Saturday 28 August 2010

When the Moon Is Shining...

Why is it so much easier to think at night?

Never having been one to fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow (I wish!), I often find myself thinking more than I ever do during daylight hours about anything and everything. This, of course, has its advantages. Being fairly introvert at times, I enjoy just lying in my room having some peace and quiet (sad, I know - I'm supposed to be the teenager!), and having the time at night to think through everything keeps me fairly organised and calm.

However.

It has direct consequences the following morning! I am not a morning person at the best of times (consider that a warning!), and thinking means that was awake at night when I should have been asleep, and therefore I am tired!

Also, once the brain starts thinking, it takes a while to deactivate, so to speak. Which means that I waste sleep time, and am even more tired in the morning. For instance, right now, despite having been shattered for most of the day, I am blogging in the hope that my fully-awake brain will want to go to sleep!

Life would be so much easier if we didn't think at all...

Sunday 22 August 2010

Holiday Time.

The holidays seem to have gone really quickly, but at the same time, have stretched on forever. A week in China, two weeks in Norfolk on two different holidays, plus sleepovers and going out and other such activities have certainly kept me busy, and I'm soon going away for another week. In the midst of all this, I've had food technology coursework to do (which is eating up hours of my time), serious violin and piano practice to crack on with, and other bits and bobs which don't usually get done in term time.

So I've made good use of the holidays, making sure that I have time to relax, too, and do things which I definitely won't have time for come September (such as The Sims 3, to which I am completely addicted...). I've really enjoyed just having time. Time to sleep, time to relax, the freedom of being able to do work when I actually feel like it.

The freedom shall be short lived, though. On return to school, in two weeks' time, I shall be attending two county music groups, accompanying the school musical + rehearsals, accompanying the school choir, taking part in the school's Eisteddfod rehearsals and being a part of all the other music groups that I'm involved in. Plus working towards more GCSEs.

After last year's stressful, depressing revision period, I am not looking forward to year 11 in the slightest in terms of actually doing work. Although I won't be doing Latin any more, there shall be far more subjects to revise for! I had about 12 exams in year 10, and will probably have about the same number this year, but the exams will almost all be different subjects, meaning more revision! Thankfully, though, there will be exam leave. Having exams in year 10 without exam leave meant that I was being given homework, coursework and piano practice for accompanying So Mad (a school production) at the same time, all with strict deadlines, as well as revising for 12 exams.

Talking of exams, the tension at the moment is almost unbearable. My latin results will be available on Tuesday, and, if I were in year 11, I would be able to go and receive them from South. However. Since I've just finished lowly year 10, I have to wait until September before I find out how I did. I'm extremely curious, since I had not target or attainment grades at all throughout the Latin lessons, and therefore I have no idea about how I've done. I'm hopeful, considering the sheer amount of work and revision I did (and the exams went well), that I've done ok. But we shall see - in September. I'm so impatient.

In the meantime, I just have a growing dread about returning to school, waiting for the chaos to start...

Monday 2 August 2010

Friendly Catch-Ups At Costa Coffee.

Today, I once again went down to Bromsgrove's ever-so-exciting high street, but this time it was not to mooch, nor was it to shop. Instead, I made my way to Costa Coffee - the coffee shop of pure indulgence (for a price...). I don't even like coffee.

I like Costa. The atmosphere is relaxed but sophisticated, and sitting inside at a window table (in order to people-watch) on high stools with a friend whom I had not had a catchup with in a while was extremely pleasant. Of course, the hot chocolate with marshmellows, cream, and chocolate sprinkles added to this effect!

But even more than my liking of Costa, is my liking of catch-up chats. Most people know this. I'm the inquisitive (or nosy, take your pick) kind of person who likes to know what's going on in other peoples' lives, and who likes other people to know most of what's going on in my own. I think that it takes a lot of trust for two people to have a proper, two-way catchup, and it builds the relationship between them. Knowing what is going on in someone else's life helps to understand them better as a person, and with understanding comes stronger friendship and companionship.

As for sharing your own life, burdens are much heavier when they're not shared. Obviously, catchups are not about sharing every single thing that has ever happened in your entire life, but the important, big, relevant (and appropriate) things are often better shared, because it means that there is at least one ear out there to listen to you. This applies to good news and updates as well as bad or upsetting ones.

I'm a firm believer in catchups. Especially ones in Costa Coffee.