Last dance
A number of thoughts went through my head recently. On numerous occasions I meant to write something...but then I declined. The Olympics were as good a distraction as any!
Missed out on Kelly's second gold this weekend, because of Catherine and David's wedding. It was a beautiful affair. Catherine's dress was lovely, but what really impressed me were a number of things. She didn't do anything in particular with her hair; she didn't wear any makeup; she kept on her pinky ring on her right hand. In a sense, the woman at the altar wasn't a dolled-up individual, but that same person that David met and eventually fell in love with. And that was what made it even more beautiful.
We travelled to Exmouth, then to the college for the reception, which was very nice. There were a couple sitting at our table, I was talking to the husband, very nice and friendly. But, more importantly, neither he nor his wife like Marmite! People after my own heart. We got a bus back to the campus where we were staying. I hope that at some point in future, to return there on holiday.
Today Susan and I returned by train. There was a bit of a mix-up on the ticket, which originally stated we were to change trains twice. But Laura's instructions said that the train from Exeter St David's was going to Paddington. Our ticket stated it was going to Reading and we'd have to change. But, as it made no difference to us (so long as it ended up in London), we got back just after 1pm.
My last wedding of the season. And it was a great end too. If there is anything that the last two weddings have reminded me, it is to make an effort to keep in touch with friends. Not my New Year's resolution, but my resolution nevertheless.
One more to go...
Sometimes I lose track of when I've been here and what I've said. This time around I opted to delay it because I really wanted to write about Saturday nights events. If I had chosen to go that is, and I'm glad I did. Sometimes the days roll into each other.
Max and Liz' wedding reception. I missed the ceremony, heard that the wedding took place twice - Liz' brother in law joked that she's been married twice without getting divorced. When I arrived (took just over an hour and two buses, plus a bit of rambling), I had missed some of the reception, but not the best bits.
I was greeted by my ol' lil brother Yemi and his cousin. Always good when going to these events to see familiar faces. I was obviously ill-dressed for the occasion; one of the few people not wearing "traditional" stuff, but then that didn't surprise me, seeing I was coming not long after finishing work.
The bride and groom hadn't cut the cake, and within minutes of my arrival, and pulling up a seat by one of the sisters and her hubby, I got the perfect photo position for taking a picture. Unlike the wedding in June, the amateur photographers weren't as inconsiderate, though they did have a tendency to stand right in front of you and not look to see who was behind. As a rule I always stoop down, especially if I'm in front, because it allows other people behind me to be able to get a shot.
There was a bit of a dance-up afterwards. As one who is not inclined to "throw a foot", I sat this one out, despite sisters trying to coax me into dancing. Was saved by Yinka who asked me to hold the baby - phew! He was asleep and I held him until I had to leave, around 10pm.
Went to the bus stop, waited for a No. 15, as I thought going to Aldwych would be a nicer route home. Ideally I was going to go via Hackney, but the 15 turned up first and I got on. Unfortunately, that was the beginning of my travelling nightmare.
As the bus got on to the main road, traffic was gridlocked. I looked out of the window (I was the only one downstairs on the bus), and saw the sister, brother-in-law, another sister and father (the latter two had come over for the wedding). Somehow, they never looked up, despite us crawling along at a similar pace for quite some time. Eventually they took a detour, whilst I remained stuck in traffic.
For an hour! What seemed like a 30 minute trip took almost 2 hours. To make my trip more of a test in endurance, 8 Aussies women (early 20s, the annoying kind) got on the bus. And chose to sit in the back where I was. And insisted on talking as loudly as possible - turning up the headphones on my player made not the slightest bit of difference, their shrill voices pierced through my brain. Note to self: invest in noise cancelling headphones.
Was relieved to finally get off the bus, at midnight, in Aldwych. Fortunately my connection didn't take long so I was home just after 12:30am. Thing is, once the traffic was as bad as it was, there was nothing I could do. But it's made me seriously think about finally investing in a scooter. And eventually getting around to doing my driving test.
Ooh, and the best bit about the wedding? I finally got a couple of mementos of the occasion, which I missed out on last time around. This time I got two: a bottle opener and a pen! Niiice :)
The Pressure
Was reading on one of the boards today about Christians and sex. Some conversations are like trying to swim upstream, and this was one of them. On the one hand, people say that Christians are always quick to quote the Bible...uh, correct me if I'm wrong. Don't Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God? Are we supposed to quote the Qu'ran or the Bhaghavad Gita? They then become guilty of selective information as the Christians they claim who are doing the same. I gave up. Made my point, I've moved on. These people tire me.
Think this is one of those evenings where I have time on my hands, and too many things to do. Yesterday I trudged through the rain to see Val cos it was her birthday, went to the supermarket with Janice (she was very good, much to my surprise!) and we went back to the house where I did some popadums and dips and some little snacky things that managed to tide us over until we had something else to eat. Jen came over, it was all interesting, got home shattered.
So I was quite glad for today to "recover"... got talking to Effie about her new job - the techie bits are getting to her. She comes home and just wants to sleep the whole thing off. Wish it were me getting "bogged down" with that stuff :)
Do it again
Another lovely day... I could get used to this weather if it wasn't for winter, snow, rain, and clouds... :)
Back to work again and I was tired. Afterwards, came up, checked on the message boards and kipped for a couple of hours. I find that if I do that, I tend to feel much better later on in the evening. This time around, I got up, dressed and went to the supermarket to do my shopping.
Ok, I was in Sainsbury's earlier, but I like some of the stuff in Safeway's/Morrisson's. Unfortunately, I picked a bad time as the shelves weren't looking at their best. And I didn't get my bananas - NO BANANAS?! How am I supposed to get through the week????
Forgot my bus pass and took a leisurely stroll home. Felt better for it too. If only I had my bananas... :(
Take my breath away
What a lovely day today was!
Finally decided to pay the sibs a visit, because I wanted to get rid of Lemon's birthday present which has been hanging around here for ages.
Got to the house, he wasn't in but Shell was. Was there for a bit, chatted and then called Lemon, who was in town. Took the bus there and we met in the shopping centre, after which we went for something to eat (or drink in my case). We chatted there for a while, then he walked with me to get my bus home.
In fact, I took a slight detour. I had to find this place that sold the rotis. Called him when I was nearby, and eventually found the place, which can be seen from the bus - Lemon said it couldn't, but it could. It was right next to the billboard, I noticed the billboard all of the time. But for some reason, I never noticed the shop, even though he'd told me the name of the place.
When I got home, had one of my rotis (got two: one for today, one for tomorrow) and did some laundry. Now I have a nice bunch of clean clothes, just need to do the ironing... Where's cheap labour when you need it?
Beating the deadline
Yesterday I got that application I had sent off for last week. I was torn between completing it, or dumping it (again) and waiting until the next intake.
This form wasn't very long - in fact, I'm very much of the opinion that I've applied for the wrong job. There was nothing to indicate this was the trainee position, but what was mentioned in the job spec online was that of the trainee.
So I filled it in when I got home, and had to change up my plans for the day, Fortunately, because of the trip I took on Tuesday, I knew where I was going, as the bus past part of the route. However, when I got to Waterloo, I took another bus going in the same direction. Only to find out it was going via a different route. Nevertheless, found the place, handed it in, and decided to walk back to Waterloo.
Which was a good idea, in theory. There were the police diversions, the endless tourists, and then the rain... Fortunately it wasn't falling as hard as on Tuesday, so I walked through it. Would you believe, as soon as I got to Waterloo, the bus home arrived at the same time - perfect!
Came home, did some typing, reading. Haven't got around to calling the uni about accommodation during the bank holiday weekend. Probably next week?
Walking on sunshine
Today it looked like it would be the perfect day. Yesterday I was up by Val's again doing the last bits of tidying up before she arrived.
Got halfway on my journey to Waterloo, next thing I know, it clouds over, thunder and lightning, the works! Fortunately I didn't have long to wait for the bus, which was good. The heavens opened, and the rain was falling something fierce, so hard I thought it would never stop. By the time I got to my bus stop, it had stopped - praise be!
The children were asleep, Val didn't seem to get much sleep. I ended up cooking dinner for them, entertaining Janice whilst her mother tried to sleep and failed because Janice was all over her. Funny thing was that Val said the children thought it was a new home because it was so tidy!
When I left for home, it was pretty late, but I figured I'd get the train. Mistake no. 1, I lost my ticket! Had to bus it, got a quarter of the way through and had to change buses. When it looked like we might have to abandon the other bus because of a fault, turned out we didn't. Got home pretty shattered.
An adult first
On Saturday, I did a brave thing, something I haven't done since I was in my early teens. I went out on a lovely sunny day, with a sleeveless top!
Now that might not seem like a big deal to some people, but for me it's a big step. I'm so conscious of my exposed arms, I've just not felt very comfortable about wearing sleeveless tops. But a few weeks ago, came across some nice ones in Asda and started buying them when I went to see Val. On Saturday I felt like da bomb, can't even explain how! Don't know why. And change is not limited to my attire.
Yesterday I was wearing a pastel blue, v-necked sleeveless top, and my nice beige skirt. But my fingernails are longer. Again, might mean nothing to most people, but it's gotten to the point where I bought a nail file and I'm having trouble typing now! I even began to consider getting some of that eyelash stuff - this coming from a woman who refuses to wear makeup!
Maybe the sunny weather had my head in a spin. Felt real good though... :)
