If it was liquid it would drown me

Well I should be in bed, I am so tired right now and my bed is calling out for me but I am sat here typing this with a keyboard that is being a pain. It works for ages and then will stop working and work on and off for a while and it is driving me round the bend and preventing me from doing as much work as I'd like to do.

I went running this evening in the rain. Yeah the rain!! No I didn't take an umbrella with me. For those who don't know me I don't leave the house without an umbrella because my hair is a total pain when it gets wet. I always have a mini umbrella in my bag although there have been a couple of times where I've been caught out.
Well I went out in the rain and I didn't get as wet as I thought I would and it was a tough run but I got out there and did something and that's what counts.

I got 6 CDs today and 1 DVD so that's been keeping me busy on the music front. I guess the best one is the new Foo Fighters album although I've not listened to it as much as I'd like to have done but with the other new ones I needed to listen to them also.

I asked Pete to come up for my birthday weekend on the 26th-28th October and he said yes and even today was looking at ticket prices. I asked Rich on Friday in a email and this evening he was on MSN in the first time in months and I asked him and he said his parents are on holiday from the 19th (same day I got Amsterdam) until the 26th so he doesn't see how he could come on the same day but it thinking about coming after the 26th and will let me know. It would be nice to see him again as I've not seen him since my birthday weekend last year. I asked Caroline in a email today and she said she doesn't think she can come because she'd have to buy the ticket this month and she doesn't think she can afford it plus she hardly had any holiday left. I do hold out some slight hope she will come but it's only a slight hope because who knows if she can. I feel Rich might not come if Caroline doesn't come which will be a shame as it seems like forever since I've seen him and we don't talk as much as we used to. All three of us used to talk loads on MSN but I've been on MSN on and off all year, I'm just bored with it and most nights I'm too tired to sit there and chat with them although it would be nice to do it now and then. It was nice talking to Rich on there this evening.
So I will have to see it if Rich and Caroline come up next month.

Lots of work to do tomorrow and this room needs a tidy up so I'm hoping to do some tidying in here tomorrow because it is such a tip. I'd hate someone to come round and see the state of this room right now.
I am hoping to go running tomorrow evening too.

Anyway I need my bed, I will probably put a DVD on and go to sleep.

Hold on

I am rubbish at keeping up to date with writing blogs, I don't know why but I am falling out of the routine of writing something on here at least once a week but I hope to change that.

Well I am sat here now with lots of paperwork that needs going on a Excel spreadsheet so you could say work is getting busy here. Well it is, so much so that my dad is quitting his full time job on Friday and working full time with me. I don't know how I am going to cope with my dad being home a lot more now, it can possibly drive me round the bend because I like my space and I like to do what I want when I want and of course with him here I will have to adapt more of a proper routine.
We just have piles and piles of work to do and have more and more new clients which of course is a good thing. It's what my dad wanted so he could just do accountancy work full time. It's good, I'm earning more than I would do in a normal job and there are more benefits to it except I don't get holiday pay but I can't moan because I take time off when I want and get paid probably four times what I would in a normal 9-5 job but I am bloody good and quick at what I do.

I am meant to be finishing off my two ten point courses in the next couple of weeks and haven't done much on them so I need to get my act together because they are due in, in 5 weeks time but I have to have them finished before then because I am off to Amsterdam and when I get back Pete is coming up so there will be no time for finishing them so I hope to have them done in the next couple of weeks.
I am then starting a creative writing course which is a hard course according to what I've heard about it but it sounds interesting and I want to try something new and different and that is perfect for me, well I hope it is.

Been spending less time at the computer lately, well on the internet, and it's a really good thing. I am getting bored with countless hours on the internet wasting my time looking at the same things over and over again and with doing mainly computer work for my job I don't want to sit at the computer all evening. It just gets boring and I am sick of the all internet thing, my last 3 years it's been spent around the internet and I've had a good time and met some really good friends but I don't really enjoy the internet like I did. I guess I am just bored of it and wasting my time when I know there is a lot more to life than sitting at a computer. Yeah I like email and certain sites but I don't need to spend much time online to enjoy them. It's fun and it's a useful tool so I could never see my life without the internet but since starting running I've found that there is great things outside of the cyber world that I've been locked away from because of my internet addiction and where I was never as bad as some I have spent way too much of my life on the internet and it's time to enjoy things outside of the internet.
When I do go running I am way too tired to come on here anyway, I'm normally tired and in need of a shower and then spend a couple of hours watching a DVD. Before I'd skip the running and go on MSN but I am just bored with that. I want something new and exciting and there is only so much you can do on the net.

My house looks so different, well in this room, since we had a big move around and got rid of some stuff. It looks nice in here and how I pictured it to be in my head. I knew how I wanted it and imagined it to look how it does so when the room got moved around and new things got moved in here I was shocked how good it looked. I can't post a picture yet as it's a total mess in here but once I have tided it up and finished sorting it I will be posting some pictures as it does look pretty amazing in here now.

Passport!! Do I want one? Hell yeah but OMG you won't believe the trouble I am going through trying to get one. First of all I sent it off about three weeks ago now. Three days after I sent it they cashed my cheque and about three days after that I got a letter saying I'd forgotten to send my birth certificate. OMG!! So off I go in search of my birthday certificate, which I can't remember seeing since last year, in three places where it was most likely to be and I couldn't find it and I knew it wouldn't be anywhere else in the house. So after the weekend I had to go and get another one. I got the full one rather than the short one which everyone gets because the one I lost was the full one, I used to have two because when I was born my dad got me the short and long one. I burnt my short one in a teenage angst moment when I was 15 and had always kept the long one and have used it heaps of times over the years. It cost £7 for a new one which was cheap. I then went to the post office and sent it recorded delivery. Four days later I get another letter back saying that they can't see my eyes properly on the pictures (WTF?!!) and I needed to send another set. I then looked at the spare two I had and I could see my eyes clearly so they are clearly blind. So I went and had some taken yesterday and you can see my eyes very clearly in the pictures but OMG!! I don't like how I look in the pictures. The last set I had took I didn't either but in hind sight they look a lot better than the ones I had taken yesterday. Tomorrow I must send the pictures off, there is less than a month to go now so I won't be pleased if there is something else wrong with the application. I wish they would just tell me all the wrong things at once instead of wasting as much time as they possibly could.

Last Friday, not the one just got but the one before, I started to get toothache. It wasn't too bad but it was a pain that came on and off a couple of times during the day for around 5-10 minutes a time and each time it would be a lot more painful. Over the weekend it came and went a lot more and on the Monday it was a lot worse and I was so stressed out with the pain, it was agony and it was coming more and more and I was woken up during the night with it so many times that I barely slept. Tuesday was the worst day for me, it was just too painful and was hurting every 15 minutes for around 5 agonizing minutes and I felt like pulling all my teeth out. When it was throbbing I couldn't talk or do anything. It was taking over my life and being in so much pain wasn't a nice thing, it felt like someone was stabbing me in my gums over and over and over again. I got a appointment via NHS Direct for 3:15pm the next day and by 2am the pain had gone but I was going to go anyway because I didn't want it to come back.
I went to the dentist and he couldn't find which tooth was causing the pain because my gums were so inflamed so he prescribed a antibiotic and told me to use a mouthwash and if the pain comes back to ring NHS Direct again.
I gave my prescription to my dad who was going to pick it up from Boots on his way back from an appointment because they are open until midnight for prescriptions. He went to pick it up but they wouldn't let him have it because the dentist hadn't stamped it. So he went back to get it stamped and they were closed so he went back the next day and they were shut for lunch so he ha to wait. I eventually got them around 3pm that afternoon and took one straight away. By then I was getting some toothache but it wasn't too bad but carried on for a couple of days. Since yesterday I haven't had any pain so the antibiotics are working but I only have until Tuesday morning until they run out so I hope it doesn't return. The dentists and the prescription came to around £30 which I guess isn't too bad.

I should be out running very soon, the weather has been crappy on and off all day but it looks nice outside now so hopefully I will be going out sometime in the next hour for a run. It will be my third of the week. I want yesterday morning although I was shattered after staying on MSN later than planned. I struggled with my run and when I did get going Lucky would either get distracted and pull me off one way or he'd walk into me and knock me off my pace and I'd have to stop. I did around an hours run/walk and walked a lot more than I normally do but I did get some done.
I am looking forward to getting out there today, it will be nice. I've been in here all day so the fresh alone will be nice. I don't know how much I am going to do yet but at least an hour, I'd love to do around 90 minutes but I will have to see how things go. I know I need to strap both legs up as they are a little sore and strapping them up will enable me to run longer.
I finally got a Blackburn Road Runners long sleeve top and have worn it twice now, I really like it. It's a nice length and it's probably my favourite item of running clothing I own.
I got another pair of running trainers also, identical to the ones I have but a different colourway, they are nice and I've worn them twice. I like the brand and style and fit so I am going to stick with these ones and probably get another pair soon.

Anyway I think it's time for something to eat seen as I need some strength for my running. I shall try and update once a week from now on.

I want it all

London

On Friday 22nd June I was woken by my multiple alarms going off at 4:45am and at that point I wanted to go to sleep for another three or four hours because I’d only been asleep for four hours because I couldn’t seem to fall asleep the night before. But no matter how much I wanted to go back to sleep I had to get up because I was going to London and had a taxi booked at 7:50am to take me to the train station. So I dragged myself out of bed and went downstairs to go and get some breakfast. Then once breakfast was over I spent the next couple of hours showering and getting ready and making sure I had everything packed, my dad brought my luggage downstairs and then there was a knock on the door – the taxi was here so it was a mad rush to get everything together. We got in the taxi and were heading towards the train station when I realized I’d left all my tickets at home (basically £1000 worth of tickets including train tickets, London Eye Tickets, Bon Jovi Concert Tickets and Hotel Confirmation) so got the taxi to take us back home. It was actually a good job we set off a little earlier because we might have missed the train if we hadn’t booked the taxi earlier. One we collected the tickets we made our way back to the train station and made our way up to the platform and had a ten minute wait for the train to arrive. It was nice actually being somewhere early for once instead of having to rush around and almost make it.

Lucky was dropped off to stay at a friend’s house at 7am on that morning by my dad; we obviously couldn’t take him with us and couldn’t let him stay at my mums because my mum’s dog chases him around trying to mate with him so it wouldn’t have been fair on him.

We arrived in Preston and found the platform where the London train leaves from and then I made a quick trip to the toilet, making it back as the train pulled into the station. I was relieved to have front facing seats because I can’t travel backwards. I’d booked the train tickets two months in advance and asked for front facing seats and was very lucky to have gotten them. The train was soon setting off and I was happy to be finally getting away for a long weekend although I had heard it was going to rain all the time I wasn’t going to let that ruin my first time in London. After about 40 minutes into the journey a bunch of school kids on a school trip got on the train and were seated in our section which I wasn’t happy about. The children were loud and annoying and their teachers were letting them get away with being annoying and loud. I put my MP3 player on loud and could still hear them and my dad fell asleep. It was quite funny because my dad shouts out in his sleep at times and he did it on the train and everyone laughed at him. I just listened to music all the way down until about ten minutes before we were due to get into London when I started to pack everything back into my bag and get ready to get off the train. When the train stopped I basically rushed off it because I didn’t want to get caught behind all the children getting off the train.

We had arrived in London!!

As soon as we got off the train we went to find a toilet. 20p each to use the toilet but when you need it badly you don’t care how much it costs. Once we’d been to the toilet we went to find something to eat and ended up in Burger King at the train station. I had a Angus Meal and so did my dad. Once we’d eaten we thought it was time to tackle the underground so found it and made our way down stopping once to check which line we needed. We then traveled to Waterloo and set off to find a taxi to take us to where we were staying – International House. We got in a massive queue for a taxi and were soon on our way to International House, it cost £6 and my dad gave him a £2 tip (we soon found out later that he’d taken us the long way round and it was only a 5-10 minute walk but I wasn’t in the mood to walk with my luggage. Also another Underground station was 3-5 minutes from where we were staying but I’d forgotten the name of it (now know its Lambeth North) so we had no choice to get the taxi there). Anyway we were there and we could finally dump our bags. It was a warm day and I was sweating and wanted to get rid of my luggage. WE checked in and were told we couldn’t go to our rooms because they were still being cleaned but as we were stood there filling in forms the cleaners came down and said they were finished so we were allowed to our rooms which was a big relief for me. Then we were told we were going to be in different floors which I found very strange because normally when you book two rooms together, anyway there was nothing we could do about it so we got the keys and went to see which room we wanted. One was on the 4th floor and the other was on the 6th floor. We checked out the one on the 4th floor first and before seeing the second room I said I’d have it but my dad still made me go and look at the one on the 6th floor. I went up and was glad I wanted the 6th floor because his had a big desk chair in his under the desk which made it impossible to walk along his bed. The only good thing was you could see the London Eye from his window and you couldn’t’ from mine even though my room was two floors down because there was a big building across the road from the building and from my room that’s all you could see but two floors up (from my dad’s window) you could see above the building and see the London Eye.
I went back to my room and unpacked a couple of essentials. My room wasn’t nice at all but what more could I ask for, for £15 a night?!! It is student accommodation in term time and I’ve stayed in two lots of student accommodation in the past at university’s which was always nice but that was probably because it was on campus and this wasn’t. The carpet was dirty and had stains all over it and was thread-bare and the furniture was thin and old and falling to pieces. The bed….omg!! What can I say about the bed? It was a wooden frame single bed with an old mattress on (more about that later), the duvet was so thin that it was like a sheet and the pillow was just as thin. The window didn’t shut properly and the only good thing I can say about the room is it didn’t have a big desk chair blocking my way. I’ve never stayed in a room that isn’t en-suite before but I had a low budget for accommodation because I spent £600 on concert tickets so I had to find something for under £20 a night each and this was perfect as it was near a underground station and close to the London Eye and was cheap too (under budget). If I ‘d not spent so much on the tickets I would of paid £40 a night each or maybe more depending on where the accommodation was. Anyway I checked out the toilet which was small and clean which was something and then went and looked at the shower room which was dirty. On each floor there was a shower room and toilet on each side and just one kitchen. Where my room was, were right outside where the lift was and right next door to the flight of stairs. The rest of the rooms were on other sides of glass door. On the right was a door you went through to get to the bedrooms and a bathroom and a shower room and on my left (closer for me) was another door and through there, there was bedrooms and the bathroom and shower room so I was out away from the other bedrooms – had a bad room there and no wonder they saved it for the last to arrive. My dad basically had to the same set up as me as his room was in the same place but two floors up.

Anyway I quickly refreshed myself with some body spray and a touch up of my make up and we headed out. We soon found the Lambeth North underground and made our way down to the track. I had decided that I wanted to go and do some serious sight seeing seen as the weather was nicer than expected. I wanted to go to Buckingham Palace and Harrods and Trafalgar Square. My dad knew which stop we needed to get off for Trafalgar Square because he was in London for the marathon a couple of months before. We did get off one stop earlier than needed but that was OK because it gave me the chance to walk and have a little look around and pick up some post cards. Once I got some post cards we walked past some of the theatres (the ones with STOMP on etc) and my dad went in to see how much tickets were because we were meant to be meeting my friend Caroline the next day and we were thinking of things we could do as well as go for a meal. We even walked past one of the places Caroline suggested we go for a meal. Then as we were walking down towards Trafalgar Square I noticed my favorite shop (NEXT) and decided I needed some sunglasses and a jacket because I had neither with me expect for a hooded zip up sports type jackets so we headed across the road and went into Next. It wasn’t very big and I had most of the items they were selling expects for the ones they didn’t have and you wouldn’t believe this but they didn’t have one jacket in there but they had some really nice sunglasses. I got a pair of sunglasses and was about to go and pay when I walked past the bag section and spotted the most amazing bag. I hadn’t seen this bag before and I wanted it, it was a brown hobo style bad with the most amazing beaded detail on the front of it and it was a nice big size so I thought it was perfect for the rest of the trip although I’d brought two new bags with me. We paid and my dad wanted to go down to the men’s section because he also wanted a jacket because he hadn’t brought one either. We get down the stairs and no jackets for men either, in fact there wasn’t much of anything at all but then I spotted something nice. A sleeveless zip up top thing in green with a white t-shirt underneath and I knew my dad would look good in that so w got that.
We left there and looked down the road and could see Trafalgar Square so we headed down there and then it started to rain a little. I was trying to have my picture taken and it was raining and my dad was taking ages (the pictures aren’t that good) and then my umbrella went up and the best picture of me for the whole trip (other than one on the water feature at Buck Palace) was taken there. I took some of my dad but with people walking around all the time in front of you it was almost impossible to get any decent pictures. Next I decided it was time to go to Harrods or Buck Palace and right next to us was the underground so we went down and they had a machine that had mini maps in so I got one of them and right now I can tell you it was the best thing I bought the whole trip, it was very handy and useful so if you are ever in London and need help to find where things are then get one because they are £2 but worth every single penny. We didn’t use it that much after the first day but it was very handy when trying to find where things are and where undergrounds are etc.
We then went to Oxford Circus even though we wanted Piccadilly Circus but we got off there not knowing it was the wrong one, it was my dads fault but never mind. By now the rain was pouring down so many pictures weren’t taken at this point and the one I wanted the most turned out to be a video because my dad accidentally filmed me instead of taking a picture. He then looked at a map and decided he knew the route to Harrods so we set off walking and were walking for ages and ages until the rain stopped and my dad looked at the map again and after a little argument between us he realized we were stood right next to Green Park which is the part next to Buck Palace so we decided to go to the palace before we went to Harrods. We walked through Green Park and everything was green and that’s no joke, for all around me all I could see green. Green trees and green grass and not much else, there were lots of people out running through the park and walking their dogs and it wasn’t that big and we soon had the palace in our sites and soon we were across the road looking at the palace which looks the same as it does on TV. Well I’d be worried if it didn’t look the same as it did on TV hehe. It was big and maybe bigger than I thought because you can only see a certain amount of it on the TV. The changing over of the guards that are stood there was happening and they read these things out to each other and stamped their feet a lot and it was just so silly to change one guard over and I don’t even know why they bother and it must be so annoying for them to do that and then the standing there all day looking straight ahead – now that must be a really boring job. As we were there post man pat in his van came and was allowed in and I thought it was a little late in the day for the Queen to be getting her mail as it was after 2pm at this point.
Had a little look through the railings and then had my picture taken in front of the palace and then went across to the fountain type thing and had my picture taken there too and then went up to the top of it and took some pictures before sitting on the wall to write my post cards.

Then I wanted to go to Harrods so my dad got the map out and decided we weren’t far from it and it was probably a ten minute walk away so we headed off walking down the side of the palace which seemed to go on forever, walking down the length of the palace took five minutes alone. We got to the end and it started raining again so up went my umbrella whilst my dad looked at the map once more. We set off walking and I am not joking when I say we were walking for about 45 minutes before we got to Harrods and I wasn’t one bit pleased about that because he said we were 10 minutes walk away but we weren’t and just kept on walking and I was very annoyed at him and wasn’t going to trust his map reading again after that. It was very nice to see Harrods in site and soon noticed there was a underground station right next door so we could of gone on the Underground and got there in five minutes.

We walked into Harrods and straight into the handbag section and normally I would be in heaven because I love bags and I would of loved one but the credit card was at home which was maybe good otherwise I would of ended up spending at least £500 on a bag but it would have been a bag I would of used for like forever and I would of loved to have gone there and bought an amazing designer bag. But I couldn’t so we walked through that section fast but it seemed to go on forever. We eventually came out into the main area and went up on the escalators but each floor we came to looked expensive so we didn’t look at any expect the kitchen one which had lots and lots of things on and there were this cute pink set but items were sold separately and one cup for £45 and the matching saucer was £30 so I put that down quickly. We had a walk around that whole floor and saw some really nice and expensive things and were heading out to find the gift section when we passed a chocolate café and yeah you read that right. Dianna would of loved that because almost everything on the menu had chocolate in it and chocolate was being made fresh there. But the price list put me off and the fact my dad didn’t want to go in. The chocolate milkshake was £6 and I wanted one because it looked amazing and so did the hot chocolate and the chocolate cake but my dad was saying it was too much money so we didn’t go in. Instead we made our way down all the escalators down to the bottom floor were we find the gift section. They had all kinds of things down there and by far it was the cheapest section in the whole shop. They had journals and diary’s and things like that and I ended up getting a lovely journal, it is so beautiful and my dad was looking at pens and a sales man went and started to talk to my dad and my dad put his fake posh voice on which he does a lot on the phone and I just walked around the shop trying to ignore him. He then announced that he was going to buy a pen and I thought ‘oh no’ because I thought he was looking at expensive pens because I didn’t think Harrods would sell cheap pens, so I gave my dad a look to say ‘don’t be stupid’ and walked over to find they were under £10. They are by a brand called Lamy and I saw a nice pink one and I was going to get it and the sales man told my dad that pink was the in colour and he said that he was going to buy it and I said it was the one I wanted so he decided to go for another one (thank god). That’s all we got there, my journal was £10 but it is very nice, other than a Harrods card. Oh and of course I got a Harrods carrier bag which is what I wanted.
We left there and I decided that I needed a drink and saw a Starbucks across the road so headed across there for my first visit to a Starbucks. I didn’t want a coffee or anything like that because I don’t like coffee. I then saw a nice drink called a mango passion fruit so I got one of those and my dad got a coffee. My drink was so refreshing; I can’t remember when I last had a drink so it was a very welcome drink on a warm day like that day. We then crossed back over and went on the underground and made our way back to where we were staying so I could get changed before going out to the London Eye. We had tickets for 8:30 and it was about 6:30 when we got back. We were going to go and eat before but we didn’t want to rush it so decided to eat afterwards. I got changed into a cooler outfit because I’d been too warm all day even though it had been raining. I then went and got my dad who was shocked it only took me around ten minutes to get completely changed.
We then set off walking because we knew it wasn’t far from we were staying (that’s why I picked the place in the first place) and we were walking about 5 minutes or so when we came across a Starbucks and I sent my dad in for another Mango Passion Fruit and then I saw Ned’s Noodle House and decided that I wanted noodles for my dinner but my dad didn’t want them so I said I would have some as a snack and would still eat a meal after we had been on the London Eye. I then looked at the menu through the window and decided on Hong Kong Chicken Noodles, you then have to decide what type of noodles you’d like so I picked Udon noodles. I’ve never tried them before but I have heard lots about them on TV so I went with them. My dad went in and ordered and I found a table to sit on outside. We waited around ten minutes for them to arrive and I was given chop sticks. I can’t use chop sticks but I had no choice so I had to open them and use them. At first it was so difficult but after a couple of minutes I was able to use them and the more I used them the better I got at using them which was amazing. The noodles were amazing, well they were better than amazing if I am honest, I think they were one of the best things I’d ever tasted and I would love to have them again. There were massive pieces of chicken in it and they were just so tasty and I decided there and then that if I ever go to London again I will get those noodles from that place because they are just so tasty and I love them.

We then carried onto the London Eye which was a 2 minutes walk, we turned a corner and there is was right in front of me bigger than I imagined. It was then it decided to start to rain so up went my umbrella again but the rain just got heavier and heavier and I wasn’t happy because I didn’t want to be up with and not see much because of the stupid rain. The rain got so bad that everyone started to run inside the ticket office/café building area so of course I went in but it was a good chance for me to use the toilet a couple of times.
On the tickets it tells you to start queuing 30 minutes before you are due on but it was still raining (not as bad) and was getting dark outside and we didn’t want to queue but we also didn’t want to miss our flight (they are called flights) so about 8:15 we went out to the queue, had our tickets checked and we were at the front of the queue 60 seconds later. Everyone has to have their bags checked and also everyone has to be scanned with one of those hand held scanners. When you get to the security guy (who was totally hot and cute but with a ‘don’t mess with me’ look) he asks you if you have any sharp objects in your bad like scissors. Then he puts his scanner in your bag before scanning the back of you with it. Then once that was over we moved forward and we were behind a gated area waiting to go on one of the pods. It then starts to approach with no one in (they get out 10 seconds before) and we are told to go in but it keeps on moving along the platform because it obviously can’t stop so you basically have to go into it as it is moving but you have to be quick. Then we are in and the doors shut. Everyone sat down on the benches at first because there was nothing to see because if was just going along the platform and starting to go up. People weren’t sat down for long. I did feel a little nervous because I don’t like heights that much so I was a little cautious on there at first. We were then looking and seeing amazing things, it goes really slow (it takes 30 minutes in total) but it makes sure you get to see everything. It was still raining at this point so I don’t really have any good pictures of anything up there. I did take a lot of pictures but no good ones came out, there is some OK ones but nothing special to shout home about.
It was amazing being up there, I kind of felt like I should be nervous but I wasn’t and was totally fine with everything around me. When we got to the highest point my dad told me and I wanted to feel scared but I didn’t (I felt strange but not scared) and it was just so nice looking down on everything from that height. The 30 minutes seemed to fly by, on the decent about 5 minutes before we have to get off there was an announcement in our pod saying that there would be a picture taken in our pod in the next minute and it told us where the camera was. Well my dad and I just happened to be stood by that side of the pod where the picture is taken so what did my dad do? He stood there and posed. I am stood next to him trying to get him to stop posing but as you can see from the picture I didn’t succeed lol.
It was a good experience being on the London Eye and I will go on it again next time I am in London and hopefully next time it won’t be raining and the skies won’t be as dark, well that’s what I hope for anyway.

When we left there my dad wanted to eat but of course I wasn’t hungry because of those amazing noodles that I’d eaten so we started to walk back towards where we were staying. There was a couple of restaurants there and I didn’t want to eat and my dad basically made me go in a Chinese place with him. It looked dodgy when we went in and we ordered and they brought me a pint of diet coke with nasty lemon in that was horrible. I then went for a salad and the chicken looked like rubber and was horrible and I didn’t think my dad liked his meal. They then kept trying to bring us a dessert menu and didn’t seem to want us to pay and leave. We eventually left there £25 lighter which was a rip off for the little food we had, and made our way back to where we were staying. Well I did, my dad went to the pub across the road. I was too tired for that as I’d had less than 4 hours sleep the night before and done more walking than I normally do in a month lol. So I went and chilled out in my room with my MP3 player on but it was so noisy with police cars going past with their sirens on (the police station was 30 seconds away) and there was a drunken group of girls across the road. One of the girls kept singing a certain 4 non blondes song for at least an hour which drove me round the bend. Then the doors on the stair case, on various floors, were being opened and then slamming shut and it was just too loud.

Then my bed….what can I say about my bed? Well I can’t say anything good about it that’s for sure. It was like a rock. Actually I think a rock would have been more comfy to lie on. I’ve never led on something so uncomfortable in my life, ever. My pillow, my pillow was like a piece of cotton wool. It was so thin that even folding it in half didn’t make it even half the thickness of a normal pillow. The duvet, well that was slightly thicker than the pillow but thinner than a blanket. I managed to fall asleep at one point but woke up with a stiff neck about half an hour later, I then put two towels under my pillow and folded my pillow in half and fell asleep for a little while and woke up again. I then put my duvet under my head and had no cover on my basically but the first night was so warm. That still wasn’t enough but it was better, I did wake up cold in the middle of the night so I put my dressing gown on and my hooded zip up top on too.
I woke up in the morning in pain all over my body, my back and neck were stiff and I was sore everywhere and not a happy bunny.

I don’t think I slept much the night before; I was just being woken up all the time. If it wasn’t the police with their sirens it was the staircase next to where I was sleeping with people opening and doors and letting them bang shut. Then there was the issue of the stupid bed, OMG!! I am still in pain from that bed, I think I would have been a lot more comfortable if I’d slept on the floor or something. I didn’t know what a bed could be so uncomfortable and I didn’t know pillows or duvets could be so thin either. As soon as my alarm went off I was up and out of bed and grabbing my things and rushing for the shower, I had a shower and rushed back to my room to get dressed and ready for the day ahead.
I then went up to my dad’s room to meet him but he wasn’t there. OMG! I was banging on the door and was wondering how the hell he could sleep through that. I then rung his mobile which went straight to the answering service and I was texting and getting mad whilst I sat on the stairway. He eventually text me back and said that he’d been in the shower and I then went back up to his room.
We decided to go and have breakfast in London so we made our way to the underground station and get a all day ticket before making our way down to the platform. It wasn’t long until the train was arriving and we were making our way into to Piccadilly Circus for breakfast. We decided to have McDonalds for breakfast that morning and just as we walked in they were turning over the breakfast boards so of course we couldn’t have breakfast so I ended up with a quarter pounder meal with a banana milkshake. When we left there we walked around for a little bit as it wasn’t raining at this point, little did we know at the time but 4 days later there would be a bomb scare right were we where walking and we wouldn’t of been allowed to go around there then if we were around then so it was a good job we were there then and not the following week. We just walked around for a bit trying to decide what to do before heading for a Underground station because we decided to go on a Themes boat ride and we had to make our way there. We got there and walked across a really nice bridge and had a look in a couple of the shops and had a drink before making our way to the pier and getting tickets at half price. At this point the sun didn’t know if it wanted to be in or out so it went behind the dark clouds and it rained a little as we waited for the boat to arrive. I think we waited for about ten minutes and it finally appeared which I was very happy about because I was getting cold. We got on the boat and got window seats and we were soon on our way for a nice long cruise down the Themes. It was nice, we stopped a couple of more times so people could get on and off and we got to the bottom of the route and the boat turned round and we went and sat at the front of the boat. On the way back up the river the captain decided to do a tour guide thing and he had everyone on the boat laughing so much. OMG!! He was soooo funny; he had me in tears of laugher with his adapted history. I took loads of pictures on our way back up and just before the end the captain sent the “captains ice bucket” round by one of his crew so we could show our appreciation. I enjoyed his commentary so much I put a couple of £’s in, giving him all my change. The boat stopped at Westminster and we got off there and decided to go and find somewhere to have some food. So we got off and started to walk down the houses of parliament and were looking through the fence watching cars in and watching the security checks they have to go through before making our way round to the other side so we could cross over the read and go to Westminster Abbey. It was massive when I saw it, I couldn’t quite believe how big it was, yes I’ve seen it on TV but you can’t really have any idea of just how big it is until you are that close. It was so nice, details of it was amazing, the type of details that you can’t see on TV because they never get that close. We stood in the area around the church looking and taking pictures and my dad wanted to go in but it was closed at that point so he said he’d like to come back on Monday and go in and have a look. We walked through the grounds and came out by the gift shop and just looked around us in amazement at all the buildings in that area. It was then I decided I needed to go to the toilet so we found some public toilets. OMG! I have NEVER been in toilets as nice as the public toilets at Westminster, they are 50p to get in but trust me they are worth every penny. They are nice and clean and they smell wonderful and there was a man working there all day making sure they are clean and tidy. It smelt amazing, everything was shiny and clean and the music was amazing. There were even heaters on it there so it was the right temperature, it was just amazing. I must have been in there ten minutes because I was enjoying the facilities so much, if your even in Westminster go in the public toilets across the road opposite the back of Westminster Abbey.
When we eventually left there we decided to make our way back into central London so we went to find the Underground and got a train back into the centre of London. We didn’t really know what we wanted to do at that point, I was waiting to hear back from my friend who I was meant to be meeting that evening. So we went into Planet Hollywood to eat, we went and booked a table and got directed to the bar while we waiting for our table. My dad ended up moaning almost straight away because I ordered a diet coke and the guy filled my glass with ice so there was barely any coke in the glass and he said I wanted ice but not a drink of ice, anyway he got him to just put a couple of pieces of ice in my drink. Then he found something else to moan about, his pint. He got another pint and he was sat moaning which was annoying me. I got so annoyed at him moaning that I told him to go and cancel out table because I wasn’t staying there with him being a moaning idiot. So he went and cancelled the table and the guy who he’d been moaning to gave me a free diet coke and put another pint on the bar for my dad. He came back and of course didn’t moan about it because it’s a free pint.
As I was sat there the guys behind the bar were making lots of cocktails and I loved the look of the frozen ones so I asked for a cocktail menu and the frozen cocktails were £7 each but I decided to treat myself to one so I got a Legally Blonde. Can I just say I had the best tasting drink ever in my life that day!! OMG!! Not only was the drink so big it was practically in a pint glass but OMG it was amazing, I’ve never tasted anything like it in my whole life and would live off those if I had to. It was amazing and it took ages to drink because it was so big but as soon as I finished it I had another one. I didn’t care it was £14 for two drinks because of how good it tasted, it was truly amazing and I wish there was a Planet Hollywood in Blackburn because if there was I’d been down there every weekend drinking Legally Blondes.
We used the toilets before we went and I had to queue up for ages but when I got in they are those fancy toilets with an attendant with hand wash that she puts on your hands for you and then she passes you a paper towel to dry your hands. I’ve never been in one like that before but I loved it, it’s a shame I didn’t have any change left otherwise I’d have put some in the bowl where you can leave money for the service.
Once we left there I was a little tipsy but you can’t blame me after the amount of alcohol they put in those cocktails plus I don’t drink much. We left there and were looking around for somewhere to do the lottery.
Oh and when I was in Planet Hollywood I’d heard from my friend, she had a headache and backache and didn’t know if she’d make it so I said she should just relax and we can meet up another time. I was a little disappointed as I’d looked forward to it for a few weeks but she wasn’t up to it so nothing could be done about it.
We then went and put the lottery on and passed YO! SUSHI which is one of the places I wanted to go when I was in London so we went in. OMG! It was amazing and just like I’d seen on the TV with the various plates of Sushi going round the seating around so you can just take one off as and when you want.
There were colour coded plates which started at £1.99 and went up to £4.99. We sat down and got a drink each and then started our Yo! Sushi experience trying different things we’d never normally have. I loved it, it was so tasty and so fresh and it was a nice experience. I think I and my dad had five different plates each and the bill came to around £35 which I thought was good value for money because it was tasty and was an amazing experience.
There was a couple say across from us who must have had at least 30 empty plates stacked up so there bill was probably well over £100 and as we were leaving the guy was still eating things so I’d hate to get their bill at the end of their meal. I enjoyed it there and would go back there anytime I was in London, there is two in London so next time I’m down there I am definitely going there.
We left there and it must have been around 8pm, we went into the Trocadera and was going to watch a film until we found out how much it cost, also there wasn’t anything on or due to start that we’d want to watch. So we went up to the Arcade section and were playing on the 2p machines and I found a prize and we played the air hockey game a couple of times but at £2 a game we didn’t want to play more than two games. We then went round to the bowling place and wanted to play a game so we had to book because it was so busy, we were then given a pager and told we’d be paged in 30 minutes so we went and played on more games but then got bored and went and sat waiting for our pager to be paged.
I also needed to sit down at this point because my feet were pure agony and getting more painful the more I stood up. My heels were the worst and standing on them was causing shooting pains up my legs. Eventually the balls of my feet got as painful so I wanted to sit down a lot of the time because of the pain in my feet and legs.
We must of waiting well over an hour for our bowling session when my dad went to find out why we’d not been paged and it turns out they some how missed us on the list so we got our money back and left because we didn’t want to wait any longer. We went to the Underground and made our way back to the Underground station near where we were staying. The walk back to the hotel was painful; I wanted my dad to carry me at one point because I was just in way too much pain in my legs and feet and hoped a good night’s sleep would help. It felt like I was walking on glass to be honest and the pain up my legs were just as bad. I went and sat on my bed for a while and when I put my feet on the floor to stand up the pain in my feet was excruciating and I basically fell back onto the bed because of the pure pain running through my feet. I had to get up and go to the bathroom but the second time standing up wasn’t as painful as the first. All during the night every time I got up to the toilet it was painful and by morning the extreme pain had eased but it was still very painful to walk on which was upsetting because the concert was that night and I didn’t know how I was going to cope with standing for around 3-5 hours when standing for ten minutes was agony.



After waking the next morning in pain all over from the bed I went and showered and met my dad. We decided that I should sit down as much as possible over the day and try and save my feet for later at the concert. We made our way into London and had breakfast at Burger King (again). I did want to have cereal and fruit but try and find somewhere you can get that sort of stuff, you will be very unlucky. We decided to go and have a couple games of bowling in the Tropidera which ended up costing me £32 as it was £8 per game per person and I was paying. It was fun though and when we finished we went on some of the arcade games before looking at the time and rushing to get the Underground. I did want to be back for 2pm so I could have a couple of hours to get ready but it was now 3pm and I wasn’t get back until 3:30pm. My feet were very sore so I sat down as much as I could, even during the bowling I would sit down in between goes and try to save my legs as much as possible as they were very sore and I’d be standing up for a long time in the evening.
We got back to where we were staying and I said I’d be ready for 4:30, well I hoped I would, and rushed for a shower. When I got out the shower it was almost 4pm and I knew I wouldn’t be ready for 4:30 with all I had left to do so I thought I’d be ready for 4:45pm. I rushed around drying my hair, then putting my outfit on and doing my make up before doing the finishing touches to my hair and adding my jewelry. I then grabbed everything I needed and packed it into the bag I was taking before rushing up to my dad’s room. It was about 4:50pm at this point and I was rushed because I needed to get there and find something to eat.

Details about my trip to the Arena and the actual concert can be found in the Bon Jovi concert blog I posted back in July.

Monday morning I was tired from the night before and still had sore feet. I had to get up and showered and finish packing and leave before 10am. I got ready and then went up to my dad’s room to get him and we came and got my things before signing out. We had decided to leave our luggage at the train station we were getting the train home from so we went across London on the Underground and left my big suitcase and my dads bag but at £7 a item we weren’t leaving my heavy backpack so my dad said he’d carry it round London all day on his back and didn’t seem to mind it was pink. We then went and had Burger King for breakfast, at this rate I was going to turn into a Angus meal from having so many, before deciding to make our way to Westminster so my dad could look round Westminster Abbey. It was pouring down with rain so as soon as we came out of the under ground up went the umbrella, we walked down to the Abbey and my dad decided not to go in because it was £10 per person or £7 if you are a OAP or Student so we could of got in for £14 but thought it was a lot of money and because of my aching legs I wouldn’t want to stand around looking at things so we decided against it but said next time we’d look. I did want to go to St Paul’s Cathedral but it was nowhere near and we’d need to go and three different trains to get there and with the pain my legs were in I didn’t want to have to bother with all that so we decided to go and bowl again seen as it was raining and there wasn’t much you could do when it was raining. We played three games as it was only £5 per game per person during the week, we hung around in the arcade section playing on the 2p machines and I won my third prize of the week. I even got chatted up by a guy when I was there, he kept coming and watching me when I was bowling and finally came and talked to me when I was playing on the 2p machines which was brave of him seen as my dad was feet away. He totally wasn’t my type because he seemed the type to spend his days in there chatting up girls and I basically couldn’t get out there quick enough. We then went to Burger King again haha. I had another Angus Meal and had a cookies and cream ice cream which is very nice. Once we left there we made our way back to the train station and picked up our luggage and got some snacks. I got a hummus snack thing with fresh pieces o veg and a couple of bottles of diet coke and a packet of apple crisps. I’d actually got one of those hummus snack pots that morning to snack on and it was lovely, me and my dad ended up eating it at a underground station and there was lots of it and it was the first time I’d tried hummus and I really liked it.
We eventually got on the train and found someone in my seat. It was funny because we had seat number 2 and 4 so weren’t next to each other and there was someone in 1 and 2 and they had tickets 1 and 3 and we together so we let them stay together and we sat together. It was so strange how we ended up like that.
Soon the train was on it’s way back to Preston and I was listening to music whilst snacking on food. We passed Wembley Stadium which we didn’t pass on the way down and it was massive, it was really nice to get to see it because it was one of the places I’d planned on seeing but with it raining all the time I never got the chance to go and see it. About 90 minutes into the journey the train kept slowing down and going at walking pace and then would speed up a little and then slow right down again and it was getting annoying. It went on for ages and it turns out there was a fault on the lines at Coventry and they were waiting for them to be fixed and couldn’t go through Coventry because of the fault. I know someone who lives in Coventry so I blamed them for the faulty line haha. Anyway we got in at Preston 15 minutes late so of course missed our connecting train to Blackburn and found out the next one wasn’t coming for an hour so of course we weren’t happy about that. We went and sat in the waiting room and were basically bored senseless for an hour. As we were sat there, there was a guy led opposite us who wasn’t moving and we couldn’t even see him breathing and I told my dad and he thought nothing of it but after about thirty minutes of no sign of breathing even my dad got worried and was going to go and get someone because the guy looked dead. I was even starting to get freaked out about it until all of a sudden the guy raised his head and then put it back down. It was so freaky because I was watching him for signs of breathing and there was none all that time and then he moved so he wasn’t dead but it looked that way.
Eventually the train for Blackburn came and we seemed to be on it forever. It was dark and cold and I just wanted to get home and get changed into someone more comfy and get the heating on. We got to Blackburn and phoned a taxi and that took forever to arrive which was annoying also. We got home and the taxi guy was so helpful with the bags that he got a nice tip and it was finally nice to walk into the house although everything felt strange and looked different it was just so nice to finally be home after a long journey home. I was soon changed and online with Dianna, see some things never change lol. I was up late and soon after I got up my dad brought Lucky home who was so excited to see me he was crying and all over me for an hour which was nice.

It was a nice trip; I saw lots on the first day because the weather was nice. The other days were good but not as good as I’d like because of the rain pouring down for a lot of the time I was there. Of course the highlight, and the reason behind my visit to London, of the whole trip was the concert (which can be read about in the concert blog). I loved my whole time there even when my legs were in so much pain. The pain went fully by the end of the following day. I can’t wait to go back to London, I am thinking of going down in December for a weekend and staying in a nice hotel in central London and doing some Christmas shopping there.

Always

On Wednesday 11th July 2007 I was woken by my alarm at 4:30am as I was going to Scunthorpe and had to leave the house before 7am to get down to the train station to get on the first of three trains.

I wasn't a happy bunny when my alarm went off as I'd only just had two and a half hours sleep because I couldn't fall asleep the night before. When my alarm went off I woke up and it was crazy how I felt. I was shaking and I didn't know what was going on around me and it was because of my lack of sleep. I went downstairs and had something to eat before making my way back upstairs for a shower. Once I'd showered, dry, moisturized and dressed I was back in my bedroom drying my hair and applying my make up before packing the last of my items before making my way down the stairs.

By the time I was ready it was soon coming up for 7am and I was running a little behind. My train was just before ten past 7 so I was rushing to get to the statio. My dad dropped me off at the front of the station and I rushed in and made it to the platform five minutes ahead of the train which was lucky for me. The train soon arrived and I found myself a nice seat and sat down and prepared for the long trip ahead. I think the first part of the trip was something like 90 minutes so I brough my MP3 player and put that on soon realising some of I'd lost 450 song off it and there was only 20 random ones on it, some of which I didn't even have on before so didn't know how they got on.

My first change over was at Leeds and I was so glad to get off the train there. It had gone to a train staion and then started to go backwards so I was wondering if I'd forgotten to get off. I hate going backwards but there was nothing I could do because the train was now packed and had run out of seats as people were standing because of there being no seats. After going backwards for 10-15 minutes the train finally arrived in Leeds and I was a very happy bunny to be able to get off there.

I then made my way to the toilet and found out where my next train was leaving from. I found the train and it happened to be a posh one heading for London but stopping in at where I needed to get off and for some reason I can't remember where that is *lol*. I sat back and relaxed for the 20 minutes journey before finally getting off at my next destination. Then I found I was at the wrong side of the station and needed to be at the other side and my train was due in 1 minutes later. I made my way under the station and ran up the stairs at the other side as my train was stopping, I got on and got the last seat. Now I could sit back and relax as it was my last change over before I got to Scunthorpe.

30 minutes later I was stood on the platform at Scunthrope and Dianna and Nathan were nowhere to be seen. OMG!! I was stressed out at that point and didn't know what to do so I stayed there waiting because I didn't want to walk off and look for them and they come there and we miss each other. They turned up about ten minutes later and I went off to use the toilets which were locked. WE then made our way t a pub to have a drink and use the toilet before making our way back to the trainstation and boarding a train to Cleethorpes.
I was soooo tired at this point. I think if I led down I would of been aslee in a few seconds. Anyway the train journey wasn't nice because I'd been on a train for over three hours that morning and now I was on another one and I felt sich which of course wasn't very nice. I was glad when we finally arrived and were out in the fresh air.

Cleethorpes was fun. We walked down the beach front and went into Willys pub where Nathan was a vandal and smashed some glasses. We left there and I bought Dianna and Nathan some fish and chips and a fish and chip place. We then decided to look for the mini golf place so we walked for ages and ages before finally asking someone if they knew where it was and it turns out we walked past it ages ago so we had to make our way back which seemed to take forever *lol*. We then found one and played a fun gameof mini golf and Nathan won and Dianna was a right little vandal, you are never going to guess what she did. She knocked a rabbit's head off!! But don't worry, it wasn't a real rabbit and we put the head back on before quickly moving on. Because Dianna lost the game she had to buy Nathan and me a ice cream so I was happy because I got a really nice ice cream.

We then went in a arcade place and I won Dianna a couple of things on those 2p machines before Dianna started to feel ill and needed to go outside to get some air. We left there and went and sat in a bar and drank cheeky vimpto and played pool before making our way back to the train station to get a train back to Scunthorpe. When we got to the trainstation I was totally convinced I needed the toilet but they had shut the ones on the station so I had to wait to use the one on the train. We got on the train and I rushed to the toilet but when I got in there I found I didn't need to go which was a good thing because when I got out someone said the toilet was broke *lol*.

We got to Scunthorpe and went into a bar and drank really nice cocktails. I loved them!! Before Nathan's mum came and picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel I was staying at that evening. We went in and I booked myself in and we all went up to my bedroom.
OMG! my bedroom was horrible. It was dirty and the beds weren't properly made and the bathroom wasn't that clean and there was cigerette burns in one of the covers. I was so glad to get out of that room and go down and get something to eat.

We ordered our food and were sat waiting for it when this woman came out with the food and put mine in front of me and said "here's some kind of prawn thing dear" (I'd ordered prawn cocktail) and then she put Diann'a down in front of her and said "here is some kind of crispy fish thing" and then walked off. Dianna had ordered chicken and was thinking WTF!! because the woman had just said she had fish *lol*. It was chicken but it was so funny that the woman didn't know what we had ordered. THe woman then came back with Nathans and said "here is some kind of mushroomy thing" *lol*.

We were sat eating our starters and that woman kept coming out and staring at us like she wanted us to hurry up. It was so annoying and she even came and asked us if we were almost finished. Then she brought the main courses and I ordered a half chicken thing and it was rock hard because it was over cooked so I barely ate it, it was horrible and Nathan's and Dianna's was over cooked too. The dessert was much better, we had banana split but I didn't feel too well so I gave Nathan most of mine. We then got some drinks and went and played pool until they were closing.

We went back to my room and hung out for a littl bit and made a video which can be found on my profile page. Then Nathan and Dianna went back to Nathan's mums in a taxi.
Next morning I woke up feeling sick and had a headache. I showered and got ready and went down and checked out and paid my bill and practially got chucked out of the hotel because they were cleaning. Dianna and Nathan were running late again so I used that time to phone my dad and when I was on the phone they turned up. Nathan's mum took my dad and Dianna, Nathan and I made our way down to McDonalds to get some breakfast. I ended up getting soaked in the toilets because of the stupid taps and I had to dry myself under the dryer and Nathan probably thought was were having a shower in there the time it took us.

We then went bowling and Nathan won again *lol*. I really enjoyed playing bowling again but my shoes were slightly too small and I didn't feel too well but I carried on. We then got a taxi into town to eat and I bagan to feel really sick and when I was in the Chinese place I could only eat rice because I felt so sick. I ended up eating just rice because the smell of everything else was making me want to throw up. Then Dianna and I went to the toilets and you are never going to believe what happened? OMG! I lent against the sink which was soaking and my top got soaked and I mean soaked!! It was wetter than it was that morning in the McDonalds. I was lucky they had a hand dryer on the wall and I was able to dry it.
We then got a taxi up to Nathan's mums and I felt sick still. It was a horribel feeling, every slight movement made me feel like I wanted to throw up. We were sat at Nathan's mums for a while and even went to asda which was round the corner but I still felt ill. We then got a lift to near the trainstation. We went into the pub and had a couple of drinks and I was trying to eat food to settle my stomach but it wasn't working. We went to the trainstaion and I knew that I couldn't get on the train because of how ill I felt so Nathan rang his mum and asked if I could stay the night at her house and she agreed so we went to meet her.

That evening we went out with a couple of Nathan's friends. We went to the pub and had something to eat and played a music quiz and I got thrashed at pool by Nathan's friend before we called in Asda on our way back to Nathan's mums. Nathan went to bed almost straight away and Dianna and I ended up staying up for a few hours before she went to bed.
I ended up tossing and turning all night but I did get some sleep at some point. I woke up at around 10am and sat around waiting for Nathan and Dianna to get up so I could go and have a shower but Nathan's mum came back before they got up. I had a shower after Dianna and then dried my hair in Nathan and Dianna's room. Their room was so messy I almost couldn't stand in there *lol*.

Soon it was lunch time and Nathan's mum had cooked an amazing dinner and I felt so bad as I wasn't able to manage much of it. I still felt really ill and I'd been ringing my dad almost begging him to come and pick me up because I knew there was no way I could get on the train.
Around 5:30pm me and my dad had a argument and he basically told me to get on the train and I told him I wasn't and I put the phone down thinking that he would come and pick me up. Dianna and I went to Asda and came back and Nathan was getting ready to go out and I felt like I was in the way. They had made plans and I didnt think it was fair me being there. They were eventually ready to leave and were walking out to meet Nathan's friends.
There was a little upset at that point and a little fall out because of crossed wires but I basically ended up sat at the train station for three hours in the cold with loads of weirdos about.
I eventually got hold of my dad around 9pm who was coming for me. He then changed his mind and headed back home before setting off back for me. Dianna and Nathan eventually turned up for me and we made our way up to Nathan's mums house and dropped my bag off before going in town to meet Nathan's friends. At this point I didn't feel well at all, I was in so much pain (I will do another blog about my illness soon) I could barely breath and was hurting so much I was almost in tears the whole time. I was so relieved when my dad turned up at 12:30pm.
WE had a drink and then took Nathan and Dianna back to Nathan's mums to pick my bag up, we then went into Asda to get some snacks and painkillers for me before saying goodbye to Nathan and Dianna.

Didn't get home till 6:30am and I was totally out of it with illness.
It was a good trip except the illness.

I'll get by with a little help from my friends

On Thursday 4th July 2007 my friend Dianna came to visit me in Blackburn with her boyfriend Nathan. This was the first time that we'd met in person but I wasn't that nervous which was shocking to me.
The week before they arrived I spent a lot of time cleaning the house and sorting it out as well as buying a lot of new furniture and a futon from Ikea for them to sleep on. The day before they arrived in England I was rushing round the house cleaning it all day and sorting everything out and even the day they were arriving I was still rushing round the house cleaning.
An hour before they were due to arrive in Blackburn we went to the shops to pick up some last minute shopping before rushing to the train station to meet them. We got to the car park and made our way down to the station before waiting on platform two (the platform we thought they would arrive on). We were stood there for about 5 minutes when a train arrived behind us on platform 1 so we turned round thinking that Dianna and Nathan may be on that train. We were stood there watching to see who got off the train and ther was no sign of Nathan and Dianna so I turned to my dad and said it must be platform 2 they were arriving on so I turned to go and stand on platform 2 when suddenly I got a feeling that I should turn around again and look at the train that arrived a minute earlier and that's when I saw Nathan and Dianna for the first time.

We all started to walk towards one another and I felt more nerves then than I'd felt all day. It was so strange because I'd gone from feeling totally fine to being nervous and we got closer and closer and I didn't even know what to say when I got up to them. I'm making it sound like we were stood really far apart, we weren't but the walk up to them seemed to last forever. I can't for the life of me remember what our first words our but Dianna and I hugged whilst Nathan and my dad shuck hands.

We then decided to go to the car so my dad and I walked ahead whilst Nathan and Dianna walked behind us. It was at this point that I didn't know what to say to either of them, on voice chat we can talk non stop but to be face to face it's so hard to think of anything to say. We got to the car and even the car ride back to my house was quiet. Even entering the house we were quiet, it was so funny in a way because normally Dianna and I can't stop talking *lol*.
I think we were home 15 minutes when Dianna came and sat next to me on the futon and we basically started to talk like non stop. It was so strange because we went from barely talking to talking like we do online and it was so amazing to be like that. I didn't know what I should or shouldn't say and I just felt so unconfident at first but once Dianna came over and sat with me everything because so easier for me.

We laughed and talked and took some pictures and went into my bedroom and laughed and talked some more. We then decided that we should go to my favourite shop, Next, and see what they had in so we went there. Dianna and I looked round the ladies section whilst my dad and Nathan went up to the men's section. I love Next and have at least one item of clothes from Next at any given time. In fact as I type this most of the things I have on are from Next including my watch *lol*. There was a lot I already had but I saw an amazing top and a long denim skirt and got them as well as another umbrella because the one I already had from there got damaged outside the train station because of the stupid wind. I also bought Dianna one too.
Next we went back home and I checked my hair and make up before we went out to the resturant we had booked in. It's a nice little Chinese place that I love but don't go too that often. It's in a little village about 15 minutes from where I live. I had the surf and turf because I fancied trying something different and it was very nice. We took lots of mints when we left too but I don't think they minded because the owner came out to wave and my dad waved back. Maybe she fancied my dad *lol*

Because we were close to where my mum lives we thought we would pop around and say hello. Now I am thinking maybe we shouldn't of gone because when we got there all she went on about her car. My dad said it was green and she "no it's not, it's British Racing Green", then my dad said the leather interior were cream and she was like "actually it's champagne". Then I said to her she had to guess what my friends were called and she just went "OK" and didn't even try to guess their names *lol*. We sat inside and she didn't even bother talking to us which was just so ignorant, she just sat and talked to her sex starved dog and acted really strange. I think my dad was happy to leave there when we left *lol*.

We came home and not long after coming home Nathan went to bed but Dianna and I weren't tired so we decided to go online and see who was around so we signed into MSN. We ended up talking to Matt and putting webcam on and doing voice messages. It was such a fun night, Matt was laughing so hard that I swear he was close to falling off his chair about 10 times *lol*. It was such an amazing chat we had and because of privacy issues I can't go into too much detail here other than to say Matt has such a sweet singing voice, he sang us a couple of little songs and it was great fun. We also talked to Wolf, well we were leaving voice messages and he thought we'd been drinking but of course we hadn't because that is how we act all the time. I think we went to bed at something like 5:30am and I was totally shattered by then but I enjoyed myself online that night, it was so much fun.

The next morning of course I didn't want to get up too early. I think I set my alarm for something like 12pm so only got about 6 hours of sleep because I couldn't get straight to sleep when I went to bed because I was way too hyper from the fun that Dianna and I had been having on MSN the night before.
We went out around 2:20pm in the afternoon to a place I like to go to called the Windmill. I go there at least once a week to have a meal and a couple of drinks and wanted to go there with Nathan and Dianna for something to eat. We went and I had the 12oz rump steak which was very nice. I couldn't manage everything on my plate but I gave it a good go *lol*. Nathan and I then played pool and I got beat a lot, I then played with Dianna (pool that is you dirty minded people) and she won the first game because I was a idiot and potted the black ball half way through the first game *lol*. My dad, in the mean time, had go to pick my brother up to take him to my house with his trailer and empty our back yard and take all the rubbish down to the tip. They ended up getting stuck in the work time traffic and took ages. I think we got bored in the end and ended up playing on a quiz machine for ages and ages. They finally turned up and Nathan and my brother played pool for gaes. I thought they would have a couple of games but they had like 7 games or something like that and Dianna and I were bored senseless waiting for them *lol*. We all eventually left and my dad dropped Dianna, Nathan and I back at my house so we could grab a couple of things before getting a taxi down to the bowl plex.

We went bowling and played three fun games. Dianna has such a funny technique were she would basically throw the ball from between her legs. Nathan was good at bowling and when I was sliughtly ahead or slightly behind he would always do something amazing and get really far ahead of me so I was never able to catch him or beat him in any game. Once we finished bowling we went upstairs to get a milkshake and Nathan ordered them and the guy started to make Nathan's and started to go on about ice creams so Nathan asked him about what he was making for us and he made no sense at all and then asked Nathan for money and then I realised he hadn't asked Nathan for enough money so must of mixed up the order so Nathan told him what he had ordered again but the gu was still going on about stupid ice creams. OMG!! We didn't even order ice creams and this guy couldn't understand that we didn't want a ice cream. It took him ages to realise this and then finally undersood and had to get someone to come and sort the till out and when they came he told them the wrong order....OMG!! It was getting more than annoying at this point, I felt like screaming at this guy because he couldn't or wouldn't try and understand what we wanted. We did end up with what we originally wanted but OMG!! It took forever and us telling him like 9 million times what we really wanted!! WE left there and headed for pizza hut because we wanted to have some pizza but it had closed at 10pm and it was now 11pm so we decided to walk up to Asda and get some snacks before getting a taxi back to mine and ordering some take away.

So we walk up to Asda and end up walking around looking at things for like an hour but we had a little fun there too. We then got a taxi back to my house and found a take away. When Nathan was on the phone the guy asked him if he wanted dressing on the burgers but Nathan thought the guy had asked for the address so gave the address *lol*. Anyway we sat waiting for the burgers and an hour went by and we were wondering where the hell the burgers had gotten to so Nathan rung up and the guy said they were coming but they were ages. We eventually got them but OMG! they took forever to come, at one point I did think they weren't going to come.
Nathan went to bed not long after they came and Dianna and I went online until maybe 4pm that night before making our way to bed. The next morning I had my alarm set for 11am so I could get up and showered. We were hoping to go to the Trafford Centre early but I knew after our late night it wasn't going to happen. To get to the Trafford Centre you have to go on a train, a tram and a bus and the same on the way back and it takes forever and isn't cheap so I asked my dad to run us there in the car. I suggested he could go and visit his brother in Manchester so he agreed and took us.

It took maybe 45 minutes to get there, it would of been quicker if my dad hadn't decided it would of been quicker to go another route. Anyway we got there and had a look in some shops before deciding to go and eat in pizza hut but when we walked round to pizza hut omg it was closed!! WE ended up having pizza from somewhere else but it wasn't the same as having it from Pizza Hut!!!!!!!!

WE walked around The Trafford Centre for a few more hours before going out to meet my dad who was coming to meet us to go for something to eat at Frankie and Bennys. My dad was in a foul mood for reasons that I still don't know why so he was annoying for a little while until he got his meal and then he seemed to calm down. I had a nice meal there and I didn't have dessert because I didn't fancy it at that point. The toilets were very funny because they had a Spaish tape on teaching us how to say some phrases in another language. It was so funny and the first one was how to say there in no toilet paper but Dianna thought someone was saying there was non in the toilets which was funny. The tape made me burst out laughing.
We were meant to be seeing a band that night but it got to the point where if we went we wouldn't of gotten into the pub because it would of been packed so we decided to go and bowl again. So my dad dropped us at Asda because I needed to get some painkillers because I had a headache and then we walked down to the bowl plex. It was Friday night disco night and the bowling was so cheap and we got a pitcher of drink too which was really cool. It was dark and they had disco lights and loud music and it was amazing and I bowled the best I have eer bowled. WE played our three games and Nathan won them all and then we played on some of the games there like the Ice Hockey and then left to walk back up to Asda.
Asda was so much fun, we had a crazy two hours in there walking around and taking pictures. If you want to know about that night in more detail then please check out my Asda blog that I posted a couple of weeks back.

When we left Asda it was 2am, yeah you read it right *lol*. We got a taxi back to my house and Nathan went off to bed while Dianna and I went online again but there was no one around. I think we stayed up till maybe 4am before going to bed. It was a early night for us *lol*.
Saturday morning I got up around 10am and was so tired from my late nights but this was Nathan and Diann'a last day and were leaving that evening around 5pm. We went to the Windmill and had a meal there and a dessert and played pool for a couple of hours before coming back and picking up their luggage and taking them to the train station.
Their train came five minutes later but it wasn't a sa goodbye because I was going to go and see them in Scunthorpe five days later.

Dry Country

Well I thought that it was about time that I did a update, seen as I haven't really done one for a long time now.

Well a lot has gone on since I last did a update but I will just talk about the last two weeks.

In the last two weeks I've been getting into my running because the Amsterdam Half Marathon is getting closer and closer each day and I'm still unfit. I'm wondering if I left it a little late to start my training but there is nothing I can do now other than work hard.
I've been running around 4 times a week and last Sunday I had a running breakthrough. I was basically able to run double the distance and have less recovery time which is amazing. I can probably run for around 30-40 seconds without having to stop whereas before I was lucky to even reach 20 seconds and that was on a good day. My recovery time is also a lot less than it used to be so it seems there is some progress in my running but of course not as much as I would like there to have been. It was amazing realizing how well I was doing, it was a boost for me and I couldn't wait for my next run although I struggled on that run and didn't run as much as I did the time before and had a hard time getting started. It was a tough session and I almost gave up on running altogether but then I realised that everyone has a bad day now and then and I shouldn't give up on something that I want so bad.
From tomorrow I am hoping to run 4-5 times a week, twice on one of the days because I'd still like a full day where I do absolutely nothing as it gives my body a good rest.

Yesterday I went out on my bike and it almost killed me. I haven't been on it since I bought it in April and before that I'd not been on a bike for years although I used to love riding bikes. Anyway I was meant to be running yesterday but it didn't happen because I have slight injury's because my muscles are being used heavily and aren't used to anything so they are sore. I have a elastic bandage for my main problem area but my knee on that leg and my ankle on the other decided to be injured and I had nothing to put on them until later in the day when I could buy some.
So I ended up going out on my bike. My dad was going on his so I decided to go with him and I am sure he is trying to kill me ;o) The hills and slight uphill slopes were the killer!! I did push myself though and some I got half way up and others only a third but I really did push myself and even was going so slow people could overtake me running but the main point was I was pushing myself and making myself peddle until basically I couldn't do it anymore and I would get off and walk until I was able to ride again. I think if I was out alone then I may not have pushed myself as much as I did and would of been more lazy and walked more than I did but being with my dad gave me a push to really push myself. He took me on a 5 mile route which isn't far, not on a bike, but it was tough on me as Blackburn certainly isn't flat!! There are hills all over the places and it's hard to even walk most of them so being on a bike ain't no fun when you are unfit like I seem to be. I loved the downhill parts especially the long downhill parts as I'd sit there and let the bike pull me down at very fast speeds. My bike seems to be faster than my dads so when he was leading I had to brake a few times because I couldn't get past him especially on the busy roads. Yeah I rode on the rode, first proper time for me and I wasn't scared. I think the fast I was working so hard made me concentrate on that and not what the cars were doing. The only time I did go on the paths was on the long last hill coming home because I knew I'd have to stop and get off and walk about half of it and I didn't want to have to stop on the road on that hill because it was very busy at that time in the morning.
I can tell you I was so happy to get home, I was sweating and totally knackered. I had to sit down for half an hour before I could even go and have a shower, that's how worn out I was.
When I was struggling on that bike I decided that I am going to ride my bike daily during the week to help get my fitness levels up because I am unfit and have around 6 weeks to get myself ready for the half marathon and I know by getting myself fit on the bike it will also make me fitter for running too and I should (hopefully) be ready for the half marathon. If it's raining I'm not going to go out on the bike but will make sure I go on my exercise bike at home. It's going to be tough and I'm going to be tired but I am running out of time and I need to do whatever it takes to get myself fitter.

The other day I was looking at what OU courses I should do next year because I'd basically changed my mind about the subject I want to do. So I was looking online to see what I'd like to do and I came across one I've wanted to do for years but wasn't going to do it for another two years. There is a new presentation of it coming out next year so that's the one I was going to do but when I was looking online I decided to do the final presentation of the course as it is now so I have signed up for it and it starts on the 29th of this month.
Then I was looking for the one I was going to start at the beginning of next year and found two courses, one in Art History and the other in Creative Writing, and I was leaning more towards the Art History one because it's a subject I did a little of a few years ago and the course starts next year. The creative arts course starts at the end of this month (on the 29th) and it's a subject that I have never studied before so I didn't know if I should do it. It would be a challenge to me because it's not something I've done before. I then was able to look at this years essay questions and hear about it from some former students and even though it sounds like a lot of work is involved and it also sounds challenging I have decided to go for it.
So I will be starting two new courses on the 29th and I still have my two short courses to do (one on planets and the other on mammals) so I need to have them done by the end of this month because I just won't have time do to them otherwise. They are due to be finished by the third week of October anyway so will be finished three weeks early which isn't bad I guess except I'm just not going to have time for anything else on top of everything else I'm doing at the moment. I plan just to rush through them as fast as I can, maybe a week on the Planets course (there is ten weeks approx. in each course) and two weeks on the Mammals one because that has ten times the amount of course work to do as well as a thick book to read and DVDs to watch.
So as you may guess they will keep me busy most nights during the next week weeks, most nights I will be studying these before bed instead of watching DVDs and then I will also be studying them during the day for a few hours to make sure they are done and out of the way.

On top of that work is getting busy and I'm doing so much. There was a period where I did next to no work for a few months but I was just being lazy and having too many late nights but I need the money and I need a normal routine in my life so I started work again properly. I never thought I'd want to work proper work hours but I'm getting back into a work routine and I am enjoying it. I am enjoying having something t do and using my mind to work other than sitting at the computer and chatting, I think I got bored with it as I have no desire at the moment to sit on MSN for hours and chat. I was like that at the beginning of the year also because I stayed off MSN for 4 months, I think it's just I get bored of it if I spend too much time on it.
Anyway so I won't have time for MSN which isn't a bad thing as I need a break from there anyway so I don't feel so bored with it.

I have been buying lots of DVDs lately and having a new one on every night which is great but with less time on my hands for a while I won't have time for a DVD every night which is a good job seen as I just ran out of DVDs I've not seen before but I will be changing that on Wednesday when I'm paid. As soon as I am paid I will be on Play.com to order myself some more DVDs that will keep me going for a few weeks, maybe 12 DVDs which will keep me going for a month if I watch 3 a week.

I'm so tired night now, I was meant to be going for a run but I am so tired, I feel like I've been awake for about three days as I'm still tried from yesterday as I don't think I got enough sleep. It's a early night for me tonight anyway as I plan on being up around 7am in the morning. 7am starts mean I will be in bed by 10pm but that's cool because I'll get my 8 hours seep and some nights I will get 9 hours because some nights I will be so tired that I am sure I will be asleep pretty fast.

I finally sent off for a passport last week. It will be my first ever passport and they tell you to send it off and allow six weeks for a first passport and three weeks for subsequent passports. So it has been gone for a week and should be here within the next five weeks. I wasn't 100% happy with the pictures but I didn't want to bother going to get some more because I am sure I would find something wrong with every single one I did so I just left them as they were. I do plan on getting another one done next year after I have lost some weight so this passport is only for now in a way so it doesn't matter if the pictures aren't 100% to my liking.
I will be using it in six weeks time and again when I go to Denmark. I will be using it again next October when I go on my dream holiday to New York and I also hope to go to Ireland, Spain and Italy next year also so it's going to be a fun and busy time for me and my passport over the next 12 months, I am looking forward to it all.

Well I think I shall end this here because I am so tired. I need to go and sort some dinner out and go and watch a film in bed. I don't have a clue what film I am going to watch yet as I've run out of new ones so maybe I will just watch TV instead.
It's a long and busy day tomorrow with working, bike ride, course work/study, housework, cooking and walking to dog so I need as much sleep as possible.