A Southern Polish Twang

Evenings at Perth Street are filled with English lessons and elocution lessons and conversational English classes. And along the way, Ted has picked up a bit of an American accent, I'm proud to say. You should hear him say 'thanks'.

Although it has been quite a challenge teaching him the 'th' sound. Apparently it doesn't live in Poland.

And then I spoke to my sister who gave me a run-down on the baptism weekend extravaganza featuring family and friends. Apparently during the baptism service, the Pastor gave a sermon that featured the phrase "shut up Jesus". My sister said Aila's eyes got huge and she turned to my sister and said, "unkind words." Maria says she has a feeling that when she picks Aila up from daycare today, there will be a report of the phrase "shut up Jesus" having been slipped into casual daycare conversation.

Homesickness

Yesterday I spoke to the family who are gathered at my sister's house for the baptism of Annais. I spoke to my uncle and aunt, and cousin-in-law Gary and cousin Tina and cousin's daughter Holly and my sister and my mom and my dad. All in 25 minutes. And this is what they told me:

"It's too hot here." Kalevi (uncle)

"Aila says 'mine'." Ritva (aunt)

"How is your English?" Cousin-in-law Gary (master grammarian / expert board-game-player)

"I slept on an air mattress in Aila's room." Holly (age 8)

"Yesterday we went to go get two Honeybaked hams." Irma (age 65)

"I miss you." Super-kind cousin Tina

"Do you want to come home to go to Aunt Winona's 90th birthday party?" Peter (65,000,000 frequent flier miles, and counting / the-man-who-thinks-its-reasonable-to-fly-someone-from-Scotland-to-attend-a-champagne-brunch-in-Northern-California)

"Tomorrow the Finns and the Mexicans will be here." Maria (mother of two nordic aztecs)

So talking to them made me homesick. So today I'm listening to Willy Nelson. And dammit, I feel better.

English Society

Ted's English has come on in leaps and bounds since his accident, as he's been off work and has been surrounded by English speakers all day. We have had a whole lotta guests lately at 12 Perth Street, so Ted has had mucho English practice. Irish-Belgian Gemma was here, and then Norette and Robbie and Dougie were in town from Dingwall, followed by Callum this past Friday, and Paul G. from Elgin last night. Maybe I should turn this into a society page, where I can track the goings-on of the up-and-coming. Although I wouldn't want to be friends with people who market themselves as 'up-and-coming.'

So imagine that right here is a photo of Gemma arriving in Edinburgh, with a caption about EU correspondents, or erstwhile publishing students, or some such nonesense.

And here is a photo of Norette and Robbie and Dougie, sipping wine at our flat with a caption about Robbie's success in the music industry, and a plug for his gig.

And then Callum would need no caption, because EVERYBODY knows who he is.

And then Paul Gibson could be featured standing at a jaunty angle next to his beautiful photographs.

And that's the latest from Edinburgh.

Gray/Grey

I'm going grey. And by 'grey' I mean I have one grey hair that has reared its ugly folicle. It's curly. And by 'grey', I actually mean 'white'. My dad went 'grey and bald at 19', so things could be worse for me.

Le Update

Site neglected due to the fact that I am at the computer all day at work and then when I get home I really don't want to sit down at the computer, even if it is to type super funny stuff to keep my readers and fans happy.

But I will try.

Quote for the day:

"I talk to myself and I always agree with me."

Who said it?

A. My dad (Pete Sandstrum)
B. A geek who was giving us a software demo
C. Me

Hint: If you guessed A or C you are incorrect.

A Mother's Love

8:42 this morning, telephone rings.

A-L: "hello"

Mrs Rollo: "Oh, good morning, this is Ruth, Paul's mother, how are you?"

A-L: "I am well, thank you. You'll never believe it, but Paul is up! Would you like to speak to him?"

Mrs R: "Oh good. He's up then. What time is his exam?" (Criminal Law exam)

A-L: "I believe it's at 9:30. Would you like to speak to him?"

Mrs R: "No, no, I just phoned to say 'Good Luck'."

A-L: "Oh, that's sweet. I'll pass on the message."

-----

In the kitchen:

A-L: "Your mother is so sweet, she phoned just to say good luck on your exam."

Paul: "No she didn't, she phoned to make sure I was awake."

A-L: "Did you ask her to?"

Paul: "No, in fact, she was asked NOT to phone."

Quotable

"Well, you didn't tell me it was a tabby!"
Gemma (friend from Brussels), upon seeing the kitten that will be staying with us for 5 weeks

"You have to eat it with a knife and fork."
The lady at the cafe in answer to my question about what some vegetable covered bread thing was.

Missing Pole

So much to report.

The headline of course is that last week our Pole (Ted) didn't come home for two nights in a row. One night, not so odd. Two nights, very odd. So on Thursday morning I phoned his work to make sure he had been showing up. Here's how the conversation went:

9:45 a.m.

Erika: "Hello Zizzi, Erika speaking, how can I help you?"

A-L: "Hi. I have kind of an odd question. My 30-year-old flatmate, Ted, hasn't been home in two days and I just wanted to make sure he's been at work. Because his mother is in Poland, so I'm pretending to be his mother."

Erika: "Oh, actually, he fell at work two days ago and he's in the hospital. Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you want to know our lunch special?"

A-L: "umm, what? He fell? He's in the hospital? Does his wife know? Is he badly hurt? Is he ok? What hospital is he in?"

Erika: "I don't know. Sorry, that's all the information I have. Our special is spinach and chicken pizza. Would you like to book a table?"

A-L: "You don't know what hospital he's in?? Who does know? Where can I find out??"

Erika: "One of the Polish chefs might know. Can you call back at 10?"

A-L: "I suppose."

----------
At 10 I phoned back.

Erika: "Hello Zizzi, this is Erika speaking, how can I help you?"

A-L: "Hi, this is Ted's flatmate again. Do you have any more information?"

Erika: "Yes, apparently he had an operation yesterday."

A-L: "Where? What operation?"

Erika: "I'm sorry, that's all the information I have. We have lovely views from our restaurant of the water."

A-L: "WELL WHO DOES KNOW WHAT HOSPITAL HE'S IN? CAN I HAVE THE NUMBER TO YOUR HEAD OFFICE?"

Erika: "I'll speak to our operations manager and phone you back."

Turns out Ted fell down the staircase at Zizzi while carrying plates, and his arm landed on the broken crockery, which severed something blood-filled in his arm. So he had an operation on Wednesday, and didn't come home because he couldn't remember our phone number, and it was too far to walk. Bless.

He's home now, recovering. And doing well. In fact, he went to the hospital this morning to have the stitches removed.

Overheard

Last week someone at work described a book as being covered in (or with) "the patina of academia." I wrote it down. And I just Googled that phrase, and got 61 hits. For heaven's sake, who are these rhetoricians? (Incidentally, "rhetoricians" when Googled returns 62,200 hits.)

Edinburgh Festival Explained

Yes, as you may know, Edinburgh is sometimes called the Festival City. Why, you ask, well because this city plays host to:

The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival
The Fringe Festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival
and the
The Edinburgh International Film Festival

. . . all during the month of August. So why aren't you in Edinburgh, Judy??

Update

1. Last week I went to London and back in one day for a meeting and made it back safely.
2. The boyfriend and I are kitten sitting for seven weeks while the cat's mother and father are in China. Stuart is definitely in love. With the kitten.
3. Edinburgh Festival has begun. The best place to enjoy the Edinburgh Festival is in Edinburgh.
4. Niece Aila has added the word "never" to her vocabulary, and is reported to have responded to Grandpa's request for her to get a book for him to read to her with, "no, never."
5. Maria has promised that every time her girls say "I'm bored", she'll tell them "go sweep the patio."
6. No, never.
7. Irish-Belgian-erstwhile-publishing-student-current-EU-affairs-reporter Gemma will arrive in Edinburgh next Friday, I believe, for Festival fun and excitement.
8. Norette to follow.
9. Norette.
10. Why haven't you visited Edinburgh? Book tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Letter from Paul, to the Corinthians, I mean Edinburgians

An excerpt from the e-mail I received from flatmate Paul today:

hey A-L

i had very peculiar dreams last night including one in which you got electrocuted (but were ultimately OK you'll be glad to know) and another in which Stu sent me an email saying we couldn't be friends anymore.

Busyness

Dear Readers, Fans, and Friends,

I have been tres busy as of late and have much neglected this site. But your outpouring of support has inspired me to post this update:

I am busy.

The end.

More later.