A slight case of overblogging

We got married, and we're blissfully happy about it :)

OK, so that's the very short version. The slightly longer version is that we had an absolutely fabulous day. My dress and hair and flowers were stunning, and couldn't help but make me feel people weren't just being nice when they said I looked gorgeous, and Mike looked lovely too. The only cloud on the day was that Mike's mum Gina was very unwell in the morning and missed the ceremony, and that will always seem a little sad, but thankfully she was well enough to join us later, because I'd hate for her to have missed it all.

The ceremony was moving, Janet read a passage from Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Rae most of a poem by W H Auden, and both were absolutely lovely. The registrar was great, and even had a tissue on hand for Mike, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the music as much as we enjoyed choosing it - the theme from the Princess Bride for the entrance and The Darkness with I Believe In A Thing Called Love for the exit.

The weather held long enough for a lovely reception with all our friends and family in Old Court, and hopefully not too much of that was taken up by the formal photographs. It then proceeded to tip it down during the wedding breakfast, but in the splendour of the Old Hall we didn't care except for the quick dash across the courtyard to the loos. The food was lovely, the company even better, and the speeches were good and not too long.

And after dinner there was drinking and dancing in the Old Kitchens (we were in the Old part of college all day :) and a buffet back in the hall for any of those who had room. We had our first dance to Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, which was great fun, and I think it has to be about the only wedding disco over where I've seen not just moshing and slam dancing but an actual circle pit. We rocked. But also rolled and grooved as well, with hopefully a bit of something for nearly everyone.

Everybody I've spoken to since says they had a lovely time, but it can't possibly be as much fun as we did, and they can't possibly have been as happy. Hopefully the official photos will be available fairly soon, but until then I'm relying on seeing those of family and friends on Facebook. I can't sensibly link to those here but I'll ask permission to put a few on Flickr. If you've any photos you took on the day I'd love to see them! We'll tell you all about the honeymoon and post lots of photos of our own in due course. Suffice to say we've had a lovely time in Italy too!

Thanks so much to not only everyone who came and made it such a special day but to all those who sent good wishes in any way shape or form. They're all very much appreciated.

( The readings )

I'm hopeless about writing about things as they happen, but there've been a few things this week that have been ace enough I want to make a note of them.

Tuesday night was the night of the Leonids meteor shower. The peak was supposed to be around 2am, but no way were we going to stay up that late. So after dinner we wrapped up warm and headed out up the hill to Gog Magog down with binoculars and a blanket. It was clouding up a little, and we only saw three meteors between us, but it was still a lovely evening, and so nice to be up there on our own in the dark. The wind was funny though: cycling up the hill was much easier than usual and instead of free-wheeling back down at a vast pace we actually had to pedal! Fab.

Thursday was my birthday, and I had a lovely day. Opening presents in bed is always fun, even if you only have 10-15 minutes before Mike really has to get up and leave for work. Dropping the lid of a le creuset paninni press/grill thing on your leg is not recommended, even with a duvet for padding. Mike made me laugh by buying me a pack of four lovely field mushrooms as a treat. A strange present, but very romantic coming from someone who really doesn't like them. I had most of them for tea, along with a nice steak slightly overcooked in the grill thing (a present from mum and dad). I got lots of lovely things from other people too: I'm very lucky. And it was even a nice day at work :)

We saved going out for Saturday night, with a brief stop in HMV to buy the part of my present from Mike which was inconveniently only released on Friday - Super Mario World for the Wii! A half of Old Rosie in the Mill was followed by dinner at Loch Fyne, where we had the most enormous seafood platter in the world (or so it seemed) complete with a whole crab and a whole lobster. An utter treat, and we were stuffed by the end, so we didn't stay for pudding but went home again on the bus (such style!) and spent the rest of the evening playing Mario. And we played quite a bit more on Sunday - today I have a slight case of Nintendo thumb, and struggle to peel a clementine at coffee time.

Off to the Dentist after lunch, which I'm not really looking forward to, but hopefully it should all just be routine. And then on Wednesday afternoon we're off to the Register Office to give our Notices of Marriage, an appointment for which Mike had to take time off work. They're too busy at the weekend doing weddings :) And on Friday we'll have been officially going out for four years. Brilliant. Did I mention how lucky I am :)

Anyone with a non-soppy nature should consider looking away now.

( flowers )

It's always nice to go out on a Thursday night, as even with work on Friday it feels like the start of the weekend. So Ernie and I went to see Ezio at the junction. They were supported by Ecki, a solo singer songwriter we'd seen before at the Junction, and whose album I bought earlier this year. I only realised I knew him after I started singing along to the second song though - he's cut his hair and hadn't introduced himself yet and I didn't recognise him. He was still pretty good, though didn't wow us as much as first time. A good support act though, and nice to see him supporting somewhere a bit bigger than the Portland.

Ezio themselves were brilliant as usual. This is the third time I've seen them at the Junction, plus once at the Soul Tree, and it was nice to be up at the front for a change, right in the middle immediately behind the people on the barrier (in case of "acoustic moshing" as Ezio later commented). This did mean that when I was singing along I felt a bit self-conscious for only really knowing the choruses properly, when everyone else knew every word, but I bluffed along as much as possible and generally had a great time. They're a real feel-good band, and it was a good set, and being part of a crowd that's singing along to some of the favourites is just great. Ezio and Booga (the singer and lead guitarist) doing 2 nights in the 80 capacity Boathouse in January, so ernie got himself a ticket for the Friday night, and I got two for me and Mike. I'll be looking forward to it. They always do a couple of songs at the beginning with just the two of them, and it'll be cool to have a whole night like that.

On Friday I definitely needed a quiet night in, so I cooked a rather nice fish pie (if I do say so myself) and we ate in front of the telly and watched Bend it like Beckham and Buggsy Malone on DVD, which was fun even if a bit silly. And after a lie-in on Saturday I spent most of the day doing some serious tidying and cleaning. The bathroom had been depressing me with how grim it was and it must be 6 months since the house was last hoovered properly, so the whole place got a real blitz, including my room, which now has a completely junk free floor - I still can't quite get over that, and the living room looks like a living room again instead of a weird sofa-based storage facility. Pretty chuffed with that.

The reason for the effort was I'd invited a few people round in the evening to celebrate the fact it would be my birthday on Sunday. It was all a bit last minute, and most people couldn't make it, but the small handful who did were very pleasant company and we stayed up til around 1:30, just chatting around the coffee table and demolishing a small mountain of nibbles. Mmm cheese. Some left around 11:30 to go to Jack's party or home to bed, but Mike, Andrew and Pete sang me happy birthday at midnight, which was sweet, and a good time to eat cake. Before we went to bed I gave Mike a card for our anniversary, which we'll be sort of celebrating all week. The night before my birthday was when we first met - at the Kambar - and I gave him my phone number. Definitely one to remember with a smile.

In the morning I opened my cards and some presents in bed, and discovered I really ought to be more careful about updating my wishlist when I buy myself things. Then Mike won the admiration of all my family by insisting I have a lie-in on Sunday morning while he tidied and did the washing up. We had a late breakfast/lunch, where he finished off the last of the fish pie and I ate some of my birthday card from him, which was in the form of a large watermelon. Had a nice chat with both my mum and my sister by phone, and mum and dad sang happy birthday at me down the phone. We spent the rest of the day completely lazily reading and napping in the late afternoon sunshine, before heading out for a lovely dinner at the Galleria, and a pleasant walk back to his house along the river before cycling home to mine and bed. A lovely weekend.

Tonight is the next bit of anniversary: our first date. We met in the King Street Run for a couple of drinks, and ended up staying til closing time and walking each other home, where Mike came in for a hot chocolate, stayed to watch silly Sisters of Mercy videos, and was persuaded to stay the night. Tonight the plan is to catch a film, find some dinner, and then have a quick drink in the KSR for old time's sake before we go home. I'm looking forward to it. Mike's made me very happy this year, and we're hoping for many more happy years to come.

But for once it's nice to treat oneself:

Mozarella and tomato salad
. o O 0 O o .
Siciliana pizza (ham, olives, artichokes, anchovies)
. o O 0 O o .
Banoffee pie with vanilla icecream
. o O 0 O o .
Double espresso

Mmmm. And post-pizza involved watching a mad game I've already forgotten the name of while I crocheted, then playing a round of knockout whist. Nice. And we listened to the new BRMC (now lent to Mike) in time for tomorrow's gig. I think on balance I like it. But I'm earwormed with the Muse that Clare put on to follow it.

Yesterday I played games too: Bridge at GR and nethack at home. And had a nice Sunday lunch and couple of pints at the Carlton. Mmm beer. Digestive system copes, with the aid of indigestion tablets. Saturday night I stayed home and watched Bride and Prejudice from the comfort of my blanket on the sofa. I missed a nice party, and Rachel at the Kambar, but it was a nice way to spend the evening, even if I started quite late. Weekend in reverse order, how confusing.

Mood is up and down, still struggling with this broken heart thing. Can't work out if being around Mike is good or bad for it really. Perhaps should take Tom's advice and send him off to an Eastern European country with no mobile or internet for a couple of months, give me time to get a grip. Reminded all too harshly of 10 years ago, and being on the other side of the equation, with a lot more blame. Christmas 1994, long long before it all went wrong. Pictures slowly lose their grip on you. I can look at this now and smile, and wish it were a better picture. I have lovely ones of Matthew and of people I'm still in touch with like Tom and David, all of which remind me of good times. And the one of me and August grinning at the 2003 beerfest, before the world fell apart is lovely, and makes me happy now not sad. Things will get easier I know. But right now photos of you only make me cry, and though being with you makes me smile for a while it wears off quickly and feels worse after.

I just had a conversation with my mum about splitting up with Mike and basically we didn't disagree on anything at all for the most part. With me and relationships this is usual. Salient points being that he's very nice and that makes it more sad to lose him but probably makes the whole splitting up less horrible than it would be if he were nasty. That being properly single for a bit is a great idea. That turning a part time relationship into a full time one was always going to be a bit difficult so it's not too surprising if we ended up wanting different things. And that being friends is cool. I think you're still in her good books.

I was amused that she also said "I'd say there were plenty more fish in the sea but I'm beginning to realise the nice ones really are all gay". Presumably not including my dad ;-) But as I say I'm not fishing right now.

/~ and I feel fine ~/

Well. More or less. It's not what I wanted, but sometimes a relationship is past its best before date. So now I'm definitely single. Which I admit is something of a novelty really. The last time was probably about a week at the end of February 1998. But it's not really the end of the world, and despite a somewhat teary evening I do actually feel quite positive about stuff. And have a lot of wonderful memories, as well as keeping an excellent friend. What's not to like?

The moon is shining tonight. It's not full. It's not new. And to my nethack addled mind that seems a good omen of sorts.

Hard enough saying it once, so I'll just quote what I said on #tropic

10:02 <LNR> lets just say if me and mike are great friends we're not sure quite how much more than that.

All a bit "wait and see". Don't really want to talk about it.