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?!