October update

Once again, I need to apologise for the lack of blog posts recently.  As well as planning our own wedding we've been to two other weddings this month, both with hen dos on other weekends, and on the weekends that I haven't been at weddings and at hen nights, I've been in Cambridge for one of them and I ran a half marathon on the other - another task ticked off!

Nevertheless I haven't been doing nothing towards my list, I've been steadily progressing in the background.  Here's a quick update:

We visited Dickens' House museum a couple of months back.  I intended to blog about it at the time but sadly didn't have time.  It was fun.  A bit of a mishmash and not quite sure whether it wanted to be Dickens' House or a museum and the exhibition about the musical Oliver! felt like a bit of a tack on.  I enjoyed the visit though, as I always enjoy getting a peak into the houses of a bygone age.

I also visited Sir John Soane's museum for the candlelit opening at the start of August with my friend Claire.  I frankly found the museum a little bit overwhelming but also pretty amazing.  It's basically one man's museum of things that he found interesting, and this covers a remarkable range of things! Too many, really, to get your head round.  The really cool bit is the paintings room, which I wouldn't have known about had Claire not been there before.  This room is a real treasure trove, not because of the paintings (I don't know enough about them to appreciate them really) but because of the ingenious way Soane found to store them all - the walls all flip out on hinges and have another layer of paintings behind them.  The whole house is full of ingenious cubby holes and cool things to look at like this.  If my memory serves me correctly there's little or no interpretation which makes taking everything in doubly hard.  It was great going with Claire though as she is self-confessedly bubbling with enthusiasm for 'stuff' and her enthusiasm and interest is contagious.  I think I'd like to find out a bit more about Soane and about certain items on display and then go back sometime.  If you want an insight into a really interesting man who collected interesting stuff though, it's well worth a visit!

As for the previously mentioned half marathon, I spent a good part of the last few months training for it - another reason for being so busy.  I completed the race in 2 hours, 34 minutes and 41 seconds on 10 October 2010.  I'm a little disappointed with the time but I had promised myself to only think about completing since this was by furthest I have ever run and no mean feat.  I actually found the race much harder than I expected but I was quite proud of myself for still managing a sprint finish! The photo shows me looking anxious beforehand but you can also see a photo of me running here.  My next running challenge is to run the London marathon next year but I'm getting slightly worried as I can't seem to get a charity place.  They seem to be filling up fast. If the worst comes to the worst I'll try and get a place in the Brighton marathon which is a week before.

As for growing my hair to my elbows, I always knew that was probably a bit ambitious but I think it might be slightly longer than last time I photographed it.  I've bought three piano pieces which I've started learning.  The first is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, the second, Debussy's Golliwog's Cakewalk and the third, rather ambitiously and probably foolishly now I've listenedd to what it's supposed to sound like is Chopin's Minute Waltz.  I started practicing them the other day and was transported back to a world that I'd forgotten how much I missed - growing up music was a big part of who I was and I'm sorry I've let it slip! 

I've started but am making slow progress on Anna Korenina, one of my five classic novels. I'm making quite good progress with saving £500 of my own money and hope to be able to save more so that I can pay for my own wedding dress.  Which also means that progress is being made on another point on my list - to have an item of clothing tailormade to fit me.  My wedding dress is now on order! Obviously I can't say anything about it but I REALLY love it!

We've ticked the 'staying in a posh hotel' one as well - we stayed at the George in Rye for my other half's 30th.  It was really lovely and I'd recommend it to anyone. Lovely room, 4-poster bed, lovely big bathroom and really gorgeous, gorgeous food. Some photos of our room are below

    

 

And lastly, we've just watched Goodnight Mr Chips. I really liked it, really nice Sunday afternoon watching.  It's the story of a school teacher in a boys school. He started in 1870 and stayed there right through until the First World War and afterwards.  At first he was a very rigid and not very popular school master but on a holiday one summer he met and fell in love with his future wife (I cried!) and she changed him and helped him become a better and more popular  teacher.  He eventually realised his dream to become headmaster when, at an advanced age and post-retirement, we was the only person able to when everyone else went off to fight.  He ended up teaching several generations from the same families.  I've just read a review that calls it sentimental and a tearjerker, which I suppose it is.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and enjoyed the reminder of a tradition which was still part of my childhood but which I think may well die in a few years' time - afternoon tea! And I mean proper afternoon tea, with bread and honey, by a roaring fire.

So I'm getting there with my list.  There are still a few really major challenges/things that I need to do but I think I can still manage it. Let me know if you want to join me in any of my activities!