Watch the Newlyweds

I have finished my first month of work in my life--the latest of what seems like a string of firsts in this rather tumultous period of time--and along with this comes receiving my first payslip and a few other things. I've also taken my first (and second) leaves from work, both to attend weddings (which has gotten me the fisheye from colleagues and boss alike) and had a few disasters in the kitchen when experimenting with dubious recipes. I've had a couple close calls in driving, too; as it turns out I'm the kind of driver who pays more attention to potholes and the odometer than to the road and other vehicles, and so once I drove directly over a road divider (really, a little lump of concrete in the middle of the road to mark a junction) and once I had a passenger scream "BRAKE! BRAKE!" until I noticed the large truck about a metre ahead and barely skidded to a halt in time to not have actual contact between its back and my car's front. I'm alternating between calling the car an "old girl" or an "old boy"; usually I just pat its steering wheel when I think it's done a good job.

But let us return to the end of the month of October, which was when the last post left off and when this quite surprising string of weddings began.

I suppose it wasn't a surprising string; I'd known about the first wedding since August or September, and had started work knowing I'd have to apply for leave very soon as I had promised to help out. The second was a little more surprising, as it was only announced to me about two weeks before it was to occur--and it was set for one week after the previous, which meant that my first reaction to the announcement was a moan of "what, really?" rather than cheerful congratulations. I suppose that was something of a surprise to the family.

But let us establish context and background. You already know I left Singapore in late September to begin work in October; at least two or three weeks before that, I had been invited (and, needless to say, accepted) invitations and a request for me to attend and be the pianist at the wedding. The people to be wed were both known to me through the House of Bread; I daresay it was one of the few weddings I've ever attended where I knew both sides of the newly-formed family. It was a very enjoyable time for me; I took three days off of work, and Monday was a public holiday, which extended my little holiday to six days; in that time I met up with old friends and coursemates in Singapore, visited the church a lot for rehearsals and decorations and suchlike, lurched between eating too little and eating too much (more frequently the latter than the former), and generally was very jolly.

The second wedding was that of my eldest cousin on the paternal side (though he's still younger than I: I'm the eldest grandchild on this side of the family) to his longtime girlfriend (now wife), and it occurred yesterday. It was quite a jolly time, even if a little less elaborate (since the real, ceremonial wedding won't take place until they have a place of their own and have had a little more time and money to make plans with) and rather less cheery (because the bride's side of the family are apparently incorrigible introverts). I suppose it went off well, but then it wasn't really accompanied by very much solemnity or celebration. I don't know, really; mixed feelings, I suppose.

I'm still a little guilt-ridden over the constant taking of leave; about three days before Friday, the senior colleague commented that if it weren't for my extreme newness to the job and my replaceability I would never have been allowed to take the leave, as Thursday and Friday are the busiest days of the work week. Even Thursday night I was in the office until 6.30 rushing things out--a lot of last-minute stuff had come up--and I foresee that Monday morning will contain a lot of phone-calling and emailing and trying to get back up to speed; I usually spend the first hour of the working day trying to assimilate information and make a game plan for the day, and sudden incoming information either gets assimilated into that or takes another half-hour (at least) for the plan to be redone. In that respect it's a blessing that I deal with written words fairly quickly--verbal communication is another matter--but yeah, I'm probably a little slower mentally than people tend to make me out to be. (Fulfilling people's expectations of me, or what I think people's expectations of me are, is one of those things that I want to prioritise but never do, because the very thought of it fills me with the dread of failure.)

At any rate two weddings have occurred over the past two weeks, one Christian and one not, one filled with solempne and one less so, and... I wonder how they'll turn out; I know all the people well enough to think they'll work out, at the very least, but they'll probably run along very different lines. People have been asking me when I'll get married too; but I think I'll eventually have to tell them I think I'm what used to be called "not the marrying kind" and now is called a "confirmed bachelor"--at least partially because I can't even take care of myself well, right now, let alone anybody else.

So it's Saturday evening; my NaNoWriMo languishes in neglect; I'm a little bit worried about what will await me at work on Monday. Such is my life at present.