Focusing on the positive

I just spent a weekend in the Lake District catching up with some good friends from uni, soem have now graduated, others are still studying, but I did have a really good time talking, drinking, climbing, laughing, walking, caving.... I mean it's hard to have a bad time when you're surrounded by people who think this is a good evening's entertainment!

Sports Award

On Wednesday I wnet to the Sports Award dinner at the university, last year we won team of the year for winning the national university championships. This year we did the same thing and didn't even get a nomination. However we won't go in to that, we had a lovely evening and I may have danced the night away on a school night!

The start of the evening, don't we all look civilized...



The end of the evening.... why yes that is our chairman, and yes him, and most of the other males in the club decided being shirtless was a good idea!

Edit....grrrrr it's chopped half of me off. Why does my blog do this?


PS. If you're not a twitter follower, I had an interview today and didn't get it, let's move on please, it was obviously not meant to be...

Biblical torrents

Of rain mostly, though maybe also beer after the hangover I had on Sunday!


This is what the campsite looked like on Monday as we decided to pack up and go home.
In contrast this was the sunshine on Saturday.


I have yet to work out how to dry my tent, it's the big green one in the top photo, I'm praying the forecast for Thursday isn't lying so I can hang it on the line while I'm at work.

I promise to try and blog a bit more, but last week was a bit manic. I had 2 job interviews and then of course was off to the Lake District on Friday night. Can you forgive me!

A crazy weekend

That followed a crazy week. Basically I didn't stop being n the go since Thursday. At one point there was 24 hours with no sleep and at another point I was very happily drunk and dancing like a lunatic. Actually, thinking about it, those 2 things did overlap, amazing how lack of sleep turns me in to a cheap drunk!

I spent Friday night and Saturday looking after crazy people like this, find out more about what I was really up to here


Then Saturday night doing this


Then Sunday Morning sleeping, followed by driving a minibus again to go and eat some food, then sunday night drinking....
Knitting progress is practically nil, liver damage is potentially high.

More climbing photos

Some photos from last weekend so I thought I'd share them with you. enjoy playing spot the Katie in the second one!
Also a while ago I mentioned that someone broke their leg on a weekend trip away. she put her X-ray photos on Facebook and they're pretty amazing, though not for the faint hearted!


I would show the one with the pin in it but it has her name in very large letters so I don't think she'd appreciate it!

Some slate climbing

I do hope you're all enjoying the advent calender. I'm back from a really lovely weekend where it didn't even rain! As a result I got 2 days of climbing in. I don't have masses of photos, as I spent the 2nd day taking lots of photos on someone elses better camera. As soon as they go up on Facebook then I'll share them here. However here's what I did get taken before then.

The winner of the mitten contest was Abi, I've sent her an email so hopefully she'll get back to me.

Heroes (and villains)

Last night I was at a fancy dress party with the uni climbing club. We shall not go in to my costume here, it was a joke that you need to know certain people in order to get...
However we shall go in to the costumes of others.

Here's a taster, that would be my younger brother and our chairman.


Now here's the deal, i have a set of photos from the night that you can find in here, I want you to identify as many characters as you can. When you think you have them all (some are UK cartoons so if you're american you may need to get googling!), send me an email with the complete list of all the characters you can spot. The email is hilltopkatie at gmail dot com

Winner gets a choice of prize, if you knit then you can have a ball of sock yarn your choice of this
or this and I might throw in a few other goodies.
If you don't then after Christmas I will knit you a pair of these, colour will be my choice I'm afraid in an effort to use up all the end balls of sock yarn I have.


Edited to add that the deadline is Sunday 14th December midnight UK time, please feel free to tell others!

Fireworks

The reason for the posting silence was yet another weekend away with the uni club. Yes I know I've graduated, but all my friends are still students, and besides it's a good laugh.

There were games



and fireworks



and even some walking (sorry no photos, as usual I took my camera and it never left my rucsac, I'm waiting for someone to upload some on to Facebook!)

There was also some drinking, minibus driving, and a broken leg. However we don't want to go in to details about that, it all worked out ok, and it's a risk we accept when we go climbing.

Grey

The weather is very grey at the moment, if you look over at the side bar you will see I'm knitting something in colours to counteract this, definitely yarn to look at when you have a hangover! Also to counteract this are some photos from a couple of weeks ago when I was climbing in Wales, I've almost forgotten that the sky could be blue(ish!)



On another note, I was awoken at 11.30 last night by a slightly frantic housemate who had noticed water pouring through our living room ceiling. Turns out one of our taps had sprung a leak! After some attempts at a DIY fix we started playing hunt the stopcock to turn off the water. By this point water was starting short the light so we had to switch the fuse for the lights off. All the while we're trying to ring the landlord to find out what to do, with no response. She eventually rang us at 7.30 the next morning, and true to her word did indeed come round with someone and sort out the leak. Unfortunately the ceiling looks a little worse for wear... though it could have been worse, some night's the first we'd have known about it would have been the crash as the ceiling fell through!

Another year, another weekend in Wales...

A few selected photos from this weekend. Saturday was spent climbing, for which I have no photos.. hopefully my younger brother will put the ones he took up on Facebook soon. All the ones above are from sunday when the weather was mostly rainy and windy so we went to Dinorwic slate quarries just above Llanberis. The abandoned industrial setting is both bleak but in it's own way beautiful. Seeing the quarries when they were being fully worked before the age of true mechanization must have been amazing.

The tyre shot is what happens when a minibus tyre tries to argue with a rock and looses, luckily they're double wheeled so we made it to a car park before we even realised anything was wrong!

I'm keeping it short and sweet for this post, I'll be away on holiday for all of next week, if I don't squeeze in another post between now and then it will be because life has caught up with me again...

I'm off to unravel a sock heel that took me 2 hours to knit, because I was in denial about how large the heel needs to be on a mans sock.. this thing is child sized, why it took me so long to come to my sense I have no idea!

living for the weekend

Unfortunately this has become my life, I count down days until the weekend (1 down 4 to go), and until half term holidays (4 weeks left...) however it does make sure I get out and enjoy my weekends, those 2 days are now so precious that I can't bear to waste them.



This was what I spent my weekend doing... yes that is a barbeque, and errr yes that is the Peak District, and yes it's that time of year again when half of the university freshers(not quite, though it felt like it) descend upon a small quarry filled with chossy, grassy rubbish climbs to be introduced to the art of climbing, and to the surprise of all us experienced climbers enjoy it. I spent most of the day manning a barbeque cooking 130 burgers, and trying to be nice...



(PS if you want to argue with me about the ethics of this if you are a climber please send me an email and keep it away from here, my blog is my happy place, any nasty comments will just get deleted.)

PPS. Thank Laurie for letting me use your piccies, they're much better than mine would be anyway!

Camping weekend

So I'm back from teh weekend, the house has been tidied up, all the washing has been done, and the mud scraped off. You could say it rained a bit on Sunday, but I prefer to believe that the puddles appeared magically so I could splash about in them in my stripy wellies!

Yet again it was an awesome weekend. I even got some climbing done (though yet again there is no photo evidence of this!). I went shopping in Keswick so got to update my wardrobe which is a good thing as it's suddenly got warmer and it's now about 25 degrees! I also went for an amazing walk and found some really cool disused mines. In true club fashion we had 4 torches between 6 of us, forgot to say exactly where we were going, and didn't sign out despite disappearing down small holes for most of the day! However they are possibly the most awesome set of mines I have been in to. They stretched in to the hill for ages, and led in to some huge caverns.


Anyway here's some picture goodness, I'm off to wash up and have a shower before going out to sit in a ber garden with some friends.

Fix-it-Friday

Well it's Friday again (how did that happen????)
For once I'm still in bed at 8.30am, which has been a bit of a rarity lately but I have a day off school today to go in to university and I don't need to go in until 11.15am. In that time I have a mountain of things to do, like packing for the weekend away I'm about to go on. Do you remember a while ago I ran for catering officer in the university club I'm a member of? While when I did I didn't quite realise that my living room would end up looking like this!


And you can't see the piles of vegetables and bread that are still behind me!
Yesterday started at 6.20am and didn't stop until 11.30pm, I practically fell in to bed unconscious! Shopping for 40 people for 3 days is a lot of food, and I don't think my body is liking me today for what it went through yesterday, too much carrying of awkward heavy crates, bending over and generally standing up for hours at a time has done nasty things to my back!
Anyway a list of things to do today-
Shower
Pack
Put clean washing away
Find things to take in to university
Collect wool from the post office

And I have to leave the house at 10.45am! I don't quite think it's going to be done in time.

Anyway I promise to be back on Tuesday (or maybe wednesday) with some entertaining photos of the weekends activities.

Which leads to me todays fix it friday before I go and shower. i thought today I'd share a few of the programs I've downloaded for my gorgeous macbook that I couldn't live without.

Planbook- this is what I use to organise all my teaching, it's an amazing piece of software ad I'd be lost without it.
You Control Tunes- this puts a play/pause, and skip button in the top menu bar, meaning I can leave iTunes minimised but still pause what I'm listening to.
Flickr Uploader- this is my newest discovery, but make uploading photos to Flickr so easy.
VLC- For some reason the volume on my macbook is stupidly quiet, all the programs that come with my mac don't let me increase it anymore, however VLC lets me increase the volume further than any other DVD/media player.

And you know what's the best thing, they're all free!

Fix-it-Friday

After a weeks break I am back with fix-it-friday. This Friday I'm going to share the video I created on Monday (instead of going to a lecture), that was aimed at making people vote for me and Lana caterers on the committee of the High PEak Club, despite the fact that I graduate next year, and will have managed 4 years at university without being on committee I've managed it just as I am no longer a student!

Anyway here is a video on how to make a mountain cake! (Be warned if you are easily offended I'd maybe give this a miss, it's not extremely offensive, but a cocktail stick did get a little misplaced!)


(Sorry, google video has decided to disable it (copyright?????) , it takes ages to dispute it (and it might be breaking copyright, who knows??) so I'm trying to upload a youtube version and we'll see if that one stays up.

What do I need to do?

I just had my 3rd job interview, and yet again didn't get the job. yet again I was told that I cam across really well, that I am going to be a good teacher, and that I will get a job really quickly, however yet again I have finished the day without a job. It's really early days with teaching jobs, but I just want to get this sorted, I am sick off filling in application forms which are all different, but basically asking for the same information. I am sick of trying to plan a perfect interview lesson that I will probably never use again, and I am sick of the stress of worrying about being late, and wether it will all go ok.

Anyway, I had a night off from Rainbows this week as I didn't know when I would be back and it was lovely, still didn't spare me from needing to fill in district commissioner paperwork though. It's a good job I have a busy week though, as it's going to take my mind off it nicely, tomorrow and Thursday night are meetings realted to the High Peak Marathon ( see here and here for details), and then Friday will be spent driving around the Peak District with lots of smelly runners and checkpointers.

Another meme because I'm lame

Here's another meme, because I really have nothing to say, this comes coutesy of Carmen at Mom to the Screaming Masses.
My brain has turned in to a mush whose only message is sleep, let me sleep! I've had a really awesome couple of days. Wednesday was the climbing club Christmas dinner, which was an awesome night, though not getting to bed until 2pm was not so great. I still love my dress, though I wish my shoes hadn't hurt my feet so much! (Ps that's me on the right)


Last night i popped round to a friends house to help them eat all their leftovers, as we're all going our separate ways to go home for Christmas. It was a really nice evening so thanks guys.

Anyway, what you've been waiting for, a new meme.


1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Became district commissioner.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Didn't make one, and won't this year, I'm so angelic that I have no bad habits to give up!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, though I'm predicting babies in the next few years, as I keep telling all of them, get married, I want to buy a hat!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No deaths, and hopefully the same for next year.

5. What countries did you visit?
Ireland.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
The ability to recognise I should get out when it's all going wrong

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
None really, probably graduation day, but I don't know the date.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Graduating with a 2:1, surviving my first teaching practise.

9. What was your biggest failure?
My relationship with Lex

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Surprisingly healthy this year, long may it continue!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Comforter bath bubble bars from Lush, they always lift my spirits.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My Mum, for being so brave and quitting her job after working in the same place for the last 20 years.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Mine probably.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Tuition fees, and rent, £3000 and £250 a month respectively!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The simple things, a pretty new dress, someone doing something nice but unexpectedly so.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Rihanna, Umbrella, in memory of the flood, and sheer volume of rain we had!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) sadder, but that's ok b) about the same and that's a good thing c) richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Spent time with my friends.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Work, as it turns out I got my 2:1 easily and a first was never on the cards.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
In a cottage we've rented with my family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I was in love when it started and fell out of love.

22. How many one-night stands?
None

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Strictly Come Dancing

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.

25. What was the best book you read?
Too many to mention, if you ever want a book recommendation I'm your girl!

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Scouting for Girls. I'm loving "Elvis ain't dead" at the moment.

27. What did you want and get?
At the moment I just want sleep, and I'm getting that this week!

28. What did you want and not get?
Lot's of things I wanted and not got...yet!

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I can't remember going and watching anything, so mustn't have been anything amazing, because I know I went.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Tried to cook Lasagne as the power kept going off, ate cake with friends.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing really, I'm quite content at the moment.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Can a child see my tits in this, or can I look like a slob in this for school days and non-school days!

33. What kept you sane?
Wine!

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Daniel Craig, sometimes, though not in James Bond!

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Hearing about George Bush doing horrible things to the abortion law, see this post for details

36. Who did you miss?
Nobody, everyone I care about is still in my life.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Probably most of my PGCE course, Nigel and Tim, I'm going to miss sitting in the staff room dissing you guys!

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Breaking up doesn't get any less painful the longer you drag it out for!

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
You never were, you never will be mine.
Robyn, lyrics here


Have a lovely Christmas, if you want to do the meme feel free and leave me a comment so I can come visit. I'm going away for a week, so I'll catch you around New Year!

Festive weekend

I've just got back from a very wet weekend wet. If you want to see how wet I'll be putting a few photos up here, but the whole album is on facebook here.
Anyway I went for 2 lovely walks, and managed to stay mostly dry, until we had to pack up the van, I've been under showers that had less water coming out of them.
All in all though a lovely weekend, the food was good, the minibus got us home, and I had 2 nice walks.
However the minibus roof leaked, I broke a piece of the rear light trying to reverse in driving rain, and the windscreen broke. The journey home was spent praying that the large crack didn't carry on spreading... (sorry no photos!)



A wintery Welsh woodland, and a very full stream.



The high point of my walk with Moel Siabod in the background.




Me looking a tad chilly.



The stream outside the hut bursting its banks.

Christmas is coming

a week since my last post, how did that happen?
All is well at home and at uni, I'm really starting to enjoy teaching as I get more of a relationship with the kids.
Anyway, slight rant, I am waiting for a parcel of fabric to make the advent calendar I talked about in this post. However rubbish royal mail has taken over a week to deliver a first class recorded delivery parcel, and then of course they try to deliver it while I'm at work. Guess how long until i can collect it at the local sorting office? 3 days, how can it take 3 days to be ready to collect? That means I can't get it until Monday, which just happens to be after December... I need to start doing these things earlier next year!

I'm off to Wales this weekend, should be fun, as it involves the first Christmas meal of the year!

and breath

Things have calmed down a little since last time I posted. Teaching is actually going really well. I seem to be getting to know the kids, and so far no one has said a bad word about my teaching. Long may it continue, but being realistic I know that eventually I am going to have one those lessons from hell!
I seem to be getting my head round being DC, I have got the database working, and we might even have found a secretary. The 4 session was fine, though it was on Friday not Thursday, so a slight wasted journey there. My essay is I think done, at least it's at a standard where it can go in and I'll actually be able to get feedback that will help me.
Last night was the fancy dress party with all the climbing club, it was a really good night and very much needed. I'm not even feeling ill today, which is nice, though I know my brain cells aren't quite all firing. Anyway here's picture of me in my fairy costume, taken just before I dropped Lanas camera on the floor, and jammed the lens, and possibly killed it!


Todays projects have been finishing off my essay (done), looking in to getting a bigger hard drive for my laptop (seems achievable, and not too expensive, and buying things to make Christmas decorations. I've fallen in love with these stockings and this advent calender. All I need to do now is find time to make them!

another weekend away

Firstly, thank you to Niobe for her kind comments on my last 2 posts, it was so nice to get home last night and read them. Niobe, I've sent you an email, but just in case anyone else was wondering, I am ok, I've just got back from a weekend away with my friends, and am feeling much better. I won't deny that sometimes I missed having Lex to keep me company, and just to share the things that went on, but it really was ok!
Of course al this was helped by one of the most epic weekends away in recent history!
The rugby on Saturday night was missed because of a long night spent driving up and down the valley worrying about a group of our climbers who were missing. In the end all was well, but by that point it was nearly 10pm, and we'd well and truly missed the rugby!I even had my own mini accident and if it wasn't for some sharp catching by my brother I might have been in need of mountain rescue myself! We then nearly had a mini panic, as by that point the fuel warning light was on on the minibus. On the Sunday someone else managed to sprain their ankle, and was lucky it wasn't worse!
as for today, I'm so grateful I don't have to be in all day, as i really need to do a bit of catching up!