My 18th Party and Caving =]

Had my 18th party on Sat night. We had spent about three days getting the Marquee up in the garden only to wake up in the morning ... to it blowing all over the garden. Anyhow, went to work, sold shoes, picked up my new jeans from next and went home to prepare for the madness. Me and Vicky had gone to Tesco the previous night with the intend of buying party hats ... we came home with allot of hats, balloons, and lots of other things and spent a few mins messing around with them when Rach, Bex and Pauline got to mine about 6:30.

Batman – Me and Matt had planned to go and see Batman at some point. Arrived at his to pick him up, only to find out he had got the times wrong. Anyway, we ended up gong back to mine to watch a pre-batman Frasier. The film was really quite impressive and cleverly done ... and very long. Got home at about 12:00ish and may have taken a wrong turn coming out of Tarleton ... forcing me to do an illegal manover in the middle of a deserted major road.

Shopping – went shopping to Grasmere and Ambleside on Monday. Should have left earlier as traffic was bad and we didn’t have time for much browsing. Got a Rab Active 460g 3pl waterproof from Cotswold and also another base layer ... which is an interesting shade of pink. We went to Zefferelies for pizza ... much to Matt’s disappointment, as it was a vegetarian restaurant. Drove back passing through Lancaster and had a quick look around in the rain. Me and Dad got a shock when it started to rain torrentially and a car went over a bridge above up, showering us with tonnes of water as we were going 80mph.
Diehard – me Carrington and Matt had arranges to have a Die-hard marathon, and watch all 4 die-hard in a row one day (and night). We had a pizza break at some point and we had to stop the film when it rained really loudly on the conservatory roof. We had a good chat about all things university, and then resumed the film. I think I liked the 1st three best, but I was getting really tired by the last film. Got home at 1:00ish.
Caving – got up early on bank holiday Monday and loaded the car with caving tackle. Me, dad and Vicky were planning to explore upper and lower long churn in Yorkshire and a while later we arrived at Inglesports, ordered a hot choc, and marvelled at a Rab Active for £180 which I had bought in Cotswold a week earlier for £80. Needless to say I was quite impressed. Drank hot chock and had a read through a few ‘climb’ magazines and read an article on the ‘moose’s tooth’. Got underground at 15:00 and spent an hour exploring as dad didn’t have a wetsuit. Went through a few scrambly bits ... and Vicky slid into a well placed deep pool. Didn’t go through the cheese press this time though. Had an interesting time getting changed back at the car, and then headed for home after dropping off the helmets at inglesports.

Found out in Tuesday that I hadn’t got into Edinburgh. Mum rang work to see if I wanted a lift ... and I knew it was bad news. Anyhow ... I’m starting to see the bright side of things again. Lancaster’s a great uni. 10th in the country. Ill get go have a year abroad in North America or Australia and I’ve only heard good things about the uni. The mountaineering club looks impressive, they seem to do a wide range of stuff, like courses at Glenmore lodge and winter mountineering in Scotland in the winter, and there’s more local stuff in the lakes too. They have a climbing trip somewhere local every Sunday.
I can only conclude that I must be ment to go to Lancaster ... I must have been ment to totally mess up that paper; I just have to trust that.

A level results and an experiance at the gym!

Allot of things have happened since France ... hence my delay in up dating my blog. Got back on the Sunday and went straight to Rachel’s, after a quick unpacking session. Arrived after everyone else and hadn’t been there 15mins before Jon was suggesting a BBQ. Me, Jon, Emma and Eddy drove round to Tesco express and picked up the BBQ from mine. Ended up going to three Tesco’s as we kept forgetting things and about an hour later we were back at raches cooking and singing with guitars till 3:00am. We stayed up till 5:00am doing crazy make-over.
Woke up a few hours later screaming about the time ... and thinking I was still downstairs. Got up at about 10:00 after Emma had gone for her driving lesson. We all made breakfast and Hannah and David left, Nicole me and Adam watched one tree hill and Bex stayed asleep. Ended up going home in my pyjamas and it promptly chucked it down.
Got my A level results on thurs 14th aug. Went early as id spoken to Mrs Wilde about how important it was to contact Edinburgh and plead with them if things didn’t go according to plan. Anyhow, got onto my tracking and ... Edinburgh = Unsuccessful. Thought my world had ended. Totally broke down in front of everyone and didn’t even notice they were all looking at me ... went into the bathroom and fainted.
Spent the next hour in some kind of trance around college, specking to different people about what to do. My results also got lost and went in my envelope and a horrible photographer tried to take a pic of me and Rachel hugging and crying, before Rachel yelled at him and pushed me out the way.
I actually got ABC. The C was in chemistry and was 1% off a B. The B was in geography!!! Apparently I got AAAAA and U in my modules. It’s been sent off again to be checked, and Edinburgh is holding me a place if it is a mistake, if not ill go to Lancaster. Hopefully do my maters at Edinburgh.
Me, Emma and Rach went to the Gym, and decided just to go swimming. We did about 20 lengths, and then loads for ‘members of the older generation’ came in and someone started YMCA and the like. We found our selves in the middle of an aqua aerobics class, which turned out to be quite a fun experience!

CARAVANS AND CLIMBING AND MY 18TH BIRTHDAY =]

As you may have gathered from my last post, I have been living in a tiny 2-man caravan with my mum, dad and Vicky ... needless to say, I was feeling slightly squished by the end of the experience. Many a nights were spent sprawled across the gravel floor outside the caravan as the rubbish ‘bed’ loaned to me by the Forshaw’s, which proved inadequate, and the slighted movement caused the whole contraption to capsize, landing on top of me.
YAY IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY ON WEDNESDAY THE 16TH JULY!!!! WOOO IM 18!!!! As I am having my party a month from now, I just met up with Emma and Rachy-babe for an early breakfast in Broadbent’s ... muffins, caramel squares, hot choc with cream and marshmallows as on the menu. Rach and Em paid for me =] we then went dress trying on in Bay ... as per usual, and TKMax too! Wedding dresser were involved ‘I do’ believe. Went off for a bit of ‘me’ time after and later went out for a mean with mum dad Vicky, nana, gran granddad and Aileen (Mike on holiday). I was surprised by an apple pie with a candle in at the end which made it all too funny, not to mansion gran stealing handfuls of mint imperials ... she won the compotition. I had a caterpillar cake ... =]
Luckily for me, I was to endure the least of the conditions of all of us as I was working so much. Thursday night 5-12, then Friday Clark’s 11-4 and pizza express 5-10, then on to Emma’s birthday cinema expedition. Bex (with Rach and Claire in the car) picked my up from work and we made an emergency stop off at Asda and met up with Emma, Jon, Adam and James. After raiding the sweets and chocolate isle, we proceeded to see Mama Mia! There was a pizza throwing incident in the car park and we risked getting arrested down Neville Street as I was getting changed in the back seat. Had to wait till we got to the cinema to pull up my skinny jeans properly, much to the embarrassment of a few people in the car park. Decided to go for a ‘walk-through’ at McDonalds as it had shut. And I got a bit silly doing a car impression through the drive through.
The film was really good! And if I wasn’t a fan of Abba before ... I certainly am now! The funniest thing was Pierce wotsit ‘trying’ to sing ... and simply achieving the constipated look. I was sleeping over at Emma’s as I had work in town in the morning and didn’t want to go back to the caravan. We spent a while trying to figure out some of her birthday presents and finally went to sleep. Got up in the morning, bread was discussed and I left for work at 10:00. Work was hard but rewarding when a lovely women gave me £10 for telling her I was going to uni to save the world! Anyhow ... the day passed and I bought my shoes from Clarks, and worked at pizza express until 1:00am.
Was slightly shattered in the morning, but got up for church and did the projector, saw Kathryn, who I had been dying to see, and I got the most amazing collection on presents including a beast of a balloon. Got back to the caravan and me and mum watched ‘A Walk to Remember’ ... no more need saying here ... except many trees were sacrificed. Back at work later ... yeah.
Packed up on Monday morning and returned to the seeming mansion we now live in. Have been mostly working since and packing for France on Thursday. Matt and Carrington came over spontaneously on Monday night ... and I totally ‘Notebooked’ them... also ‘I am Legend’ was watched and polar bears were abused in the process. We planned to go climbing on Wednesday (today) and this morning we met at Matt’s at 9am, who had just got up, and was tucking into a large amount of pancakes mmmm. Set off shortly after leaving our mums to chat over a cup of coffee. The three of us arrived at Wilton quarry soon and geared up. Did a few good single pitched up Orange wall and countless others. Did a few VD’s a HVS and one VS which Matt did an amazing lead on without a top rope. Even though he was putting in protection in along the way, I was still slightly concerned. A few technical knees were used I do believe and I seconded taking out protection along the way. Topping out was difficult as Matt was in the way and all I cold see were his bear feet. I gave him his flop-flops which Carrington had attached to my Harness, and all was well. Had a bite to eat at some point, where Carrington went for a long 2minuet walk back to the car for food, leaving me and Matt to discuss a gear shopping spree ... I must make a list.
We somehow ended up making a sort of zip-line and about an hour was spent tying knots, and sliding up and down the contraption. In due course Carrington pulled my up the last part taking all the skin off my knuckles ... there was blood.
Stopped off at KFC on the homeward journey and listened to the Top Gear album while illegally cutting through people’s gardens as a short cut ... the less said here the better. Got back soon after, and I went to work, where a strange man gave me his number secretly and a note saying ‘you are lovely’ ... hmm ... well ... scary.
Now sitting up at 2:00am writing this before I forget it all in France, I’m realising how much the little things mean I life when you take the time to write them down and laugh at all the things that makes the world go round. The last week has been an experience. Lived in a caravan, worked into the night, seen my friends, turned 18, and been climbing. I feel, for the first time in a long time ... that everything will work out ok, I will go far and ‘save the world’... and climb Everest ... (that’s ‘into thin air’ talking).