Finally Friday

The past five days have been tough, in a good way. I'm exhausted after long days, late nights, early mornings. Days walking from unknown place to unknown place wearing a too-heavy backpack and heels. Almost every meal has been 'on-the-go', with only 2 'proper' sit-down meals in five days. Needless to say, it's time to pamper myself a bit; to reward my brain and my body for allowing me to get through the past five days without packing up and going to sleep (all I have to show for it is a swollen right tonsil, and this appears to be on the mend...). When it comes to pushing myself really hard for a long period of time, more often than not I fail. I'm not one of those people who can work relentlessly, fuelled up with coffee and energy drinks. It doesn't take long for my body to shout STOP in a language I recognize a little too well: swollen spotty tonsils, mouth ulcers galore, and that feeling of being physically dragged down by an invisible backpack. Small reminders of a nasty case of glandular fever when I was 17; and true to the typical symptoms of this illness, I haven't been right since. However, one brilliant thing being ill taught me was how to listen to my body, and how to look after it.

This is what I plan to do this weekend! Inspired by Kaileen Elise's Creative Weekend To-Do List, I'm going to allow myself a little 'agenda-less' freedom to stop and listen to myself; to sit, read, eat, bake, watch films and drink wine. I want to take lots of photos, laugh with friends, relax with Daniel, have a long slow breakfast involving poetry and my teapot, and enjoy the sunshine in a pretty dress.

My weekend begins with some blanks! Back to school we go!

1. The best thing about being in school was/is being surrounded by your best friends, gossiping and laughing and falling in love. I didn't realize it then, but it was also great being able to study so many different subjects, and learning so much every day - it's so different when you choose one subject to take on to university.

2. The worst thing about being in school was/is bullies, and peer pressure. But it's an important life lesson I guess!

3. My favorite subject in school was/is English until I dropped it at A level. Then my favourite was music or French literature .

4. One subject I wish I could have mastered/would like to master is biology, or maths. I did maths for a year at A level and by the end of the course I loved it. I found it so hard though, it's the only subject I've ever failed! It took a lot of hard work to get the grade I wanted (an A! :-D) .

5. I could never get tired of studying English literature. Which is silly as I didn't carry on with it past GCSE. But I love it and I don't see why I ever have to stop learning more, so long as I keep reading! .

6. The most memorable teacher I had was Mrs Riddle, my French teacher. Somehow she managed to make GCSE French exciting and fun, and she made amazing cakes, too. She also made me some penis earrings for my last birthday, but that's another story!.

7. If I could choose between going to school for the rest of my life or working for the rest of my life, I'd choose school, which, if we count university as a form of school, may be the way I'm going ;-). Then again, if my dream job comes along, that'd be a pretty cool way to spend the rest of my days.