Months of Planning...

... and the day is finally here!

The last 2 weeks were especially intense.

Trying to complete a 5500 word essay in 2 weeks,

when it took me 2 months to write just the introduction.

"Trying to complete..." because

it's still not completed.

1000 words more.

This whole word count thing is driving me mad...

From word 1 to word 3500,

I kindda check the word count every 10minutes or so

and then wince as I see that the essay's only

longer by 5 words or so.

And then from word 3501 to the end,

I kindda check the word count every 10minutes or so

and then go "oh sh*t! I'm going to exceed my word limit!"

Word counts are really time consuming and pointless...

I used to give a random word count at the end of my essays.

If it's a 3000 word essay, I'll write something like 2948.

If it's a 2000 word essay, it will be something like 1968.

Never exceeding the word limit, but never more than 100words short.

And always ending with an "8".

Because I'm superstitious.


Anyway...

2 weeks of intense planning all for the next 2 weeks.

Aberdeen

Glasgow

Aberdeen

Edinburgh

Newcastle & Durham

London

Brighton

London

and finally back to Aberdeen.

Bus tickets have been booked!

Accomodation have been arranged,

except in London and Brighton,

and in 12 hours time, I'll be at the airport.

To pick up my travel companion.

Although it would be more technically right to say that

I am her travel companion.

*excited*

I Live With LOONS!!!

I was really excited that day!

I managed to lay my hands on some CHILLI PADI.

So I decided to have a (really healthy) stir-fry for lunch.

Look at the pretty colours!

Shame the chilli padi was green and not red.

Would have added yet another bright colour.

But like most days in this flat

the people I live with will not rest

until they've created some excitement for themselves.

*notice how deftly I've dissociated myself from them. The reason will be obvious in a bit.*

3 of us were in the kitchen.

I was the only one cooking lunch.

The other 2 were thinking about cooking (versus can-opening).

When all of a sudden, a notice popped up outside our kitchen window.

Communication à la primatives

Primatives = guys from downstairs

The notice from downstairs read

SOS

Food cans and toilet roll donations

urgently required!

You have to be really heartless not to respond to an appeal like that!

I mean...

There I was cooking...

and 2 of my flatmates were thinking of what to cook

and there were people starving downstairs...

and toilet-roll-less.

On hindsight, I'm now thinking.

no food = no waste.

Need toilet roll for WHAT?!

Ok, but at that moment, no time for such thoughts.

The 3 of us responded immediately with an equally primitive notice.

Elli went to get a broom.

Steph went to get paper, tape and ruler.

I was cooking, remember?

So I could only contribute the reply

ASDA IS OPEN 24/7!

*Asda = local supermarket*

Pictures of Stephanie "delivering" the message.

Hanging out of the window...

Notice the chopping board next to her?

Yes, that's evidence that I was indeed in the process of cooking.

My participation in this cranky incident was purely verbal.

Hence, I do not qualify as a loon.

Unlike the rest.

Afternote:

Spoke to Gordon on Skype later on in the day.

Turned out they didn't starve to death after all.

We were all not impressed by Gordon's nick though-

"NoCompassionfortheSufferersDownstairs"

The Life Of A Student

Contrary to popular belief,

I'm actually a student!

Which involves studying, assignments, deadlines

and other boring things that students hate and working people miss.

It's always obvious when I'm having exams or deadlines coming up.

During these times,

I go into exile (self-imposed, of course)

because I feel I can concentrate better.

This year, self-imposed exile is easier to keep to.

No sms-es on "what is the answer for this?" or

"which chapter do you think will come out in the exam?"

(partly becuase there are no exams at all this year)

For maximum effectiveness, exile should be absolute.

I appreciate that my flatmates understand my eccentricities

(lest you think I'm weird, let me clarify that they also have their own eccentricities.)

They understand my need for peace but at the same time,

they show their concern in heartwarming ways

such as instant messaging me to say:

"Hope your work is going well. I'm going to bed. See you tmr"

or slipping a little note under my door:

"Hope you are alright and doing quite well. Good night and C U tmr"

Awwww....

How sweet.

Mid-Week Laughs

Wednesdays are a good time for jokes.

Because by Wednesday, you would have sobered up
from the previous weekend.

Even the mother-of-all-hangovers would have passed.

Then with 20/20 vision, you see that the next weekend is...

... not anywhere near.

**Thanks to CAROL for sharing this joke with me so that I can share it with all of you.**

------------------------------

NEW EVENING CLASSES FOR MEN

Note: Due to the complexity and level of difficulty,
each course will accept a maximum of eight participants.

~~~~~

DAY ONE

HOW TO FILL ICE CUBE TRAYS
Step by step guide with slide presentation

TOILET ROLLS - DO THEY GROW ON THE HOLDERS?
Round table discussion

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAUNDRY BASKET & FLOOR
Practicing with hamper (pictures and graphics)

DISHES & SILVERWARE:
DO THEY LEVITATE/FLY TO KITCHEN SINK OR DISHWASHER
BY THEMSELVES?
Debate among a panel of experts

LOSS OF VIRILITY
Losing the remote control to your significant other
Help line and support groups

LEARNING HOW TO FIND THINGS
Starting with looking in the right place instead of turning the house upside down while shouting "It's not there!", "You've moved it!" or "We've run out!" - open forum

~~~~~

DAY TWO

EMPTY MILK CARTONS: DO THEY BELONG
IN THE FRIDGE OR THE BIN?
Group discussion and role-play

HEALTH WATCH: BRINGING HER FLOWERS IS
NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH
Powerpoint presentation

REAL MEN ASK FOR DIRECTIONS WHEN LOST
Real life testimonial from the one man who did

IS IT GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SIT QUIETLY
AS SHE PARALLEL PARKS?
Driving simulation

LIVING WITH ADULTS: BASIC DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR PARTNER
Online class and role playing

HOW TO BE THE IDEAL SHOPPING COMPANION
Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques

REMEMBERING IMPORTANT DATES & CALLING
WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE
Bring your calendar or PDA to class

GETTING OVER IT: LEARNING HOW TO LIVE WITH
BEING WRONG ALL THE TIME
Individual counsellors available

Happy Family.

All of us in the flat decided to cook dinner

TOGETHER

last weekend.

5 girls.

1 dinner.

Lots of peeling, chopping, grating, and stirring to produce...

A huge pot of yummy goodness...

Carrots

Tomatoes

Red Pepper

Onion

Sweet Potato

Courgette

Basil

How healthy is that?!?!

Impressive.

Uni students should be eating fish and chips or hotdogs!

Now for the main course...

Boil the potatoes

Mash the potatoes and cook the vegetables

Add minced beef...

...and put it into the oven with the potatoes on top.

Dinner's ready!

Soup for starters...

Main course of cottage pie!

We had dessert too.

But errm... we were too stuffed.

So dessert had to be shifted to the following night.

Ok, here's Part II of our "feast".

Strawberries

Raspberries

Bananas

Kiwis

So healthy and unbelievable right?

Yeah, wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe!

2 Hours.

That's the total amount of time I spent in class this week.

All other classes were cancelled due to inclement weather.

Heavy snow = people cannot get into and out of Aberdeen

Students and lecturers can't get into Uni = no classes.

Looking untypically awake before 9am...

...braving THIS kindda weather to trot to class.

Where's the path?!!

------------------------------

It's been 4 days of on-off snow now.

Pristine white snow by the river

Check out the practically HORIZONTAL snow?

THAT'S windy...

We're all pleased though.

The snow we got in December was most unsatisfactory.

This is real snow...

It's like Christmas again!

Stephanie decided to conduct an outdoor class.

"How to make a snow angel"

First, find a spot of fresh snow...

Untouched, un-stepped, un-sledged, un-whatever.

Then lie down carefully without making a mess...

Next, wave your arms and legs like a maniac

to give your angel its "wings" and "dress"

At this stage, it's normal to look like a stranded starfish.

*Oh yah, if you're wondering why there's a death-like shadow over Steph, that's ME taking the photo.
Haha... Steph's great idea of: Let's do it in the sun!*

Finally, get up really carefully...

Snow angel!

We also attempted to make a snowman...

Elli and I rolling snowballs.

It would have been quite a successful snowman too!

But...

Ok, I admit my fault.

I added un-snowman-like ears to our "snowman"

Muahahahahahaha....

End product?

Some snowcat/snowbear looking thing.

The eyes were the chocolate ingots I got for Chinese New Year.

The nose and accessories were dried roses left over from Valentine's Day.

See the rose petals all over the ground?

All nice and romantic...

Close-up of our snowcat/bear.

Scotland's version of "Hello Kitty"

Eh, look like the fa-cai cat also right?

To reward ourselves for being so creatively brilliant,

we decided to roll down the hill...

Truth was: we couldn't be bothered with a sledge.

Steph and I: pre-roll

Elli: The shadow that's taking the photo

Couldn't resist throwing snowballs at each other.

Ah, yes, we're 7 years old.

Me: Rolling-in-Progress

Steph and Elli: Rolling-in-Progress

Elli: Post-roll

Steph: Post-roll

Ok, enough fun for the day.

Time to get back inside.

Stephanie claims she didn't dust off properly and brought bits of snow in with her.

Naaahh....

I think she's got a major dandruff problem.

A nice cuppa tea with biscuits after a hot shower!

This Is For You, James

Dear James,

I apologize that you have had to wait so long before I finally got my act together to write this entry. I originally meant to title this “In loving memory of James” and follow it with a beautiful eulogy. But then I recalled a psychology class last year where we had to write our own eulogies. I think I wrote something like “Mae was a good friend with a loving heart and a brilliant mind. She gave her best in all that she did. Unfortunately, she left us too early, just as she was finishing her education and was about to move on to fulfill her dream of being a good occupational therapist. We will always remember the ways she touched and brightened our lives.” I remembered how hard it was to write a eulogy that sounded sincere yet did justice to the character of the person – especially when the person is still alive. So I decided to do away with the eulogy for you and write you a proper entry instead. =)

I finally got a picture of you (guess from where?). It must please you immensely to see it plastered up and to have an entry dedicated specially to you. When I first told my flatmates that you were no longer here (after the New Year), they thought you had moved out without Mac. When I clarified that you were no longer in Aberdeen but back in London, they immediately thought you had quit school and moved home to practice as a lawyer again. I am almost sure they sighed with relief when they found out you did not return to your previous profession.

You might like to know what been happening since you left. The cleaners cleaned your room (please tell me you were kidding when you asked Mac to clean your room! A guy came to fix our windows last week and he had to come back the next day just so Mac could tidy up a path for him from the door to the window of his room). Anyway, your room is currently unoccupied although somebody came to view the room last week.

More about your flatmates…

#1
We had Mac and Gordon up for cake 2 weekends ago and Mac brought up the TV you left him. We watched “Talented Mr Ripley” on it and at the end of the movie, Mac asked us: Did you get this TV from Asda? We all looked at him with incredulous looks on our faces and he continued "Because I have one that’s exactly the same." It’s unbelievable! Mac’s just like the 10-minute man in Memento!

#2
We’ve also not let Mac forget that he spoilt the toaster after trying to toast pork chops in them. He has a brilliant new plan now, by the way. Part 1 of his plan involves buying up toasters to repackage and re-sell them as “pork-chop cookers”. Part 2 of his plan came about because pork chops are usually too thick to be stuffed into the toaster and thus, the plan involves selling special toasterpork-chop-cooker-sized pork chops. I have to admit that I am unable to keep up with his infinite creativity.

#3
The same weekend, Steph, Mac, Gordon and I went to The Belmont. Steph watched “Donnie Darco” while the rest of us watched “The Constant Gardener”. Before the movies started, we had some time and went for a drink. They provided games too and we ended up playing Jenga for a while. Surprisingly, none of the other three have played the game before… but it’s relatively simple so we managed to get started after a short explanation from me. BUT, halfway through the game, Gordon suddenly said that he has a set of Jenga at home! Haha… Anyway, here are the photos…

#4
Here’s the full story of what happened the night Mac came home drunk. Yes, there are many such nights. This is just the story of the most recent night. Sometime between 4 and 5am, he rang the buzzer of ALL FOUR FLATS to try to get someone to let him into the building because he forgot his keys. After an eternally long time, Mark let him into the building and flat. Shortly after that, I was awoken by loud head-banging music that went on for close to 5minutes before it was abruptly shut off. Gordon said that was because Mark told Mac that “it is 5 o’clock now. Go to bed. You can listen to your music later on” and shut the music off. Unfortunately for all of us, Mac decided to go outside for a cigarette. Without his keys. Again. And so there was a 2nd round of buzzing ALL FOUR FLATS for someone to let him in (Mark did it again). You’re absolutely right in describing him as a “bloody hell of a nightmare”. If we all weren’t so laid back and if he wasn’t so nice when he’s sober, there would have been murder...

That’s it for now! I’ll catch you in London in April! =)