Saturday 10th-
We spent a lot of our time cleaning the manor today- I know, I know, we have nothing better to do with our lives. Last week, our electrician found dry rot in the turret room upstairs. What an awful time to make such a discovery. As if we don't have enough to do already- twenty thousand animals to look after, a new puppy, Jeju's daily terrorisms.. oh, and a WEDDING. Thanks. Unfortunately, the problem is much bigger than we could ever have wanted and it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. With all this stress hang in above our head, we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, trying to keep our minds occupied. It was Abbi who gave us something to laugh at- Ayesha and Father dear were cleaning out the chickens run, Poppet's area and rabbit's hutch and brought Rani into the kitchen like this...
Even Cinderella couldn't have found a better fit than this!
Sunday 11th-
Went into town today with the entire family. What fun :) We hardly ever get to go anywhere all together. I think Ammi wanted to disown Meher, Ayesha and I when we started to take pictures in Primark…
Monday 12th-
Came back from my eye appointment to find Jeju's social worker and carers having a meeting in our kitchen. They are all such lovely people- I don't know how we would manage without their care, help, understanding and love :) There was some complaining about the lack of snacks (I have put everyone on a diet leading up to the wedding) so Mum had to dig out a couple of emergency chocolates to the delight of all.
Also, today- the WEDDING CARDS ARRIVED. We were so excited to open them. But we were in for a shock. A terrible terrible shock. The cards arriving in an awful box- something one would use to transport moulding mangoes- not fancy wedding invitations. The box was bashed and the cards inside were bent. As we took out the cards we found they were basically thrown into the box, and almost every card had black printer ink marks on them (the cards are cream with a gold design). The cards had obviously been packed before the ink had dried and while some were stuck together, others had extra markings transferred onto them from other cards. A lot of the printing was uneven and many corners of the cards were bent and in some cases torn! It was a bloody nightmare. We were all speechless. We contacted the man who printed the cards and he told us that there was nothing he could do since all these cards were apparently spoiled during transit and wasn't his fault. Since I am a lady I will refrain from using crass language and death threats at this point- even though I am quite good at it- I've learned from the best, what can I say? (Sorry, Mother Dear :P )
After many raised voices and tempers we realised that stressing over all this was not worth our time and decided to cut our losses and send out the cards which were salvageable. Having gone through life and dealing with countless, much more life-threatening situations, we just got on with it. As we always do. Such is life! :)
Tuesday 13th March
I spent most of today planing my lessons for the stop-motion project. And cleaning. And playing with Poppet. Later on we addressed more wedding cards ready to send. Meher and Ayesha were amazing and did ALL the cards while I was away to Edinburgh. This was the picture she sent me:
Poor Ayesha- having helped Meher fold, write, seal and address over 200 cards- finally take a rest…
Wednesday 14th
The fun continues as we get the wedding cards posted…
We decided that Meher was a mail order bride...
Thursday 15th May
Today we cleaned. It was a cleaning of biblical proportions- I felt our quest for cleanliness would never end and decided to give the following speech to my fellow cleaners. I may have borrowed a few words. If only I had a horse.
"Daughters of Nur! My sisters, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me!
A day may come when the courage of cleaners fails, when we forsake our feather dusters and break all bonds of cleanliness. But is not this day. An hour of messiness and questionable hygiene when the age of cleaners comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we clean! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you clean! Women of the West (originally from the East)"
The original, yet slightly less dramatic speech given by Aragorn:
"Daughters Of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand! Men of the West!"
We also found time to call our lovely cousin, Ali Nabi Nur for his birthday. We left numerous messages only fit for the ears of the birthday boy. We hope he had a lovely day and that we embarrassed him enough. We love him loads :)
Friday 16th May
Today I drove to Dundee to see the degree show opening. I'll be staying for the weekend so I can have a good look around. I stayed with Kathryn- it was great to see her and Andy's new house!!! (THEY OWN A HOUSE. AND THEY HAVE A MORTGAGE...THEY'RE MY AGE, WHAT THE HELL!??!!?)
Their home is lovely and I had a great time :) The opening was glorious. As always there were LOADS of people I hadn't seen for ages and it was amazing to catch up!
This is only a hundredth, maybe a thousandth of the people there. What a great night. Got back in REALLY late or more precisely- really early- just as the sun was rising. I misunderstood how to disable Kathryn's alarm and managed to wake poor Kathryn at the crack of dawn with a horrendous noise.
Saturday 17th May
This morning I had the first late morning since God knows when. I woke up at 10.30am!!! I never get the chance to stay in bed till then :P Kathryn and I got ready and headed to the Art College to take a gander at the art on display- the degree show was immense as always and I think we managed to see about 15% of it… Later on, met my friends for lunch and spent the rest of the day with them. I was supposed to go climbing but because of the crazy heels I wore last night, I was in pain :P
Sunday 18th May
Drove back from Dundee to Ayr in just under two hours (thanks to driving at an average of 85-95miles an hour, don't tell Father Dear) I was in time to pick up Ayesha's friends from Ayr and bring them back to Maybole with me. They wanted to come visit Poppet and then go swimming. The kids played and swam their day away and then were picked up later on in the evening. I'm exhausted form the excitement of the weekend.
Monday 19th May
This is all I remember from this day. It was glorious. I thank God every day for giving us a Mother who entertains us to no end :P
Tuesday 20th May
As I mentioned before, Meher got accepted to her Masters in Business Psychology in Kingston University. She received and e-mail informing her about a welcome night for students happening in the middle of June. And so she booked her tickets to attend :) We are all very excited and happy for her.. and also very proud of our little shrink. God knows she's got enough crazy people in her family to practise on :P
Wednesday 21st May
The bride to be is feeling quite gracious today..
Thursday 22nd May
Went to vote with Father Dearest
The weather outside is AWFUL. and so we dressed accordingly :P
Friday 23rd May
Went to the Post-office with some more wedding cards to post before work and made friends with the Post-office People. They are lovely. And now they are invited to the wedding as well…. I think ALL of Maybole will probably be there if we're not careful. Since once more we are the only Pakistanis in the village (quick Little Britain reference here…)
they knew exactly who we were and how long we lived her for and what we all do. I wouldn't be surprised if they can hear us all the way to the high street- shouting to each other at home.
Saturday 24th May
Meher sent me this..
Sunday 25th May
THE ENTIRE FAMILY, including Poppet went to Glasgow today. As we drive there, I felt we had been magically transported to India during Monsoon season. The rain/hail/sleet was surprising, annoying and unwanted in the middle of May- this is what a Scottish summer looks like...
To be honest, I don't think this picture does justice to the hellish weather we endured.
We had an amazing time in Glasgow and got a lot of work done- most of the clothes and jewellery is finalised. Are we organised, or what?
Tonight we watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with Ayesha so she could be acquainted with all the references we continually make to the movie. This film will never get old and it will always be relevant to our family :P especially now that Meher is marrying "Xeno with the long hairs on top of his head"
Well, at least the "long hairs" part doesn't apply here :P
Monday 26th May
Seeing as how everyone seems to be writing and delivering their own sets of wedding cards, I decided to make some time and write my share and contacted all those lucky people who will be receiving cards from me. And so I septa most of the day getting all that sorted. They'll be in the post soon!!
83, 82, 81, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76. 75, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68…. 67 DAYS TO GO!!!
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