Men Are Confusing. Full Stop.

Units of alcohol: 6
Hours spent shopping for paint and carpets: 3
Minutes spent worrying about men: at least 40

I thought dating was a thing that grown-ups do, particularly in America.  I personally don't hear very much about 20 year olds going on dates at any rate. And when does something constitute as a proper date?  This is a question I have recently had to try to answer.
The other and much more important one is, how can you tell if a guy likes you?  What do the number of kisses at the end of a text mean and how much, if at all, should you read into them?  Who should text first? How long should you wait before you text back? What does it mean if he holds your hand or if he playfully pokes you? What is he thinking? How do you know if you are wasting your time? THE LIST GOES ON.  And I'm frankly fed up of it.  Why does everything seem to be some sort of twisted game?  Apparently you're not allowed to just be straight forward and to the point because that scares men. And then your chances of being with them diminishes distinctly.   And this is a shame, particularly if you think you've met your Mr. Perfect.  Men should be forced to wear t-shirts with what they're thinking emblazoned on them to save women all this over-analysing and angst.
For the meantime, I guess I shall just have to keep plodding on, waiting for a text, or simply for Thursday.

My Night as Katwoman

Units of alcohol: lost count
Packets of Tesco's Finest Jumbo King Prawns cooked: 2
Whips bought: 1
Litres of snakebite I refused to down: 1

My dinner party for 4 seemed quite a success and the prawns went down well.  I also had my first mince pie of the season.  I would just like to pay tribute to the lovely half-priceness of various Tesco's Finest products- not just the prawns but also the cognac-laced mince pies. Delish.

After supper I dressed up for a blockmate's 21st Birthday party.  The theme was heroes and villains and so naturally I went as Katwoman.  For this, I invested in a pair cat ears and a tail, a black leotard, patterned tights and a whip. My bottom was clearly on show but isn't Catwoman supposed to be sexy?  You know that scene in Bridget Jones where she turns up to the Tarts and Vicars tea party dressed as a bunny?

Well, I felt and looked a bit like that.  But hey, boys whistled, great pictures were taken and it was a good evening so I guess that it was worth it.

Then I met up with Caveman and his friend and we went to the Student Union.  A bunch of his friends were there and we ended up playing touch-cup, a drinking game that I had never played before and therefore failed at pretty miserably.  Caveman was a gentleman although be it a silly one and took my hit for me, downing almost a litre of snakebite then surreptitiously throwing up on the floor.  Lovely. Didn't put me off him though.

My Flatmates and Fridayness

Units of alcohol: 1 so far but many, many more will be consumed tonight
Crushes: 1
Work done: zilch apart from this blog
Smiley Kat: 1

I think I should write a little about my flatmates.  I live in a single-sex flat with 4 international students.

First there is Lily aged 22 and she is Bulgarian.  She is really nice and has very good English but isn't often in so we don't talk or hang out much. She will be here for 3 years as she is studying Photography, but she has never been abroad before.  However, she seems to be coping just fine and has some lovely friends who I have met.  She always laughs at me in my ridiculous costumes I end up wearing, and she is super prepared and concerned as she gave me a plaster when the shower head cut my toe.

Then there is Fon who is 29 and she is Thai.  Her English is also very good. She cooks the most amazing food and thinks my life is hilarious. I'm not quite sure what she is studying but I think it's only for a year.  She doesn't seem to go out much and is always on Skype to her boyfriend.  But she is really lovely and always makes sure I am ok.

The last two are Chinese girls Stephanie and Cecilia.  They are 22 and are here for only a year studying International Business or something.  Their English really isn't very good and I wonder how they cope.  Perhaps they are better at reading and writing it than speaking it.  They do everything together and the smells from the kitchen are dribble inducing, but having seen what they cook and the ingredients they use, it doesn't seem at all healthy.  My only issue is they always take REALLY long showers and leave massive matts of hair in the plug hole.  This is really disgusting but I think I have finally got them to understand that they must remove it next time.  I have never had a conversation as such with Stephanie but the other day I had a breakthrough with Cecilia.  She asked me where I was off to as I was putting on make up, and then she said she was going to kareoke on Albert Road, and she would be singing a Chinese song, and have I ever been to Tiger Tiger?  It was bizarre to say the least as I didn't think they left their rooms apart from lectures and food shopping, but I welcomed the conversation.  Still, earlier I walked into the kitchen and they were eating slices of pizza with chopsticks.  It baffled me. I guess leopards can't change their spots after all.

Tonight I am having some of my course mates over for supper.  I'm cooking prawns with honey, ginger, chilli and spring onion.  I made it from scratch and just flung in whatever I thought would go so I hope it will be ok! I will serve this with spaghetti, and then there are mince pies and chocolate strawberries for pudding.  I will be dressed as Katwoman (get it?!) for a 21st Birthday party later tonight, as the theme is Heroes and Villains.  Caveman is coming...

Playzone isn't just for children

Units of alcohol: 4
'Spoons amaaaazing hot chocolates: 2
Money spent: too much :(
Number of over-excited students: many many many!

Yesterday evening we went as a group from Bateson Halls to an indoor adventure playground of the ball pits and slides variety.  I last went there when I was about 10 for a birthday party, but we discovered that once a month they open it up for adults. They even sell vodka slush puppies. If you think a place like this is dangerous for children, it is even worse for adults.  We spent over 2 hours dashing around madly playing games of tag, and people would frequently fall on you or kick you.  I think I have quite a few bruises today!
http://www.theplayzone.co.uk/

NEW USE FOR A SHOWER HEAD

Units of alcohol: 0
Cigarettes: 0
'Spoons amazing hot chocolate: 1
Broccoli and spinach: YES!

This evening I scared my international flatmates by appearing at the door to their rooms with blood pouring from my toe.  I did not, as one might guess considering I was shaving my legs, drop a razor on it.  Instead, I dropped the shower head. It scraped along my big toe and blood poured forth.  Who is silly enough to do that?
Earlier today I went on a date with Caveman.  This is the guy my friend and I bumped into a few weeks ago (I forgot to mention him in my blog) and we went back to my room for random chats.  Anyway, the problem which has befallen me is that he is even more good-looking than I remember- surfer dude with wavy blond hair meets fit rugby guy- and we have a lot in common.  I shall keep you posted...

TANTRUM

Cigarettes: 1

Units of alcohol: 6

Crabby Student: 1

Everything just seems to be going wrong. I blame tiredness and hormones for a lot of it but today things just got too much.  I was meant to be meeting a friend in Winchester for lunch but she bailed on me and forgot to let me know.  This annoyed me a fair bit as I had come back from University specially.  So I asked one of my Mum’s best friends (who, as my brother and I like to say, is a Desperate Housewife) to join me.  This was all very well for her as she does nothing with her days and has no children to worry about.  Personally, I would be bored if I were her.  But anyway, that is beside the point.  She was finicky over the bill.  She does not need a job, I am a student.  People who are tight with money especially when they don’t need to be piss me off. Enough said.

 Moving on.

 I got back to my car and went to pay for my ticket.  But I could not find my ticket. I searched high and low, all through my clothes and all through my purse.  Nada.  There was nothing I could do except pay the £15 fine for a lost ticket.  Again, I plea, I am a student.  I do not have £15 to waste on a lost ticket.  The most annoying thing about it is that normally I am so careful with my tickets; I put them next to my cards in my purse.  But today I didn’t. Oh WHY didn’t I? £15, gone.

 I finally got home and cried.  Well, actually it was a bit of a tantrum because every now and then I need to let rip. The house is dusty from the building, my Mum was in a bad mood and I’ve given her my cold and the cat hadn’t wiped his bottom properly and had left a dribble of something disgusting on my bed. I needed a hug and a howl.  I got the latter.

2 Musketeers Exercise

Weight: who knows, thank you water retention
Units of alcohol: 0
Units of hot Ribena: 10ish
Cigarettes: 0
Tantrums in Bateson Hall due to stupid TV show I have to review but don't understand: 1

After the hellish TV show screening I felt fit to burst, so my trusty female Musketeer and I headed to an exercise class titled 'Yoga Inspired Fitness'.  For 55 minutes we lay in various positions on the mats extending our limbs, sticking our bottoms in the air and pulling in our tummies to the strains of 'deep breath in... and out...'
The unforgettable moment was the 'seal roll'.  We lay on our backs with our legs bent like a frog with our feet touching, then rolled backwards, clapped our hands like seals and then rolled back again onto our sitting bones.  So incredibly dignified.

The impossibly slim, muscular instructor bounced around the room shouting into her microphone, her blonde ponytail swinging enthusiastically behind her and as she adjusted my hips I wondered what on earth I was doing there.  Do any of these slow movements and breathing exercises actually do any good?
Nevertheless, we left the class having felt we'd done some good work without the sweat of a proper workout. Amazing!