On Love...

Posted by Dan

Finally its done, the are we going to talk about it is over. Thanks Mum.

Anyway, after having a really bad tired week we went to see Sandi Thom yesterday, we were a bit underwhelmed at the thought in the end. Once we got there our spirits lifted, the Uniqueness of a gig on a boat moored in the harbour at Bristol was not lost on us. It was the first gig I have been to in absolutely ages. There was an older crowd there, mostly oldies in the balcony where we were and the regulation annoying gay man who didn't seem to be able to sway like a normal person, too much of a hip swagger me thinks (& no it wasn't me).

The warm up started and he was actually really good, a good husky voiced American who you could listen to for hours. Then Sandi arrived. It was odd, the warm up left for about 10 minutes, then she just wandered onto the stage. It was weird for the first few songs she was alone, a one woman band complete with guitar, harmonica, drum, symbol and tambourine. I loved it, it was a really lovely atmosphere, really cosy and intimate. After 5 or so songs her drummer and backing guitar/vocals arrive. Some of the upbeat songs and I have to say considering the tickets were relatively cheap it was really really good value and I left thinking that I want to see her again or at least hear some more of her new music, guess I will be buying the second album!

Anyway, it was a really lovely night and really nice to spend some proper time with Simon away from laptops, computers, xboxs and TV. Got me to thinking about a poem I wrote for Si before Christmas. Here it is....

Love is...

Love is boundless
Love is not caring what others think

Love is being there
Love is two people holding each other

Love is understanding
Love is wanting to be together forever

Love is passion
Love is forgiveness
Most of all love is unconditional

Quick Remedy

Posted by Dan

Thankfully I have been able to change the honeymoon. Took 2 days mind. A good guide is call roughly 10 minutes before the call centre opens, then you can get into the queue, wasn't till the secnd day I realised this! Once I got through, it did take a bit of effort to convince the customer service department that although the saturday of my wedding was conveinent for them it was not conveint for me being that it was my wedding day.



They understood and changed the day and told me there was a charge of £x, I asked why I had to pay this and was told that the day I changed to was more expesive and I had to pay the difference. I explained that although I understood why if I'd've by choice changed my flight, this would be payable I did not understand why I had to pay this. I was again told that the holiday on that date was more expensive and that I had been offered an alternative. I replied calmly, the alternative may be wonderful for you, it is not for me, it is ON MY WEDDING DAY. Finally it clicked, lice a key had turned, a light turnd on, I couldn't make the new flight because I had other arrangements! After a lengthy chat with his supervisor, he explined that as a "good will gesture" they would change the holiday for us "Halleluja!"



On other news, Simon also managed to get his best person sorted out (a better choice I hope)



Still not spoken to mum...

Wedding Disaster Day...

Posted by Dan

Well, it had to happen, it was all going swimmingly everything was sorted. Then last Friday, everything fell to the floor. OK, I'm probably hyping it up way to much but everything seemed to come to a complete stop. We had been running around trying to get things sorted out, but to no avail. The trip to Reading for me was to be one of overcoming my previous failures.

Unfortunately, it wasn't not.

Disaster One: I didn't manage to talk to my mum about anything wedding related.

Disaster Two: I arrived home, I found a letter from MyTravel/ThomasCook/Airtours (Whatever they are choosing to call themselves now) saying that they had had to change the flights for our honeymoon. They had moved it to day which they thought would be more convenient, a Saturday flight. However, to my surprise this was the same Saturday that we are getting married. No worries, they say that I can call them if this isn't OK and change. Great I think so I call them the next day but to no avail, not even a queueing system. Merely a message saying we are busy, call again later. So this goes on and on for about 20 calls. I eventually realise that this is no going to work and decide to call again on Monday.

Disaster Three: The Best Person. All is fine with me and my best person, which is fantastic, it is real relief that we are getting on and having a good laugh etc. Simon's on the other hand a change of heart and decided that it was not for him a shame really because I had actually started to accept him and think that he was worthy of the challenge. (Also a shame because we had changed the wedding date especially so that he could be a part of the day!)

All in all a disastrous weekend!

Wedding Day Blues

Posted by

There was a time when weddings were simple. All that was required was a broken condom and a shotgun. There was none of this fuss with wedding lists, or Evening Entertainment, or cake; just a night of unbridled passion followed by a life time of being bridled.

Our wedding was meant to be simple too. It was supposed to be about our feelings for each other, about promising to spend our lives together until we waste away together in a nursing home eyeing up the young carers.

Somehow, it got confused.

Because now it's about everyone else. It's become less of a fairy tale wedding and more like the Rocky horror Picture Show. Madness takes control.

Forget Love, our wedding is about seating arrangements and table decorations and dessert choices and photographers and accommodation and suits and best people and loans and family politics and scatterfetti and party poppers and invites and speeches and wine and transport and tiny chocolates...

And money, always about money.

At present, I'd be quite happy to forget about the wedding and skip to the honeymoon, just like I managed to forget being born. These things just aren’t major life events.

But over Christmas ,when I was lying in bed on my third consecutive night away from Dan, my thoughts were dancing round my mind like a raver in a army obstacle course. And I realised, slowly, that without Dan lying next to me, my bed was a void waiting to be filled. I missed him; I really missed him. It would be fair to say that was somewhat surprising. But I couldn't wait to be home again, hugging him, punching him and annoying him while he cooked dinner.

I am so enraptured by him, that if he asked, I would spend the rest of my life researching, designing and building a machine which could transcend the clouds, steal the stars from the sky, and grind them into a fine biological washing powder to make his laundry whiter than white.

He's worth the money. He's worth the stress. He's worth the rising feel of panic. Our wedding is, and always will be about us, the 2 of us, together for the rest of our lives, pinching each other when we get bored, fighting over the TV remote, and gazing 'thoughtfully' at the shirtless men on the beach until one of us loses our eyesight and has to 'eye up men' using Braille. I want my happily ever after, I want my pet dog, and my evening strolls, and my cold nights in bed spent stealing the duvet. And I want my Fiancée; I want my Dan, I want the one person who has managed to be more important to me than the Simpsons, whilst still managing to increase my latent homophobia on a daily basis.

I want my husband.

And if it costs me all the money in the world, a mental breakdown, and a wedding day styled after Nightmare on Elm Street, I'll do it. I'll do it for him.

Because promising to be together, forever (or until one of us gets really fat) will be the Happiest Day of My Life.

At least until the honeymoon...

Resolutions

Posted by Dan

You'll note the missing words from the title. I don't believe in new years resolutions. I think of things that I want to do and try to do them as soon as possible.

For example, for a "I don't want to look fat in the wedding photos" we have both joined a cheap gym and are actually managing to go at least once or twice a week, if not 3 times which is a small miracle for me as I usually find an excuse to not go. But not that there isn't any more overtime at work it seems more likely that I will go. I've rediscovered my love of exercise and classes. I've started boxercise which is tough and makes me feel like I have had a proper work out.

Also, when I rejoined the company I decided that I would take out the dental plan, now I am actually getting my teeth sorted out, which although scary is totally necessary as they have started to really get in the way of me enjoying my life. So in 2 weeks time I am going to be sedated and have all of my bad teeth removed so that I can look after those that are in a better condition. I may seem calm about it, but actually I am really scared about it and that it will really hurt for ages afterwards.

Now for another resolution. This one might be classed as a new years resolution, but it is more of a life resolution. Keep in better touch with my friends, call them and try to be there when the phone rings etc. Make an effort to meet up and have a laugh. Simon is good, but I need other people around me too!

Happy Fake Xmas!

Posted by Dan

Well, for some reason this Christmas seems to have been my busiest! Every Friday of December has been graced with a Christmas Pat of some sorts.

I've also thrown myself into going to the gym, battling the Christmas gut before it even has a chance to develop. Punishing myself with boxercise and pump classes.

So much so that I wonder if I have been neglecting my friends by not being around as much as I used to. Part of me thinks that this is a bad thing, giving up my time in an effort to try to make myself feel better by going out with my friends in Bristol and not going home as much as I could. But all this train travel is expensive, so I went for one trip at the start of the month. Some people get missed out which is a shame because Christmas is all about being with the people you care about.

But anyway, back to fake christmas! Simon and I aren't spending Christmas together this year (we haven't ever!) So as has been tradition since we've been living together we celebrated a fake christmas. We swap our presents and have a lovely Christmas meal! And this year we had a lovely turkey meal and are tomorrow going for a bit of a purge at the gym and a boxing day(fake) stroll around the zoo.

How does this stag thing work...

Posted by Dan

This thing was never going to be easy, I'm too much of a control freak I know. I love to feel that I am able to have an idea of whats going on. At the moment, it feels like there might not be a night of decadence.

And the question is, what do we want to do? There are so many things that are aimed at stags or hens, but not both. Which is a problem when you consider we will be a mixed crowd. We want to go somewhere that doesn't make us feel like we are freaks, intruding on other peoples fun. I think that it would help us if we went somewhere gay, if we are getting drunk, where we could just let ourselves go. I know there are many reasons for having separate nights out, but there is a good reason not to, we don't want to!

There is an adventurous part of me that quite likes the idea of going Ape or something similar with Zip wires and tree climbing, but would the people we want to invite want to go? Why do things have to get so complicated, it should be about us, not everyone else, but that is the selfish part of me talking of course it is about other people. There's Go-Karting and Paintball, but they really don't rock my boat. And of course there is the question of where do we go, which town, city or area? Also, I have a strange intolerance to alcohol so part of me wants it as early as possible, probably the end of May or something, but I know Simon thinks that that would be to early, why do I have to be so complicated.

And lastly, an apology to Simon, sorry for snapping and making you leave me alone, I just write better when I'm alone!