On the Lighter Side...

Remember how I blogged about all the pressure I feel about having babies?   Sometimes you just have to choose to laugh instead of getting stressed out.  For example, my mom has lately taken to telling me all her favourite baby names, just in case.  I've reminded her that she already had the chance to name me and my brother, but she persists in throwing random options out there, and honestly, they are all really weird!

The most recent example of this is that my mom just got back from in Italy and was eager to tell me her new favourite girls name:  Lucrezia.  Let's just note that any future biological babies will be Belgian-English-Scottish-Chinese-Canadian, with some Malaysian and German cultural heritage thrown in for good measure, but certainly not Italian.  Not to mention that the only association I have for that name is the Renaissance figure Lucrezia Borgia.*  Sometimes, she makes me want to pull an Elizabeth Bennet and shake my head while softly murmuring, "Oh, mamma..."  It also makes me wonder what kind of name she'd have chosen if she had gone to some place like Iceland** instead.

Does anyone else experience this??  How do you handle it?


*According to Wikipedia, "Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo Borgia,  the powerful Renaissance Valencian who later became Pope Alexander VI, and Vannozza dei Cattanei.  Her brothers included Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, and Gioffre Borgia.  It is often suggested that Cesare and Lucrezia may have had an incestuous relationship.^" You can read the full article here.  Hmmm, I'm not so sure I want to name my future daughter after this person....

**According to this site, one of the most popular girls' names in Iceland for 2010 was Hrafnhildur.  (And I'm not naming my kid that either!)

Amusing Anecdote

I've had a few thoughts on more heavy posts lately, but it's 25 degrees in March, so who wants to think about serious things?  Instead, here's a slice of life in our home.

Last night, for some reason I was talking to Gil about Jean Sibelius.  Yes, I am a band geek...

Me:  ...and one interesting thing about Sibelius is that his monument in Helsinki is made up entirely of organ parts...

(Gil looks mildly disturbed; I wondered if I was boring him.)

Me:  ...but actually, Sibelius never composed any organ music.

Gil:  You realize that as a doctor, organ means something very different to me, right?  I was picturing something very CSI.

Me at the Sibelius monument.  No lungs or kidneys in sight!

PS  Someone at Bible study today brought up the fact that we are all organs in the body of the church.  I started giggling to myself.

Is This Really My Life?

I don't know how many of you have thought that from time to time.  It can be thought in a moment of wonder, when you can hardly believe that things are so great: "Wow, is this really my life?!"  When I lived in Germany, I would ride my bike over the Neckar river to get to school, and frequently have to keep from pinching myself because I could barely believe that I lived in such a fairly tale city.

Shameless plug for Heidelberg, my favourite city

 
There have been times when I've been in the thick of stress and frustration, and thought to myself:  "Is this really my life?  Didn't I expect that things would be better?  When do I give in and realize that I may never be a world famous novelist or some other glamorous profession?"  Usually these thoughts come when I am in the midst of feeling very sorry for myself and in general, I end up feeling very silly afterwards.

There is still a third mood for the "Is this really my life" statement, and that comes when it seems as though things could not be absurd, or you would be in an Ionesco play.  This was the kind of day I had.  My mother is taking care of our cat Sadie until we move into our new house.  She is quite attentive and likes to give me regular cat updates.  Somehow, she has recently come to the conclusion that Sadie was never spayed, and probably should be.  I am fairly certain she is wrong, but there have been a lot of back-and-forth emails between us.  So today I found myself spending the morning googling the menstrual cycles of cats, watching online videos of cats in yowling in heat, and wondering, "Is this really my life?"  It's a good thing God gave me a sense of humour so I can laugh at at these strange moments!