Countdown

In 2 months and 5 hours I will no longer be Miss Eleanor J but Mrs Graham M. You know, I still don't think it's quite sunk in.

Shopping

Mum and I went shopping this afternoon – a certain special kind of shopping involving lots of satin and, let’s face it, dresses that were well deserved to be called after a fluffy type of dessert*. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I had fairly certain ideas about what I wanted, the style and shape and colour (namely not a meringue, flattering – therefore not slinky, I don’t do slinky and white without extreme ornamentation, I’m not a glitter person either). I expected that this shopping venture would eventually culminate in the dress but only after long soul searching, agonizing between dresses, visiting many different shops and trying on lots, and lots, of ensembles. I was quite looking forward to it to be perfectly honest. What I didn’t expect was that on our first tentative footsteps into this strange world, we would not only be surprised about just what did look right, but at how easy it was. Practically the first thing we were told was that, whatever we thought looked good or not on me, the best thing to do would be to try it on before making any decisions because something that looks horrendous on the hanger and you think you would never, ever wear, may actually turn out to be the one that brings tears (of happiness, that is) to your eyes. Normal rules are thrown out for wedding dresses. Many dresses were taken off the racks including one café coloured with small roses on the upper right hand side of the bodice and left hip, one with ruffled up fabric going across the bodice (what’s the rule, never wear horizontal stripes? See above for treatment of ‘normal’ rules) and a large rose on one hip, a 2 piece bodice and skirt that had layers of net and a satin bodice and lots of beading, one with an empire waistline (which I normally avoid like the plague due to it falling in just the wrong places for my figure and making me look 6 months pregnant) and straps which were all ruffly and even one off the window dummy. Some were white, some were ivory, some pale gold. Most had huge trains, some did not. And you know what? They all looked wonderful. The one with the large rose could have done without the rose but other than that was very flattering. I did find my dream dress. The moment I put it on I felt magical (and my waist looks TINY) and I can’t wait for Graham to see me in it...I’ll leave it to you to work out which one it was though :) *alright, it's fixed now, is that better?

I've been to a marvelous party

And I have. This weekend just gone was the wedding of my best friend up in Leeds and I was her chief bridesmaid. I don’t know when the happy couple will get a chance to read this but when they do I just want to say - I had a fantastic time and I’m so happy for the pair of you I can’t even begin to describe it. After a bit of a mishap at the start (the car with the mother of the bride and the bridesmaids actually got to the church AFTER the bride and her father because the chauffeur went the wrong way and had to do a u-turn to avoid going miles in the wrong direction…) and the fact that I was told to wait for the bride but at the wrong door (thankfully that got sorted out before she arrived properly so I was in the right place) things went off rather smoothly. The vicar was rather interested in the details of the old London Routemaster double-decker bus (in Halifax colours) that had been hired to take the guests to the reception and that seemed a little strange at the time. All was however explained when in the middle of the address he announced that he was terribly privileged to be doing this wedding because of the bus! He then went on to talk quite a bit about said bus much to everyone’s bemusement. Mind you, once I saw the bus I could tell why. It was fantastic. One of the old sort with a conductor on it and everything and the reaction through Leeds was amazing, people were waving and taking photos, it was really special. Once the ceremony was over (cue bridesmaid desperately trying not to cry) and the photos were in full swing I had the complete honour to be the one to catch the bouquet* and I am utterly dreading the photos of said catch – I’m said to look rather determined… The reception was in a fantastic old gentlemans club in the centre of Leeds, it even had listed male toilets! The procession of various females (with male escorts of course) to view these was quite a sight to see :) Apart from that I danced too much, I probably drank too much (although I blame quite a bit of that on a) the bar staff who got measures confused and gave me a HUGE full glass, eek and b) the bride who got another of said huge glasses and, as I found out later, was not above pouring it into mine when I wasn’t looking and c) and rather nice man called Ben who insisted on getting me another, thankfully smaller but still rather large glass and I hate not finishing drinks people have bought me) and I hope that the groom’s father forgives me for dragging him out onto the dance floor for quite a long dance when his feet were hurting (sorry). All in all, quite a marvelous party. The birthday (wet unfortunately - bloody weather!) barbeque I went to the next day was also completely lovely and it was really, really strange to see so many people again. Just sitting in the living room with people talking and drinking was so familiar that it almost felt like the last 2 ½ years away from Leeds were just a dream and I hadn’t really gone anywhere. Luckily for me, it wasn’t. I had been somewhere and I have met this wonderful man who wants to marry me and all is right with the world. Even my cold can’t get me down right at this moment  *and I take this opportunity to apologise wholly and completely for any black eyes etc that may have been caused in the scuffle…

This and that

I have noticed recently (and actually, not quite so recently, really) that a few people whose blogs I read update the look of their blogs quite regularly and with lots of style in each reincarnation. This makes me feel a bit sort of guilty that I don't. The last time I changed I had to get a friend to help me get a 3 column layout because I hadn't the slightest clue what I was doing. That is still the case. I do have some excuses though. I do not have a job so no internet access there. When I lived in Australia we did not even have a computer let alone have scaled to the dizzying heights of having the internet. I now live with my mother at the moment which means that broadband is not available, we are still existing on dial-up here so my internet time is limited because I don't want to run her phone bill up (that is, I don't want to run her phone bill up on the internet when I can quite happily run it up calling Australia...). I have other things on my mind which, in my opinion, are far more important. More important, in fact, that anything else. At all. Mainly, these things consist of my visa and the fact that I'm missing t'Otherarf (oh my, now Welsherella's got me at it...) like crazy. Phone calls are great and I don't know what I'd do without them but there's just no substitution for getting a great big hug and kisses in person. The other thing (tied in with my visa but not happening specifically for the visa - I thought that I'd make that distinction clear right here and now) is that I'm getting married :D I am officially engaged and loving every second of it (apart of course from the being 12,000 miles away from my fiance - that bit sucks) I've not posted this before because I wanted to tell a few people in person - or, in one case, over the phone - rather than have them read about it on this blog. I'm very, very happy, I've got a very lovely ring, my mum's going to take me dress shopping and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with a man who I'm head over heels in love with who loves me to distraction in return. Next year, hopefully on a tropical beach, I'm going to marry the nicest, loveliest man I've ever met. And, I know I've said this a few times now but tough I'm going to say it again, I could not be happier. In the manner of 1066 And All That this is a Very Good Thing.