HUGE recap
7th April 2004, 4:52 pm

the ball

okay, so the first thing i should talk about is the ball/my birthday. i'll start off with the thursday night before though... i spent the evening helping mel and dave with the decorations, firstly making torch brackets on g floor before moving onto the canteen, where me, mel, dave, guy, emily and rich arsed around with hanging cloth under the lights to dim them a little. eventually it was just me, mel and dave doing it, as guy and em went off to fire-proof some decorations. fact one: mel is a perfectionist, and wanted each hanging piece of cloth to have exactly the same diameter as the rest. we were there until about one, wrestling with stepladders and string whilst listening to the second busted album (i was overruled). it was actually pretty fun, believe it or not.

after all the cloth was done we went back to g floor and went to bed. i was then woken up at four in the morning by mel, who was drunk and very upset. she'd been having major boyfriend problems - her feelings for iain have changed and she's started to have feelings for matt, who has feelings for her, but she was going to ignore the feelings for matt and work on things with iain - and after i'd gone to bed had been dragged off by matt to have a drink with the rest of the JCR members. they both got very drunk and ended up kissing. she'd drank too much though, and after telling matt to go went off and threw up, before everything hit her and she started crying, so she knocked on my door. anyway, we talked for a while and she calmed down, and we then had to relocate to the toilets (our second favourite hangout) as she was feeling sick again. we eventually got to bed at about six.

i was up at nine o'clock, and went in the shower. i decided to miss my lecture, as it was my birthday, and instead went and bought a bit of food and some red bull, and watched some mindless daytime telly. i was feeling knackered already at this point, having had only about 4 hours sleep. mel and dave came back from lectures, and we watched neighbours and drank a can of red bull each to keep us going. after that we went down to the canteen to carry on with putting up decorations. vicky, michelle, em and guy joined us at various points of the afternoon, but we worked solidly until six o'clock. me and dave drank way too much red bull - lots of bouncing off walls craziness - and spent about two hours putting the damn cardborad arch up around the door. it was finally finished at six though, and looked fantastic.

we got dave's video camera and panned it all around the canteen, and of course you can hear me being a complete dick with my 'alternate commentary'. once that was done we rushed back and got ready for the ball. in the middle of getting ready emily banged on my door and said "there's someone on the phone for you". i shouted back, "tell them to go away - unless it's my sister, tell her to ring me on my mobile". she came back shouting, "your sister says she can't really ring you on your mobile...". cue swearing from me... i went to the phone and talked to my sister for a bit, and she wished me happy birthday. i then went back and finished getting ready, just before paddy arrived looking very dapper. he told me i looked gorgeous, which was highly appreciated.

dave then arrived, with video camera, and filmed us in our ball clothes. i then got my g floor birthday present - a big fluffy orange kitten from the bear factory - and a big card from all of them, which was really lovely, before we all trucked down to earnshaw.

the ball itself was so much fun. the meal we had was fantastic by our usual sorby standards, with the exception of the wine which minged like a bitch, and there was a jazz band who played throughout and absolutely rocked. i was sat with becky on one side, paddy opposite and mel on my other side. in the middle the g floor table (plus dave, matt, paddy, aaron and iain who were also on the table) sang me happy birthday and made me do a speech. we then all drank the helium from the balloons and sang Staying Alive.

after the meal we stood around in the foyer for a little while. michelle was absolutely out her face by now, with em well on her way, and killed time by singing me happy birthday (off key) and telling random people that it was my birthday. we queued for our free photo, by which time my feet were killing and i had to carry my shoes. god i hope the photo came out okay, and i'm not doing some stupid smile like i usually do on photos. the rest of the night passed mostly in the bar, where i got close to drunk and lost my voice from singing along loudly to songs like grease mega mix, i am the one and only and build mer up buttercup with paddy and iain. there was, of course, angst though, cos there's always angst attached to these events. emily got upset over a mixture of richard and her friend, hannah got upset because matt shouted at her, and mel was pretty upset all night because of the whole matt issue, and because iain was there and she wasn't sure how she was feeling. about twoish paddy and me went back to g floor for a bit and caught up on all the angst, before trekking back at four - i was wearing trainers, jeans under my dress and my big black coat, so much sex appeal - to smuggle some pastries back. i was so damn hungry by then, and the pastries were so good.

paddy then went home and mel and dave came back, and we talked for a while. dave then went to bed, and mel and i stayed to watch the sunrise. by then i'd gone over 24 hours without sleep, and i was having to really concentrate to understand what mel was saying to me. we finally went to bed at gone six.

last week of term

the last week was quite sunny, so one night we sat outside with booze and crisps and watched the stars come out. it was kind've cold but loads of fun, especially when the ducks came crashing onto the pond and gave us ample opportunity to chase them. on the last wednesday - everyone's freest day - we went out onto the grounds and played frisbee and then sat around on the grass talking. yep, that was the day i did the traditional prospectus shot of sitting on the grass in the sunshine having fun. go me, it's my birthday. i also went for a drive with richard that day, who had his car up for the weekend, and talked to him about how things were going in respect to bernie, ie no progress at all. he said he'd been worried about me all week, bless him he's so lovely. he was dreading going home as much as me, as he'd have to confront all his demons too. i also played a hell of a lot of pool in the last week, and got quite drunk thursday night so my pool game went drastically downhill that night. no one seemed to notice much.

the angst

there's also been a lot of angst in the last week, mostly to do with mel. she's been having a really rough time of it this last week, with the whole matt or iain issue, and so most of my time has been spent with her, calming her down when she's gotten upset and trying to help her sort things out in her head. i think she cried every day of the last week, which made me feel crappy to see her so upset. i personally believe that she should stay with iain, as i think he'll treat her better and is better suited to her. however, we shall see as time progresses. so yeah, i was going to go to a party with paddy on thursday night but decided to stay in instead, and it was probably a good job i did, because mel went on a big guilt trip and started talking about how iain's family would hate her, and that her family would think badly of her.

it was knackering to be honest, emotionally knackering, but i didn't mind because it was mel, and i care about her loads.

the last day

the last day, or morning really, went very quickly actually. i got up at quarter to eight and jumped in the shower, then dried my hair and finished packing. emily, vicky, richard, matt and michelle had already left the day before, so it was only a few of us left on g floor. dave left first, with a huage bag that we all commented on, then me and mel left together, leaving hannah on her own, although mel had loads of stuff to take back so was probably still around when hannah's mum turned up. me and mel had a big emotional hug in the reception area, with lots of "love you lots" and "let me know how it goes"'s. it's bizarre being at home and therefore not seeing her every day.

anyway we left sorby and said final goodbyes... seeing how happy mel's mum was in seeing mel made me think painfully of bernie. i then struggled up bitch hell with my TEN TONNE BAG. seriously, my arms were wrecked the next day, i couldn't even straighten them out. it took me frigging forever to get to the top of the hill, i know how grannies with zimmer frames feel now. anyway anyway, the rest of the tale is boring, as i got my train fine and got home just fine.

the trip to notts

i got up kind've early on the monday morning, packed as lightly as possible and then shoved the massive harry potter 5 book in the top of my bag, which kind've defeated the object as that thing weighs as much as a melon. i then caught the tram to piccadily station, paid for my ticket with my card and nearly fell over when the guy told me it was �18.15 to get there and back. my bank balance is looking so sad at the moment. went off to platform 13, bought a bag of fruit pastilles (31.60 - what???) and got on the train. train journey was uneventful and dull, i read most of the way. got in about twenty to two and went for some lunch with my gran, before rushing off to meet lise, who i'd arrange to meet with whilst on the train.

we went to sqaures for a drink - i got i.d.ed, now there's a surprise - and had a massive catchup. she had a new haircut (lovely), had got engaged to her boyfriend matt (scary but lovely) and her 17 year old brother had got his girlfriend pregnant in the first 2 months of being with her (just scary). it was really good seeing her again, as talking on the phone just isn't the same, and we promised to have a drunken night again soon. we then had a look round the hmv dvd clearout - i bought the magdalene sisters and robin hood:men in tights - before i walked her to her bustop and then walked back to my gran's. the walk was lovely, as all the dafodils had come out at the side of mansfield road and the sun was shining.

me and my gran stayed in that night and caught up over one of her fantastic meals. i then put up the camp bed and went to sleep, as i was knacked out.

the next day i jumped in the shower and then went down to faye's. i hadn't seen faye in about a year and it was absolutely fantastic catching up with her. we watched neighbours, doctors and diagnosis murder whilst we talked, which seemed to reflect something that faye said : "we don't need to see each other often, we don't even need to talk often, and yet when we do everything's exactly how it was, exactly the same, and nothing feels different even though a lot might have happened since we last talked. it shows that we'll always be friends, and don't need constant contact for it to stay that way."

after my gran picked me up from faye's - on the way out i said "shit! forgot my phone" and dashed back to get it, but luckily she seemed not to hear the first bit - and we went to town, where she went off to get some food and i bought a couple of presents for my sister, as it was her birthday the next day. we then went back, i changed her printer cartridge for her and then we went out to newark for a meal in a posh restaurant that she went to often. on the way i saw some baby horses, aww they were so cute. the sun was also setting over the fields and underlit all the clouds in orange and red, it was absolutely gorgeous. reminded me of when we scattered my mum's ashes, and how the sun was setting gorgeously as we drove on up to manchester. anyway, we got to newark and i then had one of the most amazing meals of my life, honestly it was beautiful. my gran was great company too... i know i moan about her a lot sometimes but it was lovely seeing her for an extended amount of time, like it used to be when i was back in notts.

wednesday morning my gran left very early, as she had to sort out her , so i locked up about half nineish and walked down to the train station. it only took me half an hour to get from gregory boulevard to the train station, i thought that was kick ass. the rest of the tale is dull from there on - got on train, bought a sandwich and kitkat, got to manchester, got on the train, got picked up by my dad. here ends the tale.

other unrelated details

in other news: my sister's birthday occured and she loved my presents - amelie soundtrack and vienesse truffles from thorntons. i started my revision today with a highly attractive mindmap of the brain. my sister bought me three flowering cacti and a huge door poster of orlando bloom looking sexy as hell. everyone admires it on g floor, becky came into my room to say hey, turned round and went "oooooooooooh!" before running over to it.

on the emotional side of things i think home's starting to make me feel manky, but i'm blanking it out as much as possible. reckon i'll definately have to make a return trip to notts in the last week, if only to stop myself from going insane. my dad's still having bad days and good days, but i think me and my sister being here helps.

righty, i think that's covered all major activities since i wrote last. fingers crossed the next entry won't have to be quite as long.>

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