Freedom

I made it to the end of my degree. I'm in the situation where I have to keep pinching myself. It's very strange. I think it's hard to dwell on it, it's not really an end, because I'm hoping to still be at Lancaster next year, doing my MA. I'm very happy, though. My exams went well. The questions I wanted came up. They were eventful, I had a broken right elbow (my writing arm). I got extra time, and the adrenaline got me through. Near the end of my final exam the fire alarm went off, and we all had to go outside for 10 minutes. It was strange, we weren't asked not to talk, so we were all milling together, with the tutors. We didn't talk about the exam, though - finals aren't something you want to mess up!

Raine and I have tried to kick back and relax. We had some people over, and had a chill out party. We've been hoping to go camping, but right on cue the weather turned - it's been generally awful since my final exam! It was so nice before hand, and I repeatedly asserted that the weather would turn bad as soon as I finished. It's not so funny now... I did manage to have a bike riding lesson at the end of last week. I managed to go about a mile, which I think is a fair attempt.

I'm trying to pick up lots of hours at work, I had to miss a couple of weeks, because of my arm, so our funds are a little low. I'm being entered into a national competition: 'Student Employee of the Year', which was obviously lovely news. I love my job, so it's nice to see that it's reflected in my work.

I also got another job, to fit around my 6 week Info Desk take over (I run it while the boss is on holiday). I'm going to be a supervisor, checking the rooms on campus. I'm chuffed I got the supervisor role - means an extra £1.30 an hour, and obviously it's great experience.

This weekend Paul's coming to visit. We're looking forward to seeing him. He hasn't been to the house yet. We last saw him in September. We have a few things planned.

Playing catch-up with the (cyber world) family

I apologise. It's been busy. You do stuff, and then suddenly there's too much to update on, so this is going to be a greatest hits type thing.

At Easter Raine and I went away, for one night to an amazing, otherworldly place: La Rosa (http://www.larosa.co.uk/). It's a campsite, filled with gypsy caravans and all things magical. Each van is themed. Ours was a wooden van, with a wood burning stove. A family of travellers live in there, before it came to La Rosa, and it was meant to reflect this - lots of books and little trinkets. A double bed was raised up, and hidden away at one end, at the other there was a kitchen. We had a meal provided by the owners, it was great - soup, cheese, bread, strawberries, heavenly fairy cakes. Unfortunately it rained quite a bit while we were there, so we didn't get to explore too much. We're going back in the summer, though.

Exciting news on the Uni front. My MA funding application got through the University (which is the most competitive part, I'm told). Still got to get through the Arts Council, but it's there. I finish my BA a week on Wednesday. Holding it together, had a blip midweek - really freaked out, but back together now.

Chris is gone:-D We had two parties to celebrate his leaving. He's been gone a month now, and the house is transformed (happy, clean, energy efficient). Loving living here and on our own - we never want to share again, we've had too many nightmares. We had a major shuffle round, we now have a study/double guest room on the middle floor. I managed to get a double futon/sofa bunk bed from Freecycle (a wonderful Yahoo family of groups - you sign up to your local one, and individuals send messages offering household items to a good home), which is perfect for the room.

We've started brewing our own beer. The plan is that it'll be ready in time for the Champion's League Final (Manchester United vs. Chelsea). Currently it's in the primary fermentation stage, and the whole house has a faint smell of beer, which is (perhaps worryingly) not entirely unpleasant.