Tomorrow, the adventure begins!
This time tomorrow, I will be on the way to my first day at university. I'm so excited to go! There are still a ton of things that I need to get together (mainly little things, thankfully) so in an attempt to get my head straight, I'm gonna waffle on here.
So, most importantly, I need to bring my letters from the uni and Student Finance. I'm not 100% sure these are required to enrol, but it never hurts to have them just in case. I'll be bringing my bullet journal for any notes I might need to make, and my rail card. I need that sweet 1/3 off discount, otherwise I will be broke for eternity.
I could also do with bringing a couple of spare bags - probably tote bags. Chester University runs a scheme called the Aspire Books Scheme; an awesome little thing in which students get a bunch of their set texts for free. One of the things I learned from my time at QUB was that books are fucking expensive. So yeah, I'll need a bag or two to haul them all back home.
And... to be honest, I think these are the two main things that I need to bring to enrol and whatnot.
Because my timetable and the travel distance means that I'm gonna be getting up pretty early every morning, I've been thinking about breakfast. I want something quick, that I can just grab and go. I want something that's gonna keep me until lunchtime, as well.
Last time I went to visit Mum (back in 2015), she showed me one of the recipes she'd gotten through Slimming World - basically layering yoghurt, muesli and tinned fruit in a sealable tupperware beaker. It's best made the night before, because the muesli goes nice and soft, and you can just grab it straight out of the fridge. She made it for me a few times, and then I brought the idea home and started occasionally making it for myself, and it's surprisingly filling. So I guess I can do this, and then bring it in with some bananas and a travel mug of tea. Then, I suppose I can bring in some home-made soup and sandwiches for lunch.
Not only will preparing my own food save time, it'll save money and be way healthier. I must have gained two stone in that one semester at QUB (yaaaaaay, PCOS) that I'm still struggling to shake off even today. And I wrote about my predicted expenses in my last post - I'm definitely going to have to be smart about food expenditure.
In the last year, mainly for health/fun reasons, I began cooking in bulk, from scratch. No jarred sauces or tinned soups, I would designate an afternoon every week where I could stick some music on, knuckle down in the kitchen and toil for a few hours to make a week's worth of spaghetti bolognese, or carrot and coriander soup, or whatever else took my fancy. I could whip up a week's worth of healthy food, each meal costing only around £5.
It's brilliant - for a couple of hours' cooking, all I need to do for the rest of the week is just pop it in the microwave for about ten minutes, sit on my backside until it's done, et voila! I've come to really enjoy the process of cooking, too. Sometimes it can take me about half an hour to get through the initial prep stages of chopping up all the vegetables, but I find the motions meditative. I don't rush myself, I enjoy whatever music I have playing and take my time. On a nice day, though with winter coming up this won't be as feasible, I have the kitchen door open to let in some light and air. It's lovely.
The early mornings have gotten me thinking about sleep, too. If I'm waking at 6, I'm probably going to want to be in bed at around 9:30 - 10:30 so I'm not a wreck the next morning. I can get up quite easily, but I do have trouble getting to sleep on a night.
Something that's been working for me lately is cultivating a little night-time routine to do before bed. I'm finding that my brain is beginning to associate certain activities with sleep. I don't necessarily do all of these in a particular order, but...
So, most importantly, I need to bring my letters from the uni and Student Finance. I'm not 100% sure these are required to enrol, but it never hurts to have them just in case. I'll be bringing my bullet journal for any notes I might need to make, and my rail card. I need that sweet 1/3 off discount, otherwise I will be broke for eternity.
I could also do with bringing a couple of spare bags - probably tote bags. Chester University runs a scheme called the Aspire Books Scheme; an awesome little thing in which students get a bunch of their set texts for free. One of the things I learned from my time at QUB was that books are fucking expensive. So yeah, I'll need a bag or two to haul them all back home.
And... to be honest, I think these are the two main things that I need to bring to enrol and whatnot.
Because my timetable and the travel distance means that I'm gonna be getting up pretty early every morning, I've been thinking about breakfast. I want something quick, that I can just grab and go. I want something that's gonna keep me until lunchtime, as well.
Last time I went to visit Mum (back in 2015), she showed me one of the recipes she'd gotten through Slimming World - basically layering yoghurt, muesli and tinned fruit in a sealable tupperware beaker. It's best made the night before, because the muesli goes nice and soft, and you can just grab it straight out of the fridge. She made it for me a few times, and then I brought the idea home and started occasionally making it for myself, and it's surprisingly filling. So I guess I can do this, and then bring it in with some bananas and a travel mug of tea. Then, I suppose I can bring in some home-made soup and sandwiches for lunch.
Not only will preparing my own food save time, it'll save money and be way healthier. I must have gained two stone in that one semester at QUB (yaaaaaay, PCOS) that I'm still struggling to shake off even today. And I wrote about my predicted expenses in my last post - I'm definitely going to have to be smart about food expenditure.
In the last year, mainly for health/fun reasons, I began cooking in bulk, from scratch. No jarred sauces or tinned soups, I would designate an afternoon every week where I could stick some music on, knuckle down in the kitchen and toil for a few hours to make a week's worth of spaghetti bolognese, or carrot and coriander soup, or whatever else took my fancy. I could whip up a week's worth of healthy food, each meal costing only around £5.
It's brilliant - for a couple of hours' cooking, all I need to do for the rest of the week is just pop it in the microwave for about ten minutes, sit on my backside until it's done, et voila! I've come to really enjoy the process of cooking, too. Sometimes it can take me about half an hour to get through the initial prep stages of chopping up all the vegetables, but I find the motions meditative. I don't rush myself, I enjoy whatever music I have playing and take my time. On a nice day, though with winter coming up this won't be as feasible, I have the kitchen door open to let in some light and air. It's lovely.
The early mornings have gotten me thinking about sleep, too. If I'm waking at 6, I'm probably going to want to be in bed at around 9:30 - 10:30 so I'm not a wreck the next morning. I can get up quite easily, but I do have trouble getting to sleep on a night.
Something that's been working for me lately is cultivating a little night-time routine to do before bed. I'm finding that my brain is beginning to associate certain activities with sleep. I don't necessarily do all of these in a particular order, but...
- About an hour before bed, I try to turn my computer off, set my alarm and stop using my Kindle for anything that involves looking at the screen for the night. If I absolutely have to use the Kindle, I do so briefly or turn the brightness right down. I turn my main light off and just use my lamp.
- I make a cup of chamomile tea.
- I feed the rats. Boys first, then girls. I take my tea up with the ladies' food and a bottle of water.
- While my tea cools, I knit/crochet and listen to music, I write, or I read.
- I take my meds with a swig of water.
- I drink my tea.
- I go into the bathroom - wash my face, rub some moisturiser onto my arms, torso and legs, apply some deodorant and brush my teeth.
- Back in my room, I sprinkle a few drops of lavender essential oil on my pillows and duvet.
- I put on some hand and cuticle cream.
- I turn out the light, and go to bed.