And breathe...

I suppose that all brides, irregardless of how laid back they think they'll be, end up getting stressed about something. And I've now hit that point. I'm worried about the small details. Making sure that everything gets done.

Now some of this stress has come from a very organized step-mother who wants to make certain that I haven't forgotten anything. Some of it comes from a variety of items I've ordered that seem to have gone missing.

And it's effecting my sleep and my tummy. I'm struggling to fall asleep quickly due to thoughts running through my head. I now have a notebook next to my bed to write things down. And food seems to be running through the system quickly...had to run to the loo twice this morning.

So now it's time for lists and more lists. I hope that these will calm the systems. But if not...at least it'll all be done in 3 weeks!

A vision in gold and red

I got home yesterday and relaxed for a bit. I needed the get myself into a place where I felt calm and happy. Why? I was heading to Roy's parents' house on my own.

I walked the one mile to the house and was greeted by his mom. We sat down, had some tea and just chatted a bit. Then she asked me to come up to her room and see the saris that I could choose from to wear the Sunday after the wedding (we're having a brunch in our honour).

Up we went to a room strewn with colourful outfits. There were two saris waiting for me to look out. Both had tons of gold threadwork and red; one with a larger pattern, one with something much smaller. I checked out them both in the mirror, holding up the fabric to my neck. Stunning.

We both agreed that as I could get away with the larger pattern, being a decently tallish person. So she left me as I put on the choli (top) and petticoat (which doesn't really fit, so I'll have to get a new one). I put them on and she returned to help me put on the sari, which is definitely an art.

Round and round the fabric went, folding into the petticoat. Then next came the pattern of folds, like a delicate fan, which too were tucked in, and gave an effect of gorgeous pleats to the floor. Around again and then up and over my shoulder and arm. And then it was done.

I was in a sari. And I looked so glamourous. Stunning. Gold, red, small slices of blue and yellow. I had never seen anything quite like it.

And then I was given a 22 kt gold necklace and earring to put on, a gift from my future mother-in-law to wear with the sari. And it just made the outfit, 'pop' just a little bit more.

It was a bit sad taking the sari off, as it was one of the most beautiful outfits I had ever worn before. It's definitely inspired me to want to buy one that I could wear somewhere else - maybe even to work one day.

I then hung out with my future in-laws until R. showed up, 1/2 hour late due to the train. I survived my first time alone with them. It was tough, but I think it was okay. I even talked quite a bit, which, as a trained listener, can sometimes be a struggle.

I can't wait for my wedding days to arrive...

Celebration time...come on!

Last night Roy and I (well, mainly me) were trying to pick out some special songs for our wedding. Neither of us are big music people. We don't go out and buy the latest cd or download tons of music onto i-Pods. It's amazing that I even own an MP3 player (but I refused to buy an i-Pod...I bought a Creative Zen instead).

But with the wedding coming up, I've had a renewed interest in music. What should play during the actual wedding? What should play during the cocktail portion? What would people want to dance to? Can I play some Bollywood or Banghra music?

So we've made a few decisions about music. We are NOT having the chicken dance, or electric slide, or anything cheesy like that. Okay....maybe the YMCA. But that's it. And I want a mix of 80s, oldies, swing and Indian music. It'll be interesting.

So we chose our entrance song for our bridal party & ourselves. 'Celebration' by Kool and the Gang. I thought it'd be a fun one. And I don't want anything 'special' for when we arrive. For the first dance, we chose a Frank Sinatra croon, 'Just in Time'. And for the dad-daughter dance, we're doing 'My Girl' by the Temptations. I don't think Roy wants to do a mother-son dance, but that's fine.

Right now I'm 'auditioning' songs to use during the ceremony. I want both Christian and Hindu songs...we'll see if anything fits or sounds right for it all...but I'm sure I'll find something. Right now I'm listening to a group of 3 cd's of (as they say on the cds) sublime chilled beats. The package is called Pujabi Lounge. Interesting!

I always love to hear what songs mean to different people...and when you listen to songs from your childhood or youth...what memories they do bring! I guess that's one of the fun things about weddings...not only are you celebrating a present, but also a past and a future.

Early Bird

6:20 a.m.

6:18 a.m.

6:14 a.m.

NOOOOOOOO! Not again.

I seem to be in a pattern of waking up before my alarm. Said alarm is already set for the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m., and I seem to be waking up, fully, before it's meant to go off. And I'm not happy. I'm pooped, in fact.

I guess it's a way for my body to deal with the stressors at work and the stessors that I'm hiding from due to the wedding. I don't feel majorly stressed, but do know I have tons to do in both areas.

At least things seem to be moving on well...I just need to hear from the site coordinator at my ceremony/reception site (soon, please, soon)...I need to send a note to the bus company with our plan for the day (so that people can get picked up and dropped off)...I need to figure out Out of Town bags with information for my guests...and at work I need to do some grading and write comments as the end of the quarter is on the 20th, teach class, finish hosting our drug & alcohol educator...and more. Fun, fun!

But soon it will be spring break. We have 2-1/2 weeks to go. Not that I'll get much of a break during that week before the wedding (I'll be running around like crazy)...but I'll be in the comfort of my family home with people trying to keep me calm (and thus treating me like a princess...which I will like!). I have a massage to look forward to. I have a fun day to look forward to. I can make it. Yes. I can.

The Dress

MY DRESS IS IN! I won't get to try it on for three weeks...but Dad sent me a picture. He and my step-mom went to NJ to pick it up for me. I can't wait. Here are the pictures (according to Dad, they don't do it justice). 4 WEEKS TO GO!!!

The dress on a hanger...you get the full effect. The bottom half of the dress...we were told I'd only have 7" of decoration on the bottom but they ended up giving me 11", which is a big deal. And I'm so happy that I decided to go for the pattern going up the dress...if I had wanted to spend double the money I would have had the entire bottom covered in the pattern, but I like it being a touch more simple. Woo hoo!

The top. If it had been in the summer, I would have gone with sleeveless...but since it is happening in April (and could be a touch cold), I'm going with slight sleeves (hopefully the lifting will show off by then!). Pretty!

Modern Art

I entered into the room and was shown where to find the bibs which would protect my clothing. I had changed from my work outfit into jeans and a teeshirt so it didn't matter too much...but why not.

There was lovely soft music in the background.

I greeted the people I knew and looked forward to learning something new.

The teacher started off with a greeting and then showed us slides of modern art. We were asked to say what emotion or direction the art piece seemed to show. We had differing impressions and yet that was okay.

We were then given our materials. Those who had taken the class the first semester were given materials to cut out and glue sticks. We newbies were given charcoal, inks and a few other drawing items. And then we were given words. Returners were meant to portray movement. We were given an emotion.

How to show 'introspection' without using a face? What would convey someone looking inward?

I decided to start with a small circle near the bottom of the page. And then everything around it were swirls moving around and in toward the circle. The swirls took up most of the page. I used charcoal. Then outside the swirling mass, I placed hard, staccato marks. Sharp v's pointing toward the swirl and small circle. It was then time to use colour. The center of the small circle was green. The swirls were touched with blue. The sharp marks were a purplish-pink. To me it showed a peaceful sense in the middle, someone turning away from the cacophony of the outside world.

All the while, music was playing in the background. It was relaxing after a hard day.

We were then asked to look at each other's drawings and paper works. What was the emotion portrayed? What was the movement?

Most people didn't get mine...but once explained, it made sense. And that's how I feel about most modern works. I just don't get them. But sometimes, when explained, it does make sense. Even if I don't like them. Still.

Our next project was to draw 4 panels, showing our reaction to sound & music. It was difficult. More so than the first project. Four different songs, four different drawings. Interesting to see what the others had done.

And then class was over. But we'll return again next week. I wonder what our tasks will be. What I can learn. And if I'll feel the same sense of leaving the stress of the world behind again.

33

So the wedding of the year is going on...yes, the Liz Hurley extravaganza. And personally, I think mine will be better.

Hers is full of restrictions for the guests - you must all wear hot pink saris or red turbans. I'm letting even my bridesmaids choose what they want to wear.

My wedding will be full of family, friends and beautiful colours. Hers will be celebs and once again, just hot pink.

For her it will be all about the show. For me, the show will be fun, but it's more about spending time with people, getting married and having some fun.

Yup, I kinda feel for her in a way, cause I'm sure she feels like this is what is expected. But what a shame. Everyone in the party will be identical, the pictures won't have the vibrance and flair of the traditional Indian wedding. And while all my guests may not be wearing Indian outfits, we'll have a uniqueness that no one else can capture.

I can't wait. 33 more days or so to go. Not that I'm counting. I think it's going to be such a fun time. And there's so much to do in the coming days...this weekend is the first of my three 'hen nights' (or bachelorette parties)...then the next one is on the 23rd (good thing we have the next day off for report writing). And then it'll soon be the week of the wedding, with errand running, hair & makeup trials, parties...crazy!

Blues

I'm feeling a bit down. I try to help kids out here at the school and yet I feel ineffective at times. I'm not sure what to change.

I'm hosting a relaxation day...and yet no one comes in.

I offer girls' lunches...and yet only one person said they'd come.

I feel like I'm a caring and listening person and yet...very few come.

Not sure what it is. The adults in charge seem to think I do a good job. But maybe. Just maybe. I'm not what the school needs. I don't know.

Maybe what I'm good at is programs and teaching and that's the need of the school right now. I'll keep trying. But it's really hard to keep feeling good about yourself sometimes in this sort of job.

Maybe it's just that I'm PMSing.

I'm singing in the rain...

When you move to London, one of the things you notice quite quickly is the difference in light. Yes. Light.

In the summer, the sun is out far longer than I ever experienced. You can hang out at a cafe at 9pm, drinking a glass of white wine and still in perfect light, not an artificial one needed to see your partner in crime.

In the winter, you may get up, go to work and then leave work to go home and never see an iota of sunlight. Especially, if like me, you don't have an office with windows.

The winter lack of light can be very depressing to some. Those from sunnier parts of the US tend to really feel it. I didn't necessarily feel a lack of light too much this year as the weather was quite reasonable.

And that's the big difference, as I've talked before, of weather - when you come from Boston, you feel it's almost tropical at times...or at least it's rarely below freezing, which is NOT the case in New England.

Today was the first day that I could come out of my flat and not have to turn on the hall light in order to lock the door. There was enough light from the little window in the next door to let me see. And it made me happy. Spring is on it's way.

I left my building in sun. Glorious sun. Now being England, this was not long lasting. I was swept away by a gale force wind and stunning rain when I got off the train on my way to the tube. It was crazy. Umbrellas were being forced completely inside out. People, like me, were running to get to the tube entrance. It was crazy.

Weather. Not only will you notice it. It will become a big part of your life and conversation once you live in London.

Whining about wine

Saturday night, R & I went to a wine tasting party at a friend's flat. Each guest was asked to bring a specific type of wine with them. R brought a bottle of bordeaux and I brought a bottle of pinot grigio. We were given a glass to use and then told to taste each wine and at the end, write comments.

Now usually when you go to a wine tasting, they just give you a bit. Enough for a good taste and that's about it. But we were all scarfing down a 1/2 glass of wine per person. And when you are trying out about 10 wines, it can be quite a lot of wine. Especially if you keep drinking some after the wine tasting was over. There was dancing going on, lots of crazy laughter, a bit of red wine spillage onto a cream coloured rug (ouch)....if I had been entirely sober while there, I'm sure I would have laughed at us all and determined never to drink again. But of course that won't happen!

So we were all a bit tipsy, I'd say. And the repercussions were felt the next day. Darn tannins...they always get me! R & I had the laziest day ever - we didn't even leave the flat ONCE! Red wine, more than any other, just knocks me for a loop. And drinking that much was not the smartest idea. But at least we weren't drunk...and I wasn't unable to do anything on Sunday...just not feeling motivated to do anything (a bit of a fuzzy head would be the best explanation).

And now I'm back at work...feeling a bit worn for wear. But much better than yesterday. And have no plans to drink in the immediate future. Which is a good and wise idea. How mature am I getting?!

How to Decorate?

One more step toward completing my wedding tasks (which by the way won't be done until the wedding is actually over...unless you count 'thank you cards', which means it won't be over for at least a month or so after the wedding!)...I went on ebay and found a distributor of saris. They were hawking a bunch of 4 red saris. Just perfect, I thought, for using to decorate the mandap.

The saris are quite pretty...see below:

What I think I'll do is wrap the saris around the side poles or let them hang down in some way. And then put on some flowers around it. It should look rather purty!

I don't want to think about the stuff I have left to do. I'm putting together a list of things left to do and when I have to do them...and then putting them on a calendar. It's kinda intimidating. But I'm determined to be the 'laid back bride'...and not let it get to me. It will either happen or not. And I'll still be married. There, back to normal.

Outfits

I can't believe how soon this whole wedding thing is. 44 days. Wow. Of course I haven't lost the weight (I'm a stress eater not a stress starver like some). And I'm feeling the pressure of what's going to have to happen that week and the weeks to come. It's not going to be a vacation at all...it's gonna be busy!

I finally got my bridesmaids sorted - at least the two adult ones. They were not getting around to getting their Indian outfits, so I made a decision for them and ordered a not too pricey outfit. Here they are:

This is the maid of honor's outfit. She loves blue so I thought it would work out well with her. She can get it 'fitted' back home. It's coming from India and should be there within a few weeks (let's hope!).

This is the other adult bridesmaid's outfit. She loves green and so I thought it'd look good on her (plus having had a baby less than 5 months prior, I thought it would be quite forgiving).

My little 12 year old junior bridesmaid will have something, probably in green or blue, but not sure what as of yet. But that's okay! Knowing her mom, she'll look better than I do.

I have also gotten myself an outfit for my mehndi party. During this adventure, I'll be getting

I'm getting really excited!!

Becoming British

I don't particularly think I have much of an accent, though once in a while you'll hear something of a Londoner's lilt. I do use mainly British terms. And I like the idea of queueing. Yes...standing in a line.

I've gotten used to the idea of the queue. I like it. There is a certain elegance to this order. And I've now found that I get angry if people don't follow along with queueing.

Paris was definitely one place where people do NOT queue. It's sort of a free for all...push your way onto the metro, push your way off. Waiting is not an option. It's a bit crazy. And very European.

This morning, on my way to getting on the elevator in the tube, there was a crowd gathering in a queue. Most people were doing it right, getting into the appropriate place...but one woman decided she needed to go ahead of me even though I got there earlier. And it pissed me off. Who is she to jump the queue? Doesn't she know that this is the way society works?

It kinda shocked me that I feel this way. R. would be happy because it's just another sign that I'm becoming more and more British. Sigh. But I guess as I'm going to be living here for life, I might as well get used to it.

Paris '07

Below is a slideshow of my trip to Paris.

We left England in the evening, on the Eurostar. It's so easy compared to flying. We arrived at our hotel around 10:30pm and went out to find something to eat...we were really quite hungry as we hadn't had dinner. We walked a bit too much, but it was nice that we could find a place to eat so late in the evening. Poor R was pooped once we returned to our hotel, Royale Magda Etoile, as he was still sick and suffering from shingles.

The next morning we went in search of food and coffee (France is a great place for good coffee!). We found our coffee (une cafe s'il vous plait), but had a tough time getting food. And then found the boulangerie...aka, bakery! Pain du chocolat is lovely. R had never had such good bread products. We were happy!

The day was basically all about going to the Eiffel Tower. We found our way there, waited in the line and then went up, waited in more lines...but it was great. The view was amazing and pics were fun to take. I've posted a few pics, but not all of them. R took a ton.

We had dinner reservations at Le Train Bleu. It is an amazing restaurant set in the Gare de Lyon train station. You felt like you were going back in time there. The paintings, sculptures, etc. were wonderful and breath-taking. And the food was very good too. Had one of the best steaks of my life there. And of course...wine.

The following day we had plans to meet up with my friend, A. and her mom (who was visiting from the States). We went to the Latin Quarter for lunch and to purchse tons of wine. Yummy! I think R & I picked up about 8 bottles, 2 for his parents and the rest for us. We got to taste all the wines we chose, and they were much less expensive than buying in London.

We then went on a boat trip on the Seine. It was warm (no jackets while the sun was out), sunny and with the three of us in a small space...funny!

Our final meal was seafood. Mmmmm. I had oysters on the half shell. Probably the most fresh oysters I've ever had. R had a shrimp risotto. It was amazingly rich. And we decided to go with beer this time as we had been drinking our share of wine...plus seafood just felt right with beer.

We had a relaxing last morning and breakfast at the hotel (it was okay...not great...just okay) and then off to the Eurostar to head home. We didn't do a huge amount, but it was relaxing. Just what the doctor ordered!

Paris Slideshow

Southall

I went to Southall today with my friend, A and her mom (who was visiting from the States). A and her mom had never been to Southall. It's the Little India of London. It's a great place...food smells, inexpensive clothing, expensive and very nice clothing, music blaring...it's just so different and cool.

I bought an outfit to wear for my henna day (mendhi)...it's really gorgeous. It cost way more than I was hoping to spend, but I liked it so much. I'll wear it a ton more for a bunch of different events. Here's a few pictures:

The colours don't come up perfectly here. It's a bright pink coloured top with lots of gold bits and the bottoms are goldish with the bright pink flower patterns. It's very fitted up top and looser down below. Quite wonderful!

Umbrella weather

It's a rainy day. Blah. The kind that makes you want to stay in bed or watch t.v. all day long. And the funny thing is that I could have done this. But I didn't.

See, it's a vacation at my school. Half-term as they call it in England. And so I have the week off from work. So today, I could have easily done nothing.

But I hate doing nada. So I've partially cleaned the kitchen (it could use the floors being cleaned but I can't be bothered). I've done some wedding planning. I figured out my wedding finances (let me tell you...that's a ton of fun). I took a long hot bath. And I went to my friend, A.'s place, cause I left my Oyster card there after dinner last night (R. drove).

I'm not going to the gym, as I'm meant to go to hockey training tonight...in the icky rain. And if I go I'll get quite the workout.

The plan for tomorrow...getting my roots done (darn grey hair), sending out the final invitations (I hope they're it) and picking up my dry cleaning. Maybe I'll do my nails or something. Who knows. Oh...and go to the gym for once.

Vacations. Gotta love 'em.

Get your groove on!

I had so much fun last night. The Ladies' 1st team put together an evening out (and as it looks as if I'm going to be their goalie for the rest of the season, I was invited). We started out at a pub near King's Cross station. It was a sweet small pub that wasn't too crowded and had good wine and food. We all ate there. And then people changed into their outfits. Yes, outfits. Cause we were going to the rollerdisco...fun on four wheels!

Most of the ladies wore tights with shorts or short skirts...and everyone put on a pair of leg warmers. Remember those? Yes, we now all own a pair of 'em. The eldest of us (me included) decided against wearing a costume and did the jeans and top thing. But we still looked rockin'.

It felt as if I was back in 4th grade again in some ways...though in those days I wouldn't have been drinking wine while skating! The music was classic 80s cheese and rock. "I Love Rock 'n Roll"..."We Will Rock You"...sigh...it brought back memories.

And ya know what? I wasn't half bad. I could spin. I could go backward. I could do the cross-over when going round bends. Yup. I kicked it.

The only downside to the whole evening was when some bitchy twenty-something girl decided it would be oh so cute to knock her male friend over...and into me. Which resulted in an entire plastic cup worth of white wine going all over my clothing. Did either of them apologize? No. Even when told that he had knocked wine all over me. Did he get me a napkin? NO! And even when asked if he was going to buy me a new drink, he replied, "It wasn't my fault I knocked into her". So neither the bitch nor the ass helped me or apologized in any way. Karma has it's way of coming to bite you in the ass...she got knocked HARD and ended on her bum during the fast skate and he got tripped up and fell embarrasingly on his face. I hate people who have no manners. Can you tell?

So, now I'm sitting here, a bit tired (didn't get home until 12:30am)...but it was so worth the lack of sleep. What a way to end the week!

SNOW DAY!!!!

Don't know what I'll do today...but there is snow outside and it's really, really pretty! If it doesn't melt before I go outside, I'll take a picture or two...

Will it never end?!

It's amazing how expensive weddings are, especially if you have tons of out of town guests. Almost everyone who is coming to the wedding will be at the rehearsal dinner, which makes it another quite expensive meal!

I just went and figured out how much more money we ought to be spending on this wedding...what is left to pay all the vendors, what I'll need to budget for the rehearsal dinner and other odd expenses that will come up that week.

It's a bit stressful, to be honest. Trying to save money for this. Trying to work out who is paying for what. Stress! And I'm sure my mom, who has offered to pay a large sum and yet who doesn't make very much is also quite stressed. Poor thing. I hope it doesn't really put her into any debt, as I wasn't planning on having any at the end of this whole thing.

But it's coming together. I don't have much more to do. Let's see...what's left?

• hair & makeup trial
• actual hair & makeup
• henna day/night for a bunch of us (mendhi night)
• build a mandap
• meet up with the minister
• meet up with the event planner
• meet up with the photographer (or at least talk to her a bunch more)
• figure out a few more songs - like our first dance
• mani/pedis with the girls
• order food and drink for the rehearsal dinner
• get waxed (enough said)

I think that's it. And while the list looks a bit long, it's a heck of a lot smaller than my original list. The boys still have to get measured for their tuxes and will have to pick them up the day before. But boys are lucky that they don't have to worry about doing a lot of stuff (though they'll have to put together the mandap on the Saturday while I'm getting all pretty!).

I'll survive this all. And who knows...it might be seen as the small town PA wedding of the year! ;-)

Rah rah, sis boom bah!

It's "Spirit Week" here at school. Kids are encouraged to dress up in odd ways, there are colour wars going on between the classes and the seniors just see this week as a blow-off in some ways. As a faculty member, I actually enjoy doing the dressing up part a bit. I didn't take part in pajama day (though wore something utterly comfy), but am doing 'sport day' today with R's long sleeve cricket shirt & a pair of track pants. I'm so comfy and enjoy the possibility of having to talk about cricket.

I tried to think back to my high school experience and figure out if we had something similar. I think Homecoming was as close as anything else...but my class was so apathetic that we lost our senior year in all categories of spirit. Sad. Very sad. Even if I wasn't into school all the time, I still got into making a cool float...but I was one of the few.

I think it's tough to support a school. To have 'school spirit'. It's much easier to be all 'rah rah' about a sports team or a fun group. School. Not so much. So it's interesting to see what happens here. And from what I can tell...there's a lot of kids who would have fit in with my high school class. Sigh. It won't stop me though. On twins day, my friend A and I are going as Thelma & Louise. How cool is that?!

Food and Bollywood

I had quite a busy weekend. And fun to boot for the most part.

Friday night, I cooked R. dinner. He's been working like a crazy man for quite a while. He has a project due a week from Tuesday and he's bringing all his work home with him, so I haven't really gotten to spend any quality time with the boy. I made a few small steak and ale pies (pre-made so I didn't have to do much work) and then the actual cooking part - made homemade potato hash browns ala The Barefoot Contessa. I received one of her cookbooks for my wedding shower and it's been GREAT! The recipe was easy to use and to make my own (I added a few different things). And it worked out. Made far too much, but knew I would use the leftovers for breakfast on Sunday.

So we ate our yummy meal, watched a bit of Star Trek (yes, I am marrying a Trekkie) and relaxed a bit together...which we really needed.

Saturday, I played for the Ladies' 1s. The field hockey game was fun to watch as I didn't touch the ball once. Sometimes as a goalie it's nice to not have the pressure...it came close, but our defense was much stronger than their offense. Kinda cool.

Then I rushed home, showered quickly and headed out to meet the 'Bollywood Girls'. This is a group of women from work who have made it a mission to enjoy Indian/Pakistani food, movies and culture. We have gone to Ealing Road to get threading and buy stuff. This time we headed down to Southall for food and a movie. We saw 'Salaam E-Ishq'. It was loosely based on the English movie, 'Love Actually'. I really enjoyed this 3-1/2 hour long movie. We even had an intermission. It was sad, cheesy, romantic and funny - everything you look for in a RomCom Bollywood film. And of course there were hot men in it, which always makes for great watching! ;-)

Sunday morning I reheated the hashbrowns while R made an omelet for us to share. Have to say that the hashbrowns were better the second time round! We relaxed a bit and then I went into cleaning mode while R. worked. I did get him to do a bit of cleaning, but I was on a mission. We were having a friend come over for dinner and the place was a mess. But I got it all done in time when Ali (the woman who introduced us) arrived. R had made a shrimp curry which was very yummy. We ate, joked, drank a few beers...it was a good night. And I was able to show her all my wedding stuff, which made it even more fun!

So, yeah, a good weekend. I needed it. And next weekend will be the beginning of a week long vacation. Woo hoo! Love half-term!

Opening your eyes...

Almost every weekday morning, I take a train one stop. I tend to stand by the door as it's a quick two minute trip. Not worth the energy of sitting down and getting up (my poor knees!). So I tend to take notice of the things that I pass by. And some days, it gets quite interesting.

There are windows without blinds into some of the flats near the train. And there have been days where I've seen fat hairy bellies being patted, ladies with face masks & hair up, and people locked in a tight embrace. It's a small little window into someone else's world.

Other times I'll see a dog running and barking on the walkway behind the flats. I'll see a young man running in vain hope of catching the train where I'm getting off.
Graffiti all around.

A toilet seat.


Barbed wire on the fence to someone's back garden.

Glimpses of a world outside my own. A story that I can't even fathom. What do you notice on your way to another place? Or do you close your eyes to the wonders around you?

Life goes on...

I got my jewelry the other day and I took it in to show my workmates. And I am pleased to say that the jewelry looks exactly like the pictures did. I'm so very happy about that. It'll make it so much easier to not have to think about this part of the wedding. One more thing 'down'. And to be honest, there's not much more to do. I'll have to pay a few bills (already have the money for that), organize a few things more - like babysitting...but overall, I'm pretty much finished with the big stuff. Woo hoo! It's amazing how wedding stuff can take over your life. If the FILs decide they want something here, then I'll have to go through it all over again...but at least I'll know what to look for!

Work is going well. Busy with teaching and grading things. Trying to meet up with a few kids and have my regulars who pop in every so often. It's neither crazy busy nor boring most of the time...which is a good thing!

Life with R. is usually wonderful. He did go out last night with a friend and bumbled around the room while trying to get ready for bed...I'll have to ask him how much he drank last night. If he did drink, he better not have been in the car. I'd give him a swift kick if that was the case.

Anyway - life is going. Nothing too dramatic at this moment. I have weekend plans, which I'll talk about later. Yeah. Nothing to complain about. How happy am I?!

Money, money, money. It's a rich man's world.

R's parents asked if we'd be willing to have some sort of ceremony here. Noooooo! I just did not need that sort of stress. Cause what this means is that we won't be able to just have a small little drinks night with friends...it means we'll have to figure out how to have a wedding here for a very small budget. It may mean that we have to have a sit-down dinner. And it means that I can't invite as many people as I'd like. Ugh!

But we're not sure what they mean by this and whether they'd be willing to pay for something. Cause R & I just won't have a ton of money to put toward another whole wedding.

We're still going to have a drinks evening...we'll probably have it at the hockey/cricket club. We'll just put some money behind the bar and tell people that drinks are on us until the money runs out.

Now the whole reason that R's parents are asking for this is that his dad probably won't be able to make it to the wedding due to ill health. He can't travel easily. So I do understand why they want this. I just hope that it's doable and not too much expense for us. We still have to finish paying for the wedding, a honeymoon to pay for, I'm the matron of honor for my best friend in June...it's going to be an expensive time.

A Message from the Future

This was previously posted on the Grrrll Genius board on I-Village, but I kinda liked what I wrote. We were all writing letters to our younger selves...and this is what I wrote:

Dear L. at age 20,

I know you were a late bloomer and so excited to get into the game. But don't be afraid to let go of someone just because of your fears of 'dating'. Dating is a great way to figure out what kind of person you want. And you don't have to go out with anyone again after a first or second date. It's okay to say, "Sorry, this isn't working for me."

A lot of the time you'll be worrying about whether or not someone likes you. But the bigger question you should be asking is, "DO YOU LIKE HIM?". Really, it's so much more important. What do you like about the guy? What don't you like? Would your dad get on with him? (Cause really, dad has good insights on this stuff).

Don't worry if you are not in a serious relationship by 30. You're still learning about yourself and learning to make good decisions about guys. Oh, and if a guy tells you that he's cheated on a bunch of his past girlfriends...believe him...he'll do it to you too!

Enjoy your time on your own. It's a great way to learn about who you are. And seriously, you get to eat what you want, when you want. Celebrate it and enjoy your girlfriends. They are much more important than any guy.

Be excited because you'll learn to take risks. Sometimes they'll bomb, but that's okay...you can survive! And you'll have lots of cool stuff to look forward to. While you'll make some mistakes, as long as you learn from them, they're okay.

Self, you can deal with pain. Really difficult pain. And it makes you stronger and more capable. So bring it on! Don't live your life in fear of emotional pain or you'll lose a lot of LIFE.
That's it self. Oh, and begin to eat healthier and enjoy being fit. It gets harder as you get older.
Finally - be you. YOU are wonderful. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Love ya!
Your older, slightly wiser self

Planned Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh! So much has been done so far in regards to the wedding. I felt almost done. And then the reception over here was brought up. I thought I could have something nice and simple. Perhaps a cocktail hour - some drinks, some friends. But R and his parents have something more in mind. And yet, I, the planner of the US wedding, seem to have to plan this one as well. So it means that I need to find a venue that will serve not only drinks, but the possibility of a sit-down meal too. And then there's the question of who is paying? I think it's us. But with the wedding expenses, I don't see how we'll have a wedding party over here for around 80-100 people for the amount of money I want to spend and the type of party they seem to want.

IT'S FRICKIN' STRESSING ME OUT!!!

Tonight, R. will actually be home to talk about these things instead of going out to play football or be with the boys or with his parents (who complained that I wasn't there last night amazingly enough). And I will communicate my stress. And then perhaps we'll be able to have something a bit less crazy. And less expensive. Unless his mom & dad want to plan and pay for it all. Then go for it. But there's a lot of people to invite. It's just a fact.

Brainless

I know. It's been a while. I just haven't felt any creative spark as of late. I think the weather turning to cold, the demands of the end of a semester (grading and figuring out grades) and a fiance who can't sleep very well has all taken it's toll. I even had to take a sickie yesterday.

But I've gotten just about everything done. Grades are in and onward. I wrote a college rec for a kid. Did my attendance. Taught my class. I only have to make a quiz for the next class. And that's it.

Boring, eh?

On the positive side, I did go out this weekend on Saturday with a bunch of women from work. Two of them are new this year and one came along around the end of my first year. Very nice and lots of fun. We went back to Ealing Street to do threading & waxing stuff (not for me), and just to look around. Then off to dinner for dosas, which are kinda like a filled pancake. Mmmmm! It was so much fun! And good to connect with some new people without talking shop at all.

Another good thing is that I seem to have my groove back in hockey. While we lost on Saturday, 2-1, I have to say that I made some awesome saves. The goals against me were worthy goals - the first was in a one-on-one with moi (stopped the first attempt but not the second) and the last (very frustratingly) was in the last seconds...I made an amazing split save which hurt like the dickens (that's how hard it was shot), but a person got the rebound and flicked it over my leg. It was frustrating as we were definitely playing well. They just got the luck.

So overall the weekend went well. And I'm feeling a bit better. Still lacking a good thought process (poor kids), but trying.

Cha-cha-cha-changes

I have always had kinda crazy eyebrows. Not out of control once I started plucking them, but they'd definitely end up all over the place if something touched them.

I wanted to get them shaped, but hated the thought of wax near my eyes. Heat, burning...yeah, not really a good idea. So I kept away from the idea and just attempted to do my own. I'm sure it looked fine, but just not 'groomed'.

Yesterday, I went with another teacher to meet up with the Admin Asst. to the High School Headmaster. She just went on maternity leave and so wanted to get out of the house. We met in Wembley and then took a bus to Ealing Road...it has a very South Asian feel to it with sari shops, Asian food stores and jewelry shops featuring 22 ct gold.

As we were looking at bangles and the like, our colleague mentioned that there was a small salon where she typically got her eyebrows threaded. Now, I had heard of this but wasn't quite sure about it. She then mentioned that it would cost between £2.50 and £4 to get it done depending on where you went. Wow! That's CHEAP. So both the other teacher and I decided to try it out.

It didn't really hurt. A bit of a sting at first and then fine. And it was quick...5 minutes max. I came out and I had much smaller brows. Instead of the comma, I had a single line of approximately the same width going across my forehead. I looked like I had them 'done'.

I definitely see a difference and I'm not sure my face is meant for dainty eyebrows. But I'm letting them be. Seeing what I think. Maybe I can carry it off. We'll see. But it's making me want a skinnier face...perhaps that will be the motivation for me to eat better...need to see cheekbones to fit the eyebrows. Hah!

The Look of....

I didn't mean to do it. Really. It was something that just happened. And if you happen to be the guy who I gave "The Look" to...I'm sorry.

"The Look" is something that I used to always fear in high school. A teacher would turn it on you and that would be it. Toast. What I didn't realize is that it is something that is bequeathed to you upon teacherhood...that it comes with the territory. I thought I'd never get the look down...that kids would continue on in my classes in bliss, never feeling the blistering heat. But no...it came. And it works. I imagine that "The Look" will come in handy if I also have kids of my own, though maybe that 'look' is something slightly different...perhaps parents are given a different style to use.

So this morning, as I'm getting off the train, a guy is pushing from behind. But I don't give it another thought as it's a packed train and someone else is probably pushing him. But when the same guy tried to push his way in front of me to get up the stairs, I guess I gave him "The Look"...cause he stopped, looked a touch shocked, and let me pass in front. I didn't mean to give him the look. Didn't realize that it becomes part of the non-school functions...but it certain worked.

So. Yah know. I take it back. I don't apologize to the guy. I was in heels. And no one should try to push a woman out of the way just to be one step on front. He deserved the look more than most of the kids in my class (though not all). Beware people of London...The Look could get you too! ;-)

Welcome

Yesterday was one of those days that you don't think will ever happen but it does. For the past year and a bit, since R. told his parents that we were seriously dating and then engaged, they have waged a war against me. Things have slowly gotten better, but I never imagined I'd be welcomed the way I was quite yet.

I was invited to the house (yes, their house) to meet his mom's brother. We arrived, had a drink and chatted. Then lunch was served. It was great! His mom is a wonderful cook, and has made a prawn (shrimp) curry and a spicy pasta dish. Mmmmm! The conversation flowed. I actually had some fun!

At the end of the meal, before we took off to go grocery shopping (had to get out or we'd miss the shop hours), his mom presented me with a few things. First was a long gold chain. It's not something I'll wear a lot as it's not my style or length. But I'll always wear it around her. And then a cute gold ring...it is in a flower pattern with the petals having small diamond chips and the middle a dark stone. In addition, she gave me a pretty blue top (I'll wear it with trousers I think) and a red shawl. As a friend said this morning...'I'm in'.

And the question is...

Last night was the annual quiz night at the hockey club. I decided to head out as I needed a night out. R. decided to stay at home. Secretly, I was happy, as I haven't gone out without him in a while. And later on, he told me that was one reason why he didn't go out. We are on the same page, aren't we?

Now, having only lived in England for 2-1/2 years, there are many questions that I typically can't get. For example, as soon as I heard that one of the topics was going to be kiddy shows, I knew I was out on a limb. But our team consisted of 2 Brits, 1 Canadian, 1 New Zealander & me, so we figured we were covered.

Suprisingly, I got the first question right. Who is the Minister of Education who recently was in the news for sending her son to a private school? And having read the news and watched the news over the past year, I knew the answer...which is below... A few other areas I was good in were the food and music categories. Quite happy I have to say! I felt like a contributing member of our team.

We didn't win or even place, but we also didn't end up last. Out of 14 teams, I believe we were 8th or 9th...not too bad for our lot, team name: Draggin' (we were tired as it was our first game that day).

And to make the day even better...my hockey team won the game on Saturday! '2-0' was the score. I had a 'clean sheet' in the goal and did quite well. Not being modest at all - I rocked! Yup, it was a really good game against a good team. Very pleased to start off the year so well. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep it up.

Answer to first quiz question: Ruth Kelly

There be gold in these here parts!

I ordered my wedding jewelry online yesterday. The pictures are so pretty that I'm hoping that they'll turn out to be at least close to as nice looking in person.

While I'm not naturally a yellow gold person due to my skin tone (white gold and silver looks best on me), I felt that with the dress having yellow gold thread through it, that I ought to stick with yellow gold.

So I found some 22 ct yellow gold plated jewelry (fully 22ct jewelry was well out of my budget)...and bought it.

I think the colours will go perfectly with my outfit and with the plunging neckline will look awesome in these jewels. No they aren't true rubies, but red crystals. But I'm okay with that...if I was wearing a white dress I wouldn't expect diamonds on my neck either!

So here's to hoping! I'll let you know when they arrive...they do have to make it through customs (and so far my packages from the US have not arrived!!)

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your curl away

I hate wind. While the weather has been quite warm over here for this time of the year (especially at night where the lows are in the high 40s and 50s...warmer than in July), it's just darn awful windy.

Why is it a problem? Well...when you have long curly hair there are a few:

1. You can't see at times. The hair in face makes it tough to see the traffic zooming toward you. So life is a bit scary.

2. Hair in mouth. Never a good feeling or look. And it doesn't taste so good.

3. Curls get blown out. Yes, I have fine curly hair, so it means that my curls easily lose their curl...be they under a cap or pulled back. Wind, for some reason, seems to pull the curl out. So instead of my pretty spirals, I have this mass of random curly bits, wavey bits and straight bits. Interesting.

I've tried the pulling back of the hair, but that doesn't work as I have all these little bits of hair all around my face that seem to never grow...so I end up looking like I'm wild...hair sticking up everywhere. Not pretty. At all.

So...wind. Wish it would go away. But it's not gonna. Sigh. I hate not being in control

Joiner

I joined the I-Village Community Challenge to lose weight. Now, every time I try to lose weight I tend to actually gain it. I think I rebel against the idea of a diet and purposely sabbotage myself. Not sure why, but it seems to happen. But this time I have a goal and purpose - wedding and honeymoon (bikini thoughts are very motivating!). I'm still kinda anti-diet, but know I have to change something as I get older or I'll just keep gaining weight.

So - little steps. Writing down what I eat on the community site. Adding comments to the blog. Feeling more responsible for what I do. So we'll see. I'm weighing myself tomorrow - Wednesdays seem like a good day to do it...Mondays are too, Monday-ish. And that will be my beginning point. It's less than 3 months to the wedding and 5 months to my beach honeymoon...my goal is to lose 1/2 pound a week (very doable) so that by the time I head to St. Lucia, I'll be 11 lbs lighter...and maybe more? We'll see.

And then I want to keep it off. That's why this has to be slow and has to be doable for life. I'm not giving up wine or chocolate or carbs. But I can eat a bit less, exercise a bit more (that includes walking more places instead of busing it or tubing it. Little steps. Small steps. I can do those. I can.

Holy moly change of direction!

R. came back from going to his parents for lunch yesterday and told me all about the conversations that he and his parents have been having about our wedding/marriage. There have been some movements on their side in a VERY positive direction...

1. If health permits, then they both want to go to the wedding. Serious. Wow.

2. R's mom offered me her wedding sari to wear. I already have my dress being made...but isn't that cool?!

3. R's mom also wants to give me some jewelry but thinks that her good stuff might be too dated. She then talked about getting it melted down and made into something else. Wild.

4. They are potentially going to host a gathering after our wedding here. At a resaurant or bar. For friends. Sweet. (they have no clue how many people would want to come so they might bulk at having to pay for it all...but as we were planning on paying for something like this, it'd be nice to have some help!).

5. The family wants us to go to India...and so we're looking at heading there to meet his family during the winter holiday time. It'd be great to head back to Delhi again (though cold) and I'd get to check out Amritsar (Golden Temple) for the first time. Cool!

So things are a-changing with my future in-laws. Quite a turn around from only one year previous. Crazy.

Haa haa, hee hee

Laughter. It has such restorative powers. It seems as if people don't have enough time in their lives for fun, for laughter, for much more than work and stress.

Last night R. and I went to bed, lit a candle and just talked. We like doing that often. But last night, for some reason, turned into a giggle-fest for me. I just couldn't stop. And best of all, R. began to laugh too. We just went on and on. It was great.

Laughter is the best medicine. It's true. It was such a connecting force for the two of us last night. We felt so intimate. Laughing brings people together. It's lovely.

I have blogged for almost one full year. I began on January 11th of last year. It's amazing that I've kept it going so long. I was so bad at doing a diary - I'd write a few things and then nothing for ages. I think that 203 entries in one year is not so shabby...while some of the info is probably boring for most people, I enjoy going back and reading about what was going on just a few months prior.

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It's Friday and I'm a bit tired. And it's all my fault. I went to see Wicked at the Apollo Theatre in the Victoria section of London. It was amazing!

I left work at 4:00pm and took the bus down to Victoria Station. It was an easy ride - much better than the tube as I had a seat and didn't have to move...plus I got to read my book. I don't get enough time to do that... I decided that since I had a bunch of time before I had to meet with R., that I'd do a bit of window shopping and errand running. There's a few places to go outside of Victoria station so I had fun. I checked out boots and shoes at Clarks (so comfy), black jackets at Zara and the lovely outfits in a variety of other boutiques. I did spend some money...got my night creme and razor blades at Boots. I found R's favoriate cream at the Body Shop and got myself a yummy smelling bit of lip goo. And finally I bought a book about Paris and a French-English dictionary for our trip to Paris in Feb (only one month and one week away...can't wait!!!) as well as a diary (day planner) for my work bag. Not bad for one afternoon!

Wicked itself was amazing! The singing, the explosions, the movement. It's something you have to see if you are in London or NYC!

ABCs

What have you learned lately? Do you use your brain regularly? It's something that I thought about recently...what do I do that 'works out' my brain?

I have one kid I work with who doesn't see the point in school. She's not loving her classes, her friends are usually unhappy & she doesn't like that...basically there's not much going on that is positive in her life. And so she's moving onward in a negative light. But her question about why is school important was interesting to me. I know that I didn't take as much advantage of high school and college as I could have. There's a lot of interesting things you can learn. But it's not all fun and so, what's the point? But to 'work out' your brain is a good thing. Even if it's not something you want to use later in life, your brain still benefits from learning new things.

So this year I'd like to learn a few new things. Perhaps I'll learn some Hindi so I can talk to my future inlaws in their native language. Maybe I'll learn new words and become better at crosswords. I don't know quite yet what I'll learn, but I think as I age, that I really need to challenge myself to think and remain flexible in thought.

So...what's one thing you'd like to learn this year?

Nothing

It's back to work time. And it's tough. Yes, I know, I can't complain as I did have a long vacation...but I would have loved just one more day to be totally on my own and relaxed. Yesterday was spent doing a ton of cleaning, running errands, etc. I did some relaxing, but...well...just not enough. While I like being active, I also can appreciate a full day of doing nothing taxing.

Yup. Nothing.

Now, I don't want to do nothing all the time. It's quite boring to be on your butt for days on end. Believe me. I had to do that once. I had knee surgery and for about one week I was stuck between my couch and my bed. And after a while, daytime television and reading just don't do it!

But one full day of complete and utter no thought, no movement...mmmm...that is lovely.

The good thing is that I have another vacation in about one month and one week. It's a good break as everyone is thoroughly sick of winter by then and we need a time of fun...or at least sleep...by then. The first day or so, I'm sure I'll be cleaning and doing laundry or running around getting stuff. But on that Wednesday, while R. is at work, I'll read, watch a movie and a bit of bad television. Yup. That's the plan. And then we'll head to Paris on Thursday, which I'll be ready for as I'll have had my 'nothing' sort of day.

So...what do you do to unwind? Are you able to do it? I know some people just can't appreciate the art.

Resolutions

Do you have any goals for this year? Any resolutions?

Mine is to learn how to eat healthier this year and to make it taste good too. To try to bring R. on board with this. To enjoy getting exercise in whatever form it takes. To be a good partner to my honey.

So what about you?

The wedding dress

Here's a few pics (as promised) of the fabric and patterns on my future wedding outfit:

This is the pattern on the dress.

This is in the dupatta.

This is from the bottom of the dress...I won't have as much work on mine...it'll be about 11 inches on the border and then a small pattern from their up to the top of the skirt.

This is what the top will look like, though longer!

Happy 2007!

Hope everyone has a wonderful new year! I'll be spending the evening with my guy, just hanging out, watching how the rest of the world will be celebrating. I like that.

There's lots going on in 2007 - getting married, the honeymoon, another year in England...perhaps even getting pregnant? Yup, it'll be a big one irregardless!

Home again, home again, lickity split

I'm back!

I got to Newark Airport very, very early as dad & step-mom wanted to visit some friends in the evening. But the good news is that I as first in line...and as I had checked in online, I truly was first to get to the desk. There they offered me an upgrade to Premium Economy for only $75. And yes, I took it. Much nicer for an over-night flight. I still didn't sleep well (I'm horrid on planes), but enjoyed the trip a lot more.

R. came to pick me up from the airport along with two friends and we all headed into W. Hampstead for breakfast. Mmmmm.

So here I sit now, having eaten my favorite burgers from Gourmet Burger Kitchen (I only had half a burger to be somewhat healthy)...and I'm so happy to be home with my love!

We were planning on having a party, but I think we'll just be sitting in our place on our own...relaxing and sipping champers...a lovely New Year's Eve.

Goodbye...until April

Today I leave to go back to the UK. It's been so hectic and busy the past few days that I just didn't have time to post. Mostly family stuff but also wedding things too...

I've met with the event coordinator at my ceremony/reception site. I think it's going to be a great place to have this wedding. The plan is to have a tent outside next to the river...with it will come the heating lamps (just in case). If the weather is good then we can have the sides up and have the beginnings of drinks as well...we'll see. We don't need the tent, it would just be nice. I'll see how my budget looks.

I've gotten most of the invitations ready and they should go out by the end of the week or so...early I know, but with me living overseas I have to be a bit more organized. Plus lots of people will have to start planning now for flights (I have to get ours, in fact!). The invitations were a nightmare - couldn't get a printer to work and the other one made the envelopes look horrid. So I had to drop them off (the US ones) to a printer. I did all the stuffing of the inner envelopes, so all my sis-in-law (who is taking over this job) needs to do is stuff them into the outer envelope and put on the pretty stamps and send them.

I've celebrated a birthday (yesterday) with lots of food and worry about the weight of my suitcases (I'll have to spend $100 on sending some stuff home, which is annoying!).

I spent time with my grandmother who is 91.

Christmas was lovely and crazy and family. We laughed, yelled, rolled our eyes, but ultimately just loved spending time with each other (and the food was awesome!).

It's been worth it to come home. Overall it's been good. Stressful (with some tears) but good.

And now I'm off to the UK once again, not to return until the week before my wedding (in April)...and happily will see my honey tomorrow morning. I can't wait.

'Tis the season

Happy Holidays!

I'm off with my dad to pick up my grandmother (Nanny) from the nursing home. She's wheelchair bound so two of us are needed. Then my bro & sis-in-law will come over with little baby, Ryan.

Of course, most of the pressies are for Ryan...children are what Christmas is all about (at least the consumer side). He won't have any clue this year and probably the next, regarding what this is all about...but soon he'll be the one waking up mommy & daddy on Christmas morning.

I wish everyone a peaceful day...I know it can be a tough time of the year for those with and without family obligations. But know that there is someone out there in cyber space who wishes you the best!

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! (or any other holiday you are celebrating this season!)

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almost 3pm:

IT'S SNOWING!!!! ON CHRISTMAS!!!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled show...

Busy, busy, busy

Wednesday:
My final big day of wedding planning...and boy was I busy!

At 10am I went to talk to the salon about a hair/makeup trial, nails for the girls & moi and then the time for my wedding hair & makeup. It didn't take long. They were trying to sell massages and the like...but that's what I have my honey for! ;-)

Then I ran to the florist and put down a deposit as well as showed her pics of my dress and gave her a bit of the fabric I had for colours. She thought it was gorgeous (it is...ya gotta trust me here).

And on to the jeweler. I picked everything out, asked for our wedding date to be put on the inside of the rings and paid for it all. And best of all - IT CAME UNDER BUDGET!!!! Happy day!

I spent some time with Catie & Ryan, and then went back to cook diner for the 'rents. I used one of my new cookbooks (love them)...and made fish & chips with mushy peas. I thought I'd bring a bit of England to them. And it worked. The fish was crispy outside & tender inside, the chips were fully cooked (thick cut french fries) and the mushy peas were nice and creamy with bits of pea all throughout. Mmmmmm! Yummy. We then proceeded to eat tons of cookies. While not good for the waistline, it was perfect for my taste buds!


The next few days are a blur of running around, doing a lot of shopping (needed a new suitcase to fit everything!) and eating & drinking lots of food. Nothing much went on in terms of wedding stuff, other than to pick up the matting we'll use for the wedding guest signage.

Today we went to church in the morning, followed by a small tea in the annex. Saw lots of people I haven't seen since I was very much younger. And then on to see my Nanny (grandma) in the nursing home. She's 91 and doing okay, though not as well as she'd like. I hope she's okay for my wedding as I'd love to have her there. She's coming over for Christmas dinner tomorrow.

We'll be having a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner this afternoon, followed by another round of church. As a non-religious person it's a bit much...but it is tradition, so I'll go along!

Happy Holidays!

Lady in red...

A bit more about Sunday (cause I get my days all mixed up):
Went shopping for wedding stuff with my friends, J. & N.. J is my maid of honor and we've been friends since we were around 7. N. has been an off and on friend...not cause of anything bad, but more just losing touch. We've gotten closer in the past few years. J lives in Colorado and N lives in NEPA, so it's always fun to get us together.

We went to try to find accessories for the ceremony and reception. It's always fun to see what you can find. We tried out Michael's (craft shop), Bed Bath & Beyond, and some home furnishing store that I can't remember at this time (darn getting old). I had seen someone on a wedding website do something a bit different for the wedding guests to sign other than a guest book...they had the guests sign matting (the stuff inside the frame) which has a picture of the couple in the middle. That way guests could both sign their name and also write a little note. So I went and bought a HUGE mat with a cut-out for a pic. R & I will pick out the frame after the wedding. I also found a rug/throw to use under the mandap which is a multitude of different colours. I think it'll look cool (especially since we may be making this thing ourselves!).

We had a great time, ate a fun lunch...yeah, it's great to have time to bond with old friends.

Now on to other days....

Tuesday:
It's the big day. The day that I find my Indian outfit. I'm both excited and nervous...what if I don't find anything I like? What if nothing looks good? What if I love something and it's too expensive? I guess all the things that normally go through most brides minds.

We (step-mom & me) headed to the Little India of New Jersey...about a 2-1/2 hour drive away. This is a big commitment ya know! We spent some time just walking around to get a lay of the land and discovered that there was basically one road where the main shops were located. We went into the first store. A woman comes up to us and I tell her what I'm looking for. I know there were some very nice looking things that she didn't bother to pull out. Just a few things that looked and fitted horribly. She wasn't very responsive and seemed to want to serve the Asian customers instead. I tried on two things and just left. I felt like I had been in the Dress Nazi's store and she told me "No dress for you!".

We then went into store number two. A bit more promising. Once again she kept pulling out the lesser dresses. I swear I could see more expensive ones that were more like what I wanted, but at least the dresses she pulled out where pretty. I tried on one lehnga choli that was a dusty pink with a creamy gold embroidery on it. Very lovely. I could see that it was something I'd like. So I had option number one. I think she was disappointed when we left.

Then we got to store number three. It looked like a very high end store. The woman greeted me and I let her know what I was looking for. She then asked me what my budget was...which I took as a good sign. I wish I had taken a picture of all the lehngas that she had on the shelves. It was amazing. And then she started pulling out dress after dress. And they were gorgeous. Reds, pinks, oranges...stunning colours and beadwork. But it was the first one that she pulled out that stuck with me. It was a bright lipstick red (Chanel red), a blue-red red. There was an amazing amount of beadwork. Now the lady told me that I could not afford that dress. (which was true...it was almost twice my budget). But as they were designers, she could get me a lehnga in that style or colour or whatnot for my budget. So I tried it on. And it was stunning. Knocked my socks off. Step-mom almost began to cry. Yup, this was the one. There was no more need to go shopping. This was it. So we began the compromising...and it meant that the dress I'd have would have less beadwork (which was fine as I found the original beadwork a touch overdone), the choli (top part) would be longer (I didn't want to show off my tummy thank you very much) and it would be A-line. Yippee! I had my dress.

As we drove back home, Ev asked me about the white dress. What were my thoughts on it now. And ya know what? I don't even want to wear the white one. This red dress will blow it away. There's no need for the white dress. Not a bit. So it's gonna go back on Ebay. I only spent $35 so who cares! While it's a pretty dress (worth much more than $35 I'll tell you), it can't compare to my new lehnga choli in red. I'm gonna look good!

More later!

Ring around a rosey...or is it gerberas?

Sunday:
Sunday was a day of rest. I refused the offer to go to church as I got very little sleep. My dog, who I had given to my brother & sister-in-law, was staying with dad & step-mom while her family was visiting. So I got to spend some quality time with my lovely yellow lab, Amber. Unfortunately, Amber is not a calm sleeper at night and kept me up for hours. Still...it was worth it for the furry snuggle.

Amber was a rescue dog. I applied to get her and went to the house where she was staying. The family had tried to keep her, but due to not doing enough training and having both an under 2 year old dog, a 2 year old child and a newborn, Amber was out of control. So I took her on. She got the works - one-on-one training with this amazing guy for eight weeks, life on a boarding school where she could run to her hearts content. Yup, she was a lucky dog. And by the time I moved, she was well trained and a bit more mature...so my bro got a lovely animal.

During the day, I just read and read and read. I didn't want to do a thing. I was a bit jet lagged. I did go out to dinner with my mom at a lovely restaurant. Yummy calamari & a fishcake plus all the desert you could eat (crazy). And it was nice to have some time with her just one-on-one. We made plans for the next day to go wedding ring shopping.

Monday:
I went with my step-mom to meet with the florist I had chosen. Dad and step-mom had used them with great results so I figured why not. The only other florist I wanted to check out was already booked for that weekend, so I just went with Matterns. And it was fun. I decided to use gerbera daisies for the bouquets and ceremony, roses for the guys & moms and usherettes. I'll have reds and yellows and pinks...a mishmosh of colour! It'll be purty. And it was within my budget. Now I just have to figure out how to make a mandap...

In the afternoon I went and hung out a bit with my nephew (the cutest boy ever) and then took mom with me while we went ring shopping. I found the best jeweler ever. He designs and makes his own rings. He came up with an idea that will fit perfectly with my engagement ring and within my budget (actually less than my budget...yeah!)...but I wanted to check other places out so didn't place the order yet. The second place we saw was horrid. That's all I have to say. And we were done by then. I was pooped. It was time to go back for dinner with dad and step-mom.

Tuesday to come....

Arrivals

Hi! Yup, I'm here in the USA. It's been quite a trip, I have to say...I'm still a bit tired...my mind is not quite up for the time change...but overall - I'm loving it!

I arrived in Newark about 1/2 hour late. Poor dad, having to wait for me to arrive. But c'est la vie. We drove to NEPA in his new car (comfy) and decided that since I was on overdrive (second wind or more), we might as well stop by my brother & sister-in-law's place to greet the new baby. Well...let me tell you that Ryan is cuter in person. He's still sleeping and eating more than anything else. Then again, he is only a week or so old! I got to see the humorous situation that baby boys get themselves into - aka...the 'in the air pee'. Yup, boys when they are babies, end up peeing in the air pretty much whenever you take off their diaper. My sis-in-law, C., forgot to cover this up one time while I was there and the geiser erupted. She was in a state of giggles (it's still funny), while poor Ryan was crying his eyes off (it was cold having someone take off all his clothing). I got to hold him after (in his new warm clothing) and it was heaven!

The following day was my bridal shower. It was awesome! We went to a 'tea room' in the area. It was pretty much newly opened and so very few people even knew of its existence. There were a lot of impressed guests. We started off picking out the hats that we wanted to wear - well, I was given a 'bridal' hat so I didn't get to choose. And then the pictured commenced. I have to say that I am the goofy one in all the pics! And if anyone sends one to me, then I'll post it. I don't mind making fun of myself...

We had tea, scones, sarnies, soup and desert. It was fab. And of course, there was the prerequesit opening of the presents. Now, let me tell you, I don't usually mind being the center of attention. But this whole sitting in front of women and announcing who got you what - it was my own private version of hell. I didn't let anyone else know this, but it was bad. But I got through it was some very yummy gifts. From cook books to a nativity scene to a frying pan to a few bits of moolah...yeah, it was nice. And I guess worth the embarrassment!

Well...that's it for now. There will be more on wedding stuff to come...happy holidays!

Flying

I head out today for the States. 7 hours in cattle class. Never a fun journey, but it is one I'm looking forward to. Dad is picking me up from the airport. Yeah! And then we drive a few hours to get home.

Not sure if I'll be able to blog from my dad's computer...the connection and system is a bit iffy...but I'll try. I'll have tons to talk about with all my wedding meetings going on.

So...in 4 hours, I'll be off...goodbye England, hello USA!

A stranger in two worlds

Tonight is my last night in London until December 28th. So strange. It's become home for me. It's the place where I want to rest my head, it's the place where I work, it's the place where I play and the place where I have love.

But I also call the USA home. It's where my family is, where my closest friends are located and where my childhood and early adulthood memories are based.

I have two homes. And I think that makes me lucky.

Many people when they move to a new country have quite a few adjustment issues. Some become depressed, so just can't deal with the differences. I think moving to London from Boston is much easier than many other moves. Both cities are quite similar in feel - there's a variety of 'sections' of the city, some of which actually have a large village-like feel. Both get crazy busy in parts with tourists...but you can still see lovely sights despite that fact. Both have a similar transportation system in buses and trains.

The only truly hard part for me was leaving my friends and the familiar. I knew where to go shopping, or how to rent a place...how to do my laundry and how to deal with medical issues. Here, in England, it's a bit different. And the language, while similar, is not quite the same. I had no clue what a courgette was...or that someone would readily call me 'love' without batting an eye.

When I head back to the States, I actually feel quite odd. People are driving on the opposite side of the road. Their accents are different. You can access stores so much later - yes, 24 hours means it's open 24 hours every day of the week! The subtle changes in what I call things over here makes it tough to talk about items at times...I have to change my thinking/wording to American.

So - I don't fully fit yet over here. And I probably never will...though I'm quite comfortable in my life in London. But I also now don't feel like I fit in the US. And I'm not quite as comfortable with that. I think all expats who stay in a country for a good period of time feel that way. Maybe it helps us in this transition. Maybe it makes us citizens of the world.

I'm an Aunt!

Ryan Millard was born yesterday around 4pm. He was a healthy sized baby (over 8 lb). I'm so excited! It's the first baby for my brother or me...my dad & mom must be over the moon. Wish I was in the US right now..only a few more days to go!

Me time

I know it's probably completely utter bunk, but I decided to try a Universal Contour Wrap. Supposedly you lose inches cause the wrapping compresses your fat.

So, you get all nekked except for your knickers. Then this woman measures you in all sorts of places. Fun, fun. Then you get wrapped up in these warm clay infused strips of stretchy fabric.

It's a tight wrap.

And then you get into a plastic suit. Lie down, are covered with blankets (for warmth) and you are left for one hour.

I'm sure many people fall asleep - cause it is nice and warm, there was classical music and the lights are low. I chose to read my trash novel instead! Woo hoo reading time!

After the hour, you are unwrapped and re-measured. Supposedly I had lost 8" from all-over. Do I feel smaller? Nah. But I feel very soft.

And so even if it didn't truly work, it was still lovely and my skin is smoother than it's been in ages. It's kinda like a clay mask for the body.

And the relaxation time all to myself. Yup, that's worth it.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Today is the beginning of parent-teacher conferences. It is the bane of every teacher. For us, it means we teach a normal day, then spend the next 3-1/2 hours talking to parents about their kids. And we have to be very, very political about it. And then we return to do it again the next day from 8:00am to 4:00pm. It's exhausting. And we're already feeling dead.

I have a few tough conferences. One kid is getting an F. He has EARNED that grade through not paying attention, not doing the work and messing about. But his parents think he's god's gift and that the school (incl teachers) are not supporting him. Now I can tell them that I gave him several opportunities to make up work, to get extra points...but he didn't help himself. I'm not looking forward to this.

Another kid wants to take the AP exam in my class (like an A Level exam). He is a low B student in my normal Psychology course, has missed quite a few classes and is a bit lax during classes that he attends. I'm sure his dad will ask how he'll do in the AP and I will have to say that he needs to attend class, that he needs to put in more work and that he has to do work outside of class in order to do as well as he needs on the AP (at least a 4 out of 5...which is doubtful!).

So...keep me in mind the next two days. It's not going to be fun. Sigh.

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So...yesterday went relatively well. Had some VERY intense parents. It's funny how the kids who are not doing hardly anything have such focused parents. What happened? But I have a plan for all of them which makes the parents happy.

My worst meeting was this morning with two parents who are well known for being obnoxious. But they weren't. In fact they were funny and appreciative of what I'm trying to do for their kid (who is very badly failing my course). We'll see if I can get this kid to do some work...kinda scary prospects to be honest.

So, only two more to go...and both are great kids who are doing very well. Easy peasy!

Almost the weekend....

So ya pick up the bat...

Today I get to do something new and (hopefully) fun. I'll be heading to the top of the Rainbow Tower, where our kindergarten classrooms reside, and talk to the kids about cricket.

Today is sports day for the little ones and they've asked teachers to come and talk about a sport that they know. I figured that many of the faculty wouldn't really have a good understanding of cricket, so I volunteered. Luckily, another woman, who I work with, has offered to come as well...so we'll both give our views & thoughts.

How fun to talk to the little ones. I'm so used to my little world of high school, and rarely see the kindergarteners except when they are walking back and forth from the gym once in a while. It will be cool to see what sort of questions they will ask. Hopefully I'll be able to answer.

I brought my outfit, a ball and a bat. Should be interesting, eh?

When I get back, I'll add to the blog and let you know how it went....

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I had a great time. I didn't get to wear my outfit (had a meeting right up to the time), but I did bring it in to show them. And I did a demo on how to hold the bat & the movement. The other woman and I showed what you do when you want to score (run like mad). We talked about the players positions and we talked about where it all came from. There was some good interest...and they loved handling the ball and bats!

Snuggled up

Last night, R & I decided just to hunker on down in our flat. There was a party going on in central London and we had lots of other opportunities to go out...but after the busy weeks before and the lack of good sleep lately, we decided a night in would be perfect.

We started the evening with a lovely shopping trip to Sainsburys. There we purchased food for the next few days. Unlike most of our shopping trips, this one wasn't too bad - lines were short, it wasn't crazily crowded and we found everything we wanted quite quickly. Yippee!

It was R's turn to cook and he had decided to make a lamb biriyani. Unlike his curries, he uses lamb chops and cooks them with the rice. It's much less 'saucey' than a curry and wasn't quite as spicy. It was so yummy! I was very restrained and only had one serving (good me!) and only two beers.

We then settled in to see some t.v. shows. We decided to go the naturalist route & watch one on the coast of England and one on the shallow seas of the tropics. Very interesting and gorgeous.

It was an early night as we were tired. Which may be why I'm up earlier than I usually would be on a Sunday. R's still in bed!

December 1

Today is World AIDS Day. It is a day where you wear a red ribbon in memory of those who have died of AIDS and in hope that one day the world will no longer be afflicted with such a devistating illness. At my school, I'm the adult who is attached to the AIDS club. We are handing out ribbons (suggested donation is £1) as well as putting up posters all over school. I hope that you can find somewhere to buy a red ribbon to support the cause.

Facts:

Around forty million people are living with HIV throughout the world.

What is HIV?
HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV attacks the body’s immune system - the body’s defence against diseases. HIV, if detected early, can be treated very successfully. With treatment, people living with HIV will probably have a normal lifespan, although serious health problems may still occur.

What is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. A person is considered to have AIDS when the immune system has become so weak that it can no longer fight off a whole range of diseases with which it would normally cope. If HIV is diagnosed late, treatment may be less effective in preventing AIDS.

How is HIV passed on?
HIV is not transmitted via casual contact or kissing. It can only be passed on through exposure to HIV-infected blood, sexual or rectal fluids, or breast milk.

The most common ways are via:
Sexual intercourse with an infected partner where blood or sexual fluids like semen and vaginal or rectal secretions enter the body through the penis, vagina or anus.
Sharing infected needles or syringes when injecting drugs.
From an HIV positive mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. However, there are proven steps mothers can take to reduce the possibility of their unborn child contracting HIV.

Less common ways are via:
Oral sex - although the risks are much lower than with sexual intercourse, blood or sexual fluids may occasionally enter the body via the mouth, particularly if the uninfected partner has gum problems or mouth ulcers.
Unscreened and untreated transfusions of blood or blood products. However, in the UK all blood products are screened for HIV and other blood-borne diseases.
An accident in a medical setting, where a healthcare worker is exposed to the blood of an infected person, usually during surgery or via a needlestick injury.

You cannot get HIV from day-to-day contact such as:
Kissing, Touching, Holding hands, Sharing eating utensils, Toilet seats, Swimming pools

Take some time out to think about those who are suffering - not only those who have AIDS, but those families who have lost a member or those children who are orphans due to the disease. There are so many misbeliefs about HIV & AIDS...let's educate the world.

Thanks to www.worldaidsday.org for this information.