Thursday 8 April 2004

Week 59, Day 376

I know it's lame making excuses but as I spent a few days completely ill last week, it's no wonder it's taken me over two weeks to update this blog. So let me rewind a little...

I left off the last time talking about Andy's birthday celebrations. They were rather tame, especially on Andy's side as he had been sick. Later that week, Les also fell ill, with Gastrointeritis (spelling?) which meant working a little harder to give him a chance to recover. Saw the Complete Stone Roses which was one of the gigs I had really been hanging out for and it was well worth the wait! They played all the hits including the extended version of "I Am The Resurrection", "Sally Cinnamon", "Fool's Gold", "She Bangs The Drums" and "Made of Stone". I hadn't danced and boogied so much at a gig in a long time. It was such a boys' evening though, the pit was full of sweaty drunken poms with goofy smiles on their faces. Ah, it was fun.

These last two weeks have meant more movies for me. Saw "Dawn of the Dead" which was unreal! It's the best modern horror flick that I've seen recently that actually did itself justice. It got straight to the point, the scenes were gory and despite the fact that zombies run in it (normally they just walk around) there were some hilarious scenes including the first mall scene when the muzak version of "Don't worry, be happy" is playing in the background. Brilliant! Saw "Buffalo Soldiers" on DVD at Alex's which was surprisingly good. Next up was the highly recommended "City Of God" (Brazillian) which is fantastic!! A must see and as a fan of foreign movies, it only convinced me more that they're so much better than Hollywood-made films. And, last Monday saw "Starsky and Hutch" which I thought was amusing. Not fantastic but cheesy in the cool '70s way and Snoop Dogg as a pimp is always fun to watch.

Last Wednesday saw me ill. I came down with Les's stomach thing and it wasn't pretty. I managed to get myself to the music quiz with Alex but we lost miserably. Just when we thought we couldn't do any worse, we won the prize for best team name - "We obviously such at this" and scored three CD singles.

Thursday I was supposed to go snowboarding, as I had organised lessons for me, Alex and his two mates Lyndon and Mike, but I had to opt out as I was still really unwell. I still took the boys to Xscape. They went on the Skyride (Lyndon didn't take to it much), had dinner at Nando's and then went off for their lessons. I got to watch them fall over from up at the ski bar which lifted my spirits a little. I spent the time calling up for Glastonbury tickets to no avail. Bummer.

The weekend was pretty laid back due to work. Instead, this week has got a bit busier due to the Easter break, which nice really. Means I actually feel like I'm earning my money. Speaking of which, also discovered I got my first bonus, and then lost most of it to tax! Grr argh!

This week I've laid low. I went shopping yesterday on my day off. It's my last day off before I go to Australia so I used it wisely. Ended up in H&M for two hours and bought three tops there. Could have bought so much more and still didn't try on everything I wanted to because the lines for the changing rooms were ridiculous. It is now my fave clothes store.

Alex and I went to the music quiz again last night, this time with Steve and Mike in tow. We did a little better than the week before but didn't win anything. We plan to do some homework and grab first place next week... well, we can dream can't we?

Top 10 this week:

1. Concerts - I'm going to a gig a week in May, when I get back from Oz. I can't wait! Supergrass, The Charalatans, The Beta Band, Ash and Graham Coxon... bring it on!
2. T-In-The-Park - The line-up is looking great and I have tickets. It makes up for Glastonbury and it's also in Scotland so that can't be bad surely ;) Only downside is I have to wait until July for the festival!
3. Idaho - I really owe it to Damian to introducing me to this great band. Over the last few weeks I've been listening to them a lot. And then Alex bought me a live CD of theirs that I didn't even know existed!
4. Movies - Looking forward to seeing "Kill Bill 2" and hoping it's as good, if not better, as the first. "Eternal Sunshine" and "Shaun of the Dead" viewings should also happen this week, me hopes!
5. Easter - Ok, so I'm spending it alone but at least that means no chocolate for me.
6. Plums - They're back in season. Alright!
7. Bonus - Even though I did lose half of it to tax, just knowing I got a bonus (my first ever) is enough for me!
8. Property - Moving steps closer to owning my own place. Once I get back from Oz, it won't be long before I've got my own pad. Yay!
9. Shopping - I forgot how much fun it is (when you have money or a credit card for it of course!).
10. Amazon.co.uk - Only just discovered it, and I could regret it (or my bank account will) but there's so much great stuff there!
x
Vanessa