Hello!  Me again!  What a week it has been. Mojo took her first driving lesson (and almost cacked herself on the dual carriageway), Niki announced she’s off to Germany next month to do her Masters degree and I got me a poncho.  I tell ya, it’ll go great with my sombrero!

Other than that, I seem to be caught up in wedding fever. Only two weeks have passed since my friend upped the ante to become someone’s Mrs and I’ve received an invite to a wedding in September. (Who proof read this invitation?  There are so many grammatical errors in it!) 

Seriously, weddings do seem to send people loopy – and I mean the wedding parties.  It’s the moment they have been waiting for, the time they get to blow their own trumpet and everyone is below their station. They just about pay attention to you, the guest, right until they snatch the wedding present off you before you are drastically eradicated from their address book. 

Wedding presents…yeah, that’s a hot topic. How do you decide what to give the happy couple?  Well, here’s a novel idea  –  they tell you. Certainly with the invitations I receive, it’s specifically mentioned “no boxed gifts” – sometimes a ‘please’ is included. I find it quite cheeky to be told firmly no presents will be accepted unless they are of a monetary nature, especially if it’s coming from someone you see once a year at the most. What made me laugh was when I made this revelation to a friend who's married.  He thought "no boxed gifts" meant taking out the packaging (or box, so to speak).

Still, I don't think anything can beat a children's party I went to a few years ago where the invitation bore those three words. A kids party!  Why couldn't you give kids toys at their own party?! Evil mother.

Of course I would not turn up to a wedding empty handed –  who would? –  and I’m no Scrooge either, but the feeling I get of greed from these affairs really takes the fun out of a wedding and turns it into business transaction, not to mention feeling like a hanger-on to bump up the spaces in the hall (and the cash flow).

So, if you’re a dear friend of mine and plan to tie the knot in the future, please proof-read your invites and do not plonk me by the loos when deciding on the seating plan. It'll only set me off again and you wouldn't want that.