From Under The Duvet..: I Think an Update is Due…

When I say this week has been busy, I really mean it! Here’s what I got up to this week:
.
My To Do list was like this last weekend.
.
Monday
School as normal (out of the house at 8am and home for 4pm) and then on Monday night from 6.30-9.00pm I was at Girls’ Brigade. I really love the paper making we’re doing there.
.
Tuesday
School as normal again. Then, instead of going to help out at Anchor Boys (from 6-7.15pm) I went to do my RSA word processing exam – Stage 2 Part I and Part II. I learned I was doing the exam that night the week before! Dad picked me up from school and I was able to get changed in less than ten minutes in order to be where my exams were for 4.30pm, the Shankill Road. In between the exams I was really hungry so popped across the road (in the dark) to get something to eat in a garage – my parents were not at all impressed at me going out on my own! The exams weren’t too bad. I know I’ve lost two marks in one exam (I think I can lose up to six and get a distinction, 15 and still pass). I was home for 9.30pm.
.
Wednesday
School as normal and then psychology class leaving the house at 6pm and getting back at 10pm. My psychology coursework idea seems to have been accepted – just trying to work out the logistics of it all (it’s going to be on memory, hopefully) and sifting through mountains and mountains of research.
.
Thursday
School until 2.10pm today – I get two afternoons off a week on “home study” if my timetable permits. I discovered a letter containing very bad news… My dentist wants to see me. And dad just decided to go ahead and schedule an appointment! It’s February 1st. I’m dreading it already! I really hate the dentist… I know prevention is better than cure but I’d really rather just sleep through even the check ups! I am such a wimp, I know!
.
On Thursday evening I was at a Girls’ Brigade meeting – sorting out what to do for the display in March. All very fun. So I was out between 8pm and half ten!
.
Friday
I get out at 1pm on a Friday – my Friday timetable seriously rocks, with only two hours of classes. Having said that, this Friday I had the most disturbing conversation in theology in the History of the World. You have no idea – it was about spiked drinks, physiological reactions, things you do not need to hear from a teacher and awful innuendos…
.
But, on Friday I had what was keeping me sane all week. Some of you will know I have back problems and my back gets very sore – I’m on a waiting list for the physiotherapist – and one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to stop biting my nails. So, on Friday I had a little pampering session of a manicure and a back massage. It was so amazing! Definitely what I needed. The only drawback was that I can’t have one every day!
.
Saturday
My weekend To Do list looked like this.
.
I slept in until noon (I was wrecked – after that week and little sleep due to nightmares each night can you honestly blame me?). I accompanied my mum to Asda and took my dad to the pub. My aunt returned home from America after a nice long holiday. Before she left she asked if there was anything I’d like her to bring me back – I said if she saw any dark chocolate M&Ms to get me a packet, sis said peanut better M&Ms and we both said if she could squeeze in a box of Lucky Charms… She brought me twenty packets of dark M&Ms, twenty peanut butter ones for sis and six boxes of Lucky Charms!!

I was also able to put all my teddys (which were stuck in a suitcase!) up on a new shelf in my bedroom. Aren't they pretty?
.
I spent most of the evening futtering about. I watched several movies – Copycat, one about Renee Z moving back home to look after her terminally ill mum, and one about terrorists in New York with Bruce Willis imposing martial law and Denzel Washington saving the day. CopyCat is an awesome movie – one of my favourites and the Renee Z one made me cry.
.
Sunday
I got up in time for church and went. It was a good service – about how God uses ordinary people for awesome things. I also saw the butterfly that lives in my church again. I didn’t see it last week – it always looks like it’s about to die as it descends to my windowsill for the sermon before fluttering off back up to the gallery just before it’s over. I think it may be called Lucy.
.
When I got home from church I made over two dozen little fairy cakes with icing and jelly babies on them. If you ever want to see food disappear at the speed of light… take it to youth fellowship. Seriously. I think Paul ate seven and Stephen ate at least four too. How do guys eat so much?! Oh well, baking relaxes me and I wasn’t really stupid – I kept some at home for me to have during the week!
.
Evening church and YF were good – plenty to think about. I really love the people who make up the church! It’ll be so sad to have to leave them!
.
My To-Do list now looks like this. I’m learning to accept that I don’t have to get everything done – that things can wait and I don’t have to stress as much as I used to do! This is such a breakthrough for me! It feels SO good!
.
Over the past while something I’ve really been thinking about it how much time I fritter away futtering about on the internet – checking to see if friends’ blogs have been updated and what have you. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time now – it’s such a waste of time that could be far better spent! This week I haven’t had the time I usually have and I didn’t miss all the time I usually spend arseing about online. And I’ll definitely be thinking about it as I think about lent.
.
Anyway, my solution to this time waster has been to set up an account over at bloglines – I have added all the blogs I read to the list and I just need to check there to see if they’ve been updated! Hopefully that’ll help cut down on random time wastage! I guess we’ll wait and see.
.
This week I’ve also been good about using the free periods I get during school time. This has been a real help as I’ve had so much on in the evenings – if I continue the working when I’m free mentality I should even be able to have more free time! I’m learning that every little counts – that even though I may only have ten minutes to do something in that ten minutes spent there is ten minutes I won’t have to do later on. I’m still messing around and stuff in school – I’ve only got six more months (less, really, if you count study leave) of being able to daily spend time with people (and, yes, I do see that as a really good thing with some people! But there are some people I love talking to!).
.
The only magazine I read is the Time Magazine. I really have one period of the week almost set aside to read it – the last period before I leave on a Friday. I love the quotations of the week and the facts and figures. One figure I read this week was of 5100 letters the US sent out to people who had left the military in an effort to try to get them back in service, 270 (I think) were sent to people who had died on active service – that must have been devastating, especially as the letters were sent out between Christmas and New Year.
.
Every year the Time magazine has a person of the year. And I thought I’d tell you who the person of 2006 was. You were. Congratulations – you were the person of 2006! The year where you let yourself be heard – in blogs, on YouTube, through Myspace or Facebook (or both!), by writing podcasts or making movies, by reviewing books on Amazon. You shaped 2006!
.

“The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.”

.
Often I think “If I didn’t buy Nestle chocolate would I really make a difference?” or by not supporting a certain store etc. I think we do – the ocean is made of tiny drops and each drop adds to the impact. Buying power is still power. You ARE the difference. Well, you can be – do you want to take that leap?
.
I thought I’d post a couple of pictures of what the den looks like after all that tidying. See here, here (the computer and my little workstation), here and here (I think there is snuggery potential here!).
.
Most depressing day of the year, statistically, is tomorrow [22nd January]. How are the New Year’s Resolutions going? Or dare I ask? I think mine are going ok! I’m constantly being challenged which is always good! Still, roll on Friday, eh?
.
I hope you guys have a great week – especially those who are waiting for exams or exam results!
.
PS – sorry for the very long post!

Labels: busy, church, films, my week, New Year, resolutions, school, sleep, thoughts, time, Time Magazine, to-do list, you

Sunday, January 21, 2007

I Think an Update is Due…

2 Comments:

About Me

Previous Posts