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Question for Life: why is it completely impossible to come up with a website name when you want one?

...I haven't set that up so it looks like I'm going to answer it, have I? I hope not. I don't know myself, which is why I'm asking.

ANYWAY. LIfe update, in brief, as I'm trying to school myself into remembering to post about things.

* Just finished the first week of my second year at Uni. 100% attendance so far! Go me. And the first time ever I've made it as far as the second year. You know what they say: sixth time's the charm. Or something.

* Book - or, first draft thereof - within days of being finished. THANK FUCK. Because, quite frankly, I'm dying to write me some fanfic. Shut up, this is a totally valid reason for relief.

* It's Evie's birthday today. She is four! *pleased* Now I just have to teach her that the world is not a playground for her fearsome disciplinarian ways; that us mere mortals are not subjects to be crushed underfoot, and we'll be all set.



So. Nothing new for people who follow me on Twitter (I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I SEE YOU WATCHING ME.), but for anyone else, I am totes fascinating, right? Fo'shizzle.

....OK, I'm going to go take a few steps closer to FANFIC FREEDOM, BABY. I am so productive and shit.

I have been so lame at reading my flist recently and have no clue what everyone's up to. I will try to stop being so crap.

- Got my exam results today. Three A's! Got maximum marks in a few of them too. It was pretty much what I expected but I'm still chuffed, given that I missed about six weeks of classes at the beginning of the year. I've decided not to go to Uni this year but work and save up to pay for it next year - applying to Oxford again, because why not?

- Moved house last week. And it was actually pretty painless. I love my new house but will love it more when I get some rugs to cover the horrid patterned carpet (you can tell an old person used to live here by the flowery carpet and curtains, bleurgh). Evie seems to love it too and has a massive bedroom which, obviously, she doesn't appreciate yet but certainly will when she's older.

- My laptop survived an inadvertent ride in the removal van, only for me to break it the day after by getting my foot hooked in the cable and yanking it off the sofa. OK, it still works but the bit where you connect the power cable is wobbly as hell and I have to fiddle with it to get it to charge. Also, makes weird noises while plugged in as though charging it is only happening under duress. I DO NOT DIG THIS TURN OF EVENTS. Anyone know whether this sort of thing is expensive to have repaired?

Other than those things, life continues very much as normal. How you doin'?

Looking at these gorgeous photos made me sad. Maybe sad isn't the right word. Wistful? It would have been nice to have been that happy when I was pregnant. And I won't lie, it would have been nice to have looked that good.

I totally edited that bit there without even realising it. I had origninally intended to say, 'It would have been nice to be have been able to be that happy when I was pregnant'. Then I told myself to shut up, because everyone can control their own happiness if they want to, right? Etc etc, blah blah.

But really, no. In that situation, no. I'm sure other people reading this (if people read this) can think of times when their happiness has been out of their own control - and really, I think that's OK. It may not be sensible to let others have that much influence on your emotions but you know what? If they do, then it shows you care. And that's OK. It's really OK. We may get hurt but there's nothing wrong with letting someone else have part of you, even if only for a while. It's what we're made for.

And I'm not sad now. I've had a wonderful day and the bad time is behind me and I wouldn't change Evie and Steve for anything.

/pointless post.

Why is Paypal such an arse. Why, WHY?! We were getting on so well until six months ago and then it pulled some complete bullshit and now I can't use my account. Tell me, Paypal, how you can 'detect unusual activity on the card your account is linked to' when that card hasn't been fucking used for about two years? And if the non-use is the issue, why not just say so? And no, assholes, I cannot re-validate the card to get my account going again because like I said, it hasn't been used. I DO NOT HAVE THAT CARD ANYMORE. So fuck you. Give me my account back. My pups and I want icons. I want to buy an AC/DC ticket off Ebay. I said I'd sent money to an old mate as sponsorship for her half-marathon. GIVE ME MY ACCOUNT BACK!

And Jonna? Anytime you want to stop scrolling pages down to the bottom at random moments and resetting the cursor to odd places so I can't type more than four words consecutively, THAT'D BE FUCKING GOOD TOO!

Gragh! *hits things frustratedly*

In other news, I thought Evie was better today. And she was, until she went for her nap. Then she decided to alternate screaming with whinging practically non-stop for the next five hours. Thank goodness Steve has more patience than I do...though to be fair, he didn't have to put up with it all day yesterday.

Right, I'm going to bed.

( Moar Chrimbo pics )



Hope everyone's having a good start to 2009.

I hate the fact that I feel guilty about having my heating on all day, even though it's been -2 C through the day all weekend. This is because the house I moved into is on a pre-pay metre and it's ridiculously expensive. But seriously - in the part of the house that's unheated (an extension, consisting of downstairs loo/shower and utility room), you can see your breath in the air. I'm not talking about faint wisps either, it's like smoking a fag - plumes of freezing air billowing about the place. Cold. So it is necessary but I still feel like my carbon footprint is about to make the planet explode, not to mention my bank balance screaming at me. Meh.

I have coursework due on Tuesday and I haven't started it. O HAI all-nighter tomorrow. O HAI OXFORD, I IZ RESPONSIBLE STUPID PROMIZE. Double ugh.

And Evie threw up all over the sofa. TRIPLE MEH. On the upside, Steve cleared it up, heh.

Don't want to go to work tomorrow. Or college. But as this weekend has shown, I am not to be trusted with time off. I don't do a single productive thing. Better get to class.

Just watching an interview with Daniel Craig and seen some clips of the new Bond movie. First can I say, Daniel is hot. As if there was any doubt. But I am slightly worried about the movie now.

( Cut for spoilers )

And thanks to everyone who commented on Evie's photos, sorry if I haven't replied personally. I have been distracted by her being pretty ill the last few days - first trip to the hospital, woohoo! But she's fine now, happy as anything. :)

I have a brand new 40" flatscreen TV. It is awesome. And enormous. I'm surprised how much I love it, given that I don't watch much TV and I've been resisting mothers' efforts to buy me a new one for about a year now. But this one was on sale and so I gave in and it is beautiful. Even when it's not being watched, it makes my living room look shiny.

On the subject of living rooms, I may soon have a new one. As in, I might be moving. I went to see a house this morning and I wasn't expecting much because I drove past it the other day and it's on an estate (MASSIVE UGH! I HATE ESTATES!) and looks pretty bland on the outside. However! Today I got to look inside it and although it's in need of some serious redecoration - which the landlord should have finished by the time I move in, if I do - it has three bedrooms, a pretty big living room, a huge kitchen, a utility room (OMG the luxury), a downstairs toilet/shower, an upstairs bathroom with a bath (haven't had one of those for two years, AWESOME!) and outside - omg, outside. There's a small front lawn which I thought was the extent of the garden and was a bit 'meh' about because I want somewhere where Evie can run around when she, y'know, learns how to do that. BUT NO! At the back there is a huge space which consists of another big lawn, a big patio, a huge decking area with built-in barbeque and another space for parking that will fit two more cars. And a pond. Plus a front driveway and two outhouses - one looks like a massive garage space and the other a little work area for tools and stuff.

In short, it ticks all the boxes, apart from the one where it's on an estate. I wanted a bath, a garden for Evie, and a driveway because I'm sick of parking on the main road. The only thing it doesn't have that I would have liked is an open fire but I wasn't expecting to get that living this close to a city. It's also in the same village I live in now so I won't have to change doctors etc, and there's a good primary school for Evie very close by. it's definitely a house I could live in for the next four years or so. Awesome!

Now I just need to get everything approved and signed. I hate this part, it's always a drag. I don't even know if I'll be accepted for it but there's no big reason why not, I think, so here's hoping. I've paid the application fees (£170 omg, and it's non-refundable) and just need to wait and see now. I would chew my nails if I did that but I dont. So.

Work is OK, Evie is brill (just properly cut a top front tooth, d'aww), Steve is lovely, mother is...not here, so that's OK, and has also been quite livable-with for the last couple of days...all in all, stuff is pretty damn good. Now I just need to get started on some college stuff so it can be done before September and try and negotiate work hours for the new college year and I will be sorted for the next few years. Cool.

I should also do some proper training for the half marathon I'm supposed to do in October. Yes. That's getting quite pertinent now. *eyes running gear* Perhaps I should not have skived the gym today.

Still. House! Maybe!

DONE WITH ENGLISH UNTIL SEPTEMBER! Could I be happier about this? No, I don't think I could. It has dragged quite horrendously this year. The exam went...OK. I spent longer than I should have on the first question because a) I had quite a lot to say (and was not as concise as I should have been) and b) I thought I wouldn't have much to say on the second (language) question. Of course, it turns out that I could have spent frickin' ages on the language stuff because I crammed a bunch of terms into my head last night (most of which have now disappeared forever) and so, I ran out of time. I feel a B coming on. As long as it's a good B it's OK though, because I'll still get an A overall if that's the case. Then again, I thought I didn't do very well on a question last year and it turned out I got 90% so I guess we'll see. It's done now and I never stress about exams after they're finished.

Steve looked after Evie on his own for the first time and it went swimmingly! I came home and he was feeding her and she had orange stuff all over her chops and was grinning madly, so that was good. He also stayed another two and a half hours after I got home and it was lovely and I am all squishy inside from watching him with her. :D

It is the Champions League final tonight. I am so excited, I honestly think I might be sick. Seriously and honestly. Oh man, if United lose I'll be a wreck but I don't think they will and EEEEEEEEE! It does make me laugh that in order for it to be shown at it's regulr time in the UK (19:45), the match actually kicks off at 22:45 in Moscow. Yes, that's right. Quarter to eleven at night. Mental! I suppose it does make some sense though, considering both teams are English. Then again, it would be at that time no matter who was playing. Weird. I don't imagine the players will care all that much though.

That side, I must reiterate that the excitement is killing me. Only four hours, 18 minutes to go. EEEEEE! :D

I have no more college for a week and a half and then only one exam and one lesson to tie up bits and pieces. I'm not worried about the history exam at all and this is yet another reason why today is made of win!

*bounces about*