Oh my goodness!

I forgot to mention. I've just seen How To Train Your Dragon and Streetdance.

I want Toothless.

And I want to dance again.

And all the other bits.

These are all the bits I've missed out on from the past few months. Since I now have time to mess about, I've given the blog a makeover too. Isn't it pretty?! This post is made from a mishmash of partial posts. Mostly I've copy pasted to try and keep some of the original feel to them. I know what I'm like. If I start editing then I end up with a bland mush that no one wants to read. so here 'tis.

June

Well to start with I'm out of that awful student housing over in Birkby and now I've just gone well up market. I now live somewhere I am proud to call home and have people to visit. And oh my WORD the garden! I'll take some pictures and post them at some point. The rental market is really moving fast. After the debacle of the previous house falling through because the tenant refused to move out even though she had been given notice, this was the only property that was still available at the viewing that we liked and felt we could fit into By now (September) we are nicely settled and have permission to get a cat!(and yes, that was worthy of the exclamation mark. I am so excited about this.) In fact, the only mess in the house is mine. 

Some things never change.

This was one of the better ones!

July

I've graduated! With a good 2.i as well, so that means that my plans for a PhD are still on track, if I get any responses to my applications that is. I wrote the next paragraph intending to post it on the morning of my graduation. As you can see, I like leaving things until the last minute:

Well bother. The other half is locked in the toilet and the door handle has come off. Thank goodness for step-dads! And to top it off a tube of super-glue has just exploded in my face when I was trying to mend an earring. Cue me holding my face very still  for five minutes whilst the glue dries. Good thing it was only a little tube. Glued the ruddy butterfly to the earring as well...

It all turned out all right, although you can't see those button earrings! and my wonderful step-dad Alf had to remove the entire lock mechanism as well. If he hadn't have been there, we would have been waiting for the emergency repairman. Just what you need when I was ready to shake Patrick Stewart's hand...

Where did we eat?!

It was my friends birthday this month as well. And we went to Frankie and Bennie's. Tell me what is wrong with this picture after the box came for the rest of the pizza:

I'm falling with style!

One hell of a bath...

And! (This was a busy month)
The Huddersfield Pendragon Round Table's Duck race also occured. That time of year when people race thousands of rubber duckies down the river: 

I found an amazing second hand book shop as well. The type of second hand book shop all second hand book shops should be  (That sounds like a tongue twister. Only, you know, an easy one that I can manage)

August

I've not done all that much - worked until the end of the month when I finished my placement.  It feels so weird not having to get up each morning and go to the lab. In a way I was more sad with this than I was with the fact that I graduated and wouldn't attend any more lectures. This placement has been a constant from the beginning of my third year. I worked for Dr. Humphreys throughout my final year as well and went back full time after my exams. I caught myself still referring to it as my lab the other day. so I'm going to have to just get used to it. Not having to get up in the morning has meant that I inevitably sleep in until ten these days, and then the morning is mostly wasted. although all this free time (after I've finished tidying) should give me plenty of time to start writing again. Fingers crossed. 

Now I need to find a PhD or (horror of horrors) a real job.

September (new as it is)

I've joined the Huddersfield Sports Centre. Which means I am now a member of a decent gym and besides that, have access to a swimming pool I don't have to pay through the nose for as I have it included in my membership price. And structured fitness lessons! Deep water aquafit had me in fits of giggles. I don't know if I will ever manage to balance on the woggle. All I have to do to get my moneys worth is to go more than twice a week, and given the variety of things available there, I think I can manage that :)

On a more serious note, I need this membership because if I don't exercise then I don't loose weight. And I so desperately need to do that that I'm just glad I have finally managed to kick my ass into gear. And it has worked: Last week at WeightWatchers I lost 3 lbs. I guess the proof is in the (healthy!) pudding.

I have also discovered www.fitocracy.com an absolutely amazing site where I you get points for doing exercise, and can level up and do quests and and and... anyway, it's amazing. And it has conned me into doing more exercise, even if it is just a set of crunches so I can get more points. Not sure what that says about me...

Swimming!

I am so much slower than I used to be-an hour to do half a K instead of two hours to do 3K. Sometimes I hate myself for letting me go to pot. Still, I'm a stone lighter than January. And whilst it's been a stone lighter since May, at least it hasn't gone back on. Just another 8 stone left to loose in two and a half years. I should be fine :D

I will have to speed up at swimming, if only for my own self esteem. Just as soon as I find myself a new swimming suit. Turns out, whilst I fit into it on dry land, not so much in the water. After that first lap, had to swim on my back.

But I don't think anyone saw the fall out.

New polish

Ain't I gettin girly.

Internets!

I'll soon be back! Just need to stop pretending I'm a student. Lots of bloggage later, I promise.

'THULHU!

This lead to this which makes me want to watch this. 

Awww

This is new for me: Review time - Graze Nibble Box

oooh! What's in my box?

I recently got a discount for a Graze box. By discount, I mean one free one and one half price so I thought I would give it a go. The website can be found here. After looking at the site, I decided to go for the 'nibble box' once a week. There are two types of boxes: nibble and nutritional, where you choose from only the most nutritional choices.  I actually got my first box last week, but I was so excited I didn't wait to take any pictures.

It's all a load of nuts. The inside of my Graze box

I was quite surprised by a thump it made as it fell through the letter box: yes, it fits through the letter box. The length is less than a side of A4 paper. but as can be seen, there is four pots of snacks. This week they were all nuts from firey cashews to pistachios and almond mixture as I love nuts, but there is a wide range of of other things including dried fruit and nut mixes (some with chocolate!), seeds, foccacia and flapjacks. Over all there is more than one hundred things to choose from. And even better, if you tell them you don't like it, then you won't get it. Any thing else, and it is a free for all, a random choice every week. But if you really love something, again, rate it and you will get it more often.

It tastes good too, and I found a box lasted me a couple of days as afternoon and morning snacks. They post first class as many times a week as there are Royal Mail deliveries. And they arrive when they say they will. I must admit, I was wondering if it would be late but so far it's been great.

Onto the prices. Normally a box is £3.49, but on the website at the minute, there is an offer to get the first box at half price.

I like Graze. The packaging is all recycled and recyclable - even the plastic and the information booklet. The snacks taste good and it is something I think I will carry on with. £3.50 a week is quite a good price to 'eat more healthy food (fewer biscuits)'