NS June 22nd, 2008
I hadn’t done any gardening in a month — mainly due to being away at the weekends and/or rain — but today the sun finally came out and the temperature was adequate enough to spend a day outdoors. TNH took our munchkin out after her nap and I found myself kneeling on a blanket in the garden, my hands in lilac gardening gloves, pruning shears in my right hand and a large bag by my side for clippings. I made my way down each side, cutting, pulling, trimming and tending and after three and a half hours, it was finally back to some semblance of order and neatness. I really need to get out there more often, my poor back can’t take that kind of beating again. A hot bath helped a little but I think two paracetamol and an early night are what I need to feel normal again. It probably doesn’t help that I stayed up until 1.30am last night/this morning.
Last night I spent the evening with a very close friend in her new live-in boyfriend’s home. They moved in together a few months ago and I hadn’t seen it since it was still his bachelor pad. They’ve repainted, replaced furniture, added nice wall hangings and prints, even painted a canvas together (I could never imagine TNH doing this). They also excitedly told me about their renovation plans which involve knocking down walls to enlarge and redesign their kitchen, adding a third bedroom upstairs and redoing the bathroom. This will allow them to stay in the house for a good eight to ten years and have room for a young family. This house also happens to be in the London suburb I used to live in before we bought, an area I sorely miss. Every time I go back to visit a friend I feel pangs of nostalgia and wish we could’ve afforded to stay there. I have no attachment to the area we’re in now and it’s just not as nice as where we were before. It’s decent enough, I suppose, and it’s great that we’re on the property ladder, don’t get me wrong, but I couldn’t help but feel enormous envy as I looked around at their lovely things (none covered in peanut butter) in the lovely rooms (none strewn with toys) and at their carefree, child-free, social-butterfly lives. At the moment, nine months after moving into our home, we still don’t have proper curtains up, the wallpaper in the living room is ripped and dirty and we have only two prints hanging on the walls downstairs. Sigh. Must not let the green-eyed monster get to me.
On a lighter note, TNC has learned to climb out of her cot and so we’ve taken the side rail off and turned it into a makeshift toddler bed. I’m simultaneously pleased that she’s growing up enough to have made this step and nervous that this means I face new bedtime struggles as she gets up and wrecks her room or refuses to stay in her bed, or comes to my room in the middle of the night for a cuddle or to play. Fingers crossed that she adjusts well!
NS June 21st, 2008
It’s Saturday. The Noble Husband is working, the sky is grey and the grass is wet from last night’s downpour, making the gardening I wanted to do null and void. So instead of moping around the house all morning, I took TNC over to a little local fair being held on a small green in front of a church. There were booths for bbq food, pastries and cakes, used books, used toys, face painting, plants and flowers, biscuit (cookie) decorating and a bouncy castle for the kids, a couple of raffles, a woodturning demonstration and some Morris dancing being performed in the middle, amongst other things on offer.
Now, I know that most English people consider Morris dancing to be outdated, odd and a bit naff but I’ve never actually seen it performed so it was kind of a treat for me. I have to admit that it’s not exactly riveting stuff but I think it’s nice that someone keeps these old traditions alive and it was pleasant enough. TNC certainly enjoyed it, clapping her hands and eyes wide as saucers as they danced around before her. So at least that’s one more ‘quaint’ English experience I can tick off my list. I know I live here now and am pretty assimilated but I still get a thrill out of doing things that the natives do or grew up seeing. I suppose it’d be like a Brit in America seeing their first gun rack on a pickup truck or a drive-by shooting. These are things we just take for granted as being part of our rich culture. I kid about the guns, of course (though just barely).
The trip to the fair would’ve been pretty uneventful if I hadn’t stopped by one last table on the way out. Holy gorgeous jewelry at bargain prices, Batman! All of the items had been donated and most were in good condition and not too tacky. I immediately spotted a necklace and a watch that I liked and began chatting to the two women behind the booth, exclaiming as I came upon item after item that I just adored. After 15 minutes of looking and a quick count of the cash in my wallet, I left with two necklaces, a watch, a bracelet and a ring, all for the grand total of £14. The watch needs a new battery so that will be a bit more but still! What a bargain shopper I am. Check it out:
I think I’ll consider them early birthday presents to myself.
NS June 17th, 2008
I know that ‘things’ don’t equal happiness but there is something about receiving packages in the post that lifts my spirits and makes me appreciate how lucky I am. In the last couple weeks I have been sent chocolate (by my sis), money (by my parents), gorgeous flowers (by an anonymous friend), maternity clothes (by an expat acquaintance), a voucher for a haircut at a stylish salon (by my friend S) and a card (also from S). And my birthday isn’t even for another 12 days! I also received the birth beads today that I talked about earlier, ready for me to make a necklace with. They’re all very lovely and the sentiments attached to each made me smile.
After reading about the credit crunch, fathers murdering their children, more troops being killed in Afghanistan and a myriad of other disturbing news stories, it’s things like these that remind me of the good in people and how important it is that we still take the time out of our busy lives to reach out and let someone know we were thinking of them. I’ve obviously been in a few people’s thoughts recently and I can only hope that I’m able to pass on the good karma and do the same for others very soon.
Viva la care packages!
NS June 11th, 2008
The Noble Husband and I depart tomorrow morning for Wiesbaden, Germany, for three nights, to celebrate ten years since we met in that town. We haven’t been back since our own personal Summer of Love (’98) and are looking forward to it immensely. To walk hand in hand along the same streets, eat at the same restaurants, sit in the same park where we met, have a beer at the pub where we first kissed…it will be a fantastic little trip down memory lane. The fact that it will also be our first trip away without TNC and the first holiday we’ve taken alone together since 2000 just makes it doubly special.
When I’m there, I hope to reflect on our relationship and how it has grown and changed since that summer. I can happily report that we still make each other laugh, we still have a great time together, are still in love and the best of friends. We have our ups and downs, absolutely, but ours is the stuff made of forever. I have absolute faith in that. If nothing else, I know that. I cling to it when everything else seems hopeless and dark, like my buoy in the rough seas.
I often think about what life would be like if we hadn’t bumped into one another on that raucous, humid Saturday night in June, or if he hadn’t decided to climb up my balcony and ask me out for a drink a few days later. When I try to imagine what path my life could’ve taken if none of it had happened, I draw a blank. My chest tightens and my eyes blur as I imagine us walking by each another at that beer festival, oblivious to the laughter, love and life we were meant to share. Did Fate intervene that night? Did we create our own destiny? I’ll never know but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we found each other and that we’ve managed to hang onto our hearts for a decade. I hope we have many, many more to come.
NS June 8th, 2008
Weed the garden
Go swimming
Scrub the floors
Go for a long walk
Dance
Go shopping
Run around the garden with TNC
It’s an absolutely gorgeous, sunshine-filled day and all I can do is sit here listlessly on the sofa with waves of nausea crashing over me every twenty minutes or so. Add to that a cold that STILL won’t go away and nights of endless wakings due to not being able to breathe properly or get comfortable and I’m miserable indeed. Did I mention my aching back and the raging heartburn?
Days like these are when I glare at my husband and silently curse him for being a man. Why should I have to bear the physical and emotional brunt of our shared family-making? Surely if they can put a pig’s heart in a human’s chest and make it work, they can figure out a way to make pregnancy transferable. The penguins have it right, that’s all I’m saying.
