The thing is, keeping up with a blog while on holiday is really hard.

Quickly:

1. My brother's wedding went perfectly. My new sister Charity was simply GORGEOUS. She had a long veil that trailed the floor. Everything was great, except my shoes.

2. Being at home with my parents was wonderful. I love my family. I miss them again already.

3. Sleeping in living rooms with a husband is awkward. I feel guilty for cuddling.

4. I love being back in Fayetteville. I'll be here for the week. I'll try to see all you Fayettevillians while I'm here. But Amanda doesn't have a phone so getting in touch will be a chore. I'll figure it out though.

5. Thursday Scott and I are going to stay at Carnall Hall, where we stayed during out honeymoon. The receptionist is gonna try to get us the same room and everything. It's gonna be romantical.

6. We're spending waaayyy too much money. Ouch. But we're having fun, and we have until September (our anniversary) to pay some of this off. Hopefully we'll pay off enough to do something small and nice for our One Year. In the mean time, I'm enjoying all the new clothes and CDs. :)

7. Amanda's dog Apple is a sweetie pie. A sweetie apple pie.

We'll update some more when we get back home. I've taken only like one picture so I'll get to work on that and post some pics when we get home, too.

Arkansas

Hi everyone,

Just letting you guys know that we are still alive. We're staying at Lori's parents house, so the dial-up connection deterred us from posting ;). We're DSL snobs these days.

We've been having fun so far, getting haircuts, seeing movies, getting our Lori's nails done. The movie we went to see was Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, which was rather good, to my surprise. I was expecting it to be a complete disaster, but aside from Depp's version of Mr Wonka, I was pleasantly surprised.

Today is when we get busy. Setting up for the wedding (which is tomorrow), doing the rehearsal, doing the rehearsal dinner, then the wedding tomorrow.

Sunday morning we head to Fayetteville (where Lori went to college). Amanda is kindly putting us up for the best part of a week. Very good of her. Are there any good shows on this week? I'm off to look.

Cheerio.

¿Es Unas Lobas?

Before you say anything, I know that actually doesn't mean anything, and what it almost means is "Is that a wolf?" It's a not-really-that-funny inside joke.

I've been fascinated lately by Central and South American culture. I've been obsessing over Mexican food, Gabriel García Márquez, Pablo Neruda, the Spanish language and accent, right down to the salsa ringtone on my mobile. I just think the Latin American culture is so much more... alive and advanced and natural than, say, North American culture. Latin American women feel comfortable and sexy with full figures, men are men and women are women, the love poetry is large and robust and full of passion, the dances are sensual and classy and skillful. Compare that to the United States where women are pressured into being walking sticks, many men aren't men and most women aren't women, the love poetry is plebian and unconvincing, and the dancing is, well, just sex-standing-up.

Not that I know really all that much about the culture; I've only visited a couple of times, Venezuela when I was twelve (and I barely remember it) and Mexico twice when I was older. But it fascinates me regardless. I am excited about delving into the literature and music and history of South and Central America (particularly the Carribean), and I think I'll make chalupas for dinner.

Welcome us back into your lives...

Hello, my friends. I'm back from Neverland.

It's been awhile since I/we've posted, I know. I've been incredibly busy; it's wonderful! My job is getting so much better. I come into work in the mornings and don't even have time to check my daily blogs! I've been so super busy working on the school magazine. I wish I could post some sample pages for you - I might try that. I've never had so much fun. Each page of the magazine feels like a piece of artwork to me, that must be precise and perfect and visually stimulating. The actual content of the magazine is hard to make interesting, but that's part of why I love this job so much... it's a challenge! I actually have to work hard, and I don't get it all done in a day! The mag is over 100 pages, and I have strict guidelines of how many pages each section can take up, and each section has allotted at least three too few pages, so it's a lot of work getting it to look right without being too cluttered. Anyway, it's great fun, and I love it.

I've also been busy at home. I've been more motivated lately to keep the house clean now that Scott and I have exchanged chores. I now do the dishes, and he does the floors. Doing the dishes every day and making the kitchen look clean everyday motivates me to get the rest of the house up to par, so I've been dusting and straightening and decluttering, and it's been such a feeling of relief.

Plus last week and this week, Scott's cousins are in town for camp. Last week Amy was here while Alex was at camp, and this week it's reversed. So a lot of our time was spent hanging out with Amy, which was fun. She and I watched The Very Long Engagement, which was very good, and Scott joined us for Spanglish which we also thought was very good. Unfortunatley, both has awkward sex scenes in which I had to cover Amy's eyes for fear of being clawed to death by her mother. This week we'll have Alex to entertain which will be a lot more energy-consuming. Amy's quiet and easy-going; Alex is talkative and wild. I love them both.

My sister-in-law and her bf are visiting this weekend, too, which has been good. Good to see them a bit. And of course the brother-in-law and his gf are still here, so that's two more people we've been busy hanging out with. And I spent an evening with a new friend and her baby, and that was the best. Her baby is such a sweet little boy. He splashed his bath water all over me, and then I gave him a bottle. Mmm... babies. Her husband likes video games even more than mine, so she and I are going to form a support group for Wives With Gaming Husbands (WWGH).

And for the best news, I leave for Arkansas on Friday! I can't believe it's come so soon! I have so much to do before then: finish as much as possible on the magazine, pack, get last minute stuff, get Matt and Charity's wedding present, get the laundry done (so I'll have clothes to pack), get the garden done before I leave for two weeks, etc. Busy busy, but great!

So that's my excuse for why I haven't written.

I'm not going to say anything about London. Nothing can be said that hasn't been said by better men than me. It was a terrible thing.

But what else can you say when you start a blog that way? Better to say nothing.

Independence Day

"Oh, say, can you see...?"

Happy 4th o' July, ye Americans.

No, Scotland doesn't have an Independence Day - think about it.

I bought my plane ticket. I'm off the the Land of Opportunity (Arkansas's original motto, stolen by the US because it was so dang catchy) in two weeks. I'm looking forward to Taco Bell, Dixie Cafe and Wal*Mart.

"...for the Land of the Free! And the Home of the Brave..."

The 16:05 Service to LaLaLand, Calling All Stations Via Airhead and Space Cadet...

Friday was the beginning of the summer holidays at the school, so we members of staff are now on holiday hours, 9-4. However, it being a Friday and the first day after school letting out, the Bursar let us all go at 3. Excellent! I'd be home by 4 (because the way the trains work, if I take the train that leaves on the hour, I can catch the Express to Greenock, getting me home half an hour earlier than if I took the long train). We packed up and left at precisely 3. Unfortunately, however, I was too late getting to the station and missed the 15:07 train to Glasgow Central, meaning I had to wait after all to catch the 15:37. Getting off work at 4 would've gotten me home by 5, but the 15:37 would now get me home at 5, too. Ah well.

At Glasgow Central I waited for the platform to be announced for the Gourock train. Platform 7. I got on the train, showed my ticket to the inspector and settled in for the long 45 minute journey to Greenock. I took out my journal and began jotting down some ideas for poems. I became fairly engrossed in my thoughts and started scribbling line after line after line of prenatal poetry. I happened to look out the window at one stop and made a mental note of how much longer it would be until I got home. I went back to my journal and became completely lost in my work.

Suddenly, the inspector came back through. I glanced up and smiled and went back to my work. He stopped in front of me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Hmm? What?"

"Where were you supposed to get off?"

I looked about me. I didn't realise the train had even stopped. "Wha... Where am I? I was supposed to get off at Greenock." I glanced all about, thinking I must've ridden all the way to Gourock.

"You're at Glasgow Central."

I laugh. "What? No really, huh?"

"I assure you, you are at Glasgow Central."

"I... but I... I got on at Glasgow Central!"

The inspector looked at me questioningly, then realised my mistake and grinned. "You were supposed to get on the rear train for Greenock."

Suddenly I remembered there being another train at the platform. I'd gotten on the second one. "Damn it!" I exclaimed.

"If you hurry, you can catch the half past train."

I gathered my things and darted off the (wrong) train. I missed the half past and had to wait until 5 to catch the next train.

I didn't get home until a quarter to 6.

Good thing I got off work early, huh?