What are the news looking at today?

So, the world has stopped. Along with everything else, the news also seems to have frozen.

And another heavy downfall of snow today....hitting hard......and

we've just got breaking news on Heathrow airport, due to the snow....... the snow is causing pipes to freeze........this Christmas really will be a white one after all, but do we really want it now?

The news coverage on the sudden outburst of snow is tremendous. Every time I flick on the news, they're talking about snow, there's pictures of the stuff, it's all about travel and how people will get to their holiday destinations, whether people will be returning home for Christmas or not?? Of course the snow affects a lot of people, businesses, travel, but there's also

other things that are really important in our nation as well, especially at this time of the year.

Who's reporting on the people who will be alone this year for Christmas? How many people without homes are really going to suffer in this cold weather? What is the nation doing about things like that? It's not just that the snow is preventing people from going on holiday for Christmas, it's also that many more homeless people will be having a very difficult time this year. I think that's more news than anything.

Skellig - a treasure

Holding off from the wedding talk for a bit - everyone needs a bit of a break - I read the children's books Skellig last night, by David Almond.

I had water brimming at my eyes when I read the book; so sad, but so beautiful. I mean I don't know why adults don't read children's books more often, sometimes they're even more emotive and more heart wrenching than books that are actually targeted at the adult market. Okay, so some children's books don't tug at my heart, but I would definitely say that the majority do. Skellig for one.

I mean it's told from the perspective of a young boy whose baby sister is so frail that she is on the verge of dying. That for one is incredibly emotive. Then, the boy meets this revolting yet 'extraordinary' thing in his garage - we don't really know what it is....an angel, a bird, a beast.....Skellig doesn't even know what he is. But he is an interesting and amazing character in the book. This boy's life is hard, and I think it's good to discuss things like this sometimes in children's books because some kids need that comfort and reassurance that they're not the only ones who don't have a perfect life. And for adults, this books is lovely because it gives you more of an insight into what children's views of things are.

This books is a little treasure.

Ordering Chaos

Queen of all lists, I struggle to do anything that is not written down on paper with a star next to it. Every little thing such as 'I must buy milk' or 'remember to put a wash load on' and every big thing like, 'complete this submission by December' and 'book honeymoon soon' are ALL written on hundreds of lists; lists that I always re-write and re-write even if nothing is ticked off. I am a check list person, and when I've been able to tick off just one bullet point (that rarely happens) I glow with happiness. It's satisfying seeing it on paper that I've completed something, and it helps organise everything that is madly swirling around in my head.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8537856.stm

This perfectly explains my obsession for lists and makes me feel a lot more sane knowing that there are also others who constantly jot down their steps in day by day living. And I did not, of course note down in my list today, 'blog'.

Will I ever get to the church?

“Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you.”

- Marsha Norman

I do hope this is not true. By any means, dreams that I have that involve my favourite authors or film stars or fiancé or chocolate built houses can come true. That's fine. But those dreams that still haunt you long after you've just experienced them in your sleep should definitely not be included in your book. I don't want them in my book that's for sure. So, loyally running along the theme of my up coming wedding, unfortunately anyway, I have had two heart ripping dreams in a row about the big day. The dreams are the kind where they seem really real and when you wake up you feel like you've just ignorantly welcomed a bolt of stress. The dream I had last night was especially one of those.

I woke up on my wedding day with no-one but my dad. And I love my dad but seriously, having no female companionship when you have to get ready for the biggest day of your life is not a good start...there's the make-up, the dress, the under-the-dress, the jewellery, the HAIR, the nails, the everything that is attached to the body that needs some sort of glossing over. So there was my dad, and I had woken up an hour before the ceremony began. There was very limited time to get myself ready and so it began....the panic in my voice "where is my underwear? the lingerie I bought the other week?! Where is it? Oh I need a shower first. Dad find my underwear, where is it?".......Now, asking your dad where the lingerie you bought especially for the *cough* wedding night has gone is not entirely appropriate....you would think.....but you know, in dreams, anything goes!

Perhaps it sounds like a funny dream, one you wake up from and think, ohhh, that's not going to happen, ha ha ha........ HA. ummm. Well no. The dream kept going on for hours...well yeah, the whole night really. But everything that happened just delayed me from getting to the church on time and after eventually finding my underwear I realise I need to shave my legs! -back in the shower. Apparently I didn't realise the first time round in the shower..... not a reflection of reality- seriously. My maid of honour turns up in the dream and this just proves how everything twisted around in my dream was......she didn't help me get ready, she was....faffing around, and then she fell out with me, slamming doors. Great, I thought. My maid of honour isn't getting me to the church on time, my dad is lingering, doing....I don't know what he was doing. Then I realised I was already five minutes late for the ceremony....my fiancé was waiting for me at the alter and I wasn't even on my way there.

Make-up. Grab mascara, grab blusher, grab anything that's....ooooohh, nail varnish! Put them in an asda bag with a huge hole in it....nope, find another bag. I shout at everyone....my brothers now arrive and they all sit upright on sofas twiddling their thumbs. "We have to go!" I scream in frustration as I am the only one who sees the sense of urgency. No-one moves. I scream again. An hour has gone by by then. One whole hour. So I've known brides to be 20 minutes late at max but not an hour.

Everyone begins to move outside to the car and then out of the blue comes a life long family friend who I haven't seen for years. We are suddenly in Bath and I cry to her about how everything is going wrong and we're late and then I realise that my bra isn't strapless so you can see the bright jade straps. This friend says, "Oh come on love, let's go to the vintage shop." I agree....for some reason.....a vintage bra?

She flips through newspapers in the shop...not clothes, newspapers and I shout again at how I am late but she just says, "have a cup of tea with me".

"I can't drink tea! I am late for my own wedding, does no-one care?!"

I finally get to the church after remembering my shoes...oh yes, I needed shoes to walk outside- ha, these things slip your mind. I stand at the top of the aisle and I don't see my fiancé anywhere.

Oh fab.

The Last One

The last and most cherished part of the bridesmaid process has come and with all the lovely dresses in my hands I can happily say that this chapter of the wedding planning is over. The bridesmaids each have a dress for the wedding and I have my dress for the wedding...surely it's downhill from here....

What to do when it's all over....

I've got my grips on four of the bridesmaid dresses! One more to go. They fit the girls perfectly and they look even more beautiful than I remembered - a happy ending after all.....well, until the last one arrives. Now the fabulous dresses that have caused me damaging distress can almost be ruled out of the equation. And onto the accessories - the fun part!

It's funny planning a wedding. There's all the hype and the big books and the scatty running about places to pick up truck loads of brochures....and then it stops. The wedding comes, and of course that is the best part of the planning, to actually see it all pulled together (I hope!).......but then there's marriage.....and this is obviously the best part *cough* *cough*. I am one of those people that loves to plan, loves the drama of things going wrong and then fixing them and feeling like I've achieved something - to me that seemed - impossible. After the wedding preparations, what will I do I wonder? Maybe make a scrapbook of 'how to be married'. Or even a scrapbook of 'what it used to be like when I had freedom and when I was partying and......' No, really I'm joking...really. Ohh but there are things to plan........ the thank you cards! Setting up our beautiful home.....or stingy flat.....but making it as beautiful as it can be...... and planning my friends' weddings - I WILL make scrapbooks for all their weddings...whether they like it or not. Or until they burn the scrapbooks to make a point and then I will probably take note...and leave. Hmmm........scrapbooking post-marriage. Oh, my fiancé really doesn't know what he's letting himself in for. :)

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The bane of my life

My alarm went off this morning - I did not get up. Two hours later I woke up to find that I needed to jump out of bed pronto and get a move on to the the current bane of my life - Debenhams. The size 6 was cancelled yesterday due to no stock and there was still unfortunately no stuck available this morning so I managed to get my hands on a size 8 which was fab. I thought on the never ending journey to Debenhams as the rain poured down this morning, if they don't have a size 8, I will possibly kill myself.......however yet again that is a lie, as I would just result to drinking way too much coffee instead. Drug myself up with caffeine. Always works a charm. But thankfully I haven't yet had to resort to that as I have the dress ordered, and if there is one more glitch in this process, I will probably drown myself in coffee.

Where is the light at the end?

You would have thought after ordering a big batch of dresses from Debenhams that they would arrive swimmingly in perfect condition. Well, I still have no clue about what kind of condition they come in, as the order has been faulted about three times already! I would say it's ridiculous and stressful but I am getting to the point of not caring........however that is a lie, because I do care very much. Problems with my bank, the assistant forgetting to ask for essential details of mine, and unfortunate realisations that the only size 6 dress is out of stock entirely from their large stock room.. have all contributed in this entire mess. But fear not, I tell myself, as thankfully there is a Debenhams in Bath which has recently arrived - thank goodness - so at least I can race there and beg them to untangle this mess that has appeared from nowhere. I almost have 4 of the bridesmaids dresses....I need one more. Let there be light at the end of the tunnel.

The bells are a'ringing

It's been a while since I posted anything, but it was time for a bit of a make over and the day dreaming had to be put on pause for a while because sometimes...not often, I need to be in the real world, instead of gazing out the window wondering about life's mystery's. I'm getting married next July, so I'm going to do a bit of blogging about all the preparations - which is one of the reasons I haven't got round to blogging, but now I'll just intertwine it all.

The venue's are sorted, my dress is fabulously sorted (which took me long enough!), the date is set, the music and entertainment is almost wrapped up and just the other day I ordered the bridesmaid dresses - one very stressful part. You'd have thought they wouldn't be, as it is known for the bride to pick out a monstrosity of a dress in lemon meringue or that devilish shade of peach with over large shoulder ruffles. But I don't really understand that, surely the bride wants her wedding day photos to be nice. I know I do! So after changing my mind over and over again and starting to stress out my lovely amazing maid of honour, I went back to the original place to get them - where, conveniently my gift list is held (everyone likes a good 10% off dresses). The theme is Cadbury purple and ivory and anyone who knows me will know that chocolate just had to get involved somewhere. I've found the honeymoon destination in the gorgeous Greece which is slightly expensive, but do-able my fiance says (I've picked a good one!) so it's down to booking that and also getting all the invitations made (by my family and friends- not me - that would be the worst idea) and sent!

For now, that's the furthest I've got, and it's been so fun planning it......sad you may think, but I have indeed made a giant scrapbook full of everything wedding-y and an enormous wedding planner that I've probably had a flick through once! The journey to the wedding started off slow and steady, with slight hic-ups, but right now, it is starting to speed up and my mind is buzzing everyday with ideas and thoughts, which I'm going to journal on here.

Any wedding ideas, wedding struggles, wedding jokes, wedding moments - journal them here too! Would be fun!

Easter eggs

So, the beautiful Easter is gradually catching us up, with Thorntons and Asda bulging with hungry crowds and children screaming for chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies. But why is chocolate so strongly associated with Easter...how did chocolate become the theme of this Christian celebration?

Well, the symbolism of eggs and bunny rabbits I assume represent new life and reflect the real meaning of Easter which is resurrection and new life through Jesus Christ. The rolling eggs symbolises the stone that was rolled away from Jesus' tomb. Chocolate is just the commercialism and the money grabbing object...but it's not so bad. Chocolate is just the champagne that we crack open on the day, it's where we celebrate Jesus' resurrection with chocolate!

So...let's party and celebrate!

The Marmite cereal bar...

On a very unusual day, where public transport didn't seem to get on with me and stopped me from getting where I wanted to go, a Marmite cereal bar salesman approached me with a hopeful grin. He was gripping a bunch of cereal bars...Marmite cereal bars! I was so bewildered and starving that I agreed to whatever he asked me. As long as I got some food down me, I didn't mind what I did. After filling out what seemed like an endless form and signing it, I thought I could go and get myself a cup of coffee to end the non-eventful day, but he directed me into a photo booth. They expected me to take a bite out of the bar and on a screen where my face would appear, the camera would catch my expression as to whether I loved it or hated it. Surely enough I sat on the unstable stool, wondering to myself why I on earth I agreed to all of this and after "1...2...3...Marmite!" there was a snapshot of my expression that read, why am I here??

The bar was neither to be loved nor hated. It was interesting and I was hungry, I was given four more bars to occupy my rumbling stomach and the taste grew on me. But, it has much more work to do if it expects me to love it. I don't know whether this bar has that love/hate relationship. It's an inbetweener.

A strip of pain

Purederm Deep cleansing nose strips are a form of torture that has been dipped into a bowl full of another form of torture. It’s as if a troubled man, with no knowledge of how to slowly peel off the strip got a knife and started to shred your nose little bit by bit. The pain is ridiculous and right at this moment I have not yet made my mind up as to whether it was worth it. I feel as though my nose is going to bleed any moment now and I am holding a tissue where the blood could possibly drip. I’ve done waxing, I’ve sat and stared at chocolate that I couldn’t touch, I’ve left a shop where the sale items are as cheap as Primark and as good quality as Jack Wills, but this has by far been the most painful experience. Whoever says that labour is the world’s most painful experience has obviously never bought deep cleansing nose strips. If your blackheads are thousands of bullets shot into your nose that reoccur every day and can be seen by the blind, then buy them. But, if you have speckled black dots that you could join up, but that aren’t tormenting you, give it a miss and simply exfoliate.

Glorious, glorious, rain

The delightful rain picked up today, it came pouring down like a flood from the heavens, drowning every dry nook and cranny. I was out among the shops...picking up a few sale items that would have been left all on their own if I hadn't picked them up and gave them a good home...when I bounced out into the downfall. Normally, I guess you would think Oh no and for a few minutes I did...but then I found refuge under a shelter and smiled at how refreshing the outdoors was. The high street was thinning out, people were running, and it was quite entertaining to watch how almost a stampede collected in the centre. I just stood and watched the world go by, wondering why people were out in the town, where they were heading next and whether they too found the most amazing sale in Republic.

The air speaks of Spring

As I walked out of my house today the air was dry and outside appeared very different. The sweet smell of freshly cut grass spiralled around in the air and everywhere was very quiet. The sun was in hiding, but there were not really any clouds; there was no rain either. It felt ghostly, but friendly at the same time and even though everywhere seemed dead, it felt alive. Spring has definitely clung onto us now and is tightening its grip around us. I don't think any more snow will be chasing us now.

It's raining cats and dogs!

Someone said to me today, '...oh it's just one of those things...', after a pause for thought, the question crept up on me, 'one of what things?'

We use these phrases in every day language, because we've learnt them...but have we ever really questioned them?

'It's raining cats and dogs' - Apparently, in tornado's, the debris that gets sucked up and spun around wildly, including cats and dogs, fires right back down onto land when the tornado dies down. Therefore, as the cats and dogs seem to be falling from the sky, it looks as though it is raining cats and dogs!

What is real beauty?

The sunshine has been beating down amongst the breezy wind, painting smiles on people's faces and a summer glow beams all around. For the first time in a while I went for a casual walk in the country side with only a t-shirt on....obviously I was carrying my coat...just incase, but the beauty that shone out to me was magnificent. The green velvety hills were lush, the brook was glittering and the tree's looked alive. It was gorgeous, and it was real beauty.

I wondered about all of the things that people would call 'beautiful'. Celebrities, fashion, diamonds, all of those material possessions are seen as beautiful and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think they were either. But, the natural things that are free....grass, trees, water, sunshine, mountains, flowers....they really do perk you up, they make me grin exactly like the Cheshire cat!...I have to remind myself most of the time that I really do look silly and I'm on my own so I just look mad.

I found out that the word 'beauty' from Latin, means 'to be happy' and just from that I can see how nature really does mean beauty because nature is a mood changer. Do you notice how when it rains you may feel a bit down? (I, on the contrary love the rain, but it still changes my mood-just to a more positive one) When the clouds clothe us in a robe of boredom and depression, that is fairly noticeable, isn't it? The snow just gets everybody excited and pushes us right back to our playful childhood...if it doesn't, something is wrong.

Beauty is out there in the world we live in, it means something deeper than what's just on the surface and it is a free gift to us. So, let's notice the real beauty of this world and just enjoy it!

Marrying...a ship.

Ok, so I've heard that humans can marry their pets because most humans are attracted to their pets more than any human in their lives. That took me a few months to get over...but I learnt to deal with the fact that it was something that people who actually live on the same earth as me choose to do. However, from the widely read magazine, Closer, there was an article that sent me into an even deeper state of shock, I felt completely drowned by bewilderment. Apparently, a human being has married a ship. This person suffers from 'objectum sexuality', but even this hasn't made me think 'Ohhhh! It's fine then'. No, having sex with a ship, having a relationship with a ship is very beyond what I would consider as normal...maybe that is wrong...maybe people do accept marriages in this context and I am living in a cave, sheltered from reality. I just don't know.

The brilliance of phatic communication

Today I laughed to myself at the phatic communication that we use so often; where you see someone in your gaze that you know but that you don't know well enough to get into a big conversation, and so the few words that blur into one are spoken.

A: Hi you all right?

B: Yeah thanks, are you?

A: Yeah.....

That's the end of your meeting, and it's rare to even answer back to 'are you?'....after the 'Hi you all right?' part, that's usually that and the gaze is broken and you carry on walking away. Like myself, maybe you think to yourself, was she/he really asking me how I was or not? and think whoops! for walking away to quickly.

The phrase, 'Hi, you all right?' has now blurred into one greeting and has lost the questioning tone to it. The meaning of asking how people are I think has weakened, because I have noticed that whenever somebody asks me how I am and really means it, their tone is direct and deepens and this changes to when it's just small talk.

Another big one for phatic communication is weather! Every time I have small talk with someone, the weather comes up no matter what.

'It's freezing today...isn't it colder than yesterday?'

'I can't believe it's raining, I didn't even think to bring my umbrella.'

'How nice is this sunshine! Although, I doubt it will last.'

The thing that really tickles me is that I talk about the weather with everyone, no matter how close I am with them, and I can't help myself. It seems to be an automatic conversation that has to be used at least once in a day. British weather is fun, it changes all the time and it gives us something to talk about when we're in a hole and can't dig ourselves out.

Phatic communication has won me over!

The colours of traffic lights

I was cruising along on the bus this afternoon, staring at the many road signs and obstacles that passed by when I found myself hooked onto the traffic lights. I wondered to myself- as I do so often - why traffic lights feature the specific colours: Red, Amber and Green. We all know what they mean, red for 'stop', amber for 'get set' and green for 'go'. But have we had too much time to think about it and question, why these colours have these meanings? It may seem obvious for the colour red as it connotes danger, and perhaps even the end of a life, it is something where you would simply 'stop' because there is danger. However, I gave the colour amber more thought, because i couldn't understand what image/message it conveys. I was given the question about what colour is amber... is it orange or yellow? This twigged off more brain energy...the bit that I had left...amber hasn't made up its mind as to whether it's orange or yellow and so it is neither 'stop' nor 'go' but something in between. Finally, the colour green links to nutrition, health and growth and therefore this promotes the idea of the start of something, leading on to the word 'go'.

This is what I have decided makes up the colours for traffic lights, whether it's right or wrong, maybe another day I will find out.

Funny Bone... it just isn't funny!

I was sitting in my seminar the other day twiddling my thumbs, wondering when I could gallop back home for a cup of coffee that I regrettably missed that morning when the person sitting next to me clumsily hit her funny bone. Through her unmistakable look of pain plastered on her face, she cried, 'why is it called you funny bone? It's just not funny!' That put my brain into work mode, wondering why is it called the funny bone. From that moment on, my mind was completely elsewhere, coffee actually skipped a chapter behind this one - for once.

I went and did some research on this as I couldn't rest...or work...until I found out. Apparently...

It has been said that 'funny bone' may be a pun on the medical name of the bone on the upper arm, called the 'humerus'. If coffee hasn't been in your system today, I will go on. As 'humerus' sounds a bit like 'humorous', there is a link with the word 'funny'! Makes a lot of sense I suppose.

Another source has disagreed because the meaning of 'funny' also extends to 'strange' and not just 'humorous', therefore, that strange sensation reflects on the name, 'funny bone'. This also is plausible, but if this was the real explanation, why then wasn't it called the 'strange bone'?

One last source told me that when you hit your funny bone, you must laugh so that the pain and uncomfortable tingle that travels through your arm is more or so washed away because the laughing takes your mind off it. I don't think I can comment on this. Maybe laughing does help take away the pain...for maybe a second... but as for that being the reason why it's called a funny bone, I disagree quite monumentally.

However, opinions are opinions. I personally would go for the first explanation, but obviously others would seem to disagree with me. If there are any more reasons for the label of 'funny bone', I would love to hear them, especially one even more extravagant than the last one I found!

Life of a day dreamer

I find myself sat amongst a crowd of people, whether in a lecture, a tea room, Starbucks or on a bus, and thoughts that could really not be categorised into any topic ramble through my mind. Thoughts that have no relevance to the present but that pop up in a random fashion or that are sparked off by a nearby conversation - not that I eavesdrop - but sometimes it has to be done! Questions, statements that I turn into questions and words that I mull over appear in a flash and use up most of the space that I have in my brain. I decided to write a blog about all those things that everyone secretly thinks about but never talks much about, things that stretch your attention away from those important daily rituals. My thoughts consist of so many different and obscure things but that I'm hoping...others think about too...or at least who visit the thoughts for a second. This will be my account of the life of a day dreamer...in my shoes and in others who roam around me who talk just a little bit too loud - it's as if they want me to over hear their conversation!