Sup 2009!
Firstly, /wave all y'all I just added to friends! Sorry if it took a while, I'm an enormous slacker when it comes to the LJ so you haven't missed much (anything) rly.
Secondly, I hope everyone had a shiny Christmas and New Year! Neither were particularly special for me tbh, sry 2 rain on paradez.
Every year since I was born, Christmas was spent at my parents' house with my "close" family (brothers, sisters, grandma, aunt, brother-in-law) and a fatty momentonthelipslifetimeonthehips dinner cooked by me mam. For the last ~5 years though, my middle-big sister (Anna) has been living in Australia so she hasn't been there and this year my big sister (Kat) is pregnant (I'm going to be an AUNTIE wutishapen?) and expecting a baby boy on January 17 so she and my brother-in-law couldn't make it.
The main person "missing" though was my Auntie, who passed away towards the end of October... She was 59 and had end stage lung disease. She'd been particularly unwell for ~10 years but managed to survive a stint in hospital a few years ago, although she could barely walk a hundred yards afterwards. We always thought it was because she smoked a lot when she was younger, but when my mum was sorting through her things, she found paperwork that said my aunt was actually born with a cancerous tumour in her shoulder and she was given a fortnight to live. My grandma (who had already lost one newborn son to pyloric stenosis) thankfully fought and fought for my aunt to have treatment. However, my aunt went for check-ups every ten years and when she was 30, her doctor discovered that her lungs were deformed as a result of the radiotherapy she underwent as such a small baby, which is what caused this lung disease. Finding that out was almost kind of a "relief" for our family, we didn't feel as though blame really lay anywhere and we became just grateful that we had 59 years of her when the odds were totally stacked against it... Doesn't make me miss her any less though.
But, back to Christmas. Recently, my grandma/aunt (who lived together) hadn't been coming to Christmas at my parents' house because they couldn't make the trip, so we'd all go see them on Boxing Day. We couldn't leave our grandma alone on Christmas, so me/brothers/parents took her out for a meal at a restaurant near her house. Very weird/surreal experience tbh, and not an altogether happy Christmas day...
Boxing Day would also have been Richard's 20th. He also passed away, in August, with Burkitt's lymphoma. He was my "high school sweetheart" (aka the first guy I really felt anything for, luls) but also, it turned out, a total prick - so the weeks after his passing away and Boxing Day were very inner-turmoily for me, all emo and guilt-ridden and kinda tragic tbh. And New Year's was plain boring. Usually I spend it with my boyfriend and our best friends but this year we just couldn't afford the train fare to do anything, so we stayed in and played Rock Band and caught up on Heroes Volume III. And then went to sleep ~1am. I MEAN COME ON WE'RE STUDENTS. Sad times man.
In other recent-y news: I took a second job at Moss Bros selling suits because I needed the money for Christmas and I already knew/liked most of the staff there so why not? I loved it at the beginning (mainly as I had an excuse to buy Alison Cameron-esque Karen Millen/Ted Baker waistcoat suits with frilly shirts) but I've grown to hate it, simply because it's just a peen swinging contest. I work with nine blokes and, to them, it's all about the ~numbers~ at the end of the day - total £££ sold, average £££ per sale, average number of items per sale, etc. - nevermind that it takes a lot more than that to run a store. I was the only person doing replen, pricing, arranging items for DHL, general tasking stuff, etc. most days, but ofc who notices that? All I get is people (including my own effing boyfriend, f me) pointing out that they made £___ more than me each week. Tbh I just wonder what they've been doing those weeks I "beat" them on figures...
So I'll be leaving there asap really, though I'll still have my job at Anness, even though the hours are crap.
Also in other recent-y news: Craig's step-mum had a baby girl back in October! Cutest little pudding-faced kid ever, I kid you not. I'll try to make a picture post at some point including January sale purchases of which I have made a few. Probably after my nephew's been born too - I'm like :E :E :E :E :E about that, omg! Can't wait to be called Aunt Daisy, luls.
More posts inc soon - I'll try to keep everyone updated as per my messages in the Xmas cards I sent out! Btw jessalyn, furiousversions, did you get them? Also, STILL nothing from Canada yet schierke :((( I hope it's not lost! I mean I got a present from my sister in Australia in June last year that said "Do not open until Xmas 2007", luls.
Secondly, I hope everyone had a shiny Christmas and New Year! Neither were particularly special for me tbh, sry 2 rain on paradez.
Every year since I was born, Christmas was spent at my parents' house with my "close" family (brothers, sisters, grandma, aunt, brother-in-law) and a fatty momentonthelipslifetimeonthehips dinner cooked by me mam. For the last ~5 years though, my middle-big sister (Anna) has been living in Australia so she hasn't been there and this year my big sister (Kat) is pregnant (I'm going to be an AUNTIE wutishapen?) and expecting a baby boy on January 17 so she and my brother-in-law couldn't make it.
The main person "missing" though was my Auntie, who passed away towards the end of October... She was 59 and had end stage lung disease. She'd been particularly unwell for ~10 years but managed to survive a stint in hospital a few years ago, although she could barely walk a hundred yards afterwards. We always thought it was because she smoked a lot when she was younger, but when my mum was sorting through her things, she found paperwork that said my aunt was actually born with a cancerous tumour in her shoulder and she was given a fortnight to live. My grandma (who had already lost one newborn son to pyloric stenosis) thankfully fought and fought for my aunt to have treatment. However, my aunt went for check-ups every ten years and when she was 30, her doctor discovered that her lungs were deformed as a result of the radiotherapy she underwent as such a small baby, which is what caused this lung disease. Finding that out was almost kind of a "relief" for our family, we didn't feel as though blame really lay anywhere and we became just grateful that we had 59 years of her when the odds were totally stacked against it... Doesn't make me miss her any less though.
But, back to Christmas. Recently, my grandma/aunt (who lived together) hadn't been coming to Christmas at my parents' house because they couldn't make the trip, so we'd all go see them on Boxing Day. We couldn't leave our grandma alone on Christmas, so me/brothers/parents took her out for a meal at a restaurant near her house. Very weird/surreal experience tbh, and not an altogether happy Christmas day...
Boxing Day would also have been Richard's 20th. He also passed away, in August, with Burkitt's lymphoma. He was my "high school sweetheart" (aka the first guy I really felt anything for, luls) but also, it turned out, a total prick - so the weeks after his passing away and Boxing Day were very inner-turmoily for me, all emo and guilt-ridden and kinda tragic tbh. And New Year's was plain boring. Usually I spend it with my boyfriend and our best friends but this year we just couldn't afford the train fare to do anything, so we stayed in and played Rock Band and caught up on Heroes Volume III. And then went to sleep ~1am. I MEAN COME ON WE'RE STUDENTS. Sad times man.
In other recent-y news: I took a second job at Moss Bros selling suits because I needed the money for Christmas and I already knew/liked most of the staff there so why not? I loved it at the beginning (mainly as I had an excuse to buy Alison Cameron-esque Karen Millen/Ted Baker waistcoat suits with frilly shirts) but I've grown to hate it, simply because it's just a peen swinging contest. I work with nine blokes and, to them, it's all about the ~numbers~ at the end of the day - total £££ sold, average £££ per sale, average number of items per sale, etc. - nevermind that it takes a lot more than that to run a store. I was the only person doing replen, pricing, arranging items for DHL, general tasking stuff, etc. most days, but ofc who notices that? All I get is people (including my own effing boyfriend, f me) pointing out that they made £___ more than me each week. Tbh I just wonder what they've been doing those weeks I "beat" them on figures...
So I'll be leaving there asap really, though I'll still have my job at Anness, even though the hours are crap.
Also in other recent-y news: Craig's step-mum had a baby girl back in October! Cutest little pudding-faced kid ever, I kid you not. I'll try to make a picture post at some point including January sale purchases of which I have made a few. Probably after my nephew's been born too - I'm like :E :E :E :E :E about that, omg! Can't wait to be called Aunt Daisy, luls.
More posts inc soon - I'll try to keep everyone updated as per my messages in the Xmas cards I sent out! Btw jessalyn, furiousversions, did you get them? Also, STILL nothing from Canada yet schierke :((( I hope it's not lost! I mean I got a present from my sister in Australia in June last year that said "Do not open until Xmas 2007", luls.