The good morning, good night thread

[Geoff_N]

There we were tonight in Tesco, standing at the salad racks. My wife had a list: humous, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, carrots and mixed leaf salad --- for 85 people.  Gulp - and 84 more gulps.

My daughter, now back from her Cyprus honeymoon has hired Chester Guild Hall - a 700 year old building - for her reception / party. We've been running around like bees in a tulip field collecting the cake (I thought I'd just go to Marks & Spencers, pick it up and carry it across town to the car, but it came in 3 heavy boxes!), candles, round table cloths, the DJ's kit - aaarrrggh. I thought that at least the Guild Hall keeper, when he said I'd have a key, would give me one of those 8 inch long heavy iron keys, but no it was a yale.

and I thought we'd have less to do as they grew up...

Geoff

[Ed]

Sounds like quite a do, Geoff - I don't think I even know 85 people. Me and the Mrs barely managed to fill a skittle alley for our wedding reception do

I hope you all have a good night

[Geoff_N]

Gaynor and I don't know half these wedding party folk, Ed. Many are work colleagues of Eleanor's (imagine a room full of accountants and tax adviers!) and family members of both - though we've only met the groom's mother. Now, my wife has ordered me to have a bulging wallet so I can buy folk their first drinks, etc, but guess who won't be able to have a drink cos he's driving on and off all night! Oh well, good job we only have one daughter, so the proverbial boat may as well be pushed out. 

[Ed]

A room full of accountants and tax advisors sounds like my idea of hell, actually I'll always remember walking into my accountant's office and catching the tail end of a joke, to which the punchline was, "He wrote 29.6 in the box!!!" At this point they practically wet their pants laughing, slapped the desk and rolled around in their chairs, with tears rolling down their ruddy cheeks. The laughter was infectuous, but I had a feeling I wouldn't have found the joke funny itself. They're on a different wavelength from me, I think

I'm sure they'll be a good bunch with a few drinks in them, though - unlikely to get rowdy. I hope you all have a great time pushing that boat

[Ed]

Seems ever so quiet here today. Dunno if it's just that I've spent too much time online, or what. Weekends always seem a bit like that.

I had the perfect opportunity to sit and write in peace today, but I mooned around a bit, surfed the internet, watched a film or two, had a snooze, watered the plants in the greenhouse and achieved absolutely nothing. I feel kind of guilty about that, but at the same time I've been feeling very tired lately, so I think maybe it's just as well that I've had a couple of lazy days and a bit more sleep than usual. I've eaten well, too. I've sat in the sun and felt its warmth. Planted things that will grow and give me pleasure later in the year. It's all too easy to put your head down and rush from weekend to weekend without stopping to appreciate the things you strive to attain, I think. So maybe this weekend hasn't been wasted after all....

[Geoff_N]

Well, my daughter's wedding celebration party swung along fine. I had no idea accountants and financial advisers could be so jolly! Even daughter's main boss man turned up, meeting me and Gaynor for the first time, telling us what a great job we did to rear such a hard-working and clever kid.    I had to stay sober to drive my ancient in-laws (who stayed until 2 am) and others around, but I still was in the mood for cavorting.

The only sour note was the next morning my daughter discovered that some of the gift envelopes had gone missing. Some rat had taken advantage of our admitted lapse in security on the gift table. And one of the envelopes missing was from her boss. So today daughter has to tell him in case there was a cheque inside for him to stop. I'm going to the Guild Hall this morning to see if it had fallen behind the large table, which was difficult to look under because of drapes and darkness. Also the staff need to know that it may be one of them, though it is a grim possibility too that one of the guests left with more than my paid-for wine inside them. I've told my daughter to focus on the good and exhilirating aspects of the evening rather than the spoiling. Not easy though is it?

Geoff

[Ed]

Sorry to hear that, Geoff - hard to believe there are such scumbags out there. I hope they get what they deserve. Like you say, though - it's best to dwell on happier thoughts. It sounds like the evening went well and you all enjoyed yourselves

[Ed]

Time for bed

[delph_ambi]

Fifteen hours of art exams start in one hour's time. Wish me luck! (It's not all in one go, luckily; five hours today, another five on Friday and the last five on next Monday.)

[Ed]

Good luck, Delph   I'm sure you won't need it, though

[delph_ambi]

Thanks Ed. Managed to get all the underpainting (in acrylics) done in this first five hour session, which leaves me ten hours to top coat (in oils) the picture and write a brief evaluation. Should manage, but the hours fly by horribly quickly.

[Ed]

Sounds like quite a challenge. Do you think it's a fair measure of an artist's worth, though? It strikes me that the Sistine Chapel would have looked a tad different if Michaelangelo was working to the clock

[delph_ambi]

It's fair enough, because the qualification is based on an evaluation of the entire year's work, of which the timed assessment is just one element.

[Ed]

Ah right, I see what you mean. This coursework thing being taken into account is a good idea, I think, especially for those people who suffer badly from exam nerves. Good luck on the next two bits

[Ed]

Heh... shouldn't laugh, really, but my wife said she heard on the news that James Blunt broke a finger during a concert, because he jumped off the stage and nobody caught him

I expect they were either too busy slashing their wrists, or they couldn't uncross their arms in time. Even after he was flat out on the deck clutching his hand, I bet 99% of them were still staring at the stage through their valium haze 'enjoying' the silence. I bet he was a whiny kid