thoughts rattling around

Phew. Woke up this morning to Sam throwing a paper in front of me and saying, "Apparently New Orleans has gone to crap while we were sleeping." The last we heard it was "fine" and "narrowly missed" but, good grief, its difficult to process, really, I'm mesmerized by the footage. So sad.

After being greeted with the newspaper, I was greeted with this fantastic alpaca scarf courtesy the fabulous Elise! I love the use of the seldom seen, highly underestimated teal! Elise, you are a sweet pea. I can't wait to wear it in the cold! So soft!

Also, Sam and I were realizing this weekend that we have reached the halfway of our stay here. Just 9 more weekends. Must pack in as much as possible! This weekend: camping with Will. Coming soon: trip to N. Ireland yay!

And lastly: excellent recipe I found/concocted:
Corn Fritters, people: very finely chop up some leeks, chilies, and garlic, sautee them in a little oil with some ground coriander just for a little while, then put them in a bowl with 2-3 eggs, a few tablespoons of coconut (trustme), and a can of sweetcorn, stir it all up. Then, drop tablespoons of the batter into a hot oily frying pan and fry up crispy and brown. Deeeelicious. Note: I didn't have any cornmeal on hand because from what I can tell, the English don't so much know about it as *somehow* not know about it really, but I think some cornmeal in the batter would also make the fritters quite delicious.

And...done.

Oh, P.S. haircut tomorrow! Prolly nothing drastic.

D'oh

Well, crap. I've gone and erased my pictures from the weekend. Its these newfangled gadgets the kids are using; have me all confused. But, no, it was just an unfortunate slip or something. And, besides, even John's done it before, hmm? hmm?? But, anyhow. I didn't have that many. The good ones were of Julia looking lovely for her going away do, and a nice cityscape of Bristol with some hot air balloons, which Bristol apparently is a center for, randomly. Lots of ballooning. And balloon enthusiasts.

Well, highlights of Bristol included visiting a real life H M prison. Julia showed us around the prison where she has been an officer for the past 4 years. It was a strange feeling, for sure. For one, I had all these semi-conscious ideas of prisons including but not limited to darkish, grey everything, bare walls, and bars. But it didn't, in fact, look like Shawshank, but just sort of a government building complex with surprisingly bright colors around, prisoner art work and posters all over the walls, and lots and lots of doors, all of which had to be locked after we passed through, and we only saw 3 prisoners, which was good cause I didn't want it to seem like we'd come to the human zoo or something. But, it was interesting. It wasn't exactly awful, just sort quietly miserable.

Julia's going away party was a big hit, the most entertaning part being my father-in-law singing not one, not two, but three karaoke hits. Fabulous. And some spas friend of Julia's dancing like Napoleon Dynamite.

This morning, we attended church with Jules in Bristol at an old beautiful church, which had previously been Anglican, but had been sold to BBC as a prop storage building at some point when, presumably, the congregation dwindled down too small, but then this little non-denom Journey-esque church bought it and use it. So it is an interesting mix of Journey-type church, in an old beautiful building with stained glass and arches and stone carvings everywhere. Cool.

The ride home was highly exciting as England absolutely CREPT to what should have been a flipping shoo-in of a win against Australia when the demi-god that is Shane Warne (Sam: literally, a god, playing with men) rallied his troops and didn't go down without a fight. Upside: England did win. Downside: The match finished today which means no flipping match for us tomorrow, i.e. no Sam going nuts and jumping onto the pitch. Ah well.

Personal thoughts & feelings: Had a nice time with the family sans-Sam (had to stay home and work), enjoyed the drive & the countryside, enjoying England's bat-and-ball game at its most exciting even via radio, getting antsy about the shortage of weekends I have before I come home, and starting to get that sinking feeling about wedding plans. Oh dear... wedding plans... But, it'll work itself out. Right mom?

May I direct your attention...

John has just posted some new pics, and if you haven't checked out his not-so-new ones, they are excellent as well! More from me later. It's a lovely day in Bristol!

mmm... khorma

Tonight I ate delicious curry with our friends over the road, Nick and Jo. I had curry last night, incidentally. It was delicious, though, and Nick and Jo are a great couple to hang out with. Two cute little girls as well. Nick is a police inspector and told us lively tales of being on the beat, and about the buzz of riots and near riots. Jo told us how their younger girl, who is 5, was sitting at breakfast today, and started telling her about an awful fire in Paris that had killed some children. "How did you know that, baby?" Jo asked. "On the news. And about this bird flu..." she goes on, in her most matter-of-fact voice. She's FIVE. It was funny. Kids are just sponges with facts, tell you what.

Not much happening over in m.o.e. at the moment. Other than England currently having Australia on the ropes with the Ashes. Anna's dad got to see a fine day of play over at Trent Bridge, that's for sure. Other than that, I'm wearing a pink and white sweater I bought at a charity shop which has dolman sleeves and a triangle pattern and looks like it came out of Stacy McGill's closet (i dotted with heart), I'm getting over a cold, which I got from Sam, which has us both coughing like seals, and I've been thinking I really need to do some more knitting, and I'm desparate to go to a shop which sells yarn. I finally got the tip off where I can find some good yarn from Victoria, the girl from London. So, hopefully I can hit a shop up and stock up. Because... you can never have enough yarn. And its so inspirational just to look at. I'm thinking a hat in a zig-zag stripe pattern would be nice. Oh, and Sam has requested a scarf in black and white blocks. In support of the super rams, of course.

Right, so I'll try including a picture, which is back from the Long Eaton steam festival, which is highly entertaining. But at the moment blogger is being a little r-a-n-d if you know what I mean. Anyways, more after I get back from Bristol on Sunday. Or maybe after I get back from the cricket on Monday if there is any more dueling to be had on Monday. Cheers.

Oh, and P.S. for those of you desparately wondering how the stamp collection is going, its going well. And Janet, a lady I work with, bought me a notebook, some stamp collecting paper, and some stamp sticking on hinges, for a late birthday present. And, I found an Andy Goldsworthy stamp because apparently he did a set for the Royal Mail some time ago. He rox.

Come on you Rams!

Right, so above is the best I can do at documenting (camera cable found 1 hour ago) me in my new shirt, which I purchased in order to support my man via his favorite football club of all time. Isn't that sweeter than a bag of muffins. But, I'll have you know Derby came out on top against Cardiff 2-1, allowing me to see not only my first (and subsequently second) goal scored by said revered team, but the win as well! It was a fantastic! And really hot when the sun wasn't covered by cloud, which was about half the time, which is more than I can say about an OU football game in August. The part about the cloud covering the sun that is, and it being not hot at points. Because 3 hours plus in the student section is really flippin hot. But, back to topic A, the game was such a good time, I look forward to more, and it will be even better, I am told, to see the Rams on the road.

I was thinking about English football season, which makes up, what... 9 almost 10 months of the year, and how much my brother Aaron would enjoy it. I mean, we're talking almost every Saturday, and sometimes days in between, of seeing your team play, and even when they are away, its no more than, like, a 5 hour drive or something. And the crowds are so into it, hurling praise alongside of abuse however it goes, chanting. An excellent time. Maybe he'll have to come over sometime and experience it with his boys *hint hint*.

Anyways... before coming back up to Derby to see them play, Sam and I were down in London at a party for some of his friends from university. We ended up staying the night with Victoria, one of Sam's friends, whom I ended up talking to a lot at the party since we both didn't know that many people there. Lovely girl, I look forward to knowing her better. But, Sam and I hadn't quite figured out where we were going to stay in London, so in speaking to Vics, Sam asked if she happened to have any extra room, which she did and welcomed us with open arms. Turns out her flat is not only in the Royal Burrough of Kensington and Chelsea (very posh), but about 200 yards down the street from her front door is the Albert Bridge. Wow. Its a probably for the best that we were in a hurry to catch our coach the next morning, because I was walking agape past all the wonderful shops on King's Road, and I didn't even see the half of it.

So, a fantastic weekend, basically, topped off by a giant nap today after church and a dinner of a delicious roasted leg of lamb *drooooool*, a walk through the parks and nearby woods, and a long talk with Sam's dad about various theological topics. And now... back to the Accountants, ho hum.

Culture, people, culture

1. I might get to go see the Ashes in Nottingham! Yay. Though the first 4 days of the match to take place in Notts were sold out 3 months ago, the tickets for day 5 were still up for grabs (since a match doesn't always go to day 5), and for cheap! So, Martin snapped some up for us, and if it goes to the 5th day, we are so there! It is no longer possible that we'll see England win (hence, no Sam hurling himself onto the frenzied pitch and embracing as many complete strangers as possible, whilst making himself hoarse with joyous screaming), since the last match drew, but we at least won't see them lose the Ashes. In any case, if we end up going, it will be such a good time! I'll get to see the big names in real life, woo!

2. On Saturday, I saw my first instance of football (i.e. soccer) Hooliganry. That is, as we were coming home from Lincoln at about 5.30ish, a group of Lincoln City fans (the Lincoln City firm, we presumed) who had been at the football match between Notts County and Lincoln City were being heavily escorted by the police onto their train back to Lincoln. It was really interesting, though. There were about 50 of them, and they were dressed in plain clothes and caps, as they do, and there were so many policemen around them. The police had, presumably, escorted them all the way from the football grounds to the train, so that there wouldn't be any trouble. We were being guided around them, up the other side of the platform. I didn't see any actual trouble, of course, but it was still tense, knowing that they were intending trouble, and everything was so eerily quiet. Football firms are quite the interesting phenomenon.

Note to Self: Cucumber Melon = Bad Juju

A few months ago, I was sitting in the OU student union with some of the RUF girls, and we got to talking about how funny/odd it is, that every so often, a girl’s ordinary circumstances collide with her particular chemical circumstances and she feels like it truly is the end of the world. Everything has gone wrong, or is on the fast track to going wrong. We should theoretically be able to anticipate such times, we reasoned, and tell ourselves that its alright, that things are just a little imbalanced, to remind ourselves about how the last time we felt precisely this way it all turned out alright. But, then, it never works out that way. I suppose that’s about as silly as saying one should be able to take drugs but not let them affect him or her because his or her brain can should be able to say "Don’t worry about how you feel, its just the drugs."

For example, the other evening Sam made an offhand comment, like he does from time to time, about how he thinks my particular brand of deodorant smells not so good. Usually I just dismiss these ridiculous and wholly ungrounded comments, but yesterday, for some reason, it incited me to think that I was undesirable, that something was wrong with me, that I was incapable of making myself smell pleasant, something that girls should never have to work at, right? And that this incapability caused me to get a big fat B- on the test of Life and Relationships.

But thankfully the Lord had it in his wisdom to bring me a friend who, while his endearing honesty is sometimes the source of my tears, also understands me, knows that he is highly imperfect and is usually quick to repent and apologize if he’s hurt me intentional or not, who doesn’t resent such episodes, who in fact realizes that they are not to be resented but merely just the way girls/people are sometimes. I go so far to say that he even loves it about me, because its just part of who I am. He knows that it will happen again numerous, numerous times, as long as we are together and it seems this even makes him love me more. He is so patient in telling me that I’ve already passed, that I already have an A+, the test is over! Because it just takes telling and retelling, doesn’t it? It’s nice to understand and to be understood. And it’s nice to not have to feel silly when it’s all over that I got so upset from a comment about the fragrance of my deodorant.

This weekend = TCB

Alright, just back from a little weekend trip to Licolnshire to visit Antony, and have some last good times before he departs for the Great White North. Vancouver, namely. Friday I jetted from work, caught the bus into town, met up with Sam and Antony who had been at Sam's house all day watching the cricket and playing Resident Evil at the same time. Two TV's sat next to each other. "We literally had our cake, whilst eating it." But, they managed to hop on my bus a few stops down, with some excellent provisions, including BLT's (my current fav sandwich), pork pie, and sticky buns. (Yes, I eat uncooked T's now, but only in sandwiches. Though don't ask me to eat an uncooked O; the O's are nowhere in sight.)

So, meeting Martin in town, we boarded the train to Lincoln and had our picnic on the way so that when we pulled into the station we were all set for a night out in Carlton-le-Morland (consisting of a post office and a pub other than its residents) and Bassingham, its neighboring village (where the people of Carlton-le-Morland can go to buy a paper). Translation, we tramped up the street to the White Hart, then walked a mile and a half down some windy roads to the something Bugle, then walked a few blocks to the Five Bells for last orders (since pubs all stop serving at 11pm) then, in very merry spirits, walked the coupla miles or so back down the windy roads enjoying the brilliantly starry sky and singing various bits of that "show me the way to Amarillo" song, to Antony's whereupon we all crashed and then spent most of today lounging, doing next to nothing, and watching various crap Saturday afternoon shows while we waited for the flipping rain to clear off so the cricket could start back up. It rained so much today that they only ended up playing for a couple of hours*. Then, it was home again, off to work for Sam, and it's almost bedtime for me! Phew, a hard weekend. The Geddes' were wonderful hosts, though, and their new house is lovely.
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*In assuming that, like me only a couple of weeks ago, my reading audience knows nothing about this insectine game (other than, bat, ball, guys, kinda like baseball) its important to note that a game of cricket can last a really long time, like 5 days. But, its quite interesting, actually, and though I consider it my duty in marrying a sports obsessed nutcase to familiarize myself with his obsessions, I also enjoy doing it and I'm enjoying learning what this game is about. Note, its not really much like baseball other than the previous above-named features (bat, ball, guys). Its fortunate that I got to be here for this summer, as well, since its a summer for the Ashes. And last week when England won the match by just two runs, it was highly entertaining to see Sam bounce all over the living room shouting "TWO RUNS, OH YEAH!" And while we are talking about sports that Sam is obsessed with, his Rams are 3 and 0 so far, which is excellent, and we'll watch them play Cardiff this coming Saturday, yay!
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In other news, the plug which connects my camera to the computer has gone AWOL after I failed to safely tuck it away before the housecleaner came, so I am afraid I have no coverage of the Grider England do. You can trust me, however, that it was an excellent time! It was good to see the Griders again, encouraging and touching to see them renew their vows, and I was so happy that Anna got to come back for a little visit; I know it would be difficult to be away for so long. Also, I'd like to apologize to all of you, but mostly to Poopis herself for the eggregious misspelling of her name, and in such a public forum. So there, sorry!! POOPIS.

Ketchup

People, people, its been so long! Well, the non-wedding do went off wonderfully and we had a rip-roarin’ good time. Indeed, good times were had by all. The wine was delicious, as was the food. My dress was a big hit, Sam looked swell as well, wearing in fact, the same tie he temporarily lost on his tie-rack (light blue is such an excellent choice for those of the ginger-haired persuasion). Better than these things, though, was that we had gathered a large number of people very dear to us. It was so great to see everyone! Though I had only met most of Sam’s friends once before, and some of them I met for the first time (like Helen, who is so great! Can’t wait to get to know her better through the years.), generally I think you just tend to find dear those your best friend (i.e. significant other) finds dear, if you know what I mean, and vice versa. In fact, maybe if this is not the case for you (and you are not yet married but just dating or considering it), you should maybe do some thinking. But, I cannot emphasize enough that we just had a fabulous time. I hadn’t really known what to expect, emotionally, but I am all the more thankful to the Lord for bringing Sam and I together, indeed, for crafting us for one another.

The ceremony (as slightly uncomfortable it made me to plan my own ceremony since I tend to like the traditional more than the contemporary/ spontaneous when it comes to these kinds of things, but when there is no tradition in place one must be flexible) was very moving. That is, after the point at the beginning where Sam’s dad surprised us with a slide show complete with cheezy romantic soundtrack and a Star Wars theme, of us growing up. It was really great, though, and thoroughly entertaining. Especially the school picture of Sam at the time in his life when his hair formed a giant wave-curl on his forehead. The ceremony proper was made up of scripture reading, hymns, a message from Uncle John Grice (Sam’s Octogenarian surrogate grandfather) very powerfully and tenderly delivered, our parents praying for us, and Sam and I reading in turn specific thanks to God for various things in our lives. The whole thing was so warm, comfortable, slightly scary since I was the center of attention (well, shared center of attention), and very spiritually moving. It was wonderful to see Sam and his father cry when his father prayed for us, to hear tiny Margaret read Psalm 77 with more fervor than Billy Graham, to sing ‘I Surrender All’ along with Sam and everyone else while holding his hand, to look out and see a hundred plus faces of people I love! And, people, I just get to do it again in December, with real vows and even more and different people I love! How much excitement can a girl stand?

The reception, as I alluded to at the first, was so fun, as well. There was plenty of good wine and food, and excellent selection of music by Sam’s Uncle Ash who also tore it up on the dance floor with the lovely Auntie Revel. Antony (who incidentally is moving to Vancouver, which totally rocks, I’m very proud) was up to his usual ‘eating is cheating’ party behavior and proved a good partner later on the dance floor. Our parents danced, even Sam’s dad, and I finally collapsed at home, after first enduring Tony’s drunk ramblings on the car ride back home. Not many things funnier than a drunk Scot who is already really funny when sober. He is upset that Sam is not pursuing his destiny in stand-up comedy like he himself is. But, the next day, also we had a barbeque with all those 20 plus people who had camped out in the garden and survived Sam’s mother asking at 7.30 in the morning what all these bottles and cigarette-butts were doing in her garden, when she came out just to make sure no one wanted to go to church at half past 8. Oh dear.

And now, my parents left a few days ago, which was really what mostly kept me from writing. I had such a nice time with them, though! The pictures you see are just a random smattering of stuff we've done/seen. Obviously, there were too many to post them all, so I just included a few pleasers from Chatsworth (home of the Duke and Dutchess of Devonshire) and Macbeth at Tolthorpe theatre, though we also went to Stratford upon Avon, Lincoln castle and cathedral, and a few other places. Also, the Long Eaton (outlying town from Nottingham) Steam fair on Saturday was great. It was fun because it was just a sort of medium-sized town fair, with normal everyday Long Eaton-ites and their steam engines, dogs, sweets, and various fair-wares.

The best part of that day, though, was that I got to see a real Punch and Judy Show. Complete with baby beatings, other types of beatings, an alligator, a ghost, the constable, Punch, Judy, sausages, and… the devil, who came at the end to take Punch to hell because he had been a wicked man, and then proceeded to give the crowd a moral lesson about how if we are wicked boys and girls, or mummies and daddies, he will take us to hell, too! So we better be good! It was fantastic.

Also, I finished reading Harry Potter which was oh so good, yet again. I did enjoy the slimmer than the last book feature, though I don’t necessarily subscribe to the ‘half as long, twice as good’ philosophy some have applied to book 5. But it was thoroughly stimulating and entertaining, and gaaaa its so annoying to have to wait another two years or however long for the next one. What’s going to happen, people!? What about Ron and Hermione?!

Well, those are the most recent chunks of news I have to report. The handsome face to your left is how most of these pics were made possible. Well... at least half I'd say. In an unrelated note, I’m thinking of starting a stamp collection. Oh, and Chris and Anna got in today, woohoo! And, their blessing is on Saturday, yay! Can’t wait! Also, I miss Poopus! The dog to the right is merely a stand-in named Sorrel that we met at Chatsworth. A cute poopus nonetheless. And done.