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Okay, so the earliest class I have so far is at 11:10 a.m. Now, that may not sound so bad, but I need to leave an hour before class starts, otherwise I’m all icky and sweating when I get to class. And I need to be up two hours before that to make breakfast and pack a lunch since I’m not coming back to my room in between class and dance practice. So that means I have to get up at 8. Not so easy when you consider that I keep staying up until at least midnight just working on creative stuff (like Christmas presents!). So I’ve been up since 8. I made breakfast (that was a fiasco in itself, I kept spilling stuff everywhere and it just wasn’t pretty) and when it finally was done, I decided to check my e-mails. I got one from my Writing Project tutor. She just gave a basic outline of what we need to bring to our next session which she wants to have next Wednesday at 9 a.m.! Meaning that I need to get up at six a.m. *weeps* Oh, and I know that she means well by wanting us to be structured in our writing and that it’s supposed to help us but I just don’t write like that. I go where the story takes me. I don’t write it all up and do literary research in advance. It’s more like: “Oh hey, this guy seems to want to talk about trains. Guess I should look up some stuff,” instead of deciding before I even start writing “This guy is a train addict.” Plus, I’ve already got a story I want to work on that I’ve already written. I don’t see a point in me starting a new story because that’s something I know how to do (you should see the amount of drafts and just one page scenes I’ve accumulated); I’d rather work hard at revising what I already have to make it as close to being published as possible. Well, I’m meeting her later today so I’ll discuss it with her then.

I’ll write about yesterday later. Now I have to go make lunch.

My tea tastes of pipes. :(

And I overslept again. I really need to stop staying up until two. Although, that is when I get my brilliant creative ideas for stuff. Like last night I was working on my mom’s Christmas present. And no, it’s not knitted.

I was just reading Miss Violet’s (of the hilarious Lime&Violet podacast) old LJ entries and came upon this question:

If you could meet yourself at aged ten, what would the ten year old you think of who you are today?

She’d be surprised that I’m so into knitting (especially since I wasn’t too keen on it when I had to do it at school). Actually, the 10 y/o me would probably think that I was nuts when she found out about my stash. ^_^;; She’d be pretty impressed that I *can* actually speak French (even if it isn’t the greatest in the world) and glad that I’d had the chance to live in the States for a year. She’d also probably be comforted to know that eventually I did get a boyfriend who’s really great. She’d most likely offer me ice cream to make me feel better. Think that it’s no wonder that I moved to the UK since I like tea so much. And wonder why I *still* don’t have my driver’s license. Be amazed that I actually like dogs now and would prefer to get a puppy as a pet instead of a kitten.

She’d probably think a whole lot more things about me, but all in all, be pretty happy with what I’ve become in the following 12 years.

And now I’m going back to knitting Jaz’s Baudelaire socks and watching Buffy.

It was the weirdest thing. I was walking down Marine Terrace, going over my shopping list in my head and I see a guy with longish strawberry blonde hair coming towards me. We both do a double take before saying “Hi!” It was Tucker from UM! It was kind of surreal realizing that I know this person who I just happened to take a class with last autumn in the States and now he’s just someone I can run into at the oddest times.

And then when I was coming back from Somerfield’s, I walked past Scott, the guy who sorta lived with us in Rosser because he was friends with all the guys and therefore spent a lot of time over at our flat. He didn’t notice me though. And I didn’t realize that it was him until after we had passed each other.

I’m just glad that I’ve gotten back into the habit of making an effort in my appearance (as in actually brushing my hair and putting on make-up) before I go out. I wonder who else I’ll run into this year.

Oh and yesterday, a pigeon flew into the kitchen and scared the crap out of me. It just sat/stood on the kitchen table before it flew out the window again. Next, we’ll probably have a flock of seagulls picking through our trash can.

I think there might be someone in Freddy’s old room now. I heard voices as I was going past.

Why won’t the red just fade away? I mean, it says that it will on the package. It’s all gone from most of my hair, it’s just being really persistent at the roots for some strange reason. I wonder what would happen if I just added some honey blonde color on top? Would it turn orange?

Went out last night with Gabe. Met some international students, had a tour of Aber and then had coffee in this great little place called Fresh Ground Café. Afterwards, Gabe and I just hung out. Well, I kinda made him stay late because I had a latte and I was wired and I wanted company. I was up until three a.m. No, he didn’t stay that late, only until like 11:30, but I was up just watching Desperate Housewives and playing Minesweeper until three.

Then I got a cleaning bug today. Kinda bored, so I figured I might as well. I wiped clean my windows and walls. There was some really icky brown spots all over the place. I have no idea what it was or how it had gotten there, and frankly, I don’t really wanna know. Now, if only I could actually open the windows properly and wash them both inside and out… Then when I couldn’t get the walls completely clean, I decided to stick some photos over the really dirty spots. So now I’ve kinda decorated in a nature theme. The photos were taken by Michelle (my first roommate in Montana) during the spring. At least I think it was spring when she took them. Anyway, I really like them. I actually kinda miss Montana. I had fun there, even though the workload was like triple of what I’ve got here.

Gabe dropped by around dinner time. And when I say dinner time, I mean late afternoon, not lunch. Just so we’re clear. Anyways, I had just finished eating when he came over offering to cook so I just went over to his place to keep him company while he cooked and ate. Also watched “The Skeleton Key”. Chatted while enjoying the view in the kitchen with a nice cup of tea.

I’m just listening to the waves right now. They’re actually kinda loud. I dunno if I want to sleep with my window open. I think I can get used to the rhythm of the waves, but it’s the drunken guys just under my window that I’m not too thrilled about. *rolls eyes*

I just joined Aberystwyth’s Dance team. Cost me £38 (because I need a Club Sporty card to join and that costs £33 *rolls eyes*). But I will be getting exercise at least twice a week, three times if I can be bothered to go there on Friday nights as well. I tried convincing Gabe to join as well, but he is resolutely set against dancing. More of an intellectual guy he is. *nods*

So, I didn’t really do much else today. I mean, I walked up the hill (an event in itself), I joined the dance team and then I met up with Gabe and went to the movies. We saw something called “Tales from the Earthsea” or something like that. Japanese animation based on Ursula K. LeGuin’s story. Not something I would’ve chosen to go see myself, but now that I have seen it, I think it’s pretty good. Since Gabe picked out this movie, I got to choose the next one. On Tuesday, we’re going to go see “Atonement”. ^-^

Oh, and before when I said that I live with Tom, Freddy and Sarah? Well, two amendments to that. Her name’s actually Hannah and Freddy moved out yesterday. He disliked his room so he got a seaview en-suite for an extra £300.

I just licked my teaspoon and put it back in the drawer (it’s the only yellow spoon there is and it’s only used for tea anyway).

So as the admirable Chandler Bing put it: “You licked… you licked and you put!” XD

My dad did eventually show up at 10 a.m. He’d been stuck on the M1 for two hours. So we quickly packed up the car and off we went! Let me just say that the road from Sheffield to Glossop has some really beautiful scenery. The Peak District is awesome. ^-^ So is Northern Wales. The dense greenery, the huge Bala Lake that we passed, the hilly-ness of it all. Love love love. And speaking of wonderful views… I LOVE my room! It’s right on the seafront. I wake up to hearing the waves crashing on the beach, then I get to see it once I’ve opened the curtains that just let the light flood in. The way the sea changes color and is multiple colors at the same time. The white caps all over dotting the surface. How the peeking sunlight forces its way through the clouds. The wind blowing seamist everywhere… Can you tell yet that I adore this place?

Well, we got to Aber at around three o’clock. I checked in, got my keys and then schlepped all of my stuff in. My dad took a four hour nap while I unpacked and chatted with my new flatmates. There are four of us in total, all of us studying English (at least I think we all did English, not too sure about Freddy). Anywayz, I’ve talked to Sarah and Tom the most so far, but I did run into Freddy in the morning. All of us except Freddy are in our final year. I do have at least one thing in common with Freddy though: Civ4. He saw it this morning when he was using my computer to register for his classes (the same way I used Sarah’s to register for my classes).

So I didn’t really do that much yesterday. Today, I had breakfast with my dad, then a bit later we went up to the Penglais campus so I could find out what my schedule is going to be like and then we were off to Morrison’s to do some stocking up. Oh the amount of stuff that was bought… *shakes head*. I should be fine with all of that for at least a month. Of course, I’m not talking about the perishables, but I’ve got enough grain-y stuff to last me quite a long time!

Just a little while ago before my dad left again, he cooked me a proper steak with an excellent creamy pepper sauce. There was some extra sauce so that’s in the fridge waiting for me to use it up some time soon. ^_^

Ooh and my dad said that I’d lost some weight! Yay. Hopefully I’ll lose some more now that I need to climb that hill at least once a week and have to get pretty much everywhere I need to go by using my two feet. :)

And now I’m just waiting for my dad to show up with the car so that we can drive to Aberystwyth. I’ve been up since 6:45… Feeling a bit nauseous actually. Then again, that is how I always feel when I have to get up really early. But I think a part of it is nervous-ness as well. I still haven’t heard back from the Accommodation Office (I’ve e-mailed them twice, letting them know that I won’t be arriving until today). I have no idea where my dad is right now. I know that he was supposed to get off the ferry at four a.m. and according to Google, it should take about four hours to get here. Which means that he should be here right about now. So…

I’m going to go back to enjoying the last few moments of Oliver’s company before he goes to work now that he’s up.

Let me just say this: a desire to start another project can really speed up your knitting, even when it is cables! I swear, I detest this intricate cabling because it takes up so much time. I’m really into instant gratification, which is why I knit socks a lot because I can pretty much churn out a pair in a weekend. AND it looks like I’m making a lot of progress. I know I can do shawls; I just finished one a few weeks ago. Plus, I’m a fast knitter. I’ve been called a knitting machine by several individuals. So why why why does cabling have to take up so much time? >_<

Anyways, I’ve gotten two Christmas presents done. The socks that I’m working on right now with all of the cables that are driving me nuts are for my mom and since they’re not a Christmas present, rather, they were supposed to be for Mother’s Day this spring, I figure I need to finish these before I go back to school so I can give them to my dad to give to my mom when he goes back to Belgium. Wow that was a long sentence; can you say long winded? At least I got the first sock done and all the ends woven in yesterday. I’ve almost finished the leg part of the second sock. So I’ve promised myself that I will not cast on for another Christmas present socks until I’ve completed at least the leg, preferably turned the heel as well. But, the Christmas socks are a part of a KAL I’ve joined with a couple of other knitters from the L&V message boards… Gah, the temptation!

Side note: Congrats to my lil sis who got into uni! She’s doing Illustration in Brussels. :D