Last Week's Shenanigans: Catching a cold!

I was pretty productive, certainly for the first part, of this week! Unfortunately about halfway through I caught a horrendous cold which scuppered a lot of things. Still, all in all, not a bad week.

Monday 18th: Not a huge amount really happened today. I continued reading Ben Aaronovitch's 'Rivers Of London' and it was at this point that I really began to get into it. I read a lot on the train to and from Canterbury, as I had work today! Work was pretty interesting to begin with because I wrote down the wrong shift time so ended up being late. Oops! Still, it ended up being a pretty average day in the end with not a lot else going on.

Tuesday 19th: I had a very busy day (contrasting to the less interesting happenings of the day before) today. In the morning I wrote my Top Ten Tuesday post (I adore taking part in this meme every week, so much fun!) but spent the rest of the morning smartening up for my trip to London. I made my way to Charing Cross, and then Tottenham Court Road, to have a meeting with the Clarks Store Manager there. It was more of an informal chat really, and we agreed to a full-time contract with Mondays and Sundays off. It was such a weight off my mind to finally have my transfer sorted, I'm so glad! I also saw Mat in the evening and got to spend a little time with him. I did also complete 'Rivers Of London', as I had a lot of reading time on the train!

Wednesday 20th: Back to work again today! As it's the Back To School period, Clarks is ultra busy meaning that my shifts are going to increase. A lot. I found out that my references regarding the new Flat have all been received and so it's looking more and more real that I'll be moving to London incredibly soon. Eek! After my not as exciting shift at work, I went to stay at Mat's in the evening as I needed him to drop me off at work the next day. When I got to his he made me a cup of tea and I typed up a post ready for the next day. I made a very small start on 'Doll Bones' by Holly Black, my next read! Unfortunately it was here that I started feeling rough and poor Mat ended up not getting a lot of sleep and looking after me instead!

Thursday 21st: Having slept a total of two or so hours the night before, it stands to reason I woke up feeling pretty terrible. Nevertheless, I soldiered on and went into work feeling fairly dreadful. Luckily when I got there, I wasn't put on the Kids Department (it can get pretty hectic and my head was pounding) and in the end they let me go half an hour early because my health decreased as the day went on. Mum picked me up from the station and I spent the rest of my day trying (and failing) to catch up on sleep and finishing 'Doll Bones'.

Friday 22nd: Unfortunately I felt no better today. In fact, I felt a lot worse. Again, I hadn't slept all through the night so I literally spent the entire day feeling sorry for myself. Luckily I didn't have work that day so I could relax. At my perkier moments (i.e. when the medicine kicked in) I played cards and Monopoly with my sister and her friend, but I spent most of the time napping in my room and not doing a lot else. It completely ruined my reading schedule as I was far too ill to concentrate on a book.

Saturday 23rd: Now I was meant to be in work on Saturday, but I still felt pretty rough so I ended up calling in sick. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I never do that so I really felt pretty bad. Unfortunately, I still didn't get any reading done today! Mat came over in the evening for an hour or so to check up on me and we watched the new Doctor Who episode. My highlight of the day was probably watching Markiplier's Charity Livestream on Twitch (he's a gaming Youtuber for those who are interested). He raised a lot of money for the ALS Foundation with his friends Bob and Wade and I even got a retweet! It sent my Twitter mad and broke the internet for a bit, but it was totally worth it!

Sunday 24th: Today I felt so much better. I could have leapt for joy that I was finally feeling healthy again, and on a day off too so it meant I could fully recover! In terms of being productive, I truthfully wasn't all that much and probably should have read more than I ended up doing (I am so behind with this book and it is rather long). I vow to be better from now on! Instead, I watched Divergent with my Dad, borrowed from my sister. We both actually really enjoyed it and I would be interested to see where they go from there! 

Last Week's Shenanigans: Job Hunting!

I've actually ended up, all in all, having a fairly busy week this week! The first half maybe not so much, but the second half was very busy indeed for me.

Monday 4th: Today was probably one of the more boring days for me this week. I had work at 11 so I spent the morning getting ready for it, and then the rest of the day working and coming home. Work itself wasn't too bad though, we have a few new workers and I was tasked with showing one of them the ropes which made a nice change. I didn't feel all that well at first, and because Bev was ill, I worried I had caught it. It turned out okay in the end though!

Tuesday 5th: Tuesday was my day off and Bev was still ill, so we spent the morning watching various programmes (Pram Face mainly) on Netflix and generally relaxing. In the afternoon, I decided the time had come to tackle my ridiculously untidy room and I have to say I think I did a pretty good job! You can actually see the carpet and the desks now! It's a miracle! That particular job took up most of the afternoon and evening, and Bev and Mum helped me out which was nice. Obviously, I also wrote out my Top Ten Tuesday post, and I really enjoyed this week's topic!

Wednesday 6th: Well as Mat and I were both off from work, we were supposed to be going out  and doing something fun before I had dinner and a meeting in the evening. However, Mat decided he'd much rather spend the whole morning sleeping in instead. It didn't really matter though in my opinion, all of the things I had wanted to do involved being outside, and it was raining really hard! I did a couple of bits and bobs in the morning, then when Mat eventually arrived with a thousand apologies, we decided to relax at his and watch some more Game Of Thrones. In the afternoon/evening, Mat dropped me in Canterbury and I went for Nandos with some of my work friends, before we all had to attend a meeting at Clarks in preparation for the Back To School period. Overall it was pretty fun, and a work friend dropped me home. Mat quickly popped over again to get the car to me after he'd finished his training (he does Parkour).

Thursday 7th: Another boring day for me here. My family headed to Maidstone to grab some home improvements as they're redecorating the Living Room. I had work pretty early in the morning, so couldn't go with them. When I got home, we sat and watched The Great British Bake-Off together (I seriously love that show) and then after dinner, I headed to Mat's for the evening. I watched even more Game Of Thrones, I am seriously getting into this series so much!

Friday 8th: Now here is where the Job Hunting aspect of my post came in. I was originally supposed to be working on this day, but I ended up swapping with someone else. Instead, after an uneventful morning, I headed up to London in the afternoon to try and sort out my income for when I move there in less than a month. I had a pretty big stroke of luck as the very first Clarks that I stopped at to inquire about a transfer had a full time opening. It was absolutely perfect for what I needed and I'm in the process of getting it all sorted now. While I was up there, I also decided to attend an Open Evening for a Traineeship at the Royal Court Theatre. It sounds like a huge step towards something I would love to do, and a lot of fun. I returned home feeling very happy and tired.

Saturday 9th: Another work shift for me and Clarks is starting to get very, very busy! It was an absolutely knackering day and to be honest, I really wasn't feeling too good. I was glad when it finished and I could go home to relax. Other than work, my day remained pretty uneventful and I really didn't get up to all that much! Bev bought ingredients for, and made some lovely Chocolate and Almond cupcakes (the recipe for which can be found on her blog) and they were absolutely scrumptious!

Sunday 10th: No work today so I spent the morning being domestic and helping Mum with the ironing. Bev was a bit bored and wanted to bake something else so I picked her out another recipe and she made Strawberry and Cream cakes, which again, were divine. I need to learn to bake like Bev, she's amazing! After Mat finished work, I picked him up and we went to his for the evening. We watched another Game Of Thrones episode (Series 3 is almost finished at this point) and he generally looked after me because I still wasn't quite right from Saturday.

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday (Topic: Books I Would Recommend For Those Who Haven't Read Historical Fiction)

Life Of A Blogger (Topic: Best Childhood Memory)

Books Reviewed:

Life Of Pi; Yann Martel

Daily Shenanigans, 15/07/2014: Secret Unlimited Screening!

I've had quite a day today, starting off with a lovely lay-in because I was absolutely shattered after yesterday! When I finally got up about mid-morning, I got straight on with writing my Top Ten Tuesday post and browsing the others on my Bloglovin' feed. I feel like I've been neglecting commenting on other people's blogs recently, so have tried to do a bit of catching up. I've also been pretty busy job hunting, sorting out the consoles that Mat and I are going to sell tomorrow, and doing a bit of reading. I really need to get back into that, especially as I now don't have a work shift for a good week and a half!

The main highlight of the day however came when Mat and I went to the Unlimited Screening. We didn't know, until tonight, what the film would actually be. A few clues had been let slip on Twitter, but nothing definitive. When I found out it was 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' I had a pretty mixed reaction. First there was the fact that I hadn't seen it's predecessor, so I was a little annoyed that they had decided to show a sequel for that reason. Secondly, the website advertised the secret screening as being shown 'well ahead of it's release date'. Is two days before it's released 'well ahead'? I think not. 

Nevertheless, despite feeling a bit negative to begin with, the film itself was phenomenal! I didn't need to have seen 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' to understand it (though there were references) and I thought the animation was just fantastic. I really got into it a lot and regretted my initial annoyance, though I do still feel a little cheated. Anyone who was wondering whether it would be worth a watch, it is. For the CGI alone! The expressions on the apes were beautifully rendered, managing to look both human and convey emotion, while most definitely ape-like. I really bought into the story and the acting, and I loved the soundtrack.

Tomorrow I have to run a couple of errands and I'm seeing Mat for most of the day. I should get some reading done though and I really hope to finish 'The Silent History' and get onto 'Dragon's Curse'.

Daily Shenanigans, 14/07/2014: 'Richard III'.

If I could I would go to the theatre every day. I absolutely love it, and today's trip to see Trafalgar Transformed's adaption of Richard III was no exception to that rule. Mat arrived at mine about mid morning and we set about completing tasks before heading off to London. Firstly, Mat sorted out our consoles so that we could set about selling the ones we don't need anymore in preparation for our new flat. While he was doing that I decided to update my CV as it truly needed to be done. We had lunch then headed off to London. We actually spent most of our afternoon back and forth on the tube, travelling first to Stratford before returning to Central London. The intention was to spend the afternoon job hunting before having a nice evening and we were pretty productive. After getting lots done, we headed to a nearby Italian restaurant for some dinner.

After dinner we walked across the road to the Trafalgar Studios, picked up our tickets and then eagerly awaited the show. It was fantastic! I had a faint idea about the synopsis of the play though I actually had not ever seen it performed before or studied it. The first thing I noticed was the really cool set, which looked like something out of a 1970s war film. It was amazingly realistic, it even had lifts which I was so impressed by. The soundtrack was really attention grabbing, ever-present and adding plenty of atmosphere. I loved the costume designs too, it was a wonderful adaption of the play. Martin Freeman as the titular character was just phenomenal (and hilarious) I thought he did a great job at playing the villain. I was pretty impressed by the whole cast actually! 

I'm currently so tired, I'm having a lay in tomorrow before doing more jobs.