Oh yeah, by the way "we're" pregnant...

Except that if you're been in touch with us, this is old news by now - especially as I'm now 30+ weeks along so Baby's official due date is less than 10 weeks away. I'm really hoping it's less than 10 weeks... like maybe the earliest possible date for a full term baby.

And yes, we do know the gender, and no, we're not keeping it a secret - but some of our friends (including my midwife) have expressed the desire to not know, so out of respect for those people I still call the little one Baby Snare instead of "he" or "she" although I have let it slip a few times now.

Names are all picked too - that one IS our little secret til Baby's born.

Why do guys get to say "we're pregnant", anyway? WE'RE? Who decided that? Shouldn't it be "she's"? I know James has the important job of fetching me Milo or ice cream almost every night, but that is seriously nowhere near as tough as carrying this little tyke around in my belly daily! :P

But at least he bought me a nice, modern rocking chair! They're called gliders these days. And I'm sitting in it right now!

Okay, well not in the photo itself. But you get the idea. The matching footstool glides in time with the chair too - ultra-cool!

"I knew you were going to say that!"

This is a phrase James and I often say to each other. Another common one is, "I was just thinking that too!"

I find it fascinating that after 3 years of marriage (we celebrate our 3rd anniversary a week from today) we often think the same thing at the same time. This phenomenon becomes particularly apparent when travelling in the car or during ad breaks on TV, when one of us will make a particular observation, to which the other will respond, "that's what I was just thinking!"

Even less coincidental is when an event or observation reminds both of us of the same thing that needed doing or discussing. The two may be mildly related but are unrelated enough to still generate surprise that the other was thinking the same thing.

And then there's that ability we seem to possess to accurately predict the other person's reaction to an event, comment or joke.

Is it just us or does it happen to you too?

Manila Musings

I feel tall and medium here, a far cry from my short and little situation in Australia. I’m at least half a head taller than most of the local women – that makes me “tall”. Jeans sizes in stores start at around 25… I am a size 27 – that makes me “medium”. I am sure that I’ve seen Filipinas that could be a size 24 or even 23. I think many of them would be unable to purchase clothing in their size in Australia, except perhaps in the children’s departments.

***

They think I’m Filipino. People here keep speaking to me in Tagalog. This used to happen to me a lot when I lived in Hong Kong too so that didn’t surprise me. However, what I do find funny is that the locals keep talking to me instead of James. After finishing our lunch at one restaurant, James asked for the bill. The waitress confirmed this request by asking me, “do you want the bill?” When she returned with the bill, she handed it to me. I passed it to James and he paid for it. The change was then promptly returned to me. Is it because they think I’m Filipino, or because the females usually take care of the bills in this culture? I’m not sure.

***

Being Asian, I dislike being overcharged… immensely! Whilst I recognise that prices in the Philippines are cheap by Australian standards, there is an innate part of me that is unwilling to pay a Peso more than I believe I’m supposed to. This is one of those things that reminds James and I that we actually do possess cultural differences within our characteristics - Western James thinks to himself, “so what if I’m being overcharged, it’s only 5 dollars!” whereas I think, “a local would be paying only half this much, how dare they try to take advantage of us!”

***

We met not one, but two honest taxi drivers. I am used to Malaysian taxi drivers trying to rip us off – Filipino taxi drivers seem to be more honest than their Malaysian counterparts. Both offered us their services to the airport for P2000, but upon learning our departure time, advised that we take the bus (P300 per person). Had we been in Malaysia, the taxi drivers would most definitely have attempted to convince us that the bus would be too slow, traffic on the bus route would be shocking, and we would inevitably miss our flight if we didn’t choose their reasonably-priced taxi services and make use of their knowledge of the much faster back route.

Fi's Picture Perfect Day Off

Before I attempt to describe my perfect day off, I must also preface that I am not so unreasonable to believe or expect that what I am about to describe could possibly come true. But for the purposes of this post, let's assume we live in a world where I can edit the parameters of reality however I please.

I would start my perfect day off sleeping in until 10am, but being able to rewind time to 6am so that I could get in a morning run, weights workout, shower and do my hair and makeup all in time to head off for a massive day out shopping by 9am.

I would be having a perfect hair day, my makeup would look fabulous with very little effort and it would not rub off, wear out or smudge in the slightest. The weather would be perfect - warm enough for me not to have to bring a jacket but cool enough not to induce sweat. Definitely sunny, and definitely no rain or wind. My outfit would not only look great in, but be perfectly comfortable, including my stiletto high heels. After a full day of walking around in stiletto heels I would not have sore feet in the slightest.

I would head to an imaginary suburb somewhere in Melbourne which contained a street filled with all my favourite stores. They would all be having massive, never-to-be-seen-again sales. On that particular day, every store would have just received a shipment of their latest season, so not only would there be lots of great stuff, they would actually have my size in stock during the sale period, for once!

I would proceed to shop til I dropped because a billionaire would have given me a credit card to make purchases on for that day, and that day only. I would purchase items at bargain prices, including but not be limited to Nike sportswear, several pairs of ASICS runners, at least 2-3 evening gowns (not dresses... gowns!) complete with matching shoes and coat, a designer watch and several jewelery items containing the best quality diamonds ever (e.g. a diamond ring, tennis bracelet and gorgeous earrings and necklace to go with my new evening dresses).

Food that accompanies such a perfect day could only be -

Breakfast: Nut & Seed Muesli with Flaxseed Oil & Natural Yoghurt OR a Vanilla Protein-powered cherry shake whizzed up using a Bamix (or if I didn't have a Bamix yet, this would definitely be one of my purchases).

Lunch: Salad consisting of lots and lots and lots of veggies, salmon, avocado, and some cheese

Dinner: I would meet James at one of the best restaurants in town where we would enjoy the most stunning cuisine (probably Duck or some form of exquisitely prepared red meat). I would even have dessert - the richest, naughtiest chocolate cake ever topped with thick, rich King Island Dairy cream, and it would be perfectly okay to eat this because on this perfect day chocolate cake is actually good for you and filled with lots of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and all sorts of other healthy things (and the calories in the cake would not count for some extraordinarily unexplainable reason).

After dinner we would watch a movie at the cinemas, probably Gold Class style. In fact, this would actually be where we had dessert (but the dessert would not be from the Gold Class kitchen it would be from the restaurant where we had dinner) and I would not have to focus on not dropping cake in my lap, it just magically wouldn't happen. We would watch a Romantic Comedy and it would be a good one.

I would be transported everywhere I went by Limousine, and I would wear one of my new evening dresses to dinner because the restaurant would require Black Tie attire only. And everywhere I went an invisible professional photographer would be following me, to take photos to document my perfect day in the most beautifully presented photo album ever.

Oh, yeah... somewhere in my day I would somehow squeeze in a Hot Air Balloon ride, sometime right before sunrise. James would definitely be there with me on the balloon ride. I would probably do all the shopping without him though - it makes a perfect day for me but would be a horrific experience for him.

My Day Off

It suddenly occurred to me as I was sitting here today that Fiona and I have noticeably different approaches to our days off. So in my (hopefully) successful return to the world of blogging I'd like to post my perfect day off. I'm sure Fiona will return with a post of her soon.

Disclaimer: This is a perfect day off when I have the house to myself and don't have my beautiful, wonderful, funny, loving wife with me. My perfect day off with Fiona is not something that I would necessarily share with the world at large :)

I like to start my perfect day off with a perfectly prepared big breakfast. Sausages, eggs, toast, tomatoes, mushrooms and a vanilla or chocolate milkshake (depending on what mood I'm in).

Next I'd like to read the paper or a good novel if I'm currently engaged with one at the time. An essential part of my perfect day off would be that the dishes would be done without me actually doing them. I'm not sure how this would happen but I clearly envision going throughout the day without having to worry about it.

As I moved into the late morning I'd like to explore what is on cable television. Seeing as this is my perfect day off I'd discover that there is either poker or an American football game on TV.
I would have a truly great burger and fries while watching some awesome hands or the Green Bay Packers clinch a victory in a high scoring game in the fourth quarter.

After watching either of these for a couple of hours I would be picked up by a friend
who I would go trapezing with. I've only done this once but I had so much fun that I would have to make it a part of my best day off.

I would then return home to watch a seriously man's man movie with lots of great one liners and awesome action scenes. (see my previous post about what I want in a good movie). Possibly while eating a great pizza.

Finally I would have my closest friends around to play poker and drink some beer or bourbon and coke with while eating salt and vinegar chips. I would of course take all of my friends money (though not too much) and win the night with a supreme move in the final hand.

It made not sound like much but it sounds pretty darn good to me.

Love to hear what you think.

Coming Soon...

We have been too busy training for a half marathon together to blog. But in hindsight James' take on said half-marathon versus mine would be an interesting discussion. This post exists to help YOU keep US accountable to write about this experience!

In the meantime... check out my newest favourite SnareShot in the left hand column.

Of Men and Multi-tasking

Who says men can't multi-task?

Right now, both James and I are studying. Or should I say, I am supposed to be studying right now. We both study part-time ~ a law degree for James, a personal trainer certification for me ~ which means right now he's trying to learn a bunch of law-related stuff and I'm taking a brief break from learning the names and actions of every muscle in the human body.

My study environment:

• Room: the study
• Location: the desk
• Noise levels: it's quiet (so I can concentrate - music just distracts me)
• Conclusion: I am alone with my thoughts, my textbook, and the colouring pencils I am using to help my identify various muscle groups.

James' study environment:

• Room: the living room
• Location: in front of the TV
• Noise levels: audio commentary on tonight's football game
• Conclusion: James is alone with his thoughts, his textbook, and the commentators and spectators live from the football stadium
  

Who says men can't multi-task?

I must concede though, that James has learnt a few things in our 2.5yrs of marriage... thanks to my wonderful influence by example of course.

For example, most of us women like to do something productive in front of the television, such as folding laundry, ironing, or even scrapbooking for the more creative ladies. Men, on the other hand, like to sit in front of the television and do nothing else, claiming that they must focus 100% on it because they "can't multi-task".

James, on the other hand, has been known to occasionally be productive whilst watching TV ~ this typically occurs when he's re-watching one of his favourite movies or watching his newest Smallville DVD purchases.

I can only draw two possible conclusions from James' odd behaviour:

1. After 2.5yrs of marriage, James is still trying to impress me
2. James is some sort of modern day super-man, able to do what no other man can do
   

Her Movies

Now this may not be the case with all girls, but it is with this one - most of the time, the content of the movie itself is not necessarily so important as the entire experience of "going to the movies". I mean, of course the movie choice plays a part (as you'll see mentioned later) because it contributes to the experience. But there is just so much more to movie-going... I mean, we pay so much these days for a single movie ticket, so we should make the best of it!

So, yes, James, guys and girls probably do have very different approaches to movies. For me, the five (5) most important things about "The Movies" are:

5. Entertainment value. Movie choice is definitely important. After all, did you ever go see a movie you didn't enjoy at all and come out thinking what a great time you just had?

Side note: I personally do not go to a movie to write a critique, or check out a director's directing skills, or monitor a story-writer's ability to write a riveting plot that links all the bits together in a way that artfully ties fiction in with enough reality to satisfy my sense of being. No. I go to the movies for one main reason: to have a good time. To enjoy myself. To be entertained. I don't want to know the details right after the movie because if I then discover that maybe it wasn't really that well put together, it can dampen my sense of how entertained I really was. James.

Side note 2: If you are good at figuring out the major plot point of a movie only 5 minutes into it, don't tell the person you are at the movies with just so you can prove that you figured it out before it was revealed. Maybe you'll prove your skill but other people won't enjoy it so much anymore. James.

4. Climate control. The cinema should be not too hot, yet not too cold. Shivering may cause us to expend more energy whilst sitting in our seats, thus enabling us to eat more popcorn and chocolate... but this is not enough to make up for the decrease in enjoyment factor. I find that even in summer, a jumper is a great thing to add to my cinema-kit.

3. Snacks. I've said it before, I'll say it again - it's all about the experience. I mean, what is a movie experience without the savoury aromas of popcorn, the sweet taste of M&Ms that melt in your mouth and not your hand, and the cool feel of a choc top sliding effortlessly down your throat?

2. Comfortable seats. James very well knows that there are particular cinemas I don't enjoy going to as much, even if they are cheaper (which normally appeals to my Asian, penny-saving heritage), simply because the chairs are too old and sunken to be the slightest bit comfortable enough to endure for over an hour.

1. Good company. Let's face it, what is the point of the entire experience - the big screen, the popcorn, chocolate and ice-cream, the large comfy seats - without someone to share that experience with?

His Movies

Having been so encouraged by the comment from Luke, I could not help but want to quickly send out another post into cyberspace. A friend of mine recently brought the Chuck Norris facts to my attention and after laughing incredibly hard it got me thinking about the different approaches that guys and girls have to movies. I'm just as curious to read Fiona's response as you are.

So here I am to publish the top five things that a guy is looking for when going to the movies.

1. Action. This is so obvious that it hardly needs mentioning but it is worth mentioning why guys in general want action. The answer? Because we want to do everything that James Bond does with the Walther PPK 7.5mm. Every guy wants to believe he can be Braveheart, Gladiator, Aragorn... or if there is nothing better on TV, one of Van Damme's forgettable performances (see Leon the Lion in 'Lionheart' an incredibly bad but incredibly mesmorising performance). Ladies, you gotta let your man be a man at the movies.

2. Cool lines. Again, every guy wants to have the kick butt line to drop at just the right moment. The trick is being able to say it without coming off as incredibly lame (again see 'Lionheart', I can't remember if there are any bad lines but I'm sure there would be). It's also great when a line is so cool or funny that it can be said in real life.

3. Romance. Before I'm dismissed as some sort of sissy girl, let me explain. Guys actually are inspired by seeing a guy that they genuinely like hook up with a girl that they genuinely like. Guys aren't opposed to romance, we're just repulsed by a mushy, effeminate and soppy version of romance. In '10 Things I Hate About You' when Heath Ledger sings to Julia Stiles with the marching band kicking in at the chorus, thats flippin' poetry. Any guy that says different is probably insecure.

4. Something to do with playing cards. I don't know why but whenever there is a hero or a villain that can play cards, do card tricks or use playing cards as weapons, I'm almost always prepared to pay the price of admission. This admittedly could just be me and not all guys.

5. Inspiration. I want to walk out of a movie being inspired to do something. I remember walking out at the end of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and wanting to jump on top of cars while swashbuckling my unseen opponents. Fiona tried to pretend she didn't know me as I smoothly took care of the entire crew of the Black Pearl in the parking lot but I remember thinking "Man, that was a great movie!'

10 Things Fi is good at

In no particular order:

**Laughing louder than anyone else in the cinema

**Making me laugh through the power of her personality quirks (see No. 3 below)

**Encouraging advertising executives by responding with more wonder and desire to commercials than anyone else on the planet

**Sleeping

**Giving Christmas and birthday presents (Thanks for the Wii Fi)

**Encouraging me to stay fit by simply working so hard herself

**Forgiving me for making the same mistakes over and over again

**Being silly when she thinks no one else is watching

**Saying incredibly nice things in public about me and letting me steal them to say back to her (see No. 10)

**Being the best wife in the whole wide world!

10 things James is good at

In no particular order:

**Making me laugh

**Being very (very, very!) patient with me

**Lying on my side of the bed just before bedtime to warm it up for me, and also making me a hot water bottle

**Karaoke ~ 12 out of 10 for stage presence, 20 out of 10 for enthusiasm

**Accidentally hurting me without even trying

**Forgetting to turn the oven off ~ at least 4 times in 2006 we discovered that James accidentally left the oven on, sometimes for as long as 3 days

**Telling lame "Dad" jokes (the scary thing is, he's not a Dad yet!)

**Adding enthusiasm to anything, even the most boring task in the world

**Being a good sport, as opposed to me, the sore loser (I don't know how he puts up with playing games with me; I'm often not happy because I dislike losing and he usually wins, so ironically it can become a lose-lose situation. I'm getting a *little* better though, promise!)

**Being the best husband in the whole wide world!