From Under The Duvet..: May 2007

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Last ever geography exam....

And it was terrible. So completely awful. I ran out of time - which was always a problem in this particular paper. 25 minutes of it is spent on skills (read: statistics) and the other 95 minutes you have to read about 11 pages and then write on them - it takes at least about 30 odd minutes to read it so you have 60 minutes to write for 60 marks - including a graph. I spent too long on some parts and then didn't have long enough on others.

Just... oh well. There's nothing I can do about it now. More importantly, I can't focus on it because I can't change it and because it could negatively impact revision for the last seven exams.

I was speaking to my minister afterwards and am assured that if (when?) I have a nervous breakdown they'll look after me. And also that if I get my Stage 3 (like a typing exam but of such standard that it's counted as the equivalent of an A level) I can apply for a wee job somewhere in a church. Hahahaha - I've seen Ali work and there's no way I could do anything like that. Just a little no-brainer typing job.

Oh well. Typing exam tomorrow. Still need to learn stuff for it. Finishing a wee Jackons' latte. Mmmmm.

Two bible verses to have learnt before A*g*st 16th...

"They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust in the LORD to care for them" Psalm 112 verse 7.

"Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength..." Nehemiah 8 verse 10.

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(Both NLT)

Labels: coffee, disappointing, exams, faith, God, hope?, stress, worry

Monday, May 28, 2007

Comic Selections of Today

These both made me laugh today!

It would be a lot more tempting if it wasn't Hershey and was Mars rather Snickers.

Or maybe everyone would like to eat a Skoda instead. Yum!

"It was 'Smouldering Resentment Day' on Bunny Island"

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Oh well, blessed are the peacemakers anyway...
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Labels: chocolate, laughter

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Friday's Feast on a Saturday

Appetizer

Name a sound you like to hear.

The sound of a message on my phone. It's amazing the little ego boost that it provides! Probably very sad but you're reading the blog post of a girl who has been called a loser several times over the past few days - once by a dance mat! The cheek! As for the other person, I'll await my apology...

Soup

What is your favorite kind of cheese?

Coleraine Cheddar! It's great in a chicken salad sandwich - grated, of course.

Salad

Do you sleep late on Saturday mornings? Why or why not?

It depends - if I've something to do (read: a Czech meeting to go to) I can only sleep in until 9/half nine. Today, however, I was getting over only sleeping for four hours on Thursday/Friday because I was cramming for Friday's exam so I got up at 9, returned to bed, and slept until one. I know. But I am a full supporter of hibernation and needed a catch up!

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Main Course

When was the last time you forgot something? What was it, and how long did it take to remember it?
On Friday I forgot countless facts and figures for my exam! Still not remembered but that's because I no longer need to know things like migration figures for Canada, thank goodness. I have a great ability to just wipe the slate clean after an exam!

Dessert

Fill in the blank: I notice ____________ when _____________.

I notice that it is time to clean my bedroom when I have a mountain of clothes on my floor.

In other news... in Friday's exam I was sitting with my hand up for ten whole minutes waiting for the invigilator (who almost sent the teacher who was to cover my break away!) to notice I really needed my back-stretching break. If they can't put their heads up more than once every ten minutes is there really any point in them being in the room?!

I was so annoyed - I missed out time in my exam (I did get some reading of resource material done though). Although it was made up for at the end when the invigilator left to leave a teacher in charge of the extra time (I get time added on to make up for the break) and the teacher didn't stop my exam! He just seemed to let me keep going! I finished my sentence - I knew I only had so many minutes and cut an earlier question short so I had finished the last question anyway. And I handed my paper in - I couldn't have justified extra time! But who knows how long I'd have been left with extra time?

When on my break the teacher sent me on a message to get a key to open her door from another teacher! In the middle of my A level exam! Goodness! And I got to hear all about certain health issues she had.

Also, guinea fowl are the most annoying birds ever. They were hanging out at our house most of last week - up until last weekend when they disappeared. I thought that was great - it might have meant the fox got them. Now, I am completely against animal cruelty but until you have heard the noise a guinea fowl constantly makes you have no idea what I'm talking about! Never mind what the noise two make!

However, they are not dead. A rather eccentric neighbour told my granny (who is currently in Prague! lucky her!) how he was chasing them, trying to capture them with a blanket, in the early hours of the morning. Sandy, my dog, doesn't like them either. He chased one up to our garage roof!

Anyone got any good guinea fowl recipes? They look like the turkey's ugly cousin!

And, to finish of, these are my favourite pictures of right now:

I don't like the annoying dandelion in the bottom left of the second pic but if I take it out it ruins the balance of the picture. I love the way the flowers are clear and look lovely but are out of reach because of the barbed wire - it wasn't planned! I couldn't get into the meadow because of a stupid bull in the field - they're my favourite flower.

Labels: Animals, exams, Friday's Feast, photos, school

Monday, May 21, 2007

Because, y'know, I just don't share enough...

My back has been killing me lately - I've no idea how I managed to sit down for that last 45 minutes of my geography exam and the two hour exam on the 30th (and I can't even bear to think about the 3 hour paper on the 11th...) will, no doubt, be very interesting.

It also makes revision very hard - I constantly have to break and move and generally ass about. *sigh* It really doesn't help anything.

But in addition to that I have a horrible horrible ulcer/abscess in my mouth, right down where your cheek meets the bottom of your gum. It's been sore for the past four days and mouthwash only helped ease the pain for a couple of minutes (and no bonjela in the house).

So today, on study leave, I... (brace yourselves) got dressed! And I headed up to the local chemist (the bottom one if any SFers are taking note) and was given a tube of stuff -- well, I bought a tube of stuff for £3.95.

Boy was I conned - the tube is, essentially, superglue only looks a lot like something you would sneeze and is of a similar consistency. I had Pritt Stick glue in my pencil case so why did I shell out more? However, it does work although it wears off with saliva and you have to dry the ulcer area before applying it (which is incredibly painful) but it works because it actually sticks your cheek to your gums and teeth.

And, yeah, you're all incredibly welcome for this wonderful little insight into my life.

I really lack discipline with this whole revision thing... I'm so screwed.

And, in keeping with the YouTube posting, this is a video of a dance I'm sure all Czech team members will love to hate by July 28th... (We have to learn it and do it every camp night before the evening program)

And this is perhaps the most disturbing TV ad on Northern Ireland TV (and is only shown after the 9pm watershed) - watch it.

Labels: Czech, exams, heath, revision, stress

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Video Fun

Although my computer won't let me play my camera videos on it I can upload them to YouTube. Here are two videos I have taken in the past two weeks - one taken at youth group with Jayne and Paul murdering a classic.

The second was taken tonight when Rose came up with my DHS 'Class of 2007' hoodie and I showed her the lovely hammock that's now up in my back garden.... She's a little less graceful than me at the whole thing!

Enjoy!

In other news... revision sucks and I'm freaking out!

Labels: friends

Monday, May 14, 2007

School is over...

Thought I should blog about my last day of school which was last Thursday. It was a great day – and it went so quickly! Quicker than how fast I wished English Shakespeare periods would go (and that is fast!).
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It was a day of shirt signing and goodbyes. Times when I thought I was going to cry but didn’t (I know, a miracle). A day of laughter and reminiscing and sharing hopes and fears about what will happen four months from now. We were also thinking about where we’ll be in ten years time.
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For the record, I was voted (by my circle of friends) to be most likely to finish uni last, most likely to be married first, most likely to have the first planned pregnancy (and, yes, there was a separate category for unplanned…) and most likely to die last. And I largely agree with all of those – except I dispute the last one because no one knows. I was voted most likely to die last because, and I quote, “the good die young” so, apparently, I’ll be last. I’m taking that with love y’all and I’ll be sure to cry at the funerals and tell all the stories at the wakes.
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In terms of “pranks” there really weren’t that many creative ideas. Someone had the bright idea to bring in paint so handprints decorated one of the noticeboards in common room. There was honey on common room toilet seats. The head boy was tied (with those strong plastic tie things) to a chair (it took four or five guys – mostly rugby players – to get him tied down!) to a chair, wrapped in cling film, taken out to the playground and covered in shaving foam.
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In the car park outside school where any drivers would park people decorated any “R” plated cars (and any cars they knew belonged to DHSers) with sawdust, shaving foam and oatmeal. Lovely! So glad I don’t drive! One girl also had one of her car tyres removed – her dad just loved having to come down and put it back on! Then the guy who did that to her car had his tyres deflated! With no pump. Awesome.
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There were also baby/childhood photos of the head boy and head girl put up all over school. And general water balloons and stuff. But the caretaker, cleaners and teachers said it has been much much worse in previous years. And the guys did clean the honey etc up!
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We had lunch with the headmaster, head of year people and form teachers. I’ve never had runnier lasagne in my life! But banoffee, as always, is welcome! There were speeches throughout the day – in assembly or at the lunch that talked about our year had no cliques. While I dispute that a little we were reasonably close and while there are a few people I won’t miss that much there are loads I will.
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I may have blogged about him before, I honestly can’t remember, but there’s an atheist in my RS class. Who argues over every thing – he is the one who argued that woman don’t have souls because dogs don’t have souls… I have tried the love approach and the intellectual approach but to no avail. And I knew he’d remember who I was when I wrote something other than the “all the best!” comments. What did I write? “Won’t see you in hell but will miss you nonetheless…” Yeah. Aren’t I subtle? He did ‘get it’ and laughed. And you never know… it could prompt something in later years.
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Walking out of school I was stopped by my English teacher who shook my hand and wished me all the best – definitely a teary moment! I’ll have to remember to take in the book by him I bought to get him to sign it. And in February y’all have to listen to Radio Four for the reading thing – they’ll be doing an abridged version of his new book which’ll be coming out in Februrary called The Truth Commissioner (I think). It’s about NI and he says if they don’t get Liam Neeson to read it he won’t do it – but I think he’s being silly.
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The last couple of days at school were been pretty emotional – saying goodbye to teachers. Them imparting wisdom or best wishes. The above teacher said he’ll miss us as individuals. My geography teachers said we’ve been the best year so far and that they couldn’t have written a better description of the ideal class. My RS teachers I’ll see again when we all go out to dinner the night after our last exam… And psychology, my night class, continues.
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Anyway, it has been a great year. I can’t believe how fast it has gone and how much closer we have become. I wish all of you all the very best in these little exams coming up. If I've forgot anything guys... comment! And, to finish:
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“Don't be dismayed at good-byes, a farewell is necessary before we can meet again, and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.”

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My exam dates are: 18th May, 25th May, 30th May, 31st May (my Stage 3 Typing exams). June 11th, 12th, 13th and 19th, 20th and 21st.

Labels: friends, good times, lasts, laughter, my week, past, school, thoughts

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

My Cutting Humour...

I had to record this before I forgot it. (Sad, I know). I'm kinda known for my sarcasm... Yeah, just kinda... So on Saturday night we were all up at Jane's for her birthday party - which is tomorrow - happy birthday for tomorrow honey!!

We were all sitting around discussing bad experiences with teachers and Rachel was talking about one of her experiences with a teacher - here is a paraphrase of what she said..

Rachel "He came up to me in second year in the vendy machine area and told me I was hyper sensitive! I have never ever forgotten that!!"

Me: "Because clearly he was wrong..."

In case anyone ever worries about the source of my sarcasm it is always love - the more teasing you get, the more you're loved... Obviously...

PS - everyone do your moral duty and go and vote for Belfast - we have to unite (just like our leaders!) behind our wee country - for goodness' sake Exeter is in second place but Belfast is 62nd! Voting closes on May 25th - GET VOTING! Or else.

Labels: friends, NI

Monday, May 07, 2007

The Marathon

Well, we did it! Everyone who started crossed the finish line (even those who started out to do 9 miles - well done!) - even though by 6 hours 48 minutes they had dismantled the arch to be walked though! They say people have nine hours to finish it and everyone entering pays £20 - how horrible is it to have walked so far and have no arch to triumphantly go under?!

Last year Rose and I walked with Paul and we completed it in 7 hours 52 minutes - just a minute less than the year before. This year? Rose and I completed it in 6 hours 45 minutes - a full hour and seven minutes shorter than last year! Hopefully this will end the "oh, it was totally you guys who slowed me down" nonsense! Last year we walked, roughly, 18 minute miles and were the last to cross the line from church - this year Rose and I, minus 15 minutes that was taken up by toilet breaks (I know, I'm sorry!) or stopping to get some food, did 15 minute miles the entire time!

For the first bit Jayne also walked with us and she was so full of energy! She decided to have "Paul moments" in memory of last year. Paul moments included: stopping at every single bus shelter (at the start anyway) and having a break there (not a long one!), crawling where Paul crawled (on the Falls Road, of all places!) and going "oh, my feet/etc hurt" etc etc etc. Special times!

Although, it should be noted that I was not as grumpy this time round! Clearly this was due to lack of provocation! I only had one really snappy/grumpy moment. A definite decrease! And any other moments of anger could also be sourced from the texts only an hour and a half into it saying "you're nearly there... well, you're not actually" or the phonecall where, upon hearing there was a thunderstorm, laughter was heard and then "no, I wasn't laughing as I sit here with my cup of hot tea." Yeah, both from the very supportive youth worker, Paul.

The weather was worse than last year - there was a thunderstorm! With thunder and lightning and horrific rain! So so so much rain! Thankfully it cleared up - after so many prayers!

One thing I would say about doing something like this is how much you pray during it! I don't think I've prayed much harder ever! ;-) And I also have helped continue my New Year's Resolutions - as I walked round I learnt the verse from Isaiah - "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint". Sounds about right! Even though my right thigh hurts so much right now!

Anyway, a VERY big congrats to everyone who finished the whole thing - you rock!

So, who fancies their odds at next year?

Labels: marathon

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Tomorrow - The Marathon

Tomorrow there is a huge task ahead of some of us. Well, many of you may struggle to get out of bed in the morning (and I'll happily do 7am wake up calls if I feel that applies to you) but after that initial struggle some of us are doing the Belfast City Marathon.

(A little note to those designing the ribbons of the medals it is spelt Belfast City, not Belfast Citty like what appeared on the ribbons last year. That was rather pitiful. And let's not get started on the running-cake design of a t-shirt).

Prayers for NO RAIN would be great. Although we don't want 25 degrees either!

The route is awful - Paul described it as "If Belfast was a body the route is the builder's arse of Belfast". We walk along the wonder that is the Falls Road, the Sydenam (spelling?) Bypass, along a cycle route where to the right is a motorway and the left is the dirty, rubbishy water, the Lagan towpath and various industrial estates.

What I want to know is who travels from places like Kenya to do this?!

Anyway, we pretty much have to finish it now thanks to many many generous sponsorship donations from the church. Thank you all SO MUCH!

Please pray for the gals doing the marathon tomorrow to raise funds for the Czech Republic - Elaine, my mum (Barbara), Rose, Jayne (who needs extra prayers because apparently she is going to keep talking to me - and my grumpiness reaches new heights when walking for just under 8 hours! - so she may end up in the Lagan) and myself. As well as others walking it from the church.

Will let you know how it all goes!

Also coming up will be an amazing video clip of Jayne and Paul drowning cats/"singing" (oh, the loosest possible sense of the word!) and headbanging (read: general murdering) of Bohemian Rapsody. Priceless.

Labels: marathon

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Christian-ese

I'm just in again from leaving my dad down in Belfast and picking up the marathon packs (Elaine, if you're reading, I got yours and will bring it to church in the morning). On my way home I was stopped at the traffic lights and noticed the car in front of me and I knew I wanted to blog about it.

I came home and logged onto my bloglines and found Our Souls in Church had done a post about the same videos as Livingloud (aka Paul's blog) and I watched them again and saw what I wanted to talk about with regards to the car.

If you head over there and watch the first video (they're short) about halfway through you'll see a collection of "bumper stickers". The car I saw at the lights had one of those wee Christian fish on it which I've seen loads of places etc - in fact the guy who parked about a piece of paper's width away from me today had one on his car. But I had never seen the bumper sticker on the car before. Which one was it?

The one that's furthest done on the guy's jacket - "Warning: In case of rapture this car will be unmanned". I didn't quite know how to react. So instead I'll ask a question - why do people feel the need to buy these and display them?

Anyway, the videos are great so go watch them. (Yeah, I'm not posting them because I've no idea how to do so in my blog post!).

Labels: faith, question, random

Friday, May 04, 2007

Friday Miscellanea

So, today was perhaps my last ever “Sexy Friday” – how upsetting! For new readers “Sexy Friday” was the term one of my RS teachers gave to my rather amazing Friday timetable – I don’t have any classes after 11:50 (and that includes break time!).
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In September I was ready (and perhaps did!) to wish this year away – I was filled with a mentality that this year was just one that had to be survived and endured. But I have loved it! I have so many memories I hope never to forget. I wish I could go back and relive countless Wednesday afternoons, Prize Day and the last day before the Christmas holidays – they all stand out in my head as times where I’ve just thought, while watching my friends, “how could this get better?”. I’m going to miss so many of my teachers and so many of my friends from school that have made it worth remembering! (By the way, those friends need not worry – I’ll be sure to keep in touch! Sorry if you thought you'd escape!)
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Well, not one to waste such a lovely day and a last opportunity for enjoying and fully using a Sexy Friday I got to work. I came home (yeah, so I went to the church office and enjoyed an ice cream first – a girl’s gotta eat!) and changed and stripped my bed. I put those and my school shirts (white) into the washing machine. I added some baking powder to the wash and it really made things whiter! Meanwhile I tidied my room. When tidying my room I unearthed several things not seen in a while – my ECDL certificate and, to my great surprise, the carpet! Clearly this is why I stop tidying my room: it means you’ve a carpet to hoover!
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Meanwhile, the wash had finished and I put it out on the washing line to dry and put another load of washing in. I hoovered my room and dusted. I also washed the windows! By this stage (yeah… I sat down and watched Friends at some point) the bedclothes were virtually dry and after a quick ten minute stay in the tumble drier I went and ironed them and put them on my bed. I also put out the second wash I put on, put in a third wash and put it out too. The second wash had jeans in it so they aren’t dry and the third wash really isn’t dry! Tomorrow is another day…
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I also made a cheesecake! It looks good. I didn’t get time to tidy the den but that can be done tomorrow. I feel like a bit of a domestic goddess! It feels really good to know exactly how productive I’ve been – and I’m quickly typing this so I can get to bed and enjoy, what is perhaps one of the best feelings in the world, freshly laundered bedclothes!
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Today I have been also enjoying a really great CD. It’s called “Just Great Songs” (the one with “How to Save a Life” by The Fray as the first track on the first CD – there are two CDs with the same title) and it really lives up to its name! I often find with compliation CDs that I’m constantly flicking through tracks but not with this one! The only annoying thing is that Windows Media Player doesn’t recognise the song titles – and displays what I assume are the track names of the other CD by the same name.
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Definitely worth the £15 for me and if great music is your thing I really recommend it! The only song it’s missing is my favourite at the moment – “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles (on their Love album) – if anyone has this CD I’d love to borrow it!
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In other music news I’ve changed my myspace song as per the request. Some people… *rolls eyes* (Love you honey!). Also, after over a week of few emails (except spam – I have received, in 30 days, 312 spam emails!) I have three sitting “unread” in my inbox – “unread” because, although I have read them, it’s the only way I remember to reply to them! I will get to them, sometime, probably this weekend some time.
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Anyway, one last thing before I dive off to bed. I’ve decided to do a thing called “Friday’s Feast” – a series of questions for me to answer. Here it goes…
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Appetizer
Name something you would not want to own.
I would not want to own… Hmm… Let’s think… A dialysis machine – ie anything to do with health kind scares me and the idea of being on dialysis for years does not ever appeal! Is there anything to can do specifically to look after your kidneys?
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Soup
Describe your hair (texture, color, length, etc.).
My hair… is thick and curly/wavy if it dries completely on its own. It is getting longer and sits quite comfortably on my shoulders – it would be longer if it was straightened. As for colour (learn to spell America!) it is brown – but some lighter bits too.
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Salad
Finish this sentence: I’ll never forget ___________.
There are lots of things I never ever want to forget. I’ll never forget my friends from these years – I couldn’t! Even if I’m a bit pants at keeping in touch know I’ll probably be remembering you when I hear the randomest things that link with you – someone saying they need to pee, pineapples, penguins, maths formulae, etc etc (and you all know which ones apply to you!).
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Main Course
Which famous person would you like to be for one day? Why?
Hahaha! When I read this I thought “gosh, who?” and then the answer struck very clearly! I would be George Bush. Why? Think of all the things I could do and change…
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Dessert
Write one sentence about yourself that includes one thing that is true and another thing that is not.
I think I’ll end up being a housewife/stay-at-home-mum at the very least part time for several years in the future, if the whole marriage and kids thing happens, and the idea of being a housewife/stay-at-home-mum scares me. (Now, it’s your turn to guess which one is true and which is false!)
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Have a great bank holiday weekend everyone!

Labels: Friday's Feast, friends, fun, future, good days, good times, health, love, past, people, random, Rose, school, tidying, today, When I Rule the World...

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The Inevitable Finally Happened

As I write this the last bit of my last Easter egg is slowly melting in my mouth. So sad! No more Easter eggs till next year!

Until then there is always Malteasers...

Labels: chocolate

Praise God!

I was up at the health surgery today to see my physio and I found out that all my blood tests came back clear! I'm so glad - it was a real worry that those would come back showing something potentially very serious.

I'm hopefully having my x-ray tomorrow but we think we have found the cause of my back problem. For years now I have been saying that I walk on the "outside" of my feet, particularly my right foot (and people have to me to wise up and stop imagining things - oh how they were wrong!). Well, the physio looked at it today and came to the conclusion that I am flat footed and have little arch in my right foot. This could be what is causing my back to be so sore as my posture is all off to different sides because I'm trying to "compensate" for my arch.

I have no been referred to the chiropitist and have a 4-5 week waiting list for that and another physio appointment in June sometime. I can't believe it's now May! Argghh!

Anyway, thank you all so much as you put up with me worrying about my back and the blood tests. God is good.

Labels: health