Last week of term. Lots of work to do. Raine has deadlines this week. I don't have any, my work's just about keeping the momentum going. I'll kick myself if I don't keep working through the holidays. I really feel like I'm getting somewhere, and I'm getting a lot of positive feed back from my mentor. I thought I was ready to leave uni (at the end of this academic year, when I get my degree), but I'm being encouraged to stay on, and I would be upset if I had to finish after this year. It's where to get the money from, though.

Beer festival was good, if a little bit crazy. We managed to stake out a great spot - in one of the little alcoves. We displayed our souvenir pint glass trophies on a ledge around the alcove. Furness is the best bar on campus, it is the self-proclaimed "hotbed of socialism." The beer was good - lots of random flavours, from the novelty ginger nut, and lipbalm tasting cherry, to the serious ale lovers' dark, hoppy flavours.

My Plain Lazy tops have been coming in handy this week. Have had a lot of comments about my "Make Tea Not War" top. My dad came up last Friday, we went out for coffee, the manager of the shop chatted with me solely because of my top, and gave us both our coffees for £2 - individually they cost more than that. This is a good situation, we're not greatly well off at the moment. The holiday's had to be cancelled, because we're owed money - Chris couldn't find a job for ages, and we've had to support him. It's getting cold, and people keep telling me to wear a coat - if I could afford a coat I'd buy a pair of shoes! My favourite shoes, which I wear all the time have worn through at the back, so they rub my feet...I swapped to my other shoes, and the shoelace snapped. This is a point against remaining a student.

We're having my parents here for Christmas dinner. We're planning what to make already - very domesticated. We're going traditional, with turkey, but we're going to do our favourite mash: potato, sweet potato and carrot (it's excellent!), and honey roasted vegetables.

The car's being picked up tomorrow evening. As ever, we hope the work won't be extortionate. Her engine's been rattling around, the engine brace seems to have gone. Walking's been nice - good for us, and theraputic, but it gets a bit much in the rain. Have started to break the distance into songs...you can get to the uni entrance by the end of "Hey Little Rider"...