Irna & Chris dancing in the bar
of Chris' work's dos
When you are a partner of an academic amongst 80 other academics
You are effectively a spare part
Plain and simple
And that's ok...it's what I expected
and so for the past three days
I have walked a lot amongst the lupins,
Read a great deal
and smiled a lot at conversations I didn't quite grasp
Everyone has been delightfully polite
And I made a new friend in Irna , a Canadian loud mouth with a big heart
But I am glad to be going home tomorrow
To dance with my dogs on a sunny Welsh field
bet all the animals will be happy to see you!
ReplyDeletebloody lupins (I could NOT resist!)
(goes off singing the "dennis moore" song)
We must have a conversation sometime about fitting in with those academics - I had an interesting one the other day with my eldest who has just married into a family of them and I'd rather be hung upside down from the chandelier and wet myself than go to another of their 'do's'! Not that they're not lovely people, they really are - I just feel so inadequate,uninteresting and parochial in their company and dead guilty that I didn't go to university!Safe journey home.x
ReplyDeleteI smiled a great deal and played mental games ww myself during the most boring bits.. Thankfully were weren't many cos I was outside with the lupins
DeleteI think I've got the wrong idea about Chris - I would never have imagined him dancing in the bar...
ReplyDeleteHe had a couple of gins by then.. And Irma took no prisoners....
DeleteHe was a professional dance too in his youth
Home to where much of your heart is. Sounds good to me.
ReplyDeleteOh John ,
ReplyDeleteThat post tugged a little at my heartstrings. Just think of the wonderful welcome you're going to get when you get back to the comfortable surroundings of Trelawnyd ….. back in your comfort zone and knowing that a scotch egg is only a few miles away !!!! XXXX
It tugged just a little at mine too jac x
DeleteGot it, really I do... having gone to one to many "dinners" of the honeymans biz... I stopped going to them many years ago. We ALL have our strong points! We all have our not so strong points. :O). We are all "academic" in what ever our strong points are :O) .. "hugs"
ReplyDeleteThe animals will be so happy to see you. Think of the kisses from Winnie. I never went to conferences with X. I knew I would be bored and ignored.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Dear John sweet as you are, you really don't seem to have got the point of accompanying your other half on these company 'jollies'. The bedroom waltz between delegates is effectively scuppered. Who cares about the rest. Hahaha...
ReplyDeleteBedroom waltz
Delete.?
Can you explain this bit?
I think elegancemaison is referring to the sharing of beds that may/may not go on at these 'jollies' but which can't take place if the delegates are accompanied by their better halves - unless it's a conference for swingers!
DeleteExactly - Nana Go-Go!
DeleteWell that puts paid to chris' next trip alone then
DeleteWhy go out for hamburger when you can have prime Welsh Rarebit at home?!
DeleteMaybe future academic excursions will be in some interesiing large cities, instead in the wilds of Sweden. I m sure you d have kept yourself well entertained in, say--NYC, or Paris or Rome?
ReplyDeleteI hope the chickens are all okay!
lizzy at gone to the beach
Lizzy,
DeleteExactly , I didn't quite realize just how isolated we were
I used to feel on the outside looking in, when I accompanied my military husband to his 'do's'. Conversation in one ear and out of the other, dressed like the dog's dinner, and longing for my work scrubs, and surrounded by all things home.
ReplyDeleteI would love to be a fly on the wall when you return home to your beloved animals, you'll have been missed.
~Jo
Will they jump all over you, or ignore you for a suitably long period of time, in order to let you know how much they disapprove of your leaving?
ReplyDeleteJump.
DeleteSlobber.
DeleteWhen son was away at school and came home, he was getting the luggage out of the cab, as I opened the door, Kirby the first Square Dog ran out and knocked him down in the street and climbed all over him. Best homecoming ever !
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a very happy Gud Dugs welcome home.
cheers, parsnip
Oh John,my Chris is a high flying engineer...I feel so out of place at 'dos' that I no longer attend. Chin up...chicken and dog poo beckon.
ReplyDeleteJane xxx
In my 24 years of marriage, I went to three of his work do's. I'm not a good military wife. I gave up in 1998.
ReplyDeleteDidn't even get invited to his retirement parade. I think they forgot he was married.
The field of Lupins are beautiful.
Now if you ever make it to western Canada, this chubby Canadian will show you the sites.
You aren't a spare part to Chris, but I know how you feel. I used to go to concerts with my X's band but felt like such a groupie that it was uncomfortable so I stayed home where my heart was. Probably saved my hearing!
ReplyDeleteI imagine your mind was on home most of the trip.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the homecoming.
The dogs will know when you are but a mile away. Enjoy the home-coming.
ReplyDeleteYou never know unless you try and you tried and were trying. Home is where you're meant to be.
ReplyDelete"Spare part" I used to feel that way at my ex's military knoshes. They all talk in anagrams and won't translate. Ever.
XO
WWW
I have a brother-in-law who acts that way even when he is around his own family....what a boor! I just laugh to myself....
ReplyDeleteTo me, the best part about going away has always been the coming home again. Have a good homecoming, John.
ReplyDeleteI happen to LOVE spare parts.
ReplyDeleteAwww bless, I was a spare part at raf do's all the time, it was easier as a smoker as they treat you like one of their own because you filled your lungs with crap like they did? lol
ReplyDeleteReformed smoker of two years + and hubby is out of the raf, still have those chance meetings in the supermarket talking old shop though.
Hmmmmm Sounds like Stockport might have been a better choice after all - at least for you.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in busy towns and cities, we lived for our week's annual holiday back up in rural Scotland. Oh how we used to hate going back after our holidays! Now we are living in a beautiful part of Scotland, I love coming back home after our holidays. In fact, after 3 days I'm usually ready to go back. Aren't we lucky John to have beautiful homes in beautiful parts of the country that we feel we belong to? Sometimes going away makes us appreciate even more what we have. And our animals are a large part of our home too x
ReplyDeleteI heard yesterday that a load of Swedes put a bet on the World Cup that Suarez would bite someone during the competition. They have all won a load of money!
ReplyDelete"smiled a lot at conversations I didn't quite grasp" - being the simpleton that I am, I find myself doing this a lot LOL
ReplyDeleteAcademic conventions are best enjoyed for the location, the company is academic.
ReplyDeletehome sweet home.
ReplyDeleteCan you please video getting into the house. We all want to see Winnies gooey eyes she will make at you. plus I need a dose of the lovely George. please...
Don't forget to include Albert and all the other animals in the video suggested by Sol! You could be a long while getting into the house me thinks if you did video all!
ReplyDeleteWelcome home!
I hope you haven't had any more poultry losses while ou've been gone.
ReplyDeleteOne of the hidden benefits of retirement is that I need no longer attend work events where I make superficial conversation with people I see no more than once a year. Sympathies to you.
ReplyDeleteMe, you and Jane need to get together, I am another wife of a high flyer, and have been to one too many work 'events' and been bored rigid by conversations I know nothing about, but have tried to smile in all the right places and been polite to other bored stiff spouses who are all just waiting to go home !!
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good at being on my best behaviour, so I don't go anymore :-)
I could cope with most of it ( just) except one Canadian boffins came and sat with us and started to talk " boffin" when I was just about to dig into my morning sausage and my FIRST cup of coffee...arhhhhhhhhhhhh!
DeleteHave a good trip home.
ReplyDeletep.s. delete 'sunny' from your last line and get your wellies out.
Safe travels home. A pity you were out in the [beautiful] wilds. Nice to look at but ... nothing for partners to do! Tell'em to choose a city next time.
ReplyDeleteBet its as bad for him at NHS do's my hubby's Lab lot spoke a foreign language. Least it was a break away.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you went, and i'm sure Chris is glad, too. Himself never had any fancy do's where we had to travel for his work, and with most of the jobs he's had, i've got on very well with his coworkers, so i usually have a great time if i have to attend something. If he has to attend a work function of mine, he usually enjoys it, but we also try not to talk shop and can't really, since most of what we work in is confidential.
ReplyDeleteHappy homecoming!
Yes John, I have been to do's like this over the years - once is usually enough.
ReplyDeleteShe must be the ONLY Canadian loudmouth....and you HAD to meet her!! The rest of us are very quiet and well-mannered. Honestly, we are John! You HAVE to believe me!!
ReplyDelete