Ahoy-Ahoy

Okay so the pink was fun and all, but I had to simmer our blog down just a bit. I may be overruled by my beautiful blushing bride, you'll know if the pink returns any time soon. I did leave just a bit of pink on our fun new pregnancy counter that you will no doubt notice blog left (reader-right).

On to other news -- Amy left yesterday morning to be with her family, as her maternal Grandfather is not well, and her presence was requested to aid in logistical matters. So this leaves me and my perfect schedule which has me home every night very lonely, and missing my Bride. Last night I was on the Internet until I couldn't stand it, then I turned on the TV. I started watching Modern Marvels, a show that I enjoy -- the said fondness is not shared by Amy.

Its a good thing I watched because I had NO IDEA that the word hello, although initially used by Mark Twain in some literary works, was actually made popular with the invention of the telephone. Another thing that our friend Thomas Edison gave us, the word hello. His friend Alex Bell (As I call him) wanted the term 'Ahoy-hoy' --- or 'Ahoy! Ahoy!' used as a salutation when answering the new telecommunications gizmo.

Based on this new found knowledge I am going to declare this upcoming week Ahoy-hoy week. When calling me this is how I will answer, so be prepared, or call me just for a chuckle. I will table my choice of greeting for Christmas day, because while I EXPECT to receive a lot of phone calls that day, I traditionally like to answer Merry Christmas on the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.

In Kingsville, Texas a resident convinced the county commissioners to delegate "Heaven-o" as the county's official greeting. This took place in 1997, I'm not sure if it is still an official greeting, but somebody please call them ((361) 595-8585) and if they don't answer "Heaven-o" inquire as to why, and leave a comment to let us know the results of your special mission. I'll call this operation "Bull-Honkey." The reason the resident was so offended was because of the word as it stands without the 'O'. I did some research and rest assured that the word hello is not etymologically related to any other word, its a word all by itself -- incidentally Ahoy-hoy is also a term un-related to any other term.

My Grandma Mary use to answer "Mmmm-yellow." Don't laugh, we all know somebody who answered, or answers this way. Grandma Mary also kept a whistle at the ready near her phone, the purpose was of course to deter telemarketers, and "'Crank' callers."

Speaking of prank calls, my cousins and I somehow got the number for the United Kingdom information service when I was a kid. It was an 800 number, so our parents were none the wiser, but we would constantly call the number, and the operators were always so nice. They would answer any questions we had and transfer us to any business we asked them to transfer us to. I remember being transferred to hotels, where we would ask how much a reservation would cost to sleep in a sleeping bag in the lobby. The people were always so polite, and would play along with us until we got bored and would hang up.

I have to tell you that we are so elated about the upcoming birth of little Claire. I had this little girl in one of my swim classes back in the day named Claire -- she was so adorable, and would always fib to me that she lived at the Embassy Suites -- and when asked what the letter E was for -- her answer was always an elated 'Embassy!!' There was also an Elliot in that class who would always put his hand up in the middle of the class so that he could ask me a question (I didn't invent the hand raising rule, he did.) "Yes Elliot," "Umm, I need a toilet!!" How cute, I love that he needed a toilet, not "I have to go," or "Can I use the restroom?" Too funny!

I have put a poll on the side of our blog just for fun -- these are some of the names Amy and I considered before selecting Claire -- vote for your favorite, maybe our next little girl will be named after the winner.

We'll chat soon -- have a great weekend.