Happy Blogiversary!

Today is not only my wedding anniversary, but also the one year anniversary of my blogging career. If anyone would like to read my first ever blog post, you'll find it in Jellie's blog here:

http://shocking-blues.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_shocking-blues_archive.html

Diary of a Newlywed Drama Queen was created about twenty minutes later, and if you want to get nostalgic about that, you can follow the link on the sidebar.

Thank you to everyone who read the blog(s), emailed me, left comments (other than the comment spammers) and generally enriched my blogging life this year. You're all superstars.

I doubt I'll be posting anything now until the new year, so I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and good New Year's Eve, and I'll see you in 2006...

Big love, Mookmoo xxx

P.S. If you're bored over Christmas, try this out:

Bat the penguin: http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

We've been playing non-stop for the last three days...

A Random Round Up...

... of this year's events in Mookmoo's world (to be sung to the tune of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.

In the first month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
The perfect husband for me

In the second month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the third month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the fourth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the fifth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the sixth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the seventh month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
A new start for the blog, A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the eighth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Emotional flu, A new start for the blog, A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the ninth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Newly coloured hair, Emotional flu, A new start for the blog, A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the tenth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
A quarter century, Newly coloured hair, Emotional flu, A new start for the blog, A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the eleventh month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Freezing hands and feet, A quarter century, Newly coloured hair, Emotional flu, A new start for the blog, A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

In the twelfth month of this year, the gods they gave to me:
Dreams of the seaside, Freezing hands and feet, A quarter century, Newly coloured hair, Emotional flu, A new start for the blog, A Spanish holiday, Thirty grand of debt, Better work style, A trip to Brighton, Lots of nice knickers, And the perfect husband for me

Work?!?!

I can't believe I still have to be at work. It's Christmas for heaven's sake! I have already moved into drinking-every-night mode, surely I should now be allowed to shift into drinking-with-breakfast mode? (Aforementioned breakfast consisting of mince pies and chocolate, obviously!)

I have done absolutely no work at all this week, and don't plan to do any either. The only good news is that I have negotiated a half day tomorrow (well, working from home in the afternoon, but we all know that means watching daytime telly), and we finish at 1pm on Friday. So I suppose technically I only have about 9 working hours left until Christmas.

AND tomorrow night sees the visit from DaddyCool and StepMummy, complete with dinner at the lovely sausage-and-mash pub down the road. Hurrah!

I am getting very overexcited about Christmas, considering I don't actually think it's a very good or worthwhile idea. I suppose really I'm more excited about the wedding anniversary, getting paid a week early, ten days free holiday, drinking lots, and spending times with lots of people I like. All good things at any time of year...

Someone to Bruise and Leave Behind

It’s strange how songs, films, books, television etc has convinced us all that true love isn’t true love unless you have to fight for it through dozens of misunderstandings, fights, heartbreaks, miscommunications, machinations, blah blah blah.

I wonder if one of the reasons why so many people break up for a while after they’ve been together a few years, only to get back together soon after, is because we’ve all been conditioned to believe that love has to be a big drama. And if it isn’t, if it’s easy and comfortable and best friend-y and gorgeous, we start to worry that as it’s so easy, as we didn’t have to fight for it, then it isn’t worth as much. So some of us abandon what it easy and perfect and go in search of something complicated and dark and demanding and altogether more dramatic – only to realise pretty quickly that all those kind of relationships do is make you miserable.

When I met Him, it really was effortless. We talked all night, watched the sunrise, kissed a bit, and then about eight o’clock in the morning, twelve hours after we started talking, I lay on the bed, my head resting on His stomach while He stroked my hair… and I knew that He was going to be a part of my life forever. It was that simple.

So I think that’s why I swing between feeling terribly happy and mildly bored/boring. I got so used to every relationship being all about the fighting and the drama, that sometimes I forget how horrible that actually was, and hanker after it a little bit. Stupid drama queen that I am.

On the First Day of Christmas...

One of the hardest things about deciding to move on is that it brings into very sharp focus the current dissatisfactions of your life. All I've done for the last week at work is sulk, and dream about walking on windy beaches with hair blowing in my eyes and the taste of salt on my lips. Particularly Scottish beaches, for some reason.

Thre are some good things going on though. For starters, there's only 6 and a half work days left til the Christmas break, and we're being taken out for dinner by Cuck and Riptorn (painful, but I'll do it for a free dinner) on Monday, and by DaddyCool and StepMummy on Thursday. And then we're going out for our wedding anniversary on Friday and paying a quick visit to Supergran, Jellie et al on Christmas Eve before plunging headlong into all the Christmas-with-the-Musters-aka-His-family stuff.

My strategy for Christmas survival this year is a simple one: be so drunk that the accidentally racist, deliberately homophobic, and unconsciously xenophobic comments float over my oblivious little head. Oh, and I'll keep the 'I've got a migraine coming on' escape route in reserve...

Futurama

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

He has decided he wants out...

... of Essex!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He sat me down, told me we needed to talk, and then told me He'd been doing a lot of thinking and He'd realised that He was being completely unfair to me in regards to His family, that His family were holding Him back and making Him feel shitty about all the things He likes about His life (not a good sign methinks), and so He wanted to make a decision for His furture and our future, and get the hell out of here.

We're going to the sea!!!!! Don't know which sea or which seaside town/city yet, but we're going to the sea!!!!!!!!!!

10 Things About Marriage: Part Two

These are the positive ones. If you're planning on getting married anytime soon, read these and skip the first five!

6. It’s like living with your best friend… only better.

It was great when we were just living together, but being married (or maybe just being together longer, who knows?) has made it even better. I am sharing a house with my best mate, and sharing a bed with my lover. And they’re the same person.

7. People stop questioning your relationship.

Because I used to be a bit of a slapper and a total commitment-phobe, right up until we got married people were always asking “How’s it going?” “Are you still together?” “Have you got bored of him yet?” “Are you shagging around yet?” etc etc. Ever since 23rd December 2004, the ‘once a slapper, always a slapper’ questions have stopped.

8. You’re officially a grown up…

…in the eyes of people who patronised you before. At long last, certain people who shall remain nameless have stopped treating me like a child. And even better…

9. …You’re allowed to misbehave more than ever.

Because you’re considered to be a sensible married type, so getting razzed and embarrassing yourself is permitted because you ‘obviously aren’t like that most of the time’. Ah, if only they knew! My behaviour hasn’t changed a bit, but I get much less grief now.

10. You have the security to really be yourself.

I really did think I was totally being myself right from the word go with Him. But I realised after we got married that I had still been a little too keen to always present my ‘best face’ to Him. Even though He could always tell when I wasn’t being honest. Now, for some bizarre ring-related reason, I feel able to let all my nastiness and pre-Him black icky wrongdoings out – in the knowledge that it’s very hard for him to just fuck off, so he probably won’t.

10 Things About Marriage: Part One

As it's now approaching my one year wedding anniversary, and I shall soon have to stop referring to myself as newlywed, I thought I would list some of the things I've learnt over the last year. It's long, so I'll do it in two bits! Today's slice is the negative side...

1. Marriage DOES change things.

I was determined that nothing about Him and me would change by getting married. After all, we lived together already, and marriage wasn't going to change anything about our actual life. But what I didn't realise was that it does change your feelings. I feel more committed to Him, and sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's suffocating - the reason I gave before Him for never wanting to get married. The outside world sees you less as two individuals and more as one unit - which can be lovely or depressing, depending on how you look at it.

2. Despite what they might tell you, you don't get tax breaks.

Or at least, we haven't. My pay packet hasn't changed at all. Bastard government.

3. In-laws are (often) a pain in the arse.

I hoped that getting married would help to solve the problems His family have with me/us. It hasn’t. And other married friends reliably inform me that they face the same situation. It seems that if they don’t like you as a girlfriend, they won’t like you any more as a wife.

4. (Some of) Your friends treat you differently.

We seem to have ‘lost’ a lot of friends this year. Partly that has to do with money of course (or lack thereof), but it also has to do with people’s attitudes. Some of our friends seem to think we won’t want to do the traditionally ‘single’ things anymore, like nights out. And that kind of hurts, because I haven’t changed in who I am – I’ve just got married. That doesn’t effect a personality transplant.

5. You have less sex.

You still have sex. You still have good (if not even better) sex. You just don’t have it as often. But then how would the world function if all couples continued to shag like rabbits for years and years after the first ‘honeymoon’ shagging-all-the-time phase?

Did You Save Me From Myself?

Do you want to know something slightly terrible? I only started going out with Him because he was pretty much the first 'nice' boy who had ever been brave enough to try and go out with me. Spending time with someone who actually liked me (and who I liked) was a supreme novelty. And then, of course, He became my best friend and I fell in love with Him, and the rest is history.

The only problem is, I look back now and I know that being with Him has changed me in a lot of ways, all of them technically good - no more alcohol issues, no more getting stoned every night, no more destructive relationships/one night stands, higher self-esteem, blah blah blah...

But I worry that in inviting Him to save me from myself, I might have allowed my life to become a teensy bit dull.

But then, as soon as I say that, words like "grass", "greener", "other side" and similar do start to ring in my ears...

Must Stop Being So Normal...

Honestly, over the last week or so I've been acting all normal and sane. Must stop at once. After all my dedicated work at being neurotic and insane, it seems careless to just throw it all away...

Seriously though, life is pretty good right now. I have the day off tomorrow to do a bit of Christmas shopping and then (more importantly) sit in a nice warm pub with Him and drink lots. Also have a nice chilled weekend coming up during which I may spring clean the house so I don't have to care about it then til after Christmas hols. Oh, and we're going to the cinema tonight as well. Hurrah!

See how normal my life is at the moment? See? It's fucking bizarre, it really is.