Moments of Grassyness and Forkdom

T minus 5 days...

2009-06-23T17:33:00.002+01:00

So Mermy has demanded that I update this so I thought I might as well (she also said please so I figured it would be rude not to) , though I have a strong suspicion that she is the only one who reads it.. which is fine by me!

So I went to Marrakech with the fam for 10 days. To say it was hot would be an understatement. It was so hot (42 degrees) that I genuinely thought I might melt. We moved into our house which was pretty cool, and one section of the pool was filled after a couple of days so Sibling and I spent a lot of time in there in the afternoon cooling off! Morocco is a really cool place, its completely different culturewise though. Like there, if you are out with a group of guys you have to tell them you want a drink and they'll order it for you. Its insulting to them if you order it yourself. Why, I don't know but it sure beats the hassle of trekking to the bar. Here its more likely if I turned around to a guy at our table and told them I wanted a drink they'd say 'thats nice, while you're up there will you get me a pint?' Not that they're lazy, just that, well, if I want a drink I can get it myself. And fair enough, I have two legs after all!

Apart from Morocco nothing else of note has really happened. In five days though, myself, Ashy, Emma and Maria are heading off interrailing! I can't wait, its just under a month of travelling around Europe. It's going to be such an adventure. Maeve and Rachel aren't coming which sucks, but they have formed a July posse with Paddy so I think they will be having fun in Ireland anyway. We're flying to Prague on Sunday, then we are going to Austria, Germany, Italy, somewhere random for 3 days (we haven't decided where yet, I think Rome was a possibility last time I checked...) Slovenia and Croatia. We're getting an apartment in Croatia for about a week, then we're flying home. I'm at home for exactly one night before heading off to Mayo for my cousin's wedding.

I am so unbelieveably excited about Interrailing. Not only is it a month away with 3 of my closest friends, but we get to choose and organise whatever we want to do. By we, I mean the others do because my organisational skills are zilch. I am in charge of not getting lost, which says it all...Not to mention that my mom came back from shopping today and announced she had a present for me for interrailing... It was a travel first aid kit. I kid you not. The sad thing is, I will most likely need it at some point during the trip...
Last Sat, Ashy and Maria convinced me for a good 20 mins that I had booked my flights for the wrong day and would be spending a night in Prague alone. They can be so evil sometimes! I was so worried when they told me that, especially because with my luck I'd somehow get on the wrong plane and end up in china or something....

I love travelling, and I'll be seeing so many new cities, I really can't wait! We're going to get rucksacks tomorrow, then I'll start packing. One downside of Interrailing, the whole minimising thing because I am a terrible overpacker. I think the fact that what I pack I'll be carrying on my back for weeks will help though! Basically July is going to be an incredible month, I'll even be turning 19 in Dubrovnik which should be fun! Then its home and resuming the job search, which I will definitly need because I will be BROKE after this trip... but right now I'm not thinking that, I am concentrating on me+3 of my friends+ a rucksack+ an interrail ticket+ at least 7 different cities...

Its going to be epic.

Summer adventures

2009-06-01T12:33:00.005+01:00

Wow I have been terrible at keeping this updated! A lot of stuff has been happening recently, but the top two things would have to be the UCD ball and the lowlands tournament.

Having somehow managed to get through the ridiculous pile of work I had that week and surviving the presentation I had that morning, I went to Maeve's at the healthy hour of one o clock to start predrinking. We all bought different ingrediants and we made some pretty amazing cocktails, if I do say so myself. My personal fav was the appletini, and after a few rounds of cocktails we headed off to UCD for the ball. The ball was a good laugh though the weather was pretty crappy, by eleven we had retreated back to Paddy's to order pizza and warm up!

Exams came next, and those were NOT exactly the highlight of my year! The outbreak of ninja wars in the library did ease the pain of spending nice days holed up in the library studying. It began with Rach and Smidge sneaking up on each other and whispering 'you've just been ninja'd', but when Smiley ninja'd Maria's laptop and sent us on a trip around the library looking for it things got interesting... It was a good laugh anyway, definitly a way of cheering ourselves up in the lib!

The weekend after exams Rach, Maria Maeve and I went to the lowlands lacrosse tournament in Amsterdam. The tournament didnt start until Saturday but we left on thursday and went to Brussels and Bruges with John, Keith, Flopsy, Moffat and Bonagee. It was a good laugh and as usual I took like a million photos. We went on a nightime wander around Bruges the night we stayed there, it was really pretty. Then the next day we followed Rach's map to the places in the film, the weather was unreal as well which was even better! That evening we took a train to Amsterdam, well I say A train but really it had to change trains 3 times so we were on four different trains in five hours, not fun!

(apparently, I am an inanimate object...)

The tournament itself was great, we were playing with four of the Irish team and three girls from Bristol, so we learned loads from them. Playing Man down in extreme heat was not ideal circumstances but it was fun. Maeve's knee got injured during the second match but she still came and sat in ridiculous heat to cheer for us which was so cool of her, she didnt even complain when her knee was hurting her or anything, what a legend! Rach, Maria and I ended up playing with the Gin and Juice girls in the final because they needed a goalie and some extra players, they are one of the best teams I have ever seen! (they are all Americans who were payed to come over to England to coach lacrosse) Basically it was a really great weekend, and good preparation for playing Mount Saint Marys this week! The boys are playing Loyola as well which should be interesting, then on Sunday I leave for Morocco with the family.

I think that is pretty much all the interesting stuff from the past while, I should really try to update this more regularly!

End of an era....

2009-04-19T17:28:00.006+01:00

Well more of a semester. Lax is pretty much finished for the summer now, unless they keep up training which I think Amie is trying to organise, so hopefully it isn't!

The last few weeks have been MAD. We had Dublinfest from the 6th-9th of April. All we had heard were the others going on about how amazing Dublinfest was, so we were pretty excited for it. Intense doesn't even describe it! I played for both UCD and Dublin (most of the girls did) so I played 11 matches in two days. Both teams made it through to the semis, though Dublin forfeited theirs. UCD lost to York A, but we cheered ourselves up by doing cartwheels and team games and taking silly photos. The boys won which was really great, they were thrilled, John was so happy he lost all his hair.

The nights out were pretty good. I was too wrecked on Tuesday to go out which made Paddy pronounce my shit as 'weak' but it meant I was able to function the next day... there is no way i would have made it through 5 matches that day with little sleep, I have no idea how Maria did it!

The nights out were a lot of fun though, it really was such a good week!

This week we had the guys vs girls match which was actually the most entertaining game I have ever played, most likely because we had NO rules whatsoever. We were even told to hit the guys which I felt bad doing... but it might have been a LITTLE fun, probably becuase I knew there was no way I am in any way strong enough to do anyone any sort of injury. Needless to say, we won, though maybe the game was a little biased....

Friday was the last boys match of the semester, and also Tavis' last night in Ireland. The girls pre drank in Aries, went to the match, and then pre drank more... it was a messy night in general. We went to mess'rs for a change, the music wasn't nearly as good as usual which was sad but it was a great night. Tavis is the first American to go home this semester, It was so sad to say goodbye to him!! I was so upset we even took a 'sad face' photo. I think it shows the sadness pretty well... haha. I am not even thinking about the others leaving, I am very bad at goodbyes! It sucks that this happens every semester.

Tomorrow is our AGM. Flopsy is making joke prizes which some of us our quite apprehensive about but we have been assured it is all in good fun... It should be interesting anyway. Either way Rach Kate and I (and I think some of the other girls) are getting pizza before, which is something to look forward to! I have a 2500 word essay due tomorrow which I have barely started, in fact I just have a lot of work due this week. It will be a bit of a bitch getting it done but I am not letting it stress me out... it is only first year after all!!! Friday is the UCD ball which should be great, provided I get all my work done! I have a lovely group presentation to do first... The last few weeks have and will be pretty hectic between all the work as well as Dublinfest and other events. I can't believe how close this year is to being over... I don't want to think about it!

Doing some severe Amsterdammage....

2009-03-23T20:18:00.006Z

So on the 12th of March we left Dublin for what was my second UCD lax tour.. we went to Amsterdam... It was pretty good it has to be said, very different from Karlsruhe! There wasn't as many nights out, more drinking in the hostel which was good craic, though the last night out has to have been one of the best. We ended up in a bar (girls got free in, woo!) which had a podium, a pole, and brilliant music... what more could we want?

The weekend was pretty good team bonding wise as well, Maeve and I were in a room with some of the girls we didn't know as well on the team, which was great because it gave us a chance to really get to know them! Also in our room were Bonagee, John, Flopsy and Keith, the latter two taking it upon themselves to become the trips comedy duo. To say that I got slagged would be the understatement of the century- the abuse started about half an hour after I walked into the hostel room and ended when we parted ways in Dublin...While the constant abuse did leave me bruised and battered (literally...what fools EVER gave those two long poles?) I can honestly say that they are two of the most entertaining people I have ever met... even if a lot of it was at my expense. I thought John was going to die from laughing at one point... It was ok though, once they got to know the other girls (and saw the size of Claire's make-up bag) they eased off a bit...

Amsterdam was so much fun, I couldnt be bothered going through everything that happened (because lets face it, noone cares) so I will just write down the best bits!

1) the ridiculous conversations Maeve, John and I had on the last night, about islands of small people and whatnot.

2) Maeve drawing cat whiskers on her face for our match

3) Flopsy's recent surveys

4) The half pipe (even if thanks to a certain Mr O Leary I ended up crippled... never listen when Paddy says step to the right!! haha)

5) The science museum

6) General room banter for example Maeve: 'if I had the motor skills i'd kick you right now'

7) Aoife's singing

8) The yummy ice cream in V and Ds.

9) Making poor John stay up telling me stories when all he wanted to do was go to sleep.

10) Maria and I nearly beating John and Paddy in our epic game of beer pong... one day!!!

11) Singing songs on the way back to the hostel on the last night, 'Cheer up sleeeeepy jean... '

12) the music on the last night in general...not to mention Ashy's reaction when she saw the pole, what a legend!

Basically it was just a savage trip... now there is two weeks to Dublinfest, which everyone keeps going on about being the best week ever so I am pretty excited for that! I just have to catch up on all my collegework first... fun!!

March Madness

2009-03-05T19:07:00.002Z

So March has barely even started and already there is a ridiculous amount of stuff happening. I have been spending waaaay too much time in college this week, not actually studying (all my essays were due last week and now I am FREE) but doing other random stuff, such as canvassing and t-shirt designing. Basically now whenever Paddy/John says they need us to stay for a meeting I will run away, because it inevitably means that I will not leave college until late that night, and it will involve heavy lifting. Well, the heavy lifting was only incorporated yesterday, but I had just given blood and somehow ended up picking up and organising all the heavy (smelly) boys gear while Maria got to just sort out jerseys with Paddy. I could point out the possible reason why she gets away with it but the two of them get enough grief from Zak and John without me putting it online! On Tuesday Maeve, Maria and I stayed to help design our Amsterdam tshirts, which was a bit of a laugh. We wanted hot pink. We even convinced them to get hot pink. Then the next day Paddy 'The traitor' O'Leary accidently sent Maria a message meant for John, something along the lines of 'I am thinking of getting different coloured shirts for the guys.' FOR SHAME Paddy!

So now the boys are getting blue tshirts and the girls are getting pink. I am excited, it must be said... this time next week we will be in Amsterdam! Germany was so much fun, and this time most of the girls are going... Rachel isn't though, which is sad, she is going to play with rocks in Antrim. Not cool Rach! It will be good to play against another real team as well! Last weekend was March Madness which was so much fun... Lots of nights out and lots of lax, it was great! It was the first time most of us had played in a proper tournament thingy too, well for the girls at least! The guys managed to win in possibly the most exciting final ever, though Bonagee yelled at us girls for cheering too loudly which was kinda funny, though not nearly as funny as Paddy's reaction when he found out.

Maeve and I have also been trying our hands at politics UCD style as well. We somehow managed to get involved in Mike Pat's campaign team (he's running for ents) and spent the last 2 days canvassing for him which was a complete laugh. I spent yesterday morning campaigning, the afternoon giving blood, the evening cleaning the storeroom and then we went to Keith's comedy gig, which was absolutely hilarious! Then today we spent most of the day in the science block before we actually went to a class... I have come to the conclusion that I am cursed though, whenever anyone comes to give blood with me they are not allowed to do it, I am the only one that can... Maria and Fitzy came with me yesterday and neither could do it, Fitzy because of an exam and Maria because of the whole prison record... I mean the fact that she was in Mexico. ( I hope she never reads this blog or I will be in trouble...)

I would have thought that all my do-gooderness would help me out karmically, but it appears not... sadly I managed to loose my phone in the su, at which point some lovely person picked it up and... kept it for themselves. So I have no phone and no numbers which is frustrating!

So that is basically what I have been up to recently, lax, canvassing, lax, loosing my phone and blood donating... Its been a pretty fun week actually! This time next week I will be on my second UCD lax tour in Amsterdam, I can't wait!

The only thing to fear is fear itself...

2009-02-24T22:32:00.002Z

Bullshit. As a ridiculously easily scared person, I have to say that there are a LOT of things other then fear to be afraid of. Clowns for example. And Swans. Not pianos, no matter what the girls say...

So last Friday I got over pretty much one of my biggest fears/issues, eyes. Yes I know it is a wierd thing to be freaked out, and to clarify it is touching, poking, injuring and the thought of eyes coming OUT that scare me, not just eyes in peoples' heads because that would be silly and make making eye contact impossible. That is what John thought and he laughed at me for like a million years before I could explain. Anyway I decided that my lack of being able to see the ball was seriously detremental to my ability to play lax (and my lack of skills also tend to cause a problem) so I decided to get over the whole fear thing and just get them. It was essentially an afternoon of torture with my optician, Mona, poking me in the eye. But much flinching and
desire to cry later I was wearing some lovely contacts. Mona wanted me to play in them, and handily we had a match that evening so off I went with actual vision. It was pretty exciting.

It was pretty sweet being able to see during the match, I am not sure if I played any better but for once I managed not to get hit by the ball so that is what I call a good match. After I had to go back to Monas to get the contacts taken out (making everyone think that I am scarily close to my optician as it was ten o clock at this point.) An extremely good looking boy opened the door when I got to Monas, but sadly I was still in my ucd shorts and hoodie with match hair and no make-up so that was not fun. It turns out Mona sent him out to open the door to me as we were both in first year UCD and asked me what I thought of him as i was learning to use my contacts. I think it really shows how terrible my love live is when my OPTICIAN is trying to set me up...

More horrific eye poking later (this time at my own hands I am sorry to say) and I had managed to take my contacts out, put them back in, move them and take them out. All in half an hour, which I am pretty proud of. Then it was bye Mona's hi Elyse's for general lax debauchery. We were wrecked so after moving to Roz's once the mean security ppl kicked us out of Belgrove Ashy, Maeve Emma Rach and I left about one. We detoured by the chippers in Stillorgan which was AMAZING!

So now I am the proud owner of contacts. My order won't be in until Friday, just in time for March Madness which is pretty sweet, so until then I just have to practice with one set, putting them in, moving them, and taking them out. So basically its like half an hour of self inflicted torture. Fun! Its pretty scary doing it, especially because I had such issues with it in the beginning but it is totally worth it to be able to, you know, SEE. Maria, Kate and Rach have informed me that it gets easier after a few weeks so I am hoping for that! But either way I have still gone from literally curling up in a ball if someone put their finger near their eye to succesfully poking myself in the eye... Even if it still terrifies me!

Why I am NOT looking forward to this Saturday...

2009-02-12T17:46:00.004Z

So I have never been a huge fan of Valentines day. This may have something to do with the fact that being generally single on Valentines day makes me a LITTLE unresponsive to the whole 'shower your loved one with chocolates and flowers' advertisements... Yeah, show your love by giving her weight issues and hay fever. GOOD PLAN!

Ha can you feel the bitterness seeping out of your computer screen? I know I probably sound like a bitter old maid (which is quite alarming since I am all of eighteen years old... ), but I just think that it is a TAD unfair that there is a whole holiday devoted to allowing couples to parade smugly around the city and make everyone single feel alone and unloved. I mean, is there a day where single people get to rub the advantages of being single in couples faces? No! Should there be? Yes!

I have nothing against couples. I am not one of those crazy people who is so bitter at the thought of it that they harbor irrational hatred towards all couples and will end up releasing that anger in one violent, bloody burst of rage. What I do have a problem with is those couples who insist on PDA'S at all hours of the day. If I am in the SU for an hours break at 10 after being in college for nine o clock, there are several things I don't want to see. One is that they have no pepsi in the shop, because I have an addiction and that would make me cry. Also, i do NOT want to see some random couple shoving their tongues down one-anothers throat... get a ROOM people! Or at least a quiet corner, the couches in the middle of the su are public domain. Odds are I have just eaten, please don't make it come back up!

I know what you are thinking, if I was in a relationship I would probably feel a lot differently. And I guess you are kinda right. Yes, I would love if someone gave me a rose or something, and god knows I would never complain about free chocolate... but it is more the pressure put on people to be romantic that I hate about it. To be honest, I think it would be so much cuter if, instead of on valentines day and paying ridiculously jumped up prices, someone surprised me with a random flower on just an ordinary day. There is no romance in Valentine's day anymore, just an intense pressure on people to spend extortionate amounts of money on overpriced gifts. How is it romantic if they are OBLIGED to do something sweet? Doesn't that take the fun out of it, or at least the sweetness of the gesture?

Maybe I am just a crazy bitter person, but personally I think I have a point. And it is not like I am overly jealous of people in long term relationships, because to be honest the thought of commitment makes me want to run as far away as possible, as fast possible to find a place to hide! Yeah, commitment and I aren't exactly best buds... That said, a little part of me would love to be part of one of those couples that walk around just looking so happy to be with each other. Yes I watch the notebook or 27 dresses and think 'I want that.' Then I come back to reality and think 'feck that, I would be sick of it after about a day'. As much as I try to deny it, a small part of me wants the romance and the attention and the gifts from Valentines day. Luckily that is only a very small part of me, near my foot...

I am all for showing people that you care about them, but is it really so sweet if hallmark is basically telling you to? That said, part of me may be secretly hoping for a rose on Valentines day... sssh don't tell!!

Best day ever!

2009-02-02T18:03:00.004Z

Well maybe that is a slight exaggeration. But it was pretty close. I woke up this morning to a text message from Maria with possibly the best message to read when waking up at 9 in the morning-

'Its snowing!' Looking out my window the entire road was basically covered in a blanket of snow. In my excitement I called Maria, and she told me our exam results were up. Lovely. Possibly something that could ruin an otherwise brilliant day.

Went on the internet and found my results. 3.67. 'Wtf does that mean?' I asked Maria. She was still confused so I asked sibling. She knew. Was pretty happy it must be said.

Since we all had a snow day, Maria Ashy and I met up outside Maria's for snow related frivolity. It was so pretty, I literally walked all the way to Maria's house grinning, most likely because I had been hoping that it would snow for months. We built a snowman who we named Hitler the Builder Snowman and made snow angels and threw snowballs. Basically we acted like five year olds... it was AMAZING!

After a while we went inside for hot cider/tea to warm up. Maria and I attempted to play lax with a snowball, which went surprisingly well.

Ashy laughed and took pictures. Then Ash went home to shower and me and Maria showered in her house. When Ashy came back in the panda (her car) we decided to go on a food mission to Dunnes. It was then we realized some ASSHOLE had killed Hitler the builder snowman. All that was left of him was some branches, a builder jacket a carrot and some coal. It was pretty upsetting, it has to be said. Poor little snowman.

After getting a load of food in Dunnes, we went back to Maria's to watch the witches and amuse ourselves by saying what her dog was thinking in russian/german accents. Yeah, I think the snow went to our heads too.

So basically I had a really good day today. I am SO happy in finally snowed, and I didn't fail my exams. Because of the whole snowstorm warning I am not going out tonight, but I think sibling and I will watch a chick flick and eat chocolate, because we are JUST that cool.

25 things you don't know (or particularly care) about me...

2009-02-01T01:04:00.003Z

So Elyse sent me this chain thingy, you have to write 25 things that people don't really know about you. I figured I might as well chuck it up here, I have been neglecting this blog a bit...

1) I am ridiculously squeamish. This is number one purely because the girls just subjected me to an entire show about plastic surgery and when they actually showed the operations, I nearly threw up.

2) I get scared really easily. In fact, I get scared by so many things that people find it entertaining to invent other things I am afraid of, because I will admit a lot of my fears are fairly random. For the record, things I am afraid of- eyes, clowns and swans. Things I am not: pianos. No matter what the girls say!

3) I used to be really shy. I am still hardly the most outgoing person in the world (i even refuse to ask for the bill in a restaurant) but looking at myself now and how I was two years ago, I guess I have grown a lot, even though...

4) I am unbelieveably insecure. This can be a drawback when you also give out a vibe that says 'mock me', but I am getting pretty good at telling the difference between banter and people genuinely not liking me. Even so, I still get a lot of those moments where I am like 'wait, does this person actually hate me?' I guess that is just insecurity kicking in, and generally I get given out to by the others when I ask it.

5) I can't hold a grudge. I also can't really stay mad at people either. I am a total pushover, and I hate it when people get mad at me. What upsets me the most is when people get mad at me for stuff I had nothing to do with, or things outside my control.

6) I always look for the good in people. Even though I do get annoyed with people ( I am hardly a saint) I always try to see things from their point of view. I think that everyone is nice deep down, just some people are scared or insecure or whatever. It takes a lot to make me give up on someone, but sometimes this means I hold onto things I really should just walk away from.

7) I always apologise, even if it is not my fault. Today, rachel hit me (lightly, not a full on punch to the face!) then said 'dont get in the way of my fist!' Without thinking i went 'sorry.... wait a sec!' I guess I have a total guilt complex or something. Cillian says I have 5 consciences, but i think that he is exaggerating.

8) I can honestly say that so far first year has been one of the best years yet. I have made some amazing new friends, been to new countries and started new things. Lacrosse has played a big part of it, which is weird because I have never been a sporty person. It has been the first sport that I have liked enough to stick with, even if I am not the best at it. This probably has as much to do with the people and the social life as with the sport though...

9) Speaking of amazing friends, I found it really hard to say goodbye to the ones I made last semester, especially one legend from minnesooooooooooooooota. ( Sorry Mal, you know I can't say it without mimicking your accent). I am ridiculously emotional and bad at goodbyes anyway, but I prefere missing them a lot now then never having met them.

10) I am ridiculously disorganised. I leave everything to the last minute, and while I always PLAN to do something it takes me ages to get it done. I have meant to apply for my driving permit since november 2007, my age card since july, and i still have to send someones birthday present which i meant to do a good two weeks ago...

11) I was extremely well behaved at school, i think that is why I am such a slacker in college. I just find it hard to motivate myself to go to a boring lecture when I could be hanging out with my friends.

12) On the flip side, I also have high standards grades wise- I want to do well while doing the minimum amount of work. Yes I am lazy, I know that!

13) I am still secretely pissed about getting 495 in my leaving when I wanted 500. Is this extremely silly and childish considering I got my course, which is all that really mattered anyway? Yes. Does it still annoy me? Yes.

14)After working so hard, I have a sneaking suspicion that I made a mistake going straight into pure english. Not that i don't love english, I just worry that I narrowed my options too soon. What annoys me the most about this is the fact that this is the EXACT point my mother made to me, but I was convinced it was what I wanted to do.

15) I am awful at making decisions, which is frustrating when trying to decide big things like 'am I in the right course?', and also minor things like 'what are we doing tonight?'.

16) I have no idea what I want to do after college. This might come from my lack of decision making ability, or else from the fact that I am 18 years old and that is WAY too early in my opinion to be making big choices.

17) I would love to write a book, but I am not sure if I have to attention span to write one, not to mention the writing talent. However Maria decided to inform everyone we met in Bulgaria that this was what I will do, so technically I am obliged to now...

18) My friends are one of the most important things in my life. Several of them I have known since I was four, others I made in secondary school or else in college. One of them is my sister. They mean so much to me though, and are always there for me when I need them. I can't imagine not having them.

19) I have never been so surprised, or happy as when Maria Ashy and Emma turned up in my hospital room to visit me after my operation. I really didn't expect it, and it meant a lot that they would get about two different forms of transport just to come see me for like an hour.

20) I have never gone on a waterslide, because up until this year i wasn't able to put my head under the water. In fact I have never had a swimming lesson, or at least a proper one (i have vague memories of having them when i was about 4) I taught myself to swim, which means that I am ok at it but hardly amazing or graceful!

21) I have hearing problems in my right ear. Its hard because a lot of the time I don't hear what people are saying, but I hate telling people about it or asking them to repeat themselves, so generally I smile and nod. I have a feeling a lot of people think that I am rude/stupid because of it.

22) I havent eaten meat in about nine years, and I don't plan on eating it at any point in the near future. I know people find it strange, but at this point the thought of it actually repluses me, not to mention my system physically couldn't handle it. I am a vegetarian for moral reasons as well as not liking the taste, though wierdly I sometimes get cravings for MCDonalds bugers (even though i didn't like them back when i ate meat) and cocktail sausages.

23) I want to go to New Zealand for a year to study, but I am also scared about being literally the furthest geographically away from home that I could get (unless i went to the antarctic). I was there in 5th year though with the family, and absolutely loved it, so I do want to go back.

24) I can act like a complete child/geek. I love getting a lift into college with sibling, because we dance to the cds in the car even though people around us can obviously see us. Sibling and I both act like complete children, which I think is why we get along so well. She is also just as prone to 'grassy moments' as me, in fact after meeting her Elyse said 'wow, you make sense now.' That said, she is also brilliant at giving advice and if anyone upsets me she always offers to take them out (i generally refuse though). She even helps out my friends if they need it. However, she is ridiculously pretty smart and finds it really easy to meet new people and sometimes it is hard not to be jealous of her, even though we are really close.

25) I want to go to at least one country in all the continents of the world. So far I have been to Europe, North America, Australia and Africa. I am tempted to count Asia, but as I never left Singapore/Hong Kong airport, I think that might be cheating...

Recent adventures...

2009-01-23T14:54:00.011Z

So I haven't updated this blog in a shamefully long time. Well, like two weeks. And I was on a different continent with limited internet access for a week of that. So really it is not my fault.

The last few weeks of break were good. A highlight of it would have to be the MAARMEK night out. We decided to go for a group dinner in Gourmet burger in Dun Laoirghe, a strange choice considering that two of us are vegetarians, but ashy and I had falafel, which was AMAZING! Maeve decided it would be fun to torture the veggie for a while and started waving the remenants of rachs burger in my face and rubbed in on my glass and fork and stuff so i couldn't use them, but I am used to that sort of lovely treatment so it was grand!

The fun really started when we decided that we were too cheap for proper dessert and wanted pick n mix. I never realised how few places sell pick n mix at nine o clock at night. Rach, Maeve and Kate were in one car and Ashy Emma Maria and I were in the other car, so it turned into a bit of a race. Well as much of a race as you can have when one car's engine is like twice as big as the others, and when neither of the drivers will break the speed limit on the basis the road is icy and no-one wants to die in a car crash. I was pretty happy that it was Ashy driving though, as the excitement kind of got to Maria and she tried to make ashy go the wrong way around a roundabout, and also drive in front of a luas. Real safe Mermy!

We finally found pick n mix in stillorgan, and after buying ridiculous amounts of sugar we contemplated what to do next. Then we decided- TREASURE HUNT!!! Only instead of treasure we needed photos- one wearing a strangers hat, one with a dog, and one with a member of the team wearing a false mustache. Into our cars we got and away we went! Emma Maria and I scared some poor man buying a ticket at the luas stop, but he was nice and gave me his hat. Then we accosted some lovely couple and their adorable puppy. Finally Maria and I sprinted all the way through Dunnes to buy spray cream for ashy's mustache. Finally we went to the top of Dunnes car park to claim our victory. Sadly Rach, Maeve and Kate decided to change the rules at this point and say that we needed the mustache in all the photos. We refused on the basis we were already done, they argued back and then we realised wait, we are not having an argument about a false mustache. That is just silly.

Sadly I haven't got our team photos as Maria STILL hasn't sent them to me, but I do have a few! Sometimes the most fun things to do our the randomnest. People probably thought that we were insane, but we had fun anyway, and that is all we care about!

The next week I went to Morrocco with the fam to see the house there. Wow. I am still in shock. I had never been to Africa before and it was so different to anywhere else I have ever been. The house is sooo nice (i hope it doesn't sound like I am gloating, I am just really excited about it!) and I managed to bags the coolest room. It has a really sweet window seat in it, so I can see myself getting a lot of writing and stuff done there! The development will be ready in june, I can't wait to bring the rest of MAARMEK over, especially Maria as she is a big french nerd and will love speaking french all day. I should really practice mine...

Celine, who runs the development took sibling and I out to some clubs in Marrakech with herself, her boyf and some friends. Woah, they do things differently there! It turns out that is you are part of a certain group you just go to Marrakech at the weekend and go mental. Underground clubs, VIP areas, champagne... sibling and I were like well ok, 92/Mess'rs will seem a bit different now! I don' think i opened a single door the entire time i was there. ONe day the doorman literally RAN past sibling and I to get to the door first. It was scary.

It was pretty sad though, because on one hand you have all these rich people spending 120 euro on a bottle of champagne... which is the equivilent of another persons wages. For a month. On our last full day there my father put a pair of shoes in the bin, as it had been raining the day before and he had discovered that they now let in water. They were in good condition, but obviously living in Ireland you can't have shoes you can't wear in the rain. One of the housekeeping people came to him and asked if she could have the shoes for her father. Dad had to write a letter saying he was giving her the shoes, she wasn't stealing them. It was pretty heartbreaking, spec since sibling and I had been out the night before with all the flashy morroccans buying bottles of champagne as big as our waists (I do NOT want to know how much those cost). Celine said she doesnt normally go to those kind of places, she finds them too flash, but she wanted sibling and I to see them. It was really cool, I had a lot of fun and a little superficial part of me got a total kick out of the whole vip treatment thing but... I prefere Mess'rs with its little dancefloor and its kickass Abba medley!

Marrakech is a savage place, I am pretty excited to go back and bring the girls over. It was also a pretty decent way to end the holidays, even if i was sick for the first few days (playing lacrosse in shorts, in january is never a good idea... though i wish i had gotten the memo about the MONSOON!). Sibling and I had so much fun as well, though we watched way too much deal or no deal in french, french soap opras and also italian gameshows... the last one was the most annoying considering sibling speaks fluent italian and I can just about say my name and ask for directions!

So that is about all of my adventures to date! We have a lacrosse match against dublin/trinity tonight, I had forgotten how badly I suck at that sport! But we are going to Mess'r after, and that means Abba medley so I am pretty excited! Actually having to work now is a bit of a shock but it is nice to see everyone again in college, and as a first year arts student I am not under TOO much pressure... yet..

The best laid plans of mice and men...

2009-01-02T17:52:00.002Z

I really wish I knew the end of that expression, no-one ever says it... Anyway, in my last entry I said that Maria and I were planning on having a quiet New Years Night in because we didn't want the effort of going out... Good plan, no? Sadly that plan went downhill at about 5 o clock when Maria rang me with her 'I am about to suggest something you may not want to do' voice on...

Maria's parents are both from the same village in Limerick, and a lot of her family still lives there. They go down there every Christmas but Maria wasn't able to this year because of work etc and she was really missing it... after various convos with different members of her family on New Years Eve she looked at the train timetable and saw the the next (and last) train was leaving at half 6. It was 5 o clock. So she rang me and asked if i felt like going down to Athea, and in a momentary fit of spontaneity and adventure I said 'yeah sure why not?' and wandered into the sitting room to persuade one of my loving parents to drive us to Heuston Station. My mother said fine, I will make your father do it but you will have to leave in 20 mins if you want to make it. I was in a towel, having just got out of the shower, and had to pack. Never fear, in the quickest dressing/packing known to mankind I was ready to go by half 5, at which point Mermy and I set off on our adventure to Limerick. I was surprised by how ok my mother was with it, until she pointed out that this was in fact the second time Maria and I had done this (last time was for Monday Night Madness) and asked me to stop planning trips an hour or two in advance and give her at least a days notice. My father thinks that we are the most random people in the world, but as it was Maria's idea and in their eyes she can do no wrong he was more amused by it then anything.

So Maria, her little sister Orflaith, Orflaith's friend Hayley and Maria's cousin Erin and I went to Listowle ( I think that is how you spell it) for the night, to a random club called Mermaids. I had to borrow a dress because in my 10 minute packing I managed to forget one, but it was ok. We spent most of the night dancing (and complaining that they didn't have any Abba) then seriously missing Dublin taxis as we waited half an hour in antarctic conditions for our taxi to come get us. We were pretty amused by Maria's cousin, Eoin, who was fairly drunk and kept saying 'sound as a round pound' which became our catchphrase for the next few days. It was rather difficult to explain to the Ashy and Emma when they rang us at 4 to see if we were still up in Maria's house that we had randomly hopped on a train to limerick when we had claimed that town was too much of a trek for us. 'You guys are so weird' was the lovely response we got, a bit rich from a group of girls who had just stolen a pile of magazines from outside a shop. (Why? I don't know, and I don't really want to either!)

We spent Thursday sleeping apart from a big lunch at another one of her cousins house, which was nice. We sat in the sitting room at what we nicknamed the kiddy table (which was hilarious because all 5 of us were between 16 and 19) and watched the aristocats, which a brilliant movie. (Maria liked it because it was set in France, the french nerd) Then Maria and I had a nap, and hung out with Orflaith and Hayley. It felt like we were back in 6th class as some of the boys were trying to persuade them to go back to Erin's because Nookie liked Orflaith and I think Eoin liked Hayley. Maria and I were helping them come up with excuses like 'we were going to take the ponies because we have no lift but Hayley just got thrown off one and is stuck in a ditch' and laughing at the back-to-6th-class of it all, though it was slightly wierd because Nookie had previously tried to get stuck into Maria at Monday Night Madness, and Orflaith is her 16 year old little sister. Then Maria and I went to sleep, because it had been like 5 hours since we last slept and woke up at half 12 with her mom telling us we were driving up to Dublin in half an hour. I seriously think that Maria was a koala in a past life, she is constantly sleepy! It also appears to be contagious...

So I had a random and fun few days in Limerick,(not to mention extremely well resting considering we slept for about 24 hours,) and I have learned two important lessons from our adventure. Firstly, that it is fun to be spontaneous and do random things and that sometimes it is better not to think and just to do something. (the wierd thing is I had just decided that my new Years resolution would be to stop taking things so seriously and just have a laugh when Maria rang... two hours later I was on a train to the other side of the country.. go figure) Secondly never plan a quiet night in with Maria, you will end up in Limerick.

End of an Era... Well, of 2008 anyway

2008-12-31T12:54:00.017Z

Well it is New Years Eve today so I suppose I should get all nostalgic and philosophical about the year and everything that happened in it. Sadly I have the memory of a goldfish and I can barely remember Jan/Feb/March/April/May/half of June of last year, though I think that is because my brain is doing that survival thing where it glosses over traumatic events, namely the Leaving Cert. Wow those were some FUN months! Ridiculously pointless and stressful exams aside, 2008 has been one of the best years of my life so I can't help but stop to look back over some of the defining memories from it.

(anyone who gets bored during nostalgic flashbacks, stop reading here)

May:

Graduation and general year bonding. One of my favourite memories from school has to have been when we rearranged all the furniture in the common room and played 'the ground is lava', as well as having box races down the corridor. Even though this may not have happened in 2008 I have to mention the 'Fort Aisling' which we built in the common room using a pulley system developed out of some ribbon and a spoon. Naturally of course our principal walked into the common room and got stuck in it, then asked us 'what is that smell?'. Not 'why is there a sheet attatched to a spoon over my head?'... I think she thought that we were on drugs. The funniest part was that we had all just signed it, including Maria and Ashy (the head girl and deputy) and the two of them were hiding in the back of the room. Our year got really close towards the end of 6th year, and nothing will beat graduation where even a bunch of our teachers came to barcode, got drunk with us, then had to face us for nine o clock block classes.

<- We got bored at lunch one day

June/July- Never mind the leaving, what I remember from June was BULGARIA! We went for a week, the last few days of June and the start of July. It was epic. 12 girls, ridiculously cheap drink and sunshine. All the days are kind of a blur, but dancing on the bar in Select and getting free drinks from the bartenders is a defining night, as well as befriending random Norweigens, our hilarious rep 'Dan the Man', the essex guys, our trip on the pirate yacht, trying to explain what 'ish' means to people, happy hour being everywhere,... it was just a really good week. Ok yes some people got into a huge fight and one girl flew home early, and Louise ended up in a wheelchair for a few weeks, but apart from that it was great. We tend to sum it up like this: 13 booked, 12 went, 11 came back, 1 was in a wheelchair... (Louise fell off a step and fractured her foot, she is perfectly fine now.)

July- London!!! A few days after my 18th Maria and I went to stay with her aunt in Clapham Common for a few days. It was really sunny and such a laugh! We did the whole sightseeing thing (and befriended some knights at the Tower of London) got absolutely terrifed at the London Dungeon, after which I refused to go through the scary chamber thing in Madam Tussauds (I am still traumatised from when I went through it about eight years ago). We saw Spamalot the musical and accidently got drunk on one (giant) bottle of Bulmers each, after which Maria was convinced that a perfectly ordinary house was Buckingham Palace. Our greatest achievement was without a doubt navigating the London underground, and also for finding Abercrombie which is the hardest shop in the world to find (though in fairness we owe Fitzy for his amazing directions or we would have given up in Oxford Circus)

August-

Well I guess I would have to say getting into English first round was quite an achievement! I was fairly thrilled with that! Then one weekend Maria asked me and Kate if we felt like going to a giant night out in Ballybunion called 'Monday Night Madness'. It was Sunday night at this point, but never fear! Possibly one of the randomest things we have ever done, the three of us hopped on a train down to Kerry to stay with Maria's cousins and go out with them. It was one of the best nights out, purely because it was just so random! We got a lift up with her cousin the next day, which basically meant we went to the other side of Ireland and back in less the 24 hours, just for the laugh.

September-

Starting in UCD was interesting, our group and another group from our year became pretty close and we all started hanging out together in the SU (home to the comfiest couches in the world). I joined lacrosse during freshers week, which was again one of the more random things I have ever done because I am crap at sports, but the others convinced me that it would be a laugh and I was kind of scared of John so I didnt want to say no. (I now have no idea why I was scared of John). I also joined mountineering and badminton, I think Maria and I went on one hike and then were like feck this, and the closest I have gotten to badminton is when they arrive at the end of wall ball. But I much prefere lax and I have to say I think joining it was one of the best choices I have made this year, because without it I would never have gone to...

October- Karlsruhe

So I very nearly didn't go to Germany, but after much deliberation and everyone telling me I should I got out of my previous commitments and went! Maeve and I were the token Irish girls of the trip as every other girl was American. We were worried that it would be awkward but we all got along really well and Germany was one of the best weekends away I've had. Not only did we get to know the others on the team really well but we actually played a real game of lax which was entertaining. Mallori and I even invented our own version of lax, 'Prison Lacrosse' on the last night, and we still like to bring it up from time to time. There were so many memorable moments in Germany, but for some reason Flopsy making me run infront of traffic sticks in my mind. I think it was because I was terrified of him for the entire weekend, until he stopped yelling at me to take photos and get across roads and I realised that he is actually quite lovely when not giving out to me. Germany was definitly an experience and I am so glad that I went, I would have regretted it if I hadn't.

<-- Flopsy's photo. 'Worth risking my life for' apparently.

November-

Nothing overly definitive happened in November, but I got to know Mallori and Elyse really well and became really good friends with them. The 'reverse reverse' party was a lot of fun, though for some reason we ended up in a huge argument about Foxrock/Dublin vs the country (Foxrock won, of course). Rachel drove us from Maggie's to Paddy's and I have never been more sure that I was going to die in my life. Rachel is an...interesting driver at the best of times, and when she skidded even she got scared (I have more sympathy for those in the back though on the basis that Mal was lying across all of them). However the skidding was an accident, and once it got colder Rach started driving really carefully. I think that drive has scarred Elyse for life though.

November was also the month that I acquired the nickname 'Grassy', which sadly still has yet to die down and I am slightly worried that it never will. 'Team C' was also founded in November by Flopsy and Maeve, and I must say I do love the 'Team C' dance, it is not as good as mine and Mallori's invention, the John O Connor dance, but it is up there! November was a month of drunken fun, a CLASS month as Elyse would say!

the dances!

December:

I have gone on a fair bit about December in my blog already so if anyone has actually made it this far I will not bore you again! In short-

Exams (awful, but not as bad as I expected and not something I will stress about in future)

Kings and Crowns night- (amazing girls night out, SO much fun!)

Leslies birthday session (have not been that drunk in a long time, I blame Kings! good night!)

Last night out with Mal and Leslie-(sad day, but a fun night out... Saying goodbye was not easy)

Christmas- Family filled frivolity, then lots of quality time with the girls. I now spend too much time playing the Wii with Ash,Emma and Maria... I am still terrible at it though

Now tonight is New Years Eve and it is nearly time for 2009. Instead of going out to town where it will be overcrowded, expensive and impossible to get home Maria and I are staying in in hers with a bottle of wine and some dvds. The girls are trying to get us to come out to boomerangs but it is 2 o clock and I am yet to be convinced so I don't think that it is happening! Tomorrow is the beginning of a new year, and I am sure I will come up with lots of resolutions I will never keep, but I will bore you with them another time. 2008 was a year to remember, and I am so happy to have done all the things I have written about. Here's hoping that 2009 will be just as amazing!

Yuletide adventures

2008-12-27T18:38:00.004Z

I had forgotten how wierd my family could be until we were all together for Christmas dinner. We went for Christmas dinner on Christmas eve at my aunts house. We always have it then and we alternate which house we have it in, its a random tradition. I don't know why we don't just have it on Christmas day like normal people, but I guess it makes Christmas a bit different! Sibling volunteered to be the designated driver, an offer she regretted about five minutes after walking into the house.

My family is quite possibly certifiably insane. We used to go on holidays together on a boat in France, where we always had a series of random encounters that I usen't to question until someone (probably Ashy) pointed out that they are NOT NORMAL. Any sort of drama or accident seems to be attracted to my family. One year sibling and I got attacked by swans, two years ago my uncle fell ( or 'jumped' as he likes to claim) into the canal while attempting to rescue an aged Luxemberger who had fallen in from the bank. That same year we almost got crushed in the gates of a lock because my uncle decided that if we sped up we would make it (that was a more eventful year). They spent half of dinner reminiscing about their trip this year, and how not only was it amazing that my cousins girlfriend survived it she also agreed to marry him when he proposed recently, despite having been stuck with the family for a week. Naturally any time the boat was brought up baleful looks were shot in my direction, as sadly I had declined the offer of being trapped in a confined space with my extended family in the middle of nowhere in France in favour of dancing on bars in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria with my friends.

The second half of dinner sent me into repressed flashback mode. My Uncle loves to wind up my Mum and Aunt, and generally does so through arguing with them about politics. A few years ago during the Nice treaty referendum things got so heated that my grandad is still terrified at the memory ('they turned on him like rabid dogs' is the exact phrase he used, I believe). So naturally about 3/4 of the way through dinner some absolute fool brings up the Lisbon treaty. ARE YOU KIDDING? My mother, aunt and cousin proceeded to spend the next 40 minutes having a huge debate with my Father and Uncle about it, which ended with my cousin not so subtley implying they were fascists. Funnily enough I had forgotten to revise all of European and Irish political history for christmas dinner, so sibling and I spent the entire thing rolling our eyes at each other and wondering if anyone would notice if we just left. Naturally my cousin HAD to point out to the entire table that I can now vote, and I think there may be some sort of power struggle over which side gets to indoctrinate me. I am slightly terrifed, and not impressed that he reminded them... some godfather he is! Thankfully sibling had enough and told the parents we were leaving whether or not they were in the car with us (it was like one in the morning at this stage) so they finally left, though they insisted on turning off Westlife's greatest hits in the car and instead we were forced to listen to my mother sing 'Jingle Bells' in a Jamaican accent when it came on Xmas FM. (Why a Jamaican accent? I don't know, and quite frankly I don't really want to either)

Christmas day was the usual, opened presents with the fam, went to mass for the first and only time this year, visited relations... My grandad didn't want to go to my Unlces house for Christmas dinner so my mom invited him and my aunt to ours, which meant that we had another Christmas dinner, one I am still full from. Sibling and I watched movies all evening afterwards, though we had to turn off Jason Byrne because we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe (We are going to see him live in Feburary, so excited!). On Stephens Day I went to the races with the girls in Lepordstown, which was a laugh, even managed to win some money which was amusing! That night we went out for drinks in Temple Bar and got the nightlink home, Emma, Maeve and Rach walked me home because all three of them live beside each other whereas I would have had a fifteen minute walk home in the dark by myself, which was pretty nice of them!

Christmas is always good for hanging out with family and friends, though I will quite happily avoid some of the family for a while now as I am scared that I will have to listen to even more political propaganda... I'll see them AFTER the referendum...

Why I hate goodbyes...

2008-12-20T19:25:00.003Z

So last night was Mallori and Leslie's last night in Dublin, which was kinda hard. I am really bad at goodbyes and stuff, I cry way too easily so saying goodbye to them was tough. We started predrinking at Mals at 5, and began our last night in Ireland the way we've began all our nights out (and in) for like the last 6 weeks... with a game of Kings. Naturally I got screwed over and got the last ace, master of men and the king cup (which was half vodka, half gin) but it was worth it for the amusement of seeing the looks on everyones faces when they realised I had downed it in like twenty seconds and no-one had noticed.

As a good bye gift for Mal we got a load of photos from this semester and put them in a book. Everyone wrote a letter and we put that in as well. Well I say everyone wrote, but really Flopsy dictated his letter to me on skype and made me handwrite it out for him. John of course took fifty million years to turn up with his letter, and also nearly gave me a heart attack when he jumped out at me when I walked out of the apartment. It was pretty funny, purely because I could hear Mal freaking out in the apartment about the fact that I was screaming and Kate wouldn't let her go outside. She really liked the book anyway which was the important thing, and even people who weren't coming out with us came over to say bye which was cool.

Messers was a laugh, apart from at the beginning when it was just old men perving at us on an empty dancefloor, but then Maeve turned up with GPEP and it was fun. They played lots of christmas music AND the Abba medley just as Mal and I were going to request it, which was nice of them to save us the effort.

Naturally we went to BK's for food, then got rained on while we tried to get a six seater taxi. We decided to do goodbye hugs and stuff before we got in, so that was just a barrel of laughs... nothing sucks more then saying goodbye to a friend for a very long time... in the lashing rain... at 3 in the morning... On the plus side we got the worlds perkiest taxi driver who made us sing along to Christmas songs, which is always amusing, though naturally being a complete sap I started crying after we dropped Mal and Leslie off and therefore was NOT in the mood to sing along to Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer.

As you have probably gathered I am not good at saying goodbye to people. Sadly I forgot my camera so I have no photos from last night, but I plan on stealing Mallori and Leslie's as soon as possible... And as much as I am going to miss them next semester I am consoling myself with the fact that we are having a reunion in Washington in August :-)

My return to childhood...

2008-12-13T14:24:00.007Z

I have been acting like a five year old child for the last two days. I know generally I have the emotional maturity of an eight year old, but I have spectacularly out-immatured myself this time. I blame two things; Kate bringing me into a giant toy shop, and the arrival of our christmas tree.

It was kate's nineteenth on Thursday so a couple of us went into town to celebrate. Not in the usual going into town to celebrate way (as in drinking and going out) but to have dinner and look at the pretty lights.

We wandered around town for a while looking at the pretty christmas lights, and also the pretty shoes in BT's. After we went to visit the live crib outside the mansion house (one of the donkeys had a mowhawk, amazing!) we caught the Luas to dundrum to go to Milano's for dinner. Maria still had 45 mins before work so we decided to go to Hamley's, then go to dinner when she left for work. That was when my rapid decline started.

I tend to get extremely excited about Christmas you see. I was already excited enough about the shiny lights and the christmas carols in town, then I walk into a giant toystore...

It was amazing.

I kinda want to live there. A lot.

Then we went to dinner, which was yummy, and then we went BACK to Hamley's because Cillian hadn't been with us the first time and we wanted to bring him (even though he doesn't like it much). Well, basically we wanted an excuse to go back.

Then yesterday was Christmas tree day. Now my sister and I tend to become slightly hyperactive and childish around christmas trees. Never mind that she is twenty-one and I am eighteen, all maturity goes out the window on tree day. This year we managed to find the perfect tree in about ten minutes, which was slightly disappointing. Normally we take ages, go to about three different places, dither about trees (we're very picky) and my sister always drops one on me. Every year, without fail. Except for this year. While my head was happy about the lack of 11 foot tree falling on it, we still felt kinda cheated that it was so easy. Though we did get amusement out of my mom pretending the tree was too expensive so we could get a discount, though not as much as when she turned around to give us the worlds most unsubtle thumbs up in the world.

That night, when Mr Tree the third arrived (yes, we do name our trees. Guess how many years we've been doing it for?) We got all the ornaments out of the attic and spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out which ones were which (our parents have bought us one ornament for every christmas, so I have 19 now and Emma has 22). Then we turned on some sort of Christmas countdown music channel and started decorating in our merry christmas way. Now the thing about my sister and I is that we LOVE a bit of Cliff at christmas time, especially 'Mistletoe and Wine'.. .the moment he starts swaying we start laughing... then this giant gong appears and its just gas craic and banter from there on... That song came on and we were laughing and dancing around so much that the dog left the room in disgust.

Yeah, we ARE cool

So to sum up, I have spent the last 2 days playing in toy stores and dancing around my house with my sister acting like a five year old. In short, I've been a complete and utter child. Never mind that I still had 3 exams (now 2, hell yeah!) or that I should probably be acting my age. It is Christmas time, and I am not so secretly a total child.

I love christmas.

And so it begins...

2008-12-10T22:09:00.003Z

So, my first ever exams as a college student...

Wow, I forgot how much I hate exams! You'd think after last year I'd be used to exam pressure, but the summer and this entire semester kinda made me switch my brain off, so suddenly having to WORK was- I'm not gonna lie- Awful!

Anyone who knows me knows that I can get quite stressed. Suddenly I was looking back over the semester going 'wow I did like nothing', and worrying about failing... Naturally this got on the nerves of non first year people I know, such as my darling sibling, because she is in her final year and therefore needs really high grades and I just need to pass. Anyone with a sense of self preservation would have shut up about it, so naturally I kept going... Ha I kid, sort of...

So I had my first two exams today, the ones I was most worried about so I'm feeling pretty relaxed right now. Mainly because I nearly gave my self a stress-induced heart attack this morning so I think I've used up my stress quota for the day... I genuinely believe that I am the ONLY person in the world who could manage to loose their student card (which was IN THEIR HAND) over the course of a 30 second walk... I nearly cried when I realised...

On the plus side, my other exam was totally less stressful after all that, and luckily some good samritan handed in my card... If I knew who they were I'd buy them a drink, I owe them big time!

Another high point to my day- I had a four hour break that was NOT worth going home for on the basis I'd have to leave like an hour after I got home, so I decided to be a loving friend and distract Elyse from studying so we could have lunch. We had philedelphia on bread and coke... then Elyse made me watch some show which SHOWED PEOPLE BEING OPERATED ON, which is not good after just eating...

I'm just counting down to Monday, because then it is over and I am FREE! I also get to meet Elyse's family that day which I am very excited about, though I'll be in the middle of cramming like mad for my last exam so hopefully I'll manage to seem well adjusted and normal as opposed to a big ball of stress! But either way, it'll be over and I'll be officially on christmas holidays.. Excitement!

The art of procrastination...

2008-12-07T14:06:00.006Z

I have really surprised myself with my dedication over the last few days. Not to studying, but to my avoidation (I am not sure if that is a word, but I don't care, studying for English is TOMORROW) of studying. It takes some creativity to be able to think of so many things to do instead of working, WITHOUT leaving the room you are studying in. Some people may think it is too hard. To these people I say practise, the art of procrastination is one that does not come easily to some, but with time it can become a useful and distracting tool.

I think a lot of people get confused about the difference between procrastinating and just slacking. The difference is in your mind set- you need to genuinely BELIEVE that you are going to begin your work just after you play with the dog/start a blog/finish this conversation on facebook chat... Otherwise you are just slacking. Bascially a good procrastinator needs to be very good at kidding themselves, or so gullible they even believe it when THEY lie to themselves. They also need to be able to convince themselves that what they are doing is SO important it cannot wait until after studying (but the dog looks lonely, I need to arrange what time Rachel is collecting me later and that is easier on fb chat...) It is a skill which develops over time. Some people call it denial... I prefer to think of it as 'misguided prioritising'.

Procrastinating, when used right, I think can benefit whatever you are avoiding doing. If Kate is reading this she is probably giving her computer her disapproving, are-you-kidding-go-do-some-work-and-stop-waffling-on look. I know this because we have this conversation frequently- she is a responsible, dilligent student who gets her work done perfectly as soon as possible to get it out of the way, while I have the attention span of a newborn puppy and therefore find it hard to sit down and concentrate unless there is some sort of scary deadline looming. Personally I think I work better with an imminent deadline, so by putting off my work until I HAVE to do it, it means the adreneline from the ohnoitsdueintwodaysandIhaven'tstartedyet rush helps me work harder and more efficiently.

Which is why I think I (hopefully) am not too screwed for my exams next week. The 'holy crap its on wednesday' fear is kicking in and I am finding it a lot easier to concentrate on actually studying, so much so that I am even writing this on my lunch break so it does not interfere with my nerd time. That said it is only half two in the afternoon, odds are that by four I will have thought of something of extreme importance which MUST BE DONE NOW. Or I might actually do some work. Who knows?

p.s You want to know a REALLY good way to distract yourself? Google images 'puppies...

it is ADORABLE!!!

awwwww -->>

My amazing technological abilities

2008-12-05T18:11:00.000Z

I have a theory that I would be better off in a world without technology. Not because I am not fond of it (we all know how much time I spend on facebook chat when I should be studying) but just because of my ability to NOT BE ABLE TO WORK IT

Its very upsetting... no matter how much I try, technology always outsmarts me. Well not neccesarily outsmarts, just confuses me so much that I give up. Take Skype for example... after Kate, Mallori and Elyse all told me to get it I decided to download it. I mean what the heck, its free and it would idle away a good bit more of my study time (actually studying is out of the question of course)

So I download it and go to add Kate to my contact list... but of course, before I can do that I have to test call the skype computer. Why I do not know, maybe its lonely and wants someone to talk to... So my heart goes out to the poor lonely skype computer and I try to click call... Does this work? No. Am I confused? Yes! After looking at the screen with a confused expression for a while I gave up. Who knows, maybe skype will magically start working later...

Ditto for trying to set up a link on this. I give it 8 out of 10 on the confusion front. After Flopsy informed me he had put a link to my blog on his, I decided to return the favour... even though he gave me step by step instructions on how to (because lets face it, if I had to figure it out myself I would have been there all year) it still took me about 10 minutes, and at least two attempts to do it...

In fairness, I will admit that sometimes the technological confusion is just me being grassy and not the fault of the innocent piece of technology involved... for example once I pointed at a picture of something and said 'wow, that is a funny looking tv'

it was a microwave.

I take full responsibility for that, that is clearly just me being an idiot...

Kings and Crowns

2008-12-04T20:03:00.000Z

Hmm so various people have been going on about Blogs and how good it is to keep one so I figured I might as well give it a shot.. .we all know that I’ll do anything to avoid studying…

We had our Kings and Crowns night last night, that was fun! We pre-gamed in Mal’s in Belgrove, Maria got the first King cup which was hilarious because she HATES beer and there was a ridiculous amount of guiness in there courtesy of Chris… not to mention some malibu, gin, bulmers, (oh and Coke… Kate was driving…)

(not happy about the beer)-->

Ashy is the only person I’ve ever met who HOPES to get master of men… but then again she also drinks straight malibu (like full on downs it) and then complains when she mixes it that the COKE is burning her throat… right ashy…

Two rounds later as well as some drunken dancing around to Abba we tottered out into the cold icky night in our high heels to get to the bus stop… ( By WE I mean myself and the Americans… Ashy and Maria got a fecking lift, lazy much?) The rain didn’t get us down though, we were laughing too much at Elyse’s yelling ‘Wow, I just stepped in a wet puddle!’ (as opposed to a dry one Elyse?)

An uneventful taxi ride later and we were in Tripod… naturally we ditched our coats and headed for the dancefloor, where we stayed pretty much all night apart from venturing off now and then for shot/drink breaks… We did run into our friends Git and Shane as well, which was good because then I could steal Shanes funky hat and take photos of all of us wearing it…

A few hours later our feet were wrecked so we hobbled down to Bk in the lashing rain (stopping of course to take a pic of Leslie under the pretty grafton street lights) and got lots of yummy food (and crowns, thus completing the agenda for ‘Kings and Crowns night’.) After getting even wetter going to the taxi rank we went our separate ways and went to bed (well, not Elyse because she was leaving in like an hour for Paris and still hadn’t packed)

Basically it was a savage night out. With four cameras there we took an insane amount of photos, I might throw some of them up here if I can figure out how..

One thing I learned from that night though- I’d forgotten how much a group of girls by themselves on the dancefloor can attract creepers. And as much fun as a girls night out was, a little part of me missed the lax boys, because they’re fun to dance with (its not the same doing the Team C dance without its creator, Flopsy) and more importantly, they keep the creepers away….