I suppose that now I'm actually married and have finished my dissertation, I should probably change the blog title and possibly the layout too.  Stay tuned...

Of course, after the wedding came the honeymoon - over three weeks of holiday bliss which of course made us never want to return to work (but unfortunately needs must).  We made no bones about the fact that it was our honeymoon at the check-in desk, but although the lovely attendants attempted to upgrade us, business class was unfortunately full on our Cathay Pacific flight to Victor's birthplace, Hong Kong.  They did however, give us bulkhead seats and brought us champagne and cake.  Score! It was quite amusing seeing the other economy slummers like ourselves look indignantly and wonder why we deserved special treatment. At the airport I treated myself to a new compact camera, an upgrade to my old Canon Ixus - the Ixus 130.  I'm glad I did, seeing as we mainly got raped by the value of the pound to the yen in Japan.  It was far cheaper at the airport.

We arrived at rather sweaty hot and humid Hong Kong, where we almost got ripped off by a taxi driver - we had a huge argument and threatened him with the police, that sorted it out! Last time I was there I never used taxis, so didn't know much about getting one.  We couldn't check into the hotel, so we went off sightseeing and very very jetlagged.  A good kip soon sorted that out though! 

We did lots of cheesy sightseeing, including Ocean Park, afternoon tea at the Peninsula (and then watched the light show sipping expensive cocktails from the top of the building) and also met up with my favourite Aussie, Brendan - who I hadn't seen for three years! It was a nice way to ease in the honeymoon, we just wanted to be proper tourists, but Victor soon realised why I said three days was more than enough.  He got a bit flustered in the humidity and also didn't like all the hawkers everywhere.  I think he's satisfied now he's seen where he was born and lived for two years. 

Then, onwards, to Japan! I loved every second.  It was so good to go back, and I'd go back again and again.  It was great to see more this time, we went from Tokyo down through to Hiroshima, and many places in between.  Some of the highlights included dinner at two of my former students' house, Taro and Jiro (who are brothers).  Their family welcomed us with open arms, cooked us a banquet, showered us with gifts and their 83 year old grandfather (who has a whole book written about his history by an historian - he survived Hiroshima, was in a professional orchestra and much more) played his £35,000 violin for us.  Fabulous!  We also went to karaoke with Jiro and his girlfriend Kayo, which was hilarious, even if they did put us to shame by being much better singers than us. 

Victor wowed people up and down the country with his tattoos, prompting pictures and drunken businessmen trying to start up conversation in broken English.  I'm quite frankly amazed that I managed to drag him away from Akihabara (Electronic City) actually.  The geek was totally at home.  To be fair, I did spend an obscene amount on Studio Ghibli merchandise after visiting the wonderful museum again (and I got to see a new Ghibli short!). 
Hiroshima was a place for reflection and it was so poignant.  It's something that you just have to do and experience, although it reduced me to tears quite frequently.  It's amazing to see how the city has regenerated itself, and how it's transformed into a wonderful city of peace and beauty.  It's also home to their own version of Okonomiyaki, a sort of pancake style dish with eggs, noodles and teriyaki sauce.  The Hiroshima-yaki was wayyyy better than the original ones (found in Osaka). 

Mentioning the food, oh god it was divine.  I think we had some of the best food in Kyoto, including burnt ramen, some amazing tempura and the best udon noodles.  I also probably consumed far too much ume shu (plum wine) than needed! 

We didn't want to come home, that's for sure.  Here's a selection of pictures from Japan on Flickr (it's worth noting that I took over 1,000 pictures during the whole trip.... ooops!).  I gave up uploading them to my own webspace as I wanted to try and get up to date with the blog!

Addendum: I've just realised I've far exceeded the normal quota of exclaimation marks for one blog post.  Oh well.  I'm not a literature student anymore :D

So, October 9th I got married. 

It was amazing in every way, utterly flawless.  I think the pictures probably speak for themselves in most respects! I do want to mention how hugely grateful I am to everyone who came and shared this special event with us, to my parents for just generally being outstanding and to everyone behind the scenes on the big day - Janice from Uptight Clothing for the most beautiful, princess-esque dress, to Sheena for the wonderful hair (including extensions!), to Elle, the make-up artist, to Steve for the wonderful photographs and to Debbie, Matthew and all the staff at Sudeley Castle who just gave it that wow factor, and the food was to DIE for!  Also, special thanks to our friends Geth & Dee, who DJed the event for us - for once the music at a wedding wasn't shit! 

I was so calm and fine until I went up the stairs and waited just before walking down the aisle.  Then I was shaking so much, as was Victor. We're a pair of soppy gits, I know.  Getting married is a feeling that's just indescribable.

Our wedding obviously had some element of cool factor, as it featured on hugely popular wedding blog Rock N Roll Bride.  We rock!

I'll leave you with some pictures to hopefully convey just a fraction of what a superb day it was...

So, the big day is just two days away!  The weather report is looking promising at the moment, so fingers crossed it stays that way.  I'm really excited now, and very much looking forward to seeing everybody too.  Finished work at 1pm yesterday, and am revelling in the fact that I don't go back until the 3rd November. Huzzah!  Going for some pampering with Mum soon, and to get a few more little bits before the event and pending honeymoon. 

I finished my dissertation a week before the deadline, which was lucky as I had a mammoth weekend immediately after finishing.  It felt like such a relief, and I handed it in on the Monday after.  I expect I shall get my results not long after returning from Japan.  As for the mammoth weekend, I headed up to Luton again for the final fitting, and I finally started to see my dress materialise and it's so beautiful.  We picked it up on the Sunday, all finished, and the wonderful Janice is also going to come and dress me on the day.  After the final fitting, Mum and I headed into town to get some bits, primarily underwear from Agent Provocateur, at a not for the faint-hearted £180 for stockings, suspender belt, knickers and a garter.  It feels lush though, and if a wedding isn't a special occasion, I don't know what is.  We decided town was unusually busy for our liking though, which was just as well as my day wasn't going to stop there.  I dashed home, got ready, and was back out again to meet my favourite ex-work chums in order to wish bon voyage to Babs as she set off for Oz.  We went to Zigfrid Von Underbelly in Hoxton, which was quite lovely, although achingly hip, meaning we were unable to get a seat anywhere.  Then, I headed to Islington to meet up with Lex, Stu & Matt for a night a Slimes - the first in FOREVER.  Matt was lovely enough to put us on the guestlist, and I'd just been paid, so I basically plied Stu with cider and black all night. And what a cracking night it was.  It was so much fun, and it was great to see familiar faces. I eventually tumbled in the door at around 5:30, so an early night by Slimes' account, but not so much for me.  I was up again in two hours for another trip to Cheltenham for my final hair trial >_<

Last weekend, Victor and I went to Hyper Japan, a new exhibit at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch.  It was a little disappointing as it was quite small, but fun nonetheless. We went to Borough Market bright and early beforehand, before a rather nice walk in the sunshine over Tower Bridge and up through Brick Lane.  We had planned to go to the Treasures from Hungary exhibit at the Royal Academy after, but we were pretty pooped, so we're going to check it out when we get back, hopefully along with the Muybridge exhibit at the Tate Britain.  He was a Kingstonian, don't you know.  We did pop to Covent Garden, to Ella's Bakehouse, to sample the cupcakes. I'm not a huge cupcake fan (and don't see the fuss over the Hummingbird ones - I've made a couple of good things from the book, but it's not the best), but I'd heard good things about Ella's Bakehouse.  We bought a coffee, a Malteser, an Oreo and a peanut butter cupcake.  My sweet tooth must have diminished somewhat as I couldn't even finish the peanut butter one, lovely as it was, and I saved the Oreo for later (which was the best).  They were lovely, but maybe a mini one is more than enough! 

I've been slogging it out all weekend on my dissertation.  Doing pretty well, but need a bit of a break from sexy vampires.  Just my final chapter and conclusion to go, before some fine-tooth combing and ensuring all referencing is tickety-boo.  When it's finished, in the words of Micky Flanagan, I'm gonna do fuck-all.  Proper fuck-all.  Old-school fuck-all.  Lying there and staring at the sky.  I've got a mammoth pile of DVDs to get through, and I've just ordered a couple more, too.  I've also got to make the menu cards for the wedding, along with the table plan.  I plan to not return to education for some time, if at all.

Part of this is due to the fact that I no longer feel I need to, as I've recently, after the trials and tribulations of August, landed a new job with a salary that's most certainly not to be sniffed at, and it's going well so far.  Luckily, they were kind enough to give me nearly four weeks off for the wedding and honeymoon.  Must've done something right then!  I've been there two weeks already, and it's flown by.  I'm not even bothered by the commute at the moment, which is to London Bridge or Elephant & Castle depending on if/where I'm teaching that day.  I do plan to start walking from Waterloo as I no longer have the time (and to be honest, the inclination) to go to the gym.  Speaking of which, weight loss is almost at 2 1/2 stone, and I'm doubtful much more will come off before the big day.  Still, it's an achievement, as Victor keeps reminding me, so as long as I maintain it, I'm happy. 

In other wedding-y news, we had our engagement shoot in Birmingham on August Bank Holiday Sunday.  The day before, we went to Telford, to the Irongorge museums.  First stop was Blists Hill Victorian Town, which was quaint and picturesque, but then the skies opened on our way to the other attractions, so we headed into Birmingham, to the hotel.  Birmingham itself, I didn't enjoy.  I was hoping it might have some of the northern charm that Manchester has, but no.  So, we popped back to the hotel, had a nap, then went for a curry - it would've been shameful not to! The curry was delicious.  On the Sunday, we went to Rugby, where Victor spent most of his childhood before moving to Weymouth when he was 12.  I think he enjoyed his trip down memory lane!  We popped into the town, only to find everything was shut.  Oh, London, how I love thee.  So then we popped to Coventry which was even more of a scumhole.  Having seen a lot more of the UK recently, I love London more than I thought I already did. The Midlands is a veritable shithole!  However, back into Brum we went for our engagement shoot, with the lovely Steve Gerrard.  We talked about our wedding photos and other niggly bits, before heading out onto the streets of Birmingham.  Both Victor and I really enjoyed it, we didn't feel like we were posing, and Steve was great.  Looking forward to seeing the pictures, which should be any day now.  It will be really interesting to see what shots he gets of our actual day, which is now less than three weeks away.  EXCITING! 

A couple of weeks ago I also caught up with my favourite ex-work chums (minus Sarah) for a stitch'n'bitch session.  The plan was that Leanne would teach us how to crochet/knit, but there was too much wine involved so it was definitely much more of a bitch session.  I made some peanut butter bars to take along:

As I said in my previous entry, I planned to do some baking to take to Weymouth tonight, as there's a family BBQ tomorrow (weather permitting, of course), and I know that there'll be plenty of hungry mouths rather than just mine and Victor's gobs to eat everything.  So, it was a chance to do some baking, which was really therapeutic.

I've made strawberry cheesecake brownies, which are still in the fridge and in hindsight, probably should have chosen something else as now I have to get them to Weymouth in one piece, and the topping is mainly comprised of cream.  Oops. 

I've also made lemon bars:


Triple chocolate cookies (which are one of Victor's favourites):


and the piece de resistance, a maple pecan cake (dubbed Autumnal Birthday Cake by Nigella, actually):


Hopefully they'll all get wolfed down, it seems like a lot but it sure as hell ain't coming back with us!  I really enjoyed making everything, and the only cock-up was when I first whipped the cream for the brownies, and whipped it so much that it split.  Easily rectified by buying some more :)

I know it's been around two months since I updated the blog.  I hadn't forgotten about it, life just happened to come first.  And what a turbulent two months it's been.  Victor's house is yet to sell, and he's still in the process of trying to sort out money that previous tenants owe him, so that's causing him great stress.  Then, worse news struck, as we found out his mother has lung cancer.  Finally, I was under a lot of stress at work, due to life events and also all the bad stuff happening at work.  This culminated with my frankly rather shocking and unexpected dismissal BY E-MAIL on (and what other date could it have possibly been, in this great freak show we call life) Friday 13th, nonetheless.  The good news is that Victor's mother has a good prognosis, and they're operating very soon.  She may, unfortunately, have to miss the wedding, but of course her health is paramount and it's going to take her a while to recover after such a hefty operation. 

The bad news for me is that I'm finding it very difficult to find another job that's willing to take me on and then give me a month's holiday almost instantaneously.   Having been to the CAB and spoken to ACAS, I have no employment rights, it seems, as I've been there almost a year, the key word being almost.  I was always under the impression that once you passed three months probation at any place of work, you were pretty much safe, but, as I've found out the hard way, this is categorically untrue.  I can only hope the horse faced bitch (with matching horsey whinney laugh) that's somehow managed to go from lowly PA at another company to Operations Director at the school in about three months gets her day.  They say every dog has its day, and I'm counting on this.  I choked up when I went in to get my things and say goodbye to my students, who weren't aware of anything.  They've flooded me with hugs, messages and texts with lovely (and good English!) words expressing their sorrow and regret.  They're pretty shocked and angry, as are all the staff. 

It's incredibly hard to think ahead when everything seems to be falling apart around you.  I just keep wondering what the next thing will be, to be honest.  I've been trying to focus on the wedding and of course, my MA, the impending deadline for which is only six weeks away.  Haven't been sleeping well, but trying to feel better with each lonely day at the moment and keep busy, even if I can't focus on the important stuff like my MA.  I had my introduction back from Roger, with some really nice and useful comments, so it doesn't look like that needs much re-working, and I've got a good start ahead of me.  I'm also entirely up to date with True Blood, which I'm now also quite obsessed with.  I love it! The series is going to form the majority basis of my second chapter, with some Buffy and Angel weaved in.  I also went to see cult figure Kim Newman give a talk alongside two other boffins whose names I forget, all about the immortal appeal of vampires, which was illuminating and insightful.  Even Victor enjoyed it! I've been watching more of the idiot box than I should do lately, but there's been some good stuff.  I've thoroughly enjoyed Sherlock on the BBC, and also The Great British Bake Off, also on the Beeb, with the queen of baking, Mary Berry.  Victor also enjoyed it, and has dubbed it 'Cake Porn', on account of his near dribbling as he watched it.

I baked some cookies this week to try and alleviate all the over-analysis and thinking going on in my head, so I made some peanut butter and chocolate cookies, that weren't dry at all for a peanut butter enriched recipe:



I also found some greengages, which have such a short season, and made lots of greengage jam with it.  I'm planning to do some baking to take to Weymouth with me tomorrow, as I know it'll all get eaten then rather than just by myself and Victor.  I've deviated from the diet quite a bit, as it's hard to stick to it when you're out and about.  We went to Latitude festival, which was amazing, alongside the Isle of Wight, and also to the Eden Project in Cornwall, which was beautiful.  That said, I've lost just over two stone, so I'm pretty happy.

The wedding is almost upon us, and the invites have been sent out, so RSVPs are starting to come in.  Had a cock up with Montezumas though, who we ordered the favours from.  They ran out of black favour boxes and aren't producing anymore.  Bugger. So we're still trying to find black boxes to sort that out.  Everything else seems to be going well, I've got a hair trial this Sunday, and the weekend after, Victor and I are going to Birmingham to meet the photographer and have our free engagement shoot.  We're also going to visit Rugby whilst we're there, as that's where he grew up, and hopefully Blists Hill Victorian Town, which I saw on Victorian Pharmacy on BBC2.  I love quaint villages, and a whole recreation Victorian one sounds uber-quaint and interesting!  The headdress arrived today, and it's very pretty, but I'm not too sure about the big clear crystals on it, so will possibly get Janice to change those.

Also, here are the shoes, possibly the cheapest part of the whole outfit!

We also sorted the Bridesmaid's dresses out this weekend just gone, and I had a lovely time with the Flounders, who helped me temporarily forget about the events of Friday 13th.  I think that's more than enough blog for one entry.

I also bought a set of Emma Bridgewater cake tins in the sale in Lakeland (my new favourite shop - I really love Kingston):



Victor has requested some cookies for his birthday that I used to regularly make, so I will get a chance to use them then (and try to resist - maybe one!).  I really miss baking and cooking.  We were browsing in Bentalls yesterday, and they had those really nice Le Creuset casserole pots on sale.  Still very expensive, mind.  I can't wait until we have our own house next year.  A decent kitchen will be heaven.  I think I'd like a farmhouse style one, but of course, budget budget budget :(

Ordering the invitiations for the wedding soon, tres exciting.  By the way, anyone who's thinking of getting married, seriously, just elope.  You would not BELIEVE how expensive flowers are.  Really.

Well, the epiphany moment hasn't arrived as of yet, but here's hoping.  Looking forward to this week once the introduction is out of the way.   Managed to get tickets for Mock the Week on Tuesday, which is great as we're both off on Wednesday for Victor's birthday.  Then, final supervision on Thursday for some much needed feedback before launching into the dissertation proper. 

Oh, weight loss has stagnated again.  1st2lbs so far. Fail.  Book says it may be water retention as I'm a lady and it's *that* time of the month, so we shall see after.  Might just step it up at the gym a little bit.  Two episodes of Buffy whilst doing cardio then!

Why must some people and companies be so bloody trying all the time?  BT haven't actually cancelled my service, despite me phoning up and doing said cancellation before we moved on the 1st April, and now they say I will have a cancellation charge as the contract has automatically renewed.  Oh-ho-ho.  Not by the time I've finished with them.  Similarly, Hounslow Borough Council are knobjockeys for failing to see the glaring stamp on my council tax exemption certificate, and claim it's not valid.  Argh! 

Friday was okay, sorting out more wedding things, but I think Victor and I were completely flowered out by the time we talked to the second florist, particularly Victor, who switched off the minute he heard the middle-aged hippy type talking about the 'synergy' of the flowers.  She kept suggesting pink.  Oh dear.  Still attempting to sort out the hair trial, and the first dress fitting is looming, on the 27th.  Trying to lose another half a stone by then.  Total now, in just over two weeks, is a stone.  Chuffed! The gym is much more bearable now we've done an iPod exchange and I have one (albeit a little quieter), so I've been catching up on TV episodes whilst doing my CV. 

With the Edinburgh Fringe Festival comes the inevitable Edinburgh previews, so for the measly price of £5 each, I'm seeing the following comedians in July: Kevin Bridges, Jon Richardson, Mark Watson, Stephen K. Amos (I may also briefly appear on his show in August.  Blink and you'll miss it!) and Reginald D. Hunter.  Yeeeah. 

...you piece of Apple crap.  Motherboard replacement didn't work.  iPod is truly dead as a dodo.  I cried a little cry.  Now I'll have to save up for a new one and use Victor's old one in the meantime, which isn't ideal, but better than nothing.  Problem is that I have to import one from the US, as any bought within the EU fall prey to the EU volume limit law, meaning you can't have them louder than 100db, and believe me, Apple have enforced this and made it almost nigh unhackable.  Seeing as though my hearing loss prevents me from hearing noise under about 70db for the most part, this is what has to be done.  Because the dollar is quite strong at the moment, this means it will be more expensive than buying one from the UK (about £172 + p&p).  Sob.  I've got a student who's interested in some private lessons next week, as his IELTS exam is on the 19th, so I can put that extra bit of cash towards it.

Off to Gloucestershire on Friday to sort out some more wedding stuff.  Meeting with the lights/sound man, another meeting with the cake people (will I be strong enough to resist the gorgeous cherry sponge that will make up the bottom tiers of our cake? Who knows!), some florists and having a hair trial.  Got to get on with the invites soon and get them sent out next month.  It's all coming together, there's not too much left to do as far as I can think.  We (Victor) bought the rings last month, I've got the first fitting for my dress at the end of the month and it's just silly little bits and pieces now.  That reminds me, must send off the forms for the ceremony to Gloucestershire Registry office in the next two months.

Weight loss stagnated a bit over the weekend, I've lost 10lbs now.  On the second phase, which is alternating days of pure proteins and proteins + a limited selection of vegetables.  I had some mushrooms today that I quickly bought from the shop last night, and I have to say that although they were tasteless button mushrooms, I devoured them with relish.  Will continue with this until Latitude Festival in July, where I'm going to reward myself by having some yummy summer ciders whilst watching a few bands, a lot of comedy and much much more in sunny Suffolk.  Then, I'm hoping I'll only have to continue with it for another month before going into the next phase, where I can start reintroducing limited foods. 

I think it may have partly stagnated as I didn't really do any exercise or drink enough water over the weekend.  I've just joined a new gym, as Fitness First was getting right on my tits.  Besides half the machines being faulty and rubbish, there's not a vast amount of facilities there in the first place, and the staff are always bothering you to try and score personal training lessons for stupid money.  Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre are one of the first Hounslow Council gyms to re-open after refurbishment, and it's pretty lush.  Two pools, brand new fitness equipment with iPod docks and lots of other mod cons, plus better resistance and weights.  Plus, I'm saving £15 a month.  Score! 

Planning to get on with the dissertation over the weekend.  I've got three weeks to pull together my introduction and first chapter for Roger's perusal, so I've been attempting to read Foucault on the bus at 8am, and all my brain wants to do is read the crappy trash in the Metro at that time of the morning.  When I've finished writing this I shall attempt it further, and I'm planning to go to the British Library for some research next week, after I hopefully re-register tomorrow as my membership expired last month. 

Right, Foucault, tell me about sexuality, and I'll try not to read it with a French accent in my head.