Lego!
I am twenty six years old.
This is how I spent my evening.
I had a lot of Lego as a kid. My nappy bucket (having done it's duty and been thoroughly cleansed) subsequently became the Lego bucket - fifty or sixty litres of Lego, some from kits, some in bulk, all of it well loved. At about thirteen or fourteen, when I hadn't played with it in years, Mum suggested - completely well-meaning - that I might want to consider giving it to a couple of young lads, whose parents weren't terribly well off. At seven and four, respectively, they'd get more use out of it than I did. I agreed, and boy oh boy, those kids were SO HAPPY. I got thanked, again and again, for about six months thereafter.
I regret getting rid of the Lego now. It made sense at the time, but I do wish we'd kept it.
One of my fondest memories of my father isn't really based on the recollection I have from childhood, but what I remember being told about it later. I love Lego. Always have. And when I was three or four, Dad bought the Lego police station.
Now, the Lego police station in 1988 was a bit different to the Lego of today. There was a helicopter, for a start, which the modern station doesn't have (much to my disgust). It was seriously cool. And Dad happily hauled all the parts out of the box, and started building my Lego! I toddled over to 'help', as small children do, and was politely told to go and help my mother.
I, being an obedient and sweet child, toddled off to Mum. When asked exactly why I was there instead of playing with 'my' new Lego, I innocently explained that Daddy said Mummy needed my help!
I was promptly frogmarched back to my father, who had it explained to him that it would be very nice if he would perhaps play with the Lego, with his daughter, with the Lego that he had, of course, bought FOR his daughter, hadn't he?
I remember, from the time, the bouncing between my parents that day (mostly because OMGSQUEELEGOSQUEE); as an older child / adult I've come to appreciate the real humour of the incident. Poor Dad, just wanting to play with the Lego he'd really bought for himself, on the excuse of having a four year old.
As far as I'm concerned, one of the advantages of being an adult is that I'm allowed to act like a child if I want to. Tobermory and I spent a day of our honeymoon at Legoland Windsor. We elected not to go on any of the rides in the end - it was a pleasant day walking around in the sunshine, we squeed at Miniworld, and spent far too long in the Lego store.
There was a child of about six in the store while we were there. He came in, and promptly lost his tiny little mind in utter glee - "look theres the! and the! and the!!! and!!!! and look!!!!!! andtheandthis!!! and look Mum this!!!! LOOOK!!!!!!! and eee! and the eee!!! eeee loook!!!!!"
You get the drift. His parents were looking a bit shamefaced, though I don't understand why, so I commented fairly loudly that it was lovely to see such a happy kid. Hopefully they heard.
So, Tobes and I spent about, oh, forty five minutes in the store. We came home with the Police station, the current one. It won't be the same as the one I remember, but I'm pleased to have it.
And, uh, we bought the Fire Station too. It just didn't all fit in the luggage. My mother in law is posting the rest home.
Moving on up…
I rang my boss this morning, Kiwi time (it's 9pm in Britain).
I've formally accepted an offer of employment from someone else; so I've handed in my resignation. I fly home, work for my soon-to-be-ex-employer for a few weeks, and then I'm off to something new.
It's been an interesting process, actually. A couple of weeks before we flew out, a recruiter contacted me; the company in question were SO KEEN on me that they asked if I would be willing to interview via Skype whilst in the UK.
Under the circumstances, I felt quite free to be entirely honest about my own abilities, to insist on a few things (like a seven-week notice period, so that I could finish my holiday in peace and spend some time tying up loose ends); the confidence of already having a job seems to have paid off, because I've ended up with a fairly significant pay rise, no more shift work, and a few other things.
A technical interview over webcam was an experience that I found amusing. I don't know that I'd want to do it again, but it was most definitely entertaining.
I'm actually quite sad. I've really enjoyed this job; mostly I've had good experiences, my colleagues have usually been good, and the management has been good all along.
So. Moving into a new job is going to be really weird; I've been with my current company three years, and I'm comfortable there. Well, obviously not so comfortable that I wasn't happy to accept a new job, but...
Wibble? Yay?
We’re married!
It was an amazing day. Everyone was incredibly welcoming and really made an effort on our behalf.
And it was overwhelming, with 70-odd guests I'd never met before. I didn't cry during the service, although it was a bit of a near thing; I got through the vows without choking, although it may have helped that the entire church cracked up laughing when Tobermory repeated the "I promise to listen to what you have to say" bit.
As the bells started pealing as we walked out of the church, I did lean on Tobermory's shoulder a little and cry.
He looked fantastic in the morning suit. My dress got muddy, but there should be some lovely photos - the ones I've seen off the best man's camera and sister-in-law's boyfriend's camera are great.
It feels like we're actually married, now. We've been legal for two months, but this was... real, somehow, in a way the legalities weren 't.
Now to learn to think of myself as "wife".