Get Dexter to sniff each of the boxes maybe? See if any of them interest him and look more closely.

lmao, I never thought of that, do I have to pay extra at customs for dead mice? Will they class them as illegal immigrants? I don't have a visa for mice

Thats an idea, I have barred him from the room as he keeps sniffing the corner I found it in. I didn't want him picking up any bugs the mouse might of been carrying.

Alex and I are terrified of spiders!

I'm not sure what we'll do. I've always lived in a household where someone else was able to deal with the spiders. When I say I am terrified, I really mean it. I was once stranded in the bathroom wearing only a towel because there was a spider on the landing outside my bedroom and I didn't have access to the vacuum cleaner. I had to call a co-worker out to try and catch it and I was an hour late to work.

I hope we have friendly, spider-liking neighbours...

Also: Hello, Charles!

Oh dear - well luckily Jeremy killed the recluse but it was really creepy knowing it had been sharing our house for the past two months or so... *shudders*

Okay, not sure how effective this actually is but I've been reading up about how to keep bugs and creepy crawlies out of the house as much as possible and apparently spiders do not like the taste of lemon. So if you buy those lemon-fresh dusting clothes to dust round windows and doors it's supposed to put them off because they can taste it with their legs. I figured it was worth doing just in case it works!

I also read that ridding your home of cardboard (I prefer plastic boxes anyway since they keep things dry) and vacuuming regularly (including inside closets) also really helps.

I will take any tips I can!

Lemon-fresh sounds fine to me. I'm pretty neat and orderly anyway and there are usually lemon-scented wipes sitting on my desk that I use to keep my office clean. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a spider in the office for a while...

Haha - ok - will defo be using wedding money to buy a vacuum!!

For sure - I already told Mark we need a new vacuum cleaner for when I'm there; sadly housework is not one of his strong points although he is rather good at getting rid of spiders and other nasty things when I point them out!

One of the things I do to pass the time is make a list of all the things we need to get. This is what I've listed so far:

Vacuum cleaner with attachments
Kitchen Bin (with a tight lid to deter roaches, etc.)
Cutlery (new stuff that matches)
Tupperware (again, to deter bugs)
Crockery (matching, dishwasher safe)
Drinking Glasses and Mugs (matching, or at least themed)
Bath and Hand Towels (white)
Bath Mat (x2 washable)
Selection of pretty Cushions (for the ugly but comfortable couch)
Linen and Blankets
Tablecloth
Place mats and Coasters
Cookie Jar
Tea towels
Muffin trays

Obviously not all of these things need to be purchased immediately, but I like having a list all the same.

A list is good!

Alex and I will be starting with nothing. Well, not quite nothing. We will have two computers, a HDTV, three gaming consoles, 4 handheld systems, and about 600 books, 300 DVDs and 300 games. You can see where our (his) priorities lie!

So, just furniture, appliances and kitchenware that we'll be needing, then! Oh, and a place to live

Mm, I'm going to look forward to buying the kinds of things mentioned on your list, Hannah. I've always dreamed of having things like a linen cupboard and a decent set of cutlery.

Well I'm pretty lucky because Mark has already got a lot of the basics - none of it new or particularly to my taste, but it will do just fine with a little bit of softening. I'm not taking much with me apart from things of sentimental value plus clothes, although I already left almost my entire summer wardrobe packed in a suitcase at his parents place.

I'm a fantastic thrifty shopper, so I'm pretty confident that I can get what we need by hunting through sales, etc. and once I'm working we'll be able to start saving money for various things.

What about wedding registries? My friends and I feel they're a little vulgar, but Alex's mother recommends we make one as his family will be 'expecting it'. I'm not convinced, but at the same time if guests could purchase a few essentials it'd be a huge help.

Mmm, I feel totally awkward about that because we're not having a big wedding - just a low-key ceremony at their local church and a tea and cake sort of situation at his parents place afterwards. There just won't be time to organise anything else and to be honest I prefer it being simple and minimal fuss. My family are just going to give me a little money to help tide us over since it would be silly to have to pay to ship out gifts that I can buy for less there anyway.

Mark has suggested we have a list of gifts just in case anyone asks us because, as you say, it would be a help.

I just don't want to look like we're expecting anything.

I know how you feel about that - I love making lists and I have had so many people asking us or my mum what we want - I am saying Amazon.com vouchers cause you can buy practically ANYTHING on there - and if people want to buy a specific gift then they also do wedding registries as well - means people can see what they buy you then it can be shipped to your US address

We used Amazon.com. Most people chose stuff off our list, but a couple (including the company where I worked) went for gift certificates. It was just easier for us as it meant no shipping of delicate items overseas and no appliances that couldn't be used in America.

I think we discussed the whole wedding list thing last year ad nauseam in this forum, and sure, some people find it tacky or vulgar. But it is not uncommon in the States to have one, and personally, as a guest I've found them useful as I don't need to think about what to buy. I've encountered them more often than not in the UK too -- strangely, every time at John Lewis! Anyway, no one is beholden to buy stuff off your list, or indeed to buy you anything at all.

If you want one, fine, and if other people have a problem with it, it's their problem. If you don't want one, that's cool too. Personally, I was happy to know I'd be getting what was to my taste. That didn't stop someone from buying us a supremely ugly candy dish shaped like a gigantic metal peapod though!

Haha - I've seen a lot of John Lewis registries, too.

Sorry, I should have realised that it's been discussed on these forums before! I appreciate everyone's feedback, though. I think I'll probably end up making a registry or a list, but only giving it to people when they ask for it.

Weddings are tricky things! I have my parents, Alex's mother and my friends all giving me advice and instructions and I'm just trying to reach a compromise with everyone involved.

I'm going over with around £9K and not much else. We do however through a friend of Nick's family have an appartment to live in rent free and although it is furnished we can gradually fill it with our stuff and aquire things we will need when we do get our own place. My parents have talked us into living in the appartment until mid 2009 then they have a couple of policies due to pay out and we will get around £15K then to maybe start hunting for our own place. We are very much starting at the bottom but at least we starting with something. I know it could be worse.

Doesn't sound like to bad of a deal to me! Good luck!

We are pretty lucky in our situation as well. Chris and I live in a house that my dad owns. We pay a very very minimum rent and I do all the paper work for their investment properties.

Our long term plan is to purchase my grandmothers house when she no longer needs it. So as long as we are patient we will have a fantastic house.
It also works for us because we have a few holiday rental cabins which Chris' mum and dad stay in for free when they visit.

Haha - I wish I was starting at the bottom if it would be like you I am taking over about £1k to start then maybe another £3k but that will be to use for a mortgage. Jeremy has no savings. We have nowhere to live... So we'll be starting underneath you Debz!! I would *love* to know that we had somewhere to live for my peace of mind but... I guess that will come in time - in the meantime I get to panic over my medical and things

It's okay Jeraly - I'm in the same boat as you No savings here, and we'll be living with Alex's parents for a (hopefully short) while!

Hehe - well I point blank refuse to live with Jeremy's aunt - she is a very sweet, lovely lady but has no idea about cleaning and/or hygiene so the place is filthy - messy I could (kinda) cope with but dirty is another thing altogether - she will think nothing of feeding the dogs/cats right off the mattress *puke*

Same here, unless things drag on terribly and Mark's office move occurs with no sign of when I'll be joining him, Mark will stay with his family until we get married... so I'll be there to start with too. But hopefully we'll have a place set up to move to quite soon afterwards - all depends on the timing of the NOA2 receipt really *shrugs helplessly*. Difficult to plan things out properly at this stage.

Thankfully Mark's parents are very clean, so it would be okay for a short while, although the way things are moving at CSC I suspect he's going to have to move without me anyway.

Not too worried about the lack of money angle since I've learned valuable budgeting lessons from my Mum and already worked out how we can manage on Mark's wage until I can find work... just means no reckless splurging or extras.

Yeah - I know we'll get by - I'm hoping to do voluntary work and maybe do some babysitting or something to bring in a little bit of spending money for myself purely so I don't feel like I am sponging off of Jeremy all the time

Ok - I have to write my vows and I don't even know where to start... any ideas people?!?!

nope...sorry Aly. I'm trying to work on mine too!!!! it's hard, I thought it'd be really easy.

I'm thinking of having this as a reading... thought it might help give you some ideas:

I Promise
Dorothy R. Colgan

I promise to give you the best of myself
and to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own person
and to realise that your interests, desires and needs
are no less important than my own.

I promise to share with you my time and my attention
and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you,
to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears
and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you,
to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and in bad,
with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how.
Completely and forever.

I live in my own apartment, and Darren will just be moving in when he comes over...but we're going to have to get a bigger apt. for all his computer equipment...

I can't believe it's only Tuesday *sighs* I think this is going to be another week where I keep feeling like it should be Friday and hating the fact that I have to get out of bed. I'm convinced that my body wants to hibernate through January! Oh well.

Haha - know the feeling - still doing two people's jobs at work so run off my feet... sneaking on now for a bit...

That poem is beautiful

@Debz - we've agreed on the start and end of the vows so they sound kinda like they fit together but we are writing our own middle bits. Jeremy is goign to memorise his - I told him I am no waygoing to do that!! I'll post what I have when I write more on them

g'morning all

Morning (afternoon) Charles!

Good morning/afternoon everyone. I've been gone for a bit whilst visiting with my sister and her husband. She brought so many goodies that it was just like Christmas when I was a kid. We dropped them back at the airport on Sunday (for their cruise) and then we'll drive down to Lauderdale to pick them up next Saturday for another visit before they head back home.

Hurrah!

I wish I could encapsulate the magic of Christmas that I felt as a kid.

Family visits are great! As much as I adore my family I wouldn't want to actually live with any of them again, but I love it when they come to stay for a short while

No, I definitely don't want to live with any of them again. It's hard enough adjusting to a husband.

Okay, have just been trying on some pretty underwear over lunchtime (bought a new white bra and a chemise) but had to endure sight of lumpy fat body in the changing room mirror. As I am already restricting my food intake I was wondering if anyone knew of any good thigh / stomach exercises that I could do at home that would actually make a difference in the space of only three weeks? (Or should I just plan to leave the lights off *groans* )

oh I'd love to hear any ideas too. I'm just doing loads of crunches every evening.

I know that I'm going to have to get used to doing all the housework and chores; things are split pretty evenly between my housemate and me right now, but even when Alex actually tries his standards don't quite match my own! I should be fine, though; I get a huge sense of satisfaction from cleaning, so in a strange way I really enjoy it.

As for my family...I'm the eldest of six and what with hairy pets and boisterous brothers and underwear-stealing sisters life growing up was a little hectic to say the least. Thankfully once I reached my teens I no longer had to share a bedroom so I managed to retain my sanity.

Thigh/stomach exercises? I don't really have any advice for exercises to do at home, sorry! I go to the gym and lift weights for those areas. Squats are probably a good bet. I'm trying to find a good article on t-nation that I lost the link to.

I use and exercise ball and I love it!
I do all sorts of things with it and you can find most of the exercises online!
Good luck!

i want to get zumba dvds and try them with my sister...i just don't feel like shelling out all that $$...we have a few exercise dvds and we tend to do them together a few nights a week...makes it more fun to curse out the thin woman on the tv together! we were losing weight before the holidays and now it's time to get back on track!

I'm just so lazy... I used to do 200 crunches a day and started getting a washboard stomach, got grossed out, stopped and it all turned flabby... never got back to the washboard but swear if I do I won't be so grossed out next time!!

oops,,sorry ladies, I must of taken a wrong turn at the UK !!!ermmmmm,,I was looking for the forum search,,, but, heck, once I got in here, thought it wouldn't hurt to take a peek around,and OMG. I'll just leave now, sorry (takes one last look)

g'day all

Hola *peers at the computer screen sleepily*

I just can't seem to wake up properly lately - spend the whole day feeling like I need a nap despite having had 7.5 hours sleep of a night. I hate January.

Hey, everyone's welcome, here! Don't feel like you have to go!

I hate January too. It's so much nicer to be able to wake up to some sunshine.

Good afternoon everybody. Last night I made a fish pie for some friends and despite washing my hands about twenty times I can't seem to get the smell off!

Try rubbing your hands with a sliced green pepper or lemon juice or, if you have some of that bio handwash gel that ought to do it.

*yawns for the umpteenth time* I think I'm going to try going to bed at 22:30 tonight to see if it helps!

Good morning/afternoon everyone. Yes, do try the fresh lemon to get the smell off your hands. (Hadn't heard of green pepper, though. Interesting.) If you don't have any lemons, try rubbing your fingers in some pocket change. That works too.

yep...January is a bit of a crappy month. It's long because payday early in December. It's dull, cold and like the almighty hangover from the party season.

I really need to stop being so lazy and do more exercise.

My problem just now is that I'm so stressed with everything all I want to do is mope around. I just want my interview over with so then at least I know what happening either way. I'm still betting my money on declined though.

I don't mind January - I must say it depends on the weather though

And gross about the fish - hate nasty smells you can't get rid of... wonder if tomato juice works? It's supposed to work on skunk smell so...?

Debz - YOU'LL BE FINE!!! Stop being so pessimistic cause it will only make you feel worse and won't achieve anything *hugs* I'd take you somewhere and get your mind off it if you didn't live so damn far away

I figure everyone probably feels like that when approaching the interview Debz... probably a subconscious way of preparing yourself to cope with bad news just in case the extremely unlikely should come to pass. You'll be fine I'm sure, and soon be in a position to reassure others who get the pre-interview jitters!

Tomato juice... hmm, I shall have to try that out to see if it works. Not sure if green pepper works on fish but I do know that it works to get rid of the smell of onion on my hands.

Lemon! Or rub your hands on aluminum under running water.

Hmm! I shall have to try lemon. But it probably wouldn't be of use right now as I'm eating the leftover pie Why do some of the best foods for you have to smell so? (Fish, garlic, asparagus...)