Engagements and Weddings are coming out of my ar - .... ahem, behind

I couldn't sleep last night, lying in bed for a whole 2 hours after turning off the lights. It may have been the two coffees I had yesterday, or the fact that I slept in because we had a massive Saturday night.
Or it could have been because I was counting all the upcoming engagements and weddings we have coming up.

It's all very exciting, I must admit. In the past when we've had weddings/engagements galore, it's generally been more of Hubbie's extended family, and so although we've enjoy ourselves like we always do at parties and stuff, it is nothing compared to when you are supertight with the people there.

A month ago a close friend called to tell me she's engaged, and only a week ago Red called on her return from a holiday with Mr Wine to tell me he'd proposed. I was screaming into the phone and trying to hold back tears of happiness. SOooooooooooooooo happy :-D :-D :-D

Last night Hubbie and I were on the couch, when his best mate started messaging him. Turns out his wife's bro is getting married, and the girl is also extended family from Hubbie's side. We know the couple from both ends! That is also super-duper exciting, as we get along really well with Hubbie's best mate and wife, and we can't wait to party it up with them at the wedding.

So last night instead of counting sheep, I was counting all the weddings and engagements we have coming up. Here it is:

Red's engagement in September
My other friend's engagement in October
Definite wedding in late October - friend from school.

Those are the definites. The maybe's:

Hubbie's best mates wifes bro - maybe engagement this year
Another family member on Hubbie's side - maybe wedding later this year
Then I have 2 cousins, both who are getting married, but I don't know when = 2* possible weddings later this year.

THEN:

Next May is definitely my other friend's wedding.
Red is thinking early 2013 for her wedding.
And of course any maybe's that didn't follow through this year, including Hubbie's best mates wife's bro who will most likely get married in the following year.

Phew! So many maybe's it's doing my head in,. What I do know is there are going to be a lot of engagements and weddings in the next couple of years. Who am I kidding, when the engagements and weddings stop, the christenings and 1st birthdays begin........

:-D

Easter days have come to play

I need to immediately counterbalance my last post with a happier one.
:):):)

I am on the verge of 5 days off. Actually no, I am on 5 days off, because I don't have to work tomorrow. Tomorrow I go my sisters house, then Friday and Saturday I spend making 4-5 lots of cakes for Easter. Sunday I wrap things and organise the cakes (yum) before heading off to an Easter family party!
Monday I go to my sisters again (we're planning my Dad's surprise 70th birthday) then that night we have another Easter dinner..... and Tuesday Red and Mr Wine come over for Easter dinner to our place.... yikes it's all happening.

Let me tell you about what Easter treats I'm making:

Cappuccino cup cakes (they're a specialty of mine!)
White chocolate friands
Chocolate sweet narrow balls (it sounds weird I know, there's 5 naughty ingredients in there, out of 5 ingredients!)
and
2 lots of choc-chip hot cross buns!

I made the hot cross buns last year as well, and was really happy with them. So I've decided to do two dozen - some to give out, some to eat.
Om, om, om.

And now I'm tired. So concludes my happy post.

:):):)

The spiders have broken me

Back in my "Bubble and Squeak" post, I sort of gave you a scrambled up version of what had been happening in my life recently. Shortly after that, I remembered that I'd had a huge thing happen, that had absolutely, positively, FREAKED ME OUT. But, I decided that rather than update my post, or mention anything about my freak out, I would pretend nothing had ever happened, therefore ignoring the incident in order to hopefully not attract anything like that again. A la The Secret.


Well, something happened over a week ago, and in a similar although totally more freakish incident earlier this week, and I just can't contain the truth any longer. I must verbalise my fear.

The spiders. Huntsmen. They're baaaaaacccckkkkk.

I need to update you on what happened last time to freak me out so much. I should try and give an edited version of the incident in question, but I don't know if I can. I'll try.



About a month ago now, I was driving into work on a mild-to-developing-hot morning. As I got closer to the city, I remember thinking to myself, "should I open the windows?" I decided against it, and also half forgot. I guess at the time the heavy wind outside put me off.

When I was about 5 minutes away from work, stationary in traffic before some red lights, all of a sudden, something appeared to drop on my car bonnet in front of me.
I stopped and stared. I stared and stared at the object, frozen. Uncertain. Was that a spider?

Surely enough the huntsman scurried along the bonnet to one side. Just thinking of it now makes me shudder.


I was quietly freaking out. Here I was, driving to work, and a huntsman had just apparently dropped from the sky onto my car. Thinking back, I believe I was under a tree when it appeared, so it may have fallen from there.


It started crawling, towards the windscreen, to one side and to the next. I didn't know what to do. I was trying to drive, and getting totally sidetracked by this disgusting THING. I suddenly recalled my decision against opening my window, and thanked God I hadn't, or else it may have come inside my car. With my bad luck that could have happened, and I totally would have had a car accident. I would have gone mental.


I considered putting on my windscreen wipers when it crawled towards the window, however I was worried I would splatter it and have to look at a dead mangled spider for the next 5 minutes, which equally would have grossed me out. However in hindsight, I should have opted for that path. My other concern was that I would fling it, and then not know if it was still on the car. As warped as the logic sounds, at least if it's on the car, I'm certain of it, whereas not knowing it is there, and it IS, I would too easily be careless and then get a heart attack when it decided to reappear again.


So, I drove to the regular car park I go too, and the spider had decided to disappear along the bottom of the wipers. It was as if it was mocking me against my decision to initally use them.


As I approached the small booth that park-ees pay at before proceeding to park, I already had a little plan. D-man, the parking attendant who I see practically every day, was there. I left my window up, and proceeded to attempt sign language for the first time in my life.


"Is there a spider up there?" I yelled through the closed window, simultaneously pointing upwards and imitating a spiders crawl.


He looked confused. Perhaps because I was communicating through a closed window.


"Spider!!! Up there?!" I called louder.


D-man still looked puzzled.


I opened the window an inch. "Is there a spider up there? It was crawling and now it's gone and I'm really scared...."


"No, no, no spider."


"Sure?"


"Yes I'm sure I can't see anything."


I reluctantly, yet quickly opened the window and paid him, not only because I was scared the spider would re-appear but I had a line of cars building up behind me also wanting to get in.


"You scared of spiders?" D-man asked. He had a cheeky grin.


"Yeah, I just don't like them."


"It's ok I understand, my girlfriend is the same. No spiders there, don't worry."


I quickly closed my window, and went to park my car. As soon as I was all parked, and ready to go with my bags, I took a deep breath.


I had to get out of the car, but at the same time, I didn't know where on the car this spider was. My intense fear was that it would somehow fall on me as I climbed out, and the thought of that sent me into a huge desperation and panic.


I decided to sort of push my drivers door open, and then scoot over as close as possible to the passengers side, while still craning my neck towards the open door to try see if there was anything near my drivers side. I was practically sitting on the parking brake. I was there, peering over towards the car door opening, when I saw it.

Shudder.

This is very hard for me, just picturing it is totally freaking me out. I remember my fear and emotional pain and I'm doing it for the blog, so I hope one day someone appreciates it.

Ok, continuing.

The spider was crawling along the drivers side door, up the window. I freaked out, and practically jumped out the passengers side, all my bags in tow. To be honest, I actually have no recollection of jumping out of the car, or how I got over the parking brake and middle-car-bit (excuse my car lingo), that's how freaked out I was. I quickly ran to the drivers side, because I absolutely HAD to know where the spider was. If I lost sight of it, I would never know where it was, and that lack of knowledge would make me lose my mind.


It was now crawling right above the drivers door opening, rather than on the open door. It was in such an awkward position, that I didn't know if closing my door would kill it, force it out, or God forbid, enclose it in the car.


I think I stared at the spider for about 5 minutes, trying to work out what to do. I went to the passenger side and tried to look at where it was through the window. I looked around. I called a fellow work colleague, who we'll call Densley, who I was hoping was on his way to park at the very same car park as I was at. He didn't answer. I would've gotten D-man involved, only he was at his busiest time, with all cars coming in during the morning peak hour.


Before I could think much more, or decide on a plan of action, the spider dropped. It just disappeared. I didn't see where it went, it didn't look like it was on the ground or under the car. It simply dropped, and with it went my stomach.


There was nothing else to do, so I gingerly stepped towards the open drivers door and gently pushed it closed. My light push meant the car door didn't close fully, but that didn't worry me at that point.


At this point it was 9am. I had gotten there before quarter to nine.


As I trudged up towards the attendants booth, D-man saw me. "Where is the spider?" he asked smiling.


"I think it's in my car! I'm so scared, I don't know what to do."


"If you like, give me your keys, and when I have a bit more time, I will check it for you," he offered.


"Thank you." I was hoping he was gonna say that. I just didn't know what to do at that point.



As I trudged towards work, a deepening sense of dread seemed to sink further into me. I realised, that if D-man didn't find the spider, there was absolutely, positively, NO WAY I was driving home that day. The chance of a spider being in the car was too much to bare. I couldn't do it. It had to be killed, and I was beginning to realise that I had to see it get killed. There was no other way to guarantee my sanity and sense of certainty.

As I got to work, I was feeling so helpless, and I don't deal with not being in control of a situation too well. That day was another musical chairs day, I could see as I walked in, as my usual spot was being occupied by someone else, and rather I was going to have the spot next to Kitty. Usually I'd get a bit cranky and possessive about not being in my own spot (because I'm fully anal and have OCD) but today I just didn't care.

As I put my bags down, Kitty started to talk to me about some work of mine she had followed up on. She was chatting and going on and on, and I was just staring at her blankly, adding a monotonous "yeah" every so often.

Then I just said it. There was a slight lull in the conversation, and I went "Kitty, I don't know what to do, there's a big spider and I think it's in my car, and I don't know what to do."

A huge deepening sense of sadness washed over me and my throat tightened. I can't remember her reply. I'm sure it was something comforting.

Again I spoke, this time, my words were FLOODED with emotion. "Kitty, I actually CAN'T drive home if I don't see it dead. I just can't. I'm seriously freaking out." The tightness in my throat gave way to a huge ball that I just couldn't swallow, and tears welled in my eyes. My chin was going to start to quiver, I could feel it.
"I'm sorry, I have to gather myself," I said as I practically ran off. As I ran, hand over half my face, I happened past Densley, who in that moment, had seen that he'd missed my call, and also that I was apparently running off crying.

I was in the kitchen, trying to pull myself together, when I realised the most private place was the bathroom. So again off I ran. When I walked in, another woman was already in there, a newbie who had just recently joined our wider department. I mumbled a hello and stumbled into the cubicle.

Guess what? My parusesis was all GONE as I deliberately made myself go, knowing that just sitting in the cubicle would spark some curiosity in the newbie woman. She didn't have to know why I was traumatised, and I already felt totally stupid for crying over a freaking spider. However it seemed Kitty had other plans.

I heard the door open. "Miss S?" Kitty called.

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about the spider ok? Densley has a vaccuum and he's going to vaccuum it out for you."

"I feel like such a dickhead Kitty."

"Don't worry Miss S he'll get it out."

As I walked out of the cubicle Kitty was already gone. Leaving the newbie, who had heard our discussion, unless she was selectively deaf.

"You're gonna think of me as the bug woman," I started with her. This statement came because of ANOTHER incident (I just attract incidents don't I?) that had occurred a couple weeks before that, where as a group of us went on a break, before opening the door that exits our department, which is also next to the door which leads to the bathroom, as we walked, a moth flew up from the corner, making me scream, the 2 girls with me scream and also funnily enough Densley scream. It was the screaming moth-effect, so to speak, And as this happened newbie woman had walked out of the bathroom ,witnessing our scream fest due to random moth.

So, now in the bathroom, I told her about the spider in my car. And you know what, she was so nice. She's become one of my fave people at work now. She was really comforting, adding that she had once left her car in mid-traffic because of a spider in her car. I felt so much better hearing that. Apparently I wasn't the only freak-spider-incident-attracting person.

I walked out, all regrouped and breathing normal again, and there was Densley, with a mini vaccuum in hand. I felt really touched, yet really stupid for reacting the way I had, especially at work. He on the otherhand, had thought I'd been in a car accident or something, what with the missed call and running off crying, and he'd felt really bad. He'd gotten the vaccuum from someone's work drawer, and now we were ready to do some damage.

Off we went, me in the background looping with "I feel like such a dickhead, really I do. Thank you so much for this...."

D-man thought we were hilarious as he handed me my keys back at the car park. He'd been busy and hadn't had a chance to check on the demon spider. And so we walked to my car. There still reminding me of my horrendous episode was the drivers door, still partly not-quite-closed.

Densley started opening up doors, as I explained where I'd last seen the spider, and watched from a good safe few metres away what was unfolding. He opened the drivers door, then the passengers door, looking inside and around the door every time. I was near the passengers side, when he opened the rear drivers side door.

"It's here, I've got it," was what he said. I couldn't see (I was practically cowering) but he tried to suck it up with the vaccuum.

And then it started to scurry. (Ugh, shudder). It started to run over the car roof and we whipped into action, slamming doors closed so that it couldn't get into the car. As it wondered where to go, Densley at this point said "it's only a baby."

Sorry, a baby? Only a baby? Well if that's a baby I'd like to see what you call a fully grown huntsman. Yuck.

Densley tried to suck it up with the vaccuum, several times, but somehow, and this is the point that confused me, it 'fell' off the car. I say this because at the time Densley said it fell down, and although I felt utterly disappointed because it offered no conclusion for me, he assured me it wasn't in the car. I consoled myself, thinking, 'even if it's on the bottom of the car, it can't get inside.' He seemed to me to be speaking very vaguely, and so I felt somewhat consoled yet still confused.

I felt exhausted getting back to work. I'd just gone through an emotional train wreck, and I wasn't even sure if I was out of the tunnel yet. Upstairs at work having a tea break with my buddies, I stared at my mug of tea, constantly envisaging the demon spider to suddenly appear, crawling out of my tea like something out of a horror movie.

At the end of my shift that day Densley offered to walk me to my car, and check out the interior so that I could drive home feeling more secure. He was hanging back at work for a work function, and I had to run off, meet Hubbie and leave for Mr Wine's uni graduation party that he was having at his place that night.

Densley was awesome. He lifted everything that could be lifted, checked out every nook and cranny in my car, very thoroughly, constantly reassuring me that it couldn't get in the car, IF it was on the car. It was sometime at this point that he said the spider has actually fallen on the ground, in which case he strongly believed it would have crawled off into the adjoining bushes, rather than hang around. I really hoped he was right, also really glad to know he'd seen it fall on the ground. I was so annoying, I asked him to confirm that fact for me, oh, about 6, 7 times.

Nontheless, I drove home, with the windows UP, in the warm car, constantly looking around me.

Hubbie was conveniently outside when I got home, so I sign languaged to him to check for spiders on the roof of the car. Once again my sign language proved futile, and he looked confused despite me yelling through the window, so I tentatively opened the door and quicky explained before I got out.

That night at the party, I told Red everything. I had a good laugh with her about it, we acted slightly like hysterical women do when it comes to spiders, and she told me that yes, that was quite a story. Vaccuum and all.

And so, as the great night ended, and it came close to midnight, Hubbie and I wondered off home. We both had work the next day, and had to get a move on. Being dark outside, my somewhat relaxed disposition in joking about my ordeal to Red had now transgressed to a paranoid cautiousness. In the car we got, and I began to drive, again constantly looking around me through the windows.

We had been driving all but 5 minutes. Not even. I took a path home via some back streets, however they were sort of commonly used back streets. This time of night wasn't too busy though.

I looked at my drivers mirror, and in it I could see the rear window, enveloped by the black night surrounding it. No cars were behind me, so only occasionally was the window lit up by passing streetlamps.
Then I saw something. Weird.
"Is that birdshit?" I asked Hubbie, confused, still driving yet staring at the reflection in my mirror. It looked like odd, random lines across the window, and when I thought about it I could've sworn no birdshit had been there during the day...

Hubbie turned around towards the rear window to look. He didn't say a thing. And in that moment, I knew.

I just pulled over. I barely could, being in the narrow back streets and all, but without looking I stopped the car, then put my indicator on. I was lucky there'd been no one behind me. I looked behind me at the window, and the freaking spider, IT was very quickly scurrying across the window.
"Quick!" I screamed. "Get it, get it!"

Hubbie and I have an unspoken agreement. I give him much love and happiness. He kills any bug I request. It's an agreement that works very well for us. It's never a question of WHO will get rid of any weird thing that comes MY way. He knows his job, his duty to protect me. And he does it well.

"Close the door!" I screeched. Hubbie slammed the door behind him, and I turned around to see the spider scurrying around to the rear passengers window, right where Hubbie was in front of. It was fast.

"Where is it?" he called out from the darkness.

"There!" I screamed wildly, pointing to the rear window in front of him.

He paused. Saw the spider. And went "Faaaaarrrrrrrr."

In a matter of 5 seconds, he took off his shoe, and BANG! Off the window the spider went. To spider heaven.

Meanwhile, about 3 cars had piled up behind me, unable to overtake because of the oncoming traffic. I wondered if the sight of Hubbie with one shoe, other shoe in hand bashing a spider, at 11.30pm in a little back street, would seem weird. I knew if any men in those cars had partners, that it would most likely be a natural occurence for them.

Hubbie came back to the car, and once again, as I'd done with Densley, I bombarded him with the same 2 types of questions about 8 times:

"Is it dead?"

"Yes."

"Was it on the car or on the ground?"

"It was on the ground."

"Are you sure it's not still on your shoe?"

"No I checked it's outside."

"So it's definitely dead?"

"Yes."

"And you're sure it was on the ground, like dead? It couldn't have gotten away."

"No, I got it Miss S."

"And I just have to make sure, it's not still on your shoe? I can't have it in my car Hubbie...."

And so this conversation was repeated, perhaps another 3 times on the short 10 minute drive home.

Boy, had I had a day. What a spider saga. Now it was uncertain to me whether or not the spider that had 'reappeared ' that night on the drive home was the same spider hat had been on my car that morning. I say that because Mr Wine lives in the same area Hubbie used to live, and that area is abundant to THOSE kinds of spiders, as I've had one come to live on my car for a couple of weeks because of parking under a tree there before we were married.

That, combined with hearing a few days later that my bestie Red had gotten a similar surprise of her own, FINDING a yuck spider IN HER CAR, after parking at her man's house, makes me think that it may indeed have been a new spider on my car that night, if even Red got one later on. But, it's too much of a coincidence for me to think that I had a spider on my car that morning, and then another one that night.

I'm calling the morning spider the terminator spider in my spider saga. It came back with a vengeance. It stayed on my car and reappeared to horrify me (yes I know that's not a real word, is it?). And in true terminator style, after its demise, all that remained of its existence was a lone spider leg hanging off my window, like the broken limb rattling on the back of the car in T2. Shudder.

Story 2: (yes my nightmare continues)

About 2 weeks ago I've come home from work to some good news from Hubbie: he has sprayed the entire exterior of the house with insect spray. I was rapt, because with the ascending Spring/Summer weather, I knew there'd be trouble, and I wanted to get the house 'protected' before any incidents occurred.

All was good, all was fine. 'Til that night.

In bed, Hubbie had his eyes closed next to me. I was reading one of my books, and as I went to turn the page, something caught my eye, above me. I looked up.

A freaking, massive, disgusting huntsman (shudder) was in the top corner of our room, above the doorway, near the air con vent. (And as I write, from bed, I can't help but look up and check that the coast is clear).

I don't know if I cried out, or poked Hubbie, but he opened his eyes, and I just pointed to the ceiling.

Once again - "Faaaaarrrrrrr."

At first he didn't know what he was going to try kill it with, 'til I handed him my slipper. I jumped out of bed and stood near the window, as far away from the impending murder scene as possible. As he got closer, the spider scurried closer to the vent. This was very worrysome. We assume that's where it came from, and we didn't want it going back to its hiding spot. Hubbie was now on a mission, he had to get it, before it got away.

From what he said (because I just couldn't look), IT was quick. It took a few thumps, Hubbie jumping towards the ceiling and all, but he got it, leaving a beautiful mess behind. Far out. On the same freaking day Hubbie had acted to repell the house of insects, the biggest and baddest of them all appears, IN OUR BEDROOM of all places. And that's not it. Guess what my big mouth said right after, if only to make things worse:

"Far out. Imagine I wasn't reading, and we had the lights off. We wouldn't have known it was here."

As I said the words, I stopped, frozen. Yes, imagine that horrific scenario. Unknown to us, that thing crawling around the walls of our bedroom around us. And to think, what other times, when the lights were off, was something crawling around in our beddroom....???

I'd actually shot myself in the foot with that comment, that observation. In that moment I was more than terrified, I was petrified, MORTIFIED. It took some coaxing from Hubbie to make me turn my lamp light off, and even then, I edged myself as close as possible to him as we lay there, despite the too-warm night. My eyes frantically searched the walls around me in the darkness, as my eyes grew more and more adjusted to the night. That night, I had constant dreams of crawling huntsmen, and I had such an interrupted nights sleep, waking at least 5 times, each time searching the walls around me with paranoid eyes.

I felt I had lost control.

Why was this happening to me? No, not the spiders as much. I was well aware that by thinking of spiders, even though in fear, I was still attracting their presence to me. Which is hard to avoid when you do think of them in fear. But more, I didn't understand when I had grown sooooooo fearful.

I thought of my entire life history and association with spiders. In my 3rd birthday video, little Miss S says to the camera "spider, yuck," after cutesy-coaxing from my parents in my thoughts of them. This may have come about because of my sisters intense phobia of spiders, hence the discussion of them.

Living with my parents, yes they got spiders, but nowhere near as many, or as disgusting as the ones we got here. Over there there was always daddy-long-legs, and little itty-bitty, bullshit jumping spiders. Sure, occasionally there would be a big one. But that's it, occasionally, not EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I thought of last summer. WOW. There had been soooooo many big huntsmen. Hubbie thought I was calling them out to play when he went to bed, with all my stories of chasing them around with the mortein. And yet, despite their appearances, I chased them. I certainly didn't cower into a little corner and cry.

I remembered my last incident of the summer. The biggest grand-daddy of all mega-huge-huntsmen had appeared one Friday night, and it was a horrible experience. I think it was quite possibly the size of my whole hand. I sprayed it, it went behind the fridge, and I actually had to watch it and wait for it to be in spraying range again before I could try kill it. I was waiting with a torch and all. Then it disappeared under the dishwasher. When I noticed a gap above the dishwasher, that could allow the spider to crawl up and into the adjoining section of cupboards, onto my servingware, pots and pans, I lost my shit. There was no way it's mortein-covered body was gonna spoil my dishes. I ran upstairs, trying to wake Hubbie through my intense sobbing, begging him to come downstairs and kill it for me.

When he moved the dishwasher, and saw IT, apparently all-white covered in Mortein gunk, he says it was practically dead already, it was so loaded with my attack spray. And what did he say when he saw it?
"Faaaaarrrrrr."

He freely admits, it's the biggest spider he's seen in our house, I think even to date. And it remains in our spider history of stories, the Grand-Daddy of spiders.

So I think, after last summers intense onslaught of spider after spider coming into our home, concluding with the biggest mother you've ever seen, I actually became broken from all my experiences, and rather than lifting my metaphorical sword in the air and proclaiming "I will destroy you," I've collapsed into a shell of fear, worry and paranoia. I'm not kidding when I say I do automatic scans of the rooms I enter in the house, ESPECIALLY at night. It's driving me crazy.

I must say, despite the whole agony of this post, being all "woe is me, spiders are out to get me," there is a slight positive note I can end with. Since the recent incident of the thing in our bedroom, we haven't had another appearance, of any kind (I'm not including last nights daddy-long-legs, that spider is so not intimidating). Which I'm slightly terrified to admit, knowing after I post this that I'm walking downstairs to put my computer back in the study, and passing room, after room, after room....

Perhaps that one recent incident was that spider just getting out, that is, the house being purged of all insects after Hubbies spray-a-thon. That sort of makes sense. And makes me happy. And able to breathe. And walk in and out of rooms here, a bit easier.

But what happened to me earlier in the week wasn't so breathe-easy on me. Having a tea break at work, early in the morning, listening to a colleague talk about crab fishing or something like that, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, towards my lap.

I looked down, and to my intense shock and horror, a MOTH was sitting in my lap. Ugh, Shudder.

I screamed jumping up, in turn not only giving myself a proper wake-up call, but also enlightening my colleagues around me. My scream really started their day.

Geez. When will these bugs ever learn? I don't like them. STAY AWAY.

So EXCITED!!!! I think I might spontaneously combust

For more than one reason.




Firstly, my initial feeling of combustion comes from the very good news that Hubbie is picking up our wedding video today!

YAY!

It has been a year and 3 months-ish in waiting, and my gosh, although I KNEW that this dude was gonna take long editing the video, and I TRIED to be patient, it was really, really hard.

So the fact that at 11am today Hubbie had an appointment to see him, and now as I'm writing this it is precisely 11.26am, I am getting very squirmish, constantly looking at my mobile while at work, and waiting for that all important message to say "we've got it."

I've made Hubbie promise not to watch it until we watch it together. This will prove very hard for him for 2 reasons:

A: He is currently on leave, and has the whole day off while I'm at work.

B: We can't even watch it tonight, because I won't be home.



So he needs to keep himself from watching it 'til tomorrow morning, in the meantime with the full knowledge that he could watch it, as he has the WHOLE day off, and I wouldn't know.

It's very nerve-wracking for me, as I've begged him for the last few days since we found out we were getting it today, that he must not, under any circumstance, watch it without me.

I mean come on. I think that is relatively fair, given that it's our wedding video, that for the first time we should watch it together. He really didn't like this argument, and strongly opposed this idea at first, saying he should at least be able to watch the wedding morning at his house, and then we would watch the rest together.

But it just won't do! It won't be the same! I want us to be able to watch it for the first time together, and have it be a joint, loving, couple-y, together-ly thing we do because WE'RE married and it's our wedding video!

I don't think I'm being selfish. I don't think I'm asking for too much..... right?

No of course not. It's the video for goodness sakes. It's a BIG thing.

But generally, and overwhelmingly, it's exciting :-D I can't wait to see how our big day looks like on screen, and I really would like to remember more of the reception, as sooo much of that night is such a blur.



My second feeling of combustion comes from my girls :) My darling besties, Red and Blonde, of who I am going out with tonight. Blonde and I amongst others are going to watch Red perform in a dance concert, and then following that we're all going out to dance and drink and party:) Hence why Hubbie will be staring down the wedding DVD tonight while I'm out somewhere getting stupid.

Not in a bad way, but since Hubbie isn't coming, and since it's us '3,' I'm crossing my fingers that Red's boy, Mr Wine doesn't follow us out. He probably won't. Just because I can feel it being a really good girls night, and seeing as Blonde is going back to the U.S on Monday, this will be the last time we really get to party with her until who knows when she comes back again.

No boys allowed. Chicks only :)

LOL.

I will now go back to work and continue with my feelings of spontaneous combustion.

POP BANG POP BANG POP.

"Make sure I always drink 150 litres of water a day." "Okay."

Those were my whispery, pain-induced words, last night at 3am in the morning after I took 2 panadols to stop the jack-hammer that was forcing its way out of my head, crack by crack at a time.


Never mind the stomach cramps, no those were child's play compared to the head cracking.

It had been a long day. A hard, long day at times, towards the end though, it had actually turned out great. However most of the day I was all "Woe is me." I wasn't liking it one bit.


I spent a good majority of it whinging about all things surrounding my birthday.



I want lots of people to come out to the bar on Friday night.

I want lots of people to come out so it makes up for last years poor performance.

What about Saturday's party, will my cousins be upset I didn't invite them?

Will they see my facebook photos and be upset? Will it start a war?

Why haven't they come to my place yet?

Why should I throw an official party so they come?

Crying. Whinging. Depressed. Sobbing. Just all round down, down, down.

I'd had some deep and meaningfuls with my mum and sister over the past 2 days. Although they meant well, those talks definitely contributed to my downfall in demeanour.

It happens every year. Every year, leading up to my birthday, something REALLY gets me down. Like clockwork something happens. I'm starting to think that it's because I put soooo much emphasis on my birthday, and I build it up and look forward to it so much that quite inevitably, the slghtest thing happens to trigger an onslaught of negative emotions. Either someone upsets me, I remember something bad (yes I get THAT sensitive), someone doesn't agree with me, etc, etc. And suddenly the tidal waves of tears crash down with fierce intensity.

Hubbie was awesome. After getting me to snap out of my stupid/sad/pathetic state, I slowly went through my bullshit arguments to try clear up all the sadness I was feeling overwhelmed by.


1. Who cares who comes on Friday night? I knew for a FACT that I would definitely be with Hubbie, Red, Blonde and Mr Wine. Our group would rock the joint and have the most fun ever! It's not the quantity of people, rather the quality.


2. As above, with the addition of, so what? The difference between this year and last, is I won't be holding on to expectations of waiting for people to turn up and make me happy. I'll be happy because I'll make the happiness.


3. No. Firstly, because our house doesn't fit a million people, secondly, any cousins that I've called for Friday night will be called for Saturday, and thirdly, they themselves might even be otherwise engaged with the multitude of August birthdays that we have in our familial calendar!


4. No, because who doesn't come Friday, won't be called Saturday. And if they don't come Friday, most likely because they're busy Friday and/or Saturday.


5. Because they want a freakin' formal invite and the red carpet to be rolled out (hence the deep and meaningfuls before mentioned with Mum and Sister).

6. Because, at the end of the day, they do love me, they do care, and if they didn't they wouldn't have showered Hubbie and I with so much love, affection and presents as they did on the events leading up to our wedding day, including the big day.

Ok, so the last 2 points weren't entirely related to the birthday topic, but they did prove a point of confusion for me yesterday.

So I eventually got better-er, saw Blonde, Red and friends again last night for a catch-up (after seeing Blonde after her flight back here on Sunday).


However my new-found joy didn't help the fact that in the midst of my rage-fuelled depression during the day, and contributing-developing stomach cramps, I had failed to drink enough water. I had in fact, drank very little water, and that coupled with the fact that I had cried a few oceans, left me as dry as a desert.


Bringing us back to the post title. Lying in bed after taking my drugs, I was trying to keep myself very still in order to keep my head from throbbing so much. Every movement brought with it more pain. I'd never experienced anything like it. I'd never really had headaches, EVER until perhaps the age of 18 onwards, and even then I'd say "my head hurts" instead of "I have a headache," because it didn't seem so bad. And I soon learnt that I only got them (however rarely) when I didn't drink enough water.

Usually sleep washes it away. I wake up all refreshed and the 'hurt' is gone. I know drinking water isn't enough, especially at that late stage, so sleep is really the best medicine. But it clearly wasn't enough last night. I fell asleep and found myself tossing and turning, for 3 hours, until I reached such a painful point that I was mercifully thrown from my half-asleep stupor into full consciousness, whining, whispering "I have such a headache."



And then, while I waited for the wonderful drugs to kick in, I let Hubbie know, whimpering, in my struggling, agonised tone of voice,


"Make sure I always drink 150 litres of water a day."

"Okay." he whispered back.



(P.S My Birthday Extravaganza is gonna be Awesome!)

M.I.A: A Poem

In light of the fact that I have been totally absent from blogging for what seems like forever, rather than chronicle the exciting and fantastic adventures of my everyday life in an effort to update the blog world, I decided to compose a poem.




Ahem.



The biggest news I have to share

Would be about our latest dare

We bought a block of land you see

A house to build upon will be



My Swedish friend came back to visit

(Odd to visit her home don't you think?)

Nonetheless we all had fun

And back in December she will come



Another friend of mine did wed

For 8 years now a life they'd shared

The day was great! we talked, laughed and danced

And took stupid photos 'til we pissed our pants



My cousin came from overseas

And I took her out to a Hens Night Party

We had good times, took heaps of shots

(Both alcoholic and photo sorts!)



On the work front, it has been flat out

Since our boss here decided to depart

But having returned from her South African cruise

All our worries have gone, and our blues



As for my dear cousin Legs' days

She's still planning her matrimonial ways

And she has been asking me for advice

To which I think it is really nice :)



My Bestie's boy, Wine we call him

some days are good, some are a whim

It's up and down, but generally I believe,

all of us are different - so accept it, PLEASE!



My overseas bestie is planning her return

A visit only (I know, I know)

Her sister is going through a pregnancy

And a doting aunty my friend will be!



We've had an invasion of disgusting pests

Portugese Millipedes - ugh (are they migrants?)

They come into the house and slide upon our floors

And we just pick them up and hurl them outdoors



A revelation it seems 'bout Ricky Martin

He prefers men - have I been dim?

My love for his music has kept me biased

But now I must accept his truth, not deny it



Speaking of which, went to see George!

Michael that is, of Wham! days - and oh Lord

He is a true talent, genius and a star

A musical legend he is by FAR



Some sad news of late from overseas

A cousin of mine met his fate unfortunately

He died before his time, a shock for all

But when you rise too fast, eventually you must fall



Still Twilight-ing, Eclipse I have read

Starting Breaking Dawn soon - and yes I do care

These books are addictive, they make me mad!

More often than not, I go from happy to sad



A positive spin on things I try to do

It keeps me sane and feeling brand new

It's important to focus on life's good things

Like love, health and happiness, and all else that it brings.




I think that sums up the last few months perfectly. At the time I felt there was really no way I could write a blog that measured up to the immensity of information and emotion of my last blog, regarding Richard Carlson's death. But time helps you think, move on, and think of things in perspective.

So, I re-introduce myself to you, as Miss S :)

Fake Chicken makes me tired and my stomach bloated

Yes these are my sentiments hours after I''ve finished my bought-lunch at work. I should have known better: I was eyeing off that meat in the Thai Chicken sandwich, and I REALLY should have known better than to trust the guy behind the counter. Of COURSE he was going to praise it and say it was the best sandwich since sliced bread was invented. Oh well.


Perhaps it doesn't help that today is a 43 degree day, and every time I step out to have a break from work, I come back in minutes later feeling even MORE tired and deflated, as if the weekend's heat, busy-ness and lack of sleep wasn't enough on it's own.

In reference to some of the stuff I mentioned in my last blogs......

Well on Saturday my bestie Red ended up coming over, just a spur of the moment thing. It was nice and I guess showed me what I needed to see and feel, which is that she cares, irregardless of where she spent her New Years Eve. And there was no mention of her boy being upset at anything I may have said (!) so that was good.

Saw my extended family yesterday, inclusive of talk-too-much cousin AND Legs, closely followed by Fake, as always. It was deflating for me once again to see them together, knowing that everything I've done for Legs over the years, with all the help, assistance and guidance I've provided in all aspects of her life, not to mention the fun and adventures we've had, is overthrown by a meddling cousin who only wants to be her bridesmaid in order to get closer to her fiance/family/every male relative she has.

So, I felt a bit sad, but I take comfort in one thing my mum said, something I truly believe in: the truth will come out in the end. If a person has bad intentions, there is no need to become "justice" and lay the law down on them. The Universe will do that for itself.

I've trusted in the Universe before and it has not failed me. So I need to stay focused and just let things unravel in their own time.

Back to work.

My ANGER Management - Part 2

Episode 3. One of the things I mentioned a few blogs ago, was the non-invite we received. This came (or should I say didn't come) from my bestie's boyfriend. Let's call her Red, and him, Wine.


I love them both dearly, and it hurts me to say I've been disappointed, by them out of all people. The simple fact is, they organised a NYE without us, with ALL of Wine's friends, and when I asked what they were doing, Red was upset that they'd forgotten to invite us. I believe it was selfishness, on Wine's behalf, that prevented him from remembering us, because a good month to two months earlier, we were sitting near him and his friends as they discussed this NYE evening they were planning, and back then I didn't know it was NYE they were talking about, only when I 'd heard of their plans days after Christmas did I put two and two together.

Now, as for my bestie, Red, I know she can be forgetful. But then, the other night, as we were talking amongst a larger group of friends, I heard her say "you can't get everyone together." That just shits me because I heard Wine count off about a dozen other names that were there. Gee, funny that. I thought it was heard to get everyone together. Yet, all of Wine's friends were there. Hmmmm. Maybe something to do with being invited.

Yes I am very sour. For many reasons. Hubbie and I are always asking around, seeing who is doing what for NYE, yet somehow, other people (minus a few family members) always forget us. And then when you're forgotten from your own best friend..... It makes you feel sad.

On top of the fact that your best friend and her boyfriend, are now suddenly all bum-chummy with HIS best friend and girlfriend, and it's like "oh, sorry, do we move over now and get thrown in the gutter because there's someone new in town?"



Episode 4. Sigh. At the end of the day, it's fear. Fear of losing someone close. It's that fear that's brought about an increased anger towards Wine from me, and the other night, as he was giving my Hubbie shit, I, in a subtle however letting-you-know way, told him to back off. I just got pissed off. Don't you go stirring him, you don't have that right. You've diminished the value of our friendship by not giving us respect, don't go acting all male bonding and I-get-you, you-get-me back sorta way.

He was soooo silent towards me for the rest of the night, that I kinda felt bad, and then I was like, "why do I bloody have to speak, and piss people off?!" But they pissed me off first! It is so irritating. I wanted him to take it as a joke, and not hear me say it with venom and intention. But alas, it failed. I'm sure Red will tell him I was only joking. And I pray that's the case, as we don't need more drama to fuel our already-fiery friendship.



Episode 5. This is a big one. Connected to my wine-related blog from a while back, as it's this person's partner that is also contributing to my dismay.

Let us call them Mouth and Moody.

This is the worst one in fact. Because when it's got to do with someone in your family, in particular, someone in your Hubbie's family, it makes things that much harder to settle.

My ongoing problem with Mouth and Moody, which has significantly increased in scale from the moment they met my family, is that with Mouth, she:

talks about herself constantly, including bullshit stories like how many pieces of toast she had, etc

is selfish

competitive

is constantly comparing everything in her life to everyone else's

is always right



Moody is:

as the name suggests, VERY moody

is only in a good mood when it suits him

treats his family and extended family VERY well, but when it comes to his in-laws, is quite rude.

when generally talking or giving advice, comes across as arrogant, dogmatic and condescending

an all-round smart arse



"But at the end of the day, their heart is in the right place."

I say this sooooooooooo apathetically. Because, and this is my HUGE dilemma, just because a person is 'good' or has a 'good heart' or is generally 'well-intentioned,' and hey, let's even say not an axe murderer, it does not give them the right to treat others bad, or to think they are above everyone else and that they should ge given the green card to do or say anything that they please.

So, when in company, what do I do? I hear them. I see them. And internally I flinch and I vomit. I grimace and look away. I don't make eye contact and I've pulled away slightly, in order to avoid a confrontation. And I'm scared and worried and I feel sick, because all I can think about lately, is future confrontations. Because although these people are shitting me up the wall, and it's like clutching at straws to find a positive quality about them, I can't say anything. Because when it's not your family, there is an invisible line of stitchwork imposed just over your lips, that restricts you from saying anything bad about a family that's not yours. Someone within that family can say all they like, but you can not say boo.



There have been 2 separate occasions as of late, well, actually, 3, including last night, where I know my pulled-back behaviour has become apparent to them. And there are things they are saying, in reference to the importance of family, that I find quite ironic. Don't have to tell us to keep family close, when they are the ones who are pushing us away with their anti-social and negative behaviour. With people who can only see others faults, and not their own, I honestly don't know what the answer is. Where do you look to find the solution to a problem that doesn't seem to have any answers that don't include yelling, accusations and tears?



So as you can see, the last few months have made me angry and hostile towards many people in my life. And I honestly hate that. Because I'm not that person. I'm happy, and positive about life, and like having fun. I don't like to concentrate on bad news, I don't like to speak bad about others, I believe in Karma and the Universe's energy, which is why I focus on the good things. But lately that's all gone down the drain as I've become increasingly agitated.



So what do I do? Do I let my problems go, give them up and hope the situations come back to me all fixed, or replaced? Do I forget about it and just see what happens, watch how the events play themselves out? My fear of letting go and trying to forget about these episodes and subsequent people involved, is that I may just explode in the near future from confining these feelings of sadness, frustration, fear, disappointment and anger within me. If I don't let it out, how will it go away? Lately I'm loving work, because being immersed with it makes me forget about all these freaking annoying people in my life lately!



I'm being tested big time. It's what I do in this situation that will show what I'm made of. I need to think things through. It's gonna be a big weekend, however I think I will prescribe myself a solar relaxation session tomorrow afternoon, (otherwise known as sun tanning) and let the Universe work the rest out for me.



That will have to be my Anger Management Course for now. This may or may not be continued.

December is what happened

Well, it has been one crazy month. Crazy busy as I like to say, and also crazy-blogless.




What can I say? December is my answer :) Christmas presents, thank you cards for the wedding, and it seems like a million other things, as we've been busy every weekend and even weeknights.



What is new? We have a bird. Well it's not a brand NEW bird but it's Hubbie's bird, having recently relocated to our place from his parents. He is quite the character. We reckon he's a Leo because he always wants to be the centre of attention and yells a lot.



We've done more to our house, which is great, it's more presentable and has more gadgety things (!) but at the same time, we're looking to move into a bigger house.



Two recent episodes from the last month which stand out to me now, are to do with the issue of invitations. Something about this topic I always come back to. Maybe because my very first blog was concerned with invitations I had verbally and electronically given out for my birthday.



But anyway, in the last month, I have been told I was going to be a bridesmaid by a bride-to-be, and then subsequently have had no mention of it by the bride-to-be at the next gathering (albeit not as drunk gathering.) I may speak about this in detail in a future blog, if I feel like it. It's complicated. I'm sure you have time.



And after that incident, in another blow, I found out my best friend and her boyfriend already had made New Years plans without us, passing on to spending New Years with her boyfriends best friend and girlfriend.



.................................................



Just giving you a moment to think about that one. It's not like we're exclusive to each other, that we only see each other and only go out with each other, nothing like that. Just don't say you forgot when I ask you about your New Years plans. I know it may not have been deliberate, but funny how they (minus my bestie) were talking about reservations at a hotel for their New Years plans a few weeks ago, while Hubbie and I sat next to them at a concert. Interesting to hear that we'd been 'forgotten' when we were within earshot.



Interesting.



I understand that I could be blowing it all out of proportion once again, as that's what I do best, because it could have been my bestie's boyfriends best mate's girlfriend

........................................................................................

catched up? - that had planned the night, therefore you can't really invite others when someone has invited you and planned it.



If that's it that's cool.



But I don't get the forgotten bit. Hubbie and I don't forget people. So how do people forget us? Like honestly, is that saying something about people in general? Or am I making an ant into an elephant, once again?



I think it's to do with my other issue..... of which I may or may not divulge in a future blog.



That's my bit for now.

Part 2: my very LONG (but fantastic and in-depth!) New Moon Review

When we were finally allowed back into the cinema, instead of filing in in a single line, it was like lines of 6 and 7 merging together to squeeze into the gap commonly known as the doorway.


My bestie rushed up to our seats and everything was as it should have been: everything was in place, cardi, jacket, bag, mags, refreshments, and THOSE notes. Lol.

As all the Twilight watchers found their seats again, another girl now, also representing the cinema, came in and thanked us for our patience and co-operation. She said that we had been MUCH better than the other cinema-goers. Well of course we had, as more than half of the people in our theatre had already had seats, whereas the other cinemas showing New Moon had people coming in fresh, so they would have been frantically rushing and pushing in to get good seats.

Pat on the back, go us.

We then watched, amused, as all the 'new-comers; practically sprinted in, running to random seats and frantically asking "is this seat taken?"

And we sat, relaxed, awaiting the next couple of hours. So glad we watched Twilight first!

Since it had taken so long to seat everyone, the previews started late, and by this time, I'm sure everyone was hoping to have seen the first half hour of New Moon rather than still be watching film previews.

Every time a preview finished there was an anxious hush of silence. When another movie classification came up, you could hear the frustrated sighs run across the theatre, followed by "geez," and "come on."



"THE REVIEW"



It was all VERY exciting. Once the movie began, after repeated moments from me and bestie of "oh my gosh I can't believe it!' followed by high-pitched "woooooohhhh!" -s, the familiar Summit logo loomed before us and gave us the indication that something great was about to begin.

First the opener. Loved the full moon turning into a new moon to uncover the film title. That was a great effect.

The start was good: hearing Bella open with the Shakespeare quote about "these violent delights have violent ends..." that we first read in the book. Like in the Twilight book, where Bella talks about dying for the one she loves, and in the film, where instead of reading that scene we hear her future thoughts, we also have the opening and pivotal scene in New Moon of Bella rushing through the square towards the Tower to save Edward, much like it's narrative version.

And staying true to the book, we have Bella's dream in which she sees herself as her grandma, the beginning of her ongoing obsession with aging.

The moments I most loved about the film, occurred primarily in the beginning.

I was soooo looking forward to how, and if, the film would portray OR accurately portray the passage of time starting in October that is presented to us in the book by simply stating a month per page, showing us how basic, empty and quick the time has passed for Bella without Edward.

I was moved to tears in the film, I thought it was done brilliantly. The background song "It's a possibility..." looping round and round, as the camera circled her, accompanied very nicely by her emails to Alice, a screen addition that was able to show us Bella's thoughts in another way, was particularly FANTASTIC. I think it showed us her pain really well, along with her screaming nightmares.

When Edward first breaks up with Bella, and then she begins walking around in the forest, finally tripping and staying on the floor of the forest, as again the camera circles in an aerial view from above, although for some viewers I think this would have seemed like a pointless exercise and a bit monotonous, I believe it accurately portrayed how dizzying her world was becoming, and how things were now spiralling out of control. It was a nice metaphor.

The heavy-breathing effect, as Sam emerged from the darkness of the forest carrying Bella: LIKE.

The awkward 'date' with Bella, Jacob and Mike was HILARIOUS. Especially in the cinema, with the guys open and ready-waiting hands on either side of Bella: it was done to true form.

The climactic showdown between Edward and Felix, as Felix attempted to take him down in Volterra in front of the Volturi, was an interesting addition, and definitely added some action that I believe generally lacked in the narrative.

Victoria's run through the forest, coming into a gridlock with Harry Clearwater and then running from the wolves and jumping into the sea, that was good. It paved the way nicely for Bella's own jump, showed the wolves in action as well as the men's hunting, while providing the scene for Harry's heart attack. Applause for the combining of several storylines.

I also loved the little glimmer of the future through Alice's mind, where Aro saw Edward and Bella as vampires. THAT was great! I guess not knowing how things turn out, it was especially exciting for me!

I didn't mind the ending: the showdown between Edward and Jacob, and the way that it appropriately ended with the cliffhanger "Will you marry me?"

What DID upset me slightly in this ending was not the way that it ended, but in the way practically all the teeny-boppers in the cinema reacted: with disappointed and anxiety-riddled excited sighs and screams.

I KNOW that I am in the minority by having only read the first 2 books of the series to date, but I will safely presume that 99.9% of the people in there will have read all of them. So if you know what happens, why are you reacting so strongly? I mean, even with having read the end of New Moon, where the marriage proposal comes earlier in Bella's room and she declines it, I can safely assume I know what happens. (Please don't kill me with spoilers!) Why this blatant and ridiculous display of idiocy and drama from the other girls watching I can't understand!

Now, on the other hand, there was a feeling between our group there, sort of an undefined feeling, but nevertheless a feeling, once the film finished, of "oh."

And it's the same problem that you find with many book to film adaptations, of the film not quite living up to the book in some respect. Now I guess the main problem we saw with the film was that it couldn't quite show the development of the characters relationships: Bella's and Jacob's; Edward's feelings after Jasper attacked Bella; Edward and Bella's subsequent make up; and Bella's fallen out friendships during her hole-in-the-stomach period. This was going to be difficult to do anyway, given the length of time we are reading Bella's thoughts, AND given the length of the book in comparison to the film. Considering the difference, the film did do a good job, it's just so hard to separate the two when you are expecting so much on screen and you keep referring to what you've read: it makes it impossible not to compare as you watch.

I did not particularly like the way Bella jumped on the motorbike of one of the wild guys in Port Angeles: I didn't feel this accurately portrayed her. Yes, she was seeking a thrill, but I found it a bit of an extreme act considering she'd just discovered her adrenaline rush-producing hallucinations.

I see why they did it, with lack of time and all and in line with the general re-shuffling of some scenes and key points, but I didn't expect Bella and Edward to make up so quickly in Volterra. I guess it just came to be what I expected from the film. And I soooo much wanted Edward to breathe "Carlisle was right," when Bella jumped into his arms! But, alas it didn't happen. Much like the line I so much wanted to hear in the Twilight film that came towards the end of the book, after Edward had saved Bella from James, and after sucking out the venom, was now carrying her. I can't remember the exact line, but Edward expressed his love for Bella, and she replied, exhausted by the whole ordeal, simply with "I know." It was so hilarious, simple but poignant, but it missed the book to film translation.

As did the scene in Bella's room in New Moon, where Edward appeared after the Volterra ordeal and she burst out crying, believing she was dead, despite his reassurances of life and love for her. It was so desperate, sad, funny and touching, but something like that, a gem, all those narrative gems, you wonder how they could ever accurately translate into a film, when so much relies on passage after passage, chapter after chapter, continual story build-up, of heartache, desperation and nerves.

I guess there wasn't any real point of disappoint, in terms of a let-down scene, one that not quite lived up to the book, it was just a general run-through of knowing and seeing that the film couldn't keep up. Generally, a book can't provide you with the little details, set you up again and again by keeping Edward away from the action, and give you that incessant feeling of "what is going to happen next? where is this turning point I'm waiting for?" that the book provides. I hear so often of people when having read New Moon for the first time, of being so frustrated, in constantly wondering where Edward was, and always expecting him to turn up and save Bella, without ever doing so.

Although the film shows us the same scenarios, there is the difference in that in the film we do SEE Edward, in Bella's hallucinations. In the book, we can only imagine him, and although it may not seem like much of a difference, it makes us that much more separated and distant from him, makes us long for his character to return even more, and makes us feel as empty and desperate as Bella. Even as a Team Jacob fan, you would be constantly wondering if/how/when Edward was going to return and you'd be second-guessing everything.

I guess New Moon had such a build up and such huge advertising leading up to the premiere, that it was going to be hard, harder for it than for it's predecessor Twilight, to live up to all it's expectations. And that is a problem generally with sequels, none more so than New Moon. Although there was hype with the first film, especially with the die-hard fans of the book, once that became such a box office success, you could almost see the pressure and (unrealistic) expectations already mounting on all the remaining sequels.

The acting was spot on, absolutely superb. Kristen was looking better, more polished, I found Carlisle and Charlie to be so endearing, I love the way their characters are portrayed. Alice is so charming, and Jacob, despite myself being a Team Edward fan, I found really really good. Dakota Fanning as Jane: oh my gosh. Words cannot express how incredible I thought she was, she took on such a different role to others she's had in the past. She's so grown up, and she has fulfilled the role in every possible way, better than expected. Incredible she was.

Despite some of the failings, it doesn't make me love the film version any less. In fact I woke the day after watching it, unable to stop rambling about it to Hubbie, and insisted we must watch it, which we ended up doing a few days ago. My final verdict is: I love it. I guess time has helped me to understand the difficulty of translating text to screen, which I accept more freely now. It was harder to do that in first watching it, after midnight, after such a long anticipating wait and build-up to the main event! I also believe that New Moon is the book in the series that sets a lot of things up: Jacob is a werewolf, we know Edward is a vampire, Bella wants to be a vampire, and there are all sorts of vampires after them for various reasons. I belive there will be a lot of action in the final 2 books, which is why New Moon generally lacked a lot of action. Not having read the last 2, I can't safely presume this, but to me it seems to be the way it's heading.

In case you were wondering.... Hubbie liked it! He hasn't read any of the books, and perhaps because of that, he's liked both without having any problems with the translation of it. I've suggested that he start reading the next two, so that we can argue and debate the whole Twilight series together. I would definitely LOVE that!

Out of 10...... I'd give it an 8. In comparison to the book that is. I still need to watch it at least once more, with my bestie in Gold Class, so I can experience the joy (and sadness) of Bella/Edward/Jacob with refreshments!

However, ideally I'd like to watch it 4 times in total, so I can make it a Full Moon.

LOL. I had to put it in there.

My New Moon Review!

Only a week after the world premiere of one of the most highly-anticipated movie sequels of all time, and only hours away from watching it again with Hubbie (!), I now give you my New Moon review.


Well, part of giving you my review would be setting the scene, and explaining to you what happened that night. So first things first.

Last Wednesday at 9.15pm, we set off to first watch Twilight. As we arrived in the cinema, already you could feel the anticipation. There weren't a lot of people just yet, but you could see that something was brewing. There was a merchandise stand set up on one side, selling all these Twilight-themed items, from tops, bags and bookmarks. Girls were milling around the stand and excitedly pointing things out.

We wanted to get into the cinema early, in order to secure a good seat, especially after I found out that we would be watching New Moon in the very same cinema.

We came at a good time, we were lucky. We were positioned up the back, off to the left side of the centre seats, without being too far left in the left LEFT seats.

The cinema filled up a substantial amount, it was mad. A girl representing the cinema even came out to introduce herself and thank us for coming. She said that while New Moon was playing in the same cinema we were seated in, that we would need to leave momentarily while they cleaned the cinema between movies. However we could leave something like a jacket behind, to save our spots.

As the previews started, and then finally Twilight began, and the opening scene, it was all-too-familiar for everyone there in the cinema, and people were clapping, cheering even, and it wasn't even the main feature!

The one thing that stuck out to me heaps was that I kept turning to my bestie and saying "I love this part!" It happened A LOT. I think that just shows how well Twilight has done in comparison to the book, how the scenes, either the same or different, compliment perfectly.

We had a whole plan for what we would do after the film ended. We were secretly petrified that upon re-entering the cinema, someone would have stolen our seats and thrown our items on the floor, claiming that the cleaners did it. So we hatched an idea.

Once the Twilight credits started rolling, and everyone started leaving, my bestie and her sister left, and left me behind. I wanted to be the last one there. I arranged our cardigans/jackets over the four chairs (her boyfriend was joining us for New Moon), made sure our drink cups were in the appropriate seat cup holders, alternated our special edition popcorn with my friends empty handbag and our free Twilgiht limited edition Girlfriend mags on the seats. AND, I placed in the centre of each seat, a handwritten note that my bestie had scrawled in the dark, on 4 separate pieces of paper:

"Seat taken."

Ha ha. We were prepared. Desperate, crazy, some might say. But we were determined not to let our seats go.

Once there were only 10 ppl left in the cinema (and I did count, there was 10) the cleaners came in, and announced that we needed to leave momentarily while they cleaned. What they also said was that we were to go into a special line on the left of the cinema, for people who were re-entering the theatre, as opposed to the line on the right, which was for people just arriving to watch New Moon. Apparently we were going to be let in first, before the newcomers.

Phew.

As I left, I asked one of the boys if all our items would stay as is, including our drinks and popcorn, etc. He replied with what I wanted to know, and I left, knowing full well I had done the best I could to preserve our seats.

Well, the lines were long alright. The line on the right was growing increasingly fast and exiting the cinemas. I was sooooo glad we had decided to watch Twilight first, otherwise we would have been one of the poor buggers in that line.

Once I reunited with my group, plus the new addition of bestie's boy, (he'd had a Twilight ticket but decided last minute against 4 hours of squealing girls, opting only for 2 hours of squealing girls, so no, we did not sneak him into the cinema, he had a valid Twilight ticket!) we waited in the left line (oh, left never sounded so good) anticipating what was coming up ahead and simply observing the hysteria around us.

It was mad. The word 'Beatlemania' kept popping up in my head, I never experienced that particular music movement so I don't know how to compare, but I kept thinking, if this is how people are reacting to the premiere of a movie, where they are watching their idols/heroes/objects of affection on screen, how would they react to see them in person? Crazy.



Part 2 coming soon....

Bridal Shower presents and Matron-of-Honour stuff....

Well the conclusion to my whole "will there or won't there be an appropriately priced gift left on the bridal shower registry" saga is, YES, there was a few gifts left!
I put a few items together, to add up to the approximate total that my bestie and I were intending on spending... and pleasantly enough when I purchased the items they were LESS than I thought. However our sister's friend, the recipient, won't know we got the items on sale, and will assume we got them at full price.
Cool, huh? Yet I still feel slightly guilty, thinking, "oh gee, if only she knew!"
The other bit of information that put me in a super-duper GREASH FLANTASTIC mood yesterday afternoon was a conversation that occurred with my bestie during the bridal shower.
We were much too wrapped up in talk of watching the midnight premiere of New Moon at the cinemas when it comes out, as well as random offerings of wedding talk on her part, which is nothing surprising, seeing as a lot of close family and friends suspect she will get engaged soon, only how soon we don't know. And her boyfriend is constantly hinting at things, like engagement rings and proposals, but simultaneously promising her that he will shock her with the way he does it.
So in amongst all this wedding talk, of what style of ring she wants, and what colour dresses her bridal party will have (ah, such girls, planning weddings that don't even have a set date yet! - royal purple, by the way :) )she told me that because I'm married, rather than put me as a bridesmaid and have me paired up with a guy when I already have a hubbie, she's going to place me as matron-of-honour!
I was soooo excited! But a bit unsure of what to say. I mean, it's not an official invitation yet, because she isn't getting married, but then again it's a promise of what's to come, and what's to come looks awesome!
I've only been flower girl before, so the thought of being an ADULT in a grown up bridal party role, that I will be able to remember (when you're a kid things just wizz by you) is super-exciting! But I can't get too excited, I wanna save it for when the day really comes.
But I'm also so touched. I mean, with the family and friends that I have around me, a lot of them don't generally do the matron-of-honour thing, just because it's not customary in their religion/tradition. My sister had one for her wedding. And I just recently had my sister as MY matron-of-honour, because she was married and I so desperately wanted her part of my big day, in an official way. However, I know how it is, because there were some amongst my entourage that questioned my choice, wondering why you would have a married woman in your bridal party, simply assuming that bridal parties were only for unmarried people. When you need to explain to someone the role of a matron-of-honour, especially in our modern day and age, it feels like we haven't moved forward much in society and the world as a whole. Some people are that closed-minded that they don't see the world for all the possibilities out there, rather they assume that what they know and what they have lived is the only way. And that shits me. And shitted me, mostly during my getting-married period.
So I know it may be similar for my bestie. My experience may be similar to hers when she begins planning her wedding. And despite that, she is still willing to create a 'role' for me, despite how unorthodox it may be in her traditions, and despite the questions she may receive. That's how much she wants me as a part of her day.
Now that's what you call friendship :)
Now I just need her boyfriend to propose soon. I wanna be a matron-of-honour!