Birthday&relaxing

Dear all,

On Friday it was Derek's 22nd birthday. He came round in the afternoon and I give him his prezzies. Think he was happy with them. He'd had a bit of a lousy start to his birthday so I cheered him up a bit:). We went to the Museum of Modern Art, which was nice, and went for a coffee. The went home, got changed and went to Mimmo's for an early dinner. It was great. Especially desert was to DIE for. Gorgeous. Then went to the Loft. Had a wee Drambuie and cigar;). Derek was celebrating together with Laura, Cammie and Ross, so there were lots of people. Shame we couldn't all sit at the one table, or at least in one group. After that we went to the QM. Didn't stay long though. We were surprisingly sober at the end of the night, which was good.

Went into town on Saturday and met up with Katie, then went to Cumbernauld. Just had nice relaxing Saturday night. Today Derek showed me Cumbernauld; his old house, schools etc and the town centre. I now understand why people want to have the town centre knocked down! Boy, it's UGLY! Staying for dinner, then head back home, with my new PC:)! So happy about that.

Hope you're all well!

Love

Laptop misery and drunken night with Fiona

My laptop is fucked, you already knew that, but it now turns out to cost €560 to repair (£400):(!!!!!!!! ARGH! &*(&%$^(*))*%^*$£^&£&^U& No thanks, I would say.

Yes, anyway. I paid for half of the laptop a bit more than a year ago and now that money has just gone... Thankfully I can use an old pc that Derek's got left over (it used to be his sister's). So grateful. I cannot afford to get a new one just now!

Talking about money: the IBG is late for a change! I neeeeed the money, as I'm going to Ashoka with the ESE guys tonight, and as I promissed to take Derek out to dinner on Friday. It used to come on the 21st, then on the 23d, but now sometimes even on the 25th. As long as it's not even later! Guess I'll have to take out the credit card, or just go into the red a bit more. This is one reason I am looking forward to having a job: money!

On Monday (yes I know, that is a weekday) I had Fiona for dinner. Hadn't seen her since she got engaged. Her ring is really pretty and she seems so happy:)! We had dinner and then decided to go to, surprise surprise, Tennents! Fiona insisted on celebrating hard; had a few drinks too many, but it was a good night. Of course there were the usual drunken old men talking to us. Always fun!

I was a good girl and managed to go to my 10am the next day. I'd even done the homework too!

Off home now, and I need to pop into town to get Derek a wee prezzie (have already got big prezzie, but can't tell you what it is, as he will read this! Duh).

It's also our anniversary on March 8th, so need to think of a wee thing to get him, just to let him know how much he means to me. Still can't believe we met a YEAR ago! We might go to the theatre or something to celebrate. Need to think of what to go and see... any suggestions?

Back soon!

Lots of love

A

Dear all,

Spoke to my supervisor today and he is even more happy with my essay than he was before!!! Yeah! "Definite first-class quality". I am a genius;).

E-mailed five Scottish publishers over the past week, and already got a reply. Good, but it did say that there are no current vacancies, but that I should send my CV and they would keep me informed. Hmmm... Also e-mailed Waterstones, as I would not mind working in a bookshop for a bit. I will send my CV to the Glasgow branch.

I'm starting to think also about essays, disertation, exams. I mean it's all still far away (next essay in 3 weeks, last one in 3 months time, exams June 21-25, dissertation finished in September). Lots of time! But I am already halfway through this year... Sad really. This is/was my very last year as a student, probably EVER. Honours classes finish in a few weeks time, so after that I won't really be a student as I will have only 2 lectures a week. It's just strange if you think about it. The end of an era of my life... Snif.

Helene came for dinner yesterday. Cooked chicory in ham and cheese-sauce, with spagetti (I was gonna make lovely wee potatoes with melted butter and herbs, but Helene doesn't like potatoes!) and home made burgers with spring onions and spices. Jummy! Think she enjoyed it too:). Unfortunately she had to leave really early, because she still had to prepare for a meeting the next day at 9am. It was good to catch up though, and we'll meet again soon.

Hope to meet Fiona soon. She got engaged!!! It was quite a shock, but I am now very happy for her. Think her parents haven't quite recovered from the shock yet, but hope they can be happy for her too.

Tonight Derek's coming for dinner and then we're going to the Loft to celebrate Iain(ESE Iain)'s birthday and the fact that he is leaving for a round-the-world trip next week. Look forward to a wee bit of partying:)! Don't know what we, or me, are or am up to for the rest of the weekend. Do some work I guess, and maybe go to Superfly tomorrow? We'll see. Derek was also planning on showing me Cumbernauld (OH YEAH!), show me his old school and stuff.

Off to a Post-Grad meeting now to discuss our progress and think about exam topics etc.

Back soon!

Love

Good times

Dear all,

No news really, but just wanted to report that life is gooooooooood:)! So happy in Glasgow, with Derek, with all my friends:).

Not been up to much exciting stuff really. Changed my eating regime (more veg and less crap is the basic idea) and i go swimming a lot in an effort to lose some weight. Not that I'm fat;). Derek's diet is working very well for him, although I think the cravings are starting to get the better of him. He lost 4kilo's! (11 pounds) in 1 week! Amazing! My regime is not as effective (lost less than a kilo in 1,5 weeks...) but i'm sure it'll work in the long run. I am not really bothered anyway:).

Me an Derek are celebrating Valentine's day with a home cooked three-course meal:). Look forward to cooking it together in my lovely new kitchen. It's his birthday soon too: need to come up with a good present! Cannot believe we met nearly a year ago! Time flies.

Might be going on holiday twice this summer, but more about that later!

Hope you're all very happy too:)!

Love

Frustrations

Got word about my laptop a while back. According to the factory it's got DAMP in it! I am 100% sure I never came near my laptop with drinks, condensation or any other dampness, and still they can say that that's what it is and thereby demand that we pay for the bloody repairs! It is just rediculous! What do you do? They can just say anything and get out of paying! Bloody bastards!

Anyway. Hopefully better news soon!

Love

Relaxing times

Dear all,

Don't really have much news. Spent the past week at Derek's, as his parents were on holiday in Egypt. Had an amazingly (maybe too much so) relaxing time. It confirmed to me how lovely Derek is:) (sorry honey if you're blushing now;)).

Didn't do much really. Went out on Friday and Saturday though. Friday it was Kit's birthday. It was nice, but a bit difficult to talk to anyone as we were sat round a big table and the music was too loud to hear anyone not sitting next to you... Decided to go home after and not join the rest for a night in the Art School. On Saturday it was Iain's birthday. Went to Nice and Sleazy's first, which posed the same problems: music too loud to talk... Went to Barfly after, which is not really my favourite place on earth, but had a fun night anyway:).

On Sunday we both decided to do 4 (yes, 4 whole!) hours of work. I worked on my essay. I already got 69% (nearly an A, Dutch aquivalent would be an 8 or 8.5 or something), but I can rewrite it as wthe official deadline is at the end of the course! I will, most probably, get my first A! YEAH! Proud me.

On Monday I went back home. Weird how quickly you get used to being around someone all the time! Miss it, although I do feelI still have a need for my own space. Think he does too, and probably even more so. Webnt swimming together in the afternoon and will do it again on Wednesday. We'll be so fit in a few months time;)!

Talked to Dee last night. Hadn't spoken in ages. Bad how you just forget to call. Was nice to talk to her. She just sounds so happy:)! Plan to have dinner with Fi tomorrow, as haven't had proper night together in a while. Will be nice to catch up.

New kitchen is standing in the corridor and will be fitted tomorrow! YEAH! So great. It's probably ready on Thursday or Friday. Finally real cooking;).

Will be logged out v soon!

Love

Hectic

Dear all,

On Wednesday, or actually Thursday morning very early, Derek came over, as we had to leave very early on Thursday. The report was finished! 'Slightly' on the late side, but finished all the same. Thank God for that. That was one stressful day and night...

Anyway. Promised I'd not talk about it anymore:). On Thursday we took a cab to the airport. First we had a fry-up there, which cost a whopping £8!!!!! And was manky... Damn. Then Derek bought some presents for Sinterklaas. Bought me a very pretty bag and brooch:). We then walked to the gate, only to discover we'd lost my wallet! AAA! As if the night before had not been enough strain on our wee hearts we got another panic-drawn adrenaline rush. Thank God it turned out Derek had put it in his bag, but in the back pocket. We made it!

We got to Schiphol safe and sound, had a nice lunch there and then went to Coevorden. Finally got there at 4.45pm. We had zuurkool stamppot (a Dutch type of sauerkraut with mashed potato, banana and raisins), which was nice. Don't think Derek was too sure about it though;). The next day we went to Groningen to visit Ineke, my Grandad and pick up Jan and the cats. Must have been a bit of a weird day for Derek as neither Ineke or Grandad speak English, but think we managed ok to translate. That night we went out with an old friend of mine, Susanne, and her boyfriend Marco. Had a great time! Derek got on with them really well, and Marco's English got better and better after a few beers;). Had a few too many... But made it home safely only to find my mum still up writing Sinterklaas poems! Crazy.

The next day we still had to write our poems, so spent most of the day doing that. Was quite a struggle for Derek, but they turned out really good at the end. It's only a bit of fun anyway. Took my laptop to the computer shop (I pray it's ready in 3 weeks, so that mum can take it to Scotland!) and Derek installed some extra RAM-memory in my parents computer to make it run faster. That night we (finally, 1.5 months late) celebrated Sinterklaas. It was a lot of fun:). Nice to have Derek there as 'part of the family':).

The next morning we had to get up very early, as we needed to catch the plane at 12.40. Mum took us to Zwolle, because there are no early trains from Coevorden on Sunday. Got to Schiphol by 10.20am, so we were number 13 to check in;)! Had something nice to eat and flew back. Derek's mum was so sweet as to pick us up:). We did get stuck in the car park, but managed to get out in the end. Went home only to discover the heating had broken! It was bloody FREEZING! Couldn't get it to work, so had to make do with the gas fire in the living room and the wee electrical heater in my room: BRR!

The coming week I'll spend at Derek's:) as his parents are on holiday. Look forward to a relaxing week, and to finally have some quiet time together without reports to worry about.

Hope you're all very well!

Love

Netherlands

Over the next couple of days, from Thursday to Sunday to be precise, I'll be in The Netherlands. If anyone wats to reach me: I'll be using my Dutch sim!

Derek is still writing... The poor thing. He is a genius though, so I'm sure his report will be brilliant!

Back here soon to tell you how my wee break was:).

Love

Orange? Or Drunken Night with Fiona part 4567

Dear all,

On Friday I spent a tiny wee bit of time with Derek, which energised me:). He's still stuck in his report... but the deadline is Wednesday, so there are happier times ahead:)!

Friday night I went to Tennents with Fi for some pub-grub and some pints. It was a drunken night, but for a change it wasn't us;)! Hadn't been out with Fi in ages and ages and we really needed to catch up on some girly talk:). Only problem with Tennents on a Friday night is the hordes of drunken 30-70 year old men... I mean it's fun(ny) usually (as they talk shite and buy you pints;)), but this time the particular guy that was trying to talk to us got quite annoying quite quickly. He kept calling me 'an orange' (as I was wearing orange jewelry) which at first I thought was a sectarian comment, and I was adament to point out I'm an agnostic. He then clarified himself by winking and saying I was 'very fruity'. Hmm... He then bought us a pint. Should have said no of course, but hey, I'm Dutch (cheap!) and therefore could not refuse. He kept asking me where I was from etc., over and over and over again, which worked on my nerves... Thank God he realised he was too drunk, and went home. All in all it was a god night though. Must have spent about 3,5 hours in there, just talking away. Always good!

On Saturday I didn't really do anything. Did a bit of uni work, watched telly. On Sunday I was hoping to meet Derek, but he was way too busy...:'(. I will be so relieved when this bloody report is handed in! So will he of course, even more so as he's the one typing it.

On Thursday we'll fly to The Netherlands (as I already mentioned before in this blog: sorry if I repeat myself). Really looking forward to having time with him, and with my parents and brother. They'll have some time to get to know oneanother a bit better. it'll also be nice to show him where I grew up.

Uni is going well. Remarkably on track with the reading for the honours courses. I am even starting to see what I would like to write my dissertation on! Yeah! I would like to focus it on Scottish women's fiction between the wars:)! Catherine Carswell, Willa Muir, Nan Shepherd etc. Do read them! They are great:). Never thought I would go into 'feminist' writing... Always said I wouldn't, because I fear the stigma of being a woman writing about women's fiction. I guess though that as I get older these 'novels of development', about women finding who they are mentally, sexually, what their place is in the world, become more and more interesting to me. In this particular period there is so much going on in fiction and art generally (think Joyce, DH Lawrence, Woolf, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, The Glasgow Girls), as well as in the feminist political movement, that it makes a fascinating subject. Would like to read some more Virginia Woolf, DH Lawrence as well as male Scottish authors of the period to get a better feel for the period. Do let me know what you think (if you have some kind of clue of what I'm talking about that is;))!

Anyway. I'm sure by now I've lost my readership... Sorry! Back here soon! Off home now, as I'm having Derek for dinner (although I think it'll be pub-grub or chippy;)).

Love

Reading

Dear all (I know that there are people out there that read me, although I cannot fully comprehend why...)

I spent a big part of last week doing work and worrying about going back to uni on Monday. Thankfully I managed to catch up ok, ok enough to go back anyway. Then they announced in my class today that they changed the schedule, so me reading "The Quary Wood" by Nan Shepherd (read it: lovely book) like crazy over the past couple of days was a slight waste of time, as I should have spent it on Sorley MacLean's poetry (if you like poetry, try his "Dain do Eimhir"(yes, it is poetry in Gaelic, but he translated it himself) collection. It is very passionate, about love, war, loss, memory, politics, about life really:)).

Spent Saturday with Derek:). Was really nice to see him, as hadn't for 5 whole days (very long...;))! We went on a half-hearted search for Sinterklaas presents, went to see "The Aviator" (really good, though slightly long), and met up with Joe, Liisa, Peter and Christopher. Nice day:). Spent most of the next morning in bed;) and then went to Tennent's to watch Celtic-Rnagers. Even though I support Celtic and Derek supports Rangers we didn't strangle each other, so that was good. We even held hands most of the time:). Of course I'm happy Celtic won though;). After that he had to go home to get back to his report... Will probably not see him over the coming week, as the deadline is very near and the report far from finished. It's ok, as I know this is very very very important. Will catch up on lost time later!

Off home now to read some Sorley MacLean for my class tomorrow!

Love

PS Another book I can highly recommend (gee, this could change the whole purpose of this blog!) is "The Piano Teacher" by Elfriede Jellinek (she won the nobel prize for literature in 2003 I think). Derek gave it to me for Christmas. It is so strong, passionate, haunting. I read it in between all the other reading I have to do. I loved it a lot, even though it is terribly painful and sad. It's about a woman in her thirties who still lives with her mother and then discovers love and sexual desire, but does not know how to deal with it, and therefore gets hurt in a gruesome manner (this discription does not do the book justice: just read it). I think I would like to read the original (in German I assume) as well, as the translation sometimes seemed a bit lifeless.

Tsunami...

Can hardly bear to write a nice happy entry when all you see on telly is all these people that died, or are dying. It's just so so sad. What can you do? I mean I gave £10 to Oxfam, but what is that compared to all the suffering out there... NOTHING. I got very annoyed with certain programs on TV that were discussing whether we can still believe in God after this. For one I never did believe in God (guess I'm an agnostic), and for two: who the hell cares whether some person in Britain can still believe in God! What a selfish way to look at the whole disaster! Go give your time to some charity rather than wasting it that way. Fuck sake (excuse my language).

And now to my life...
I did have a really nice Christmas with Derek and his family. It was just very cozy and comfy. Derek gave me this gorgeous necklace and I got matching earrings from his parents. Dinner was lovely too.

Dee came over on the 30th:). Was so nice to spend five days with her! On Friday Derek and Fiona came over and we had a nice dinner (that I managed to drop on the floor first though!) and a lot of wine (apart from Dee who doesn't drink). Ross came over too and we went to the Uisge Beatha. I had a few pints of McEwans 80 there and got shockingly drunk... Oops. Guess it's allowed on Hogmanay! Was very embarrassed the next day though, as I realised I must have looked like an idiot too...

Sunday Derek took me and Dee out to the Chip! Had never been in before. The food was gorgeous. Went to the Uisge Beatha again after for the Sunday live music session. I was walking on my new sexy shoes (tweed with very high heels) and of course got a really bad blister... Got up early on Monday to go to Edinburgh. We went to the castle, to Holyrood and went shopping for a bit. Was really nice. Think Dee loved it too. She left on Tuesday afternoon:'(. Was sad to say goodbye. Realised how much I enjoy spending time with her, and how much I really do miss that. Hope to go down to Liverpool sometime in the near future.

Not seen Derek since Monday morning, as he is working on his report and I have a lot of reading to do (as my classes start on the 10th in stead of the 24th as I thought! Oops!). Hope to spend a full day with him on Saturday. Maybe go shopping for Sinterklaas (we celebrate it in The Netherlands on January 21st! Crazy, but fun!), have a nice meal, go to the cinema, or whatever.

Anyway, back to work now. For those of you that haven't given to charity yet: GO DO THAT RIGHT NOW! Every little bit helps.

Love,
Mariken

Merry Christmas and a Sparkling Hogmanay to Everyone!!!!

Enjoy the Holidays!

Love and a BIG hug xxx

Christmas do's (how do you spell do in plural?) and hair

Dear all,

Yesterday I had Christmas lunch at Fiona's with Fiona (duh!), Kelly and Susan. That was lovely. Had chicken in stead of turkey, but did have all the other traditional things. My first real traditional British Christmas meal! After that we went to the SESLL (School of English and Scottish Language and Literature) drinks thing. Disappointingly no Scottish Literature tutors turned up! Free wine, so people got quite plastered. I was way too full from the meal though, and in stead of going out, I just went home after. Boring me!

Yesterday I dyed my hair. Was fed up with my own boring colour, so it's now goldeny blonde with subtle high lights. Close to my own colour, but just that little bit more exciting;). Today I went to the hairdresser to get it cut, and it looks lovely now!

Then I went to uni to finish my essay... I've nearly nearly nearly finished it. Seriously should have started it later, closer to that deadline, because this way I just keep changing it, which is a bit sad... But it seems to be about as good as I want it to be, so I should be ok. Meeting Helene at 4pm for coffee, or maybe drinks&dinner, so I will print it out before I think. Hand it in tomorrow at the Scottish Literature lunch. Still bit scared... but I guess I'll be fine. Have written so many essays in my time! (that sounds like I'm ancient!)

Back here soon! Many exciting prospects: meet up with Helene, go out with friends of Derek's tomorrow, go out for drinks with Meena on Saturday, Christmas get-together with PostGrads Sunday, try not to think about Derek all Monday, as that's when he gets back, and then finally, on Tuesday I see Derek again! YEAH! Can't wait.

Love

Christmas&essay

Dear all,

Christmas is nearly here! Yeah! Meena and me got a Christmas tree on Saturday and decorated it. So lovely to smell the tree when you come into the living room:). Also wrote all my (27!!!) Christmas cards. Let's hope I get more than 6 back this year! The problematic thing is that all this Christmassy stuff makes me feel like I'm on holiday... Which means I've not done too much work on the essay over the weekend... Oopsy! Should be able to finish it over the next two days though.

Spoke to Derek on Sunday. He's working so so hard. Hope he'll get a great grade for his placement and report. I'm sure he will:). Was so good to talk about what we'll do when he's back. Can't believe I'll see him in 8 days! Three months has been way too llllloooonnnnngggggg. We booked a table at a nice restaurant and we'll have the house to ourselves, so that will be nice:). Cuddle up in front of the fire:).

Will have a busy week socially, as well workwise. Lots of Christmas parties and lunches. Great:). Also finally gonna get my hair cut. Have been wanting to for the past three months, but never had the money (a cut costs £35 on average! OUTRAGEOUS!). Will look extra pretty when Derek gets back:).

Back to work now!

Enjoy the holidays!

Love,
Mariken

Another computer update and general misery

Dear all,

My computer has decided to totally go mental on me (and yes, I do know it does what I want, not the other way round, and it's not a living being etc.etc.-> I'm still sure it did it on PURPOSE!). I thought it would be ok once I had taken the old keyboard off, but it turns out it's not. Last time I checked it was opening word-docs by itself, not responding to the keys and typing in the word-docs it openened. I was so brave as to try and use the recovery-cd (after checking I had backups of everything, as I couldn't get the files to save to D in stead of the C drive), but as it doesn't respond to the keys I couldn't follow the instructions. Decided not to touch it anymore and e-mail the company (in the Netherlands: JOY) that I bought it from to ask whether I can get it fixed here on their costs (if it turns out to be a problem of their making; it can hardly be a virus as it's never been connected to the internet and I haven't done any meddling). Otherwise I'll have to wait till I'm in the Netherlands in January... unless it turns out to be easily fixed by cetain people with knowledege of computers (although I don't want to bother anyone with it).

Couldn't sleep last night because of this, and because of anxiety over the question whether I can still write essays... Stupid I know. Of course I can:)! Hmmm, it doesn't sound so convincing in my head somehow. I live in a slight fear that one of these days they will discover that I can't actually write and that they will find me out... Scary. I know it's silly...

Apart from all this SHIT I'm ok, really (how convincing I sound eh?). I had my new friend Helene for dinner on Saturday, which was really nice. So good to be making new friends:).

Will try to cheer up!

Love u all

Computer update and wine

Dear all,

I think I have sorted out the problem with the laptop (or rather Derek told me what the problem most probably is!): It's just the old keyboard I attached to it. That's probably fucked, so it's sending random data to the laptop. I've disconnected the keyboard, so it should be ok now. If not...we'll see what to do next!

On Thursday I went to dinner at Fi's. We had a bottle of wine with the meal and then decided we really should go out. So we went to Oran Mor. Had a few more bottles of wine there. Yes, you are reading this right... We got drunk. Very BAD! Was so hung over the next day... Stupid me. Couldn't eat till 6pm! Why did we do that to ourselves...? God knows.

Tonight my new friend Helene is coming for dinner. Really looking forward to that. Was going to cook her pasta with smoked salmon, spinach and cheese sauce, but it turns out she doesn't like salmon! So doing it with chicken in stead. Hope that works out ok.

Back again soon!

Love

My computer's (not so) secret life...

Oh my God... My laptop types by itself in Word now! It doesn't have much of a decent vocabulary yet, it only says "3set" or "qef" and sometimes uses capitals and sometimes doesn't. Maybe it is trying to find itself a girl- of boyfriend?

But seriously. It IS typing by itself. Have tried restarting it, but it still does it! Annoying. I can still type, but just have to delete it's typing every now and then.

Can anybody tell me what the problem could be? I don;t know anything about computers... Thought it might be a virus, but then I've never been on the net with my laptop!

HELP!

Love

Blue but happy!

Slightly more creative title for a change:).

My right big toe is blue... a girl stood on it in the QM nearly a month ago, but yesterday I suddenly noticed it was blue under my nail... hmm. Maybe I am turning into a blue monster?

Went to Tennents last night to watch Barcelona-Celtic. 1-1!!!!!!!! Amazing. It felt like they had won in Tennents! Great. My new 'friends' Chris and Andrew (about 38-year old, rich guys: hehe) bought me a beer again. They asked if I want to come out with them one weekend. I don't think so! I mean they are friendly and nice, but not friends. Problem is I will meet them every time I go and watch Celtic in Tennents and they keep asking... what do I say next time? Not sure this "going to the pub on my own to watch the fitba" was a good idea after all. Need to get myself a buddy, or get (ie PAY, hehe) Derek to come with me when he's back.

Uni is ok too. Getting stuck into my essay that's due in 3 weeks. Should meet up with my supervisor next week so that there's pressure on me to do it.

Miss Derek, but only 3.5 weeks to go! Not long at all.

Love

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAD

Also wanted to say that it's my dad's birthday today!

Van Harte Gefeliciteerd! Ik bel je vanavond!

Liefs/Love

Airdrie

Gee, the titles of these posts get more and more creative every day!

Yesteday afternoon I went to Blairhill (dunno if you spell it like that. Sure hope Blair has nothing to do with it!), where Craig, Fiona's boyfriend lives. We cooked a nice dinner, pasta with spinach, salmon and blue cheese sauce: yummy! The sauce was a bit of a Bridget Hones-moment though, as it was very green from the cheese. It tasted lovely though. The we took a cab to Airdrie to go to the "Rock Garden" to watch some of Craig's friends play. It was fun, and quite good even some of it. The only downside was my migrain and the fact that it was about -5 in there! In the ladies you could see your own breath! Crazy. Aparently the heating engineer was coming in the morning. I was so brave as to complain and I think it was because of me that they got a wee portable heater thing. Was slightly better after that. Few drinks helped also. Only had like 5 (between 9pm and 2am), as my head was killing me. Fiona got pretty wrecked, which was quite funny. She took loads of pics also. One of Craig's friends is exactly like Derek. Very strange. Of course he's not as sexy, sweet, gorgeous, cuddly and funny as Derek, but he did remind me of him a lot. Same sense of style, same sort of hair, soft spoken. Weird!

Craig drove me home this afternoon and I finally got to talk to Derek. Have been a bit of a silly depressive the past couple of days, so it was very good to have a wee chat. Miss him so much... Only 4 weeks to go! I'll be ok...

It is absolutely BALTIC out here. So so so cold. Freezes at night and during the day it is only slightly above zero. BRRRRR. Glad Derek gave me a big scarf for my birthday. Nice and warm.

Booked flights to The Netherlands for me and Derek for January 20-23. Yippy! Gonna have a very, very late Sinterklaas celebration with my brother and parents. Better late than never! Couldn't really afford the flights, but hey, it's worth it. Haven't been home since October after all, and I am already away for both Christmas and Hogmanay.

Love