Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Sleeping


It is a drowsy dreary day out in Leeds today.
Although the day started with hope blowing in the breeze, it has ended badly.
I'm talking about the weather, by the way.
After a practically apocalyptic rain/wind frenzy 
(the trampoline in the back garden was picked up and blown into the fence!!) 
and another colossal library stint this afternoon, 
I am collapse-on-the-bed kind of tired.
It is taking all of my mental effort to write this and I'm asking myself why bother?
I should just go to sleep.
My brain is asleep already. 
The rest of my body is not far behind.
And I have to be at work early tomorrow!
Early!
I start at half 7 anyway and they want me there early?
It's a good job that I got two firsts this week.
Oh what, that statement has nothing to do with what I was talking about?
I know, I just wanted to declare it.
I am all kinds of proud.
You see those socks in the picture?
Ross got them for me for Christmas last year.
They are my favourites.
I know that Ross has some Christmas presents hidden in his drawers.
It is taking all of my will power not to tear through those drawers and give myself an early Christmas.
I am tired.
And I can not be held resonsible for what I blog about when tired.
Which is why I'm about to tell you that whenever I make a bagel and give half to Ross, I always keep the fatter half for myself.
That is probably why I am the fatter half out of the two of us.
I am tired, so will finally bid you a goodnight.

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Amsterdam



At uni I'm a primary school teacher with a  French specialism. 
(Note, this does not mean I am fluent...I wish!)
And I'm all about making culture a massive part of language lessons.
A big part of that is dispelling stereotypes.
So when people say that Amsterdam smells like a weed and everyone cycles everywhere, I thought that that was the Dutch equivalent of people saying that English people wear top hats and monocles and only eat roast beef. 
Apparently I was mistaken.
Because Amsterdam literally does smell of weed.
Very strongly.
And there are cyclist everywhere.
Infact, after we got off the coach, we saw a cyclist face plant into the road right in front of us. 
True story.
He wasn't even wearing a helmet.
He was ok though, just really embarrassed I think.
Another true story, we saw a Momma cycling along with a bubba boy in her front basket and a bigger bubba stood balanced on the seat behind her.
It was like a circus act.
I wish that I'd have taken a picture.
Anyways, I absolutely loved Amsterdam.
Such a beautiful city.
The canals and the tall skinny buildings were exactly how I imagined they would be.
Also, don't you think that I would make an excellent cheese lady?! ^^^^



Wednesday, 16 November 2011

BEST VIDEO EVER!

This is going to be the lamest post ever, 
but I feel that I have no need to apologise.
This video is so amazing that there is absolutely no need for apologies. 
Watch it.
Seriously.
And do it now.
You guys, I cried.
Fully.
When the fountain lights up, my eyes welled up.
When the marching band part and you see him stood there, I literally started crying.
By the time it pans across to her parents, I was sobbing.
Like the hopeless romantic that I am, my body was convulsing with every sob and I was just so happy for her.
Now, please, watch this, and enjoy!


Monday, 14 November 2011

Grey day

I stole a peek out the window at uni late this afternoon at the grim, 
grim sky overhead and it hurt me. 
The sky is hurting my feelings. 
So desperately grey and so...loomy.
So very loomy.
Like the clouds are so thick that you could throw a few small objects up at them and they would bounce right back down.
And probably hit you square in the kisser.
But the grey, loomy clouds didn't matter today, 
because by the time I was really paying attention to them, 
my French presentation was done.
Don-don-donnnne.
That means I can free up the entire section of brain-space that was dedicated to learning my presentation and I can start to fill it up with something else.
Maybe I could fill it with some camera information and finally learn what the heck aperture and an f-stop is?
Or maybe some delicious wintery soup recipes.
Mmm, that's a definite possibility.
Or maybe I could just leave it empty.
Just for a little while anyway.


Sunday, 13 November 2011

Looking forward

There a few little things I'm looking forward to this week.

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation in French.
I'm not looking forward to actually doing the presentation, but I am looking forward to it being done.
I can already imagine how relieved I'm going to feel.

Then on Wednesday I hand in another assignment.
I'm not looking forward to writing the damned thing, but I'm looking forward to handing it.

I'm in school on Thursday, which is honestly my favourite part of my degree.
I'm looking forward to being called Mrs Kerr again and coming away with another five drawings of myself with various kiddies for my fridge.

Then on Friday I'll be in Amsterdam.
Just a casual little trip for the day.
How sweet will that be?
This is why I love living in Europe, hop on a ferry for the night and wake up in Amsterdam.
Boom.
I promise to avoid the 'special' brownies, but I can't make any promises about the red light district.
I'm kind of intrigued to see it.
Don't judge me for that.


Thursday, 10 November 2011

Life according to my iphone


Quick catch up of my week via instagram & twitter. 
Last weeks catch up here.


"Came home from uni to see this attached to the door. The cheek of that boy!"


"He's forgiven. He'd booked a table at the Olive Tree."


"I'm considering buying a Russian hat..."


"Beyonce has just given me a massive pep talk. Who runs the world?"


"Walking through campus and can hear the dance of the sugarplum fairies playing somewhere. Very strange but kind of magical."


"Craving nandos so much right now. I need some piri piri in my blood."


"Now that I've finished reading the hunger games I have no choice to do my uni work. Starting tomorrow."


"Fireworks going off to the Harry Potter theme! Erm...bonfire night perfection."


"Literally just googled how to write a literature review. Times are hard friends."



Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Academic ramblings

Dinner tonight consisted of tea with chocolate spread.
I think that that is the only acceptable dinner to have when you get in from the library after eight.
That is something that has never happened before.
Get in from the library after eight I mean.
My mind is a messed up compilation of literature for my dissertation, 
theories of leadership and teams, 
the Key Stage Two Framework for Languages, 
and the first two paragraphs of a French presentation that I've managed to memorise.
I think I even dreamt in French for the first time last night.
I didn't even know that I knew enough French to have an entire dream spoken in it.
The mind truly boddles.
Anyways, things in my head are getting far too academic for one night, so I'm going to go have a long shower and watch TOWIE. (Total guilty pleasure - shuttup!)

Monday, 7 November 2011

Bonfizzle Nizzle



I have always liked to look at fireworks.
But for as long as I have liked them, I have equally hated the loud noise that they make.
I'm a complete whimp when it comes to loud noises - 
even when a car with a stupidly big exhaust drives past and makes a lot of noise I can a little bit scared - 
but that is besides the point.

I remember as a wee girl either staying inside and watching fireworks from the window 
or standing in front of my Dad and making him cover my ears.
But after the fist minute of flinching and wincing at the bangs so loud you can feel them vibrating in your chest on Friday, I was cured.
I think the fact that they timed the fireworks to the theme tunes of Harry Potter (genius idea!), The Pirates of the Caribbean and ET seriously helped, because the melodies distracted me from the actual bangs.

Also, as two side notes, 1. How beautiful is the light from the bonfire?
And 2. After a minor dispute and a quick google search, I can confirm that between Ross & I, I am always right - we have fire on bonfire night because of the gunpowder plot, not because Guy Fawkes was burnt to death as punishment.
If you're bothered he was actually hung, drawn and quarter, which to me actually sounds much worse, 
but please don't sign me up for either.



Thursday, 3 November 2011

Opposites attract?

Sometimes I think that Ross & I are strangely similar.
But more often than that I'm astounded at how astronomically different we are.
But different in a good way.
Different in a 'we complete each other' (s'cuse the cheese) kind of way.
Like he's good at talking to people and I'm good at reading people.
I drink a lot with my meal and he hardly drinks anything, so by the time I'm done with my drink, he happily hands over the rest of his.
You know, the little things?

And there are loads of little things like this, 
but there is one difference that drives me crazy.

I (by my own observation) am quite tactful and sensitive.
Ross can be, but mostly he doesn't think before he speaks.
He never upsets people, 
I just mean that he often makes situations really awkward by saying the wrong thing.
And here's the thing that I really hate.

When he's putting his foot right in it, if I can, I'll give his hand a squeeze or his shin a gentle kick.
You know, just your standard "your making this person really embarrassed, please stop speaking NOW" signal.
But Ross, in his marvellously untactful way, 
will very loudly say;
"OW! Becky what are you kicking me for?"
Or "babe, why are you squeezing my hand?"
Which definitely makes everything so.much.more.awkward.

Kind of like when you point out to someone that they're blushing and it does nothing more than make them go more red.
Pointless and embarrassing.

Anyways, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this....
But does anyone else's other half do this?

(Also, I apologise for just saying 'my other half'...
...I'm cringing at myself.)

Wednesday, 2 November 2011

A week in social media

I'm so busy nowadays that a little structure around these parts won't go amiss - 
One day a week when I don't have to think of what to write, I can just upload pictures and copy in some tweets.
So, a small insight into my week with the help of instagram and twitter, my two favourite apps.

 

29th October: Toffee apples are so much better than normal apples.


27th October: This (^^) is what forced productivity looks like. 

 

28th October: Huzzah! I can almost breathe through my nose again.


26th October: I've now blown my nose so much today that I'm having an actual nosebleed.

 

31st October: I'm not complaining, merely observing, but it's strangely warm today.


1st Novemeber: A long, warm shower and and an early night cosied up in bed reading is just what the doctor ordered.


2nd November: I just finished reading the first book in 'The Hunger Games' series and I'm an absolute wreck.

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Dreams?

I've been having the most vivid dreams recently.
Strange and vivid dreams actually.

First there was the dream where my best friend very dramatically grabbed me by the arm and quite passionately told me that under no circumstances was I allowed to get pregnant, 
because she's trying for a baby and if I got pregnant first she would be devastatingly upset 
and never talk to me again.

Then there was the dream that I went to university one day with all of my clothes of backwards.

Then there was the really horrible two-parter dream 
(does anybody else have those?) 
where my friend Tariq was killed right in front of me. 
I held him whilst he died and it was tragic.
I was so happy to wake up and realise that it was only a dream and wasn't real. 
What were real though were the feelings that I had all.morning.long.
I was desperately melancholy and just generally sad.

I had to give myself a bit of a mental shake and tell myself to get a grip! 
I don't even know anybody called Tariq for crying out loud.
So I thought to myself, I know that my dream wasn't real, so why am I having such real feelings?
Weird. 
And then I thought about it a little bit more and mind boddled. 

Seriously.boddled.

Does this happen to anybody else?