Monday, September 15, 2014

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY



Well…I am sick with the flu! No, I’m not trying to gain your sympathy or ‘well wishes’, but to explain why I have been on a television and movie feeding frenzy! At first, body aches were so bad, all I could do was cuddle up with my heating pad in bed or in my recliner (yes, I have one of those!) and sleep the day away while wishing my mom was here. Seems, it doesn’t matter how old you are, when you’re sick, you still wish you had your mother to take care of you!

As the sick days passed by and my body aches began to subside, I realized I needed something to do to entertain myself while I lay in my recliner for days. Funny, this is something so many working people dream of…laying around the house with absolutely nothing to do for days, but to tell you the truth…it gets quite boring and makes me long for the days of going out for a dreaded dental appointment…at least I’d be getting out of the house!


Anyway, there I sat with absolutely nothing to do, except blow my nose so much that I was creating an enormous mountain of Kleenex that would give Mt. Everest a run for its’ money! So in my boredom, I decided to look through my PVR (in the U.S. it’s a DVR…in Australia it’s a PVR) for movies and T.V. shows I recorded but have never watched.
This is an example of what you'll find on my Facebook page
 

As I proceeded through ‘East of Eden’ starring James Dean and ‘Secretariat’ (a movie I really wanted to see in the theaters when it came out, but never got a chance to), I eventually made my way to ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’. Yes, I’m probably the only one in the world who hasn’t seen it! And what a perfect day to do so, while laying around sick looking like Bridget did in the opening segment of the movie. All I needed was the soundtrack to “All By Myself” and I could have recreated the scene in my living room!


So as I was watching this adorable movie, I kept hearing familiar ‘Australian’ words such as ‘full stop’ and ‘barrister’. Not to mention the fact that they ate ‘beet root’ and anything curried. They even celebrated Christmas with paper crowns from ‘poppers’ (you’re lucky if you get the gold crown!) As the movie continued, I began to see so many similarities of my life here in Australia when it dawned on me…I had been right all along! I hurriedly got up…well…maybe more like stammered in my weakened condition and hollered up the stairs toward my husband in my, squeaky, frog-like tones, “Honey!”

My dear, sweet husband, out of sight in his man cave upstairs, raised his head from his Saturday morning, newspaper-reading ritual and responded, “Yeeeeees,” his deep voice resonating from above.


“I’ve been right all along…you really ARE a Pom!” (This is what Australians call someone from England.) It’s probably good to know at this point that to call an Australian a Brit is a form of insult. Not that being British is bad, but they don’t like to be called anything than what they are…Australian!

To appreciate my comment, you need to understand that my husband and I have had long-running banters between us, teasing each other incessantly about how we say things, our accents and the different words we use, (hence my 'Yank In Australia' Facebook page with the 'Aussie Word of the Day'). One of the things I tease him about is his accent. It’s not a round Aussie accent that you’d hear from Paul Hogan when he tells us he'll throw another shrimp on the barbie. No…my husband’s Australian accent is a little more refined than that…rather British sounding, I think. Could it be because Adelaide was founded by the British? Maybe. Of course, my husband always argues that he sounds Australian and that I'm crazy...well, maybe... but if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck then...I'll let you decide!


So now, here I am, 6 days into my flu with no end in sight, looking as lovely as Bridget Jones in her Christmas-red, penguin flannel pajamas. I think I need to Youtube All By Myself. I feel a lip sync coming on!

6 comments:

  1. Love your blog ! Get well soon !!

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  2. Thank you so much! I appreciate hearing from you!

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  3. I explain this to people at least weekly. Although I do think my accent has grown posher in response to people having difficulty understanding me in the US.

    Our accent is actually really and truly called "cultivated Australian".

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    1. Sorry. Just saw your note. I love that..."cultivated Australian". I'll have to share that with my husband!

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  4. I love how you put humour in your blog posts. Really fun to read. From Happy Hobo A great blog to follow. :D

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  5. Thank you so much for your encouragement! I appreciate the follow!

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