I want snow!

Hello readers and welcome to a festive blog!

I will jump right on in as I am in the middle of helping repair a roof! (no, really!)

I will begin with Monday. I awoke knowing it was the start of the last week of term so that immediately put me in a good mood. After scraping the car I went to work and got on with the usual task of keeping everything cushty. Time seemed to fly by and at 3:00pm I got on with helping out for the Christmas concert which was on the Wednesday. (But more about that below)

I was given the task of spray-painting the music stands... Hmm, not an easy task. After spending quite a long time doing the first two I thought "sod it" and just gave the rest a quick blast to tidy them up!

In the evening I went over to Solihull. Carl was back from Uni' and so we all had a get-together.

After coming home I was greeted by the cat who had taken to using the Christmas tree box as a make-shift bed...

At least it gave me a laugh....

Tuesday... Work seemed to go fairly quickly and before I knew it, that magical time came where I could go home. In the evening Myself, Adam, Carl, Bobby, and Jo went to The Fieldhouse for the quiz. I picked Jo up at 8:00pm and we set off to meet everyone else. We were the first to arrive, though and parked up in the one and only space on the carpark. we were joined a while later by the rest of the gang who had to park on the road. Seating was impossible, so we stood with our drinks leaning on what ever to write our answers down. As you can imagine, by the 4th round our legs were aching, but luckily Jo spotted some people who were leaving and expertly grabbed the table!

We ended up finishing mid-table. 7th-or-8th out of about 20 teams. Not bad I suppose. After we heard the final scores, we drank up and left.

Wednesday, it is at this point that work tends to drag a bit... I'm not sure why, but Wednesdays go slowly for me. I was glad of the bell at 3:00pm as I could get on with helping for the christmas concert. In between hanging a few more stars on the stage, and touching up the back wall, I found time to:

• test the lighting
• sound check the bands
• have a go on one of the kiddies bass guitars
• (un) impress people with my (lack of) drumming skills
• swing the 10 ft' stage ladders around my head
• "sing" in to the microphone (the word "sing" is used very optimistically)
• re-test the lighting
• drop the 10ft' stage ladders

It was a right laugh! Now last week I said I would take you a photo of the stage...

Well I forgot. Sorry.

I didn't actually go to the concert, because I had heard all the songs being rehearsed at school. That saved me £3!

I left at about 5:30pm and came home to watch a bit of telly, before going down to Fathers to watch a bit more telly! (and to give him his christmas card)

Ah Thursday... The last day of real lessons! In fact it was just like a normal day so I wont bother typing about it... in the evening, I went to the Packhorse as usual, though we had to sit in the retaurant section as it was quite full. We were joined by the rest of the gang. Jenny had bought my christmas pressies though I am at a loss as to what they are. One rattles, one's flat, one feels like a toy car and the other is in the shape of a small box. Go figure!

After the frivolity and the merriment, and the faliure to accuire tickets for christmas eve (bastards!) we left and Lank dropped me home.

Ah yes... Friday! The last day of term, and there were no lessons. Kiddies were in forms all day and Myself and John Pearson (yes, ex-woodrushians Mr. Pearson is still there) were working in shifts to mind a form who's teacher had not turned up. Although they were hyper, we had a laugh. We had quizzes and sing-songs. I went in to one of the assembleys to watch a version of Deal or no deal on stage with the behavioral team... Very strange, for some reason they had called it "meal or no meal" (although one of the prizes was a voucher for McDonalds, so maybe that was the reason)

Then, like a chorus of angels, singing from the heavens, the most glorious sound in the world...

... The bell.

I'd done it... I had survived the great winter term. I was free...

... Well, not quite, we still had the speeches in the staff room, but that only lasted half an hour. I shot out of the doors like a man possesed... Actually EVERYONE shot out of the doors like a man, (or woman) possesed!

I came home and thought "What shall I do to occupy myself from now until christmas?" The answer was easy... I went and purchased Guitar Hero 3!

HMV was rammed. I'm not sure where the back of the queue was, so I just walked up to the counter and paid for it! I probably angered a few people but hey, you know the saying: all's fair in love and HMV. (That's right, isn't it?)

Anyway, I came home to try it. I then thought "I know who would appreciate this!" and phoned Carl. After a short chat, I shot over with my Xbox Hard drive and my guitar-pad. We had a jolly time completing the co-op career. Adam had a go, and so did Jenny and Marcus. Afterwards, as Adam was going to bed, and Marcus had fallen asleep on the couch I thought "maybe it's time I left" and so headed on home to my own bed.

Saturday... Saturday was spent indoors, a lot. We had some people over who were fitting new guttering to the house, and so we thought it would be a good idea to change the glass panels in the enrty-way to polyurethane since they are lighter, and better insulated. it was a full days work, (though to be honest I diodn't really do much) and at the end of it all, the polyurethane sheets were only tacked in and had not been set properly... That would be a job for me and grandad... More of that in the next paragraph though. I stayed in playing Guitar Hero 3 and was coaxed by some kiddies on to Halo 3 during the evening. I wish I hadn't accepted. *rant alert* It comes to something when 13 year olds win 50 to 42 when they have TWO extra players, and then start smack-talking saying how I was "owned." and that they are, oh-so-obviously better than me. The little shits (who are going to get it big time when we get back after christmas) then thought it would be funny to send me a load of messages insulting me and my family. Messages I still have, and might just record and send a copy to the parents (since I can access the school network and get the addresses of those involved!) It pissed me off, having tiny little puke-stains insult me, and then for no reason started bringing members of my family in to it. Whats the point?

Anyway, rant over (for now) and on to Today. Grandad came over and so this mornings task is to seal and flash the polyurethane roof panels, which we are in the middle of doing, but have stopped while my grandad fetches my nan and the dog. (see, I told you I was in the middle of helping repair a roof!)

I will leave you there for now.

Have a Merry Christmas and, In case I don't blog until January, have a very happy new year.

TTFN.

We don't play hip-hop, but we're waiting for a hip op'!

hello readers, and welcome to yet another thrilling blog, from the master blogger himself... Moi!

Lets begin with Monday. Now Monday mornings are always dreary and nobody likes them (which poses the question: "why do we have them!?") but I draged myself to school in a car that still smelt like puke and just got on with the day in hand... Actually Monday went by me quite quickly and I was out the door bang on 4:30pm. In the evening I went over to my nans because my dad was back from the USA! he had brought me a pressie: A T-shirt from the Harley Davidson factory!

Nice!

Afterwards I went over to Adam and Marcus's. We decided to go for a pint in The Greville because it had been rerfurbished so we took a walk up...

... Only to discover that, in fact, it was STILL being refurbished and therefore closed. We then decided that, rather than vegetate in front of the telly, we would go for a walk... And go for a walk we did! We were ambling along for a couple of hours before coming full circle and getting back to Sambourn Close for about 11:30pm. I didn't stay long after that and left feeling quite rejuvenated!

I awoke on Tuesday with a bit of a twinge in my neck (bloody excersise! I'm sure it's not good for you!) and so went to work with a bit of a funny look about me, since I found it hard to move my neck and had to turn my entire body to look at people! I got out after what felt like a proper full days work! I was actually tired and when I got home I found myself dozing off for an hour... I will call it a "Power nap" even though it was just me being a bit sissy and falling asleep during the afternoon. In the evening I went back over to Solihull and this time Marcus had seen people in the Greville and was sure it was open, so we took a walk up...

... He was mistaken, it was still closed, so we went back to the house to watch some telly for a bit. I left at about 12:00 midnight and came home to bed...

On Wednesday work was a bit boring and dragged on a bit. Still, no matter, I would be out the door at 4:30pm, right?

Wrong...

... You see Wednesday was the final day before the "Awards Evening" at woodrush, where they give out awards to kiddies that have done good at something. And I had been placed in charge of getting the stage looking like a movie set... The theme for the awards evening, and for the Christmas Concert next week, was "A night in Hollywood" So during the week I had been making wire struts above the stage to hang stars from, as made by Art Club and Miss Cormack. I had a small army of people helping me but didn't get out until 6:00pm!!! And to make matters worse, we weren't finished. The stars were up, and so was the "HOLLYWOOD" sign I had made, but the back wall of the stage still needed painting. We left knowing that another long stint would be needed the following day...

... And it was! At 3:00pm on the dot, myself, Carly, and Emma (art and music) plus some kiddies, came down to assist with the painting. We sponged over the sign, and began working on the wall in green paint to create the "Hollywood hills" effect that my paper sign would sit over. Now usually readers, I would have a photo for you to enjoy and to marvel at. But since I was fighting against a very tight deadline, and the fact that I don't take my phone to work with me I didn't. What I will do for you though is take one at the Christmas Concert next week so that you may all praise and admire me for having such creative vision...

... Or not. I'll let you be the judge.

Anyway, I got out at about 5:20pm with everything ready for the awards evening.

Friday... I got to work and everyone was comenting on how good the stage looked and how the parents who attended the ceremony thought it was wonderful that all that work had gone in to it...

... Bloody good job, too! If they had have complained about it I may very well have started biting people! Anyway. Work was a bit disjointed. sally, head of art, was off so I was left with the cover work. I had the year 7's who were no problem and the year 10's... who were! In fact I'm not going to go on about it since it makes me angry, but the room was left looking like a bomb-site after they had finished with it!

I was glad to get out at 3:30pm... Ah the weekend had started! In the evening I went over to Marcus's. Adam was out on his works Christmas party at the Metropol hotel so me and Marcus went for a drink...

... IN THE GREVILLE!

Yes, it was finally open! actually it looks really nice in there now. Not quite as many hols in the carpet, or bits faling from the ceiling... It's nice, even the fleas adhere to the dress code!

Afterwards we took a brisk walk back to the house. I flicked the telly on, and sat watching it until about 1:00am before coming home.

Saturday. During the day I went shopping in Solihull for the rest of my gifts for Christmas. I got everything I needed (except for a couple of select items, of which I am going to Tesco's for after todays dinner) and came home for about 2:00pm. I then began the menial task of wrapping. Now i'm not very good at wrapping... So, this year, if your gift LOOKS like it might be a television arial, it's not... It will be a book or something, but the shape of the parcel never resembles the shape of the actual gift... No no, not when I'VE been wrapping the pressies!

in the evening, I went with Donna over to The Lyndon pub where Richard was working. Donna had said to me "lets go. They have live music on a Saturday!" I thought "fantastic!" and off we went...

... To a 40's night! Thats not for people who are in their 40's... But a wartime band playing music FROM the 1940s!

At one stage the lead singer (who looked like Corporal Jones from Dads Army!) pretended he was going to vault over the stage banister... Thankfully he didn't actually try it. We were joking about how the old-timers don't play hip-hop, but most of them were probably waiting for a hip op' to which Donna requested that become this weeks blog title... So it did!

At one point things got a bit interesting

Afterwards we shot over to The Packhorse to meet up with Neil and Maggie (Donnas mum and dad) for a swift drink. At about midnight (and 5 pints of Guinness!) Donna kindly dropped me back home where i made my way, as gracefully as I could, to bed.

I was awoken this morning at about 11:00am by the sound of Selena and Kieron nipping over (they didn't come yesterday due to having been invited out by one of their friends) They stayed for an hour-or-so and then left, leaving me with the task of blogging...

.. Which I have just completed in time for dinner!

Bonus!

TTFN readers

Regurgutated bodily fluids? No thanks!

hello readers and welcome to another late blog. I am in a bit of a rush so I will will keep this brief and to the point...

Ok, Monday at work went quite quickly, and after art club had finished at 4:30pm I left as well. In the evening, nothing happened since me and Adam were both knackered and too lazy to go out in the cold.

Tuesday, again, work went fairly quickly and I got out for about 5:00pm. I went over to Adams and Marcuses for something to do. I discovered that they were putting up the Christmas lights! After several attempts i felt that i had to do my duty to my readers, and so created a video for you...

Looky below!



I think thats how they have left them!

Anyway. After getting some chips, and discovering that The Greville was still closed for its refurbishment, we headed back. It wasn't too long before I left to come home to bed.

Wednesday... Was a bit long for my liking. Work dragged on a bit and by the time I got out, it felt like the middle of the night! I stayed in wednesday evening...

... I think. Can't quite remember that one. Sorry readers.

Thursday was the same as Wednesday, but at least I had the Packhorse to look forward to! lank picked me up for about 8:00pm, but we didn't leave my house until 8:20pm because he was having a look at all the music I have on Windows Media player! (coupled with the fact that I wasn't ready!) In the Packhorse,Kate had a short quiz for me. She has been trying to stump me with riddles and questions for a while... I'm not sure if she genuinely thinks I'm too clever for my own good, or whether she wants to just see me fail at something, but either way, I got 6 out of 8 questions correct... So she was partly happy!

Ah, Friday... Friday, Friday, Friday... Where to begin. I will skip the events at work, since they are pretty mundane to the events of the evening... I had arranged to take Katie out for a drink, since I haven't seen her in ages and I thought it would be a good thing if I actually took a girl for a drink once in a while... (you know, just because it's the done thing, and all...) So I met her in the masons for about 8:40pm. She came in and introduced me to her mum and dad who were stopping for a quick bevvy' and then she mentioned going to Reflex. This I had not planned on, but was happy to agree, since you might as well make the best of a good night out. She then told me that her new boyfriend would be joining us...

... fair enough, I suppose. wasn't expecting that because she was single the last time we met... But hey! the more the merrier! Now it is at this point that I have a confession to make, readers...

... That although she most definitaley introduced us, I can't remember the guy's name... For this I feel quite bad... (But not as bad as Katie now feels for the faux-pas she commited of which will explain at the proper point in the story!)

So we were having a good ol' laugh and a drink, and a bop on the dance floor, and some more drink (though I was on Soft Drinks due to the fact I had driven) And come 2:00am Kate was truly merry... They were going to get a taxi home, but since she didn't live all that far away, and the fact I had my car, and I quite enjoy driving at night when there are no cars about, I did the "Good Samaritan " thing and offered them both a lift home...

So there we were. kate and fella' in my car, and I set off...

... Kate promptly fell asleep. She awoke momentarily complaining of feeling a bit queezy. Thinking it was nothing more than my driving, I drove nice and steady, with the window down.

... In fact that was the best decision I made...

... Guess what happened?

... Go on, guess... Here's a hint: What's the title of this post?...

... It was horrible... Though 90% of the puke ended up streaked along the outside my car, the remaining 10% ended up spattering her boyfriend, and my door upholstery and passenger seat!

Now before I go any further I have to mention that, while it was horrible, and a situation in which many would have become angry, I saw the funny side and don't really blame her... (I mean how can you accuse someone of doing anything malicious when they are half-unconsious?) And I have since told her that, since I saw the funny side, that she is allowed to as well and that there are no hard feelings.

So I got her home, and helped get her inside. Then me and... (oh, lets call him "Dave") me and Dave got on with the business of clearing up my car. I was thankful for the help, as I don't really do sick... It sets me off far too easily.

Anyway I got home for about 3:00am freezing cold as I had the windows down on the way home to try an alleviate some of the sicky-smell!

Right... Sunday. I was supposed to drive Donna and myself in to Birmingham as we had arranged to go and have a look round the German market and to start Christmas shopping. I told her about the incidents of the night before so, rather than sit in a sicky-smell car she offered to drive. She picked me up at about 11:00am and we set off. After parking at the back of Centenary square we walked round towards the town hall and then set off down New Street having a look at all the stalls. After grabbing some cash at a nearby ATM, we had a walk around before giving in to the temptation of Christmas shopping.

Now obviously I won't tell you which shops we went in to because that might give away too much about what we might have bought, and since I know certain people read this on a regular basis, I don't want to start giving anyone cause to speculate on their christmas gifts this year...

.. After all there is no fun in ruining a surprise, now, is there?

After the shops had beaten us, we had lunch (for which Donna paid 10p due to the till girl messing up her change!) then took a walk up to the market to get a beer (Though Donna had hot chocolate and Amaretto... Seriously, try it! It's a fantastic combo!) before we made our way back to the car and set off for home.

After we got back, I sat and helped her type out a worksheet she needed for her year 7 maths class, and then had a bugger-about on Youtube before getting her to drop me back home.

I spent an hour on the PC before heading off down to my nans for tea as usual and to watch TopGear. I got there and was there a good half-an-hour before I noticed that my nan has a new Cockatiel! Her last one, "Cocky" was tremendiously old (seriously, he was nearly as old as me!) when he died, and she hasn't had another one since and I only noticed this one because he started making a noise during the end of Sports personality of the Year! His name is "Cheeky" (though my cousin wants to call him "Nutter") and as yet he can't talk or sing any kind of tune. (It is to be noted that, while my nan insisted that Cocky could talk, I never heard him, and am pretty sure that nan used to assign words to what anyone else would describe as a "Random squawk") I have therefore made it my business to whistle the theme tune to "Super Mario" at him, and repeat the words "piss off" until he picks it up for himself...

... Well, it's a laugh isn't it?

Right. I will leave you there readers. TTFN

Robert Du Sable is a wanker...

Hello readers and welcome to my (slightly late) blog for this week. details of why this blog is late will appear somewhere below... But lets begin, shall we.

Last Monday at work, time seemed to fly by. Maybe it's the run-up to Christmas but work on Mondays always seems to go really quickly of late. I got out of the door at 4:30pm after helping with "Art Club!" and went home to play through a bit of A/C (assassins creed, incase you didn't read last weeks blog or did read last weeks blog but have forgotten that I shortened it.) In the evening I went over to Adams, then we went for a drink... I think.

Tuesday at work was another good day, and again, I was out the door before I knew it. More A/C ensued and again, in the evening it was decided that we go for a drink. I picked Jo up at about 8:15pm and we headed on over to The Colebrook because Jo was sure there was a quiz on. We arrived ans Waited for Adam and Bobby to get there as they would provide some stable knowledge for the team...

... Or they would have done if the quiz was on a Tuesday and not a THURSDAY!

... Oh Jo, what will we do with you!

Anyway, it didn't matter since we all have a laugh and a drink, and a good time was had by all.

On Wednesday work seemed to slow back down to normal. I didn't mind though, as I got a fair bit of work done. 4:30pm came along and I left.

The evening was spent in the Swan with the rest of the T.A's as it was our annual night out and this time I really was part of a quiz team! Now usually when some of the T.A's go out for a quiz they call themselves "The Hollywood Wives" but since I was with them, along with eveyone else they decided to call themselves "Gareths Hollywood Wives" I swear that wil be a rumour before too long! Anyway, we didn't do to badly at all. We came 3rd out of about 20 teams so we were dead chuffed! When it was time to go home Tim gave me and Ann a lift home in his mini... Not a new mini but an original mini! I have never been in one before...

... And probably never will again! The back seat is really small and there is no headroom. Still, I was thankful of the lift since it beat walking back in the cold.

Thursday. Thursday at work was OK though it felt like I didn't get a lot done. I was glad to get out at 4:30pm. Before going to the packhorse as usual, I went down to my nans for an hour because Father was there and he was jetting off to the stated the following day. I spent an hour there before coming back home just in time to grab a lift to the packhorse with mother before she went out. A merry time was had by all, though we were abit thin on the ground. Myself, Matthew, Lank, Benji, Naomi, and Kate were all that there were. At a respectable 11:30pm-ish people started to leave and lank kindly dropped me home, where I went to bed.

Friday! I love fridays. Work went quite quickly and I was out the door for 3:30pm! I spent the evening playing A/C and very nearly completed it. It was a jolly nice change to stay in and save a bit of cash for once.

Saturday came along and I awoke just as mother was coming back from Tescos... At 11:00am! I never usually sleep in quite that late! Selena popped round along with nan and grandad just as i was playing through the final assassination on A/C. My grandad seemed quite enthralled with it, but declined the offer of a quick go on my xbox. In the evening I took Donna to see "Stardust" at the Empire Cinema in Rubery. Although it is a bit of a girly film in parts, Robert DeNiro more than makes up for it in brilliant comedy... Oh and there is a slight lesbian undertone in one scene, so it's not all bad! Afterwards I dropped her home, sat in the car talking for an hour, and then left (as I was pretty tired.)

Sunday... The day that this blog should have been written... I got up and played a bit of A/C but couldn't do a lot on it since I had met my match in terms of gameplay difficulty (Damn you Robert du Sable!) I turned it off, made a curry for Sunday lunch (what? It's perfectly normal!) and then got ready...

... For a shift at the Legion!

I had been asked to come in to lend a hand since Blues were playing and it would be quite busy. After they won it quietened down a bit, and the last hour wasn't too bad. I got out at 7:00pm and shot home for a bit before going down to my nans to watch TopGear and Long Way down (which I was dissapointed with, as it was the last of the series, and they rushed it a bit. The ending was truly unspectacular!)

Anyway. After that I came home and got some sleep...

And thats your lot for this week readers... TTFN