Princess for a Day

Today, I felt like a princess. I thought I was too old to have days like these…

For years I looked on… sometimes admirably (sometimes patiently!) as brides-to-be gushed about their dresses, their plans, and wedding details great and small. It was hard to relate really, not having personally experienced a traditional wedding. I wasn’t one of those little girls who dreamed about one day marrying a prince and having a wedding fit for a princess. When I didn’t imagine I’d be in similar shoes, it was sometimes hard for me to understand all the fuss.

Until A.

While I still maintain a healthy perspective (I am not losing sight of the fact that it is the marriage we are preparing for and celebrating … that a wedding is merely a tribute to the important thing which is the life we get to spend together), I nevertheless am beginning to understand. Although I’d marry A anywhere in any circumstance because I can’t wait to go through life with him at my side, we are also planning and preparing quite a celebration of this fact!

We won’t get everything perfect in terms of traditions, or pleasing everyone, but our intention is to have a wonderful time in the company of those we love and value… a send-off into our new lives that we can always treasure and won’t soon forget.

So, for today, (and perhaps on a few other days in the coming months), I am going to be that bride… who in spite of my age and circumstance, is going to get a bit excited and effusive as I share happy details of our big day.

To that end, I thought I would share that I have found the dress! Today, I tried it on for my mother to see. We shared a special afternoon. I won’t allow A to see it until I am walking down the aisle. I have found a few lovely accessories too.

Moments like these are making it more and more real.


I simply cannot wait!

Decidedly Un-domestic...

This is the year I’m going to start owning things. I don’t mean ‘things’ in the material sense. Bear with me on this one and it will all become clear.

Today, A asked me the following question: “If we were to own a house with a bigger garden, do you think you might like to keep hens?” I was momentarily speechless, not certain I’d heard him correctly. In the few seconds it took me to recover and formulate some sort of response, my mind raced through a series of thoughts that went something like this: (Hens?!!! I know that one set of my grandparents were farmers but I was raised in the city! Hens?!!! Me, who if money were no object, would be happily ensconced in a luxury patio home or condo where there is 0 maintenance, replete with housekeeper, personal chef, personal trainer… Hens get mites! Wait… does that mean lice?! Eeeew! What level of commitment would keeping HENS require? Do they smell? Do they poo everywhere? What is the noise level? What if I fail and can’t keep them alive and happy? I DO hope you mean for eggs only and not for… I couldn’t bring myself to ever… Oh, but is this something A really wants? I want him happy… perhaps I could try to keep a more open mind because if it’s something he really wants we could do this together… but Hens?!!).

I told A we could discuss this once we both did some degree of research into what the reality of hen keeping would be. After all, I’d love a pet rabbit but am not convinced that I’m up to the task. Couldn’t we just have a next door neighbor with hens and buy fresh eggs from them?

Friends, family of mine, and those of you whose blogs I follow (and adore) who are happily baking, decorating your homes, and making all manner of clever and crafty things please know that I hope you are not *too* disappointed to know that while I admire these traits and abilities greatly, I have no (known) personal proclivities of these sorts. I was the girl who immersed herself in her career... to a fault.

SO… it’s time I start owning things. Owning the fact that I. Don’t. Know. How. To. Cook. I am only this week (at the tail end of my 39th year of life) making a concerted effort to start cooking. Whole foods. No more frozen dinners and overly-processed stuff that passes for food. I am committed to this process for my health and well-being, but am finding that while I am proud of what I am achieving (which trust me, won’t impress you foodies out there), I don’t actually *love* cooking! I envy people who love it. I want so much to feel that way about it. Perhaps in time I will grow to love it, but perhaps I need to stop hoping this will magically change for me and own this as a personal truth.

I should also own the fact that I don’t fully understand fashion, or have an interior design knack, or know the first thing about gardening (though I love the idea of it… I HATE BUGS). I can’t stand camping outdoors. I am a little afraid of lawn mowers. I like air conditioning and creature comforts.

I am still open to experimentation on the domestic front. I keep hoping that I will embrace it more. I reserve the right to change my mind, but so far I haven’t.

It will be interesting to see what sort of house A and I keep together. He doesn’t seem to mind cooking, and I don’t altogether mind cleaning the kitchen. He is not afraid of bugs and enjoys tending to rose-bushes. I may not be a designer, but I do really enjoy a cozy home so I’m sure I’ll make my best effort in that regard. I hope our friends won’t shy away from dropping by…


The only promise I’m going to make right now is that I will strive to be more comfortable owning the truth… whatever it was, is, or becomes…

First thoughts on letting go...

I could make a list of all the things I am looking forward to (there are many!) once I make the big move and start a (very) new chapter in life. I know without a doubt there is much I will gain. A life with the man I want to spend all my days with. The excitement, the newness of change, the chance to reinvent what I do and where I live, new cultural references, family-in-law, new friends, new food, new language, challenges, achievements, and more than I can conceive of presently.

In the balance of things, I also realize that there is much that I am leaving behind. As I reflect a bit today on this, please know that I am not doing so from a standpoint of regret for my decision to uproot. I am simply acknowledging the reality of what I will be giving up in the process. These things run the gamit from painful to mildly annoying or amusing, and from significant to trivial.

Here are a few of those things:

Serious things:

• My 3 amazing, adorable nephews! There is nothing more uplifting than time spent in their company.
• Having family nearby and familial events or milestones
• Proximity of current friends
• My known security (my career, and all I’ve achieved and built here)

Less Serious things:

• Supermarkets that stay open late or 24 hours (even on Sunday!)
• MEXICAN FOOD!!!!!!! (this almost went in the serious category)
• Walk-in closets (!)
• Having my own bathroom (battle of the toilet lid begins!)
• Driving on the right
• Thanksgiving
• PBS (However, I’m gaining BBC)
• Ice as a matter of course in drinks (including iced tea!), and American lemonade
• Air conditioning (A tells me I won’t miss this but we’ll see)
• Cheap gas (petrol)
• American-style dryers and having a separate laundry room
• Did I mention MEXICAN FOOD? (no offense, but curry just isn’t the same)


I know I haven’t thought of or listed everything. I can’t possibly know yet how it will feel. I’m sure I’ll have a good deal more to say on this as I experience the process over time.


I think I’ll go have a taco while I can…

Ridiculous!

At the risk of sounding like a snob, or an antique, I’ve been noticing an increase in – shall we say – ‘American colloquialisms’ (better known as urban slang) en vogue these days and not, in my opinion, for our betterment. I do realize that my views on this will likely produce more than a few smirks, snickers, suppressed giggles, and sarky remarks from my British friends. Yes, I do see the irony of all that I’m about to complain about. However, it’s not my fault that I wasn’t brought up with the Queen’s English! I spent my entire life proud of my ‘proper’ usage of ‘English’, only to find out (to my horror) a few years ago that ‘English’ is actually my second language!

Apparently I speak proper American-English. (Pausing for the laughter I can just about hear from over the pond).

All those years of being teased in school for my expansive vocabulary, (or the fact that my favorite [favourite] book of all time is ‘The Joy of Lex’ by Giles Brandreth) to learn that in fact I can’t even pronounce ‘Aluminum’ (Aluminium) correctly!

Yet I digress.

I grew up loving Shakespeare (though I was aware of the theory that his English may have been colloquial for its time). I inhaled the Canterbury Tales and several classics and have always been interested in the evolution of language. My grandmother and mother were very careful to insist that I use proper ‘English’ (American). I turned my nose up at words like ‘ain’t’ or ending sentences with the word ‘at’.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have unfortunately absorbed some of the older and/or milder American ‘slang’ vernacular and find myself uttering phrases I wish I hadn’t, or over-using the word ‘like’. I cannot claim perfect usage!

It occurred to me recently that today’s urban slang must make it more difficult for non-American speaking foreigners to learn our language. Take for example, the latest installment I’ve heard most recently – ‘Ridiculous’. I remember when ridiculous meant absurd or inspiring ridicule. I’m still rather attached to that definition. Apparently to some people it now means something along the lines of ‘amazing’ (in a pleasant way). It was bad enough when we had to start hearing ‘words’ (and I use that term loosely) such as ‘dude’, ‘bling’, ‘shizzle’, ‘ginormous’, ‘bass ackwards’, ‘mack’, ‘wack’, ‘lugie’, ‘bad’(meaning impressive or good), ‘tricked out’, ‘nuff. Now we have ‘ridiculous’ … and worse yet, ‘ridonculous’.

To this relic, bad means undesirable, and wack is spelled whack and is only something one might do with a stick but shouldn’t do, and mack is a type of truck or a person’s nickname perhaps. Therefore, I am holding fast to the ‘ridiculous’ I learned as a child and my definition perfectly fits my view of its current usage!


Ironically, I suspect the tables will turn on me once I am in the UK and I have to explain over and over again that, after all, English is (sadly) my second language... (and a work in progress).


I’m sure I’ll ‘bodge’ a few expressions and appear quite ‘barmy’ to some.



Gutted.

Happy Easter!

Whether you celebrate with fancily painted eggs replete with an Easter egg hunt and a basket of goodies, or a single edible chocolate bunny, or in church, or a combination of all three...

Happy Easter!! (and a lovely weekend to those who don't celebrate)

Having a moment...

Today, I'm just wishing I could crawl into this moment again ...


Looking forward to more days like this ~ and a time when I can spend all my days with A

xo

We're not in Google (Kansas ) anymore...

As I briefly perused the web this morning (catching up on news, email, etc.) before preparing to do some work from home, I fully expected to find the news full of laughable stories and April Fool's jokes.

However, I wasn't prepared for today's Google.com homepage! For this day only, Google has changed it's name to Topeka! (For those of you who don't know ~ Topeka is the State Capital of Kansas).

For more on this story...

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html



Although a brilliant April Fool's joke ~ this Kansas gal is not-so-secretly honored. :)