A little too much?

Well, what happened?  I was trolling aforementioned website and clicked on a recent heavy duty wedding article.  Lots of fun pictures! yay! I do enjoy the wonder of these big, themed, ridiculously expensive weddings.  However, as I scrolled down the page at probably picture 50 or so, something hit me.  It didn't feel pleasurable looking at this beautiful couple on their fated day.  I am a big pro-marriage person and I am pretty certain mine will be a classy affair...but this, just, felt, wrong.  Maybe it was the wedding. Maybe I am just a kill joy. But at what point is it all a little too much?  In this part of the world it is important to celebrate our culture by having a traditional wedding as well as the religious wedding (Christian/ Muslim).  Now we have added pre-engagement parties, first meeting of the family parties, thanksgiving ceremony parties, post-wedding parties... I like to think that whichever god the couple worships, if any, won't be fooled by serial excuses to have a party.  And the expense! I'll get to that later.  Ok, you are having a themed, destination wedding. Brilliant! Romantic! For say 200 guests and there will be costumes, boats, ballerinas, doves, tigers, lions.  Salsa dancers, marimba, mixologists, desert stations etc.  All lovely in and of themselves, if this was a private thing with your family and friends.  However, when you decide to invade public space by publishing all these celebrations in a glossy in print or on the interweb then you are saying something. And what is it exactly you are saying....and who are you saying it to?  I cannot deny anyone the right to spend their money in any way they see fit.  I am just a little wary that in a bid to outdo each other in the way weddings are handled in these gossip rags, we might loose sight of what's real and important.  Two people who are making a lifelong (supposedly) commitment to each other.  It is a huge step.  Take a week or month or year of celebrations to mark it if you want, but the public may soon stop being positive about these dream weddings.  Let's see. I have been accused of being a kill joy before.

Oh and I did post a comment on the site along the lines of  'this is a fantastic wedding but a Cinderella coach? come on now'.  Needless to say, the moderator did not post my comment

The absence of

Seeing as this blog started off as an account of my past / non-existent relationships, an update is needed.  I have recently taken to trolling the relationship column of a very popular internet blog locally.  I just wanted to see what the pulse was like amongst women of my age group when it came to the going and getting.  It seems we all travail the same waters.  Everyone and their dog is obsessed with giving advice about this relationship or that relationship.  I will be wary not to start giving my own advice.  I am thoroughly clueless.

I am sure of one thing though.  I am good at making friends and keeping them.  I have been accused of being too quick to leave off some people, but the truth is I am and have always been shy.  If someone and I (male or female) are truly on the same wavelength then I have absolutely no problem hounding them to keep in touch.  It doesn't require hounding in most cases.  If the person is a friend but I have my reservations, then I will politely let them be. Besides, sometimes it is wise to leave some people out of the inner workings of your life if they are not a positive influence. Why all this palava I hear you say?  Well, I succumbed and spoke to my ex, yes, the whore.  And his girlfriend by the way.  It was a lovely 1 hour chat and reminded me of why we became friends in the first place.  We did always have good banter and it is so unforced!  This happened on Sunday.  However, on Saturday night I went out to dinner with my best friend and brother and a pal came by.  I refuse to accept that Nigerian boys are just flirty without an agenda cos man, If I wasn't verily a woman who can stand her own I would have been taken in by his advances.  You know what?  I'll have to go over the evening with an objective second party and get back to you.

The wearer of many hats

So, a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.  New job, new office, better pay (although, heaven help me it's been spent already).  One of my closest friends has moved to this way and I am very excited.  It must be said that kindred spirits are not to be scoffed at.  Very few people I have met since coming here would willingly go to the mall sans make up in an old t-shirt and purple  3/4 length jeans.  She also has a new job, new albeit noisy office and better pay.  Her beloved will be heading down to 'Africa' as well, yay, and is still insisting on putting off children till erm 2018 thereabouts.  All this would be perfectly reasonable if he were older than her, but boys tend to forget that there can be an expiry date on the freshness of eggs.  No pressure.

I start German classes today, yay!  In my master-plan to take over the world and return to Europe to make it happen, I've decided that French is not enough.  They are the biggest economy in Europe and heaven knows they are organized.  I have also decided to fix my car.  It is a ten year old Audi A3/4; the mind wanders, and it has lacked love and attention for many a year.  My entire driving radius is limited to the islands.  My blood pressure would sky-rocket if I experimented with driving on the mainland, besides, who do I know there? The problem is that you always feel like you are being duped by mechanics no matter where you live.  They tell you it will be ready on Tuesday... more realistically it will be ready on Friday.  Once I've figured out how to post pictures...you'll see.

Exercising and eating well is getting better.  I am now cooking all my meals from scratch and attempting to use my elliptical trainer 3 times a week. It is a struggle to stay fit here because no one walks anywhere.  And why would they?  There are barely any sidewalks.  Not to mention that I have a desk job and it costs too much to replace clothing because there are very few reasonably priced retailers.  I am not ridiculously flush and I still have to buy my clothes in England and get them posted here.  Hence, gaining any more weight would be a nightmare of epic proportions.  Oh and while I am ranting about 'health' related issues... what is it with women here and crazy expensive hair extensions, crikey!

In other news, my boss is very pregnant.  That's all I'm gonna say.