ONE A MONTH- ive kept to it!

OK, first things first Anna- i count my monthly blogging as October, November, December etc NOT at least one between the 15th of each month- FACT! And so i have actually kept to my one-a-month goal! (I can already see that the grammar class last month has helped me no end. Beginning sentences with 'and' is totally acceptable right?)

Well, i am happy to announce that my 2 essay deadlines were met last week. Sadly though, whilst handing them in i was given a memo reminding me to 'keep up' the dissertation work over christmas. Nows heres a pickle.... i have nothing to 'keep up'. As with most students, i have great intentions come August-time, id been to the library and gotten out a few books, even bought a few. However, i have never opened these books and its now only a few months from hand-in. After overhearing a ridiculously studious student (hmm, theasauraus use here?!) declare to the whole english department 'ive written 2000 words so far', i first hit him (obviously i didnt 'hit' him) and then i began panicking. I dont even know the structure that it is to take! So my christmas is meant to be taken up with reading and other such boring nonsense. I doubt it will happen, but mum's told me father christmas will only give me presents if i am a good girl- do you think he expects me to have done some of this dissertation? Lets hope not.

Being Christmas and all (how many times can i get that word into this blog!?), i have been fufilling all the traditions that i have created over the last few years. Most embarrasingly, this includes repeatedly listening to Cliff Richard- Together (his superb Christmas album).

Now before you flood me with derrogatory comments (which may i add, i still havent worked out how to edit...so be slightly understanding of this if possible?!), the reason for my loving of 'Cliff' is due to my mother forcing me and hayley to watch the video IN FULL as children.

WHAT A GUY!!

The scary thing about Christmas is that no matter how much you dislike something, if you have done it for a couple Christmas's in a row, it becomes tradition and you just expect yourself to do it! I never used to enjoy caroling on Christmas eve with the YP; the coldness isn't great and the chance i may not be in bed by midnight quite frankly scares the bejeezers out of me. However, the fact that i have done it since i was 13 means i HAVE to do it. One thing i do know though is my love of mince pies can only grow- however these 3.5point beauties can do a lot of damage to the diet, along with the Croissants on Christmas morning and endless portions of christmas pudding... oh dear oh dear!

Well, i appologise for the shameful length of this blog, but i will endevour to give you a thoroughly exciting account of the next few days/ weeks. Maybe i need my dissertation dealine to be brought forward- im sure that would entice me to write a few more paragraphs!

x

Im not as bad as i thought!

Well, after checking through everyone else's blogs to see how far behind i'd gotten in post's, i realised that most people have only dont one or two (and glyn, i think yours barely counts!!haha). I am trying to stick to my 'at least once a month' blogging-ness and so thought id update you on stuff thats happened to me other the past few weeks!

Firstly, the gym has become a second home, which is lucky considering for my little brothers 4th birthday party i managed to eat about a 3rd of thomas the tank engine all to myself (said train was in cake form.) Ive now signed myself up for water aerobics on a tuesday evening aswell as my monday and wednesday classes...and i am wanting to start 'step' classes too, but think this is all just a very elaborate ploy of my unconscious to not venture near my dissertation!

My other form of procrastination is shopping. I have no money, but oh so much will-power to do it anyway! My addiction to christmas shopping is getting worse every year! I started back in September, and have now bought so much that my tiny box-sized bedroom wont fit anything else in it! I am now having to keep a full size power ranger costume in my underwear drawer, and its only November! To be frank (which i am not, i am stacey), i don't actually like receiving presents- the whole things worries me! The ...have i already got this gift from somebody watching me unwrap this one?.....do i need to feign a big grin for this?.... oh no its the wrong series/album and ive got this one but lets pretend i haven't... blah blah. I dont mean to sound ungrateful at all, its just i get so much more out of buying and watching people opening thier stuff. I suppose John just didnt have that problem at his birthday meal, you can never have too many pinapples, police camera lego men (that sounds like a tv programme!), kids books or special k keyrings!

I have some great news in the form of indoctrinating my little brother.....

reeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy!!!!!!

Me and David (my boyfriend to those of you whom do not know) have also attempted to instill some sort of style into the boy, check this out....

My Very own, pocket sized Kanye West!

Finally, i will leave you with the news that this sunday we have a corps social, set in 'old london'. I am unsure on the points value of bangers and mash, but i plan to eat a lot of it! We are dressing in 'appropriate attire' for the time... Anna and i have been waaaay too into this whole dressing up thing i think! I will endevour to post pictures!

Well, after that rather boring and random update, i best go as once again i am meant to be writing a presentation for university as we speak. Also, you will be pleased to know that i am attending a grammar class next week, so come next blog i should be able to write in coherant English, which is always a bonus for a 3rd year English student!

Til then x

PROBABLY THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

Oh yes... this is post numero 3 this month!

My day began as most Mondays do for me now... i stay at a family friend's house in Reading, get a lift to campus and commence classes at 9am- 1pm. As soon as i finished i ran to the bus stop, but had missed the bus and so opened my tupperware and began eating my carrot and celery assortment. How very mundane i hear you say?! Well, after getting into the town centre... hiking to hobbycraft (which excited me no end, and managed to take up 1.30hrs of my time as i gazed at the 'hobby' and 'craft' facilities in awe (i like hobby and craft things))... I then HIKED back to the train station and headed into London Paddington. All very boring i know, but i didnt take the usual route... i instead headed to leicester square after an anonymous tip off (from glyn) that a magical place called cybercandy existed where i could purchase PRETZEL FLIPZ (see my blog earlier this month!).
I knew this journey would add a hefty chunk to my journey, and was likely to consequent in me missing some/all of neighbours later on (Don't worry, i was breifed on the happenings of the 1.40pm programme so if i had missed it, i would still be on track for tomorrow.)
As i arrived at leicester square i realised i didnt have the slightest clue where i was going, and the 3 foreign people i stopped didnt seem to know either (although they didnt seem to know any words in my hurried/ excitable english, so dirrections were kind of lost on them i think.) I FINALLY found it and there, 3rd shelf up on the right side of the shop were the little bags of heaven. I hurriedly bought all the stock they had left (sadly only 4 bags... £6 in total!!) and a can of mountain dew...obviously!




I couldnt WAIT to get home to once again, sample the delights of the sweet/savoury partnership... but hold on... i should really work out what dammage these bad boys will be doing to the diet, best get the ol' points calculator out...




YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

This news of 5 points per bag essentially means i will be eating a quater of my daily intake of food in one small bag of chocolate.




I ended up not caring...eating them and realising they are actually 100% better than i remembered- RESULT!
I am now off to the gym to try rid myself of the after- effects that are bound to haunt me at weigh in on Wednesday... Wish me luck.
However i think you will agree that this discovery has made October the 22nd a great, great day.

The laughable life of Stacey!

Firstly, it is with great pride that i congratulate myself on blogging AGAIN this month... The only problem is i am likely to be seen as 'over-doing it' and inadvertently bore you! Therefore, i plan to keep it short and sweet and update you on a few things!
As most of you know, i have made it my quest this year (well...April onwards) to loose some weight.. ive managed 3 stone, but want to loose 1 more which just wont budge at the moment- i am therefore doing my upmost to get back on track! ...(here's where the 'laughable' bit comes in)... ive bought an 'Ab Trainer'.

I dont know why this lady is smiling.

Now, said piece of equipment looks easy to use when i see people using it at the gym, but i hadnt dared go in it there as 1. Id do it wrong, 2. Look a fool 3. Feel a bit of a pillock when all the slender fit people began whispering amongst themselves "yeh she is the one who rolled around like a complete goon on the mats last week..."
I managed to put the thing together yesterday and have a couple of goes (blatently doing it wrong but i looked good according to mum), although i hadnt realised the size of it- it now takes up pretty much my entire bedroom. But hey-ho, i am being pro-active i suppose. Lets just hope i actually use it! Like i said, im also a member of a gym now. Im pretty proud/ suprised at myself for keeping it up actually (although it could be something to do with the fact that if i go at least 2 times a week i only pay £11.40 a month, compared the thier extortionate £42 pricing at LA Fitness.) I attend 'Legs, Bums and Tums' on a Monday evening and 'Yoga' on a Wednesday. The latter is pretty laid back, even though you are pretty much strecthing your body beyond recognition for 1.30hrs! But the Monday class.... Its something else! Lets just say the first week me and Claire went we were unsure we would move much, if at all the next day! But ive kept it up for a month now... suffered through the pain.. and what have a i gained... ZILCH! Infact i curse the girl in front of me whose rhythm, flexibility and pace would be enviable to an olympic gymnast- she is using up all the energy in the room and leaving none for me!

Ah well, the other big thing going on with me now is university. Living at home this year is very odd, but also very nice! The commute really isnt that bad (i say after week 2) and my modules seem OK. However i am already facing the biggest problem to all students- procrastination. Now, here is where i admit that as i write, i am in fact at Essex University library (i've travelled the over hour long journey to use thier facilities), and it has become clear that my second blog of the month is being published for no reason other than my dissertation summary, plan and bibliography are to be in by tonight via email.
With this, i feel i best actually do something...maybe break some more faux pas and eat an apple at the desk or something, who knows, i am an anarchist, living on the edge. I will also advise that i have a presentation and 2 essays due in, in 2 weeks time, so know doubt you will hear from me then! x

Im an awful person!

I have just realised how bad a sister/blogger i am!
Firstly, i have just looked on my blog to find that ive only made 3 posts this year (and 2 of them were on the same day!)... i am ashamed and appologise to anyone who has the decency to check my site regulary in hope that i have shared some hillarious anacdotes or insiteful thoughts. I am going to do my upmost to remember to blog, because lets face it- im pretty interesting and its only right i share this with you!
Now, here is the part i become a bad sister. In my sudden realisation at 11.30am this morning that i do infact have a blogspot, i sat reading other peoples (probably your) blogs. In particular, after reading and commenting on Johns blog about the end of special k youghurty, i decided to once again start up my quest to bring back Pretzel Flips, a cause that began back in 2003-2004.

These AMAZINGLY good treats got me through year 7 and 8 at school (and probably aided me to putting on weight at the time) but hey- they were grrrrrrreat!

Whilst at sixth form in 2003-04, i started a petition to bring back said chocarific sweets/snacks (i dont know how to class them!). I managed to get the whole of the sixth form, the heads of year and my teachers to sign, also a few younger school children i could hassle without fearing being told where to go! 165 signitures later i thought i had my case (that out of 170 people asked to sign, 165 did!) However, the long strived over list was then placed carefully into the boot of my car... and there it remained until last september (2006) when my car went off to be serviced... i now dont know where i put it! I will not only make it my mission today to look for it, but to find some contact details of nestle to persuade thier swift return to our shores (they are still sold in america apparently... along with lucky charms.... dont get me started on lucky charms.)
Anyway, i have totally missed the part where i become a bad sister. In my overwhelming sense of responsibility to get 'the flips' back into our shops, i failed to realise that i should have picked my little brother up from playschool over 15 minutes before. This was bad enough, however to add to this, i was still in my night attire.
There comes a time in any activists life when they have to ask themselves whether thier cause and quest are interferring with family life... maybe mine has already come to light, even if after only being alive for around half and hour.
BUT NO. I ran, got changed and picked him up (the lady in charge is scary at the best of times, so being late seemed to aggrevate her a great deal... i just grabbed the boy and ran!) Now, i feel bad because i literally sat him down in front of Power Rangers Mystic Force (not a patch on the originals- Billy, Jason, Trini, Zac and Kimberley... Tommy was a bit later) to tell you my story.
I have, however become a better blogger in negleting the child, therefore im not so awful after all!!
Hurrah!

When it rains...it pours! (in blogging terms)

To add to my previous post, as i was writing i heard craking...i thought it was fireworks as my neighours had a big bbq today and still had people over. Just as i hit 'publish' i heard a bang and felt really hot... looked out my window and my neighbours MASSIVE shed was in flames... so i did the sensible thing, rang 999 and got those boys to put the fire out! Words cant really desribe the fire, so much to say that 2 other sheds went up, 3 houses full fences went up, and there are now screaming neighbours threatening that they will to 'knock yew out!' to eachother as i write.
ITS ALL GO IN THE DING!

I mean...who can work in these conditions!

My housemate took this picture...


CITING!

the firemen are still outside and ive already added the video onto youtube- have a look:


We are all meant to be revising so this has taken our undivided attention for the last few hours!
Thought id share... twas all much fun (no-one was hurt so im alowed to state that!)
x

Staceys pearls of wisdom

Well, tonight ive finally digested the fact that procrastination will not help me in my degree.... its taken 2 years to realise, but at least its now sunk in...
It may seem ironic however, that as soon as this small piece of knowledge came to me, i decided to again do everything but revise, and so share such thoughts with you!...ah the beauty of blogging!

I have travelled to Reading two times this week- i now live at home in essex, and so commute to uni there. In my travels have realised some astonishing facts:
1. I become very agitated when people DARE sit next to/ opposite me
2. Opening every window in the carriage may see a good idea at Southend, but by the time your at Wickford your fffffreezing- no matter how hot it is outside
3. Nobody closes windows, no matter how fffffreezing they are
4. Business men do fart. (this latter fact suprised me- for some reason, i thought a posh suit equated dignity- but no, they seem happy for sound and everything to catch the whole carriage's attention)
5. Its not OK to laugh out loud at farts on a train.

Point 5 was found out the hard way.

I am in 'the Ding' as we speak, without TV and so i reach my final pearl of wisdom.
If you know you are about to go somewhere without a TV for 3 days FOR THE LOVE OF GREEN FELT TIP PENS (which i do love- very much) remember to set your video recorder for a daily installment of Neighbours! If Glenn Forest lays a finger on Janae's man she is going to have a lot to answer for.

I will just have to watch Harry Hill's TV burp on youtube for 3 days straight as to console me.

xxx

KEEP YOUR MITS OFF GLENN

The first of 2007!

Well, i haven't posted for...well...at all this year, so after the harsh words from john, i thought i better start again!
So here's an update on me...
I have moved back from Reading to *GREAT* Wakering! I will be going back for exams and a couple of revision sessions, but other than that i am an Essex girly again...bliss!haha. So next year i will be commuting up there (long round trip- about 5 or 6 hours each day I'm there!) but I've worked out i will save on rent, and also save my sanity by staying at home for my final year. Doing my dissertation will be a slight nightmare not being near my uni library, but i will try using Southend's facilities and maybe pop up to Essex uni with David when I'm desperate for more stuff!
Ive redecorated my room here at home... the bright blue and black walls were slightly year 9 grunger-esque, so I've opted for magnolia and khaki green... Ive also now discovered that I'm much more suited to a career in interior design rather than English! (my room looks FIT as!)
My last update is that i have managed to get a job, I'm now working as an administrator 2 days a week on a building site in Rochford...fun fun fun! Although i do have my own loo under lock and key (very citing!) I was also let loose on the stationery catalogue on Monday, so think i may have now used up a lot of the budget on highlighters and colored paperclips (its a seriously embarrassing obsession... i could live in WH Smiths for all the stationery stuff there!)
So there you have it- my life in a couple of paragraphs! Very sad isn't it!
On a brighter note, me and Hayley watched Jackass 2 last night... cried laughing... i think Hayley just cried! haha
Right- my first installment of neighbours is on now so I'm off...lets hope i manage to post again in the next couple of months (anything to keep SOMEONE off my back!!)haha