What is the sentence. Maybe I can help you. I write alot of poems and such....

I am off to the library with my daughters to spend a few hours looking for some books and then I am going to take them shopping to spend their Christmas gift certificates but will be back around 4:00 my time.

Back later...

Hehe - you can have a look at my vows as they currently stand in the new comfy July room I think I have the content - it is just tweaking the wording now I think

still not started mine. Don't want to as in my funny wee way I feel it will jinx my visa.

wedding plans seem a long way off for me...we kinda decided to do something small...if it's in the fall outside somewhere...and then when we get things organized maybe have something a bit more formal...

on another note my I-129 arrived at VSC a bit ago! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! 12:02pm signed by P Novak! i'm a bit happy...in case you didn't notice

Gratzies!!! This P Novak sure seems to get around a lot

g'day all

well in reality it's just thinking about them in the first place that's the problem. we've had two visa processes going at the same time. One for him to be here and one for me to go there. for the UK one they had our passports for months, so I ended up going to godforsaken Croydon 3 times to pick them up for travelling. i know it's unrelated to the US application but it made me very tired of immigration stuff. All the above being true, i'm justifying my laziness because we don't plan to move until july or august, so it's actually to draw it out a bit. Or at least that's what i'm telling myself

I just checked USPS and P. Novak signed mine as well...busy person...

Hahaha I can't remember who signed for mine... At the embassy it was... Koko

Oh god, not Lunar House? My sympathies. I remember waiting in line at 6am waiting to get my ILR stamp moved to a new passport, in the freezing February pre-dawn. Croydon ALWAYS means Lunar House to me now!

good morning uk'ers

Evening!

Oh yeah, it's tea time in the UK!

Tea and crumpets

WAIT! Do they have crumpets in the US? I never thought of that!

Not where I am (middle of nowhere Mid West). They may have them in other parts though.

Yes - I have seen them... sometimes they are packaged as "English Muffins" LMAO

If they call crumpets English muffins, what do they call English muffins?

Oh if you see those they are called English muffins as well - just that different manufacturers don't seem to really have much of a clue!!

English Muffins are called English Muffins here, never seen any crumpets, packaged that way or otherwise.

Really!? Maybe it's just the crazy Californians then... or did I see them in Oregon? It might have been Oregon actually - I remember Jeremy pointing them out and asking if they looked like real English muffins and I laughed and told him no

My local food shop carries crumpets. I just bought a package, they are called Duffey's Crumpets. Theres a Union Jack on the label and all lol

i've found crumpets here in nyc imported from Canada once but havent seen them since so i tried making my own, quite easy to make actually!

nothing better than tea and strumpets

Trader Joe's carries proper crumpets.

Oooh - how can you make them?! I sense a recipe is in order

Heheheh

I love Trader Joe's! It was a proper shopping experience. I loved the Victorian-style packaging and I'm a sucker for organic/free-range food anyway.



Here's a recipe!

Yup, the very place. The first time i went there i used my oyster in London bridge, and there's no oyster to get out. The ticket guy was going to fine me £20 , then his supervisor (an Indian guy) came over, and asked what the commotion was about. I made a very sad face, and told them i had no idea that croydon didn't have an oyster thingy, i'd never been there, and I was only there to go to Lunar house for immigration reasons. The guy took such pity on me they let me off!!

What did you do in Telly Maven?? Very interested as I had a short spell in TV land myself

Just to add, I also loooove Trader Joes, can't wait to have a wholefoods or TJ's as my local Supermarket. Anyone know what their cheese selection is like?

When my OH came to the UK first he looked at some of the packaging in the shop and said 'oh is that the welfare food?' It was the pared down packaging that the organic/otherwise-worthy-food comes in. When his mom came to visit he had to explain to his mom that we weren't on food stamps - it's how the good food looks!!!

Haha - I saw imported cheddar from Bristol!! It was soooo expensive compared to here - and it was orange - boo!! I have a pic at home - someone remind me and I will post it when I get back

I didn't look very hard at the selection of cheeses while I was over there, but I did buy a block of cheddar for my lasagne and it tasted like normal cheddar to me! Then again I'm not very well versed on cheeses; they give me terrible indigestion so I largely ignore them. Sad, I know.

The food is definitely the most important part, but it's amazing what an effect good packaging can have on even those of us who know all about marketing techniques! Then again, maybe I'm so enamoured with the packaging because I've done design courses.

I was so tempted to buy a big, clingfilm-wrapped slab of chocolate at Trader Joe's, but they were pretty expensive! I went for one of the more fancily-wrapped bars in the end.

Haha - yeah I love my cheese and you just don't get the variety and quality with American cheeses - they all seem to be rubbery and over-processed...

Still trying to curb this freaking out... Feel like the next three/four days is a lifetime!!! Hate it, hate it, hate it!! *stamps feet*

*sighs mournfully* Mark sooooo doesn't understand about the cheese issue - and I love british cheeses! Did manage to get some (very expensive) from the Brit Shop there and he tried it and just said it was nice and kind of shrugged.

You must be in a dither of both excitement and worry Aly! I'm bad enough just knowing Mark will be here next week... I'm sure everything will work out fine for you!

Yeah - Jeremy fortunately never realised why I went on about cheese so much. Then he came here and tried real cheese He takes about £20 worth home with him each time he visits now!! Heheh

And yeah - I am a mess... not so bad as debz though - she leaves tonight at 7pm to go to London tomorrow... I think some of my ansiness might be passive nerves from her!!!

Yeah, it'll be great to see a big fat APPROVED next to her name!

Indeed! I know she will be fine but I also know that I will be just the same as her when it is my turn... It is easy to see how other people will be fine you you freak out yourself

Right now I'm living vicariously through you guys...I am so excited for you, and wishing nothing but the best news!!!

Aly, thanks again for sending me that info...it's great to have something concrete in front of me...anytime you want to come to Orlando and need crash space, let me know!!!

Dawn

Haha - yeah will defo have to do that!!! Went to FL when I was 12 in 1994 and did all the theme parks etc - would love to go back now I am a bit older although am thinking road trip down to the keys and the everglades would be cool as was too young to appreciate it last time!! Will have to pop in for a coffee or something on the way!! Hehe

It is nice to have something concrete. I know that we laughed so much when we realised that we were talking to a wedding planner but they were the first people we spoke to and we just knew it was the right thing to do - we went for it! The first venue for the ceremony and the reception were both perfect as well - like it was meant to be

You and debz will both be fine, Jeraly!

I'm certainly looking forward to having something concrete...

Alex and his parents are still insisting that we can have the ceremony/reception at their house, which I personally don't mind, but I'm concerned that my relatives might. After all, they'd be taking a lot of time and money to travel over for what would essentially be a house party

good monday morning uk

Morning Charles

Yeah Rachel - I know where you are coming from You can always opt for an outdoor wedding - I know that we are not having to pay a site fee because we are getting married outdoors and it is beautiful Just have to hope it doesn't rain!!!

Are you having the reception outdoors, too?

Outdoor weddings are fun, though! My friends have actually advised me to have one as 'that's half the fun of getting married in America!'

Hmm, it's certainly something to consider...

Reception is at Heartline Cafe, Sedona, AZ if you want to google it - it is really pretty and cute and just fits what we wanted perfectly. We're not paying a site fee there either - we are getting married on a Monday (NEXT MONDAY!!!!) so I think that has helped with some of the costs/availability as it isn't a common day to get married

I worked for the company that made Changing Rooms, Ground Force, etc. and of course (how could I forget?) Big Brother. I was the assistant to the Chief Exec, and it gave me a fascinating insight into just how crazy people can become when they work in that sort of environment. I will never forget the morning I went into work after the Changing Rooms episode where the woman went into her "improved" room (where they had hung pictures of her and her husband as Nell Gwynne and Samuel Pepys!) and she was just bawling, she had hated it so much. It was all over the front page of the Sun about how the show had ruined her home and how cr*p the execution of the DIY had been as well, beyond just being ugly.

I went in expecting crisis, and everyone senior was just laughing, saying any publicity was good publicity, and she was just a whinger who had had her 15 minutes. I was totally appalled. Bear in mind that this was 1998, and reality TV as we now know it was really in its infancy, so participants weren't expecting to be made laughing stocks of in the way they are now. I was pretty sad that they thought it was fine and even admirable to do this to people.

That wasn't the room that had a lot of red, was it?

I must confess I used to watch Changing Rooms and Ground Force...sad to hear about the attitudes of the senior staff

Sounds like a fascinating job!

I think that people like that are the reason I left too, I worked in a company that was very small and pretty unsucessful and the Owner/Producer still behaved like she was running a multinational. Stayed too long in that job

Edited to add:

Guess what I finished one of the four Affidavits!!! The boy promises to do his mum's one tonight. I will get this thing send off soon.

Update on my wedding attire situation. Total change of plans! Have rejected all forms of dress as I have tried on what seems like million, only to determine that none make me feel like a lovely bride. I have found a lovely pale gold sweater - yay for sleeves!!! I am pairing it with an ankle length ivory silk crepe de chine skirt (side slit to the knee) and strappy gold shoes. I feel so happy and relieved! And, best of all, I love the outfit - it just seems so much more appropriate for a small afternoon wedding (especially since this is the second time down the aisle for me). Added bonus - I can totally wear the sweater again!!!

wow that sound's lovely, and excuse my old-lady-syndrome but it sound's much more comfortable than a very structured dress,

got any pics?

I agree. That does sound lovely. And you can wear it again.... on a cruise.... to a formal dinner or party.... another wedding. Yay for reuseable wedding dresses!

I make no apologies for wanting to be comfortable!!! Sadly no pics at the moment, but maybe once the wedding occurs!! Just 12 more days!! I am so excited!!!

Yep, that was the one. Who could forget all that red, and the checkerboard floor, and the portraits???

Other fine moments: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn41...17/ai_n14341057