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Sarah took me out for a lovely lunch today at The Old Maltings and I had their cheese Ploughmans which is amazing. The bread they have is immense and makes me want to ask where they get it from, like an old woman would....... We popped into Asda afterward and bought some more for ingredients for Margey to bake some extra Hummingbird brownies because she only made ten before and James ate 40% of them! Came back and had my hair cut and now I'm at James', watching the brilliant Arsenal v. Barcelona match! Absolutely fantastic football and Fabregas is a great player. Young Wilcott is definately going to South Africa after his goal and it's what football should be: fast paced, respectful and with no violence. Excellent draw, boys.
Woke up this morning and really wanted a McDonalds! James drove over to Wyboston but instead of taking 15 minutes, it took nearly half an hour because we got caught at the train crossing for ages. Normally, I go for a cheese burger Happy Meal with milk but today I had a coke with a 'Something Burger Deluxe' - I can't remember what it's ridiculous name was! They've started doing the yearly Monopoly game and as I've never done it before, I had to ask the man behind the counter who looked astounded that someone didn't know! So far, we've got Whitechapel Road, Trafalgar Square, Pentonville Road and £1 off at Play.com - so far, so good. But I probably won't go back to McDonalds until next year now! Did some uni work this afternoon before going to Margey's school to see their summer concert which was brilliant - the kids sung songs from musicals from the '50s, '60s and '70s - the only downside is that we had to walk there and back in the wind and rain because Pargey and Sarah have the cars. I've just had a lovely bath, listening to a bit of Harry Potter. Brilliant.
I managed to get a really good night's sleep last night and had a good lie-in this morning but I'm still not properly recovered from the weekend, I'm so old. I went round Shep's this afternoon with Em, Pez and Han and somehow got on to the subject of 'The Hangover'. I only watched it again last night and me and Em couldn't stop singing the song that Alan sings when they go to pick up Doug from Ken Jeong's character: 'We're the three best friends that anyone could ever have' etc. Hilarious! We couldn't remember the words to the Tiger Song and Shep's laptop was a bit too quiet to listen to it on YouTube so we tried to make them up ourselves - didn't work to well though! I really needed some chips but had lots of fruit and crisps instead. Now watching a bit of 'Pineapple Dance Studios' which is absolutely brilliant - it's so trashy that it's fantastic! I'm going to do lots of uni work tomorrow - how boring.
Margey made these brownies earlier from her Hummingbird Bakery cook book and they smell amazing! I'm too full up from our lovely roast dinner to have one but James, despite having pudding, has had two - he just said that he has never been so full in his entire life! He's gone a bit crazy because of all the sugar! This morning, I woke up at nine after only a few hours sleep because I didn't get in until two and then the clocks went forward - we popped over to Hitchin to see James' cousin's baby who is so cuddly and chubby. She was passed around and even James held her - before he's been worried that he'll break her! Had a nap this afternoon but I'm still so tired from two nights out in a row - we're going to watch 'The Hangover' for the millionth time and go to sleep early. You know you're getting old when you can't handle a late night......
We're at Han again - two Saturday nights in a row now - and having some drinks before going out in Bedford. I moved out of my Leicester house for Easter this morning and Margey picked me up after four hours sleep. Tough times. We popped into the Eveden factory shop in Desborough who sell larger bras at a bargain price and they're quite nice ones, not horrid 'trawler nets' like James calls them. Thanks, dear..... I spent the afternoon sorting out my bedroom and putting uni stuff away while watching a bit of Harry Potter. I need to sleep now but the taxi will be here soon! Need more Vodka......
These rules are difficult for tonight's Ring of Fire - there are about twenty of us crammed into Han's living room. Ross has been winding James up by texting him and pretending to love him a bit and I still don't think he's cottoned on. James, if you're reading this, maybe play along with his comedy? Haha. I'm drinking a bottle of wine that tastes like salt - I personally blame Tescos! Laura's just arrived and has been thrust into the game - she's just had to D-R-I-N-K twice in a row for swearing and taking the Lord's name in vain! The most difficult of all the rules is when a certain card comes up, we have to put our chests on the wall. Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult when there is so many people in the room! We're off to Zanzibar later which should be good. Me, Han and Katie love La Gaga so we're hoping that 'Telephone' comes on later! I need some chips already......
I meant to do lots of work this morning but just packed up my stuff instead for Pargey to pick up tomorrow evening. Laura and I went for a lovely lunch at Fingerprints - I went for the special salad which was not what I expected but was yummy none the less: salad topped with a cheese pastry and bacon. Odd but really nice! I needed some work wear for my shifts over Easter so I got a really cheap shirt and trousers from Primark and then caught the bus to Auntie Jayne's. I'm now all snuggled in the warm catching up with the end of series one of 'True Blood' and I'll probably go to bed at ten. Not exactly living the high life......
Haha - not really! They took the mick out of me tonight for doing this blog and for completely different reasons, I got really upset and rushed out of the room in tears. What a loser! It wasn't their fault at all but I think it shocked everyone a bit as I never really get upset. Sorry, guys! We were at Han's tonight after a day of Gothic chantry chapels in the library and had lots a pizza. Katie had a 50% off voucher so we went mental on Dominos. We all had a 'starter' followed by a pizza but as normal, I couldn't finish mine. I forgot my Francis Bacon film with Daniel Craig in so we went through Han and her housemates' DVD selection and ended up watching the brilliant 'Role Models' and then some of Sophie's Jonathan Creek boxset which was pretty creepy. I told Katie a scary story on the way home so neither of us are going to sleep well tonight!
One minute we were in the library, the next we were suddenly in Highcross! I travelled back to Leicester this morning and after a ridiculous lecture where we've only learnt what the lecturer needs for the book he's writing and because of that, we're not studying four topics that we'll need for the exam, Katie and I headed for the library to meet Han and to get some books for our essays. We quickly decided that it was too boring and popped into town for some spontaneous shopping. I accidentally bought a big straw floppy hat for the summer from H&M and a cheap pair of Primark pajamas that I can leave at James' house because I always forget mine and end up having to borrow a t-shirt and some boxers to sleep in! Katie got some bracelets and a beach dress and Han very nearly got a pair of denim shorts that would have been brilliant for her boating holiday in Turkey this summer. A quick stop in McDonalds for Han's McFlurry, Katie's Happy Meal and four sneaky chicken nuggets for me before we drove home. Katie and I went into Sainsbury's to get the last few things we need until the end of term and I found my favourite shape of pasta: bows, or rather farfalle - I can never normally find it anywhere! I've spent the evening just relaxing but tomorrow I'm going to hit the library and get lots of work done. Hopefully........
I decorated my room last summer - three walls are dark blue and the one by the head of my bed is a dusky pink because it had been turquoise since I was in Year Five and my room was doubled in size after the extension! I'd been collecting images for ages (I'm such a loser) to make a band of pictures along the largest wall and I started it last summer. Tonight I finally got around to finishing it and it took me all of half an hour! I found a frame under all the junk on my desk and used it to frame my signed Peter Kay DVD cover. I am so uncool but I'm fine with that! Did a bit of polishing and now oddly, I'm watching the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special. Why would BBC3 show the Christmas special in March?!
Today I've had a great Sunday but more the day of an OAP than a 21 year old student. Had a lay-in as James and I didn't get back from Han's until quarter to three this morning! It has been a lovely, surprisingly warm, day today so we walked to the shop to get a paper and then headed back for lunch with Margey. She'd been working on the garden all morning and had run out of compost so as Pargey was at a golf competition all day, me and James went to Frosts to pick some more up for her and ended up trying out most of the garden furniture. They had some brilliant deck chairs with Smartie-patterned material and a very expensive patio set that was like something from Cribs! We wandered around the sheds and James climbed into a two-story children's play house as you can see here! I actually managed to sit in the garden for about ten minutes when we got back in the lovely sunshine before the clouds came. Always the same with the rubbish British Springtime. Had a lovely roast with the 'rents as Sarah is still in Cardiff for the Six Nations match yesterday against Italy so all I've done today is sleep, eat, read The Sunday Times and visit a garden centre. Old before your time has never been so true. The saddest thing about it is that I've really enjoyed it!
James and I went to St Neots this morning because there was a local sale that James' nan had told him about and had said that there might be some vinyl there. But unfortunately there were none he liked so we went into the town centre and did a bit of shopping. We popped into Burtons and Debbie bought James some shoes and a lovely new shirt before we went back to James' nan's house for some lunch. This afternoon I went round Han's to catch-up with her and Hayley and spent a lovely couple of hours chatting and hair curling! Marge cooked us a lovely dinner and now me and James are watching 'The Pick of Destiny' before we head back round Han's for some drinks after her, Adam, Shep and Coops get back from their Indian. It's raining loads so hopefully by the time we leave here, it'll have stopped otherwise we're going to get soaked!
Han, Katie and Dunc look not so thrilled to have their picture taken here because they're getting bored of the blog pictures. They love to take the mick but I think they secretly love it! We had to go into uni at twelve for a meeting entitled 'Countdown to Graduation'. We assumed, apparently wrongly, that it would be about our actual graduation but it was about boring old careers. The uni have been really terrible up until now with this stuff so we've been sorting it out ourselves so this meeting could have done with being at the beginning of last term. The meeting was scheduled to be two hours but luckily it finished after 45 minutes so we were able to get some food in The Scholar before our lecture. I'm home now and watching Sports Relief. It is so desperately sad (and funny) and I wish I could give more money to help but I can only just afford to feed myself at the moment. The short clips are so emotional and it makes me want to go out to Africa and even here in Britain, and help. Probably should get the degree first though......
Stephen Fry narrates all the Harry Potter audio books and he is brilliant at it. He does all the little voices and really makes it come alive! Instead of carrying a book around all the time, I can just keep my iPod in my bag. I listened to some of the first chapter of 'The Goblet of Fire' on my way to Auntie Jayne's which took ages because two buses didn't come and then the one I eventually got on was late arriving. Had a lovely tea there and it was just nice to be in a warm familiar place. It's always good when your auntie gives you a hug and your uncle temporarily fixes your boots. Sometimes the simplest things can make you happy.
Goodness me, I very nearly forgot to do this blog again! Just been out for a lovely lovely meal with Hannah, Katie and Duncan - unfortunately the picture with Shields in was too dark but let's pretend he's in it. It was 50% off at Bella Italia for students which is a great deal: I got a yummy three course meal and a drink for £11.10 - bargain! It was so nice to go out and chat and we laughed so much. It's great to see them outside of lectures or the library because that's all we've seemed to have done this term. We annoyed Dunc with Lady Gaga renditions in the car on the way home and are planning to learn the 'Telephone' dance for when we go out next week to celebrate his 32nd birthday - what an old man. Before going to eat, I meant to do lots of work but I accidentally only read three pages of a book. Oooops. Laura and I popped to the cinema to see 'I Love You, Philip Morris' which is really good, very funny and has a great storyline. Brilliant twist at the end that you really don't see coming. Best day of the week so far!
I never realised how much work third year would be. Everyone always says it's hard but you don't really know how much until you're in it and it's too late. Hopefully after the next few months, I will never have to use these items again: a hot water bottle, dissertation-related books and dissertation-related notepads. I don't really want to hear the 'd' word ever again. Being cold and stressed is not a good combination. The pressure of the end of term seems getting to everyone this week. Vicki and Laura's dissertations are due in next Friday so it's panic central in our house at the moment. Oh, for the quiet life. Well, I shouldn't complain because at least I'm not working nine to five at some meaningless job. I'm all tucked up in bed now with freshly clean sheets that have just been put on. That plus two hot water bottles is as good as it gets at the moment......
After a day at home, Dad dropped me off back in Leicester on his way to work tomorrow in Telford and I quickly got ready. My time keeping is normally bad but tonight I arrived at Han's half an hour late. Oh dear. Anyway, I'm here now and we're playing Ring of Fire in the Rydal living room. We're playing International Drinking Rules alongside some original card rules which include boobs on the wall and last one to do it drinks! Although we're not allowed to say 'drink'...... All the shops were closed so I'm now drinking a mixture of gin, lemonade and cherryade. Interesting flavours. I need a good night out so I'm wearing flat shoes so I can dance all night!
I managed to get a bit of a luxurious lie-in this morning before getting up to try and make the Marger breakfast in bed but she was one step ahead of me. Sarah and I gave her her cards and her present: a rather nautical jacket from Next that she has wanted for ages. I was worried that she was going to buy it yesterday in fact! We headed over to Cambridge for a lovely lunch at Browns - I had the chicken and duck parfait, a shoulder of lamb and a nice bit of chocolate ice-cream to finish. Their food is tasty but with good sized portions - the best combination in my eyes! Headed home, although Parge had to go get the car to pick me up from outside the restaurant because my new flat shoes are already rubbing, and caught some of the Grand Prix that Sarah had recorded before headed over to James'. We haven't done much this evening which is all I need to do, just have some time to do nothing. Lovely.
I've had a brilliant but busy day. Woke up early at nine to be ready for the Marger to pick me up from James' because we went shopping in Milton Keynes. Margey bought me some lovely flat shoes for Venice and a treat of a packet of fruit salads and black jacks. I needed some new sunglasses so I picked up a lovely but cheap pair from Marks and Spencers. Margey bought herself some new t-shirts and a new pair of casual trousers, we had a wonderful luncheon in John Lewis' and then headed back home. I quickly changed and headed over to Hitchin for a job interview at the hotel that Sarah works in and got it! I will now be a waitress and working behind the bar. Finally, I'll have some money! I cannot wait to have some spare cash to go mental with. Nanny and Grandad came round for an early Mother's Day dinner and we had salmon with a cherry tomato sauce, followed by some immense pavalova: it's the Marger's speciality and it's brilliant. I'm now at Ginn's lovely flat with Legg and Sheppy, chilling out with lots of junk food and the company of Madonna, Lady GaGa and Beyonce. We're watching the music channel, they're not in the room.......
Woke up early again this morning as Holly and Grace had to be up for school. That's the fourth time this week that I've been awake before seven. I'm a student - this is not normal behaviour for me. Tonight's sleep will be brilliant. I spent the morning putting the final touches to my Damien Hirst presentation and it went quite well, I think. I got it over and done with quickly and luckily because there were three presenters instead of four, I didn't get any questions at the end! I'm back at home in the Shire now and Margey made a brilliant dinner. Gnocchi Sorrentina with garlic bread and salad with normal lettuce, rather than chokey lettuce. YUM and it reminds me of last year's Italy trip.
After pretty much finishing my presentation for tomorrow's Conceptual lecture, I headed into town to get the bus to Auntie Jayne's. As I was a bit early, I meandered around the shops. Fatal. I saw this beautiful scarf in H&M which I though would be perfect for Venice - light enough material for warm weather but enough just in case it rains like it did this time last year. Trundled into Primark and I never usually see anything that catches my eye in there but I saw an amazing one-button blazer with small shoulder pads and studs on the shoulders. I like to think it was a bargain for £10 especially as it was in the sale, down from £15. After a busy week and lots of work, even these two cheap items have cheered me up no end! Now in the warm, by the fire and watching Eastenders at Auntie Jayne's. Brilliant.
Today was the second early morning of the week. I really don't know how I'm going to manage getting up for a job everyday. I really can't handle it. We had a class trip to Ipswich to look at the remaining gothic sculpture they have there and it was a bit of a trek down. Katie took me, Sarah and Emily in the newly-nicknamed 'CoCo Ka' and we followed Robyn all the way with Ruth bringing up the rear. After a three hour car journey and a quick stop for breakfast, we eventually arrived in Ipswich and it was rather different to what we had expected. Interesting combination of buildings but a lovely wet dock with a Pizza Express. We met a friend of our lecturer, Phillip, who took us around all the medieval churches as he is something like head of the restoration committee there. John was a very jolly man with lots of interesting knowledge which made it a very enjoyable day. One of the highlights was lunch in a great little pub where I made the mistake of having a pint of Aspalls cider with my smothered chicken - I wasn't drunk but I don't think I could have legally driven a car! Bad times. Got back to Leicester at the quite resonable time of seven and despite trying do do some work, I'm too tired to function properly. I need to sleep.
This afternoon, a funny smell has plagued our living room. I noticed it when getting a cup of tea and then Laura thought I'd had some toast because it smelt of burning but quite sweet. It was almost like burnt caramel or a cake that had burnt a bit around the edges. It kept getting stronger and we really couldn't work out what it could be. It didn't smell outside and it wasn't as strong in the kitchen or my room. Marger couldn't think what it could be but I think James has worked it out. Apparently, these old terraced houses have interconnecting chimneys so next door had probably burnt something and it had crept through to us. Laura and I thought we were being gassed! My presentation seemed to go well earlier but I've now passed seamlessly onto the next one, albeit with breaks for 'The Good Wife', 'The West Wing' and 'Shameless'! I'm going to try and get a good night's sleep as I've got to be up at 6:45 in the morning for tomorrow's uni trip to Ipswich..... Early mornings are the worst.
'Glee' is definately one of the best shows to come out of America along with 'Studio Sixty on the Sunset Strip' in the last couple of years. Brilliant episode tonight - warming to the Quinn and Finn relationship but the love is all for the wonderful Puck! I wonder if his name is any relation to Shakespeare? Probably not. All done now for tomorrow's presentation so I just need to get a good night's sleep tonight in preparation. I had to get up half half seven this morning as James had to go to work but it meant that I was up bright and early for the Ginn-Mister who came round for a lovely variation on the Ploughmans lunch, followed by a spot of chocolate and raspberry torte. Sarah dropped us both off in Bedford: me to the station and Ginn to her uni. Now for a bit of Monk and today's Neighbours before filling up the usual two water bottles and climbing into bed.
James has taken me out to cheer me up after a stressful week at university. We went to Prezzo and had a yummy meal - I had bruschetta followed by spaghetti bolognaise and Jimbob had melted mozzarella and a goats cheese and aspargus pizza for the main course. We're now in the cinema about to watch Jeff Bridges in 'Crazy Heart' - I wonder if he'll win the Oscar for it tonight? Might try and catch some of the lead up when we get back later. Apart from this excellent night out, we haven't really done much. Treked around Biggleswade and St Neots this morning to try and find a specific hair product that James wants but we couldn't find it anywhere. Today has been just as Sundays should be: relaxing and very sunny!
We've had a brilliant day in London, looking at Conceptual Art. It's been long and tiring because I had to get up at half six - Duncan was picking me and Katie up at half past seven. So early! I haven't been up at that time for at least year, since the morning we left for Italy. Got Laura and then headed for McDonalds for a breakfast. I went for porridge which I've never had before and it was lovely! A bit like rice pudding but thicker. We were a bit late meeting Thomas and the rest of the class in the Duveen Gallery in the Tate Britain but apparently we hadn't missed much. This picture was during Thomas' talk in the Gilbert and George room who are a big part of my dissertation so it was interesting to hear his perspective on their works. From there, we grabbed some lunch at Pret a Manger and had the Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes that Sarah made us for pudding. They were Red Velvet ones and she'd initialed each of them for us. Lovely! We then went to the British Film Institue to see the Matt Collishaw installation they have there at the moment. A twenty minute bus ride took us into South London to see Michael Landy's Art Bin and he was actually there! Art Bin is exactly what it sounds like - a giant skip where art works, some extremely valuable ones, are thrown in and will all be destroyed when the exhibition finishes (there are several Damien Hirst's in there that are worth over £400,000 each!). Thomas of course knew him and we had a little chat - lovely man. We then got back on the bus to the Saatchi Gallery which I've never been to and saw Richard Wilson's 20:50 which is a Conceptual piece using crude oil. Google it, it's brilliant! We popped over to Thomas' flat in Earl's Court for a couple of hours where he showed us his personal collection and some were amazing - even his bathroom has art in it! I caught the train back from Kings Cross and it's nice to be in warm with the fam. I had a shower and now I'm all cosy. Definately sleep time soon though!
Due to forgetting to buy bread yesterday for my usual morning toast, I had to resort to the only things I did have in the house that would vaguely accompany a cup of tea. I still haven't finished the party rings so I had a couple of them and some Hobnobs. Not exactly the breakfast of champions. Got a lot more work done for next week's Damien Hirst presentation both before and after the lecture and now I'm about to treat myself to a takeaway lamb bhuna with some poppadoms, a chapati and the lovely sauces that come with them. Hopefully they'll arrive just before Lost so I can settle down and reward myself for an excellent week's work. And again, I wish my life was much more rock and roll...... Tomorrow's jaunt to London will be much more exciting!
Noooooo, for the first time ever, I have forgotten to do my blog! I'm so angry with myself. I managed to do it for five months straight and then go and forget today!! I'm so stupid. So there will be two entries for today. Grrrrrrr. What a stress! Normally if it's past eleven, Sarah will text me and remind me just in case I'd forgotten. But today she's at Auntie Jayne's because she's staying there for the weekend. I picked me up from the station earlier and then grabbed a coffee. We got the bus and met Grace at school - here's Sarah being used as a seat by her! We watched Monday's Glee and tonight's Eastenders before I came back and finished off my presentation for Tuesday. Pretty bad day today.
I cannot remember the last time I felt relaxed - so much work, so little time. This degree better be worth it! Realised yesterday after Katie mentioned it that I have two presentations next weeks, rather than just the one so I've been cracking on with them today. Tuesday's presentation is on the causes of the Reformation under Henry VIII and Friday's is on Damien Hirst and his fascination with life and death. I found some great relevant books, including one by my lecturer, and I've spent the day taking notes from them. Laura and I had home-made pizzas for tea: french bread, red pesto, tomatos, peppers, mozzarella with some cheddar. As usual, YUM! I've spent tonight streaming the England match online while typing up my notes for my first presentation. Nearly finished and then I'm going to rest my badly aching back by watching some 'Monk' in bed. My life is not exciting.
Today I have studied, cooked and cleaned the bathroom shower curtain. How rock and roll. I spent the whole day in the library and got lots of work done while listening to an huge number of albums. I came back and set about what I though would be the mammoth task of cleaning the shower curtain but it was actually quite quick! A few rinses in some clean water with the Marigolds - the hardest bit was getting outside without getting too much water on the floor! I thought the student life would be constant night outs and takeaway - the food is better but there is too much work to even think about going anywhere but the library. Bad times.
My main food staples today have been Thornton's Chocolates left over from the weekend and Party Rings that the Marge bought me as a treat. Brilliant. It's amazing how the promise of a coffee truffle can spur you on to type more words. I think I would get so much more done in life if there was always a promise of a truffle at the end. I've finished the first draft of the first chapter of my dissertation and want to send it into my tutor but I'm scared. Katie, Duncan and I have been e-mailing him recently for help with our chapters but his replies are always blunt and quite rude. He's lovely in real life but isn't very good at cyber communication. Or maybe he's horrible in real life too but hides it well?
