Splish Splash ...

Well contrary to popular belief I am not up to my eyes in water, but unfortunately the rest of Yorkshire is. The rain has been relentless, but I am getting a bit fed up with the 'you must feel like you are at home' comments.

Anyway, enough water talk, work is going ok but I am stressing about my paper for Gothenburg. I just hope that I can avoid making a total arse of myself.

The excitement for the day came in the form of a parcel from a local Spa with a £25 gift voucher inside - unfortunately it was not signed. So I had to ring the company concerned and found out that My mate Cheryl was being very generous but also pro-active (as my B/Day is not until next week). It is so nice having parcels, something that was rare when I lived in Wales.

Well that's the state of play at the moment. I have decided to take my laptop to Sweden so I hope to provide a daily description of events. I can't promise it will be half as professional or indeed exciting as Anne-Marie's worldly travels, but I will give it a go.

Saturday TV

There is a debate that rages among the over 35's as to whether you watched Swap Shop or Tizwas as a child. Personally I was a Tizwas child (which may not surprise you - anarchy is my middle name) but my sister preferred Swap Shop .... this led to many an argument in the Matthews' household as we are talking about a time when it was usual to only have 1 TV set per household. I know most youngsters today would think this as being unbelievable - but it's true. I didn't actually have a colour TV til I was 11 or indeed a phone.... how did we children of the 60/70's survive?
The reason for bringing this up is that I have just watched the revived one off Tizwas special and it was hilarious - the Phantom Flan Flinger ... Spit the Dog and Compost Corner were all there. As I watched the mayhem I wondered what today's youth would make of it all? In a world of Power-Rangers and computer games, has the innocence of a custard pie in the face all been forgotten? I personally think that kid's today would love it - it's the TV Executives who 'think' that they wouldn't.
I look at my sister's kids who have every toy/game that is imaginable (and all very costly) but when are they happiest? in the garden throwing buckets of water over each other ... I rest my case!

Anyway, talking of kids mis-behaving ....it was results day at Hudds Uni on Wednesday, so the English Department put a gazebo and bunting up on the front lawn and had a tea and cake party for them, which I thought was a nice gesture. When ever I had my results, it was a quick well done and a pint of 'bow and black' in the SU ...then home. There was only one 'crier' on the day, which is pretty good ..... it just felt weird talking to students about their results and giving advise etc.....I guess I still have problems adjusting to acting like a grown up!

On Thursday night an old friend of mine from BAAE visited me and we ended up having a major drinking session in town. Jugs of various cocktails were consumed and I stayed up until 4.00am reminiscing .... unfortunately Mark had to drive home at 7.00am to Birmingham (2 hour drive) so I felt very sorry for him. I went back to bed on his departure and suffered with a sore head all day!It was nice to catch up but after talking about times and places from years ago it makes you realise how much your life has changed, and mine definitely has!

"As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction" - Irish Blessing

'Quiet' weekend

Why is it when you say to everyone that you want a quiet weekend, you don't really want it to be 'that' quiet. I have spent the last 48 hours in my flat and haven't spoken to a single sole. It's like being in a religious retreat. I suppose at this point anybody bothering to read this will be thinking .... why don't you just pick up the phone and ring somebody? well I haven't because I always do the ringing ... nobody ever seems to ring me ... well actually that's a lie ... I do have the sporadic phone call from Wales, but that's it. Crikey it does sound as if I am wallowing in self pity, don't mean to. Just a lot going on right now, so I suppose that I have just been too busy to do the ringing people thing....so not talking to anybody has just been more noticeable.
Changing the subject completely ... weather's be nice hasn't it? ...

"The only thing that helps me maintain my slender grip on reality is the friendship I share with my collection of singing potatoes" - Holly, Red Dwarf II

My Yorkie experience

It has been a very busy week - I've been busier than Paris Hilton's parole officer (topical comment from Dawny...finger always on the pulse of the gutter press). This is because I had to do a presentation in York on Thursday, which was pretty scary. The whole experience made me realise how much work I have to do ..... the room was full of Professors and experienced Doctors who pulled big holes out of my research....but I'm pleased to say in a constructively critical way. Thank goodness I went to York, as it was better being mauled by 20 people rather than by 400 in Gutenberg in July! I also made a few more 'contacts' which is the done thing on occasions like this and had a slap up dinner ...but it was a 16 hour day and I came home and collapsed!
Anyway mustn't keep on grumbling ..... time for bed.

Wedded Bliss

OK so I survived the wedding and what a wedding it was too - mighty fine! I was a bit nervous going as I was attending for the first time on my own and without the support of 'the girls', but I am pleased to report that my worries were soon dispelled. The wedding took place in the fine (and expensive) St Davids Hotel in Cardiff Bay. I arrived early as the groom had told me that everyone was meeting beforehand in the bar. As usual Andrew was 'fibbing' but I will forgive him as he did have other things to occupy his mind. So when I got there I was on my own - so a quick tipple at the bar was the thing to do, as weddings always make me nervous. I ordered a glass of medium white wine and a very smiley member of the bar staff informed me that I should hand over £6. At this point I thought she had mis-heard me and thought that I wanted a bottle of wine ... but no....so rather than look complete cheap-skate I paid the lady and sat on one of their comfy leather sofas. The same lady soon brought me over a bowl of hand made crisps and a napkin - I would have preferred a 3 course lunch for that price but I just thanked her...and then spotted Andrew and some guests going upstairs to the function rooms, so I left the crisps, but necked my wine and departed. (note: there was free wine on my table all evening so I didn't need to resort to prostitution to pay my bar bill)
It was good to see Andrew and also a few of the other guests that I remembered from my youth in Brinsons. We were soon called in for the ceremony - I appeared to stand out somewhat in my black ensemble but hey it was a statement! The bride was fashionably 15 mins late, and Andrew was starting to twitch...but then she arrived. As I hadn't met Jane before I really didn't know what to expect but she was sickeningly attractive, tall, thin, blonde, you get the idea.....she looked lovely. I thought at that point that she must have no sense of humour or lack of conversation skills as otherwise she would be perfect...... after the ceremony I met her and she is...perfect. She is such a lovely person and so right for Andrew, they are both so laid back that I was afraid that they may topple over at any point - he has made a wise choice and it was great to see him so happy.
I won't bore you with a breakdown of the whole reception, but it was very nice. This was helped by me sitting next to one of Jane's oldest friends, Gwyn, who is a very witty gay bloke - we got on well and he was my saviour! Unfortunately Jane's Dad couldn't make it to the ceremony so Gwyn gave her away and also make a cracking speech - which totally outdid everybody elses, including mine! It had the right balance of sentiment, humour and appropriateness - I wish I could write one like that...but as it was 5 pages long ...it put put my 1 page poem to shame...so I scribbled another verse in a bit quick to pad it out a bit. Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Before the reception began I only said that my name was Dawn and the response I got was 'oh you're the poem lady' or 'we've heard a lot about you from Andrew' this is always a bit worrying as I am not quite sure was exactly they have heard!
So in summary it was a great day, I got through it and hopefully this is his last wedding as I can't see them ever splitting up. The only thing that made me sad is that he is the last of my friends to get married and I love a good wedding :(

So here's a wedding quote....
"Damnit, it's your duty to get married. You can't be always living for pleasure" - Oscar Wilde