Some Good News :)

This is not any news that will affect anybody but me. However, I like to share my happiness so I'm posting it anyway.
I


passed


my


wait for it...












GRADE FIVE THEORY!!!


(with merit)

I am one relieved girl. I was so worried that I'd fail it and have to retake in September and give up DofE (that's the deal I struck with my dad). And now I can finally move on in flute and figure out what to do next.

On another note entirely, it's time to get my hair cut again. I'm keeping the same style, so there's much less stress around this than the last time. I'm getting it cut shorter than last time, and my fringe sorted out, because it's sort of grown out. Only reason I want it shorter is I think it'll make it easier for Greece, when I won't have access to hair-dryers and wont want a wet patch down my back from my dripping hair.
(for those of you, like me, who are wondering why I've spelt hairdryers with a dash in it, I don't know, Google Chrome tells me that you can't write it as one word)

Have a good day,
Alicia
xxxxxx

And breeeaaathe!

I'm becoming increasingly stressed about this whole production thing. Whose idea was it to put on something as silly and difficult to perform as 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

It's fun though. Everyone's just about going mad trying to learn two new dances today on top of the two from yesterday. plus another whole song on top of the two (ish) from yesterday. And then trying to get David's (director) stupid synchronised drama stuff right. This is madness.
And do you want to know the worst part? One of today's new dances is to none other than the 'Greece' song 'We go together' urgh! WHY Greece, of all things, WHY???

But anyway, today was definitely an improvement on yesterday. As I said, the increased stress is bringing us together, and I really mean it. It's great. I find myself talking to people who I'd usually not bother with. And they're mostly really nice people anyway.

I am getting increasingly frustrated, though, with a certain somebody. Anybody in the production knows who I mean - his name begins with S. Anyone not in it doesn't need to know. But he does stuff that he thinks is funny and cool and sure, everyone laughs, but only because he's making a fool of himself. I was lucky enough to get lumbered with him as a partner in one of the dances and he can do NOTHING right. He just copies me, and you shouldn't do that, because the moves we do compliment each other. As in I move left when he moves right, so we cross over. If he copies and moves left, it's all wrong. Bleurgh. Hopefully I won't have to be with him when David rearranges us when we get to the Hexagon. In fact, if I am with him, I may have to kill him.

Moving on to *ahem* brighter thoughts *ahem*. I've begun to contemplate the science work I'll need to do over the holidays. It's obvious the only chance I'll get in the next two weeks will be this weekend and next Sunday, because I'm doing P.D. in the evenings and am mostly too knackered to focus fully on htat. Let alone anything else.

On a much brighter note, I had a really good day today, and (this is a real bonus) I didn't have to cook tea :)

Anyway, I'll go now and do something to relieve the ache going all the way up my left leg (dancing kills you slowly) and you can get on with whatever you were doing before you got distracted by the internet. Or you can just go back to facebook. I'm not picky.

Bye xx

Don't care.

I vowed never to blog when I'm upset because it'll all end in tears. But hey ho. Who gives a damn. Nobody even reads this anyway.

Sometimes I don't know why I bother. I get home from a seven hour day of learning two brand new dances, some songs, and acting. I'm expected to cook my brothers tea and I can't even cook anything unless it's ready made like fish that goes in the oven. I can do peas and pasta and broccoli but that's about it. And when I find that the menu is a load of crap that I don't know how to cook, what am I supposed to do?

So I called my mum asking what I should do. Only she's in the airport on the way to Boston so she can't do much. I was receiving instructions on making a sauce for the pasta on the list - because the boys won't just eat the damned plain tomato and basil sauce - but Toby decided to yell at me from another room, telling me some absolute rubbish about how he'd cook potato smilies, peas and fish fingers. But we have no potatoes or peas. So I shouted back and Mummy got a load of shouting down the phone so she just hung up.

Then when she finally picked up again, Daddy was walking through the door so I said it was okay, he'd be able to do it. And then he got really really stressy about it. "What's the problem now? Can't you kids do anything without arguing?! Why can't you just get on!?" So then when I asked him to cook something because there was nothing I could do at all he got so angry and started yelling at me that I was lazy. And what the hell? Because I'm only fifteen, I don't have kids to look after and I don't know how to cook. But still I'm expected to do it at least twice, if not three times, per week. While he drives home from a job on the other side of London. This the father who says he only takes jobs close enough to home.

So now I'm in trouble for "talking to him rudely" which is something I didn't do, I was just close to tears because I was getting yelled at by Toby and could do nothing and hate the pressure I'm constantly being put under. I'm not some kid whose grown up cooking. It's just something that's been thrust upon me in the past month or so and I just can't do it. Yuck. It would be okay if some nights I cooked and had a parent supervising me so I can get used to it. But whenever I'm supervised, I'm given a garbled load of instructions that I "follow wrong" even though they make no sense. And I end up being moved out of the cooking area and somebody taking over. Why can't my parents be patient or anything?

Yuck I feel awful. I'm getting shouted at for being told to do something that's beyond me. It's NOT MY FAULT. Why should I even care about making dinner? It's not like I'm ever hungry in the evenings anyway.
Sorry for all that ranting. I need it out of my system. I'll probably post something nicer later.
xxxxxx

Oxford. is indescribable.

I had the most successful shopping trip in Oxford with Sophie today. The shops there are just brilliant. We found a tucked away shopping centre, labelled simply as 'Market' and entered it on a whim, but with relatively low hopes. But what we FOUND there. It was brilliant. There was everything. Shops for ornaments, butchers, bakers, fruit markets, cake makers - and I mean speciality cake makers, they were fantastic - cookie parlours, shakeaway, jewellery shops, clothes shops.

The clothes shops. There was a really lovely purple one, that wasn't too expensive. And there was a really really nice dress shop that we found quite early on in our journey round the centre. On our third visit back to the centre I made Sophie go back in, even though we'd already been once. And there was this one dress. It was 'Reduced' from £69.99 to £59.99. But I'm still determined to have it.

Eventually Sophie managed to persuade me to try it on. But it's the sort of shop where you don't try things on unless you're planning on buying them. So we pretended I was seriously thinking of buying it for my uncle's birthday party (for which I already have a dress) and after I'd tried it, as the overly helpful shop owner tried to take it to the till, Sophie took it from her, saying

"I'm just going to take it back to the shelf, because there's one other dress she needs to try on" and promised that we'd try to be back before the clock shut - in 45 minutes - and would definitely be on the website. And with that, we left Oxford.

The initial reason we went to Oxford was that I had some River Island vouchers I'd received for my birthday that needed spending. We actually nearly didn't find River Island. But we did and I picked out two skirts. Only one was £24.99 and one was £20 and my vouchers were only for £30. But I kept justifying the extra £15 to myself, so Sophie pointed out that I clearly wanted both, and I bought them. Luckily, the £20 one turned out to be on sale for only £7, so I actually only spent £2 of my own money. Which prompted me to drag Sophie back to Accessorise and buy the skirt I'd liked in the sale in there.

I will definitely be going back to Oxford for my dress. I'll save and save until I can afford it and then I'll buy it. Nobody can stop me.

This is MY dress.

Isn't it lovely.

I'm really getting into shopping.

Before I go,

Thanks, Sophie, for coming at only a day or two's notice and for making the trip so enjoyable and persuading me to buy things that I really loved when I wouldn't normally have. Because I don't part with money easily. And thanks for putting up with me for a whole day! :D

Alicia xx

School's Out :)

I think Kendrick is the only school determined to hold onto it's students until the bitter end. And what did the last day of school consist of for these obvious geeks - it's a grammar school, they must've worked all days. That's the general expectation of us. But I can assure you that none of us did anything of the kind. You seriously expect us to work on our last day because of some label we all curse anyway? Shame, sorry for the disappointment.

We, the geeks of Reading, watched Zoolander, cleaned out our form rooms, went to final assembly, and finished the day with hugs for everyone and anyone we knew. I'm not going to bore you of the details of all of these things, but I will take the time to tell you about the bits that touched my heart the most.

First there was part of the final assembly. The part where we say goodbye to some teachers. Mrs Carr, assistant head and French teacher; some science teacher, head of biology I think; Mrs Giddings, head of classics who's been with us for thirty years; Frau Byrne, legend. I'm not going to go on and on about them, but I can safely say that Mrs Giddings and Frau Byrne (especially Frau Byrne) will be missed the most. Despite the fact Frau Byrne's going to the Abbey (Traitor!). Frau Byrne's speech went like this:
"Guten Tag, Kendrick"
"Guten Tag, Frau Byrne"
"Not nearly good enough. Guten Tag, Kendrick"
"GUTEN TAG, FRAU BYRNE!"
Then she started in German, with a quote "Abschinendsworte mussen kurz sein wie eine Liebeserklaerung" (Words of goodbye should be short, like a decleration of love) And after saying how much she would miss us, etc etc and making every girl in the room want to cry, she left us with a promise.
"I will never wear green"
And then as she was applauded, Ruth and I did something we'd been terrified to do, but wanted to none the less. We stood up. And - thankfully - almost the whole of the sixth form followed. Though the junior school was somewhat less adventurous.

I've never been taught by Mrs. Giddings. But her speech made me want to hug her. She's retiring. She can remember the days of red and black jumpers, and of black blazers with silver embroidery. The days of grass! When Mrs Elms didn't build on every area of green ;)

The assembly ended with Mrs. Elms saying what has become her tagline: Go. Straight. Home. And the entire school joining in. And as the last bell went, the whole school ran screaming into the corridors and out of the school. Everyone stopped in the car park to gather themselves - and hug anybody in sight - and then we left. Some of us happily, relieved to have managed another year without serious mishaps, and some of us a little sadly. Because our time in Kendrick's shorter than we realised.

I'm going to miss everyone this holiday. Not just from Kendrick. From all my extra-curricular things, and not least, from the train.
Love to all,
Alicia
xxxxxx

Daytrip to Devon

Ahhh, look, I used alliteration. That's something I'd completely forgotten about.

Yesterday we travelled down to Exmouth, where Grandma Gwen (who's actually just my dad's old foster mum, but a grandma all the same) lives. It's her 90th birthday on Tuesday and Barney and I are still at school, so obviously we won't be able to visit her. So we got up early and left the house at seven - bear in mind, it's a weekend, seven is early - managing to arrive at about ten thirty, ahead of schedule.

To celebrate we upgraded from the usual pub lunch to lunch in a five star hotel restaurant in Torquay or Torbay or whatever it's called. Only it turned out the restaurant wasn't open, so we ate in the bar section. I think I managed to pick out the best option out of the five of us, which is surprising as the vegetarian selection is always limited and usually less than appetising. But I ordered a delicious home-made four seasons pizza. While my mum had a salmon salad, Daddy had chicken caesar salad, Toby had pasta and meetballs and I think Barney had the same. Oh, and we ordered a bowl of chips for us three to share. But obviously Toby doesn't know the meaning of sharing, so I had a measly total of six chips. Out of the whole bowl.

Anyway, as we left the restaurant, my parents mentioned that it hadn't quite been what they were expecting - not quite like when they stayed there with Gwen and Peter (her late husband). And we set off around the bay (I think) to come to a place called Babbacombe, where we searched for a cafe for afternoon tea. Very civilised.

We found one! And WOW I never thought much of cream teas before, but the choice they had! It was amazing. Fruit scones, plain scones, cherry scones, white chocolate scones, dark chocolate scones, ginger scones, cheese scones. You never knew there could be so many different types of scones. And teas too! You don't have to like normal tea to have a cream tea. I had peppermint  tea and stem ginger scones with devonshire clotted cream, rhubarb and ginger jam and pear and ginger jam. And wow. I was so impressed; it wasn't just good food, good service, good location, but also, also good atmosphere. But if you're ever in Torquay or specifically Babbacombe, go there. It's called Angels and it. is. amazing.

49 Babbacombe Downs Road,
Torquay,
TQ1 3LP




Goodnight xx

Rain rain go away come again another day!

I used to love chanting that.

Not much has been happening recently, I don't think. Let's see. Monday I didn't go to DofE because it wasn't on; the people doing expeditions only did them at the weekend. Tuesday is today and nothing much has happened either.

I've got my German work back. Which means I've also been set the questions for my next speaking controlled assesment. I don't think I need to prepare, just to think of some complex sentences I need to sneak in. That's the annoying thing about German: I can speak it like a local with no mistakes at all and I still don't get full marks. Because I have to include complex grammar that - and this is the annoying part - doesn't even sound right. No local would ever speak like that. It's like going into an English exam and speaking in perfect English but you get marked down for not using exemplary grammar. I mean, who knows their English grammar apart from foreigners? So that can be frustrating.

Most frustrating, though, is that because I can speak German already, my entire class assumes I can also read and write it. My reading's not bad but I really struggle with the writing. It's all that grammar and spelling and things I never learnt. It's like you've grown up speaking a language all your life but you get to the age of fifteen and still don't know how to read or write it. Sure you know the alphabet and most of the sounds the letters make but that doesn't always help. And when you're speaking you can get away with the occasional "dem" instead of "den", people don't notice or they don't care, because nobody's language is perfect.

So I'll sit there in a German trying really hard to write something in German, and most of it isn't bad, because I've picked it up as I learnt with the rest of the class - that's the spelling - but grammar's difficult. Most of it just goes straight over my head, like word order. Words go in a certain order because they sound right. But no, apparently there's a "verb comma verb" thing (I have no idea what that applies to). And as I'm sitting there writing - or at least trying to - and all the while I'm getting "Alicia, how do you write this?" or "What does what I've written translate as?" or "Does this sound right?" and I can never. get. my. work. done. Argh!

I feel I've gone on about German for too long. I was going to talk about English, but this post is already too long, so I'll go.
Bye xx

Hello, I'm back!

Really shouldn't blog so much, but it's an alternative to facebook - and I could even say a healthy one!

Would you like to hear of my latest disaster? Of course you would, everyone loves a little drama :L
So the concert. Could have been good. Hell, it was good, it could've been great. See the probelm is, half the staff thought we were playing Pachabel's Canon first and the other half thought we were playing Pie Jesu first. I happened to ask the wrong half of the staff. Do you want to know what that means? Well, just that I had to sightread the whole of Pachabel's Canon - ON THE BASS FLUTE - with some wonderful *ahem* octave leaps. Everyone loves those octave leaps on the bass flute, hell yeah. So not only did I look a little like an idiot in my too long Victorian length skirt, and with my regular flute with me ready to play - which I didn't because it wouldn't have been fair on Bryony who would've had to sightread Pie Jesu on bass (which is almost as bad as Pachabel's), but I also played like an idiot. Oh, and my arms died of tiredness. That flute is heavy.


On a much more funny note - one that I'd like to finish on.
Halfway through the concert, a drunk managed to get in. He looked a little startled to be in a church rather than the local pub, and was dragged out by the priest - literally dragged - as he wished us all:
"Have a good evening!"
Alicia
xxxxxx

Here IS The Sun!

Summery sunshine smiles and sleep.

On Friday evening I lost a tooth. Surely this is the last one?

On Saturday morning I went to tennis as usual and Jo was nice to me - as is not usual. Well, I can't say I don't usually deserve it. But yeah, we managed to get through the entire session with him only calling me lazy once. And I must mention now, I am not lazy, my tennis lesson just happens to be at ten o'clock on a Saturday. That means leaving the house at nine thirty. That means getting up at nine. And considering I don't get home 'till about nine thirty on Friday evenings - and I usually manage to avoid my bedtime until about ten thirty/elevenish. So yeah, usually I'm very tired at my tennis lessons. And so usually I'm told I'm too lazy. But really I'm just exhausted from a long week and late bedtime.

Then Saturday afternoon I went into the Royal Berkshire Hospital for my first day as a 'League of Friends' volunteer. On the whole, not much happened, I met Dan who's eighteen and will mostly be working with me, I learnt to operate the till, I read a stack of magazines off the shelf, I drank water, I went home. I'm going to have relaxing Saturday afternoons, I think.

Today I got a lie in :D and then went to a rehearsal at Douai Abbey with Mezzos, Seniors and Gallway combined. We're playing 'Cannon in D' (Pachabel's Cannon) and Pie Jesu in a concert tonight. Which means another late night is inevitable. My grandma's over at the moment, but she's in the garden and I'm avoiding the sun because I feel a little light headed at the moment - though admittedly not as much as Bryony must've felt earlier when she nearly fainted whilst playing the bass flute. I think I'll go out again in a minute.

Feeling calm today. Calm and ready to just waste the afternoon doing nothing - which is exactly what I plan on doing.
xx

French Speaking

Ugh! So glad that's over. I was the first one to be recorded, and when it was all over, and I'd finished trying to rip appart Mme Hulley's soft beanie toy, I got so paranoid because when she was saving it I swear she didn't know what she was doing. And I did not want to have to do it again; too stressful. But it's all saved and safe (hopefully) and apparently I did quite well. But in my opinion, I messed up loads, got some genders mixed up and really just didn't do to well. But hey, my result remains to be seen.

English essay is all done and handed in! Slightly interesting that when I went in yesterday, the teachers on 'inset'/'teacher's training' day were either playing tennis, hanging about aimlessly in corridors or could be found in rooms with signs saying things such as 'manicure' up on the doors.

I am soooo ready for a holiday, but sadly no such luck. Another two and a half weeks of school (ish) until we can finally go. And then it's theatre for two weeks, followed by two free weeks, followed by two weeks in greece, then straight back to school again. What a life. Anyway, all the stressful school work is over. Actually. Having said that, there's still German Speaking and English Persuasive Speach, but we'll get to them when we have to.

xxxxxx

A day off? No such thing.

It's supposed to be inset day today, which means we don't have to do any work or go into school. PAH! I have done both of those things.

I had a mini heart-attack at about seven this morning, when I realised that I was almost definitely completely sure that my English Coursework was due in for tomorrow. Usually this wouldn't be cause for concern, especially with a whole day off in which to do it. Wrong. My marked first draft, with all Mrs. Runnalls' notes and all my notes scrawled all over it, was in my locker. At school. So I sent about eightmillion texts to check the deadline really is tomorrow - which it is - and formed a plan.
1. Phone the school and see if they'll let me into my form room.
2a. If no, get a phone number for Mrs. Runnalls and ask for an extension - try not to burst into tears.
2b. If yes, go to school and get the folder, while bumping into as few teachers as possible.

They let me in. But. I bumped into my maths teacher, Miss Stacey (who I think now hates me slightly less, owing to my recent exam result) who didn't ask why I was in school, not in uniform - surprisingly - but asked how I was. Hmm...? Also, I got to see Mrs. Richardson (P.E. teacher) playing Tennis doubles with Mr. Simmonds (deputy head) and two other women I didn't recognise. Interesting way for teachers to train as good teachers....

Anyway, English Essay is calling me back to my word document.
Bye xx

Good Mor-ning Eve-ry-bo-dy!

Going for the patronising school teacher good morning there. Doesn't really work, does it?
Anyway, I woke up this morning to the *ahem* refreshing sound of the damned infants in the school right by my house. I live on a hill with a road that curves round so they're technically not my 'next door' neighbours. But the school does back on to our driveway. And yes, it just so happens that they have some kind of playtime at about 9 in the morning. Brilliant.

Junior House Music yesterday was amazing. We scored 41/50, which was the highest mark -  Palmer scored something like 35 and Sidmouth got 39. Still, these close scores mean we can't relax today, because Sidmouth only need three points more than us to win the cup! Damn and blast.

So Sophie's going mental trying to think of ways we can improve. She's also killing herself because apparently you're supposed to have an instrumental soloist, and ours is a singer (Palmer got penalised for that yesterday, but they only lost one point for it so I wish Sophie would stop worrying so much!). I have great faith in our own composition today, and I have great faith that our accompanist for the choir will be better, and I also think that the solo will score at least 9. Today is definitely our better programme.

Speaking of programmes, yesterday Sidmouth's programme was written on a beach ball bat. So today we need to do something more original. But nobody's having original thoughts. Oh well.

Will tell you all how today goes,
Alicia
xxxxxx

Whose idea was this anyway?

A question I seem to be asking myself more and more frequently.




Whose idea was junior house music?
I mean, I know it might - at face value - seem like a lovely idea and all, and it might even - at face value - look like it was something that the vice house captains have effortlessly managed to put together and pull off really well. But really and truly, did the person who thought this amazing idea up consider the amount of stress they'd be putting on the vice's and their (dare I say it?) unfortunate friends? And if they considered, or even anticipated it, why did they then go ahead?

The year 8s have finally pulled together! (we are not mentioning our measly six year sevens - it's great they've actually turned up, unlike the other thirty odd year sevens in Cedars - because they've been away this last week when everything's been coming together) On Thursday and Friday I think 8A finally began to realise how hard the three of us (Sophie, Becca, me) have been working and actually started turning up to rehearsals. Friday's rehearsals were the best yet! And that's a good job, because they were the last rehearsals. Now there's nothing left for me to do, except cross my fingers that I've got enough blue ribbon to tie to the performers, and learn the piano part to "Here Comes The Sun" in case Kate Raison can't play it on Monday, because she hasn't been able to practice (I doubt there were pianos at the Isle of Wight) and learn the alto part like mad, so they don't get lost and look at me with despairing eyes like they did on Friday. Geesh that was scary!


Whose idea was the Maestros Extravaganza at the Hexagon?
Don't get me wrong, I love it. But this year....KAAAT!!!! For those of you who don't already know, Kat has asked me to play the flute solo in the middle of 'The Circle of Life'. We had an interesting choir practice today. I brought my folder, complete with all my music. And I even remembered my flute. And we ran through it, and I discovered I didn't have my solo part after all. So halfway through my solo, I gave up looking and tried to remember it. My choir are too kind to me, because at the end of the song, they were all waiting to tell me how 'oh, it was great even though you didn't have the music!' liars...or deaf people. Everyone knows very well that it was AWFUL I made half the notes up, and it did NOT sound good. But I'll have the music tomorrow. Thank the lord.

And whose idea was it for me to join Training Band?
I think it was Cathy. In which case, I love you, Cathy! I really don't know what I'd do without Friday Nights. Really I don't. They are the air that I breathe on and what get me through the week. I love going. I love the little jokes we all have about certain band members (all eyes on Anthony, Bassoonist) and the little rivalry between flutes and clarinets, and the general consensus (NEW WORD) that the flutes will always get told off for talking. But most of all, I love the break times. They are some of the best twenty (or more like fifteen, because John always finishes the first half late. Nobody expects a break on time) minutes of my entire week. So to everyone who's there on Fridays:
Thank you, for making my week bearable, Thank you, for being so great, Thank you, for just being there, and turning up, and making my evening enjoyable. I love you all xx

I think I'm done for today. And to those thinking, "oh doesn't she ramble on?" this stuff comes from the heart. so take it like a man! and yeah, if I post more regularly, I can cut down the length of my posts, so sorry I haven't posted much recently.