I returned back to the world of LST the week before term started. It was good to go home, but I was glad it was only for a short time. Returning to LST has always been like coming home. Being at my parent’s house, my routine got out of sync. and everything seemed hard work. But it was good to spend time with my parents, catch up with friends. Being able to help around the house was pretty awesome, not to mention the ability to run up stairs which showed a massive improvement in my health since coming back to LST in February.
While at home, I went with Victoria for her wedding dress fitting. How very exciting! This was made all the more interesting because she was in a sling following an operation on her shoulder the week before! The dress maker showed me how to tie her into the dress!
We also talked Hen weekend which was fun 🙂
On Thursday I went for a spontaneous picnic with an old school friend who now lives and works in London, Sophie. We were chatting on Facebook chat at lunchtime, and she wanted to go for a picnic to appreciate the good weather! I took along cake I’d made at home, and met Sophie and a friend of hers from work at Regents Park. Unfortunately by this time the sun was setting, so we got cold pretty quickly. But we were too busy enjoying our picnic, chatting and catching up (I’d not seen Sophie for a year), that we didn’t notice how dark it had got until we started to pack up. And then, we realised we were locked in Regents Park! What excitement! Hehe. Hilarious!
Unfortunately I wasn’t so well after that, possibly a mixture of overdoing it and getting a bit cold on the way home; the daytime sun can be so deceiving!
I’ve recently begun my Disney DVD collection, which is very exciting. On Friday a good friend came to visit, we ate food and watched the Jungle Book! Fun times. I’m not surprised why I was so scared of that film when I was a kid!
I didn’t make it to church on Sunday morning, but went with the LST group to St Andrews, Chorleywood in the evening. I found it really hard to worship. I was in a bad place. I just wanted to go home, back to LST. I received a text from Dad during the service and I knew something wasn’t quite right, so I called him straight after the service. He said he thought I’d like to know that mother had fallen in and taken a bite out of the boat in the process. To which I initially thought she’d crashed the boat, damaging it and the force threw her in the water. Then he said she’d done similar to me (in regards to smashing teeth), which confused me.
Dad has been re-designing the cratch, which is the front ‘porch’ of the narrowboat. So they were spending the weekend on the boat, Dad was doing woodwork. He asked Mum to help him with something, after which she either slipped or took a step backwards and ended up in the water between the boat and the mooring pontoon. But she hit her face on the boat on the way, which has misplaced 5 of her top teeth. Thankfully Dad was able to help her out of the River Trent with the help of another boater on the same pontoon.
We’re so thankful that she didn’t get knocked out, as the River has a strong current to it, and she could have been swept underneath the boat which wouldn’t have been so pretty. Although she doesn’t remember falling or hitting her face, just being in the water and thinking she needed to go up! I’m also glad it happened in front of Dad, I think he might have blamed her for being stupid had he not ‘seen’ it happen as such.
Mum has been pretty low this week, she was upset to have missed her colleagues retirement party on Sunday as she was in hospital. Last week I’d helped her choose a new dress for the occasion too! But she’s happy she’ll be wearing it new for my dissertation recital!
She also lost her glasses and her slippers (what was she doing on the outside of the boat in her slippers?!!)
I sent Mum a Get Well card, enclosing a couple of plasters for Coriander, where she ‘bit’ the boat! And I also explained that as much as she likes the fashion advice of her daughter, there are somethings, like smashing teeth that she shouldn’t try to emulate!
Saying all this, she was in work on Tuesday, her reasoning being that she wouldn’t get paid for the first three days off sick, and she said she can’t afford not to work… 😦
I managed to get some work done before term started, but not quite as much as I’d hoped. I wanted to take advantage of a lecturer’s offer to read drafts of my Arts essay, especially as I’ve not been here all year… but by Tuesday I’d only managed to get a third written.
Tuesday was an overwhelming day, people returning etc made me pretty anxious, just hearing the buzz of more people around college was draining. I realised that this is it; the beginning of the end. I will graduate this year. But I had forgotten about reading for our sexuality module, but didn’t have time to read it. I’d not done as much as I’d wanted for Arts. I still really want to do my Orchestral Arranging project, but hadn’t done much on it at all. I thought I’d been fairly productive over the holidays, but I’m beginning to think not enough.
I received an email from St John’s Wilmslow, they liked my application and have invited me to visit them for the weekend at the beginning of May – straight after my dissertation recital! That week is going to be crazy, with All Souls Prom Praise rehearsals for the RAH gig on May 8th too. [I’m hoping that playing at RAH will take my mind of the date?]
I saw Robert with the written part of my dissertation on Tuesday morning, he seemed fairly impressed and gave me a few things to tidy up 🙂 I’ve since sent him my *final* draft! Yay! I just need to tidy up my chronology of Beethoven’s life and works, and write my programme notes and add both to the appendices, then I think I’m done. Harah.
Wednesday was crazy. I should have listened to the warning signs. I was struggling even in chapel to stand and sing. Yet lots of people were telling me how well I am doing, and I couldn’t argue with them, but I was hurting. Instead of listening to the pain I ignored it.
I got very anxious when our Sexuality lecturer told us he wanted us to host a two hour debate on the subject of homosexuality in 2 weeks time; that is my dissertation recital day! ARGH
I had a rehearsal with Steve, my pianist for my recital, on Wednesday afternoon. It went well. He’s really impressed how much I’ve improved over the last year which was good to hear 🙂 It was really helpful for me to play with the piano accompaniment, to get to know how the parts work together. I’m really looking forward to my recital.
Obviously there’s been much talk of politics this term, which keeps meal times lively! I’m hoping to arrange to do a postal vote, but I’m relying on Dad to tell me what to do, how I contact Rushcliffe…
However, Wednesday evening I crashed big time. I felt so ill. I was seeing stars. I wound up on the floor whilst trying to take off my shoes. I put myself to bed early. Thursday, Lizzie woke me up, but I was still in so much pain, it was horrible. Somehow I managed to get to my lectures. I planned on making a bacon sandwich in coffee time, but there was a fire drill, so I didn’t have chance, and then it was lunchtime after the next lecture.
I spent the rest of the day resting, and taking it easy, but trying not to sleep, knowing it’d mess up my sleep pattern. I sat outside in the sunshine for an hour, which really helped my mood as I’d been incredibly low. I was able to tidy my room which made me feel better 🙂 I picked up in the evening, but soon felt the warning signs returning so went to bed at a sensible time… but I didn’t sleep until 6am!! But, I got to hear the birds morning chorus which was lovely! And I didn’t even think about taking more drugs than I should, which is pretty amazing… I just went with it and watched iPlayer! I was able to sleep until lunchtime today, when I felt better. Although I’d been woken up by Maintenance dept at 10.30 in the roof space above my room and I heard ‘…I’ll go and fetch the poison…’ which made my last hour and a half of sleep more disturbed!
I wore a skirt today, which is usually a sign I’m not so depressed 🙂 I tried working this afternoon, but have been struggling with my Arts essay. I know there is a blatant link between Suffering and Creativity, but I need to find some scholars who say as much; I only had Rob Bell until this evening! But I think I’ve found some good links now… so hope to make good progress on it tomorrow, so I can send it to Chris 🙂
I did practice in Chapel before tea, playing through my dissertation programme, which was really uplifting. I know it’s going to go okay, there are only a few tiny little corners I need to polish now. I just need to be careful not to overdo it! This evening, I put on my dress and shoes that I’ve been saving for my recital, with the hope of trying it with my cello in chapel. But I couldn’t get into Chapel this evening, which was frustrating.
I am looking forward to my lessons in the next few weeks with Margaret and Sue in Eton.
I also got a message inviting me to Amelia’s hen do in June. Exciting times.
On the whole I am really looking forward to this term. I love everything we’re studying. It’ll be exciting finding out what happens next. But I am also sad to think I will be leaving the place I so fondly call home; the people, the security, the support, etc.
I think that is all for now! I’m hoping for a fruitful Saturday and looking forward to Sunday in Finchley!
