Addictions

So tell me, what is it about facebook that is so addictive?!! I have spent the best part of 12 hours the last 2 days "fiddling" around with it and I still haven't had enough! I should have been doing the first assignment of my certificate in sport qualification but was distracted, indefinitely on Sunday. Must try harder, this will never do.

On a positive note I did run 7km this morning before work!!! Great North Run training is going well me thinks. If anyone wants to sponsor me they can... I am raising money for the MS Society. Pledge online: www.justgiving.co.uk/kathrynfrench

Is it just me?!!

I spent the day at home today... had lots of plans, things to do but ended up "pottering" about. Achieved next to nothing, except moving paperwork from several piles to be filed to just one. Did a bit of laundry and put some stuff away but nothing in relation to the to do list I had chalked up at the start of the day. What I really meant to do was sort out all our honeymoon pictures and finish off the scrapbook/journal from that and the wedding day!

Maybe I'm just not very organised. Maybe I am too easily distracted. Maybe, secretly I was hoping Andrew would do all the things I hadn't when I get in from work later! Maybe that's wishful thinking - LOL!!!

Will be posting some stuff about the honeymoon soon - just to say it was the most amazing holiday I have ever had!

He's all mine....

Wow, what a day!!! SO much happened - some planned, some a surprise but it was all wonderful. Getting ready was absolute mayhem as a result I think from taking such a relaxed start to the day. The photographer arrived to take some pictures then time just melted away... we got dressed headed down to the waiting car (surprise number 1 organised by Andrew's boss - a Bentley). Waived off the bridesmaids and my Mum before Dad and I made a slow trip along the road to the church. I was early and caught everyone off guard!!! No way I was gonna be late - I was too excited! As we rolled up outside the church the bells were peeling (surprise number 2 organised by Andrew's Mum and Dad) which started me crying!

Dad, as tradition dictates, escorted me up the aisle. When we get to the top Andrew turns to me and say "cor, you look nice" - his usual chilled out self. We sang a hymn I wobbled though my vows with Andrew trying to stop me from crying (tears of joy or course) and then we were married. I couldn't believe it we still had 2 hymns, the sermon and the register signing to go!!! Having met the vicar a few times and after the hilarious rehearsal we should have realised that the vicar would remain slightly mad for the actual day... He went on for ages, luckily neither Andrew or I noticed we were too busy giggling like newly weds - funny that.

We left the church to the sound of the bells and headed for more pictures around the back of the church, confetti and a pelting with rice!!! Then to the reception venue for speeches and food, dancing and cake, fireworks and champagne, then finally to bed. Definitely the most amazing day of my life. If you find "the one" grab on with both hands!!

If you want to look at more pictures log onto www.myshoot.co.uk. Look for Mr & Mrs French, the ID is FRENCH, the password is T55X.

3 Hen Nights?!!!

I know it's been a while, so there is plenty to say. I shall break it up into "events". So story one... my Hen Nights!

THE OFFICIAL HEN NIGHT: Of course me + a night out cannot begin without the all important bottle or two of Smirnoff Ice (well seems to be the case at the moment anyway!!!). Slapped on some paint and twizzled my hair a bit, the girls arrived and off we went on the town. We started with a very civilised dinner at a restaurant called Mu Mu, champagne cocktails, lots of wine, the obligatory gay waiter (these posh places all seem to have one), mixed in with some delicious food and plenty of laughing. Once we had our fill we moved onto the bar where these was another hen party, but they unlike us so-fist-tea-cats, they had L plates, balloons, net curtains and all that other crap that goes with hen nights. Not my style, and luckily my mates listened... this time!!. We tried to steal some balloons, no idea why, they weren't having none of it and rather than start a fight (they were proper rough) I buckled and gave them back - stroppy moos! We headed for the club I had selected to which we had VIP entrance, a private booth for 10 people and our own waiter. Told you we were sophisticated! They even threw in some sweeties. So we drank some more and danced a bit, got hit on by some mingers which we had dealt with by our waiter - well, they gate crashed our booth so I had to flex my hen muscles by complaining. Then suddenly it was very late so we summoned our carriages and headed home for cups of tea, toast and then bed.

BOWLING: The girls and boys from work took Andrew and I out for bowling. Sadly I had forgotten how truly bad at bowling I was. Had I have known I would never have subjected myself to the embarrassment! Luckily they had a bar, unfortunately they mad me worse... some people are just born to sports others of us are better off cheering from the sidelines.

QUIET DRINKS WITH THE GIRLS THE NIGHT BEFORE: The night before the wedding I headed into town to have my nails done and had promised the girls I would meet then for a drink (or two) at around 5pm. Dutifully I headed over there to collect them and head to the pub. Sadly I forgot to brief them on my fear of hen party dressing up... So they presented me with a set of red sequined horns, tail and bow tie!!! The worse thing about it was I was wearing a red cardigan and red shoes so it all looked like we'd planned it together. So I walked through town dressed up as a red devil, people in cars hooting their horns at me. Not really the look I was going for but I had a great laugh anyway!!!!

So that was the pre-wedding celebrations. Bring on the wedding....

Party on Wayne....

Well that's another birthday out of the way... but boy did the celebrations last! They started Friday night with a nice dinner at home and some champagne with the lovely Andrew. Saturday saw the arrival of Andrew's stag activities, my Mum and bestest friend from school, Kelly.

Saturday started with breakfast and present opening with Andrew. He then headed out for the day to go quad biking with the lads. Mum arrived, queue more present opening then we "popped" into town to get David fitted for his wedding suit and buy Mum's final Mother of the Bride outfit accessory - the all important handbag. We did a bit of traipsing, but soon found a perfect bag. Although we did look like shoplifters, taking the bag outside to daylight to compare it against the outfit... several bags later we decided on a lovely satin, scrunched, dark maroon (and a bit brown), clutch bag. Not a very good description I know!!! We even got a discount due to a small (and I mean almost pin prick size) mark on it... I pushed Mum to ask for money off if they didn't have a new one out the back. They didn't, and the result? A huge 25% discount!!! She's good. This is a new phase of mine to blag discounts at every given opportunity... Bought some new shoes in the sale, they were £35 reduced to £15 and I blagged another 10% off!!! To some it just comes naturally I guess....

Shopping done, we headed home to find Kelly and Will had arrived. Andrew was also back so we had lunch, drank copious amounts of tea. Then the boys got ready and went out for a Thai dinner and plenty of beer! We headed to the shop to select our tipple for the evening. Then we got a Chinese and settled in for the night. Chatting, monopoly and MTV were added to the mix and after 24 bottles of Smirnoff Ice, a Chinese and some popcorn we were drunk, full and had the giggles - we had a brilliant time!! Midnight came and went and the boys rolled in at just after 1am, at which point we all wobbled to our respective beds.

Sunday morning some were nursing hangovers (well Andrew anyway) which were soon fixed by the arrival of my Dad and little brother Martin, who had been at the Stag do the night before. Obviously that meant even more present opening! I am so spoiled... and I love it!!! We decided to have an impromptu BBQ, and to smoke out the neighbours by lighting up the chimnea (which to be honest has never worked particularly well - but still be persist). Once the meat bit was out of the way we melted marshmallows on sticks summer camp stylee until we felt sick! Then everyone headed off home, leaving us to wash up!

A very successful birthday and stag weekend! This weekend (12th) sees the long awaited Hen Night.... Antics to follow!!

Happy Birthday?!!

I knew he was up to something, just couldn't figure it out. But all became clear on Thursday night....

Andrew had sent me a text during the day requesting that we go for a walk after tea. Not so unusual for us except I knew I would be late back from work as I was going to the gym and by the time we had tea I knew it would be pushing 8.30pm. Nether the less I agreed, the evening had cooled off a lot but it was still quite balmy.

No sooner had I put my fork down Andrew utters "come on then, get your shoes on". Obligingly I follow orders, shoes and jacket on, plates in the kitchen ready for a leisurely stroll around the block. Not so... Andrew pushes me out the door, grabs my hand and starts marching! At this point I'm starting to wonder what this is all about. "Slow down - there's no rush" I say, shortly followed by "why are we going this way?" as we head across the grass to the car park. Then Andrew stops dead between 2 cars, fiddles in his pocket, the side lights flash on a car, then quiet as a mouse he says "Happy Birthday, my love". He did it again... just like the engagement, I was gobsmacked!!

I am now the proud owner of an MPV - a Citroen Xsara Picasso and it's purple! A very sensible choice you may think. Well I am getting married, we are planning a family (not immediately put I'm a planner what can I say), and the Polo was/is getting very tired. I've been out in it today, and the things I have learnt are:
- VERY sensitive accelerator pedal/clutch (stalled it quite a few times, thank goodness Andrew was out working and wasn't there to ridicule me)
- it's much smaller than you think it is when parking in Supermarket car parks (I ended up more out of the space than in as I wasn't sure how big my nose was).
- it makes me fell tall. How did I manage all these years stuck down at gutter level in a car?!!
- now I own one I realise everyone else has them too!

I feel a road trip coming on - who wants me?!!!

Any special requests?

So my boss said to me on Wednesday, "you're getting married next month!" the result was me freezing on the spot and looking somewhat gobsmacked - so I am told. Having recovered from my weak knees I realised she was right. I've been so busy counting off the weeks (7 to go...), that I completely forgot that it really is just around the corner.

To help me on the way though I now have Hen Events as opposed to a Hen Night... It all started with wanting to go to London. Lou & Kelly have organised something top secret which I am told will be right up my street/my cuppa tea/etc. I.E. no "L" plates, fake net curtain veils, or plastic willies! I thought I would so something local too as it could be expensive for some and others have children to worry about so a night away would not be the most relaxing for them!!! So that gave me 2 Hen nights... Now work have organised something for me (and Andrew too), which brings me up to 3!!! Anymore partying and I'll be too tired to get married. Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining, it's really great having lots of people help me celebrate my impending marriage. Better get some wine in to start practising... Told you the "never again" feeling would wear off!!


Jane - your comments have been both amusing and reassuring, thank you!

Mark - as it's Easter this weekend I can definitely talk about chicks without anyone getting the wrong impression. As for the beer and footy - I drank some last night and watched the "highlights" of the Man U game on the news! Does that count?!!

Glad Rags & Hangovers

Today I am suffering with the hangover from hell, which has left me with the all too familiar feeling of "never again"!! It was the annual awards dinner at the hotel, and although I am now only part-time I threw myself into the party spirit with great gusto. But now that I am a light weight when it comes to the booze (2 glasses of wine REALLY is my limit now) today was hard.

Especially when I woke to find Andrew had left me a list of chores! I took the day off from my real job as I knew that I would end up feeling like this and therefore completely useless at work. My list comprised of many things only 2 and a half that I managed to complete. The hardest being grocery shopping. It's so hard to concentrate on buying food when you've had 2 hours sleep (I jest if course... it just felt like it). What made it so hard was not spotting the bargains, picking out the best cuts of meat or even finding a parking space. It was all down to 1 item on the list, scrawled neatly in Andrews writing the word WINE. The last thing I wanted to do was select some finely trodden fruit...! I did it though - courageous me. But what a punishment!

Still I looked really pretty in my new dress, had a handsome man on my arm, was nominated for an award (didn't win - but still really pleased to be short listed), and won a 2 night stay in Edinburgh in the raffle. That'll do pig....

Grumpy bridesmaids, crazy vicars and posh florists!

Been a weird few days, and it's all been wedding stuff.

The first thing was bridesmaid dress shopping on Saturday. Louize's 11 year old daughter, Helena, has agreed (along with my big sister Caroline and my best mate from high school, Kelly) to be bridesmaid. The 2 big girls were easy... I bought the dresses with shoes to match, told them they were wearing them and have since sent them off to have them tweaked to fit! Little consultation involved and both were (lucky for me) willing to bow to my demands. I have such wonderful friends! Helena on the other hand has been a little less easy to please... To cut a long story short we trudged around 2 huge shopping malls and ended up back in the shop we started in with the 3rd dress she tried on - mine and Louize's favourite choice. I'm sure she will come to love the dress, it's by no means hideous (I'm not mean), just not quite the fairy outfit she had imagined. So I've become evil Auntie Kat for the interim until she adjusts to the fact that it's my wedding and she will do as she is told. LOL! He day will come when she can do the exact same thing to her bridesmaids...

We met with our Vicar last night to discuss the service. He's a lovely man (retired teacher) but seems to go off on tangents about his daughters/sons/brothers/etc weddings (some I might add happened long before I was even born!!) when he's halfway through talking about something to do with ours. Very confusing and we had to pay real close attention, but this was made doubly hard sitting on a comfy chair in front of a roaring log fire with what seems like the onset of winter again outside! This aside I did enjoy "practising" some of the vows with Andrew... just hope we don't get the giggles like that on the day. So we know exactly where to stand/sit/walk as demonstrated through the wonderful "illustrations" with books, cups, coasters, pens and ribbons (I enjoyed this immensely, as I've been known to measure things with pillows and tissue boxes in the past - ask my mum!). Andrew thinks he's a mad old coot - which he is, but in a good way! He will only add to the fun of the day...

Today was a trip to the florist. Randomly plucked from a very small wedding fair a couple of weeks ago. Actually she was the only one there, she was free on our date, end of story! On my consultation today I discovered she had just finished flowers for Camilla Parker-Bowles (is she called that now - I lose track!). Whether she was just name dropping I don't know but I was still impressed!

Still, 9 weeks to go and counting...

I must have been mad!

Been thinking things over, and now that I have been officialy accepted into the Great North Run via the ballot I am starting to think again! It's not the weeks and months of training to come, the distance to travel to get to the event, it's not the thought of being exhausted afterwards. It's the orange vest!!! OMG!!! I wanted to run for a charity - I picked the MS Society (my Aunt has it really bad). Had I of known they would want me to wear such a hidoeus coloured vest... It's just that when I'm all hot, red faced and sweaty it's not gonna be a good look for me!

So the event is at the end of September, it's in Newcastle, the course is 13.1 miles long, my aim is to do it in around 2 hours. I have about 6 months (factoring out the wedding time!) - itis do-able though somewhat daunting.

It'll be fine - but ORANGE?!!! Oh dear....

And so it begins...

Firstly - this is the most up to date "us" picture we have. Taken in December 2006 at my works Christmas "do".

I feel very modern and hip now that I'm "blogging" - does that make me not so hip and modern now?!!!. Ah well, I thought this would be the best way to keep up to date with everyone and just a place to "think out loud". So do excuse any dodgy spellings should they arise, also it is worth pointing out that the thoughts and opinions expressed here are mine and my interpretation of Andrew's and may be incorrect, slightly rambling and in places a bit dull.

The wedding is getting closer and closer and I seem to me getting spottier by the day. Apparently, the doctor tells me today, I just need to relax a bit more and not get so stressed. That's not so easy when it feels like there are a millon and one things to think about, do and pay for! If it wasn't for Andrew laughing at me one minute and hugging me the next as I go through my roller coaster of emotions I don't know what I would do!

We had a meeting with the photographer last night. The number of things that I hadn't even given thought to is unreal! And all the "extras" he kept suggesting sounded brilliant and like must haves that, in his words, were reasonably priced. He's already getting over £1100 just for the regular bog standard stuff! As Andrew keeps pointing out to me... add the word wedding to anything and just increase the price by 50%. Next is the florist and vicar - both of these are cheap in comparison.

I have a few days off to relax (doctors orders) and unwind so I am going to make the most of them by doing relatively nothing. Ok, I'm gonna try!