Someone remind me please...?

[cirianz]

Why did I say yes...?

I spent all of yesturday doing invitations (which, since we couldn't afford fancy flash ones had to be filled out by hand (plus, since the Q & A bits on the 'notepad' invites was pretty restricting meant I also had to print out a blurb bit that actually had all the info needed & add a 'personal 'Hi & Bye' to each) I spent the entire afternoon & evening yesturday doing invites, & that was only for 30 invites, there's still 10 more to go which have address or content problems!

I've filled in the form for the marrige licence But somehow we have to find a time when we can actually go in to the registra & do the statutory declaration saying that we actually are free to marry (& take in John's divorce papers as well) & John's back at work again so that limits available time

& last week we were at the Lawyers doing the pre-nups & our wills, & now have to draw up lists of 'specific items' for each individual. The pre-nup is pretty easy as John & I have generally kept most of our stuff seperate & each buy our own things so it's just a matter of listing who owns what. But the wills... arrrrgh!

& there are so many 'fiddly little bits' that all have to be sorted before the day (only 4 1/2 weeks away now ) that I think I'll either be mad or exhausted by the time of the ceremony.
I can just see myself...

"Do you, Debbie, take John to be your lawfully wedded whatever etc...?"
"Debbie...?"
"Debbie...?"
"zzzzzzzzzzzz.... what? Oh yeah, whatever... zzzzzzzzz"

I know there was a reason I said yes...?
Ohhhh... yeah, I remember now...
I love the bugga! That was it

One good thig
I sent off the final measurements for the wedding dress day before yesturday.
Even managed to shed a few cm's for the wedding
So that was cool.
I can't wait to see the dress
Hopefully it will be finished soon
Reckon it will be the most beautiful wedding dress ever
I can't remember if I mentioned, but I wasn't able to get a webcam for my lappy so there'll be no 'live coverage' & haven't been able to find anyone with a video camera either
But I'll post some photo's as soon as we get back from the honeymoon
Time to get back to work,
I never new there was so much to organising a wedding
Registry offices are starting to look awfully attractive

 

[Ian]

It sounds like you are well underway with the planning and organising Ciri

I'm looking forward to seeing the photos and hearing how the big day goes

 

[muckshifter]

... you don't arf bring a smile to my face, love it.

Enjoy!

 

[cirianz]

lol, thanks guys,
Now, if someone will just untie these sleeves for a moment...

 

[Taffycat]

I love reading your posts too Ciri, it's just like being there! Sounds like you're having an incredibly busy time, but then, it wouldn't be a wedding without all that hassle, would it? And anyway, you'll probably find some of these moments entertaining to look back on, when you are safely "hitched" and have time to relax again.

Well done for the "lost centimeters" particularly so soon after Christmas - but the anticipation of wearing a lovely Wedding Dress would be a very good incentive, methinks heck, it's got to be better than my own current incentive ... which is merely to be able to do up the button on this skirt, following a few too many Christmas choccies

Deep breaths Ciri, and good luck with your preparations. By the way, how is Pringle getting on? He must be pretty big by now? And is Gabby-Goat well? (Sorry, I shouldn't really add to your workload by asking questions, but if you have time, it's always interesting to hear about them.)

 

[floppybootstomp]

Despite what you think now, you'll remember these days with affection.

SNAFU, that's weddings, lol.

Everything will be good

 

[cirianz]

SNAFU Yep that would be right
Good to know I'm not alone

Thanks Taffy
Quite chuffed about the weight, especially with xmas & all,
funny thing, I didn't really start losing until I put my head through that door & f*ckd up my neck, & had to stop rowing
So much for all that sh*t they go on about exercise
But it is a beautiful dress & a big motivator
Plus I saw this thing on TV a couple of months back that had this little old lady, she was 80 years old, & she was doing Jazz ballet with this young dancer to rock music.
F*ck she was good!
she only stumbled slightly once when he was putting her down after a move.
& it made me think.
I suppose I'd sort of, without noticing, gotten used to the notion that I was nearly 40 now & shouldn't expect to look like when i was 20 anymore etc etc.....
Then I saw this little old lady & I thought, "F*ck, if she can do that at 80 then what the f*ck am I doing sitting on my ass!"
& I got a picture in my head of what I'd be like at 80 if i didn't get my ass into gear & do something about it now.
I didn't like that picture!
Just 'cos I'm pushing 40, doesn't mean i have to become *shudder* middle aged!
One of those 'epiphany' type moments I suppose.

Pringle is scary. He can fly now... with a run up & a downward slope anyway.
So he can fly out over our gate (if he starts from the top of the back paddock & gets a good glide going)
But he can't fly uphill yet, so he can't fly back in,
& twice we've found him out, heading home after a stroll.
& once he managed to crash into John's boat & ended up with white primer all over his eyeball (I'm not sure if it was on the outside or inside of the 3rd eyelid but it wouldn't wash off so I suspect it was inside)
I'm just terrified that he's going to get hit by a car while 'out walking',
& if he can't fly upwards by the time we go on our honeymoon...?

I tried shutting him in again at night (he tends to end up outside first thing in the morning.
He sleeps up the top of the back paddock so I suspect its when he has his morning 'stretch & flap'
But he can't even stretch his wings fully in that cage now.
Did i mention that he's BIG?
You could make 3 ducks easily just from his main body mass.
His wingspan is... incredible!

& Gabby, he is a continual series of misadventures.
If there's something he can get into then he will get into it!
The funniest bit is when you see him on his knees, shoving his head through the door to pringle's cage & around to the left to try & steal Pringle's goose food (Which is now a mixture of chook laying pellets, rabbit pellets, cracked grain & grit & is apparently goatalicious!)
I must say though, that for an animal that's supposed to eat just about anything, we've ended up with a very fussy eater
But his favourite food is buddlelia (sp) The butterfly bush, & he will go to some ridiculous lengths to get it, especially now that he's eaten it up above his 'standing on hind legs & on tippy-toes' height.
We had some full round fence posts stacked up there for a while & you should've seen him teetering up there on top of them like a mountain-goat on a cliff-face, trying to get the buddlelia

I other words, all pretty much what you'd expect for us

 

[Quadophile]

Ciri,

This thread in my opinion is marginally better than my humour thread

You are bubbling with excitement and it shows here. Well, you better have fun and make the most of it. Not many get to experience the occasion twice in their lifetimes, you are lucky.

On a lighter note I recall a very funny dialogue from "Fawlty Towers"

Cybil Fawlty to one of the customers "You are single only once"
Basil Fawlty (his voice from the office behind the counter) "Twice can be arranged"

 

[cirianz]

ROTFL

This is actually my first time for a proper wedding, last time we just had a private ceremony. Didn't even have guests or anything. No party/reception, no honeymoon or anything.
Sounds awfully attractive now

Next I've got to try & bully the garden back into submision ROTFLMAO
Actually had it looking quite good before Pringle, but he was pretty intensive labour at first & things got away on me. Since then I've only managed to actually get into it a couple of times & aren't even keeping close to the weed replenishment rate. It's a 'cottage garden' type garden too, so if i weed it in too much of a hurry I find I've pulled up half my plants with the weeds.
& I defintiely can't let John anywhere near it
His notion of weeding is to pull out anything that looks vaguely untidy.
Lost a couple of plants I can't replace that way
& the garden always looks decidedly bald afterwards
So I have to get out there & give the whole thing a thoughrough going over (& quite a lot of our property is in gardens of various description) Before it reaches John's untidyness threshold
& besides, don't want to be losing wedding guests in the jungle.
Not really polite!
Besides, we'd have them battling their way out for months to come...
"Dr Livingston I presume?"

 

[Taffycat]

That 80 year-old you mentioned sounds incredibly fit Ciri, I can see how she must have inspired you, it can be good to take stock sometimes, particularly if it makes one feel more positive. And for what it's worth, I think you're so right about deciding not to be "middle-aged" just because turning 40 is on the horizon - after all, age is only a number and it's how you feel inside that matters. If the outside happens to complement that feeling, well that's a bonus. Sooo looking forward to seeing your dress - I think you are going to wow everyone.

Aww, Pringle sounds quite a character - although I think you'll have to construct a little launching-pad for him, with maybe some wee booster rockets to assist him with his uphill take-offs But I expect he will get the hang of it soon, because he seems to be maturing quite fast, doesn't he.

Gabby sounds like a very intelligent goat - and an inventive one too I have this comical mental picture of him raiding Pringle's cage It's fascinating to watch animal behaviour isn't it? We adopted another cat just before Christmas (a stray) and it has been interesting as well as comical to watch him settling-in with our other three. Happily, they've become great pals in a very short time Not quite the same as your selection of animals, of course, it must be great to have such a varied "gang."

I'm sure your guests are going to have a wonderful time and probably won't be too worried about the odd weed - although I can understand that you'd prefer the garden to look it's best, of course Perhaps where you see untidyness, others might find it charming? I say that only because I used to really love the cottage garden patch which was the domain of an elderly lady. There was a mixture of plants, different heights, types, etc., but they always looked so pleasing to me. The rest of the (large) garden was tended by the lady's daughter, who insisted upon having everything manicured to within an inch of it's life. Plants had to be standing in regimental lines, and didn't dare to drop a petal! But I much preferred her mother's patch. Sometimes one person's chaos, is another's pleasure - but it's all subjective I guess

Now, speaking of chaos...... I really must sort out this desk, I'm fairly certain there is a laptop lurking under here somewhere....!!

 

[AbsoluteKevster]

Always a pleasure reading your posts Ciri... Keep the updates coming!

 

[cirianz]

lol, about the garden, yes, John used to work for parks & gardens over in Liverpool before he came out here & he prefers a more, classical, organised garden whereas I love a totally cottage garden look, so our current garden is sort of a compromise, midway between the two, although, since I'm the one who generally does the flowers side of things it's probably a little bit more cottage gardeny than John would prefer. Funnily enough, he loves the look of cottage gardens at other people's places, loves the whole 'old english' sort of look to them I think. But his urge to tidy is too strong when it comes to our own place

 

[cirianz]

Annnnnnnnnddddddd....
My latest piece of news
I just got an email from Paulette that my wedding dress should be ready to post TOMORROW
I am literally bouncing around the lounge room!!!!
I don't think a part of me ever really believed that it would be finished.
One month to go..... aaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!
I don't know if I'm excited or terrified!!!!!!!!

 

[Taffycat]

Whichever it is Ciri, it's lovely of you to share

 

[cirianz]

Not exactly on topic, but ya gotta love this, you remember how I described Gabby kneeling to try & reach Pringles food inside pringles cage? Well he has evolved this technique
Last nightafter I gave pringle his food I was just hanging around in the back paddock enjoying all the dusk sounds & quiet ( ) well, I know what I mean
& lo & behold, our full grown, & rather tubby goat, came strolling down the hill, knealt down & proceeded to insert his entire self (except his hind legs) into the cage (the door is about a foot square) whereupon he helped himself to pringle's food with the casual nonchalance of someone who's done this plenty of times before
I dragged him out & told him off of course, as I did again for the next three times he repeated the performance. But I had to confess i was having to do battle with a mixture of awe & a strong inclination to PMSL
It was hilarous & very impressive
These two little white legs sticking out the door with the rest of him kneeling inside, his face in the bowl
He only stopped when there was no more food left to steal.
Now I've got to figure some way to actually get the food to Pringle
in the face of Gabby's continually evolving ingenuity

 

[Taffycat]

That is one intelligent (not to say ingenious) goat you have there Ciri .... no counting sheep for me tonight, instead, I shall be imagining that really funny scene that you've just described - priceless

 

[cirianz]

& Today... what did I do today
Today I was out in the front garden teaching Pringle that gardens taste good
& the worst thing? It was not by accident
Since Pringle can fly out over our fence, but cannot fly back in
& the other times he's flown out he's ended up wandering down the road being target practice for cars,
It seemed a good idea that I make the front garden a familiar part of his territory so he doesn't wander off & get lost or killed while we're off on honeymoon
Hopefully I will have a good 20+ years to regret
But I spent today gardening with Pringle
I pulled out the weeds & he ate the plants
He got scared sometimes & his neck would go all quivery,
But most of the time we just 'grazed' happily
Pringle carefully & dillegently went around pulling out cyclamens on the theory that one of the damn things must be eddible, stopping occasionally in his search to snack on the odd poly or hellebore &, of course, the familiar 'snow in summer' which he quite happily decimates around the rest of the property.
This is our second combined gardening effort & I'm begining to wonder if i shouldn't leave some of the weeds in so that he has something to snack on when he's finished all my flowers
But better a bare garden than a flat goose
But I think I might wait until after the honeymoon before I plant the lupins