Christmas day arrived.

As I've been using this blog to discuss my Christmas plans and excitement towards the big day, it's only right that I do a blog post about it. So, that's exactly what I want to do, because today has been next to perfect.

My Xmas presents, before I destroyed the wrapping

Next to perfect, yet I've barely done anything. I opened presents, had my amazing Christmas dinner, messed around with a few of my presents and then sat in front of the TV for about four hours. But it's been really nice to have a day in with the family, with no stress, no arguments- just how Christmas day should be.

The only problem was, I woke up with the queasy feeling that I was coming down with the flu. Going out in town on Thursday night, when it was near enough -10 outside and walking the majority of the way home, probably contributes to that. As the day has gone on, my head has felt more and more conjested and I've had to drink some vile Beechams Plus, which is next to drinking cat wee in my estimation. But it kind of makes me feel better- for a few seconds anyway.

Anyway, enough with me sounding like a Scrooge, I woke up today at 10 (gone are the days of me jumping out of bed at 7am, waking everyone up) and went downstairs to open my presents. And let me tell you, I got spoilt. Just a few of them presents included a nice Olympus Dictophone for my course, Russel Howard DVD, Inception in a limited edition DVD and some much-needed money. I was really happy with what I got.

But I was made even more happier just lounging about and watching Christmas TV. I have to admit, a lot of it was aweful, but that's what Christmas is about. Bad TV, spending time with the family, eating loads of food and loads of chocolates on top.


So I just want to wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas, and hope that their day has been great!

And now with Christmas out the way...roll on the New Year celebrations!!

Being home.

So it's been a full week since I posted anything on this blog, and that's not necessarily out of choice. Basically, the last few days I've been back in Tamworth for my Christmas holidays and wanted to spend as much time as I possibly could just relaxing or seeing friends/family and not spending it on my computer all the time.That lasted a grand total of five days, and boredom has driven me into doing this post, because I think I could still keep this running.

I came home on Saturday, and since then I've enjoyed my home comforts. I do really miss Stoke-on-Trent and it's strange, because I was looking forward to get away from a few things there, but coming home makes me realise that my life is now over there and the ups and downs come with it too. That's not to say that I believe Tamworth is somewhere I just drop in and out of...despite what my mom moans at me about!!

Our Christmassy living room!

The most amazing thing about being home is seeing friends and family. On Saturday, it was my uncle's 40th birthday party, which was a good laugh. He'd hired out a UB40 Tribute Act and they were amazing, and sounded like the real thing. My mom and dad are massive fans of UB40 and this has resorted into me loving some of their music, so I'll admit that I got up and had a bit of a dance too. My nan and grandad then came round on Sunday for Sunday dinner, so it was lovely to see them, then on Tuesday night I went to my uncles once more to continue his 40th celebrations.

As for friends, I got some really good news over the last week. My friend, Bex, who I've spoken about over here before, gave birth to little baby Jacob, and on Monday I went to see them both with Nat. He was the cutest little thing and I was genuinely really happy for Bex as she seems to be enjoying her role as a mum and also coping really well. Then yesterday, we had loads of snow dumped on us, which resorted in myself going sledging with two of my good friends over here, Lauren and Alex, before going to see Harry Potter. It was a great day out and we had lots to talk about after not seeing each other for around 3 months, so it was totally worth the mile trek in the snow to see them!

But despite all this, I'm still struggling to feel completely at home. I'm missing my housemates, especially Sam who I went to see on Tuesday in Birmingham, so I really appreciate the fact that he's not very far away. I also feel like I've lost a lot of independence by being in my house, and today hasn't been a brilliant day.

However, I really appreciate being here, and it's such a nice break away from university. After all the hard work in semester one, it's just good to see a lot of people and chill out when I can in a lovely warm house. And with a night out on the cards tonight and Christmas only two days away, things can only get better.

Hangover cures.

After three weeks of being virtually teetotal, I decided last night that it was time to stop being a bad student and go on a night out. All my work had been handed in and deadlines had been met, so there was no reason not to, and with Gobble having it's Christmas theme, I was pretty excited.

(c) su-lin

However, excited was not how I felt when I woke up this morning. Because I've realised something- when you haven't drank for a long time, the alcohol hits you harder. And I felt drunk before I even left my house during pre-drinks, which certainly proves that statement.

After waking up, I was hanging bad. My mouth felt like all the moisture had been taken out of it, and my head was throbbing. So I needed a hangover cure, and quick. Having to be out the house at about half 11, I walked past Wrights' pasty shop, with the smell of freshly baked pasties enticing me in.

I chose my usual (a chicken tikka pasty) then when I got home, poured myself a glass of Pepsi with ice cubes. And after eating and drinking, I suddenly felt a hundred times better. Well, that was until I had a nap for three hours and woke up feeling even worse.

So with this, I think it's clear to say that next time I go out on the lash, I know what to have once I wake up. It's just a shame that I'm going home in a few days back to good old Tamworth, where Wright's pasty shops don't exist...

That feeling of freedom.

I am happy to announce to you all one thing: I HAVE COMPLETED ALL OF MY ASSIGNMENTS FOR SEMESTER ONE!

(c) mherzber

That's right, today at around 2 o'clock this afternoon, my assignments were finalised and printed off. Looking back on this semester (and adding to what I said in this post), the first semester of my second university year has been pretty tough. I think it's mainly because of deadlines getting on top of me, but only because I let it get to that stage.

To sum up this semester, I would use one phrase- all work and barely any play. I haven't really been out partying as much as I'd like, or had much of a night to myself, but I guess I'm here to get a degree and not to drink my life away like I did last year. Plus, some of my assignments have really opened my eyes to what my career will consist of, so they've been worth it.

And it's actually quite upsetting to say that I am now officially half way through my time at university. So far, I've loved every second of it and I can honestly say I never want it to end, no matter how many ups or downs it brings. But I'm really excited for the upcoming semester, and I've still got lots of work to get through.

On that note, I better stop moaning about my workload and just get down to it in the future. But the future can wait, because the rest of this week looks really eventful, starting off with a drunken night out at Christmas Gobble tomorrow night!

Note: If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you'll know that this blog was done for an assignment and all of my writing has been counted towards the overall mark for said assignment. However, I still plan on running this blog up until the point it drives me crazy- as of yet, I haven't reached that point!

Finishing an exam.

So today was the big day, the day of my internal Law Court Reporting exam. I've mentioned this a few times in recent posts, because before the exam I felt really unprepared and was just a little bit nervous. But this morning at 9am, I walked into the exam ready to write my knowledge away.

A few of my *helpful* mind maps

If you don't know already, studying Journalism at university also requires you to learn the law behind it so you know what/ what not to report. I have a whole module based on this, and although it's beneficial and I have an amazing tutor teaching it to me, it's really confusing also and can be hard to get your head around. Especially if you're like me, where revision involves making mind maps but barely learning them.

It probably didn't help that I had been up until about 2am revising, so a wake up at 8am was probably the worst feeling in the world. But after a cup of coffee and advent calendar chocolate for breakfast (yup, I'm serious), I began feeling more awake. I know what you're probably thinking though- minimal sleep and barely any breakfast, surely that's equivalent to an exam fail?

Well, maybe. Once the exam got under way, I did my usual routine- looked at the questions, panicked, looked at them again, panicked some more and then things began getting clearer and my late night cramming came flooding back to me. Which was lucky, because some questions I feel I may have nailed, but I can never be too sure with these exams.

What made me happy though was putting my pen down after the exam. Sure, I don't know the result and I don't feel I did so well, but I'm just praying that I passed. Because writing that much in an hour and a half has made my hand ache...good job I want to be a journalist then, hey?

Memories of the weekend.

You may have noticed that, yes, I neglected this blog last night and didn't update you on what made me smile. Whether you cared or not is another issue, but suffice to say, last night I was pretty busy and didn't have time to write even a short, crappy blog post. So instead, I'll please your eyes with a long one just to sum up the good weekend I had. That cool? Sweet.

So I told you in my last post that I had loads planned this week, and loads I did. I've travelled all over the country (well if you count Birmingham, Stourbridge and London all over the country that is) but it's been well worth it! My last post also touched on going to the German Christmas Market, so I'll fill you in with details from my weekend in London.

I've been to London quite a few times before, but mainly when I was smaller. I really enjoy the place, because it's a really important city. I know loads of people think 'oh London, watch out, you'll get stabbed' or some other stereotypical comment about it, but when you go down to central London, it's there where you see everything that makes this country what it is when you really begin to appreciate it.

And appreciate it I did, from more than 100 metres in the air. That's right, I went on the London Eye! It wasn't the first time I've been on (I went on the year it opened when I was like 10, and at that point I was too scared to look at the sights) and even though at first I got the nerves because of how high it is, I managed to stand up and look out to the whole of London. It was night time as well when we went on, so London was lit up and you could see for miles.

The London Eye certainly had to be the highlight of the weekend, along with experiencing the...ahem...'lovely' London Underground system in all it's stuffiness. But overall, it was a brilliant weekend, but after travelling back for the last few hours and having an exam tomorrow...I'm sure I will appreciate it much more sitting in my exam at 9 the following morning!

Frankfurt Christmas Market.

Every year, I find myself not only just counting down until Christmas, but also for the huge Frankfurt Christmas Market in Birmingham. I've visited it consecutively for the past four years, and really enjoy it. It's nothing too special, but just the atmosphere of the place gears me up ready for the big day. And with only fifteen days to go, I think it's safe to say I visited the market at a great time.

(c) ell brown

I told you in yesterday's blog post about my busy weekend planned, and the Christmas Market was a big event within that plan. Today, Sam and I managed to force ourselves out of bed at around 10, before getting a train into Birmingham. When there, we met up with Sam's friend, Emma, and two of my friends from home, Nat and Anthony.

Once getting all my Christmas shopping done (bye bye healthy bank balance) around the shops of Birmingham and the Bullring, we went into the market and experienced some of the great things there, mainly the food and drink. We bought lunch from a stall, drank cider from another and bought cake from a nearby bakery store.

It was pretty overwhelming with everything there, and it soon began getting busy. We actually ended up going home at 6pm, so spent a good seven hours out the house. But it looks like I may have gone a bit OTT with spending money...at least I can say it was all done in the joy of Christmas!

An early weekend.

I've been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time, and after a hectic few weeks, it's finally come round. Although I enjoy my time in Stoke, it's always nice to have a bit of a change of scenery. Being as though Stoke is so cold and grey lately, I think now was the right time to leave it behind for a little while.

Luckily, today I had no lectures, so this meant getting up when I wanted. With my day only consisting of work at 4 o'clock, I generally lazed about and tried to get a bit of law revision done before work. Once an eventful shift at work was over, it was time to get the train to Birmingham.

This is because this weekend I've got a busy one planned. Usually, I fill this blogs weekend posts with me sitting around on my arse, achieving next to nothing. But for a change, I've decided to take up the opportunity of a weekend in London. Sam's dad lives down there, and I haven't been to London in a while. But first, we're experiencing the German Christmas Market in Birmingham, which is renowned for it's extensive range of food...and you know me, I can't pass up an opportunity to eat more food!

So to sum it all up, I'm really excited for the upcoming days. And with a promise of a four day weekend, what  more can I enjoy before a tough law exam on Monday...gulp.

Coming home after a busy day.

With deadlines approaching, the last few weeks have been busy. I'm sure I've reiterated this on my posts many times, and I'm probably getting pretty boring by now, but it's true. And today of all days has been the busiest day I've had in a while.

The pile's getting smaller!

Want a run through of what I've gone through? Woke up at half 8, went to my 9 o clock lecture, finished at 11, went to the library for a little bit, got loads of money out of the cash machine in order to afford my exams, paid for those exams, then went to the Media Centre to edit my broadcast assignment. For a grand total of four hair-tearing hours.

On the subject of video editing, I had a bit of a nightmare with it earlier. It's my fault, because I came a little bit unprepared and forgot to bring my notes with me on how to use the software, so I ended up getting just a little bit angry over it all. Luckily, the media technicians were more than helpful and saved me from handing in a crappy assignment.

At about 5 o'clock, I was finally finished and decided to go home. And the feeling managing to go back to my student pad and just chill out for a little bit was great. I'd barely eaten as well, so made some good food and a nice cup of tea, cos I felt I deserved it.

I think at this point I'm beginning to get on top of my work. I've just got one exam left on Monday, and two assignments due in on Thursday which I've pretty much completed. Which means now that they've been done, hopefully my posts will start to get more interesting and less education-based!

Having a weight taken off my shoulders.

I'm not going to lie to you, this semester has been tough in terms of work. I don't know why, because it's not like I've had LOADS to do. I think it's probably due to the fact that things have taken a lot more effort than I expected, and thanks to my ever changing mind, I'm never able to feel comfortable with an idea. This came into effect this semester when I kept changing my ideas on types of news stories to do.

Today was the hand-in for my last Theory and Practice assignment. These assignments have been great fun, because they've meant going out there and getting a story, which is exactly the type of job I want to go into. But to say they've been easy would be telling a lie, because they haven't. I've had to send loads of emails, speak to loads of people and even go to places where I didn't think I'd end up. But this isn't me complaining, it's me actually reflecting on how worthwhile all this has been.

The final assignment meant putting together a news feature, which probably required the most hard work out of the three assignments given. I did in total six interviews, some taking a lot of time to arrange, and writing the feature took over a week and a half. But today at 3pm, I handed it in complete.

To hand that assignment in was a big relief, and a big weight off my shoulders. Now, only two assignments left to finish, and an exam on Monday, and then it's time for...you guessed it...CHRISTMAS!

A nice warm brew.

A bit of a simple thing that made me smile today, but nonetheless, with today being extremely busy and also really cold, it was probably the only time I was even relaxed enough to smile.

Back to the busy day, and today I got up at around 8.30 and since then I haven't stopped. I had a lecture at 9, work from 12-2 and 4-6 and then food shopping. And it's been one of those days where, conveniently, because there's lots to do, it's gone extremely fast. This has left me with little time to tighten loose ends to my news feature which has to be handed in tomorrow, so off to the library I go once more tonight.

But between my two hour shifts at work today, I managed to find time to sit down on my laptop and chill for a little bit in my student pad. If you've been outside today, you'll know that the weather has been cold. So cold in fact, that I was almost prevented from going out today thanks to the lock on my gate freezing shut. But it's nothing a little bit of boiling water out a kettle couldn't fix, even though people who walked past looked a bit bemused by this scene.

But anyway, I'm rambling...where was I?...ah. Yeah, so with the weather being freezing, our house was in turn freezing. The heating has been on loads lately but this week I think we're trying to cut back on using it so much due to the money it's most likely going to cost us. So this made me come up with alternative ways to heat myself up. I tried putting on a few hoodies, my hands were still cold. I tried getting under my duvet, the bed was too cold.

Then I thought of something simple- a nice warm cup of tea. So I got one prepared, poured it into my favourite mug and it did something that heating couldn't do. My hands were warm, body was warm and  my body temperature was restored to the right temperature. So take this as advice fellow students. If you're ever freezing cold, just stick the kettle on, pour a cup of tea and the job will be sorted!

Filming around.

I've been told before that Sundays should be a day of rest, where work should be left until the next day being as though it's the end of the week. Whoever told me that, I totally went against their word today. Instead of having a day to relax, I noticed that today's weather was probably the best of this week, which meant it was a perfect time to get some filming done for my Broadcast Journalism assignment.

Earlier in the week I interviewed the director of the UniQ project to catch up on the latest stages of the project. Although the filming of the director didn't go so well (thanks to my lack of technical use and common sense with a tripod and camcorder), I managed to get a new angle from the story. I won't reveal too much, but it lead me to getting some more shots today about student's opinions towards the project.

So, with my housemates Belle and Sam with me, I went down to Leek Road opposite the building site of the UniQ project. My first steps were interviewing Belle and Sam on camera, which turned out really well thanks to the shots and angles we filmed them in. Then, I managed to take around seven other shots, based on panning, zooming and stills which will be helpful for the finished piece.

After filming, I was really pleased that it was all out the way. The next step, however, is editing it, and I know that's going to be difficult. But at that point, I wasn't too bothered- my bacon sandwich from Brunchie's afterwards numbed the pain!

Fairytale of New York.

So here's ANOTHER Christmas inspired blog post, if you haven't had enough already. You know, writing these, it makes me sound like I'm well in the mood. I am, but I keep forgetting how fast Christmas is going to approach. I blame my university assignments for that, because they're distracting me beyond belief and making me forget what day it is, let alone how many days it is until the big day.

But anyway, today has been another day where I've generally done my usual Saturday routine. I wake up late, get a little bit of work done, and then chill out all day, usually by messing around on my laptop with frequent bursts of Xbox gaming. That's pretty much exactly what I did today too, although with a little added extra.

So there I was, on YouTube, listening to a bit of Florence and the Machine when on the 'recommended videos' popped up Fairytale of New York. If you don't know what that song is, you need shooting. It is pretty much the best Christmas song in the world, so why don't you take a listen?

After hearing this, don't you feel Christmassy? Don't you just picture Christmas day, the dinner, the presents, the snow? No? Then get off my blog! But anyway, once listening to this I was instantly put into the Christmas mood.

Like many others, this is my favourite Christmas song of all time (narrowly beating this gem of course) and whenever I hear it, it makes me get really excited for Christmas day. And on that subject- only 21 days until Christmas is here! Hopefully this week I will get the assignments done, and then time will fly, but who knows?

Not being in a library.

I've mentioned once before on a previous blog post that Fridays are officially my best days at uni. This is because I don't have any lectures to wake up to, just work at 3pm. Plus, it's the >end of the week, and we all know that is a huge benefit.

This has been my home for the past week

For the past week, I've spent three out of four nights in the uni's 24/7 library. Although it's been a productive week, and I've got loads of work done, it's just plain annoying spending hours in there.

It doesn't help that the computer rooms are really stuffy as well, and that I end up leaving at 2am feeling shattered. It's all totally been worth it, but my sleeping pattern has got messed up thanks to this week and the amount of work I've done and still got left to do.

So it was nice this morning waking up on my own accord, and spending a day chilling out (before work anyway). And I've also avoided the library today at all costs, because I didn't want to step foot in there. Even though I did another interview for my news feature, apart from that I spent the day feeling much better because I didn't have my assignments on the mind.

As I'm not going in the library tonight, this leaves me with a free night where I can do what I wish. But it brings me to my next challenge- do I go out and drink to celebrate, or shall I stay indoors away from the cold and eat my own body weight in junk food? I still can't decide.

A helpful interviewee.

Doing a course in journalism requires me to go out of my comfort zone and ask random people questions which I hope they'll answer. But the thing is, it's never that simple. Take today for example. I arranged to interview a councillor for my news feature, but they ended up cancelling the interview a few hours before it was due. And that just goes to prove what journalism is- you have to rely on other people to get articles written up.

But something good ended up coming out of the day, which also really benefited my work. Basically, about a week or so ago (I actually typed a blog post about it) I went into Stoke to ask business men about student nights that they were running. I was hoping to talk to the lady who set up the business, but she was on holiday at the time. However, as my news feature is once again based on students, I felt she would be a suitable interviewee.

I rang up the shop that she owns, and I was surprised that instead of simply chatting to me on the phone, she invited me down to her shop for a face-to-face interview. If you know a lot about journalism, you'll know that face-to-face interviews are the best types for a story, because you're not just getting speech- you're getting body language, facial expressions, all things that you can't see through a computer or a phone. So I quickly got my stuff together and went down there.

Once I got there, I got chatting to the shop owner and she was part of the best interview I've had. She was extremely helpful, funny, and was also really informative. I got all the information I needed from her that I could, and she also showed an interest in my university course.

I walked out of the shop with loads of information, and felt really good about the plans for the feature. It just goes to show how good it is to get a useful interviewee, and how happy it makes you feel that there are people out there who are willing to give a few minutes of their time to help others.

Opening the first door of an advent calendar.

So we've officially entered the month of Christmas, and boy does it feel like it! There's about four inches of snow outside, it's getting dark really soon in the day, it's freezing cold and the decorations are all coming out one at a time. But most importantly, today has been the day for one thing- opening up the first door of my advent calendar!

It's a joy I share with many students (and obviously millions of children, but they don't matter), and I'm going to be honest, I don't think there's a year where I haven't had an advent calendar. This is mainly thanks to my nan who goes out of the way and gets me a Dairy Milk one every twelve months. I think sometimes that maybe I should tell her that I'm too old for one, but hey, it's free chocolate.

But this year I have been blessed with having a Christmas loving housemate known as Louise. Yes, Louise is the one I told you about before, buying Christmas decorations well in advance in mid-November. Well with them decorations, we each got an advent calendar (mine being a Doctor Who one). So alongside the one I got off my nan, that makes two advent calendars for me to eat chocolate from...WIN! And if you're really bothered in knowing what chocolate shapes I had today, I got a train one in my Doctor Who calendar, and a cracker in my Dairy Milk one.

Being as though today has been a busy day, and a lot of things have made me smile in that day, it was hard to choose what to write about. But chocolate wins all the time, and it wouldn't be Christmas without good old advent calendar chocolate to munch on every day.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

So today has been a day where it's just snowed and snowed and snowed. This week looks set to be freezing, but I think we've seen the worst of the snow now. I went to the library last night and the snow started when I was just about to leave at around 1am, and I don't think it's properly stopped since. We've got a good thick layer of snow right outside our door, and it's still going now.

Today in general has been pretty mediocre. I got a bit down earlier about my university course, because I just felt like the fun was being zapped out of it thanks to a few modules that I'm not enjoying. But soon, after confiding in some friends, I realised that things weren't all bad and that it would be best to just grit my teeth and get on with it, even if lately there's a lot of hard work involved.

It was this bad feeling which made me want to venture into Hanley for some retail therapy- sure, I don't have enough money to buy things at the moment but window shopping is always fun! So Sam and I walked to Hanley in the snow, through Hanley Park once more which again looked really nice in the weather conditions.

But it was when I got into Hanley that I began to get all excited. We got there at about 4pm when it was just going dark, and all the Christmas lights were on, with Christmas songs on in the shops and neon Christmas signs flashing in the shop windows.

A scene like this made me realise how Christmas is coming in 25 days, and how quick it will come round. After all, this is the last day of November and we're beginning to edge into the advent month. Which only means one thing...I can start eating chocolates from my TWO advent calendars tomorrow! I don't think I'll ever grow up...

Good customer service.

You know when you go in a shop, and you are greeted by the worst customer experience ever, how does that make you feel? When you see that the person behind the till hasn't smiled in months, and that they talk to you like a piece of dirt on the bottom of their shoe, it hardly puts you in a good mood does it?

Over my lifetime, I've worked in three different shops, and it goes to show that working in retail can work in one of two ways. It can either be really fun and chilled out, or it can be totally stressful and annoying. I've experienced both sides of the coin, but despite that, I don't let it get to me. I know that retail is something I would rather not get into as a career path, because I can't handle the fussy customers, and even worse, the sometimes miserable staff.

So it was a nice surprise today when I went into a shop and the person that served me was a genuinely nice person. Not to sound like an old man but I find that a lot of shops I go into, the staff are rude and miserable, but when I walked into Iceland today to pick up a pack of £1 chicken kievs (seriously), I got to the till and got served by the friendliest woman in the world.

Not only was she asking me about how my day was going and making fun of my stupid purchase, but she was also asking me if I was a student and how my studies were going. At the end of the day, it was all small talk, but for someone to even show an interest was much better than being served by a grump.

So I walked out the shop with a smile on my face. I don't even know what the cashier was called, but either way, I salute her for her friendliness because it really did brighten up my day.

Chinese food.

I know what you're thinking...here I go again with ANOTHER blog post about food. But today's post is about food because it's probably the only thing that has given me much joy today. In fact, today I've barely done anything. I got out of bed at around 2pm, sat on my computer, revised a bit of law...where was the chance for me to smile through all that? It's just been one of those days where I've sat on my arse and achieved next to nothing.

It looks so bad yet tastes so good!

But anyway, on a happier note, today Sam and I decided that we'd go for a meal somewhere, because we're running pretty low on food. But as the day went on, I didn't really want to leave the house because it's still freezing cold outside! So instead of going out and spending quite a bit of money on some fancy food, we decided to opt for a Chinese takeaway.

The reason for this is simple- Chinese food is the best type of food. I think it's because there's so much variety and you can pick and choose so much from a Chinese takeaway, without spending an extortionate amount. Plus, you can simply ring the takeaway place up and do whatever you want until your food arrives, which on a lazy Sunday is so much better than cooking!

I opted for a chicken curry from there, and some of you will probably be like 'why get an Indian dish from a Chinese menu' but I have my reasons. Chinese curries are awesome, never too spicy or too mild, they're just in between and taste amazing. Plus you get so much food, it's difficult to complain. I sure didn't when I was nomming it all up.

So right now, I'm full up, and feel as fat as a whale thanks to all those calories I consumed. Which is a perfect start to the night, because I need to go to the library as I feel bad that I've not done any work at all this weekend. Looks like I'll be venturing out into the cold after all then...

Snow.

This week, the whole country has been gripped by extremely cold weather. Being slightly up north here in Stoke-on-Trent, it's got colder as the week's gone on and being in a student house, don't I bloody know it!! Our house is rubbish when it comes to coping in the cold, so much so that there's no other option than to stick the heating on and watch our money drain away. At least it's keeping us warm though.

But after a hectic night out at Super Friday last night, which ended in me walking a ridiculously drunk friend home which was both funny and challenging, I woke up this morning to find that last night it had snowed. At Super Friday I remember sitting in the cold and it began to snow, but nothing too significant. But by looking outside, I realised that we'd had some significant snow, as the roads, paths and cars were covered in the white stuff.

I don't know what it is about snow that makes it so special. At the end of the day, it ends up getting iced up and slippery to walk on, causes loads of vehicle accidents and traffic and annoys everyone. But when it snows, the child within me comes out. Sure, I don't go outside and have a snowball fight like I used to when I was younger, but the snow makes everything look much more amazing. Being in a place like Shelton, the snow really covered up the grime and made the place look a lot better, if I'm being honest. And with Christmas just around the corner, it made the snowfall just that little bit more special.

Despite feeling a little hungover, I went into Hanley with Sam and Nat, my friend from home who had come up for the weekend. On the way, we walked through Hanley Park which looked so picturesque. The best thing about it was that we were in the park at the time the sun was going down, which resulted in the beautiful picture embedded in this post.

I know that a lot of people moan about snow, and if I was a driver, I'm sure I'd have the same attitude towards it. But snow in this country is something we don't see everyday, so when we get a pretty decent snowfall, I never take it for granted.

Post.

Even though I've lived in this house for almost three months, I've barely got any post. I think the main reason for that is that I am usually a cheap skate and rarely purchase things online, and think the only time I've had post before today was when I ordered a Public Affairs book for my course off Amazon. And trust me, I wasn't happy when I got that book, because it was then I realised how much I'd have to learn by the end of the year!

Swear this photo isn't posed at all

A few days ago however, still in iPhone fever, I ordered a case for my iPhone off Amazon. I did this because, to be honest, I'm quite clumsy when it comes to phones. I once dropped a Motorola phone down a toilet, trod on an old Samsung phone which made it no longer of use, and dropped the phone before this one many times when I was out. So if any phone needed protection, it was this iPhone. I decided to choose an Otterbox phone case, which was suitable because it looked really chunky and protective of the phone.

I ordered the case on Wednesday night, and the site told me to expect it around the 30th November. But this morning, my housemate Bell came up the stairs to tell me that my case had arrived. And a mess was almost formed in my pants.

The case is perfect, and fits my iPhone amazingly. In fact, it feels that if I were to drop my phone, it would bounce straight back into my hands unharmed (obviously I'm not going to experiment this!). And it really looks cool on the phone! I was scared it would be quite bulky but it isn't and fits in my pocket perfectly. And as for the enjoyment of getting post in a package with my name on...I think I'm gonna order more things online from now on.

Cooking up something good.

I think this has to be my fourth post of the blog based around eating, and for that, I feel like I'm putting across an image of myself being a greedy pig. That is pretty true, because food makes my life complete, and I never stop eating. I'm surprised I don't weigh about 40 stone with everything I eat, but ah well, I'm sure it will come back to bite me one day.

We made short work of this

Today has been a mediocre kind of day. It started off quite bad, as I went into my lecture to pick up an assignment result, but found out that the disk that I had put my assignment onto had been lost. Arggh! Luckily I have everything saved on my computer, so it's okay, but still it's a bit crap. 

But other than that small issue, today I planned to cook up a risotto for dinner. I decided this this morning (because I literally live by plans) and I was actually sad enough to get quite excited about cooking it. If you didn't know already, I really enjoy cooking, even if it doesn't always work out. Being a student, I've found out that I have to do things myself, and I feel I'm coping really well, especially food wise.

But anyway, before I go off on a tangent, I got in from work today and went straight ahead with cooking up the risotto for Sam and I. Being a man (seriously...I am...), I'm gonna be honest and say I find it difficult to multi-task, and had a pan with the rice in, another pan to cook some bacon and another one on to soften the vegetables. Yet I managed to get everything cooked, and the risotto was soon served...even if I did cook enough to feed a large family.

Overall, the risotto was great, and filled me right up. The satisfaction of making and eating good food is something I never take for granted, and this was the case with this meal. And I promise this post isn't me blowing my own trumpet, because Sam thought that the risotto tasted amazing...or so he says.

Getting something positive out of a hectic day.

Waking up at around 8am this morning was a nightmare! I'm not used to early morning starts (despite having two a week on my course) but I'm usually fine with them. Yet after having about three hours sleep last night, I felt awful this morning. And it was freezing cold, which almost made me stay in bed and hide away from the day.

(c) devilibrarian

But looking back on the day, I'm so pleased I didn't choose that option because I got loads done, uni assignment wise anyway. I've decided to do a story for one of my assignments about student nightlife in Stoke, but focusing on an area where student nightlife isn't so popular. This meant me choosing to venture into Stoke this afternoon, which is about a 15 minute walk away.

But once I got there, disaster struck. Nothing ever goes smoothly with me, and today was no different. I got to the pub where I wanted to interview the staff, but the staff told me that I'd be best talking to the manager, who wasn't going to be in until 3. So I went over to a shop called Aisle of Brides (yes, it's a brides shop, and yes, it was embarrassing walking in), but not by personal choice- supposedly the owner of the shop created the idea of student nights in the area. But when I got there, I was told that the owner was on holiday...until next Tuesday, the day of my deadline.

Being as though the time was only about 1.45pm, I decided to walk home with my head hung low. Expecting the worst in the story, I actually didn't want to go back out again...but, being as though I wanted to get things done today, I did.

And when I got to Stoke and began interviewing people, I started to feel at ease with everything. The people I interviewed were beyond helpful and really passionate about what they'd promoted, and I really enjoyed talking to them. I even got offered to go to a meeting of the trader group to get more information, but it was just a shame that this was organised a day after my deadline.

I finished interviewing at about 5, and went home and straight away got typing the story up. I'm not entirely happy with it so far, but I've got five days to get it in order. Which is completely different to the last assignment, where I had only a few hours to get it done thanks to my procrastination. Hoorah for being organised!

iPhone goodness.

If you know me well enough, you'll know that I've been banging on about wanting an iPhone for months. I was tempted ever since Sam got one around August time, because before that, I was never interested in a smart phone. But being as though the iPhone can do everything, I was easily tempted.

The only problem was, I already had a phone, which I got on a 24 month contract about a year and a half ago. However, this phone had begun to irritate me- it's a touchscreen phone but it's so over sensitive, it starts texting and calling people at its own freewill. So it had to go, and today, I chose the day to go and finally get an iPhone.

The iPhone is clearly winning the battle with work here!

Being as though one of my lectures was cancelled, I ventured into Hanley in the afternoon and went to T-Mobile to sort it all out. The guys in the shop were great, gave great customer service, and said the best choice for me was to get an 8GB iPhone 3GS, which I eventually opted for. However, walking up to Hanley I was dreading what was going to happen. I expected to get there and them to all be sold out, or that I would end up walking away empty handed. And that almost came true.

Because there I was, seconds away from getting the phone when the guy behind the till told me he needed to do a credit check. As I'd moved house, none of the information I was giving him was matching with what he had in front of him, and so I failed the check. But just as I was about to throw a strop and blame the man for ruining my life, his manager came over and talked it through with him- and they accepted that I could get the phone(even though the guy threatened to 'kick my head in' if I didn't pay for the contract- all in jest of course).

Once I had it, I quickly rushed home and began using the phone. And let me tell you- it's awesome! I literally have been stuck to the phone for the last five/ six hours, working out all the functions, adding contacts and downloading pointless apps just because I can. I know there will be loads of people out there who say 'Blackberry's better!' or 'it will only go and break in a month!', or think I'm making a big deal out of it, but I don't care. The iPhone is god, end of. It's just with deadlines approaching for my assignments, I've chosen a bad time to get it...

Total Wipeout.

Today I set myself a task of getting uni work done. In fact, on Friday, I told myself that I needed to spend the next week cracking on with work- after all, I have five deadlines to meet in the next few weeks. But as always, things didn't go entirely to plan.

With a nice early morning start which involved a cold shower, a rush to get out the door and a sit through a two hour lecture from 9am onwards, I felt geared up ready to get some work in order. When I got back into my house at 12ish (following a trip to Ember Lounge, as you do), I opened up my laptop and started working away.

One of my assignments is to write a news feature, and this involves doing a 1,000-1,200 word article about a subject of our choosing. I've chosen to do it about the future of Stoke-on-Trent, and how the council are putting students needs before local people. With only two weeks of the deadline left, I decided to try and get this one out the way first, and actually found a lot of research.

But I would have done more if it wasn't for Total Wipeout. I don't know if you're familiar with the show, but it's based around contestants trying to defeat an almost unbeatable obstacle course. I've been a big fan ever since I saw the US series on Living TV a few years ago, and it always makes me laugh. This is probably the best video I've found to sum up the madness of the show:



So as a distraction from work, I somehow happened to stroll along Total Wipeout videos, and played them again and again. Don't ask how it happened, 'cos it did. But by the time I'd finished watching them, it was nearly 4 o'clock and time for work, where I told myself that at least I got some of my assignment out the way. But still, these videos may have made me smile at the time...but due to them disrupting my plans of getting work done, I'm not really smiling about them now!

Dance move failures.

I haven't really had time to update this blog much the weekend, but I was really busy helping my parents set up my sisters 21st party ready for last night. There were balloons to blow up, banners to stick on the walls and guests to take photos of, and blogging couldn't really fit in between. Add the fact that I didn't get in until about 1am last night and was pretty drunk, it just wasn't gonna happen.

We failed at this dance move almost as hard as these people

So last night, the party went on, and actually went really well. I never know how to feel about family parties- I threw an 18th party a few years ago and had a really good time, but the nervous feelings about who is coming and the preparation beforehand is something I never want to repeat. My sister went through the same process, but she had a good time, even if the DJ lost her playlist and resorted to playing cheesy music.

So to cope with the cheesy music, I drank Strongbow. Gotta admit, when it comes to alcohol, Strongbow is my drink of choice. But the fact that we had drank some before we even got to the party and I felt tipsy before 7 felt strange. So I decided to drink even more- big mistake!

I can't completely blame myself, though- at the party, I invited a few friends of my own, and my friend Nat (who I talked about in a previous blog post) came along. A few glasses of wine went to her head and she went into drink buying mode, buying me and my housemate Sam some alcohol whenever she could. This resorted in, what could be classed as, one of the most embarassing moments of my life.

To end the night, Linzi chose Dirty Dancing's 'Time of my Life', a typical party ending track. Being as though we were all up dancing anyway, the song came on and Nat called for me to jump into her arms to imitate the film's winning dance move. It sounds stupid now but at the time, we thought it was a good call! But as she picked me up and I outstretched my arms, Nat fell over and I pretty much landed on top of her.

It would have been okay if we had just got up and brushed it off, but Nat stayed lying on the floor, laughing her head off as I stood up. And it was just as the point as my Nan and Grandad came over to say bye to me, which resorted in my Grandad whispering in my ear 'behave yourself!' before leaving the party!

So this was a massive failure on my behalf, and I even have a large bruise on my knee to prove it. But ah well, I was having fun, and luckily not very many people seemed to care at the time...it's just proof that drinking at a family party isn't big or clever.

Having a computer whiz as a housemate.

Tonight I've been rushing around, trying to get things sorted. I've made something photo based for my sister's 21st birthday party (I'm sure I mentioned this in an earlier blog post? Oh yes...yes I did) which is tomorrow night, but it's been one hell of a task to get it all finished. And for that, I *sarcastically* thank my printer.

Because earlier, when I wanted to print out an application form to apply for a TV licence refund, it worked. Earlier when I had to print out an ink allignment page after installing a new ink cartridge, it worked. But when I desperately need the bloody thing, it just sits there in its glory and refuses to work. And it is then when I want to either throw it out a window or smash it up with a sledge hammer.

Luckily, however, our house has a handy man. Whenever's something gets broke, Mr. Sam Eddy (pictured) is usually there to fix it. Whether that be a downed internet connection, a broken bed or something simple like an oven lighter, Sam always has a solution which makes it work. And today, he was around when my printer decided to give up on me.

I won't bore you with what he went through to get it working, but at the end of it, my documents printed and I was saved from strolling down to the library in the fog to get my work printed. And for that, my sisters present is complete, and I can therefore stop stressing over it. Phew! Roll on tomorrow night.

That Christmas feeling.

Even though Christmas is over a month away, today I managed to get in the festive feeling thanks to my housemates.

Our amazing Christmas tree!

My housemate Lou is really excited about Christmas, so excited in fact that right now she is watching The Grinch downstairs with our adopted housemate, Mel. She had been telling us this week that she was going to buy decorations and put them up as soon as she brought them...little did I know, she was being serious!

So, here I am, walking in through my front door after a shift at work when I open the living room door...and what greets me is what can only be described as a 'winter wonderland.' There's a sparkly tree in the corner, stockings hanging up on the wall, white powder spray obscuring the window, Christmas tunes blasting out of the laptop and pretty much every single object covered in tinsel. And it's all thanks to Sam, Mel and Lou, who are all covering parts of the room with their decorations.

Even though most people would probably question why we've decided to put decorations up this early at this point, I seriously didn't care. There were still more items to put up, so I tried my best to help, but I was a little bit useless. Either way, when it was all done and dusted, the living room looked amazingly festive. And the excuse for the early decorations? The Coca-Cola advert was on TV this weekend, so Christmas was now officially here.

I love Christmas, and can honestly say it's my favourite time of the year. I think no one can ever outgrow Christmas, no matter what they say. The presents, the dinner, the coming together of family, there's seriously nothing better. But these decorations have made me want Christmas to come sooner- shame that I have assignment deadlines to meet before it all though!

Cancelled lectures.

Now don't get me wrong, I like my course. I really do want to be a journalist and I'm enjoying most things about it so far. But a few days ago, I got the news that this week's Wednesday lectures were cancelled.

Despite enjoying the course, it's always nice when you hear that you don't have to go somewhere that you had planned, and can instead spend the day inside. And today was a good day for that, because the weather was vile. It decided to tip it down all day, and not only that, but it was freezing cold. So instead of waking up at 8am to experience a cold bathroom and a cold shower, I casually got out of bed at 11 when the house was nice and warm and I even had time to make a bacon and sausage sandwich!

I feel today has been quite productive aswell. Not only am I cracking on with my sister's second birthday present and nearly have it complete, but I managed to come up with some ideas for upcoming assignments, type up some lecture notes and start obtaining a few facts and figures for my news feature assignment, which has to be in in about three weeks. Better to start early I guess, even if I am still afraid I'm going to type it all up last minute. But I'll see about that.

Usually, having a day off makes me lazy, and makes me stay in bed most of the day and achieve next to nothing. But today's been alright, and with no work on top, it's been pretty relaxed. Which makes tonight more than worth it, as I'm out at Gobble, which should be a good night! However, shamefully, I've got a lecture at 9 tomorrow...I'll let you know how that goes!

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Things falling into place.

The lost key saga is finally over. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the set of keys I lost, but today, my landlord came over and gave me a set to cut. I was expecting to pay about twenty pound for a set, but didn't realise that a shop down the road lets you cut a set of four keys for £8.50. Bargain, don't ya think?

My new set of keys. That are all gold.
Confusing much?

Overall, today has been a really good day. Things have started to fall into place with everything, and I'm starting to feel a little bit better about things that I probably wasn't feeling so good about yesterday. I've been having a few concerns over my course lately, and today I got into my Theory and Practice lecture feeling a little bit worried about an assessment that was planned for the lesson. But when it got down to it, the assessment wasn't too difficult, and I was pleased with the writing I produced. Just got to wait and see now how I did, but hopefully it's good news.

I also managed to retrieve my student card I lost (told you I lose everything). Last week, I went to Gobble and dropped the card in there, but having a 'beer mind', I didn't even realise until I was told. This was a bit of a worry when I was going to the library and had to use it to get in, but now it's all sorted and it's back in my possession...for now anyway.

So, yeah, today's been a good day all round. New keys, assessment went pretty well and I got my student card back on top. Hoping that the good day extends into the night, as I'm set to go to the Ember Lounge to watch the comedy club later!