Challenge 4 - fast for 48 hours
I set myself the challenges on a Thursday evening, and I can't go changing it during the week, cos that's just cheating and copping out. They also need to be completed by midnight the following Thursday. Which means that to fast for 48 hours I need to have started at midnight last night at the latest.
The handful of wine gums in my belly are proof that I failed this one too.
Current saved total: £5
Current donated total: £15
New Thing: Challenge # 3
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Cel'eena Cree
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Challenge 3 - enter every free prize draw that I see for two weeks.
This challenge isn't due to end until Thursday, but I've already failed. The day after I started it, I saw a prize draw group on facebook to win a Macbook. So I entered. Unfortunately, it was run by a website that runs free prize draws. So when I finished it offered me fifty more to enter. Each draw that I entered offered me more prize draws. I was there for about three hours entering all the damn draws.
The failure has come in the form of all the prize draw emails I've been getting to my spam account from that website. I haven't entered any of them
FAIL
Current saved total: £5
Current dnated total: £10
This challenge isn't due to end until Thursday, but I've already failed. The day after I started it, I saw a prize draw group on facebook to win a Macbook. So I entered. Unfortunately, it was run by a website that runs free prize draws. So when I finished it offered me fifty more to enter. Each draw that I entered offered me more prize draws. I was there for about three hours entering all the damn draws.
The failure has come in the form of all the prize draw emails I've been getting to my spam account from that website. I haven't entered any of them
FAIL
Current saved total: £5
Current dnated total: £10
All Change!
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Cel'eena Cree
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Hi there bloggers, long time no speak. I've been insanely busy. And even when I wasn't busy, I didn't have the energy to blog. Here's a brief update:
- I MOVED!! I now live in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. I moved cities, while actually only moving a few streets down the road. But I have a lovely new flat now, all to myself.
- I have a cat. An insane, schizo, mad little beast. Name of Alfie, he's only a few months old and he's very teeny tiny and cute. Until he's latching on to the skin of my thigh, or getting himself trapped on top of the curtain pole or something. It's all fun and games. Hopefully I'm getting a second cat too, before this one turns out like Gadget and gets too used to the place being his alone. Also, before you ask, I haven't gotten rid of Tippi. Tippi grew a nice pair of bollocks, and Tippi just didn't seem like a boy's name. So now he's Alfie.
- I've been episoding for the past week. It's not fun. It's even worse when I go to bed and there are no more distractions. I don't like going to bed. I'm tired now, shattered. But I'm scared to go to bed.
Those are actually the main three changes. And the third one isn't really much of a change. It has stopped me doing all those little things that need doing when one moves into a new home. For instance, all my clothes are still on the floor of my (walk-in) closet, there is still a pile of flattened boxes on my living room floor, all my dresser items are dumped on the dresser and not actually organised in any way at all.
But the plan is to sort all that out tomorrow. I'm having a Pot Luck Housewarming Dinner on Saturday - hopefully my episoding boyfriend will make it, I miss him - and I'd like to have the place perfect by then. The only thing out of my control is the hallway carpet. Whilst the place was uninhabited over Christmas a pipe froze and burst. I was told I could wait until it was all sorted before I moved in, but I couldn't wait to move. So since I had a pair of handsome Mormon Elders help me shift all my stuff, I've had...
- a gas man out to do the boiler check and show me that the cooker the previous tenants left behind (and that the landlords claimed as theirs) was unsafe. He demonstrated this by touching it and it all collapsed.
- a landlady out with a new cooker.
- a gas man out to check the new cooker.
- a rag and bone man out to collect the washing machine that the previous tenants left behind and that I was allowed to keep except that it didn't work and so the rag and bone man came to collect it but it was still wired in and he didn't have the right tools and I couldn't have helped him get it down the stairs anyway, and then I asked the landlady if I could keep it anyway cos my microwave is currently on it as I don't have very much work surface space in there.
- a plasterer who failed to show up several times to plaster up the hole in my ceiling, who finally came around when I wasn't in on Monday and gave me a complete ceiling.
- a landlady's husband who came around this evening to repaint the hallway walls after the burst and to reinstall the handrails on the stairs.
So, all that needs doing is a quick coat of paint on the ceiling, which Rich (landlady's husband) is coming round to do tomorrow night, and a new carpet laying down in the hallway. Jenny (the landlady) is gonna order it tomorrow but I really hope they come and fit it before Saturday. I would like to show off my place at it's very best. I'll take pictures eventually.
In the meantime, bed. Maybe.
- I MOVED!! I now live in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. I moved cities, while actually only moving a few streets down the road. But I have a lovely new flat now, all to myself.
- I have a cat. An insane, schizo, mad little beast. Name of Alfie, he's only a few months old and he's very teeny tiny and cute. Until he's latching on to the skin of my thigh, or getting himself trapped on top of the curtain pole or something. It's all fun and games. Hopefully I'm getting a second cat too, before this one turns out like Gadget and gets too used to the place being his alone. Also, before you ask, I haven't gotten rid of Tippi. Tippi grew a nice pair of bollocks, and Tippi just didn't seem like a boy's name. So now he's Alfie.
- I've been episoding for the past week. It's not fun. It's even worse when I go to bed and there are no more distractions. I don't like going to bed. I'm tired now, shattered. But I'm scared to go to bed.
Those are actually the main three changes. And the third one isn't really much of a change. It has stopped me doing all those little things that need doing when one moves into a new home. For instance, all my clothes are still on the floor of my (walk-in) closet, there is still a pile of flattened boxes on my living room floor, all my dresser items are dumped on the dresser and not actually organised in any way at all.
But the plan is to sort all that out tomorrow. I'm having a Pot Luck Housewarming Dinner on Saturday - hopefully my episoding boyfriend will make it, I miss him - and I'd like to have the place perfect by then. The only thing out of my control is the hallway carpet. Whilst the place was uninhabited over Christmas a pipe froze and burst. I was told I could wait until it was all sorted before I moved in, but I couldn't wait to move. So since I had a pair of handsome Mormon Elders help me shift all my stuff, I've had...
- a gas man out to do the boiler check and show me that the cooker the previous tenants left behind (and that the landlords claimed as theirs) was unsafe. He demonstrated this by touching it and it all collapsed.
- a landlady out with a new cooker.
- a gas man out to check the new cooker.
- a rag and bone man out to collect the washing machine that the previous tenants left behind and that I was allowed to keep except that it didn't work and so the rag and bone man came to collect it but it was still wired in and he didn't have the right tools and I couldn't have helped him get it down the stairs anyway, and then I asked the landlady if I could keep it anyway cos my microwave is currently on it as I don't have very much work surface space in there.
- a plasterer who failed to show up several times to plaster up the hole in my ceiling, who finally came around when I wasn't in on Monday and gave me a complete ceiling.
- a landlady's husband who came around this evening to repaint the hallway walls after the burst and to reinstall the handrails on the stairs.
So, all that needs doing is a quick coat of paint on the ceiling, which Rich (landlady's husband) is coming round to do tomorrow night, and a new carpet laying down in the hallway. Jenny (the landlady) is gonna order it tomorrow but I really hope they come and fit it before Saturday. I would like to show off my place at it's very best. I'll take pictures eventually.
In the meantime, bed. Maybe.
New Thing: Challenge # 2
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Cel'eena Cree
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Challenge 2 - list 101 things that make me angry/annoyed
I get annoyed very very easily, but I found this one very difficult. Impossible. I got as far as 11 things and couldn't think of any more. I added 24 more during the week, but that was as far as I got. Of course, I have been busy sorting out the move and things, but I still failed. My first fail.
Current saved total: £5
Current donated total: £5
I get annoyed very very easily, but I found this one very difficult. Impossible. I got as far as 11 things and couldn't think of any more. I added 24 more during the week, but that was as far as I got. Of course, I have been busy sorting out the move and things, but I still failed. My first fail.
Current saved total: £5
Current donated total: £5
I'm moving!
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Cel'eena Cree
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Dear Internet
I'm moving! I went to view an apartment yesterday, and I signed the tenancy agreement and picked up the key today, I move on Saturday. YAY :-D
It's a lovely little apartment. Not big enough for a family, but definitely okay for me. Kitchen, lounge, bathroom, bedroom, walk in wardrobe. They're letting me have my darling Tippi Kitty, which is a big big plus. It wasn't an option really. I'm not moving somewhere that wouldn't let me have her.
I started packing today. I brought some boxes from a removals website and I've already packed 6 of them. And a suitcase. And a couple of bags of soft toys. And a crisp box worth of books. I'd say I've only done a quarter to a third of the work though. Lots and lots to do.
I've booked a man and a van. Two men and a van actually. I don't want to do any of the work this time. I'm pretty sure my ankle would refuse to do anything anyway, and I have no handy van-driving friend this time around. Jen and I will supervise and then she's gonna help me unpack. I'm getting some free furniture from a friend of the lovely landlady, and they're even delivering.
I just called Sky, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing is I'll have Sky Plus tv and unlimited broadband. Bad thing is they won't be around to install the Sky box 'til next Thursday, and then I gotta wait two weeks for the landline before I can even call about the broadband. No internet!! Nooooooooooooooooooo :-( Not sure how I'll cope with that.
But the point is I'm moving. I do have a mild concern. I moved into shared accommodation because I thought living alone was only aggravating my depression. As much as living here is driving me nuts, I don't know if I'm going to cope with living alone again. I'm going to work my hardest to manage, and I know I have a good support system. I'll manage.
Back to packing. Anyone wanna help?
I'm moving! I went to view an apartment yesterday, and I signed the tenancy agreement and picked up the key today, I move on Saturday. YAY :-D
It's a lovely little apartment. Not big enough for a family, but definitely okay for me. Kitchen, lounge, bathroom, bedroom, walk in wardrobe. They're letting me have my darling Tippi Kitty, which is a big big plus. It wasn't an option really. I'm not moving somewhere that wouldn't let me have her.
I started packing today. I brought some boxes from a removals website and I've already packed 6 of them. And a suitcase. And a couple of bags of soft toys. And a crisp box worth of books. I'd say I've only done a quarter to a third of the work though. Lots and lots to do.
I've booked a man and a van. Two men and a van actually. I don't want to do any of the work this time. I'm pretty sure my ankle would refuse to do anything anyway, and I have no handy van-driving friend this time around. Jen and I will supervise and then she's gonna help me unpack. I'm getting some free furniture from a friend of the lovely landlady, and they're even delivering.
I just called Sky, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing is I'll have Sky Plus tv and unlimited broadband. Bad thing is they won't be around to install the Sky box 'til next Thursday, and then I gotta wait two weeks for the landline before I can even call about the broadband. No internet!! Nooooooooooooooooooo :-( Not sure how I'll cope with that.
But the point is I'm moving. I do have a mild concern. I moved into shared accommodation because I thought living alone was only aggravating my depression. As much as living here is driving me nuts, I don't know if I'm going to cope with living alone again. I'm going to work my hardest to manage, and I know I have a good support system. I'll manage.
Back to packing. Anyone wanna help?
Because There Wasn't Enough Going On In My Head Already
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Cel'eena Cree
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Nobody will ever guess in a million years what is sitting to next to me at the moment. Except perhaps Jen, because she was there when it was given to me. It's certainly not something I ever expected to own. But there it is, plain as day, sat there nice and conspicuously on the bed next to me.
The Book of Mormon.
I actually don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but Jen has recently become a Mormon. And she insists that it's done wonderful things for her. I'm sure that's true, for her, but I can't deny a large amount of cynicism. Mormons have a severely bad rap. And the things I've been told, and the things I've read about them haven't helped. I've heard some very outlandish theories about them, ranging from burning bibles to eating pineapple in circles in the mornings. I'm not completely stupid, I don't automatically believe everything I hear. I will always let someone talk to me, and tell me their story and their side of things. I promised Jen I would meet her Elders and that I would read the Book of Mormon and I would listen. And tonight I listened.
After my first meeting at Slimming World (more on that later), Jen and I got pasta salads from Morrison's then went back to hers for her regular teaching session with Elder Sorensen and Elder McKechnie. They were very interested to meet me, since Jen had told them all so much about me. They were clean cut and handsome and polite and friendly. This I already knew, I have met many many Mormon missionaries around Stoke before. They're all clean cut and handsome and polite and friendly.
After we'd said hello and sat down, Elder Sorenson said that I must have a lot of questions. I did. Hundreds of them, but I couldn't say any of them. I felt like I had this humungous pressure to be on my very best behaviour. I couldn't think of any of my questions, so I just let them talk to me. They told me about the path of salvation, and about the fall of Adam and Eve and about actual and spiritual death, and about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Aside from learning that Jesus apparently bled from every pore under the pressure of mankind's sins, I didn't really hear anything I haven't been told a hundred times before.
Now, I was christened Church of England, but I wasn't really raised in a religious household. And while I've always considered myself a spiritual person, I don't have a lot of experience with religion of any kind. I tend to think of myself as an agnostic. I have a feeling that something is out there, that there is some power or divinity helping us and watching and possibly influencing us, I've just never really believed in any specific god. Religion as it's own entity kinda scared me off. Things like the Holy Crusades, and all the terror in Ireland between Catholics and Protestants, they tend to scare one off a bit.
A lot of people when confronted with the idea of God respond with "why does he let terrible things happen?" and that's their reason for not believing. I don't think that. God gave us the free will to do whatever we want. He doesn't let terrible things happen, he lets US let terrible things happen. My trouble with faith lies with.... Actually I don't know. My trouble with faith lies with the fact that I don't know where my trouble with faith lies. I just struggle to believe. I have problems letting that Holy Spirit that Elder McKechnie spoke so passionately about into my heart. That's not quite right. I'm more than willing to let it in, I just don't feel it. Maybe I will one day, I don't know yet.
As for Mormonism, I have my issues with them as a religion. One is the same issue I have with most religions. No homosexuality. At all. None. Zip. Nada. I have very severe issues with that. Another is the sex-before-marriage thing. I like sex. I LOVE sex. I don't feel guilty for having sex. It's going to take a lot to convince me to give that up. Another issue is the tattoos thing. Mormons aren't allowed to get tattoos. I suppose other religions might have the same opinion, but I don't like it.
Jen, and Elder Sorensen and Elder McKechnie, all want me to learn about God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Celestial Kingdom and the Path of Salvation and things. And I will learn. I will read and I will listen. I'm even going to church with Jen on Sunday. But they won't baptise me and accept me into their church, and I won't get into their Celestial Kingdom unless I give up sex, give up my lesbian urges and stop getting tattooed. That's what bothers me about religion. If God loves us as we are, why doesn't he want to let us BE who we are? Why is expressing who I am in the ways I choose a sin?
I don't know what I'm expecting the internet to say to any of this. I guess if I had a larger readership I could expect a variety of comments. But for now this blog is my journal, and while I don't write about everything, I do tend to write when I have a lot on my mind. And this is going to be something that's on my mind a lot.
In other news - Slimming World. While I was away, Jen switched from Weightwatchers to Slimming World. And 'cos I'm not going to do one of those on my own, I started Slimming World with her tonight. It seems a lot more complicated than Weightwatchers. And I have certain issues - mainly that a banana can go from a perfectly free, eat-as-many-as-you-want food, to being a 6 syn food if you mash it! That's insane. But I'll give it a try. I certainly need to lose the weight. I weigh a lot more than I was expecting. And when I get my own place I'm covering my kitchen with pictures of little babies to remind me of my motivation. And if it doesn't work for me, I'll just go back to the Weightwatchers plan and get weighed at Slimming World.
The Book of Mormon.
I actually don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but Jen has recently become a Mormon. And she insists that it's done wonderful things for her. I'm sure that's true, for her, but I can't deny a large amount of cynicism. Mormons have a severely bad rap. And the things I've been told, and the things I've read about them haven't helped. I've heard some very outlandish theories about them, ranging from burning bibles to eating pineapple in circles in the mornings. I'm not completely stupid, I don't automatically believe everything I hear. I will always let someone talk to me, and tell me their story and their side of things. I promised Jen I would meet her Elders and that I would read the Book of Mormon and I would listen. And tonight I listened.
After my first meeting at Slimming World (more on that later), Jen and I got pasta salads from Morrison's then went back to hers for her regular teaching session with Elder Sorensen and Elder McKechnie. They were very interested to meet me, since Jen had told them all so much about me. They were clean cut and handsome and polite and friendly. This I already knew, I have met many many Mormon missionaries around Stoke before. They're all clean cut and handsome and polite and friendly.
After we'd said hello and sat down, Elder Sorenson said that I must have a lot of questions. I did. Hundreds of them, but I couldn't say any of them. I felt like I had this humungous pressure to be on my very best behaviour. I couldn't think of any of my questions, so I just let them talk to me. They told me about the path of salvation, and about the fall of Adam and Eve and about actual and spiritual death, and about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Aside from learning that Jesus apparently bled from every pore under the pressure of mankind's sins, I didn't really hear anything I haven't been told a hundred times before.
Now, I was christened Church of England, but I wasn't really raised in a religious household. And while I've always considered myself a spiritual person, I don't have a lot of experience with religion of any kind. I tend to think of myself as an agnostic. I have a feeling that something is out there, that there is some power or divinity helping us and watching and possibly influencing us, I've just never really believed in any specific god. Religion as it's own entity kinda scared me off. Things like the Holy Crusades, and all the terror in Ireland between Catholics and Protestants, they tend to scare one off a bit.
A lot of people when confronted with the idea of God respond with "why does he let terrible things happen?" and that's their reason for not believing. I don't think that. God gave us the free will to do whatever we want. He doesn't let terrible things happen, he lets US let terrible things happen. My trouble with faith lies with.... Actually I don't know. My trouble with faith lies with the fact that I don't know where my trouble with faith lies. I just struggle to believe. I have problems letting that Holy Spirit that Elder McKechnie spoke so passionately about into my heart. That's not quite right. I'm more than willing to let it in, I just don't feel it. Maybe I will one day, I don't know yet.
As for Mormonism, I have my issues with them as a religion. One is the same issue I have with most religions. No homosexuality. At all. None. Zip. Nada. I have very severe issues with that. Another is the sex-before-marriage thing. I like sex. I LOVE sex. I don't feel guilty for having sex. It's going to take a lot to convince me to give that up. Another issue is the tattoos thing. Mormons aren't allowed to get tattoos. I suppose other religions might have the same opinion, but I don't like it.
Jen, and Elder Sorensen and Elder McKechnie, all want me to learn about God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Celestial Kingdom and the Path of Salvation and things. And I will learn. I will read and I will listen. I'm even going to church with Jen on Sunday. But they won't baptise me and accept me into their church, and I won't get into their Celestial Kingdom unless I give up sex, give up my lesbian urges and stop getting tattooed. That's what bothers me about religion. If God loves us as we are, why doesn't he want to let us BE who we are? Why is expressing who I am in the ways I choose a sin?
I don't know what I'm expecting the internet to say to any of this. I guess if I had a larger readership I could expect a variety of comments. But for now this blog is my journal, and while I don't write about everything, I do tend to write when I have a lot on my mind. And this is going to be something that's on my mind a lot.
In other news - Slimming World. While I was away, Jen switched from Weightwatchers to Slimming World. And 'cos I'm not going to do one of those on my own, I started Slimming World with her tonight. It seems a lot more complicated than Weightwatchers. And I have certain issues - mainly that a banana can go from a perfectly free, eat-as-many-as-you-want food, to being a 6 syn food if you mash it! That's insane. But I'll give it a try. I certainly need to lose the weight. I weigh a lot more than I was expecting. And when I get my own place I'm covering my kitchen with pictures of little babies to remind me of my motivation. And if it doesn't work for me, I'll just go back to the Weightwatchers plan and get weighed at Slimming World.
New Thing: Challenge # 1
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Cel'eena Cree
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Challenge 1 - ask 15 people what one movie you should definitely see before you die, and watch them all in one week.
I'm not entirely sure whether I've failed or passed this challenge. I collected my list of 15 movies, then changed it to a list of 16 because I forgot about a movie someone had said before I collected them all.
So here was my list...
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (mum)
White Chicks (michaela)
Avatar (neil)
Iron Man (tim)
2001: A Space Odyssey (mike)
Akira (cayden)
Godfather (todd)
Land Before Time (clay)
Billy Madison (holly)
Gone With the Wind (jen)
Lost in Translation (lee)
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (heather)
Tombraider (branden)
Pirates of the Caribbean (heather)
Life of Brian (kat)
Usual Suspects (nat)
So, 16 movies. Easy. When I'm living nocturnally, midnight is more like lunchtime for me so I normally consider the end of a day to be when I go to bed or when the sun rises, whichever is first. But Neil was impatient to watch Avatar so we started at midnight, which means my deadline is midnight tonight. That's in 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I'm currently only half way through movie 14. No way I'm gonna finish.
So do I count it as a failure? Or do I skip the sixteenth movie, considering the challenge was only for 15? I don't know what to do. I don't think I can undo a decision. So 16 movies it is.
Normally I'd give myself until dawn to finish, which is easy, but then it wasn't completed in a week. Unless I watch Avatar again. Can I watch two and a half movies, plus Avatar by dawn? If I can, then it's a pass. If I can't, then it's a failure.
Decision made.
Current saved total: £5
Current donated total: £0
I'm not entirely sure whether I've failed or passed this challenge. I collected my list of 15 movies, then changed it to a list of 16 because I forgot about a movie someone had said before I collected them all.
So here was my list...
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (mum)
White Chicks (michaela)
Avatar (neil)
Iron Man (tim)
2001: A Space Odyssey (mike)
Akira (cayden)
Godfather (todd)
Land Before Time (clay)
Billy Madison (holly)
Gone With the Wind (jen)
Lost in Translation (lee)
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (heather)
Tombraider (branden)
Pirates of the Caribbean (heather)
Life of Brian (kat)
Usual Suspects (nat)
So, 16 movies. Easy. When I'm living nocturnally, midnight is more like lunchtime for me so I normally consider the end of a day to be when I go to bed or when the sun rises, whichever is first. But Neil was impatient to watch Avatar so we started at midnight, which means my deadline is midnight tonight. That's in 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I'm currently only half way through movie 14. No way I'm gonna finish.
So do I count it as a failure? Or do I skip the sixteenth movie, considering the challenge was only for 15? I don't know what to do. I don't think I can undo a decision. So 16 movies it is.
Normally I'd give myself until dawn to finish, which is easy, but then it wasn't completed in a week. Unless I watch Avatar again. Can I watch two and a half movies, plus Avatar by dawn? If I can, then it's a pass. If I can't, then it's a failure.
Decision made.
Current saved total: £5
Current donated total: £0
Welcome to 2010
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Cel'eena Cree
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Here it is. We've left the Noughties and now we're in the... well, I'm not sure what we're calling this decade, but it's here anyway. New Decade, New Year. More resolutions. Turning a new page, blah blah blah.
Last year was a little rough on me in some ways, and absolutely brilliant in other ways, but I'm starting this one with some definite plans. I have a list and everything. (Are you shocked?) My biggest resolution is to be a whole lot better with my money. Last year I nearly blew a lot of opportunities and I got into a lot of trouble because I didn't save. If it hadn't been for Neil bailing me out constantly I'd have been screwed several times over. So this year I'm gonna start saving. Possibly. Going from bad-with-money to saving is a hell of a leap, so although that's my goal, I'll be happy if I can just pay my damn bills. It isn't that difficult. Billions of people pay bills every day, so why can't I?
I'm also going to find lots of classes and courses and groups and things to keep me busy. Family and friends are concerned that me dropping out of university means that I'm going to vanish into my room and become a hermit again. This is a very valid fear, especially with all the hilarious internet blogs I keep finding. But I have plans. There is a 10 week cookery class starting next week which I'm signing up for. There's a Silversmithing Jewellery class that starts in April, and a Fused Glass Jewellery class in May that I'm also interested in. There's an Open University creative writing course that I plan on joining, and a fiction writing one as well. There are a million courses I've found (or plan on finding) online - maths ones, shorthand, photography, use of photoshop, writing, etc. Yes, I know that online courses will technically keep me indoors, but stop being pedantic. As well as these classes, I still have Brownies on a Friday. I still go to Stitch and Bitch on a Thursday. Jen and I are planning on creating a non-university-affiliated Knit and Natter society on a Tuesday. I found a knitting society in a library in Biddulph, and a writing society, and I'm joining a reading group. I also want to do more quiz nights, so I'm keeping an eye out for those too.
I'm keeping to the annual standard resolution of "lose weight". I've put on a bit while I was, and I've been a whale for years. While I'm not too fussed with it, my weight does put pressure on my ankle and I have ovary problems that won't be helped either. If I ever want kids, I need to lose a significant amount of weight. So I'm going back to Weightwatchers. On that train of thought I plan on getting hold of a swimming costume that fits and going swimming regularly, and walking more regularly.
Creatively speaking - I had a minor breakthough the other night when curled up with Neil. I had to sit up and type and ended up with a promising paragraph or two. I'll look at it in a bit and see if I can make it into something. I'm going to do more writing exercises, and I will do more bloody writing, damnit! I'm doing weekly photography missions - this week's is to take fifty photos of things beginning with the letter C (next week's is bright pink) - to work on my photography skills, and after I made that video a while back for a new thing I had a craving to make more, so I might do some of them too.
And 52 New Things is continuing, in a new incarnation. This year is 52 Challenges. I've got a list of challenges (and will keep accepting more) and I plan on doing one a week. If I complete the challenge I put £5 into savings to spend at the end of year, and if I fail I donate the £5 to charity. Unless otherwise mentioned, the challenges have a deadline of one week. The first one has to do with watching a whole lot of movies, but I'll be blogging about the Challenges, just like I blogged about the New Things.
So you see, lots of plans to keep myself busy. I'm also hoping to move shortly. My plan for the past year or so has been to stay in this shared house until I graduate, then to move to Preston to be closer to Neil. This has changed. Now that I'm not going to graduate, I was tempted to move to Preston this year. When I got home after my trip away and Christmas at Mum's the state of this house appalled me. It's a long and messy story, and continues on from previous blogs I've written about hating living in a shared house. I moved into a shared home a year and a bit ago because living alone was driving me nuts. I've now discovered that living in a shared house drives me even more nuts. After discussion with Neil though, I've decided I'm not moving to Preston. He doesn't want to move in with me until after he's paid off his loan and that's likely to take another three years. I don't particularly want to leave all my friends and my life here in Stoke just yet, but I can't stand living in this house for another three years, so I'm getting a flat here until Neil is ready. I just need to find somewhere. As soon as is bloody possible. Depending on how it goes, you may get a nice long rant about this sometime soon.
I think that's it. Lots of plans. Mostly I just want to stay at a handle-able depression level. I want to stay with Neil. I want to stay in control of things. I want to be happy. And I wish you all the same. Apart from the Neil thing. He's mine. Back off.
Last year was a little rough on me in some ways, and absolutely brilliant in other ways, but I'm starting this one with some definite plans. I have a list and everything. (Are you shocked?) My biggest resolution is to be a whole lot better with my money. Last year I nearly blew a lot of opportunities and I got into a lot of trouble because I didn't save. If it hadn't been for Neil bailing me out constantly I'd have been screwed several times over. So this year I'm gonna start saving. Possibly. Going from bad-with-money to saving is a hell of a leap, so although that's my goal, I'll be happy if I can just pay my damn bills. It isn't that difficult. Billions of people pay bills every day, so why can't I?
I'm also going to find lots of classes and courses and groups and things to keep me busy. Family and friends are concerned that me dropping out of university means that I'm going to vanish into my room and become a hermit again. This is a very valid fear, especially with all the hilarious internet blogs I keep finding. But I have plans. There is a 10 week cookery class starting next week which I'm signing up for. There's a Silversmithing Jewellery class that starts in April, and a Fused Glass Jewellery class in May that I'm also interested in. There's an Open University creative writing course that I plan on joining, and a fiction writing one as well. There are a million courses I've found (or plan on finding) online - maths ones, shorthand, photography, use of photoshop, writing, etc. Yes, I know that online courses will technically keep me indoors, but stop being pedantic. As well as these classes, I still have Brownies on a Friday. I still go to Stitch and Bitch on a Thursday. Jen and I are planning on creating a non-university-affiliated Knit and Natter society on a Tuesday. I found a knitting society in a library in Biddulph, and a writing society, and I'm joining a reading group. I also want to do more quiz nights, so I'm keeping an eye out for those too.
I'm keeping to the annual standard resolution of "lose weight". I've put on a bit while I was, and I've been a whale for years. While I'm not too fussed with it, my weight does put pressure on my ankle and I have ovary problems that won't be helped either. If I ever want kids, I need to lose a significant amount of weight. So I'm going back to Weightwatchers. On that train of thought I plan on getting hold of a swimming costume that fits and going swimming regularly, and walking more regularly.
Creatively speaking - I had a minor breakthough the other night when curled up with Neil. I had to sit up and type and ended up with a promising paragraph or two. I'll look at it in a bit and see if I can make it into something. I'm going to do more writing exercises, and I will do more bloody writing, damnit! I'm doing weekly photography missions - this week's is to take fifty photos of things beginning with the letter C (next week's is bright pink) - to work on my photography skills, and after I made that video a while back for a new thing I had a craving to make more, so I might do some of them too.
And 52 New Things is continuing, in a new incarnation. This year is 52 Challenges. I've got a list of challenges (and will keep accepting more) and I plan on doing one a week. If I complete the challenge I put £5 into savings to spend at the end of year, and if I fail I donate the £5 to charity. Unless otherwise mentioned, the challenges have a deadline of one week. The first one has to do with watching a whole lot of movies, but I'll be blogging about the Challenges, just like I blogged about the New Things.
So you see, lots of plans to keep myself busy. I'm also hoping to move shortly. My plan for the past year or so has been to stay in this shared house until I graduate, then to move to Preston to be closer to Neil. This has changed. Now that I'm not going to graduate, I was tempted to move to Preston this year. When I got home after my trip away and Christmas at Mum's the state of this house appalled me. It's a long and messy story, and continues on from previous blogs I've written about hating living in a shared house. I moved into a shared home a year and a bit ago because living alone was driving me nuts. I've now discovered that living in a shared house drives me even more nuts. After discussion with Neil though, I've decided I'm not moving to Preston. He doesn't want to move in with me until after he's paid off his loan and that's likely to take another three years. I don't particularly want to leave all my friends and my life here in Stoke just yet, but I can't stand living in this house for another three years, so I'm getting a flat here until Neil is ready. I just need to find somewhere. As soon as is bloody possible. Depending on how it goes, you may get a nice long rant about this sometime soon.
I think that's it. Lots of plans. Mostly I just want to stay at a handle-able depression level. I want to stay with Neil. I want to stay in control of things. I want to be happy. And I wish you all the same. Apart from the Neil thing. He's mine. Back off.
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