Yesterday I spent the most tiring day of my life at Ashcombe Adventure Centre for Becky’s hen party. Getting up at 7am on a Saturday morning after only an hour’s sleep (my body never lets me sleep when I really need to :p) I really did wonder what on earth I was doing and was half tempted to cancel and stay in bed where it was warm and snuggly, but I forced myself out of bed and for my efforts spent the day feeling cold whilst doing: ziplining, aggravator puzzles, clay pigeon shooting (joint 1st!), lunch, activator puzzles, archery (4th!), and dinner.

I did enjoy the shooting and archery, and the food was nice, but I think the rest really needed a warm day to be appreciated, especially seeing as a lot of the activator puzzles involved varying degrees of getting wet and muddy and I’m not a fan of water and mud at the best of times :p Nice bunch of girls tho, and I hope Becky enjoyed her hen do Don’t think I’ll be going to any more outdoor adventure centres in mid Winter any time soon tho

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Last night in training I had to make my first attempt at breaking and go through a board with a side kick. I was feeling somewhat apprehensive about this until it got to the point when I was facing the board, at which juncture my stomach evacuated completely and whatever it is that holds my legs up normally went on strike. Anyway, turns out, breaking boards isn’t all that bad, and it broke on my 4th attempt And most satisfying the resounding “thwack” was too.

Categories: TKD
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This evening in TKD I got my dobok which not only makes me an official TKD person but also means I no longer have to think much about what to wear to training It does mean I have to get better at folding clothes quite quickly tho :p

I tried it on earlier and it’s really odd to wear - it feels very heavy and I think is going to take some getting used to. I’m also going to have double my efforts (currently standing at the gym 3 times a week and tkd twice a week so not quite sure how unless the week is extended a bit) to get thin as being completely white I can no longer hide my wobbly bits behind dark baggy clothing :S I suspect Marks and Spencer ludicrously expensive tummy and thigh holding in underwear may be called for.

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I read today in the IMDB forum that there are plans in the works to make a film version of Les Miserables the musical - Cameron Mackintosh is said to be looking for a director as we speak! If this happens I abso-blooming-lutely must must must own it

Speaking of films, last night I spent some of my birthday present on the following in the Play.com January sale: Pocahontas (Special Edition), Tarzan (Special Edition) - I think it’s now just Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid that I’m particularly after although when I have more room and money I may decide to venture into the older films aswell - Chicago and Sister Act 1 and 2. I’m going to spend another £25 or so on pre-ordering Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (the sequel to Morrowind) as I really want that too

And speaking of musicals, a nifty little series (and sadly it is little) has started on BBC1 called The Sound of Musicals. The last show starred John Barrowman (aka Captain Jack of Doctor Who fame), David and Carrie Grant (Fame Academy vocal coaches), Misha Paris (soul/pop singer), Jon Lee (ex-S Club, now West End star), Ruthie Henshall (the original Roxie Hart and Fantine in the Les Mis 10th Anniversary concert) and Jill Halfpenny (Kate in Eastenders, winner of Strictly Come Dancing season 2, now West End star) and there were some excellent performances! I’ve read that next week’s has Aled Jones, possibly instead of Jill, but hey, not arguing with him as a singer Nice to see something like this on TV for a change instead of the endless reality-tv shows and soaps

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Had James and Roz (a.k.a Mr and Mrs Off) over this evening for a mini birthday celebration - pizza and a Naked Gun marathon They gave me my pressie - a very nice Estee Lauder bag complete with just about every mini cosmetic product a girl could ever want - and I finally gave them their Florida guide book back.

An enjoyable evening all told

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Just watched Phantom - Oh. My. God. And that was just the Steve Harley/Sarah Brightman version of the title track. I think Evita might just have been knocked off the top spot in my favourite musical film list let’s put it that way

In other news, hoorah weekend!!!
That is all.

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Or so Kev so nicely put it at about 1am this morning

Yes, it be my birthday and so far I’ve had a nice wodge of money in the form of a handy single cheque from my parents and a Phantom of the Opera DVD from Kev’s parents (I know you sometimes read this so thank you!!) Kev also gave me a lovely card and is taking me shopping (where the taking is sitting me in a chair and the shopping is done online) over the weekend Got more pressies and some meetups with friends to look forward to over the next week or so - nothing like extending celebrations for as long as possible, this single day malarky is so pre-teens :p

Categories: Friends, Important events
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Yes, I’ve been to the gym again so the regime is going well so far, at least in as much as I’m still at it. I’ve upped my fruit intake aswell and as a result of making my own lunches have lost the mayo and lashings of spread that I used to have in my sarnies too. I really should weigh myself at some point so I know how much work lies ahead of me but I’m afraid of getting too hung on up on weight when what I’m really after is slimming down and getting fit - I’d measure it in belt holes but I don’t wear one so I guess the other option is just to assume that it’s having the desired effects

Found a tenner I thought I’d lost aswell earlier so, what with that and the prospect of a new sci fi comedy, Hyperdrive, starting tonight, which may or may not live up to Red Dwarf and here’s hoping it does, and an otherwise fairly relaxing evening planned, I’m having a pretty good day all told

Categories: Diet and fitness, General
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I found the best thing ever yesterday whilst looking for something to do that wasn’t related to housework or watching films - online jigsaws!! I used to love doing jigsaws as a kid and keep wishing from time to time that I had some now but they take up so much room - and now I can do a different one each day and the only box I have to worry about is the one containing my hard drive :p

On an unrelated note, I went to the gym today for the first time in ages - start as you mean to go on and all that. The aim is for three times a week with TKD as normal and weekends off (bar those with extra TKD that is!) - even my body should start to feel the effects of this before too long! As this is costing me an extra £7.20 a week, I am also embarking on homemade lunches from now on, which should work out healthier all round

Speaking of which, need post-exercise sustenance……

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games
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I thought I’d change the look of my site a bit and convert it all to Wordpress - amazing how much fun webby work is when it’s something you’re interested in I’m particularly impressed with the banner as that really was all my own work (unless you count the taking of the actual photos which was Kev :p)

Categories: General
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Well, here we are in 2006, having had a fantastic end of 2005 including such highlights as the biggest Xmas Dinner I’ve ever seen in my life on Boxing Day (compared to the only merely quite substantial one I enjoyed on Xmas Day itself), sackfuls of pressies, fun and games, and finally Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny (HOOTENANNY!!). A lot of last year was marred somewhat by increasing work crappiness but looking back (and staying out of work!) there were some very good times indeed: Kev <3, Florida and Disney World, The Off Wedding, seeing Steve Harley in St David’s Hall, taking up Taekwondo and passing my first grading, the best Xmas ever to date, and of course discovering the gem that is Babylon 5

So what’s the game plan for this year? Gaining a few more belts in TKD would be nice, and I plan on actually really finally losing all my excess flab this year and getting back to the size 12 I was when I first arrived in Exeter - gym starts Monday. I’ve started tinkering around with the guitar again so hopefully I’ll get further with that this time and not give up in frustration at barre chords which are the most evil invention ever. I hope to be able to leave this “job” and find one that I like, and to really work on saving for the future Got my birthday and Kev’s to look forward to as well as a few others, got two weddings and a hen do to go to, as well as the challenge of topping last Xmas! More cooking, movies, chatting, food with friends and snuggles are also very much on the game plan

Now…lunch!

Categories: General, TKD
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