Life's a bit of a hamster wheel at the moment - the faster you run, the faster it spins, and you find yourself having to move faster and faster just to keep up. 
I think it's time I regained control.

On a different note, some things I learnt this week:
1. Nottingham means rolling hills, greenery and lakes.
2. Playing tennis can be a bit like solving a mathematical problem - step away and you'll get further.
3. At night, the Thames is quite a sight
4. so are the Christmas lights on Oxford Street against the setting sun.
5. Sometimes, you just need a break from thinking and rationalising.

Post dated 19th October 2009

For some reason, we couldn't get on a bus this morning.

8.05am: Bus 1 does not stop to pick up passengers due to it being too full

8.15am: Bus 2 does not stop to pick up passengers due to it being too full

8.17am: We decide to cut out losses by walking down the road to a different stop.

8.30am: Bus 3 does not stop to pick up passengers due to it being to full.

8.32am: We panic

8.35am: We get on a random bus to get a tube station

8.50am: Upon reaching the tube station closest to university, we narrowly miss two of the buses

                that would have taken us straight to university

8.58am: With no buses in sight, we think it might be a good idea to start walking to university

9.10am: We sprint.

9.15am: We sneak in through the back door of the lecture theatre looking every bit like we sprinted.

                Of course, the lecture theatre had to be on the third floor.

5.00pm: Bus completely ignores my hand-waving and drives on without stopping.

 

Perhaps the planets were not aligned. See, this is why I run – for days like these.

And all for a 7 minute class test.

Post dated 7th October 2009

As I type this, the house has been internet-less for almost 2 weeks. How we are still sane is beyond me but I suppose a sort of survival mode kicks in and you try to get on with everything without stopping to remind yourself every few hours that you are (in today’s terms) “cut off from the world”. I suppose to be fair, settling in has kept us very busy – with such a big household, one comes to realise that everything involves planning and strategising. As of now, we’re moving out of the “only one shower available” phase and are welcoming the fact that both showers can now be used – or so we hope since we have yet to take the second shower for a test drive. Fingers crossed.

 

And so, barely 2 weeks and we have learnt so much about do-it-yourself furniture (yes, we have all graduated from 42, Senrab Street School of Carpentry, and with flying colours), ordered enough groceries to run our own refugee camp, arranged and rearranged the kitchen, drilled holes and hammered through walls, dealt with leaky spots and done all sorts of other responsible stuff. Yes, I think we’re all feeling quite grown up at the moment.

 

In short, it’s been great. Despite the lack of internet and more than a dozen cardboard boxes lining the stairs all the way to the basement, it’s been great.

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We took off to Bicester Village on a sunny Sunday morning focused and ready to hit the shops. It’s a quiet place an hour outside of London by train but the beckoning of discounts was enough to get us out of bed bright and early on a Sunday morning.

 

A village. Only if that means rows and rows of of designer shops.

   

Decisions, decisions. What's a girl to do?

As always, I’m not the type to shop without a good food break. We picked a bustling local pub over coffee shop sandwiches and tucked into a good old Sunday Roast.

 

Roast pork with Yorkshire pudding

The Megasaurus I believe,it was called. Beef, beef and more beef. 

 

And the ultimate, as-big-as-my-head ice cream with brownies and everything sinful.

So, as the sun set on a glorious day of shopping (and eating, for some), we took stock, compared notes and hopped onto the train home - hands full and wallets lighter.

 

And all feeling just a little bit guilty.