Unfunny... No More

I realize that for quite some time, I haven't been saying anything particularly funny. Being able to express my somewhat offbeat sense of humor (at least for the French) is part of why I blog. So, it's starting to bug me that I never have anything funny to share these days. I'm beginning to suspect that pregnancy has some effect on my funny bone. And, I even think it's had some effect on the stats of my site, though I've been too lazy to click on over to my site counter page to verify this. My readers are surely dropping like flies, though.

Anyway, since I constantly strive for self-improvement (I almost typed "self-importance", I swear), I want to fix this. You know, that when we find shortcomings around here, we try to do something about them (ahem - no comments on that, please). You want proof of this? The lack of knitting content was recently remedied. The fact that I've not been posting more than once a week these days was (at least temporarily) fixed. So, why not do something about the unfunniness of my posts as well?

So, here goes (hope all the hype doesn't ruin it). This is not actually something that I came up with, myself (hey, we're making an effort, at least). But, my offspring said it, so that should count for something, right?

I was at the grocery store, waiting for the fishermonger lady (and, by the way, I don't find monger to be a very lady-like word, do you? In the US, I wouldn't usually call the person behind the fish counter a fishmonger, because they're really probably just a salesperson of precut fish filets, but here the lady behind the counter knows how to scale, gut and chop up an actual fish, so... fishmonger). Anyway, I'm standing there with Lambchop #2, when a tall, overweight man with a beard walks by. He was a little on the ummm... aging side, but hardly old. Lambchop, however, saw an instant resemblance - to Santa Claus. So, for the next few minutes, he sat there in the cart saying, "Look, Mommy. It's Santa Claus." Over and over and over again. It would have been quite cute if only he had actually said it in English instead of French (oh, and if he knew how to moderate his voice yet). But, he didn't (and he doesn't), so it may have been a little bit embarrassing. Luckily for us, though, maybe Santa Claus is starting to lose his hearing, so the fishmonger, Lambchop #2 and I were able to have our own private laugh together. It was quite a bonding moment, really.

Ooh, and while we're on the subject of funny things kids say and do, I've got a good one from playgroup yesterday. Some of the older kids wanted to perform a little play to entertain the mommies (not my Lambchop #1 - she's quite the shy one). The boys went first (apparently after much rehearsing). Theirs was a strong-man show. They lifted chairs and large pillow-like toys above their heads. Pretty funny, but the best part came next. One of the little girls (who is about 5, just for your information) wanted to do a little circus-type number. So, she stood up on a chair with both arms out to her sides like an airplane. She stood very erect in this pose, while shaking from head to toe. Normally, this would not be such a difficult feat that it would require shaking to stay in place, but she was imitating something she'd seen many times before.

See, here they have gypsy circus families that sweep through the small villages, often with silly acts and even sillier animals, while ripping people off of ridiculous sums of money to watch it all. In the middle of the show is always a small girl who does things like standing on her hands on top of a chair. You always get the sense that she's too young to be doing this (even though Daddy is always standing beside here to spot her in case she falls) and that she's terrified of messing up. You get this idea because, while she's upside down, putting all her concentration into the act, she's shaking - a lot. So, this little girl at playgroup had gotten the idea that the shaking is a necessary part of any gymnastics trick in a play or circus. Why not? It was definitely entertaining, at least.

And, just a little serious news (not too serious, though - but not funny, really)... I've decided to make myself an apron using a combo of leftover and new fabrics. I've already made up my pattern and washed the fabric. Now all I need to do is cut and sew. I've been meaning to do something like this for quite some time. It's a definite necessity for me, because the women in my family are well-known for "catching things" on their "shelf". See, when you've got body parts that protrude far enough to keep you from fully reaching the table, you tend to catch any food that drops on these body parts instead of the lap-napkin, as intended. Pregnancy has added a new and larger shelf to the first, and I'm beginning to spend a fortune on stain-removers. Something must be done, so I'm going to make a cute little apron that I can cook, clean and eat in. I make have to make another if this one turns out the way I'd like.