The Trivial

Don't worry- I haven't came over with a weird form of tourettes which is making me write numerous blogs. I just wanted to make a blog on the absolute trivia of my life haha, so here's a completely pointless blog on what I've been up to lately.

My studying as usual has been ok, nothing special although I've missed a few lessons this week. I feel a bit guilty but I just couldn't be bothered. I made it into the Friday lesson for English much to the distaste of Alix - a friend of my English buddy Ashley. I don't know what it is but she has never liked me from day one. I tried being overly nice to her to compensate but she has always been very ignorant so eventually I just gave up. Apparently she does this with people all the time according to Ashley so I just talk to her when completely necessary. Anyway, Alix has a new boyfriend so she has recently been too busy dry humping him in the corridors to rush in to grab a seat next to Ashley as usual. This wouldn't be a problem but all the desks had been moved so that it turned out I was sitting next to Ashley and she was sitting on a table by herself. She was so pissed off when she came in she didn't talk for the full lesson and stormed off at the end. Ashley said she was sorry and she didn't realise the tables had been moved but Alix was having none of it. As I write this out I can't help but feel how childish it seems, but I really don't try to aggravate her.

Yesterday I went out to a bar where I nearly got drop kicked in the face with some men 'pole dancing'. Oh dear. It was nice to see everybody although Beth left early saying she was tired but to be honest she really didn't seem up for it. I got there late and Jo was already a little miffed that she had been trying to talk to Beth all night only to get luke warm responses. I had a good laugh with Jo and Roz where we decided we would go running together which I know will be absolutely hilarious as we're all so, so bad at it. Becca started getting annoyed as she wanted to go clubbing, but nobody could be assed or was dressed for it so I was brutally forced to dance in the bar with nobody else dancing. Jo eventually saved me with an amused smile printed on her face. Good times, good times.
Today I'm seeing the boyfriend and I have my full pit of a room to tidy so I'll write later :) x x x

Letting Go Of The Old

I'm sure I'm not the only person who hates to lose people they were once so close to. We all have people who were once special to us, but for some reason or other we're lucky if we see them once a year. It happens gradually; you start to see eachother less, you bump into eachother and say you're going to make an effort, but it never happens.

My usual story is that I end up doing all the chasing. For example, I once had a best friend, Cary, a few years back who started to hang around with the 'popular' people. I didn't really mind at first, I was happy that she had extra friends as I had my own too, and I knew we were still tight. After time though she stopped making time for our group of friends and only wanted to hang around with them. I couldn't understand it, surely she could make the time for both of our groups, just as everybody else did? Of course she had the time, but sometimes you can't force something that somebody doesn't want anymore. It hurt to be rejected, I tried talking, trying to make an extra go. It annoyed me that she wouldn't bother for a month and then she'd ring me up as if we'd only talked a few hours ago and she'd ask if I wanted to go out. Cary considered herself too busy to arrange things like meals etc and getting everbody together and thought it was totally fine to expect me to always do it. At first I didn't mind, but as time went by and the texts always started 'I want to go out clubbing, could you invite everybody', it got to the stage where I thought why bother? Looking back I was so desperate for it to work and we had such a good time when she finally came out I just kept on making up for her lack of effort. It wasn't that I didn't have other friends, I had loads of really good caring ones, but just that we used to be so close was enough to make me do all the running. I still get the odd text.

This pattern follows on through a multitude of friendships. Most recently was Beth, a good friend for the past 8 years. She would always complain she was stuck in the house on her blog, and as I hadn't seen her for a while I thought I'd make the effort. We went on a walk and it was really fun, so we arranged to meet up in a few days to go shopping. I was woken up by my phone ringing and a stroppy Bex on the other side.
"Where are you?" She fumed.
I looked at the watch, it was 9am (!) but we weren't meeting until 1pm.
"Errr in bed... Why were are you?" A horrible panic began forming in my stomach.
"Standing outside where we're supposed to be meeting, thanks alot"
I'm sure that we arranged for 1pm, so I tried to make her believe me, and that I could meet her in 30mins and make it up to her. She was obviously very annoyed which I understood, but after alot of apologizing she refused to see me and went home. I tried messaging her online (where she had nicely posted messages to my close friends telling them of how I'd forgot about her and left her there on purpose) to apologize. I tried to invite her out and promised I would be on time and that it was a mistake. Somehow she was always busy with her new friends. After a while it finally dawned on me, there wasn't much more I could do about the situation, she was only a 10 minute walk from home anyway, I had apologised alot more than once, and all the time she was obviously not budging. It was nearly a year ago, and she still hasn't been free to see me, but she never invites me out to things when she does have the money. The only exception was her birthday in which I was given less than a days notice and had no money and I think she still holds it against me.

Today, my friend came into Town just to see me and have dinner with me, and she walked all the way to work with me after our lessons to hand in my uniform, then walked me to the bus stop (which took like 2 hours). I insisted she didn't as I felt pretty sly because so much walking was involved, but she said I was a friend and that she didn't mind because she'd know I'd do it for her. When I think of Beth though, I dont think this would ever happen, although maybe it would have (and did) once upon a time.

My new resolution from now on is that I'm not going to jump through hoops to stay good friends with people if they aren't making any effort back. It's hard to say, and I know I might sound a few sneaky texts just to see how she's doing as I do with all of my friends, but I'm going to stop making all the effort. Ha, I sound like such a loser. I swear I'm not a cat lady - I really do have friends that I see alot! But seriously, if you let people take advantage, sometimes even your closest friends will take the opportunity. Let me know what you think... Anyone else in a similar situation?

Scrimping n' Saving

I'm sure alot of you are suffering the financial strains of the economical crisis at the moment...I've been working hard to save my pennies! I think that it's paying off :) Some of the things I've been doing is turning off all the plugs, wearing extra coats rather than turning on the heating and other such boring solutions. But more interestingly is my more creative list hehe:

* Using one tea bag between 3 cups... We drink alot of tea ok! Haha

* Charity shopping for clothes. I've picked up tons but it takes alot of dedication and trawling through a load of crap. I think it pays off more though because it's sooo much cheaper and I've been getting decent brands (River Island, Warehouse) and the stuff is in excellent condition. I feel nice too because it's for a good cause and I'm getting a total bargain so it's a win-win situation!

* Ebay. I've bought a ton of presents and clothes on here (I know.. Clearly a shopping addiction haha). I've noticed that if I look at stuff that's got the photo the wrong way round it seems noone can be bothered to save it to the computer and turn it the right way other than me who clearly has more dedication (or is that time....) and I got some fab stuff. This has included a River Island dress with the most gorgeous embroidery ever for...£3.50!!!!!! Oh my lord.

* Getting my hair done my family/friends. I pay for the dye which was a fiver rather than the usual £40 and then they do my hair and I do them a favour like make their dinner, or help them use the computer. If you dont have a friend or family member who's a hairdresser (My Mum is convienently one) befriend one now!

* whatsmineisyours.com This is a FAB site! I bet everybody reading this has stuff in their house they never use, like clothes, unwanted xmas pressies etc. If you take a photo and write a description (all for free!) then you can swap your items for stuff you'd want on this site. It feels like getting a present through the door, is a great way to declutter and it means you're getting something good in return yay! Here's what I got in return for a key chain:

The person I swapped with loved what they got, and I love love love this purse and bracelet!

*Sales - make a vow to yourself now you will never ever buy full price again. If you want a cardigan, then check round all the cheaper places you wouldn't normally consider, and you'll be amazed at what you can find in the sales. Also, if you're buying stuff like electrical goods shops are very varied in price! Including a search on the internet can bring up stuff so much cheaper too like play.com and Ebay.

*All in the packaging... If you buy gifts for people, especially things like earrings and put them in a nice box rather than just giving them in the high-street packet they come in it can make it look like you paid alot more than you actually did, which is always good!

*Sharing a bath with your other half...What an excuse!!

*Checking out your local area for free things that are happening. I lately went on an eleven mile walk with my family and had a great time getting out there and spending some quality time together. Some of the things happening where I live were the boxing day dip (running into the sea on Boxing day for charity...ouch!), live bands etc. - I'm sure you'll find stuff just as good too!

*Look through the newspaper for special deals for eating out. They can save a small fortune which can be used towards something else. And food always tastes nicer when you know it's on a special deal ;) hehe.

These are only a few that I can think of at the moment haha. Let me know what you do to save money! Would love to hear it and get some ideas!