And I would walk 500 miles
03.05.07, 9:52 pm

Just got back from voting � the bloody council officials there were on the biggest power trip ever, and totally loving bossing everyone around. Anyone�d think it was an MI5 operation, not just the tossing local elections.

I�ll just plunge in, because I get the feeling this entry will be lengthy with or without a load of premise. The three hour drive to Dumfries was as dull as it always is, and that was even with a sleep. Arrived at the house and stumbled into total nightmare situation � ten-person dinner party, which James and I had to join. There were five new family members to meet, and I was so overwhelmed I ended up telling James�s dad �Nice to meet you� when he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Everyone was totally pissed too, and w had to stay up socialising until gone midnight. Not a good start to the whole thing, as the inevitable happened.

Woke up on Friday morning feeling shaky, and by half ten felt exhausted. Sloped back off to bed feeling quite worried, but the extra sleep seemed to help and I felt a bit better afterwards. Had lunch and went off to get changed � James showed me all the components to his outfit, and seemed particularly proud of the little ribbon things that went on the side of his socks. Was all quite cute really. I was not allowed to play with the dagger that goes in the top of said socks.

Eventually everyone was ready, and we went outside for group photos � weather was sunny and warm, thankyou God. We arrived at the church and I was immediately immersed in Scotland central. Technically it was half Scottish and half Irish (Scottish bride, Irish husband, hence 150 Irish flew over the previous night), but there was tartan everywhere. There was also a bloody piper standing 6 inches away who would not shut up. Anyway, I met roughly 900 family members whose names I instantly forgot, and did a lot of standing around feeling slightly awkward.

Got in the church and was subjected to a Church of Scotland/Catholic hybrid wedding ceremony. Thankfully it was over pretty soon, but as tea wasn�t until six we then had to stand around outside again, and do more awkward small talk. I slowly got more tired and more grumpy. Finally, FINALLY, we got the call for tea, and me and James were plunked down on a tale containing James�s sister, cousin and five Irish strangers. By a horrible twist of fate, the guy on my right looked exactly like Paddy and was called Patrick� the only difference being that he was Irish. Think he became a little concerned about me too, as I kept trying to fall asleep between courses.

ANYWAY, once I�d completely rammed myself with food and got through the speeches, James dragged me onto the dance floor and made me ceilidh dance. I am pleased to report that I did two dances and did them brilliantly. Really, I could be one of those scary children you see on those Channel 4 documentaries, with the granddad haircuts and the pushy parents, doing expert traditional dance competitions and secretly hating every minute of it. Except I didn�t hate it. Because I was that good.

Thankfully the band soon switched to cheesy 70s music, and I reverted back to my usual dance style � wave arms about, step from side to side and bellow the song lyrics in the other person�s face. I danced with James�s dad to Build Me Up Buttercup (ha!) and then everyone got a bit too excited when they played The Proclaimers. Finally got home at half one in the morning, and James drunkenly told me that he �loved me so much� just before I went to bed. We have graduated from �I love you� to �I love you so much�. It�s still quite scary. Was totally exhausted the next day, but not horrifically so, so I�m definitely on the mend.

The other big event was that I took James off to meet my gran last night. All in all things went pretty well, despite my gran dropping a big awkward silence quite early on. I quite innocently remarked, �I was just saying, there�s no embarrassing photos of me about. In fact there�s hardly any in general� to which she said, �No, well most of them were of people who were dead, and I didn�t fancy it anymore. There was Bernie, your mum and Audrey (my aunt), and so I just took them down.� I mean, what the hell do you say to that? Plus I don�t really agree� I�d never take my mum�s photos down, because she, and all that happened, is too big a part of the reason I am the person I am. Despite that part everything else was good, and she appears to approve of my choice. Visiting made me feel awful though, but that�s a story for another entry because this one�s getting huge.

Finally, our SSc student came into the lab today and gave us a big cake that she�d baked, to say thankyou for all the help we�d given her with her research project. It was very cute and made me feel all fuzzy inside. And now I�m off to cook some tea and watch Spideman (Channel 5 US, 9pm for any fellow Spidey fans.) Here are some wedding photos for you to enjoy � as my gran said, �[I] don�t look too bad to say the dress only cost a tenner.�

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