The Last Hurrah, and the Last Supper

On Friday night we had our going-away party, in Madison's basement. This is the same venue we used for our post-wedding party just over a year ago, so we knew it was perfect for our purposes, and there was the added bonus of being able to do our own music. I threw a selection of my music and Skry's onto my iRiver, and all we had to do was plug it in and hit Play. We got exactly the music that we wanted and nobody else was able to interfere or make us change things, which was perfect!

The party itself was loads of fun. Lots of our friends turned up, some travelling quite a distance to get there, and we both really enjoyed chatting to everyone - until it came time to say goodbye, anyway. That was sad, and there were definitely tears shed. By the end of the night we were both a bit wrung out, and headed home by ourselves rather than lalting it up at a house party.

Then on Saturday we had our final meal in the Jharna. This is our absolute favourite restaurant in Belfast - we both love Indian food anyway, and they do that particularly well, but the staff are all lovely too and the service is always excellent. We're going to miss that place. It certainly was a memorable night, though! First of all, there was a photographer there taking photos for a magazine or website or something, and we were asked to pose at the bar. Well, Skry was asked, and he was told to bring some friends. Four of us posed at the bar for a while, drinking our complimentary Cobras, and the photographer took loads of photos. I wonder where and when they'll get used...

Nor did the fun end there. After our meal, our waiter came down with a full bottle of Sambuca for us, on the house! By this stage half the party had already left, so it was really down to six of us to finish the whole bottle. That stuff was nasty, but it was really funny as well.

After dinner, we headed over to Ryan's Bar for a bit and met up with some other friends, and then on to the Pavilion. It was a really great night, and I had loads of fun despite blubbing at the end. Luckily I had "Mommica" there to dry my eyes and wipe my nose for me - thanks Mon!

Only a week to go.

Only one more week left in Belfast! I am feeling very mixed emotions at the moment. Of course I am excited to be visiting Japan and then starting a whole new life in a different country. But it is really hard saying goodbye to people, but it's not just the people, and at least there's a chance they'll come out to visit us. But every time I'm in a place that I enjoy, like a restaurant, I think, "This is probably the last time I'll ever be in here". And I'm really sad about leaving my little house in Sydenham. I have been so happy here for the last six years, and I get quite tearful to think that I'll never be back in it again after next Friday. I fell in love with this house when I saw it on the internet, before I even visited it in person, and as soon as I stepped through the door I knew that it was the house for me. It has been my cosy little home for so long, and I'm really going to miss it.

Of course it is very stressful at the moment trying to get all our things ready for packing, and there is still quite a bit to do there, so that isn't helping me feel any cheerier either. It's all the annoying stuff like clearing out the storage area under the stairs, and sorting out what is to be left in the house after Pickford's have been and gone on Tuesday, that has to be tackled still. I'm not even sure how to approach that, because we don't have a single empty room or area where we can put things aside, but it'll have to be done somehow.

I guess this post is mostly about the downside to exciting life changes. Sadness, stress, and deadlines. So, you see, it's not all good!

My dream home

So, on the bus coming back from Derry yesterday I made a list of my requirements for my dream home. Today I found it on the internet!

This is the Oakwood Mk III design from Energy Efficient Homes. It has three bedrooms, one with en-suite, a bathroom, lounge, living/dining room, kitchen, downstairs toilet, utility room, and a library. *drool* It's all kinds of energy efficient too, so it should be easy to heat and that kind of thing.

Seriously, this is my dream home. All we need is the land to put it on and the money to have it built. So if anyone knows the winning Lotto numbers for this Wednesday, please let me know now so I can buy a ticket to enable all this!

From Gorey to Derry, and points in between.

I am not long home from a lot of travel. It's that time of year, where we are going round our friends and relatives that we won't see for a while, saying cheerio.

First of all, Skry and I took the bus to Gorey on Thursday to see my family. We bussed it because my eyesight still isn't great at night, and I was scared to drive in case we got stuck in traffic or otherwise delayed and it got dark while we were still travelling, because I would have just had to pull in on the side of the road until daybreak. Not ideal! So, it was public transport all the way. We travelled to Dublin in a very nice Bus Eireann coach, with loads of leg room, seats that reclined back far enough to feel like we were almost lying down, and very few fellow passengers. After meeting my sister in Busaras, we travelled from there on to Gorey in a clapped-out Bus Eireann coach, with minimal leg room, narrow seats, and every place filled. It wasn't quite as luxurious as the first leg of the journey!

However, we did make it to our destination in a mere six hours or so, and were collected and taken home to the farm. It was really good to see everybody. My mum had made a special meal for us - roast chicken, vegetables, mashed and chipped potatoes, and all the trimmings, and a vegetarian quiche for Skry. It was lovely - thanks Mum! My brother and sisters had all come home for the night, and we had a really enjoyable evening chatting and just hanging out together.

The next day there was a lunch of tasty left-overs and some family photographs before Skry and I headed on. It was a bit emotional, because I don't know when we'll be in Wexford next or when I will see my family again, but we tried to keep it cheerful. New Zealand isn't as far away as it used to be, and with the internet and e-mail they'll probably see more of me after we move than they do right now.

My brother drove us up to Wicklow (stopping off at Avoca Handweavers on the way, where I picked up a lovely purple mohair throw) and Skry and I spent a couple of hours in Greystones with my granny and uncles. That was good too - I don't see them very often, and my granny always makes me laugh. She has now got the address of this blog in her Favourites so I hope she reads it at some point.

After saying another round of goodbyes, it was off to the Dart station and thence to Dublin to get our bus back to Belfast.

The next day, I was on the bus again, this time up to Derry to see my friend Wendy. I don't see her very often either, and it's always good to meet up. We had a nice night in the house, stuffing ourselves silly on crisps and Indian take-away, and I felt like I was in a hotel with the lovely comfy bed, and all the breakfast food that was plied on me this morning. I've never gone hungry when I've stayed in Derry!

A Meat Feast

Last night I went out for dinner with a couple of friends. We went to the Point, which is a wine bar/restaurant not too far from here. Since I'm not likely to eat in the Point again because we're moving so soon, I decided to push the boat out and have myself a meat feast with a difference. Here's what I had:

Safari Game Brochettes
Individual Ostrich, Zebra & Wildebeest skewers served with sumo chips and Piri Piri dip. Recommended medium rare.

It was So Very Very Good. Wow. I have never eaten zebra before, but I'll happily eat it again! The whole thing was just delicious.

I have to confess, though, that I am very curious about where this zebra came from. They're not indigenous to Northern Ireland, and I'm not aware of any zebra farms in this country - or wildebeest farms, come to that. Where does the Point source its safari game? Should I care?

Hmmm. I think not. The meal was delicious and the company was great and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Up with this kind of thing.

My change of phone number.

Most readers of this blog probably got a text message from me earlier today about a change to my phone number. Much as I'd love to think that the whole world reads my blog, I suspect it is mostly friends and family, and I already have your phone numbers, so I will already have texted you about the change.

The reason that I had a change of number two weeks before I leave the UK is this: I was under contract with O2. Specifically, I was under contract at £40/month with O2 until December 2008. Understandably, they were unwilling to compromise when I contacted them to say that I wanted to leave my contract early - in fact, they said that the termination fee was more than £520. Ouch!! Of course I emailed them and begged for clemency,but I didn't really expect anyway. In fact, I merely stated my situation, said that I wanted to make things as financially painless as possible, and asked what my options were. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I got an email saying that, as a goodwill gesture, they would waive my termination fee if I sent back my phone within seven days.

I love my phone. I don't love it more than £520 in cold hard cash, but I love it. What was a girl to do? EBay, that's what. I bought a second-hand phone in the same make and model from eBay for £100 and sent that back to O2. The eBay phone came with an O2 pay-as-you-go SIM, which I am now using. My original SIM and the eBay handset are now on their way back to O2. So long as they get the same make and model, why should they care if it's not the same phone? I'm hoping they don't care, anyway. I get a new number and I have to pay as I go, but I get to keep my phone without paying a huge termination fee. Win:win, I hope!

One down, one million to go

I can tick one thing off my to-do list now, anyway. Chris is buying my car! The arrangement suits us both very well, and I'm relieved to have a buyer for it. Since we'll probably have to pay a mortgage for the next few months even though we're not living here any more, I'm glad to have a little bit of money coming in to cover the first few payments at least.

I've got lots to do tomorrow morning when people open up their offices again. My project plan is back in action, with task lists and percentages complete and everything! This move is so huge that I can't cope with anything if I think of it all at once, so I'm hoping that individual tasks will get me moving.

Oh, and I'm learning Japanese now as well. I know we'll only be on Tokyo for three nights, but I want to be able to say things like Please and Thank You at least, even if I just get laughed at or ignored. So far I can just ask if somebody speaks English, tell them I understand Japanese a little but not very well (huge exaggeration), and ask the way to Shinjuku station. Of course I won't have a clue what they say in return, but at least I can ask the question!

Our first kiss.

I installed Picasa today, and it did two things for me. First of all, it found all my photos, including this one from a couple of years ago, and secondly it asked if I wanted to blog. I didn't realise that I could blog directly from Picasa, so I'm trying it out.

This photograph is of the first time my husband ever kissed me. I am so happy to have it on camera! It was several years ago, and we were both with other people at the time so it was just platonic, but it still counts as our first kiss. I love it.

Our flights are now booked.

This is really happening. The flights have been booked, and we leave the Emerald Isle on Friday November 30th. That is less than four weeks away!

We are flying to Tokyo first, to spend a few nights there. I already have us booked into a hostel, and there is an acquaintance of mine living there at the moment who will hopefully be able to meet up with us and show us around a bit. We arrive in Tokyo on December 1st and leave again on December 4th. By the 5th we should be in Christchurch.

I can't believe it's only four weeks!!!!

Houses! Houses! Get your houses here!

3 bedroom terrace, Sydenham, offers above £185,000.

This modern red brick townhouse is situated in a quiet cul-de-sac location in the suburb of Sydenham, which is approximately two miles from Belfast city centre. With three bedrooms, a large living/dining room and separate kitchen, this is the perfect starter home for a couple or young family.

Through the entrance hall, the kitchen is at the front of the house, which is unusual but makes washing the dishes much more sociable as you can look out the window at the neighbours! The kitchen is 10' x 7'11" (3.05m x 2.41m). The breakfast bar faces a hatch opening into the living room - this arrangement means that the person doing the cooking is not completely isolated from those in the living room, which is great for dinner parties. The kitchen is plumbed for a washing machine and dishwasher, and also has a single drainer stainless steel sink unit.

The separate lounge/dining room measures 14' x 13' 3" (4.27m x 4.04m). There is a natural brick fireplace in the living room with a quarry tiled hearth. The living room has double doors opening onto the rear garden, which is done mainly in lawn with a paved patio area.

On the first floor, the landing opens onto three bedrooms:

Bedroom One is 11'7" x 8' (3.53m x 2.44m).

Bedroom Two is 11'9" x 8'1" (3.58m x 2.46m).

Bedroom Three (currently in use as a home office) is 7'9" x 7'2" (2.36m x 2.18m).

The fully tiled bathroom has a white suite comprising a panelled bath, Mira electric shower unit, low flush WC, and pedestal wash hand basin. A spacious cupboard on the landing provides extra storage space, as well as room for the gas boiler unit.

New carpets and vinyl have been recently laid throughout, and all the walls are freshly painted in a neutral colour scheme, so no decorating work is necessary. The house is easy to keep warm all year round, with Phoenix gas piped in for radiator heat and also hot water on tap, and an open fireplace in the living room. The house has been completely cabled for broadband internet access and cable television, and is also wired for a BT landline.


At the front of the house is a large private driveway which can accommodate up to two cars, and there is also shared visitor parking nearby.

This house is perfectly located for all types of transport. The Metro bus service to the city centre stops outside the entrance to Inglewood Court, a Translink train station is within two minutes' walk, Belfast City Airport is accessible on foot via a free shuttle service from the train station, and the M3 motorway is within five minutes by car.

The sellers are not part of a chain.

I got my passport back!

Thank you NZIS for being so speedy with the processing. I got my passport back today, with my visa in it, and Skry's went in the post today and should arrive tomorrow. We are good to go!!

With that in mind, I have spent most of today shopping for flights. It looks very likely that we will fly out to Tokyo on November 30th, spend three nights there, and fly to Christchurch on December 4th. I wasn't terribly excited by the thought of visiting Japan until I realised that I have an acquaintance over there, and she has been giving me all sorts of advice. She will also be able to meet up with us there if we keep to these dates, so that would be fantastic! I am quite excited about it now, and am just waiting to see if we can get a better deal on the flights before I go ahead and book them.

Oh, and we had an absolutely fantastic anniversary dinner at Beatrice Kennedy's last night. The service was wonderful as always, the food was delicious, the staff encouraged us to take as long as we wanted over our meal, and we got a window seat view of the Hallowe'en proceedings. It was perfect. I hope all our anniversaries are that good!

Things are getting better.

Good things that are happening today:

It's our first wedding anniversary: one whole year of being a respectable married couple. Well, a married couple, anyway! We are heading out to Beatrice Kennedy's tonight - it's the same restaurant where we had our post-wedding feast this day last year, and I expect it'll be just as good tonight.

I got an email from my immigration officer, letting me know that my final payment is being processed, so it should only be a short while before I get my passport back.

We finally took delivery of the kitchen unit doors and worktop, which were meant to be here over a month ago.

The estate agent came out to value the house. We will have to put it on at a much lower price than we could have done a few months ago, and it probably won't sell for a while, but he said it should actually be a good thing that we are leaving in a few weeks and the house will be lying empty, because it'll look bigger when people come to view it.

And, last but not least, I found a cool-looking spider sitting in his web outside our living room window. I have no idea what kind of spider he is, but I like his pattern.

Oh for crying out loud

We posted our passports to London using first class, signed-for delivery, last Monday. I just logged on to the Royal Mail site to check what day they arrived with NZIS, and this is what I found:

Your item with reference DL889157397GB was delivered from our SOUTH WEST LONDON Delivery Office on 29/10/07

Those passports should have arrived with NZIS on the 23rd, not the 29th. I am furious - this has set us another full week behind on getting them back, and we can't take any trips away without them. We might as well completely give up on our plans of going anywhere else in Europe before we leave this hemisphere for good.

I am not impressed with Royal Mail.

A formal affair.

On Saturday night we went to a formal in the Culloden Hotel, courtesy of Skry's parents who bought us all tickets to a charity ball as a wedding anniversary present.

This was the first time that I got to see my husband all dressed up - even for our wedding he was in jeans and a t-shirt - so I was quite excited about that. It turns out that he scrubs up quite well! Unfortunately I completely failed to get any decent, non-blurry photos of the two of us together, so you're not getting one. Sorry there.

There was an auction of items which had been donated to raise money for the hospice, and I bid up to a thousand pounds for a really cool jukebox pre-loaded with CDs, before hitting my limit and letting others take it up to £1200, which was a real bargain since it had been valued at something like £2500. I was sorry that I didn't get it - a jukebox in the living room would be fantastic - but Skry was quite relieved I think!

The food was great too. The Culloden obviously gets lots of large parties and crowds coming through, and they know how to get good food out on the tables fast. My potato and leek soup was absolutely gorgeous and my chicken fillet was tender and delicious. I can't comment on the strawberry cheesecake because I didn't eat it, but a woman across the table had two portions so it must have been good too. Well done the Culloden - you deserve those five stars.

Anyway, we all had a good night, and I was happy to see that we can both look smart when we want to. I also got to give my new clip-in extensions a whirl, and they looked fantastic so I will definitely be wearing those again. And the hospice must have raised an awful lot of money too, so it was a winner all round.

A few new jewels

Most of my crafty stuff is in storage at the moment, so I'm restricted in what I can do, but I was able to get a few more pieces of jewellery online. Here is my new etsy banner:

Actually, you know what, I am just going to make a jewellery blog instead. It shouldn't be related to our move to New Zealand so I really shouldn't be blogging about it here. Go to http://JennysGems.blogspot.com instead!

Our passports are in the post

So, still not much happening on the house doing-up front (Skry is taking care of all that), but we did get our passports in the post to London this morning. They have to be sent away - with a hefty fee - to have the actual visa stickers put into them. This should only take a week or two and we'll have them back again and be able to travel whenever we want.

I blogged on here a while ago about Photoshopping my passport photo rather than going to a photo booth to have them taken. I didn't make myself look different, just fixed a few minor flaws, but I was wondering if the end result would be satisfactory. Turns out that it was, which is good. I'll definitely do that again whenever I need my next replacement!

My 33rd birthday.

On Thursday it was my birthday, bringing me to the ripe old age of 33. I'm definitely a grown-up now. Skry took me out for lunch in Benedict's, where we partook of soup and sandwiches, and I spent the afternoon lying on the sofa reading the first Harry Potter book on my new Sony Reader, a very generous present to me from myself. It wasn't cheap, but I think I'll get a lot of value from it and it'll certainly help cut down on the weight of books I take away on holidays!

When evening rolled around it was time to get ourselves to Tao for dinner. A small crew of my friends met us there and we had great Chinese food and plenty of wine, and I got some lovely presents too. Tao is fantastic - the food is always good, the staff are always friendly, and it's Bring Your Own so the bill is always low too! Not that I had to worry about that part, since my generous friends paid for my dinner.

Following dinner, it was off to Lavery's for a few games of pool in the upstairs bar, then down to the bottom bar where we commandeered a table until closing time. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and it was also great to be able to (a) sit down, and (b) hear each other. I'm definitely too old to want to spend an evening standing in some overcrowded club with the music up to the level of a pneumatic drill. Seated and sedate is best!

Some of my birthday presents from Skry arrived in the post today - boxed sets of DVDs, including Buffy season 6 and Firefly. There are more sets to come, so we will have lots to watch over the next while. We're still waiting for the kitchen doors and worktop to be delivered, so the house still isn't on the market and we are just killing time at the moment. I can't think about it too much or I start to get really annoyed, but hopefully it will all come together before too long.

Edinburgh, part Two.

Thanks to Skry's comment on my last entry, I feel I should add these photos.

We went to Edinburgh Castle in time to watch them shoot the cannon at 1pm. I was able to get a good photo of the guy checking his watch before loading up whatever it is they shoot off.

Two seconds later the cannon went off. I nearly jumped out of my skin, as you can see. It's hard to hold a camera steady when something is exploding a few feet away!

A trip to Edinburgh

Last week we went to Edinburgh for a few days. We stayed with a former workmate of Skry's, and her boyfriend. I hadn't met either of them before, but we got on like a house on fire and it was a fantastic trip. The weather was unseasonably good, allowing us to spend a lot of the day in jeans and t-shirts, and making our sightseeing much more pleasurable.

The first night that we were there, we went to visit a friend in Leith. He is living in a penthouse apartment with stunning views, so we were able to spend some quality time on the balcony, relaxing and taking it all in. After popping out to the local eatery for some late dinner, we came back to the apartment and hung out with Tom and his flatmates for another few hours until it was long past everyone's bedtime and a taxi was procured to take us back to Edina Place.

The following day, Skry went to visit his former workmates for lunch, and I hit the shops. Unfortunately we were flying with FlyBe and had chosen not to pay extra for the privilege of checking in any bags, so I was restricted to window-shopping rather than actually buying anything. Probably for the best really, as I could have spent a small fortune! Edinburgh has a lot of shops to choose from.

The rest of our stay was spent doing the proper touristy things. We visited the Camera Obscura and had fun with the optical illusions (including some elbow-dropping of the plasma ball), did an open-top bus tour of the major sights, and spent several hours at Edinburgh Castle. There is a lot more to see there than I had realised, and we spent more than an hour at the war museum alone. And of course we wined and dined more than once with our hosts, Rachael and Ricky. It was a really enjoyable few days and we were sorry that hometime came around so quickly.

It's definitely Autumn now.

The weather has really taken a turn for the colder recently, although the sun shines a lot as well. All the leaves are coming off the trees, and the nights are drawing in fast. This is quite a nuisance for me, because my eyes still haven't recovered completely from the laser surgery I had last spring. This is perfectly normal, and I was told it could take a year for them to settle down completely, but it means that it's not safe for me to drive at night because of the starbursts I see around light sources.

Just as an example, this is what most people would be able to see at night:



And this is closer to what I see:


That is just with one car in front of me. Imagine what it's like with many cars, including ones coming towards me with their headlights on, streetlights, shop signs, etc. I just can't see enough of what is behind the starbursts to be able to drive at night.

Luckily I don't have very much reason to drive at night, as we have a good public transport network for getting into town to socialise, but it is a nuisance if we need to go somewhere off the bus route, like up to Skry's parents' house. I can't plan to drive anywhere in the late afternoon because it might be dark by the time I was ready to go home and then I'd be stuck.

I wonder what time it gets dark at in New Zealand during the winter. Or during the summer, for that matter. One more thing we will have to find out...

Photo from my phone.

I took this photo while walking into town in the sunshine. I have a Nokia N73, and the camera on it is really impressive compared to every other cameraphone I've had.

Getting my spend on

I love TKMaxx. I hate it too - it's impossible to find anything in there if you're actually looking for it -but when I don't need anything that shop is suddenly filled with treasures. I just had a very successful trip and here's what I got.

• Christian Dior Dolce Vita parfum, 7.5ml - on clearance for £14. Pure perfume for £14? Bargain and a half, and I absolutely love this fragrance for wearing in cold autumn weather such as we're having now.

• Calvin Klein Contradiction parfum, 15ml, marked down from £75 to £20. I haven't opened this yet as I am considering flogging it on eBay; I do like Contraction, but I don't really wear it any more, so it might be wasted on me. I'd love to see how the pure perfume wears compared to the eau de parfum which I owned before, but it is sealed and I don't want to open it unless I'm keeping it.

• Red wool winter coat, very stylish, £40. Marked down from £155 on the price tag, so I feel like I got a great deal, but I wouldn't ever have paid £155 for it so that deal probably isn't quite as good as it looks. But it's a great coat and definitely worth more than I paid, anyway.

• Selection of Le Creuset stoneware rectangular dishes, marked down from £28 each to £10 each. We already have quite a lot of Le Creuset dishes and saucepans given as wedding presents, and they are lovely to use, so I was thrilled to be able to add to the collection.

• Pack of four Max Factor Lipfinity lipsticks, in wearable shades, for £10. I wear these anyway and they are normally something like £8 each, so this was a great find.

• Scholl Party Feet gel cushions, down from £5 to £2. I don't normally wear strappy sandals or high heels, but if we are in the country at the end of October we are planning to attend a black tie event that will necessitate dressing up. Now I feel prepared!

All in all, a very successful trip, except from the point of my bank balance. No regrets.

Well THAT was traumatic.

I got a cancellation at the dentist when I phoned them yesterday, so I was able to go in this morning to get the tooth out. On the way in I was quite upbeat - not looking forward to it, obviously, but looking forward to getting the problem solved. Now, two hours later, I am utterly traumatised.

On arrival, I was brought in for an x-ray, then escorted to the surgery upstairs. My first impression of the dentist was that he did not have a very good bedside manner, and boy was I right. The man had no patience whatsoever.

I had been very clear about the fact that I am a very nervous patient and have been badly affected by unpleasant dentistry experiences over the years - the very reason I was in this man's surgery in the first place - but he just didn't seem to care at all. He gave me the gas mask for a couple of minutes to breathe into, then tried to take it away from me before I even felt any effect. I was paying £60 for sedation and he was only going to use it for the first couple of minutes!

I got very upset, and he eventually gave the gas mask back to me for a few minutes more before injecting me with local anaesthetic, and he conceded to letting me hold it to my nose to continue breathing the gas throughout the procedure, but he should never have put me into the position of having to fight for what I was there for. In any case, I was still visibly upset and not relaxed at all as he hauled away at the tooth. The procedure wasn't painful, exactly, but it was extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant, and he just snapped at me to be quiet because there was no way I could possibly be feeling anything.

Needless to say, I have never felt less sedated in my life. It was an absolute waste of money paying for the gas, and his attitude only made me more upset, not less. I went through most of the procedure curled up into as much of a foetal position as I could manage while lying on my back, crying and trying to hold the gas mask to my nose, and trying to ignore his snappish remarks. If he can't deal with a frightened and upset patient, why is he working in a surgery to which people are referred if they need sedation?

He also whisked me straight out of the chair and into the waiting room without even offering to let me rinse my mouth out. I ended up sitting waiting for Skry with a mouthful of blood, and in ever increasing pain (whatever anaesthetic he did give me wore off almost immediately). Our first stop upon leaving the surgery was the chemist, so that I could buy painkillers.

Two Neurofen later and I'm feeling mostly back to normal, but I'm still really shaken by the whole experience. No matter how desperate I get, I won't be going back to that surgery. At least my own dentist is absolutely lovely and she is able to talk me down when I start freaking out. This man hasn't a clue about nervous patients.

Wigs and Wine party

On Friday we threw a Wigs and Wine party, and I would like to say that this theme was the Best Fun Ever. It all started out quite sedately - I was wearing my most realistic wig while greeting guests, and a few people thought I wasn't playing fair because they assumed I'd just got a haircut! People started drifting in from about seven, and there were still arrivals after midnight, so we had maybe twenty people in total in our tiny house. Only a couple of people brought wigs with them, but one of those was a scarily realistic mullet which got a lot of use through the evening, and of course I have a whole lot myself so there were more than enough to play with.

It was very amusing how a new head of hair can totally transform a person, but also how a person can transform a wig. Not only did I barely recognise some of my closest friends when they had a new 'do, but Liz even managed to make the "bleached blonde hooker" wig look quite attractive. Nobody else came close to doing that!

The boys certainly enjoyed camping it up for the occasion, some of them more than others. It was all really good fun, and with the addition of some crisps, pizza, sausage rolls, and a cheese board, the whole thing felt like a proper party. I would definitely recommend Wigs and Wine as a party theme, and this may not be the last time we throw such an event.

It should, however, be the last party we throw in Inglewood Court. After a quick trip to a cheap carpet shop on Thursday, we put in our order, and there will be new carpets and vinyl going down throughout the house on Saturday. We're nearly there now!

Dentistry update

I am all swollen up like a hamster with food in its pouch.
I am in pain.
I am on antibiotics.
I am unable to get an appointment to have the tooth taken out until October 30th, which is six weeks away.
I am not best pleased.

Enforced dentistry

I have a toothache. A tooth which was filled years ago has started to fall apart, and a big piece of filling came out of it a few days ago, and now I'm sitting here hoping that the pain doesn't start to get really bad. Chewing gum seems to help, but I can't do that all night! I'm going to have to visit the dentist - something that fills me with terror. Ever since being frequently mauled by drill-wielders as a child, I've been scared of getting into that chair, and even laughing gas only makes me lie straight as opposed to curling into a foetal ball, rather than properly relaxing me. So you can guess that I'm not looking forward to making an appointment tomorrow. Of course it'll probably be another two or three weeks of popping paracetamol before I can actually get an "emergency" appointment - that's what happened last time - but there's nothing much I can do about that.

I take pretty good care of my teeth and haven't had a new cavity in years, but all the childhood/teenage fillings are reaching the end of their life span now, as are the teeth that were given root canal treatment, and things are just starting to crumble. Lovely! I wish there was some way that I could have all of the back ones replaced with implants at once, so I don't have to worry about them or end up in pain again in future, but I've asked the dentist already and been told that they won't just replace healthy teeth like that. I'm not sure healthy is the word that I'd use, but that was his opinion! I could probably force the issue if I went private, but that means spending money that I just don't have. I'll have to suck up yet another filling and accept the fact that the same thing will happen again before too long.

I suppose it's not a bad thing that I'm getting my teeth seen to now anyway. We should be on holiday before too long (whenever we get the For Sale sign up outside the house), and I can only imagine how awful it would be to be in a foreign country with a toothache and no idea of where to go to get it fixed. If I'm going to do this, I'd rather it be on my home turf - and with NHS prices!

Passport photos

Everyone dreads getting passport photos taken, right? They're usually unflattering and often make the bearer look like a terrorist or an imbecile. Things got a bit better with those digital photo booths where you could see the photo before hitting Print, but even those usually just gave you two or three attempts before forcing a printout.

Since I have to get a new passport anyway, I decided to take matters into my own hand and make my own photos using my digital camera, Photoshop, and the services of Photobox. They offer a set of 8 passport sized prints for 99p, which is very good value.

Irish passport requirements say that the photo can have a light grey or cream background instead of white, so I was able to set up my makeshift studio in the living room. All that magnolia paint has its uses, although strangely enough it turned out grey in the photo anyway. Having taken a few snaps and made sure the pose fit the requirements (neutral expression, face forward, all edges of face clearly visible), the next thing was to fix a few minor imperfections like hairs sticking up, the start of a few tiny wrinkles, etc. I should still have this passport when I am 42, so I want to look as youthful and fresh-faced as possible!

I'm still not absolutely thrilled with the end result, but that's mainly because I look so dour. Since smiling is forbidden, I don't know what else can be done with that - it's all very well to say "smile with your eyes" but I don't seem to quite have that knack!

The passport people prefer black-and-white pictures, so I am getting those printed, but I thought I'd show off the colour version as well so you, my loyal readers, can compare and contrast. All that remains after that is to see if it gets rejected for some frivolous reason like the length of my face being 36.5mm rather than the specified maximum of 36mm. I did measure and it is fine on my machine, so I just hope Photobox print it exactly as sent. I'll keep you posted.

Got a bit more work done, hurrah!

We actually got some work done this morning towards getting the house ready - good start to the week :) I boxed up two cartons of clothes and perfume from the bedroom to be put into storage, and threw out quite a lot of stuff too, while Skry painted the ceilings in the hall and landing. We have run out of paint now, but a quick trip to B&Q should sort that out.

Some more wigs arrived in the post as well, from China, and they are a mixed bunch. One of them is so hideous that I am not even going to attempt wearing it. Another has some potential but needs to be restyled, and while I was combing it handfuls of hair came out. Not a good start. Then there is one that is too dark for me and one that seems quite nice but also needs a bit of restyling before it's fit to be seen. Don't hold your breath for photographs...

A better blonde. And a puppy.

This is another fixer-upper of a wig. It's a very good quality make, and started life as a really long style. I bought it second-hand and it was definitely showing signs of wear, which couldn't be fixed by a wash and liberal application of silicone spray. The ends were just too ratty. So I gave them the chop and ended up with this shoulder-length style.

I think you'll agree that the colour is a lot better on me than the other blonde wig which I was sporting a week ago! That one has never seen the light of day since, but this one has had a couple of outings already over the weekend.

In other news, my next door neighbour still hasn't fixed her fence (it blew down in December), nor has she paid the slightest bit of heed to the warnings we gave her about the weedkiller that was spread liberally through the garden a couple of days ago. I saw something moving about outside as I was sitting at the dining table, and when I opened the door I found her granddaughter's two dogs playing outside. I was really annoyed with this, as I have already asked her to keep the dogs out of the garden, and it's even worse when she knows there's poison on the ground out there right now. But how cute is this little puppy?

The long and the short of it

Two more for your amusement - a Noriko Robin (long) and a Noriko Sky (short).

They are both well made and fit perfectly, which is as it should be since these are "proper" wigs, not just cheap costume pieces. The Robin is great fun to wear and it has had two outings already, including a wedding evening do. The Sky hasn't been worn outside the house yet, but I'm sure its time will come.

My new favourite blog

Read it.

Short and curly

Here is today's look, which is probably my favourite style so far, but unfortunately the least well made wig. It's itchy at the back and the hair feels rough. I shouldn't expect better for 99p plus postage, so I'm not really complaining, but I would like to try a similar style in something that is better quality.

My wig clips arrived in the post this morning, so I will try sewing them onto some of the earlier wigs to see if they improve the slippage. Hopefully they will.

In other news, Skry did loads of work in the garden this week so it is pretty much shipshape now apart from a bare patch at the back where the shed was, and he's going to try some grass seed there to see if it takes. It's so warm and wet this summer that it might be okay even though it's a bit later in the year than recommended for sowing grass. And I took six boxes of things to the charity shop yesterday. Some of the things were really good quality and I could have got a fair amount of money at a car boot sale, but we missed the last two car boot sales that we were meant to attend, for various reason, and I don't know when I'll next get the chance. The stuff just had to go. Oh well, it made the little old ladies in the charity shop very excited to see all this stuff coming in!

Back to brunette

You can all sigh in relief now - I am looking a bit more normal!

This was a long wig that unfortunately made me look like I was going to a Hallowe'en party or something. Yesterday I had the brainwave of chopping it into a bob, and I love it! I had already messed up the fringe trying to make the long version look good, and I accidentally cut it a wee bit too short around the front, but as a rescue job I am very pleased.

The synthetic hair is absolutely gorgeous, so soft and silky, and I love the feel of it against my face. It is made of a fibre called Kanekalon, and it really does feel like my own hair when I am fresh out of the salon and everything is at its best.

I need some wig clips, because I have a big head and everything slides backwards on it (as evidenced in the blonde photo from yesterday). Time to hit eBay again, I think, but that's surely better than tugging at my forelocks every few minutes!

Jenny as a blonde

Well this is a new look! Not sure it's a good look, but it's certainly a new one :) I can't see me leaving the house wearing this unless I'm going to a costume party, but it's good to have options...

The wig itself is surprisingly well made considering how little I paid for it (£3.99 plus postage). It has quite a realistic looking scalp, it's adjustable inside (not that I need that, since my massive bonce just about fits inside), and the "hair" itself feels nice. I'd happily buy the same style in a less bottle-blonde colour.

Wigging Out

This week's flash-in-the-pan obsession has been with wigs. I get these obsessions regularly - they burn bright and fast and wink out in a week or two. It makes life fun, and I learn loads about whatever it is I'm obsessing about, although I do also spend quite a bit of money and end up with more things in the house than I have storage space for.

Anyway, this week it is wigs. For some reason I decided that I wanted one, so the research and shopping began. The shopping part was easy enough to begin with: eBay. The research part was more interesting. I have learnt so much about wig wearing in the last few days. For the record, the biggest hits that I found for wig wearers on Google were:
- chemotherapy patients
- alopecia sufferers (and other sufferers of conditions that lead to complete hair loss due to medical reasons)
- judges in the British court system
- men in drag

I felt kind of guilty surfing for frivolous fun wig-wearing information when I kept coming up against people who really need them. I know several people who have lost their hair because of chemo and I can't imagine how they felt about it. I seem to remember that my uncle had alopecia too at one point but I can't remember how much hair he lost - it's just a memory tucked away in the back of my head somewhere. But it is heartening to read how much women's lives in particular have improved when they have got a hairstyle back, even if their own hair has fallen out. And it's sweet to read about the cross-dressers and how much it means to them to be able to pass as a woman because their hair looks good.

Anyway. Wigs come in the obviously-fake fun type, like the bright blue or tinsel types you see on people at parties, and the ones that want to look like real hair. Of the latter, the two types are real human hair and synthetics. You might think that real human hair is superior, but not necessarily so! The very best type of human wig hair is from undyed, unprocessed, European hair, particularly from people such as Italian peasants (apparently) who take great care of their hair but do not use chemicals on it. Eastern European hair is also popular, probably because the people share a similar makeup. Actually that last is just a guess, but Italian and Romanian are so similar - both Romance languages - that there was obviously a link between those two countries anyway, so why not a shared hair heritage? The wig hair can have the cuticles stripped off it so it doesn't tangle, which is a benefit, and of course if it's human hair it can be styled in the usual ways, with straightening irons, curlers, perms, whatever.

Synthetic wig hair is surprisingly realistic these days. Not your common-or-garden joke shop wig hair, of course, but the stuff that is designed to pass as natural. And it doesn't need to be styled, either - if you buy a wig with flowing waves, or tight curls, or poker straight, it'll stay that way when it's washed. No faffing around with styling tools and hairspray. Bonus!

I've been going mad on eBay ordering various styles from various ranges. The first few that I ordered were the cheapest available on eBay (99p for the wig, plus £10 postage from Hong Kong). They haven't arrived yet, so you'll just have to wait and see what they turn out like. I also ordered some more expensive ones that were almost certainly the cheap ones from Hong Kong, but with the benefit of being sold by a woman just a few miles away from here. I asked if I could get my purchase in time for the weekend, and her husband delivered the parcel in person at our house this morning! Now that's good customer service. And I got a "bargain" - not cheap, but way cheaper than retail price - on a top of the range long-haired synthetic wig that should be here by the middle of next week. I'll be interested to see what the difference is between them all as far as quality, comfort, and believeability go.

Here is a picture of me (couple of tangles, but I was too lazy to re-take it once I realised the problem) in the one that I wore to lunch today as a laugh. I think I look pretty good in it!
Maybe in a few days I'll look back on this and go, "Wow, that looks awful. What was I thinking?!", but for the moment I'm happy. I feel very glam with these flowing locks right down my back.