Ready to go?

Things I've done this week include:

1. Saying goodbye to people (Caroline, Jennie, Nicky, Heidi, Judith M, Ruth, Kirsty, Judith R, Sharon, Gillian, Lisa) Didn't actually cry at any of the farewells. I put that down to it not actually sinking in rather than me being brave.
2. A day in school. Really enjoyed it! So different when you've no one watching you!
3. Bought 2 suitcases. One is pretty darn big, the other is medium sized but with that clever zip thing which means it can be bigger.
4. Saw Caroline's engagement ring. It's beautiful. I want to be engaged and have a lovely ring.
5. Watched my last episodes of This Morning, Loose Women, and Diagnosis Murder.
6. Watched my first episodes of the sixth series of The West Wing. Will be taking the rest with me.
7. Finally finished making DYCW's thank you cards. Hurray!
8. Washing.
9. Sorted out my phone to work in America, will still get free texts! Yay!
10. Paid my dentist bill. £32.40. A small price to pay I think, 'your teeth are your best friends'.

Things I still have to do:

1. Say goodbye to more people (Family, YF, Jud, Kari)
2. Ironing (inevitably follows washing).
3. Packing. Seriously don't know what to take and what to leave. It's so hard!
4. Pay my visa bill, oh the pain. Especially with my flight on it.
5. Talk to Ruth's sister-in-law about her wedding invitations.

Last night I was up at Lynsey's and she gave me the loveliest necklace, it's got a lovely silver cross on it. We got chinese, well tasty! Can't believe that's the last time I'll be hanging out with her til Christmas.

Don't think this photo shows off the beauty of the necklace.

My suitcases (with tags still attached)

Really though, what have I done?!

Leaving on a jet plane

I booked my flights to America today. I think I have only cried about 3 times since! I'm in for a great week then, living on the brink of tears! I fly from Dublin to Gatwick, then Gatwick to Atlanta where Roma will pick me up. In 168 hours (that's a week folks!) I'll be in Atlanta! Oh my goodness! What have I done?! I texted loads of people and they were all very nice and told me I'd be fine and I'd have a ball. Which I really hope is true. I've arranged farewell meetings with friends. I know I'll cry at most (alright, all) of them! I know that Nicky will try to make me cry! He really won't need to try to hard. I remember when Juliette left the Chris Moyles show, they had bets on when she'd cry, 'who had 8.04?'. That's what my friends should do, at least they might make a bit of money!

Shout at him!

Yesterday brother was down at the house, eating us out of house and home once again! It was a shame that Dad and I had gone shopping the day before and bought lots of tastiness. No doubt we'd have bought less if we'd known. But it was good to see him all the same.


Brother flaffing on tinternet, after he'd fallen asleep watching TV. That's a man in his prime!

My mum made buns yesterday when David was down. We scraped the bowl, eating the leftover mixture. It was like we were 5 and 7 again! Just for that moment when we were doing it, it was like David never got married and still lived here. Don't get me wrong, I love Karen, absolutely love her. And I think she's absolutely perfect for David. But for the afternoon, it was also like I had my brother back, all to myself.


Father and brother getting dinner (looks like David is praying, he's not, but he does!). You can see the buns in question, ah happy memories of times gone by!

Remember, remember

I'm pretty good at remembering things. There's a joke in our house which mocks my memory. If someone is recalling some past event and I chip in with another detail, someone (usually one of the parents, David isn't that obvious) will say 'it was a Tuesday' because I can associate days with what happened. Not my fault if you can't remember folks!

I can remember phone numbers and postcodes. I can sing along to a song I haven't heard in years. Earlier today I sang the 'Fun House' theme song (it's a real crazy show where anything can go!). I can quote lines from films. For instance, 'bollocks to him' - Sliding Doors. I can usually 'get' where I know an actor from within a few minutes. Recently I saw the policeman in 'Three Men and a Baby' in something and was pretty darn speedy in placing him!

I can remember dates too. I know my friends' birthdays from school even though I haven't seen them, let alone celebrated their birthday, in 10+ years. I also put that down to why I'm a (sometime) History and Politics teacher. Dates, places, events, no problem.

So why is it I'm so crap at remembering verses from the Bible and where they come from. Seriously I am AWFUL at it, I absolutely suck at remembering anything. I'm struggling even now to give you a verse now...let me think...hmm...got one, 'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you hope and a bright future.' Jeremiah 29.11

Seriously proud of myself for getting that one. But why should I be? I should be ashamed. My bible knowledge is awful, shockingly awful. I should be able to quote more than 1 verse. I should be able to reel off whole chapters, if this is what I believe and am prepared to live and die for. Less of my brain should be devoted to storing the lyrics to kids' TV programmes, films and dates. More should be given over to God.

International friends = good times

I'm going to post a few photos of the weekend, well actually just of Saturday night at Jenny's. I had a really good night, it was great to Jose and I'm super excited that he lives so close to where I'll be (provided I get my visa!), less excited about him telling me Asheville is the San Francisco of the East!


Linda and Jose (sporting his t-shirt from Munich - Mr World Traveller!)


Lovely Nicky (oooh crazy angles!)


Anna, Vicki, Rachel and Nikki (proving that Vicki can look better in photos than somebody!)

Tick tock, time doesn't stop

I just watched '49 Up'. If you've never heard of it, it's a programme that filmed a group of children in 1964 when they were 7 ('7 Up') and has returned to film them every 7 years since. It's a great idea for a programme, based on 'show me the boy at seven and I will show you the man'. They took children of different social backgrounds and looked at where their lives have gone. I remember the last one was on the week I turned 18 which I thought was profound, you know leaving childhood and all that!

It really does make me wonder about life. All the things you thought that you were going to do, and what you wanted to be, and how a lot of times they just don't work out how you planned.

Some of the interviewees get really bolshy when they are asked some questions. I suppose it might be quite intrusive, having a camera crew turn up on your doorstep every 7 years to ask you about your life over the last 7 years. Everybody has something that they're not proud of and to have to reveal that must be quite hard. It kind of supports my theory of why people don't like birthdays, because they haven't done the things that they thought they would have done by that age. But it is an amazing record of your life. The Guardian have an article about it, talking about the social history of Britain that it shows. It's here - you should read it.

And as sad as it is to say, I think the saying is true. But I wonder what it would be like now. It's no surprise that the children who were privately educated at 7 and learning Latin and what-not went to to university and became QCs and did well for themselves. Neither is it surprising that the ones who lived in care had much more of struggle. But society was different and think the division of the classes is less clear cut now. I vote for a new set of children to be followed, 7 Up:the 21st Century's children (although maybe you'd have to wait til 2007 for that!)

One man talked in the programme about how as long as you've got your family, you've got everything. I think that's true too. Really, as long as you've got family around you there's not much else you need. But I'd like to include friends in that bracket too!

Life is great and life is fine

Today is Saturday and I'm not doing much so I thought I'd write a blog and maybe it's time for the photos I talked about. But how do you do it so as the photos come through the post? I'm not sure! Except that I think I might have done it, I'm a computer genius, GENIUS it tell you!


Father in the supermarket (taken with my phone, not bad!)

Yes yesterday I went shopping with dad and bought a few tasty items, mini rolls and muffins being amongest them. It's all part of the '...your way thin' range. Tonight I'm going out to Jenny's in Bangor to see Jose who I know from ICYC. He's over from South Carolina. Shame that NI is all crazy at the moment.

Other things I might do this weekend

• watch Lost from the other night
• make cards for DYCW (they're only a year late!)
• tidy my room
• read Harry Potter

There's a fun weekend in store for me! There's nothing particularly fun to report so I'll maybe just sign off now and doss around somemore! Weekends are great, oh no wait, this is my life at the minute, I doss everyday!

New faces

When I was round at Lynsey's the other night we watched '10 years younger', presented by a woman who looks about 19, but is probably 53. The show tries to make people look younger by making them dress differently (in this case dress appropriately. A 45 year old wearing mini skirts and the likes?!), giving them a cool haircut and nicer colour. But the piece de resistance is the surgery they get. The woman got a brow lift, botox and somehow they made her sunken eyes appear less so. You saw the operation and the aftermath. The poor woman!

But it did raise the question with us of what we would get done given the opportunity. I'm not saying that we would ever do these things, just a conversation. Boob jobs, pinning ears, nose jobs, and liposuction were all discussed. I won't reveal who wanted what for fear that people might stare, but it was interesting.

The thing that you hate most about your appearance, chances are somebdy else hasn't even noticed. And so what if you hate your ears, isn't that the way God made you and if he'd wanted your ears to be less sticky-out then he'd have done it? Advances in medicine really are amazing, but is this really necessary? I suppose the argument is that for victims of fire and accidents it is. But for vanity, is that going too far? I suppose it just shows the hold that the media, in all its forms, has over us. We want to be perfect, but whose idea of perfect? God's? I'm pretty sure he already did that.

Hello blog (again!)

Yesterday I was round at Lynsey's and was telling her about the funny blogs that I had stumbled across. And she said that I should do one, (not because I'm funny so much as because she can read it in work when things are slightly dull). Little did she know that I had signed up way-back-when but had done nothing with it, so now I have decided to resurrect this and wirte about the life of Tina the Princess. Yes, I am!

So I've put a few links up the side of the blog, which was not as easy as it I thought it would be! They make you do it in computer code, so it's not as perfect as I might like it but then I'm not a computer geek!

I will also have to try to put a few photos on to brighten it up but maybe that's for another day! Too much excitement in one day can be dangerous for you, I hear. Tomorrow I've got my visa interview so I think I should limit the time spent on tinternet and go to bed (at least) moderately early.