Malaria & Diabetes

My second Saturday night in in a row - rock and roll. Despite some incredibly generous donations by certain people - you know who you are (thank you!!) I still think its wise to save my pennies for Kenya so I'm being very restrained and not joining my housemates and others for Chinese food tonight (I am so restrained)

So its a party for one - my last night in alone for sometime I imagine. From next week I'll be sharing a house with about 12 other people, my meals will all be cooked for me which will be nice but I won't get to choose what I eat or when I eat it. This is making me slightly nervous as I'm fairly dependent on my food. Now, half of you understand what I mean by that but for the benefit of the rest of you:
Do you know those people who always seem to interrupt everything with a snack break? The ones who say they need to eat and then get unreasonable when you suggest lunch in half an hour, the kind of fussy people who complain when there's only white bread... I think the polite term is 'sugar sensitive'. I've packed about 20 cereal bars in preparation for the "only white bread moments". I may have to share a room, being unreasonable will not be an option.

Otherwise a clean bill of health for me. I'm not allergic to anything as far as I know which really helps and so far the malaria tablets haven't given me nightmares. I chose to take the Larium ones despite all the warnings. Malarone is far too expensive to buy for 4 months and the only other option wasn't good for people with sensitive skin. I've had 2 tablets so far and the first week there were no side effects at all. This week I haven't been sleeping so well. This could be for a number of reasons of course: maybe I'm just nervous about going away, maybe I'm excited about going away! Maybe I've been drinking a lot more tea due to being at home most of the time. Maybe I think I'm a diabetic. Maybe I'm worried about not sleeping properly...

Probably being at home without a job to do doesn't help. What do unemployed people do all day?! After the last few weeks I have a lot more sympathy for those out of work. For those who're not it goes something like this:
You get up late because there's no reason to get up early. Breakfast is a major point in the day in fact all meals are - you take a long time over it. You watch BBC News 24 for a while until the same articles come round again then you realise half the morning has gone and you ought to think about doing something useful. Planning this takes a little while and then there's just enough time to fit in one activity - say a trip to the shop - before lunch.

Actually I realise I'm incredibly lucky not to have to work (I know its not fair on the rest of you). How often in life do you get the chance to take a few weeks out at home and think about things? I'm going to miss these days when they're gone but I am beginning to feel slightly without a purpose and a little crazy from all those days at home alone (or maybe thats the malaria tablets?) So what have I done this week?

Tick List
Negotiated a refund on my TV licence and generally sorted finances - yay!
Got a haircut
Learnt how to use my camera - watch out I can photoshop you all! (Pete & Barbara can testify)
Failed to see Brideshead Revisited at the cinema (I'm still annoyed!)
Bought some Christmas presents for my family
Found some really light-weight tops - thanks for the tip Joy but I was going for nearly see-through (nearly)
Saw Delirious? play on their farewell tour
Downloaded some Delirious? tracks to take away with me - I'd forgotten how good they were.
Gave some people feedback on their scripts - no nothing at all to do with my Kenya trip.

Final Preparations
I need to pack! Everything!
Spend a little time thinking about getting a job next year - just a little
Try out certain cosmetic purchases for the first time - and hope they work
Eat lots of cake - really its on the to-do list!
Catch up with some friends - Toby I could maybe do Tuesday morning...
Washing & Drying
Photocopying & security checking
Clear out my food cupboard
Take Susanna Marlow to diving on the bus
Learn how to write short blog entries

And finally while it may sound like I'm more anxious about this trip than excited I should think of some things to look forward to - the beach! The sun!! Mrs Simpson's House. Turtles (maybe) and blue monkeys definitely. Long haul flights are always exciting. All the people I'm going to meet for the first time. Missing the winter - yay! Then coming home and seeing everyone again aahhh (thanks to the guys who just came in with icecream and a really bad film :)

Soon...

rx

For Those Who Pray
Thank God again regarding my finances - yet more money provided (while I sit around musing the life of the unemployed...)
Pray that I will sleep better and the malaria tablets won't bother me.
Pray I can get everything done before I go and not miss my train on Friday
Pray for my parents that they're not too anxious about me going away