So, the First of December, Chris and I got up at 4.30 to get him to the station for a 5.50 train, and we went outside and there's snow on the ground!! :) After seeing him off, I headed to the 24hr computing lab at uni to finish of my Psychology report, before a 2 o'clock hand in (bit last minute, I know! lol) Then straight away that afternoon I had to start on my Ancient History essay which was due on Friday! See now why I've had no time for blogging?!?!
My Cubs on Monday night were making puppets for the show we were planning for the following week, and on Wednesday, I went over to Kirstin's to write Christmas cards and watch a DVD. After my essay hand-in on Friday, I did some Christmas shopping, which was great fun :) I went to the German market and bought myself a traditional pretzel to have with some soup for my dinner, and I managed to get three presents as well :)
On Saturday I went up to Bonaly Scout centre, on the bus, all on my own, to go to Cub camp, because I was in charge of three whole activities! In the morning we made Chinese lanterns, and in the afternoon we made African drums out of plastic cups and greaseproof paper and elastic bands :) and the third one was just a game to move sweeties around using chopsticks, which some kids struggled with but they all loved :)
On Sunday morning I was back home for church in the morning, then in the afternoon I did a shift at Corstorphine hospital, before heading back to the flat to start revision for my exams!!
I had no classes from Monday 8th onwards, so I spent pretty much all of my time revising, apart from going to cubs on Monday night, and doing a shift on Tuesday and another on Wednesday, right up until my first exam on Friday, which was Classical Art. That went ok, although maybe not as well as I had hoped it might.
On Saturday morning, I had to go bag packing at M&S with the Cubs and Scouts, but only for two hours, and afterwards I managed to finish off pretty much all my Christmas shopping. In the evening Kirstin and I made another trip to the cinema, this time to see the film Inkheart, which was really really good :) Sunday was church as usual, and I spent the afternoon at home revising the calculations for the statistics section of my Psychology exam. In the evening, Mum and I went with Dad to the Nine Lessons and Carols service at Abercorn, one of the churches in the parish where his final placement is, and I got to sing almost all of my favourite carols, AND Dad dragged me into doing his reading at the last minute - the one about the shepherds. It was a nice little church and a nice service, and we got mulled wine and mince pies, and I got to practise my carol singing before going to Chris's the week after.
Monday 15th was our last night at Cubs so we played the chocolate game and we had chips, which is a treat for me because I so rarely eat them! Literally all of the rest of my time that week I spent studying for my other two exams. Ancient history was alright, although like Classical Art, could have gone a bit better, and Psychology was really good. Well, you know, as good as exams could ever be! My classmate Eddy and I swapped Christmas presents as well - I'd got him one of those heads made out of saw dust and grass seed in a stocking-ball, which grow grass as hair when you water them. He thought it was brilliant, and promised to grow it and trim its hair to look like his own :) He'd got me a woolly hat (so I'd stop stealing his) and a pair of pink Minnie mouse slipper socks.
That evening at the flat, Megan came over, and she, Marsailidh and I had pizza and nachos and we watched a DVD :) after that I had to pack all my stuff ready to go away because I was getting the train the next morning to go and stay with Chris for Christmas!!
I feel this story would fit better in a post of its own, so although I said two posts, I think I shall write a third as well, although it will have to wait because my train is nearly into Edinburgh, and I have a lot to say!
Speak soon! Katie
Monday 29 December 2008
Gang Show
Dear friends,
I'm sitting on the train, eating a gammon sandwich, and feeling lonely, so I thought I would take this opportunity to update you on what I've been doing for the last two months. As you may guess from my lack of posting, I've been really really busy, so I'm going to split it into two different posts for you, in case you need an interval!
The Gang Show was actually on in the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh! It ran from Tuesday 18th to Saturday 22nd, including a matinee performance at the weekend! Fortunately I had no assignments due that particular week, so I was able to join the rest of the Senior Gang in some socialising after the shows on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and also attend the Champagne breakfast on Thursday morning. We got a 4-star review in the paper (the highest ever given to an amateur such as our own) which was very exciting for all of us, and I really had a brilliant week. Chris came up on the train on Friday night and stayed over because we had arranged to meet a friend of ours, George, on Saturday morning for brunch and to talk over an expedition the two of them are planning to Gambia next Christmas time. Unfortunately he couldn't stay long enough to see the show, as he had to leave at lunchtime to go to a First Aid training course that evening. After the After-Party on Saturday night, I slept pretty much all day, getting up just for a few hours to do some work on my Classical Art Essay.
The next week was fairly quiet. I had my essay due in on Tuesday 25th, and I saw Kirstin on Wednesday evening. On Thursday night I had to go to choir practise for church on Sunday morning, and I spent most of my free time working on my final Psychology report for the term. Chris arrived late on Friday evening to stay for the weekend so that was really good.
In the flat on Friday night we had a gathering to celebrate St Andrew's Day, although it was 2 days early, but we know that no one comes to parties on a Sunday night! On Saturday, I pretty much finished off my report, while Chris did some uni work as well. On Saturday night, we had a Murder Mystery party which was brilliant fun. We dressed up and all sorts :)
On Sunday morning Chris and I got up super early to get the bus across town to go to another choir practise before Church. It was the first Sunday in advent, so the choir were singing an anthem, which they don't normally do. That afternoon we fell asleep on my parents' sofa watching Shrek, and we had some dinner and then went back to the flat so that Chris could pack for going home on Monday morning.
That's all for November, see the next post for my December antics so far!
I'm sitting on the train, eating a gammon sandwich, and feeling lonely, so I thought I would take this opportunity to update you on what I've been doing for the last two months. As you may guess from my lack of posting, I've been really really busy, so I'm going to split it into two different posts for you, in case you need an interval!
The Gang Show was actually on in the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh! It ran from Tuesday 18th to Saturday 22nd, including a matinee performance at the weekend! Fortunately I had no assignments due that particular week, so I was able to join the rest of the Senior Gang in some socialising after the shows on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and also attend the Champagne breakfast on Thursday morning. We got a 4-star review in the paper (the highest ever given to an amateur such as our own) which was very exciting for all of us, and I really had a brilliant week. Chris came up on the train on Friday night and stayed over because we had arranged to meet a friend of ours, George, on Saturday morning for brunch and to talk over an expedition the two of them are planning to Gambia next Christmas time. Unfortunately he couldn't stay long enough to see the show, as he had to leave at lunchtime to go to a First Aid training course that evening. After the After-Party on Saturday night, I slept pretty much all day, getting up just for a few hours to do some work on my Classical Art Essay.
The next week was fairly quiet. I had my essay due in on Tuesday 25th, and I saw Kirstin on Wednesday evening. On Thursday night I had to go to choir practise for church on Sunday morning, and I spent most of my free time working on my final Psychology report for the term. Chris arrived late on Friday evening to stay for the weekend so that was really good.
In the flat on Friday night we had a gathering to celebrate St Andrew's Day, although it was 2 days early, but we know that no one comes to parties on a Sunday night! On Saturday, I pretty much finished off my report, while Chris did some uni work as well. On Saturday night, we had a Murder Mystery party which was brilliant fun. We dressed up and all sorts :)
On Sunday morning Chris and I got up super early to get the bus across town to go to another choir practise before Church. It was the first Sunday in advent, so the choir were singing an anthem, which they don't normally do. That afternoon we fell asleep on my parents' sofa watching Shrek, and we had some dinner and then went back to the flat so that Chris could pack for going home on Monday morning.
That's all for November, see the next post for my December antics so far!
Saturday 15 November 2008
Just When Things Were Calming Down...
... Here we go again!!
I'm in the library reading for my next essay, but I thought I would take a little break to catch up with you all :)
My stay in Glasgow, from 31st October to 1st November, for the Scouttish Scouting AGM went very well. On Friday afternoon, Rob, my co-presenter, drove us over to the place in Glasgow where the AGM was being held, so we could practise for the presentation the next morning. It was a long afternoon but eventually we cracked it and we headed back to the hotel with all the other speakers and the crew. We had a lovely dinner and stayed at the bar for some drinks, tumbling into bed at half 12, totally exhausted! It was an early start the next morning as the conference surrounding the actual AGM began at 10 and we had to have another run through before the delegates started arriving! It all went off very well, aside from a little microphone trouble initially. We got treated to lunch as part of the conference, then I had to head off back to Edinburgh on the train by myself. I wasn't bored because I was so tired I slept the whole way!
On Saturday evening, mum picked me up from my flat and took me to the Scout Centre at Bonaly for my training courses. The trainees were invited to dinner first and it was really good - we had a thing called Sussex Chicken - which is basically roast chicken covered with cheese and crushed up crisps! And then there was apple tart and ice cream for desert :) I did one training course on the Saturday night, and a few of us stayed over at the Centre to do more courses in the morning. There were supposed to be two in the morning, finishing at 1 and then another in the afternoon, and my training advisor had wanted me to go to all three, but I had a Gang Show rehearsal on Sunday afternoon so I couldn't stay. I was telling the organiser this, and he said they would see if they could go through the other two modules fast enough that they would get the time to do most of the third one with me before I left so they could sign it off for me, so I was very pleased.
GangShow rehearsal that afternoon was very tiring, so I was glad to go home and crash out!
On Monday night, we took the Cubs on a Ghosts and Ghouls tour in the city centre with a company called the Mercat Cross tours. It began on the Royal Mile with ghoulish stories of hangings and witch-burnings and lots of pooey stories, then we went underground to the vaults of the city underneath South Bridge, which are supposedly haunted. The guide was a very good story-teller and the kids were all convinced they'd seen, felt or heard a ghost, and they all had a very good time :)
On Tuesday I had an exam in Classical Art, which counted for 25% of my grade for that course this semester. I hadn't done as much revision as maybe I could have but I'm pretty sure I did ok, although some of the dates I put down were wrong.
I then spent most of my week writing my Psychology report which was due for the next Tuesday. I got that finished on Friday night and had it printed on Saturday. I had another pretty busy weekend again. On Saturday I went to the cinema with Kirsten to see High School Musical 3, which is FABULOUS! Sunday was Rememberance Sunday, and I went to church and actually stayed through the sermon (last time I was there I got asked to do Sunday School so I left with the kids half way through). It was a bit of a change, having got used to Chris's church's sermons which are never longer than 10 minutes, to listen to Jerry for a whole half an hour! Even so I really enjoyed the service, and it felt good to be back :)
This week has been all caught up with reading for my Classical Art essay. It's not due until the 25th, but I also have another Psychology report, for 1st December, and an Ancient History essay for the 5th! Most of the books I need to read are in the Reserve section of the library, so I can only have them for 3 hours at a time. Which has led to me LIVING in the library just about! I did try staying a bit late at the library, until the Reserve books were available for overnight borrowing, and then I would take them home to read, but Marsailidh, my dear flatmate, just bought the box set of the entire 9 serieses of Friends, and all she and Gale do while they're at home is watch them, and then I get sucked in too! Also, when I study at the flat, I have a tendancy to eat almost constantly, which is very bad for my waistline (I'm actually starting to get a muffin-top, ARG!) so I'm avoiding it at all costs!
Also this week have been the final preparations for the Gang Show, which opens on Tuesday! Rehearsals were on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, today, tomorrow and then Monday is the dress rehearsal, and on Wednesday we had a costume call as well, so it's been really busy! I also managed to squeeze in a shift at the hospital on Thursday afternoon, after which I came to the library until midnight, and I was here yesterday as well from half 9 in the morning until midnight again, appart from the couple hours I took to go home and drop off some books, and to go the the Gang Show rehearsal.
Today, however, I'm only in from half 10 until 12 noon, because this afternoon I'm going to the cinema again with Kirsten, this time to see Easy Virtue, and then I'm staying at house-home tonight because I miss my mum's cooking and because I'm going to church on Sunday morning. Gang Show on Sunday afternoon is in the theatre, and I am REALLY excited about that :)
I'd better get my head down to work for another half hour or so. I'll be back sometime after Gang Show is over - I won't have any time at all next week :)
Love and Hugs
I'm in the library reading for my next essay, but I thought I would take a little break to catch up with you all :)
My stay in Glasgow, from 31st October to 1st November, for the Scouttish Scouting AGM went very well. On Friday afternoon, Rob, my co-presenter, drove us over to the place in Glasgow where the AGM was being held, so we could practise for the presentation the next morning. It was a long afternoon but eventually we cracked it and we headed back to the hotel with all the other speakers and the crew. We had a lovely dinner and stayed at the bar for some drinks, tumbling into bed at half 12, totally exhausted! It was an early start the next morning as the conference surrounding the actual AGM began at 10 and we had to have another run through before the delegates started arriving! It all went off very well, aside from a little microphone trouble initially. We got treated to lunch as part of the conference, then I had to head off back to Edinburgh on the train by myself. I wasn't bored because I was so tired I slept the whole way!
On Saturday evening, mum picked me up from my flat and took me to the Scout Centre at Bonaly for my training courses. The trainees were invited to dinner first and it was really good - we had a thing called Sussex Chicken - which is basically roast chicken covered with cheese and crushed up crisps! And then there was apple tart and ice cream for desert :) I did one training course on the Saturday night, and a few of us stayed over at the Centre to do more courses in the morning. There were supposed to be two in the morning, finishing at 1 and then another in the afternoon, and my training advisor had wanted me to go to all three, but I had a Gang Show rehearsal on Sunday afternoon so I couldn't stay. I was telling the organiser this, and he said they would see if they could go through the other two modules fast enough that they would get the time to do most of the third one with me before I left so they could sign it off for me, so I was very pleased.
GangShow rehearsal that afternoon was very tiring, so I was glad to go home and crash out!
On Monday night, we took the Cubs on a Ghosts and Ghouls tour in the city centre with a company called the Mercat Cross tours. It began on the Royal Mile with ghoulish stories of hangings and witch-burnings and lots of pooey stories, then we went underground to the vaults of the city underneath South Bridge, which are supposedly haunted. The guide was a very good story-teller and the kids were all convinced they'd seen, felt or heard a ghost, and they all had a very good time :)
On Tuesday I had an exam in Classical Art, which counted for 25% of my grade for that course this semester. I hadn't done as much revision as maybe I could have but I'm pretty sure I did ok, although some of the dates I put down were wrong.
I then spent most of my week writing my Psychology report which was due for the next Tuesday. I got that finished on Friday night and had it printed on Saturday. I had another pretty busy weekend again. On Saturday I went to the cinema with Kirsten to see High School Musical 3, which is FABULOUS! Sunday was Rememberance Sunday, and I went to church and actually stayed through the sermon (last time I was there I got asked to do Sunday School so I left with the kids half way through). It was a bit of a change, having got used to Chris's church's sermons which are never longer than 10 minutes, to listen to Jerry for a whole half an hour! Even so I really enjoyed the service, and it felt good to be back :)
This week has been all caught up with reading for my Classical Art essay. It's not due until the 25th, but I also have another Psychology report, for 1st December, and an Ancient History essay for the 5th! Most of the books I need to read are in the Reserve section of the library, so I can only have them for 3 hours at a time. Which has led to me LIVING in the library just about! I did try staying a bit late at the library, until the Reserve books were available for overnight borrowing, and then I would take them home to read, but Marsailidh, my dear flatmate, just bought the box set of the entire 9 serieses of Friends, and all she and Gale do while they're at home is watch them, and then I get sucked in too! Also, when I study at the flat, I have a tendancy to eat almost constantly, which is very bad for my waistline (I'm actually starting to get a muffin-top, ARG!) so I'm avoiding it at all costs!
Also this week have been the final preparations for the Gang Show, which opens on Tuesday! Rehearsals were on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, today, tomorrow and then Monday is the dress rehearsal, and on Wednesday we had a costume call as well, so it's been really busy! I also managed to squeeze in a shift at the hospital on Thursday afternoon, after which I came to the library until midnight, and I was here yesterday as well from half 9 in the morning until midnight again, appart from the couple hours I took to go home and drop off some books, and to go the the Gang Show rehearsal.
Today, however, I'm only in from half 10 until 12 noon, because this afternoon I'm going to the cinema again with Kirsten, this time to see Easy Virtue, and then I'm staying at house-home tonight because I miss my mum's cooking and because I'm going to church on Sunday morning. Gang Show on Sunday afternoon is in the theatre, and I am REALLY excited about that :)
I'd better get my head down to work for another half hour or so. I'll be back sometime after Gang Show is over - I won't have any time at all next week :)
Love and Hugs
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Busy Week!
Hello dear friends, oh how I have missed thee! Lol
I was at Chris's this weekend - it was great. I went down on Thursday evening after all my classes had finished. We had a pretty good time just doing all the normal things. Choir on Friday and Sunday, pub on Saturday and Sunday nights etc etc. Chris has a class on Friday afternoon, just the one, so while he was at that I went shopping! I bought a birthday present for Andrew and a new dress for myself to wear out on Saturday (my wardrobe was in serious need of some new additions - I've worn all my other dresses about a hundred times each!!)
On Saturday afternoon we drove over to Kirby Knowle to see Chris's mum, Helen, and her partner Barry. There house is pretty cold so we had bacon rolls and cups of tea and we made a fire to keep warm :) We went for a walk with the dogs and we chattered a lot, and Helen made a roast dinner, which was lovely :) For pudding we had a delicious dessert called Chocolate Mud, which is very similar to Brownies but has no flour in it. Gorgeous sticky gooey fun! Very good with ice cream :)
Sunday was church as usual, then Chris's dad Peter made a roast dinner for lunch as well! We had lamb, which was just delicious, and for pudding we had a plum and apple crumble with custard. I must say that now I'm back at the flat I'm really missing proper home cooking - warm bagels with butter are nice, as are cheese toasties, and tomato and cheese pasta. But it's not quite the same :(
As for this week, my schedule's pretty tight! I got the train back on Monday morning in time for classes, then in the afternoon I had a shift at work and didn't get to bed until late.
Tuesday brought my only full day of classes, starting at 10, and finishing supposedly at 5, but this week we didn't get out until 6 because something went wrong with the statistics program in my Psychology practical class. Then in the evening I started revision for the Classical Art Slide Test (they show us a slide show of pictures and we have to write about them for just a few minutes each!) which counts for 25% of my grade for the course this semester!
This morning (Wednesday) I started at 10 o'clock again. I have this one hour off between my two classes, then at half 1 I'm meeting someone for lunch before heading to the library to do reading for a tutorial tomorrow and some more revision. This evening I'm looking after a girl I know with special needs - her mum and I are taking her to a trampoline centre, so that in the future I can take her myself. After that I may be going to see High School Musical 3 with my flatmates and friends, if I get back in time that is!
Tomorrow I have two lectures and a rather taxing tutorial (it's taxing because our tutor is Italian and her English is not always clear, and also because she asks questions which are totally different from the ones in the preparation, and expects really developed complex answers) In the afternoon I'm working again, then in the evening it'll be even more studying!
On Friday I'll be studying some more in the morning, then I'm going to Glasgow late afternoon to stay here until Saturday. On Saturday is the Scottish Scouting AGM, at which I'm doing a presentation of the major events of the last year. It's in the form of a news program, and I'm one of the presenters!
On Saturday evening, once I've got back from Glasgow, I'm heading up to the Scout Centre at Bonaly for a training course and staying over there on Saturday night, to do two more courses on Sunday morning. I finish at one o'clock then I'm getting picked up (by my dear darling parents) and whisked away to Gang Show rehearsals on the other side of the city! After Gang Show I may do some shopping, go to the house to see my dear family for the evening, then probably head back to the flat before bed time.
See you in a few days or so! If I can keep up! :)
I was at Chris's this weekend - it was great. I went down on Thursday evening after all my classes had finished. We had a pretty good time just doing all the normal things. Choir on Friday and Sunday, pub on Saturday and Sunday nights etc etc. Chris has a class on Friday afternoon, just the one, so while he was at that I went shopping! I bought a birthday present for Andrew and a new dress for myself to wear out on Saturday (my wardrobe was in serious need of some new additions - I've worn all my other dresses about a hundred times each!!)
On Saturday afternoon we drove over to Kirby Knowle to see Chris's mum, Helen, and her partner Barry. There house is pretty cold so we had bacon rolls and cups of tea and we made a fire to keep warm :) We went for a walk with the dogs and we chattered a lot, and Helen made a roast dinner, which was lovely :) For pudding we had a delicious dessert called Chocolate Mud, which is very similar to Brownies but has no flour in it. Gorgeous sticky gooey fun! Very good with ice cream :)
Sunday was church as usual, then Chris's dad Peter made a roast dinner for lunch as well! We had lamb, which was just delicious, and for pudding we had a plum and apple crumble with custard. I must say that now I'm back at the flat I'm really missing proper home cooking - warm bagels with butter are nice, as are cheese toasties, and tomato and cheese pasta. But it's not quite the same :(
As for this week, my schedule's pretty tight! I got the train back on Monday morning in time for classes, then in the afternoon I had a shift at work and didn't get to bed until late.
Tuesday brought my only full day of classes, starting at 10, and finishing supposedly at 5, but this week we didn't get out until 6 because something went wrong with the statistics program in my Psychology practical class. Then in the evening I started revision for the Classical Art Slide Test (they show us a slide show of pictures and we have to write about them for just a few minutes each!) which counts for 25% of my grade for the course this semester!
This morning (Wednesday) I started at 10 o'clock again. I have this one hour off between my two classes, then at half 1 I'm meeting someone for lunch before heading to the library to do reading for a tutorial tomorrow and some more revision. This evening I'm looking after a girl I know with special needs - her mum and I are taking her to a trampoline centre, so that in the future I can take her myself. After that I may be going to see High School Musical 3 with my flatmates and friends, if I get back in time that is!
Tomorrow I have two lectures and a rather taxing tutorial (it's taxing because our tutor is Italian and her English is not always clear, and also because she asks questions which are totally different from the ones in the preparation, and expects really developed complex answers) In the afternoon I'm working again, then in the evening it'll be even more studying!
On Friday I'll be studying some more in the morning, then I'm going to Glasgow late afternoon to stay here until Saturday. On Saturday is the Scottish Scouting AGM, at which I'm doing a presentation of the major events of the last year. It's in the form of a news program, and I'm one of the presenters!
On Saturday evening, once I've got back from Glasgow, I'm heading up to the Scout Centre at Bonaly for a training course and staying over there on Saturday night, to do two more courses on Sunday morning. I finish at one o'clock then I'm getting picked up (by my dear darling parents) and whisked away to Gang Show rehearsals on the other side of the city! After Gang Show I may do some shopping, go to the house to see my dear family for the evening, then probably head back to the flat before bed time.
See you in a few days or so! If I can keep up! :)
Saturday 18 October 2008
Getting Better
I caught the flu last weekend! It's been pretty miserable. Felt terrible all day Saturday and went to bed early. Didn't go to church on Sunday morning because I just felt like death and I didn't want to spread my germs around anyway. I had to go to Gang Show on Sunday afternoon because I'd missed the week before and we were setting new items, so I spent most of the afternoon feeling terrible and wanting to go back to bed. My wonderful Dad came and gave me a lift home afterwards and made my tea for me, and that all made me feel much better. On Monday morning I was still all bunged up and I ached everywhere, but I dutifully got all my things together and headed back into town to the flat to drop off my bags before i went to class. However, I felt so ill while I was on the bus that I decided it would be better just to stay in bed. I didn't waste my time though - I did some reading, and I prepared a programme for Cubs in the evening. I couldn't go myself but it was my turn, so I had to go into uni to email the stuff to Jackie, the other leader. Then I made myself some scrummy cauliflower and bacon soup (see the recipe on the BBC Food website here) and went to bed early. Despite my good intentions however, I didn't get to sleep until about 4 am! :(
On Tuesday I got up fine, and I didn't feel tired all day! I still felt flu-ey though but I coped. I had a couple of lectures then I had lunch with two friends before my Psychology practical class. It was supposed to run from 2pm to 5pm, which is pretty long, but we did something strange to the data set we were working with and we were there until half 6 trying to sort it out! But we had to get it done that afternoon because we have to write a report on it for Monday (I've nearly finished mine!). You may think we shouldn't have left it to the last minute, but the data was from a questionnaire experiment that the year group did themselves, and we'd only just got all the data collated so that we could use it in our statistics package (it's the Psychology Teaching Fellow who does that, not the students). It's pretty tough then, because we only had essentially 5 and a half days to write the whole report! Like I said though, mine is pretty much finished. I just have a couple paragraphs of the discussions left to do.
Speaking of which, I suppose I'd better get back to work. Sorry this is a rubbish post, but my brain is mangled! I felt I should write something though as you must all be missing me terribly!
On Tuesday I got up fine, and I didn't feel tired all day! I still felt flu-ey though but I coped. I had a couple of lectures then I had lunch with two friends before my Psychology practical class. It was supposed to run from 2pm to 5pm, which is pretty long, but we did something strange to the data set we were working with and we were there until half 6 trying to sort it out! But we had to get it done that afternoon because we have to write a report on it for Monday (I've nearly finished mine!). You may think we shouldn't have left it to the last minute, but the data was from a questionnaire experiment that the year group did themselves, and we'd only just got all the data collated so that we could use it in our statistics package (it's the Psychology Teaching Fellow who does that, not the students). It's pretty tough then, because we only had essentially 5 and a half days to write the whole report! Like I said though, mine is pretty much finished. I just have a couple paragraphs of the discussions left to do.
Speaking of which, I suppose I'd better get back to work. Sorry this is a rubbish post, but my brain is mangled! I felt I should write something though as you must all be missing me terribly!
Monday 6 October 2008
Published Again!
I got published again! Aren't you proud of me! In the same little magazine as last time. Here is the layout for this time:
My mum is the taller girl, with her mum and her sister :) Also, the date is a typo! It was meant to be around 1968, not 58!!
I've been really busy so I haven't updated here in a while. I now have a much better photo of my ring to show you (Thanks Dad!!)
Uni has been really busy. I start all my tutorial classes this week so I'm now doing 13 hours of classes each week, and the rest of my time seems to be spent studying too! Second year is a lot more hard work than first year was.
I went to Chris's this weekend, and only came back today (had to get up at 4.45 am to get to the station to get a train home in time for my 10 o'clock tutorial!!)
I had a really good weekend. On Saturday I joined with members of Chris's church's choir and loads of other church choirs from the Yorkshire Diocese to sing in York Minster (the Cathedral) in an Festival Evensong for the Yorkshire area of the Royal School of Church Music. We got the bus from Guisborough to York, and had an hour to find lunch (I had a gorgeous chicken pasty) before signing in and getting changed into our robes for the rehearsal in the Minster. We sang through all the music with the Minster's musical director, Robert Sharpe, (quite a hottie ;) then we had a processional rehearsal (yes - we had to practise walking into the nave in lines and going to our seats!) We only had a half hour break between then and the actual evensong service - just time to put our surplices on and have a drink and a snack.
I really enjoyed singing the service, although Chris and his friend Ste were in the congregation rather than singing, and they said that it wasn't great because the conductor's style wasn't clear enough for a 200-strong choir. At this point I should mention that Chris never enjoys these services, and so he is a biased critic, and I didn't believe it was as bad as he said!
Anyway, I'd better get back to my uni work - I have a practise Slide Test for Classical Art tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock!
Bye for now
My mum is the taller girl, with her mum and her sister :) Also, the date is a typo! It was meant to be around 1968, not 58!!
I've been really busy so I haven't updated here in a while. I now have a much better photo of my ring to show you (Thanks Dad!!)
Uni has been really busy. I start all my tutorial classes this week so I'm now doing 13 hours of classes each week, and the rest of my time seems to be spent studying too! Second year is a lot more hard work than first year was.
I went to Chris's this weekend, and only came back today (had to get up at 4.45 am to get to the station to get a train home in time for my 10 o'clock tutorial!!)
I had a really good weekend. On Saturday I joined with members of Chris's church's choir and loads of other church choirs from the Yorkshire Diocese to sing in York Minster (the Cathedral) in an Festival Evensong for the Yorkshire area of the Royal School of Church Music. We got the bus from Guisborough to York, and had an hour to find lunch (I had a gorgeous chicken pasty) before signing in and getting changed into our robes for the rehearsal in the Minster. We sang through all the music with the Minster's musical director, Robert Sharpe, (quite a hottie ;) then we had a processional rehearsal (yes - we had to practise walking into the nave in lines and going to our seats!) We only had a half hour break between then and the actual evensong service - just time to put our surplices on and have a drink and a snack.
I really enjoyed singing the service, although Chris and his friend Ste were in the congregation rather than singing, and they said that it wasn't great because the conductor's style wasn't clear enough for a 200-strong choir. At this point I should mention that Chris never enjoys these services, and so he is a biased critic, and I didn't believe it was as bad as he said!
Anyway, I'd better get back to my uni work - I have a practise Slide Test for Classical Art tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock!
Bye for now
Thursday 25 September 2008
First Week Back
Well I've finished all my classes for this week :) I have a really nice time table. Although I did just get a tutorial allocated for 10 o'clock on Monday morning, which is going to make coming home from Chris's rather unpleasant. But it is also only every 2 weeks so if I'm careful then I should be able to book to go down all the "right" weekends. I'm going down next weekend though, and that is, I think, a "wrong" weekend, so i need to go to the station and change my train time.
Classes have all been pretty good. Psychology is interesting so far, as is Classical Art - I've had three lectures of each now. Ancient History only had one lecture this week (normally they have two and a tutorial) and it was really boring. We had to watch a video of an interview of an historian, and the sound on it was really bad so it was hard to follow the conversation, and also it didn't really seem to be that relevant. We had a list of questions to consider in relation to the video but it was so difficult to hear what was being said that I have no idea what the answers to the questions may have actually been in this guy's opinion. But never mind.
My social life has been great this week :) on Monday night, after cubs, I joined my flatmates and Guy at the Tron for the end of their pub quiz and a drink or two. We did really rubbish in the quiz, but we beat the staff team so we were happy enough.
On Tuesday night, Marsailidh and I went to the BLOGS welcome social (its the Edinburgh Uni Society for Lesbians, Gays etc) - not because we are in any way gay, but because we have friends who are and we knew it would be good fun - and indeed it was. We played some silly games in the Student Union, to get to know everyone a bit, and a lady from the Advice Place (the uni's counselling and advice centre) came and gave a talk on safe sex and handed out free condoms (which Marsailidh and I then proceeded to blow up and play balloon volley ball with...) Afterwards we went to a bar in town for a while, and lots of people went on to the club next door (called Vibe, it's awesome fun! I've been before) but Marsailidh and I went home instead because we were tired and had classes on Wednesday morning.
Tonight we are going to the Edinburgh University Snow Sports Club (EUSSC) welcome social, and that should be awesome fun too!!
love and hugs,
Katie
Classes have all been pretty good. Psychology is interesting so far, as is Classical Art - I've had three lectures of each now. Ancient History only had one lecture this week (normally they have two and a tutorial) and it was really boring. We had to watch a video of an interview of an historian, and the sound on it was really bad so it was hard to follow the conversation, and also it didn't really seem to be that relevant. We had a list of questions to consider in relation to the video but it was so difficult to hear what was being said that I have no idea what the answers to the questions may have actually been in this guy's opinion. But never mind.
My social life has been great this week :) on Monday night, after cubs, I joined my flatmates and Guy at the Tron for the end of their pub quiz and a drink or two. We did really rubbish in the quiz, but we beat the staff team so we were happy enough.
On Tuesday night, Marsailidh and I went to the BLOGS welcome social (its the Edinburgh Uni Society for Lesbians, Gays etc) - not because we are in any way gay, but because we have friends who are and we knew it would be good fun - and indeed it was. We played some silly games in the Student Union, to get to know everyone a bit, and a lady from the Advice Place (the uni's counselling and advice centre) came and gave a talk on safe sex and handed out free condoms (which Marsailidh and I then proceeded to blow up and play balloon volley ball with...) Afterwards we went to a bar in town for a while, and lots of people went on to the club next door (called Vibe, it's awesome fun! I've been before) but Marsailidh and I went home instead because we were tired and had classes on Wednesday morning.
Tonight we are going to the Edinburgh University Snow Sports Club (EUSSC) welcome social, and that should be awesome fun too!!
love and hugs,
Katie
Sunday 21 September 2008
Back to Uni
Term starts tomorrow and I'm really excited :) I haven't seen some of my classmates since we went on study leave back in April so it'll be good to catch up with them.
I went into the Psychology department on Thursday morning to sign up for my main course and my outside subjects, expecting it to be a five minute job before I could head to the computing lab and the internet, however it seems I was out of luck that morning. When it got to my turn, the secretary looked me up on her computer and explained she that because I changed my degree from Classical Studies last year to Psychology this year, I had to be assigned a new Director of Studies who would oversee my Psychology degree, and this had not yet happened. In order to "get" a DoS I had to go and find the new office of the School of Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics, which was in the not-fully-finished new building nearby. Having calmed the fiery beast who was receptionist of this new building, by signing in by my full name and the exact time, I found my way to the lift and then to the correct room on the correct floor, and I introduced myself to David who quickly had my switched to a DoS of the correct subject, and sent him an email, just to let him know the situation. Then he sent me back down to the secretary in the other building where I would then be able to sign up for my courses.
So back I went and I got signed up on my Psychology course, then the secretary attempted to find the two Classics courses which followed on from what I did last year. We did find the two courses but it appeared from the information that they only lasted for the first semester, and there were no recommended follow-on courses listed in their information. So I signed up for them anyway, then headed out to a different building, and up 5 flights of stairs to the Classics office to find out what the story is. The Course Secretary there explained to me that in term 1, they run Classical Literature in Translation 2a, Ancient History 2a and Classical Art and Architecture 2a, for second year students, and in term 2 they run Classical World 2b: Classical Myth and Religion, and Classical Word 2d: Art, History and Power (she didn't mention a third choice...) which all sounded quite complex to me. I went to the library to read up on the different courses and in the end chose the subjects with morning classes, so that I'll be free every afternoon bar one, when I'll have to do labs for Psychology.
So having gone in at half past 10 for a five minute job, I was all finished and signed up (and a lot better exercised) by quarter to 12! Despite my troubles, I'm glad I got it done, and I'm very pleased with my timetable, as my weekend starts at Thursday lunchtime!! That is good news, of course, because it means I'll be able to visit Chris for that little bit longer. Speaking of which, I haven't yet told you properly about all the excitement of last weekend, but that shall no doubt come in due course, so watch this space.
Also a heads up to my dad's blog emerging-ministry.blogspot.com My parent's had their 30th wedding anniversary yesterday, and there's a nice picture of them in his celebratory update, along with some chat about the church he's working at over the next 15 months.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end :)
I went into the Psychology department on Thursday morning to sign up for my main course and my outside subjects, expecting it to be a five minute job before I could head to the computing lab and the internet, however it seems I was out of luck that morning. When it got to my turn, the secretary looked me up on her computer and explained she that because I changed my degree from Classical Studies last year to Psychology this year, I had to be assigned a new Director of Studies who would oversee my Psychology degree, and this had not yet happened. In order to "get" a DoS I had to go and find the new office of the School of Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics, which was in the not-fully-finished new building nearby. Having calmed the fiery beast who was receptionist of this new building, by signing in by my full name and the exact time, I found my way to the lift and then to the correct room on the correct floor, and I introduced myself to David who quickly had my switched to a DoS of the correct subject, and sent him an email, just to let him know the situation. Then he sent me back down to the secretary in the other building where I would then be able to sign up for my courses.
So back I went and I got signed up on my Psychology course, then the secretary attempted to find the two Classics courses which followed on from what I did last year. We did find the two courses but it appeared from the information that they only lasted for the first semester, and there were no recommended follow-on courses listed in their information. So I signed up for them anyway, then headed out to a different building, and up 5 flights of stairs to the Classics office to find out what the story is. The Course Secretary there explained to me that in term 1, they run Classical Literature in Translation 2a, Ancient History 2a and Classical Art and Architecture 2a, for second year students, and in term 2 they run Classical World 2b: Classical Myth and Religion, and Classical Word 2d: Art, History and Power (she didn't mention a third choice...) which all sounded quite complex to me. I went to the library to read up on the different courses and in the end chose the subjects with morning classes, so that I'll be free every afternoon bar one, when I'll have to do labs for Psychology.
So having gone in at half past 10 for a five minute job, I was all finished and signed up (and a lot better exercised) by quarter to 12! Despite my troubles, I'm glad I got it done, and I'm very pleased with my timetable, as my weekend starts at Thursday lunchtime!! That is good news, of course, because it means I'll be able to visit Chris for that little bit longer. Speaking of which, I haven't yet told you properly about all the excitement of last weekend, but that shall no doubt come in due course, so watch this space.
Also a heads up to my dad's blog emerging-ministry.blogspot.com My parent's had their 30th wedding anniversary yesterday, and there's a nice picture of them in his celebratory update, along with some chat about the church he's working at over the next 15 months.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end :)
Friday 12 September 2008
I got a ring!!!!! :D
I arrived this weekend at Chris' and there was a ring waiting on the pillow for me :D
Sunday 31 August 2008
Published!!!
Seems like all my blog titles at the moment are past tense verbs followed by exclaimation marks!
Well, this time is less exciting, but it's still cool :) I submitted a layout to the DSP Inspiration Station a month or two ago, and it got picked :)
Here is the advertising magazine thing it's in, and here's the layout itself:
To see it bigger go here.
Thanks for looking :)
*edit* Temporary isssue has been fixed - I re uploaded the photo :)
Well, this time is less exciting, but it's still cool :) I submitted a layout to the DSP Inspiration Station a month or two ago, and it got picked :)
Here is the advertising magazine thing it's in, and here's the layout itself:
To see it bigger go here.
Thanks for looking :)
*edit* Temporary isssue has been fixed - I re uploaded the photo :)
Friday 29 August 2008
"Engaged" by Carolat
Thanks to Carolat for making this gorgeous page for Chris and I!Thursday 28 August 2008
Olympic Medalists
Yesterday (Wednesday) in Edinburgh 4 of the Scottish members of the Olympic Team GB treated us to a parade down the Royal Mile in an open topped-bus! The pavements on both sides were totally packed, with people balancing on top of bins and bollards, hundreds of press photographers, and a cavalcade of police on motorcycles and mountain bikes. We followed the bus down the lower half of the Mile, to the end of the parade in Holyrood Park. The carpark had been closed off and was filled with hundreds and hundreds of cheering supporters, including several groups of school children.
The 4 athletes were Chris Hoy (the triple-gold track cylist), David Florence (won silver in the Canoe slalom), Katherine Grainger (good name that - member of the silver-winning triple sculls ladies rowing team) and Ross Edgar (also a cyclist - won silver in the team sprint).They spent maybe an hour with the press and the public, giving photos and autographs and interviews. I saw a few people I knew in the crowd, including one of my old cubs, and we met up with my friend Martin, who's the head ranger of the Park, so he was able to get us a lift home in one of their awesome vans!!
I was really hoping to get my picture taken with Chris Hoy, and to touch one of his gold medals, but he was really busy. I did manage to get a really good picture with David Florence though, and was very pleased to shake his hand and discover that even a silver medal is really heavy and really cool!
Monday 25 August 2008
I'm Engaged!!
I thought perhaps that this link to my Dad's blog might be of interest to you :)
"Engagement Announced"
But just for good measure:
Chris and I offically announced our engagement to my whole family this Saturday, so now I am welcome to tell the world without worrying that people find out in the wrong order and things getting awkward.
We have ordered a gorgeous ring from a jewellers in his town, but it had not arrived before he came to visit me this weekend so I'm afraid I can't show you a picture. Although don't worry, you'll see one as soon as I have had it long enough to take a photo and upload it :)
*dances the happy dance*
"Engagement Announced"
But just for good measure:
Chris and I offically announced our engagement to my whole family this Saturday, so now I am welcome to tell the world without worrying that people find out in the wrong order and things getting awkward.
We have ordered a gorgeous ring from a jewellers in his town, but it had not arrived before he came to visit me this weekend so I'm afraid I can't show you a picture. Although don't worry, you'll see one as soon as I have had it long enough to take a photo and upload it :)
*dances the happy dance*
Wednesday 20 August 2008
My Summer
One of the great things about being at uni is the summer holidays. My last exam was on 20th May, and my first day back is 22nd September. 4 months and 2 days of holidays :)
In June, my friends and I flew out to Spain, to a holiday town called Salou. The six of us stayed in a cheap and cheerful hotel, in a 2 bedroom appartment (the couch was folded out into a bed), for a week of fun in the sun. Various antic ensued, including a day trip to the theme park Port Aventura, about an hour's cramped bus ride away, lounging by the pool, shopping, arguing, getting free glasses from McDonald's, and several nights out.
And Jennifer and I discovered we could fit between the two glass sliding doors out to the balcony :)
Later in the month, Chris came up from Guisborough to stay for a few nights, on two separate occasions, not for anything special though. We went to the cinema and we lunched and we went for walks. It was nice.
At the end of his second stay, our two friends from Germany, Sina and Anja, came back to visit for a week, so they could go to the Ball for the year that they joined at the high school. It was lovely to see them again after all those months, and to catch up on all the gossip. They really enjoyed the ball, and afterwards, we took them out to try the famous deep fried Mars bar! For any who are wondering, they just taste like warm Mars bars, with crunchy stuff on the outside (the same kind of batter they put the fish in in chip shops). Very sickly, but only as much as Mars bars are normally. I have yet to try a deep fried Easter egg, but i have heard they're similar.
In July I started working as a care assistant for NHS Lothian. It's a bit like being a nurse, but I don't have to deal with medicines, injections or dressins. Mostly my role consists of helping people to wash, to go to the bathroom, to eat and to get into bed. Because I'm with the staff bank, I can ring up and ask for shifts when I am available, but the converse of that means there aren't always shifts available at the preferred time in the preferred locations. However, I struggle through. I've only been working 2 months now, but I have seen my fair share of gross-ities for a life time!
I've spent a couple of weekends this summer at Chris's. The weather where he is has been, in general, much nicer than up here, so his tan is much better than mine. He had an operation on the 3rd July, on his ear, so he was recovering from that the first time I went up. The wad of bandages they'd put inside his skull made him grumpy and claustrophobic, but they weren't in for too long, and he was soon back to his normal cheerful self.
At the beginning of August, he took part in a Cathedral Singing Course with a lot of other young men and boys, in the beautiful cathedral in Ely, near Cambridge. I went down on the weekend with his dad, Peter, and his step-mum, Debbie, to hear the singing in the cathedral, and to celebrate our first anniversary. Chris got to sing in King's College at Cambridge University, earlier in the week, and he said it was one of the best experiences of his life.
Also that weekend, he and I got engaged! We found a ring that we liked in a jewellery shop in Guisborough, but unfortunately they had to order it in, because the one they had wasn't my size. That was just over a week ago, so perhaps it will arrive before he comes to vist me this weekend :)
So that's been my summer so far. It certainly doesn't feel much like summer any more, now that i'm sitting in the library again, and its raining outside. But I have another month before uni starts again, so i'll be working hard to pay my bills, and visiting Chris, and getting up to all sorts in this new flat of ours.
In June, my friends and I flew out to Spain, to a holiday town called Salou. The six of us stayed in a cheap and cheerful hotel, in a 2 bedroom appartment (the couch was folded out into a bed), for a week of fun in the sun. Various antic ensued, including a day trip to the theme park Port Aventura, about an hour's cramped bus ride away, lounging by the pool, shopping, arguing, getting free glasses from McDonald's, and several nights out.
And Jennifer and I discovered we could fit between the two glass sliding doors out to the balcony :)
Later in the month, Chris came up from Guisborough to stay for a few nights, on two separate occasions, not for anything special though. We went to the cinema and we lunched and we went for walks. It was nice.
At the end of his second stay, our two friends from Germany, Sina and Anja, came back to visit for a week, so they could go to the Ball for the year that they joined at the high school. It was lovely to see them again after all those months, and to catch up on all the gossip. They really enjoyed the ball, and afterwards, we took them out to try the famous deep fried Mars bar! For any who are wondering, they just taste like warm Mars bars, with crunchy stuff on the outside (the same kind of batter they put the fish in in chip shops). Very sickly, but only as much as Mars bars are normally. I have yet to try a deep fried Easter egg, but i have heard they're similar.
In July I started working as a care assistant for NHS Lothian. It's a bit like being a nurse, but I don't have to deal with medicines, injections or dressins. Mostly my role consists of helping people to wash, to go to the bathroom, to eat and to get into bed. Because I'm with the staff bank, I can ring up and ask for shifts when I am available, but the converse of that means there aren't always shifts available at the preferred time in the preferred locations. However, I struggle through. I've only been working 2 months now, but I have seen my fair share of gross-ities for a life time!
I've spent a couple of weekends this summer at Chris's. The weather where he is has been, in general, much nicer than up here, so his tan is much better than mine. He had an operation on the 3rd July, on his ear, so he was recovering from that the first time I went up. The wad of bandages they'd put inside his skull made him grumpy and claustrophobic, but they weren't in for too long, and he was soon back to his normal cheerful self.
At the beginning of August, he took part in a Cathedral Singing Course with a lot of other young men and boys, in the beautiful cathedral in Ely, near Cambridge. I went down on the weekend with his dad, Peter, and his step-mum, Debbie, to hear the singing in the cathedral, and to celebrate our first anniversary. Chris got to sing in King's College at Cambridge University, earlier in the week, and he said it was one of the best experiences of his life.
Also that weekend, he and I got engaged! We found a ring that we liked in a jewellery shop in Guisborough, but unfortunately they had to order it in, because the one they had wasn't my size. That was just over a week ago, so perhaps it will arrive before he comes to vist me this weekend :)
So that's been my summer so far. It certainly doesn't feel much like summer any more, now that i'm sitting in the library again, and its raining outside. But I have another month before uni starts again, so i'll be working hard to pay my bills, and visiting Chris, and getting up to all sorts in this new flat of ours.
Hello World!
Hello!
This is my first entry to my blog - isn't it exciting!!
I moved into a flat a couple days ago and its wonderful! I felt that this was a new step in my life that I wanted to remember for years to come, and so with all the best intentions and bags of enthusiasm (and clutter from home) here I am! I don't doubt that I will be an irregular blogger, but I will do my best to keep you up to date. At the moment the flat has no internet, so I have to come into the uni library (15 minutes walk away) to go online, or I have to go home (which I will do occasionally), at least for a few weeks (could be Christmas by the time we get round to getting it all sorted!)
Thanks for reading - watch this space for an update on what I did this summer, for photos of the flat's rooms and mates, and for irregular news and views from my own little world.
love and hugs,
Katie
This is my first entry to my blog - isn't it exciting!!
I moved into a flat a couple days ago and its wonderful! I felt that this was a new step in my life that I wanted to remember for years to come, and so with all the best intentions and bags of enthusiasm (and clutter from home) here I am! I don't doubt that I will be an irregular blogger, but I will do my best to keep you up to date. At the moment the flat has no internet, so I have to come into the uni library (15 minutes walk away) to go online, or I have to go home (which I will do occasionally), at least for a few weeks (could be Christmas by the time we get round to getting it all sorted!)
Thanks for reading - watch this space for an update on what I did this summer, for photos of the flat's rooms and mates, and for irregular news and views from my own little world.
love and hugs,
Katie
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