So I have no pictures... because I was being authentic. But it's all good because I know Phil has some and a shitload of random public so you never know.

Friday

Got up at about 10, went round Dudley and bought nothing useful except a chocolate muffin and the Master's laser screwdriver from B+M (lights up, extends, tis a thing of nerdy beauty).

Waited.

Went on NWN, did a bit of writing.

Waited.

At about 4.30 (therefore about an hour after Matt said they'd be off) I got a call off Phil saying Matt had called him and said that he'd be late... because he'd overslept. I don't blame the poor thing because he'd had about four hours sleep since he'd done a night shift until 7 that morning but even so...

I think it was at about 8.30 that they finally turned up in the minibus because Matt had been talking so loud Nelly hadn't been able to hear the satnav telling her to turn off the motorway lol. Vikings did a quick comfort break. Met Kurt and John from the Isle of Man and Alex from Ireland. Phil was also in there as well so I bunged my stuff in and joined them.

Que much driving, some stopping at service stations and then we arrived at Hastings for about 12.30. In the dark and the pouring rain... Got the toothpaste tent set up which was acting as a combo of where Matt and I were sleeping and a general storage place. Then in the rain we went to take Phil to set his inauthentic tent up. Que me sliding down a muddy slope on my ass because English Heritage hadn't put down any matting. Phil also went flying. So in the pouring rain I was trying to help Phil set up his tent while Matt sat under a tree drinking mead because "three people trying to set up a tent is too many". Yeah thanks.

In the end Phil couldn't sleep in there because it was full of water so he ended up sleeping in the mini bus with Nelly while I collapsed into our tent and latched on to Matt to leech all his body heat.

Saturday

Woke up, got up to check my watch and realised I could see my breath in our tent. Tried to go back to sleep but ended up getting up to meet other Lethrals from across the country, including Andy and Kaz who were awesome and Richard and Kerry who were also lovely. Managed to poke Matt into waking up and setting up Duncan and Emma's tent and dragged Kurt into taking me viking/saxon shopping!

Went to the stall directly opposite us and got some authentic shoes, the guy was really cool and knocked money off for us. Then I went and got completely arse raped by the guy selling the only helmets I could find in the place. In fairness the quality's very good... but I got ripped off. At that point I was unsure about weapons, so I left it and borrowed one of Kurt's three axes.

Matt had got the other authentic tent up so we went to the skirmish first of all. Managed to kill Phil and then got killed very quickly by some woman. Rest of it was pretty alright, but when they did squishy vs mail we all got wiped out.

Had lunch and then ended up putting our helms/chain/weapons on loads of kids who materialised out of nowhere when Matt asked the question of "would you like to try the chainmail on?" to one small boy. I didn't mind though and I even got a mom to try it on and an Asian tourist guy who was really funny.

Duncan and Emma turned up ridiculously hung over after travelling down from Duncan's sister's wedding the night before. They eventually got kitted up and joined in on the main battle with us. Only we had to be Normans. Let's just say no one was very happy about that, least of all Matt who'd been working himself up to be a Saxon again ever since last Hastings. I wasn't too bothered tbh, but it's a bit disheartening when as soon as you're proclaimed as on the Norman side everyone goes BOOOOOOO! ;_;

Lasted for a fair while, gave some injuries and then just died at the last clash... but that was after we defected to the Saxon side. Lol I saw Duncan had swopped, then I saw Andy. So I jumped through as well. Duncan got a right bollocking for it apparently and we were told we now HAD to be Norman's the next day.

Ate dinner, bought a sword that Emma checked for me and then started getting pissed. Did some belly dancing and then had Emma and someone else join in... then we were joined by some random very drunk viking men which was very funny.

Things got a bit weird later on and Matt and I ended up crashing out early.

Sunday

Woke up and asked where Duncan and Emma were... turned out that Emma had fucked up her diabetes stuff by drinking a shit load at the wedding and then when they tried to check her blood levels the machine had no batteries. So they went to hospital. We then find out she's having to be kept in until Tuesday ;_;.

Went for the skirmish and died straight away even though I'd gone up in Saxon ranks in one day through buying my sword /m/. We did better in squishy vs mail though and destroyed Matt's side (mwahaaha).

Duncan appeared for a bit and ate with us before gathering stuff up to go back to the hospital again. The poor guy was having to sleep wherever he could there because noone from the Vik lives near Hastings...

This time in the main battle we were actually cast as mercenaries, which was awesome and also meant that we weren't in the front line of the shield wall again. It also meant we got the crossbowmen to help us out. I actually didn't die!

Ate dinner and then everyone started packing up. Trying to get Duncan and Emma's stuff together was a complete pain in the arse because we hadn't unpacked it... so it was a matter of shoving it in bags and hoping for the best. Got everything down by the time it was dark and hopped into the minibus again!

Got home for about 12.30 and said goodbye to everyone. Bath... best thing ever. I did find out I've now got a technicolour bruise on my knee and my upper arm is black.

I'm tempted to take my mighty helm into work tomorrow because Gemma doesn't believe people actually do re-enactment. That or like Matt says, I'll just wear my kit for dress down day!

Had an awesome time, wishing the public would hurry up and upload stuff onto the internet so I could see it!

Work's been bleh.

Belly dancing belt has still not arrived.

Tai chi on Wednesday was AWESOME because we did freaky energy stuff, the kind of stuff I'd really been missing from the old Wednesday night classes. It was weird because I was thinking about how much I missed it and then boomph there it was.

Thursday I did a bleh day's work and then drove over to Notts. Went to Matt's ate the dinner he'd made me (^_^) and then drove over to Duncan and Emma's house. By the time we got there, got all the stuff in the car Matt had to go to work... which I felt a bit bad about but then we'd both taken the piss abit about time. It was weird because Phil, the photographer from Bloodstock, was there staying over with them.

We went to the pub where they have fight club and I got kitted up with borrowed stuff, did some quick refresher training and then did the test. It was hard... I passed it though which is the main point. Need to work on my footwork and blocks but given it was the first proper training session I'd had since the training weekend and million years ago I'm quite pleased. It also means I can go fight on the field at Hastings /m/.

Phil did clock me on the jaw with his shield, but he passed too ^_^

The realisation of Hastings being next weekend suddenly sunk it at that point. Went back to the flat and finished watching Full Metal Alchemist (WTF!?! CRAP ENDING!), finished reading The Princess Bride (film is a lot better) and then went to bed.

Friday was nice. Hung out around the flat with Matt until Greg went to work, then we went to a random pub I found on the internet to have dinner. He was actually pleased with his lamb for a change, he hasn't had much luck with dinner choices in the past. It was nice to just go out, sit and talk and have a nice meal etc... do normal couple things. It upset me a bit later on, because I was just thinking "it shouldn't be like this, we shouldn't have to feel like we have to jump at these chances".

Went round to Gaz and Jo's and saw their new addition who is GORGEOUS and pudgy and sweet. But then of course I know I can say this because she's not around 24/7. I am not getting rose tinted baby related glasses atm.

Moved from there to Ben and Jemma's where there was a poor tired Jemma. Matt kicked my ass on Smash Bros on the wii, helped by Ben ;_; Matt's Mi looks like a dopey ant man.. Played on house of the dead as well until everyone ended up needing to crash.

Talked about random LotR and Hobbit related things late into the night/morning...

Woke up this morning and felt like shit. I didn't want to leave him in bed, I didn't want to leave the bed full stop. Got all my stuff packed up, started crying again and then left ¬_¬ Nearly got blown off the motorway with the crazy wind going on...

Went to Asda to find that they wouldn't take my tablecloth back without the packet, bought a brown one and some work gloves to viking up. Will now end up taking the black table cloth and gloves back. Mwaaha..

Got home eventually, ate breakfast at 12 and then rushed up to town. Wish I hadn't bothered. Couldn't find any better gloves, picked up two meh books and then went home. By this point it was 1.15 and I had to be at tai chi for 2pm. Had the world's fastest bath and by the time I'd dried my hair there was no time for lunch so had fun sized malteasers in the car lol.

When I finally got to tai chi we found out we'd been double booked. So there we were, trying to do energy work while a load of penisoners faffed around with a sound system. Trying to do chen exercises to "return to sender" was just too funny. Did finally see Cris though, which was awesome. Sam has also got a ridiculously gorgeous straight sword for her b'day... patterned steel and everything...

Came home and devoured chips because I was too hungry to wait for things to cook. Waited till mom and Richard had eaten and then GREAT VIKING KIT PRODUCTION DRIVE 09 began. Mom machined the stuff, leaving me to hem it while I set to work on the gloves. I'd been up into the loft: no gloves, looked in the cupboard: no gloves. Went into the garage.... 50000000 PAIRS OF GLOVES. They weren't exactly what I needed but I've cannibalised two of the best pairs into something pretty decent. I do feel like the Thing from Fantastic Four wearing them though O_o

Mwaaha kit... I just hope it's all alright now! Still need to buy shoes, a helm and a weapon but that'll have to wait till Bloodstock. Living by the wisest thing Rob ever said to me atm: I'm buying it all now, because when I'm living on my own I won't be able to afford it.

Am still trying to get over the fucking price of getting new glasses...

£115 for the privillage of getting new lenses in my old frames. It's a joke. The lenses were £90... ;_; Haven't had a new pair in ages though, I remember I was still working in the cinema when I got them... but I don't remember which year of the cinema it was.

It was horrible though... I hate spending that much money, it is actually like a phobia so I was sat there with this ridiculously perky woman feeling like someone was booting me in the stomach... At least with the TV I could just quickly hit some buttons and then pretend it had never happened... sitting there was just... fucking horrible. If you hate spiders then imagine having one sat on your hand LOOKING at you.

This week is dragging so badly.

Belly dancing on Tuesday was awesome, definitely going to sign up for it. Feel a bit under pressure though given Emma's been doing it for about two years now and we're going to be having a belly dancing shisha party at Hastings O_o.

OMFG I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVEN'T UPDATED ABOUT THE WEEKEND! THAT WILL COME SEPARATELY.

But yes, my belly dancing teacher can only be described as a goth Marsha from Spaced. But she is brilliant. The story of how I met her will be included in the weekend.

Work is really being bleh with me atm... actually kind of being a bit arsey with customers because for the past two days all I've done is argue with them and repeat myself. Today I had a woman who went ON and ON about how she couldn't stay on the phone, I couldn't sort out what she wanted... so I know for a fact she did this trying to wind me up, she made me stay on the phone with her for about 30 mins while she made me repeat the same transactions over and over because "it didn't add up". Bollocks to that.

But yes, I'm blinder... ah well. I'd rather have glasses that didn't fly off my face and were the ones I wanted originally... I am NEVER going back to D+A again though, complete rip off merchants.

I need to do this now I've recovered and after I've edited over 200 pictures and uploaded two videos O_o

Thursday

Piled the stuff into the car and then progressed to Duncan and Emma's where we filled the car with even more stuff. Popped over to Asda to load up on food and booze and then finally got back to the flat where Greg had been waiting patiently for us.

We were convoying over there, unfortunately I wasn't taking my satnav for obvious reasons and then they decided to shut the main road we needed to travel down. After some irritation and poor lane changing skills we ended up going back to the A52, onto the M1 and off that way.

On arrival no one knew what the hell to do with us. We went between the main gate and the VIP/artists one about ten times before a woman and man turned up in a Bloodstock jeep, said they knew who we were and would be back. She did indeed return but with Orange carpark passes and gold wristbands.

We were a bit confused but finally parked up right next to where we were camping (MWAHAHAA) and set about the tent construction. Greg was struggling, I was doing fine and then Matt started getting irritated about the fact it looked like he'd got the wrong porch pole for Duncan and Emma's tent. Swearing abounded until it turned out Greg's pole was ridiculously small... so they swapped. Only it turned out Matt had then stolen ours. Swapping again.

Devoured a roast chicken we'd bought from Asda and then met some of the other people in the camp including a photographer called Phil and an awesome bloke called Andy who gave us bin bags.

Went for a wander about and then had a couple of drinks. Went to see the Fuel Girls only to have Greg end up decking someone who elbowed him in the nose and Matt falling asleep on the floor. So we ended up retiring to bed early only to find some more vikings had finally turned up.

Friday

Woke up and Matt, Greg and Phil played with Matt's three man water balloon launcher... which had a ridiculous range. Ended up hitting poor people in the que to get in rather than security.

Drove over to the Lichfield station to pick up Duncan and Emma to find that there was an Aldi right next door. Food and alcohol was bought before we ventured back to the campsite. When they went to get their wristbands I discovered our gold ones meant access to the VIP campsite and bar. HELLOOOOO CLEAN TOILETS (best luck/timing ever).

Went to go and see Saxon for the novelty factor... and they were actually pretty damn good. Cheesy rock ^_^ Missed Katatonia and went to see Arch Enemy and Carcass. Later kicked myself that I'd COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT PYTHIA ¬_¬ Arch Enemy were really good, was a bit non-plussed about Carcass though.

Returned to the campsite and used the first of Gregg's disposable bbq's and had a massive amount of burgers /m/ Was a very happy Fliss at that point.

Saturday

Woke up to find that more vikings had arrived and were arriving. Stumbled out of the tent and ate a hearty breakfast of yet more cereal bars before I went off to watch Battlelore on my lonesome. They were really good, a lot better with the original bloke singer. Annnnd they played my favourite song so I was very happy.

Returned to the campsite to find that the vikings had vanished. Went back to the roped off area that seemed to suggest that they'd be there and found a stray viking. Apparently the others had gone to do a tour around the site to get people to come along.

Matt and co did some kick ass fighting. There are two videos on facebook that are made of win, especially the one with me and Gregg shouting lmao.

Went on a booze run which nearly killed my car given it had Duncan in chain mail, Matt in chain mail, me, Emma and Mice who is almost twice as tall and wide as Matt. Raided the Aldi and then returned.

Went shopping with Emma rather than watch the boys fight again and bought a verrry nice top. Also spotted a sexy bag that goes with my tattoo dress... hinted rather heavily to Matt when I got back that it'd make a good b'day present so he got it for me and is now off the hook.

Got my album signed by Battlelore and then went to see Apocalyptica... They were AWESOME. Completely beat the time that I saw them in Birmingham and they seemed to really be enjoying themselves. From the sound of it apparently Matt and Duncan enjoyed pitting to hall of the mountain king /m/ Blew the others away so was very smug at insisting they saw them.

Rather than going to see COF we ended up having another BBQ which the evil security made us move to camp A. Drunkenly wandered from there to the Shisha tent where drunken Fliss was introduced to the Vikings... lmao we got on well. Helped by the fact I was learning belly dancing from Emma.

The boys went off to cause trouble so Emma and I wandered around. Ended up begging for crepe money from a random man so Emma could get her blood sugar up lol.

Sunday

Dragged myself out of bed even though there was no one I wanted to see till about 2pm to watch Matt fight. Thankfully I did as he ended up getting hit by Mice's sword on his forearm and got a bruise the size of an egg on it. Took it to the medical tent who told us to come back in half an hour (!), on the return we went back, she jiggled it about and then told us we'd need to go to Burton hospital because she thought it might be broken ¬_¬

Followed the ambulance car and sat for two hours in A+E for someone to jiggle his arm again and then tell him he needed an xray. Waited about another hour for that and then for the results which thankfully told us it wasn't broken. Got directions back to the A38 from the receptionist and returned.

Had missed Turisas and Equilibrium so pegged it over to see Moonspell who were damn good. Then got my album signed by Equilibrium and grabbed Matt and co to go watch Amon Amarth who were thankfully late. No matter how much I screamed tattered banners they didn't play it ;_;.

Went back to the campsite to get drunk before Europe and succeeded. Picked up a BOA tee as well as a nice my dying bride one to compensate for the fact they had NO Amon Amarth merch! Matt returned with a necklace for me as a festival present ^_^

Managed to sneak Matt's drinking horn full of whisky and coke into the arena and got absolutely rat arsed listening to Europe. Returned to the shisha tent where more debauchery occurred and then returned to the tents where I sat about with Andy and his mates shouting random Father Ted quotes and singing my lovely horse.

Finally retired to bed to be shortly joined by Matt who had returned with a stolen flag and sign from one of the stalls.

Monday

Wanted to sleep forever but had to get up as I'd promised one of the vikings a trip to the station so he could get the train. Packed up as best I could and then dropped him off, returned to the site again and packed the car. Said our goodbyes which was shit and then went tatting.

Picked up a solid fuel burner for myself and a gas stove that Matt's looking after that had been left behind because the case was fucked. Hopefully works, if not we've lost nothing. Duncan and Emma got the best haul, but it's now an art that I love.

On the way back everyone decided they wanted to go to some roadside cafe that Duncan knew... after a lot of lane changing and me wanting to cry we finally got there. I fell asleep on the table and tiredness set in. Was looking forward to crawling into bed but we had to stop off at Matt's THEN drop Duncan and Em off and THEN return... Started crying on the way home because I was so tired and sick of driving.

Got back to Matt's slept solidly for two hours and then cried because I had to go home. Drove home, had a bath and ate a decent meal... then got my second wind and watched Iron Man, downloaded the pictures and then finally went to sleep stupidly late.

Random memories

Inappropriate mankini woman that Greg thought was a man from behind
FUCK OFF WASPS!
People counting how many times they saw my underwear (skirt is not suitable for camping)
Defeating the vampiric doc martens of evil
The autistic guy who was determined to try on every bit of Viking kit
How many vikings can you fit in a fiesta?
Fighting on the log

Okay, okay so this is ridiculously late but I've had swine flu and then went straight up to Nottingham after we came back...

Tuesday

After all the passport/face drama we got up at about 5am, ate breakfast and then went to the airport via mom's car.

Lol mom hadn't realised how massive longstay carparks are for airports and we only found a space after about 20mins of searching because some people gestured to one. They turned out to be a family who go to the last school mom was teaching at! Coincidences!

Rushed to the bus which took us to the terminal, tried to rush through security... Lol Richard and Matt haven't been on a plane since 2001... so they were a bit shocked at the amount of stuff they had to take off. I mean with Matt he practically had to go through in his underwear as he's got metal in his boots, shit loads of viking bling and then his belt kept setting it off.

Managed to quickly grab some food from boots and then got onto the plane. It amused him how nervy I am at taking off... It was really nice sitting next to him though and having someone's hand to break.

Landed in Zurich and then went through security ALL over again... and this time it took longer. It's funny how Matt is blatently targetted by airport security across the land.

Flew over a lot of beautiful landscape (didn't see any wild toblerones though) and then landed in Budapest... We all hopped into a taxi and got driven recklessly at about 90mph through crazy traffic. The hotel itself basically occupied the top floor of a three story building. The guy who owns it was there at the door and he was SO NICE all through our trip. The place was beautiful... though I had to take the left side of the bed when Matt nearly knocked himself out on the sloping ceiling.

We tried getting organised to look about the place together... but it wasn't happening so we separated off into couples. Matt and I had a good meander about and then grabbed some food from a supermarket to make chunky sandwiches. Saw the basillica and the opera house among some other stuff. When we came back mom and Richard were already there, they'd been to an awesome bar/resturant and promised to take us the next day.

The thing I learnt walking around was you can get into the scuzziest areas of Budapest and it will have, slightly run down but RIDICULOUSLY ORNATE buildings. Kind of like Venice with roads...

Wednesday

Aka the day that killed my feet...

We went across the main link bridge and up the massive hill to where the palace was. The view from there was amazing but it was SO BLOODY HOT. Matt was also dressed like a ninja again to try and keep the sun and dirt away from his face... Had a look round everything there including the Matthias fountain and nipped in the art gallery so the viking could clean his face up.

Went around the castle town, which was nice enough. It does amuse me though how they love adding on to ruined buildings with blatently modern building materials... Saw the Matthias church which was also awesome, and the Fisherman's bastion which looks like something out of Disney.

Spent fucking AGES looking for this Labrynth thing that's underneath the castle hill, basically a load of old tunnels that had been done up to make them an attraction. We eventually found it after ignoring the guidebook and the map and then asking an icecream seller.

It was... interesting. There were parts of it that I didn't like, not because of it being dark but just because of it not feeling pleasant... It was done up for kids really... I know everyone felt like they'd been ripped off and I'm sure that the older caves are somewhere else.

Next came the slog up Gellert hill... it was HOT, I was tired and the thing was fucking STEEP. I swear everyone must have thought I was the most unfit person in the world but I just don't do well in heat. Saw the monument of the saint that got pushed off the top of the hill then got to the top. I have never been so happy to see a magnum in my entire life. When we were up there there were some policitian people... very inconspicous except for the fact they were surrounded by massive guys in suits with earpieces.

Made the decent back down the hill and I could have cried when Richard was being indecisive about where to eat and I could tell Matt was getting pissed off by it again. We decided to go to the ruined place that had been converted and it was AWESOME. Matt fell in love with it and then with the fact that pretty much for no money we had burgers the size of our faces.

When we eventually went to leave I found I could hardly walk anymore... I'd got a shitload of blisters and my ankles had swollen up... So limped back to the hotel and then up the three flights of stairs. Mom was pretty horrified when she saw the state of my feet.

Thursday

Because of said terrible feet we explored the world of Budapest public transport. Btw, the roads are crazy there... EVERY crossing is like a zebra crossing... and it seems down to the cars whether or not they want to stop for you. Hopped on a train to the Roman ruins. Yes, Budapest has Roman ruins. It was really interesting, the museum had some amazing statues and finds... they looked almost brand new. Looked around the ruins of the town and saw the small ampitheatre they had. Matt got a bit bored and decided to hunt the little lizards about the place (**rolls eyes**).

Got the train back and then went to Margaret Island which everyone loved. They had a MASSIVE fountain there that we sat on the edge of while it went off to random bursts of classical music. It was also shady. Which was awesome. Explored the rest of the island including the ruined churches which were beautiful. The best part though was the Japanese water gardens which were gorgeous and had little turtles in the water. Took the bus (driven by an angry wasp?) back.

Returned back to the hotel for a bit and then made our way up to the Heroes Monument which was very cool. Fought across the traffic and took a load of pictures as darkness fell. Went over to the castle that's been turned into the ministry of agriculture to have a look at stuff there but there was a concert on and the mean woman turned us away.

Had dinner at a nice Italian resturant (you can't really find Hungarian places easily...) and enjoyed my pasta ^_^

Friday

Were RUSHED out of the hotel and through the streets (Richard got us lost again by not listening to Matt's common sense) to get to the boat. JUST made it in time and caught a glimpe of the statue of Hermes that I'd longed to see. The boat trip was a good few hours up the Danube we sat up top for a while until Matt and I migrated downstairs and fell asleep lol.

Our destination was a ruined castle where Vlad Tepes (Dracula) had been held by the turks for a while and was pretty much the oldest castle in Budapest. It was good, but it was a the top of a MASSIVE fuck off hill and I felt like I was dying. Turns out it was the onset of teh swineflu. The place was nice, but it had been done up too much again... which I don't think I agree with.

After we'd had a look round there we got back on the boat and then there was a sort of falling out between everyone and Richard. We were all unsure what we wanted to do about dinner that night and Matt had pretty much no money. So then all of a sudden Mom suggests getting some takeaway food from somewhere and having a junk food night, everyone loved this except Richard who doesn't really seem to eat anything and wanted to watch the sun set from GELLET HILL. Erm no. Me and Matt refused and said we'd do our own thing, so mom ended up going with him to the castle instead.

We navigated over to the Hermes statue of epic win then back to the awesome ruined place. Had dinner there and then went back to the hotel. We got a bit worried when they still hadn't come back at about 10pm. Then they turned up and mom was angry because he'd made them hang about for so long without getting anything to eat and then he couldn't find a place to eat... so mom had ended up getting a couple of rolls from a supermarket.

Matt and I sheltered in our room and watched The Descent on the massive TV there ^_^

Saturday

Got most of my stuff packed in the morning and then we went to look inside St Stephen's Basillica. It was really beautiful inside but we didn't get to see the mumified hand/relic ;_;.

Matt went back to the hotel while the rest of us tried to find another church, wish we hadn't bothered because it was undergoing renovation and most of it was fenced off ¬_¬

Security at the airport went smoothly this time, but I was feeling like crap. Really faint and really sick. Everyone just thought it was dehydration but of course that wasn't the case (as I now know).

We came back and got a Chinese before I drove Matt back up to Notts. Found out on the way up that Ben and co had swine flu and then that it was Lee's birthday... so at EXACTLY a week to the very minute we turned up at the place where Matt set himself on fire to see the people who had been as helpful as a chocolate teapot in the sahara desert... I was civil.

Fin.

So today I decided to be pretty productive and for the most part it worked out.

Before work I made my sandwiches etc then went over the road to finally get my prescription and that sorted.

Work was... meh. Got some time off the phones to listen to new to business calls though which is a good sign as it shows they're interested in training me up on it.

My typing today has been out of this world, but then I think that's because I've been doing a lot of complaints so it pretty much just comes out naturally rather than me having to think about what I'm typing to make sure I get all the info in.

During my lunch break I decided to take my car to get washed for the first time in what I can honestly only think of as being a year O_o In my defence it doesn't look dirty unless it's dark or you get really close to it. Decided to take it to a machine one was I felt guilty about putting people through cleaning that amount of mank and the BP garage has it half price during the week.

Everything was fine. Till the fucking thing took my wing mirror off. GRAAAAH. So I had a very shiny car but at a price and I remembered that Richard has gone off to Glasto so there was no one to call upon other than my dad (no thanks).

Tried fixing it on the car park for work and failed, got a random man to try and help me (incase I was being girly and it was something obvious) but he failed. So I felt like crap at work thinking that I'd broken it again.

When I got home I parked and gave it a good go. I now know why it breaks and while I haven't fixed it 100% it's at least back where it was when Richard fixed it. Thinking that I might apply more of Matt's vikinged gaffa tape.

On the way to Tai Chi I picked up the stuff I'd promised for offerings. Matt would feel bad about the mead (as he would see it) going to waste. But I got what I asked for so they get what they ask for. Got a bottle of olive oil as well and qued up for about an hour in bloody Morrisons which made me late for Tai Chi.

That was good... but the room I was doing it in was OMFGSOSTUFFANDHOT.

Which reminds me about the joy of working for Lloyds. Upstairs we are freezing our arses off and wearing our coats (seriously, even today). Downstairs the aircon isn't working and someone passed out because it's too hot. The comparisons between that place and some sort of Victorian workhouse continue O_o.

Can it be Friday plzkthnx?

I had a VERY good day's shopping.

Went into that shop that seems to be the Zaavi clearance. Actually had my mom with me for a change thanks to the kid's holidays. She got one CD. I managed to get AMON AMARTH - VERSUS THE WORLD... FOR £4. What makes that even better? The fact I was debating whether or not to get it with my HMV voucher from work to reduce it to that amount. Ordered the flash copy of Alestorm's new album instead... so WOOT.

Also got Battlelore - Sword Song for £4 and the first series of American Dad for £6.74. The best thing is, the two CD's definitely weren't there last Friday when I went in and American Dad was 9.99.. so they'd reduced that.

All I can think is that they're getting rid of ALL the Zaavi stock from there, given I don't know of another one of these cheap shops replacing it anywhere else. It'd also explain why they told Jason they thought they'd be around until about September /m/.

Went into TK Maxx after that and got this gorrrgeous dress for £15 that's from Criminal Damage... so pretty... I don't know whether to wear it tomorrow or not because I think I'll have to wear it with my massive heels and that'll make it seem dressier than I should be for work and hanging around in Notts... But then it is supposed to be hot tomorrow O_o Hmmm...

Work's been pretty okay for the past couple of days... though I seem to be getting that compensated with having one call that lasts 40mins... ¬_¬

Had a good Tai Chi time yesterday, was focussed more on energy and Craig talking more like he used to at the other Wednesday class I went to. I miss that so much... and the Saturday class... kind of wishing I still had my gym membership for the next free weekends but oh well...

Richard fixed my mirror... or at least got it back on. Used Matt's gaffa tape on it anyway given that the thing seems to be constantly under attack ¬_¬ Just glad it's actually on. HAD to be a bicycle given the massive scuff mark at handlebar height going down the side... Am going to attempt to get the poor thing cleaned over the weekend if I can.

Looking forward to Sadie munchkin's bday on Saturday. MUST NOT FORGET PRESENTS. MUST NOT. Not only have I got my own, I've got Matt's here as well... bad times if I forget. BAD. REMEMBER THEM.

After Sunday I am going to be in extreme moping mode... just warning everyone now...

Friday was pretty good but also pretty weird... it was like an extra day had been added to my week with my being at home for the night rather than being transported to Nottingham. Lol I suppose it was nice for Ben and Jem to get a Fliss free weekend for a change O_o

Woke up like a little bouncy puppy on Saturday morning. Went around Dudley and picked up almost all the GRRM books for Matt bar 3.2 ¬_¬ But even so, getting 3.1 and 4 was pretty awesome as well as the first Night Watch book to book. Unfortunately to check he didn't have the latter I had to ring him while he was asleep but thankfully he was pretty okay about it ^_^

Came home, ate and then took Milo out for a quick walk. He's finally settling in again now after everything which is awesome...

Drove to Brum and had to remind myself not to disappear off the motorway junction for a change lol.

Did SHOPPING OF ULTIMATE BARGAINS! While I was up there they were doing the St George's Day stuff so I got to witness a LOT of morris dancing which was extremely awesome. I love morris dancers, I have the upmost respect and love of them. They had the ones with the sticks and the ones with the massive hankies ^____^

Finally spent my Next vouchers from xmas on a pair of really nice Gladiator sandals that are brown and studded. Genuine leather. From Next. How much did I pay? About £2.40 **JIG**

Went into HMV and couldn't really see anything I wanted to buy with the £20 of vouchers from work without feeling ridiculously ripped off... so I went into Waterstones and after much deliberating I got Sword Song - Bernard Cornwell (can FINALLY read the series now), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (I saw it and couldn't not get it, it's even illustrated ffs!) and The Last Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko... er really need to read Twilight Watch before I get to that... The main point is I got it in the pretty edition so at least it matches my others **OCD** Also got a David Eddings book for nothing from the WHSmith clearance.

Wandered into Past Times, previously having bemoaned not getting a lovely labradorite ring I'd seen in the window ages and ages ago because it had been about £20+. What was the first thing I saw? The ring, now £10. Bought immediately. I was very pleased because the size I ended up being had the best stone out of the lot ^_^.

Waited about for teh viking and then wandered over the station. It was quite funny really given he only had one comment on his chain mail while we walked all the way back to Birmingham to get to the car. Had promised him Chinese alllll week and then what happened? The bloody place was shut because they were on holiday ¬_¬. Had to go to the chippy but it wasn't all bad, eating chips and watching part troll ^_^ Followed it with Plunkett and Macleane which Matt also really enjoyed. So chuffed at that, it's hard to get him to watch stuff he hasn't seen before as his DVD collection is pretty much mine.

Sunday was also awesome. Spent it watching Rob Roy curled up with Matt with chocolate and mead after a big Sunday roast. Walked Milo together so Matt finally got to see the ruins up close rather than being driven past them.

Bex pretty much scared the crap out of me and enraged my mom by deciding to text me saying the gig had been cancelled ¬_¬ Lol I did as predicted and phoned JB's to check, which caused the JB's woman to panic. Hmmm... The point was it was on and Bex, Pete, Dave and co were all coming along.


Walked through the park with Matt, Mom and Richard dressed like a pirate and with Matt in full viking kit complete with drinking horn. Amusingly enough only one person gave us a slack jawed look. People just aren't easy to amuse/freak out anymore.


The gig was AWESOME. It was one of the best gigs I've been to and what was better? I only paid a tenner for the ticket! Mwahaha! Tyr came on first and were just brilliant, best I've ever seen them. They blew their last performance at JB's out of the water and were just all round brilliant. I'm actually pretty interested in their new album from the sound of it. Just wish they weren't always so bloody expensive!

Alestorm were also really good. They played all their best hits and were just awesome with the audience. I love the fact that Chris actually picked up a beard someone had thrown on stage and then wore it ^_^

"DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! DRINK AND SAIL!"

Nancy the Tavern wench was just... ugh so good! As was Wenches and Mead ^_^ Both bands were just ridiculously good and what was better was they were co-headlining rather than having some crap support band thrown into the mix /m/. Also got an Alestorm tee AT LAST. It isn't the one I wanted, but it's an Alestorm tee so I'm happy.

Then to top it the lead singer from Tyr came on with Alestorm and sang wolves of the sea with them. It was just brilliant ^_^

We hung around after the gig finished because they were playing Korpiklaani and other such good music. Suddenly we spotted the lead singer of Tyr so we mobbbed him and got a picture. Then who was suddenly there but the lead singer of Alestorm! So we got a picture. Then I clocked the hot dark haired guitarist from Tyr... Bex and I mobbed him and got a picture in which I'm looking very bloody smug.

Walked back home with Matt as mom and Richard had gone home ahead of us. He decided to go through the park at night and... well it was pretty magical tbh. There was just no one around and it was better lit than I thought it'd be...

Waking up to him this morning was all too good... but I hadn't been able to sleep for fear of missing the alarm and what time it was etc... Had to get ready for work and then leave him at the bus stop. Spent all day being mopey. Got another gold QA which is pretty awesome but it's a double edged sword as I got a file note from it for not reading all the scripting out... which is bollocks because no one wants to register a stupid number so you're trying to do it as fast as possible to stop them from putting the phone down. Ah well.

Roll on Friday plzkthnks.

Mixed day... but then this week has been DRAGGINGOMFGSOMUCH

Stafford went "I can't believe it's Thursday aleady!" to which I gave him the world's most shocked look. It feels like I've gone through about FIFTY Thursday's since last Thursday. I cannot believe Hay was only last week... it feels like a month.

I sometimes wonder if time rearranges itself while we're not looking. How else is it possible that on two pretty damn similar days, one can go insanely fast while the other is feeling like about ten days.

Speaking of Stafford, he was seriously kissing my arse in my 1-1 session today. Unsurprising given during the last one I was crying hysterically because of him being such a twat.

Got another gold call today... praying it stays gold. Looking forward to my bonus in my next pay packet and I'm hoping it comes along next quarter as well.

But yeah while he was busy praising me to the high heavens and talking about what a good advisor I am an email came through talking about how I was being considered for STARS (they're big on acronyms at Lloyds)... some praise thing that they hold a big do for if you get more than just a nomination. With the "banks are evil, don't celebrate" thing this year they didn't hold a big do but gave out a shitload of vouchers instead. IMO I'd prefer the vouchers but there you go.

So yeah, I'm the golden child. I said it's fine praising me but I'm more bothered about the fact I've got to maintain this and with the security numbers it's a PAIN IN THE ARSE.

I can hear snores already... yes, this job gets the glazed eyes expression. Accountants I feel your pain...

One good thing that came out of today was the awesomeness of getting an OH SO PRETTY hardback nice edition of The Hobbit from the book people at work for £5. Mom is very green with jealousy over it ^_^. It's so weird because I was only listening to the radio adaptation thing the other day on CD.

Faaaaar over the misty mountains cold...

^_^

IT NEEDS TO BE FRIDAY NIGHT OR SATURDAY MORNING.

I guess the major announcement is that Wishbone had to be put down on Saturday... For anyone that doesn't know, he was my elderly little boo dog... We found him as a stray walking about in the street and took him in and have had him ever since. That was when I was in primary school...

Mom phoned me on Saturday to say she'd had to take him to the vets because he'd gone downhill... then phoned me on the night while I was round at Jem's to tell me they were going to have to put him to sleep because his kidneys and liver were failing... He was so weak he couldn't even stand anymore. So I agreed... and my dog was put down.

I miss him so much, I have no closure from this all, by the time I got home they'd obviously buried him, his basket was gone and now all I have left of him is his collar... Milo looked so depressed as well...

The weekend itself was weird.. Matt was working through all of it because of it being his birthday the weekend before and then of course this fucked me up throughout pretty much all of it so I wasn't the happiest person to have around. I bit his head off on Saturday after mom rang me and I was failing spectacularly at the new Prince of Persia. Btw, for anyone who loved/played the old games... this will be a shock. You don't rewind time anymore and you apparently were never a prince. Farah is the name of your donkey. I'm praying he's been hit on the head by a shitload of bricks.

I got a payrise, it was announced on Tuesday. The way it's worked is weird though because of the time my training finishes I don't get my core advisor salary till May... so this month I've gone up along with the basic salary increase to £14kish. Next month not only am I on £15500ish I get my QA bonus of supreme eternal glory...

Oh and what's even better? I AM NOW NO LONGER A SLAVE TO THE STUDENT LOANS COMPANY! I HAVE PAID IT OFF!. WIN. This means I can actually start saving and I can chooooose how much I want to save. The only problem is finding a thing with an actual decent interest rate O____O.

On Wednesday I blasted the house, as in did a full on hardcore cleansing. Worked my way round the whole house and then finished off in what used to be dad's room. Hard work... Had a bath and then when mom came back I had another look, it was so weird. The only way I can describe it is like a perfectly still pool of water as opposed to a stagnant one that had hidden currents... Yes, I am insane. I've accepted this.

Went to Hay on Wye on Friday. Was a bit pissed off at Bookends for having gone shite. Did get some decent books from there though so I can't complain but it wasn't up to its usual standard. Did the usual thing of rebuying a book that I already owned but I had it hardback and the other two in paperback so it's an improvement really. FINALLY got a cheap copy of Lirael after ages of having Sabriel and not seeing anything else. I've read the series already, but I want my own copies because I'm weird.

Saved some books from the book graveyard, they were only just starting to get damp. So I'm pleased I managed that.

Finished Herodotus - Histories and I think it's pretty damn awesome that some of my fav bits from 300 happened in some shape or form. Or at least according to him. Booting the heralds down the well to find their own earth and water, fighting in the shade... EEE ^_^

Can it be Friday night now please? So I can know that Saturday is tomorrow.

Music is affecting me so much atm it's untrue.

Does anyone know where I can get that gorgeous bit of piano music from the Devil's Whore?