Since my Last Post (be warned, it’s a long ‘un!)

I have been very lax in posting to this blog so an update is in order. Since my last post:

• I had the best hen party ever. A boat trip down the Lagan with lots of my very good friends, good scram in McHugh’s & lots of drinking afterwards in the Kitchen Bar. Everyone who came was in their best 80s finery – I think we managed to have the best night’s craic and gave most of Belfast a good laugh at the state of us.

• Anabee & I helped our friend Darwi move to Birmingham. We loaded the car up & took the boat from Belfast to Liverpool and helped her get settled in.

• My second hen party should have happened closer to the wedding but unfortunately Newcastle and the surrounding area got completely flooded. A few of us made it back to my mum’s house before it flooded too badly & we couldn’t get home but some were cut off on the other side of town. At least we had some wine & food to keep us going!

• My something blue arrived – a garter with our names on it that was at least 10 sizes too big. I had a bit of a panic getting something else but the dressmaker who was altering my dress came to the rescue with a beautiful blue flower embroidered on the lining. What a champion!

• The day before the wedding was a bit of a panic for me. I spent the whole day in a terrible mood, smoked too many cigarettes & cried a lot. I’m still not quite sure what the problem was!!

• THE WEDDING DAY!!!!! This was without a doubt the best day ever! I was awake at 6am or slightly before it and got up and organised myself, got my makeup started, watched some Stargate & then went to get my hair done. Arrived back to a full house & my dad making everyone breakfast. The champagne started flowing and the morning before the wedding was lovely although I couldn’t wait to get into my dress and kept bouncing around the house in anticipation. Eventually we were all dressed & ready, the car arrived & whisked my family off leaving me & my dad to enjoy a final glass of bubbly together before heading off to the hotel. The rest of the day went by in a bit of a haze but the highlights were:

• My little bro playing us down the aisle & forgetting to stop then when he realised everyone was looking at him he fluffed the last few notes and let out a big sigh of frustration into the microphone which left us in kinks of laughter.
• The Registrar commenting on my friend Darwi’s beautiful reading & her lovely “Polish” accent (she’s really Bosnian!).
• My new hubby trying to escape the photos by jumping over a balcony.
• Surprising my new hubby with a 1st dance that he wasn’t expecting.
• Getting to have all my friends and family share a very special day with me. I had such a wonderful day and it wouldn’t have been even remotely the same if they hadn’t been there.

• After the wedding my new hubby & I spent a few days in Cork and got to see some very rare birds, a yellow warbler & a northern waterthrush. They are American migrants and have only been seen in Ireland a couple of times. This was a bit more special for my husband, the birdwatcher, than me but I’m glad I saw them all the same as it will annoy other more serious birdwatchers who didn’t get to see them!!!

• I got all my horrible long hair chopped off – it has been chopped a couple of times since & I now have a fab crop instead of lots of long, thick, annoying hair.

• Then, and this has been what has been what most of my life has revolved around since then, the mysterious pains came back and I am finally rid of them! I’ve already written a blog post about that so I will post it here now too and have a follow up blog on what I've been doing since then!