This is a Journal entry by Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry!
I'm back!
Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! Started conversation Jan 4, 2006
Well, I'm finally back online... three weeks off work is a heck of a long time. Being back at work isn't very nice after so long off - I couldn't even remember my password, and it took me most of yesterday to remember what I'd actually been doing at work last year .
Overall, though, it was a good holiday . The first thing we did on the Saturday was visit Bath, as Dave had a suit fitting for his best man Nick's wedding, as he was returning the favour of being best man. After the fitting we explored Bath a bit more, and spent a good few hours in the Bath house itself .
The Roman Baths are huge, and utterly fascinating. It doesn't look that big from above ground, but below ground you could get lost in there. We took the free audio tour thing as well, which was interesting too. There is so much of the Roman stuff left, some of it amazing well preserved, and they think even more is hidden under the 18th century architecture elsewhere in Bath - shame they can't dig it up to see .
We had planned to have a cream tea in the pump rooms, but the queue was massive (we worked out it would have meant standing for an hour *just to be seated*) so we shelved that and plan to return again soon. Bath itself was absolutely heaving with people, so I guess part of it was the Christmas rush, anyway. We just went to the pie shop across the road and grabbed a pasty and a danish instead .
Then I did all our Christmas shopping for our parents and my sister-in-law - having not done any of it until then! Me and Dave decided we couldn't be bothered to buy proper presents for each other, as we couldn't think of anything we wanted, and anyway I'd have to go and buy it for myself anyway. We're the last of the great romantics, we are .
Then it was Dave's turn to be best man at Nick's wedding. I don't know what to say about it without sounding bitchy, really . Nick and his new wife were very obviously besotted with each other, which was lovely, but the wedding itself was just far too formal for me; there was a proper "top table" for the meal, so Dave was up on the top table with the bride and groom, bridesmaids and family and I was on a side table with lots of people I didn't really know . Fortunately we were still in each other's eyeline, and when things got too stuffy we started pulling faces at each other until the groom's sister, who was a bridesmaid, couldn't stop laughing at us. It was all incredibly serious and formal, and to be honest I was very glad that me and Dave had a much smaller and much more relaxed wedding. Nick and his new wife didn't even leave their reception until half past midnight - we'd been up since 6.30am, and Dave was their chauffeur to their first night hotel, so we didn't get to bed until gone 1.30am and were absolutely shattered. They seemed to have had a wonderful time, anyway - which is the aim of a wedding reception!
When we got back, we decided that as we'd be going away for a few days, now would be a good time to redecorate the kitchen . There was some logic in there; the paint would have time to dry while we were away, and thanks to the shape and location of all the units, tiles and windows, there isn't much wall to paint. So, after a bit of debate about which shade of yellow to go for, we finally picked a colour and painted it .
Then we visited my parents for a few days, and saw some friends up in Rotherham, which was nice. Mum gave us a massive Christmas cake, a Christmas pudding, and a tub full of mince pies and bakewells .
For Christmas itself, we just stayed around home and enjoyed our first Christmas together . Instead of turkey, we decided to have pork, so I did pork with sauteed apples, roasted vegetables, stuffing and yorkshire puds . We went for some long walks around in the cold, and just generally chilled out.
After Christmas we spent a few days with Dave's parents in Dorset, and again just chilled out. We had planned to drive to Exeter for the yearly family meet, but the weather forecast was predicting atrocious conditions for Thursday night and Friday, so we decided to come back a day early and miss the bad weather... which turned out to merely be a bit of rain .
New Year was rather quiet - most of our friends were still off either at their parents or with other friends, so only a couple of people came around to ours and we sat around eating Pringles and cake till midnight. We also managed to find and order a new laptop to replace our defunct PC, which should be turning up on Friday . The New Year sales can be very good for bargains .
And that's pretty much a summary of our Christmas and New Year. I hope everyone had a good time . Just give me a bit of time to catch up on all my conversations and things that I've missed for three weeks!
I'm back!
A. Honeybadger Posted Jan 4, 2006
Hi Rains - welcome back!
Holidays sounded great, even if the wedding was too formal for your tastes. At least the trip to Bath was good!
I agree with you that separating people from their partners for the sake of 'form' and having a top table isn't such a nice thing to do. And I don't think it's bitchy at all to have a point of view on something like this - it's not as though you were complaining about the couple themselves, now, is it?
My brother had all circular tables for his, and their table was in the middle. No partners were split up - the seating arrangements were cxarefully thought out specifically to make sure this didn't happen - and the atmosphere was very relaxed. I can't think of anyone who didn't have a good time (except my sister's fella, but - much as I like him - he can be a miserable sod in any setting! )
Redecorating the kitchen, too, eh? We've been planning that for about 12 years...
I'm back!
Lizzbett Posted Jan 4, 2006
Hi Rains,
Glad you had a nice Christmas. Glad you liked Bath too. We spent ages at the Roman Baths when I went, but my philistine of a brother didn't like it when he visited - he said it was boring! Those audio tour things are good aren't they (apart from that trumpet noise at the start of each message). It's a shame you didn't get to eat in The Pump Room, but if it was so crowded, it wouldn't have been enjoyable.
Chat soon.
Liz
I'm back!
Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! Posted Jan 4, 2006
Hi Ancrene ,
I'm really looking forward to going to Bath again soon . Hopefully it won't be quite as busy next time.
Did you have a good Christmas?
Your brother's wedding sounds like a good arrangement. When I was a bridesmaid for my bridesmaid Silvia, she made sure that for the meal, everyone was seated with their partners, which was really nice - although they did have a table with the bride and groom and parents on. For mine and Dave's wedding reception, we decided to have a buffet with free seating, so people could sit where they liked and wander around during the meal. It worked really well - and so many people have said that they loved the relaxed atmosphere of our wedding . The main reasons we went for a buffet were 1) no seating plan to do and 2) someone would be bound to tell us they were vegetarian/vegan or something too late for us to change the food, so having a buffet where people could choose their own food would be easier.
(also, we left at about 8.30pm, because we wanted to enjoy our wedding night! )
We've been redecorating our house for over three years, now . House decorating is one of those things that's never entirely done, isn't it? We hadn't intended to do the kitchen over Christmas, but Dave doesn't do sitting around doing nothing very well and he decided we might as well paint while we weren't doing anything else. Luckily no-one was coming around for Christmas, otherwise they'd have seen a house in chaos!
I'm back!
Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! Posted Jan 4, 2006
Oops, sorry Liz, I missed your post .
Yes, I thought the trumpet noise was a bit odd - the first time we listened to it, we got deafened by it . It's amazing the detail they put in there, though.
Chat soon
Lins
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I'm back!
- 1: Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! (Jan 4, 2006)
- 2: A. Honeybadger (Jan 4, 2006)
- 3: Lizzbett (Jan 4, 2006)
- 4: Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! (Jan 4, 2006)
- 5: Rains - Wondering where time's going and why it's in so much of a hurry! (Jan 4, 2006)
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