Married!

Well, not me (that I know of, at least) - but my cousin Curtis. Yup, that's right - my cousin Curtis, a guy I used to all "Pizza Head" and who taught me how to throw a baseball, who is a whole seventeen months older than me (not a year - SEVENTEEN months) got married, tied the noted, was joined in matrimony, walked down the aisle, dropped anchor, got hitched, became one with another, was pronounced man and wife, wed - whatever your idiom, ladies and gents, as of yesterday that boy is MARRIED! 

And I missed it!

Stupid ocean. I only have 4 cousins, 2 siblings, 2 BFFs, and 3 friends - that's not a lot of potential weddings to look forward to and I missed one! Oh, the prices we pay to follow our dreams. 

I mean, heck, LOOK at what I missed out on:

So, this is Curt and his bride, Allison. I've never met Allison, but from everything I've heard and from all that I've gathered, she's a truly wonderful woman. I mean, call me biased, but that's rather a given seeing as how my cousin loves her, but she holds up well to expectation, or so my mom and sister report. Totally bummed I haven't met her but looking forward to one day doing so.

Here's Curt with his parents - my aunt Juanita and my uncle Kris (Juanita, if you're wondering, is my mom's sister). Doesn't my aunt look adorable? I love the colour of her dress - it matches her colouring well and the style suits her body type perfectly. And look at my uncle being all squinty eyed. Isn't it sad how age can affect the vision? If he's not careful he's going to end up with trench lines around his sockets. LOL - I kid. I've just got a tad of residual wrath going on from him hanging my stuffed Mickey Mouse by his neck from the ceiling fan last time I visited. "Suicide" my foot. Grr.

This is Curt and his sister, Janna. Isn't her dress just beyond adorable? Not just the layered skirt and sweetheart neckline, but that cute-squared pink colour - it's just the perfect storm of cuteness, especially with her skin tone! I'm also beyond impressed by her Queen Amidala hairstyle.

This is my brother, JR. He's holding the rings. Why is he holding the rings? Curt and Allison's ceremony included a ring warming. What the heck is a ring warming? Well, during a ring warming, the couple’s wedding rings are passed among their guests, who are asked to say a prayer, blessing, or make a special wish for the couple over the rings while holding them.  This intimate exchange is meant to inject all of the loving energy of the couple’s friends and family into the rings that they’ll be wearing for a lifetime. And JR was the one who collected the rings at the end and brought them to the couple.

Here's the happy couple with the groom's family. Let's see how well I can do this, shall we? So, obviously my aunt Juanita is sitting on the left arm of the couch, my cousin Janna on the right arm. Seated in the chair on the left is my uncle Kris, in the chair on the right is his mother (Curt's grandmother) Daphne. 

Behind my uncle Kris: my cousin Jess (in black), my cousin Jenn (in red), my sister Bunnie (the red-head), her boyfriend Steve, my mom Ramona (in blue behind my aunt), Kris' brother Bud (white shirt), I have no idea who that is in the black dress but my brother JR in in blue behind Curt and Alley and in the back behind JR in the suit is my uncle Grego. And there ends the extent of my identification abilities. Half the crowd...ish...so go me!

Here's hoping for a long and happy ever after for decades to come!

Checking in and Superman

Last couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful. Worked everyday, lots of days being at Gayhurst and Three Bridges being a close second. Also on the work front, I was accepted for iDay (an interview day hosted by Engage - basically schools come together to interview several teachers at once to fill what job openings they have) on the 18th. It was supposed to happen on Monday but apparently there weren't any suitable positions so I've been pushed to July 8th.

In regards to my social life, Christa came over for movie viewing last Saturday and this weekend I went to see Man of Steel. It was awesome...for a Superman movie. I loved seeing all the little Easte Eggs - like Superman and Zod flinging each other through a Lex Corp oil truck and flying past a Wayne Enterprises satellite dish. I also like how they fixed one of my biggest Superman pet peeves (hint: has to do with Lois). Didn't hurt that Henry Cavill was yummy as all get-out. I especially liked how they fixed the story-telling issue that hampered Batman Begins; instead of a slow build up from the beginning up towards the advent of the hero, Man of Steel staggers their info-dump through flashbacks. Oh, and Kevin Costner and Russel Crowe totally rocked as Papa Kent and Jor-El, respectively. Overall, nicely played, Mr. Snyder, nicely played.

Mom and JR have headed down to Moncton for my cousin's impending nuptuals. He's get married next Saturday but my mom and JR are heading down earlier for a visit and to help with the preparations. Wish I could there too!

Jeeves and the British Museum

Met up with Jeeves this morning for breakfast. We went to Garfunkel's. Thought a second try would tell me for sure if I liked it or not. Turns out I don't. Bright side, got lots of catching up time with Jeeves which is always a hoot.

Afterwards, he headed off to meet up with friends in Richmond and I went to check out the British Museum. Again. Had to convince them to open their Alexander the Great exhibit. First time I came around, it was closed. I just couldn't miss it a second time! Luckily an understanding security guard helped me out and in I skipped. Still haven't found the Magna Carta. I know it's in there somewhere...I just haven't come across it. Yet.

I've seen the Rosetta Stone.

I've seen the bust of Alexander the Great.

I've seen several statues of Aphrodite and her fellow gods and goddesses. Not to mention any nymph, grace, monster, sphinx, animal, or scenes mentioned in an ancient myth, poem, play, or story.

I've seen the Egyptian Book of the Dead (or one of them anyway).

I've seen mummies (and sarcophagi, of course).

I've seen skeletons (it's all about method of internment, apparently, and it seems it was better to leave them in the sand than to put to them in a box...who knew?).

I've seen oodles of statues depicting one pharaoh or another (below is Amenhotep III,  but Ramses II is pretty popular too).

But no Magna Carta. Yet. I will one day though...mark my words.

Know what I DID find, though? Afterwards, when I left the museum and was making my way to the bus, well any bus really, I ducked into a - what does the rest of the world call a depenneur? - and came away with this beauty:

My weekend is complete.

Half Term Break

Half term break means another week off. By some miracle, however, I had five days of work the week before, despite GPS being void.

Mini drama alert: So, on the Tuesday, I was booked for two days at this school in year two. At the end of the day, consultant calls to let me know that he's booked for the following day. When I told him it was already booked by another consultant, he told me that assignment had been cancelled because apparently I didn't show good control and hadn't done any marking. Um, yeah...except that I was at the school until 5 marking, all the students had completed all their work, and the only hiccup in the day was when no one told me my phonics group happened outside the classroom. To say I was peeved is an understatement of gross proportions. Fortunately, I got booked right away for both Wednesday and Thursday but it was still beyond aggravating.

Anyways, this week my roommates were all off and away on trips so I had the house to myself. Nothing much happened - I saw some movies, browsed the internet, worked on my writing and such, did some reading, pretty much same old. On Thursday, Christa and I went around Ealing Broadway registering at all the letting agencies. At the end of the day, we looked at the fees involved, the costs, our budgets, and ultimately decided that finding two rooms in the same house to rent would be better suited to our needs. And, hey, who doesn't love all inclusive rent?

Writing the day off as a learning experience.

Friday I began my day by running to the post office and retreiving my Dr Seuss Baker's Dozen collection. Because, naturally, despite my being home 90% of the week, the mailman came while I was out with Christa at the letting agencies. Clearly, our feud goes on. Sigh. Afterwards, Christa and I went to the Super Cuts located near the Shepherd's Bush station. I got my hair trimmed and some red highlights tossed in. Christa got a wash, a trim, and a dry. As a thank you for putting up with me, I bought Christa lunch...or possibly supper, I forget...at the Spaghetti House in Westfields mall.

Saturday...Saturday I embarked on a super secret mission I will no doubt mention later - MUCH later - so we'll revisit it again then. Suffice to say it was time consuming, exhausting, and border-line crazy. The things you do for love.

Today, naturally, I didn't work so I headed off bus hopping instead. Ended up at Piccadilly Circle where I grabbed lunch at Pizza Hut - their Happy Hour special where you get a drink, a side, and a pizza for £7.

As always, I can't wait to get back into the trenches. Going a bit stir crazy. Plus, you know, there was no Paris this time around to take the edge off, LOL.