Should be illuminating I'm beginning to think I should have started work on the puffy quilt for DD's bed months ago rather than putting it off because it was too hot to think it would ever get particularly cold.

OOooh all you pregnant people please post your possible name choices so we can have our own little baby names corner?

Gosh, if only I knew..... [hsad]

Ok, I'll play, strandead

DH and I like Osborn for a boy. Totally coming up blank for a girl or a suitable middle name

Wolfgang still gets vetoed [hgrin]

Wolfgang is a great name, but I can't imagine a small child with it! [hgrin]

Me neither! It seems much too old.

Wolfgang is a fairly common name in Austria, but only among a certain age group. I don't think I know anyone under 30 called Wolfgang; it's definitely not a small child's name here.

Indeed Linzer, we have a cousin in Austria named Wolfgang and it seems utterly normal over there (he is 28 though...they are in a valley perhaps that explains it time does move slower there!!).

strandead - don't worry! I'm due April, will be having baby here as maternity care is apparently fab - French medical standards but muuuuuch more relaxed when it comes to birth/post-natal care. You have to request pain relief etc rather than epidural as standard! We're here because DH got posted to the Naval base here and I stupidly agreed to him requesting that posting in the first place! I'm not too keen on the monthly blood tests and 7 compulsory medical appointments though.

Names - we're still very undecided. At the moment I like Isabelle, but it's v popular in England and a bit old lady in France and Cécile but Cecily is getting v popular in England both with Marie in front (DHs family alllll do double first names).... I also like Lydie - but we don't know what we'd double it with and DH won't back down, despite the fact I'm not planning to use both names ever day.

For boys Marc-Sebastien and Georges-Frédéric (if a boy baby is born on St George's day I'm having that!) are the current favourites but it's really difficult deciding!

I'm really trying to push the George themed names so if it does end up arriving on St George's day I can point out what a lovely coincidence it is but so far DH has say Georgette is a really old lady name in French and is slightly confused by Georgina.

2kids1dog My ILs aren't in a valley but they are out in the sticks, and I definitely get the feeling that time moves slower there too. [hwink] (No young Wolfgangs there AFAIK, though!)

frakkinstein I like Isabelle too, but then I'm biased as it's DD1's name. [hsmile] (I'm completely outing myself on this thread, although I'm sure it's obvious who I am to anyone who knows me, whether or not I give the DC's names!) I didn't realise it was an old lady's name in France, but we don't have any French connections or plans to go there so DD1 will probably be OK! I really like Lydie as well - in fact, all the names you mentioned are lovely. Is your DH French btw?

How did you guess?! [hgrin]

Oh, just a lucky guess. [hgrin]

Although I suppose he could be from Belgium... or La Reunion (we had a very good looking French assistant at school from there [hgrin])... or, umm... Algeria, possibly (running out of places now).