Blogwebs....

(=cobwebs on your blog....)

Well, I'm not very good at blogging regularly, am I? I suppose I've been busy, in a way! As busy as someone without a job, who has a wedding coming up and a bunch of visa crap to get done (this is the bit I have been least busy with to be honest, 'cause I'm so FED UP of it that I now have brain block and I immedietly zone out when I start reading instructions and filling out forms!).

Been doing a fair bit of wedding stuff, fun stuff like decorating things and playing around with flowers and ribbons...I'm a girl, what can I say! ;) Everything is pretty much in order, we even worked on the ceremony and vows the other day...we like to do things really far in advance, you see ;) Even managed to get someone who was able to resize Chris' wedding ring (stupid UK->US size conversion) in a matter of days! It fits, it fits :P

We took one last trip to Houston to deliver boxes of stuff and my dress (so it's away from prying eyes ;) ). Of course this was another great weekend of eating tasty food, hanging out with family and playing spades. Eating tasty food stops here or my dress will probably not zip up and my dad will have to roll me up the aisle!!

Other news....I got my last box...FINALLY! It only took them 3 weeks to send it back from Trinidad but they did all the paperwork wrong, sent it in someone else's name so I had some issues when I needed to pick it up. Luckily sorted it out before the warehouse started charging me storage ('cause obviously it was totally my fault I couldn't pick it up!!). Paid yet more money to be allowed to take it home to find (most likely because it came from Trinidad this time) that US customs had gone through it with a fine tooth comb and not done a good job at all of repacking! Have to say I'm pretty glad that's all over. Just now got to chase up getting some money back (that I don't think I should have to have paid) and doing all the leg work to claim on insurance for the broken guitar case (yet another thing I can't be arsed with right now!).

My social security number arrived and as of yesterday I also now have a US bank account. How civilised :) Official people here like me better with a SSN, though the initial reaction to my foreignness in the bank yesterday didn't fill me with confidence but it all worked out ("So you don't have a Texas Drivers Licence?"..."No"..."or a US passport?"..."No"..."So you aren't a citizen?"...."No"...."You do have a social security number, right?"..."Yes"...."oh good, let me go and see if we can take this"...*runs off holding my passport like it's some object from outer space* :) ). Granted, she was actually a really nice and helpful woman. First experience of US banks = Very Good (this only applies to my new bank....Chris' current bank gets a big fat thumbs down....he's leaving them and coming with me ;) ).

Still having fun experiencing speaking to people here but I am getting more used to not being understood and shrugging it off more than I did before....it's really funny how often people actually say 'You say xxxx really funny!!' or actually just laugh when I talk and don't seem to think that's pretty rude! Maybe I do speak funny? It sounds normal to me, of course ;) I'm aware that the only Scottish accents that most Americans have heard are on The Simpsons and Star Trek, so I suppose if I start hamming it up like that, I might get somewhere!! ;) :P God, imagine if I was really foreign! It's the same language after all!! I can't wait for some of my stronger accented friends to arrive for the wedding :D ;) I think the problem sometimes is just the difference in which part of words I put the emphasis on...like me saying weekEND whereas someone here would say WEEKend...and there's so many examples of this, it's actually really funny!!

I don't doubt that I'm getting a little American lilt at times and I know I'm changing words that I use too. I suppose it's like speaking another language...if I was to go and live in France, I'd call 'rubbish' whatever the French word for it is (I'm not gonna even begin to pretend I know what it is!)...so when I'm here, I'm allowed to say 'trash', right? I'm trying not to do it when I don't have to, but speaking the lingo helps in a lot of situations, so it's worth bringing it out just to get stuff done and avoid the double takes and weird looks I get, but day to day I really would like to stick with what I know, try and keep this non-accent of mine a little longer :) I met up with a Scottish guy who worked for BoS here until very recently but he's been in the states for quite a long time and he hasn't lost his accent at all, I was very impressed, but it helps that his is way stronger than mine in the first place.

I have also had a good few new phrases rub off on me that just keep slipping out...like...'shit ton' in stead of my usual 'shit load', 'goddamn' (usually while talking about how itchy my skeeter bites are!) and others that I'm struggling to think of right now! I regularly have days where I get up, do laundry, vacuum, hang pants on the line (both varieties!), put on my sneakers and go out onto the sidewalk...later, get on the 'right' side of the road and drive to the grocery store....you get it! ;) :P And I LOVE how I'm now hearing Chris say things the way I say them, like I do, not in his normal accent....like 'Mum' instead of 'Mom', granted usually only when he's talking about my Mum :) I might have to practice saying 'Mom' ;)

I'm super super excited about seeing everybody who is coming over for the wedding, I cannot believe it's so soon! It's flown in! :D It's going to be a hectic week, but it's just gonna be so nice to have everyone here. There's a few people I am gonna miss not being here for the occasion (they know who they are!) but I am touched at the turn out that we have! I hope the US is ready for the invasion!

We had a storm last night so the temperature has dropped a lot. This afternoon it was the same temperature her as it was at Mum and Dad's (9C)! Means I can go outside without sweating for once! Chris was picking on me while we were out tonight because I was cold and wished I'd brought my scarf!

I was out earlier for my pre-wedding hair cut after some parental Skyping. Next week I really need to get my arse in gear with visa stuff, though I fear I may just be over excited about it being only a week til everyone arrives! I Skyped with Heidi yesterday too which didn't help me, she always gets me even more silly excited about things ;)

Oh, and we've had a little furry visitor of late, a little siamese looking cat hanging around, gorgeous milky, coffee colour. Looks skinny and must be a stray, but is very sweet and friendly. He/she/it (we aren't sure) is desperate to get into the house. We first saw (let's say him for now...) him when we were loading the car to go to Houston and left the door open and he just nipped up and came for a look around (3 times!). We didn't really think we should start feeding him, but I don't like to see such a skinny animal so we decided if it was still around when we came back after the weekend then we would and yes, the next morning when I went to walk it was on the step waiting for me. It snuck into the stair again today so we gave him some dry cat food and he just seemed so happy...purrrrrrrr. I only assume it's a male because he has a tatty ear, but I suppose it could be a girl. It's probably a good thing Chris is allergic to cats or I'd have let it in the house by now ;)

'Til next time...

Love
Jenna

PS If anyone needs a good informative read...I found this website the other day after reading something about Robert Burn's wife, Jean Armour, and spent aaaaaages reading it and plan to go back for more! It actually led me to then read at length about the Titanic and its passengers which was also very interesting...and sad. Oxford Dictionary of National Biographies