Eddie Izzard gets me through

So here's a photo of my amazing sister (left) and me wearing the EDS shirt after the Hull 10k (I managed to borrow a USB cable from one of the 2nd year boys. A mega day I won't forget in a hurry.
Frankie Boyle just said something funny on Mock The Week: "Do you mind if I leave early? I have to pick up the kids...before their parents arrive". Haha - classic. I have been craving comedy this week, watching Eddie Izzard DVDs to amuse me on an evening.
It's been a funny start to the week (and not ha-ha funny, apart from where I injected it with comedy) with crappy lessons and the inevitable dread of the sheer volume of work we have to complete within a week and a half, it's been a bit of a downer. I can't really even look forward to going back to Bristol yet because I have a mega long drive ahead of me. It won't be until I am driving past Cheltenham that I will start to get excited.
Even worse, our Project Manager (aged 18) was dumped by his girlfriend and has been mentally elsewhere for ages now, deciding getting hammered before working together was a good idea (annoying). He keeps saying he wanted kids with her and marriage more than anything and I said "you're only 18!" and he was resolute so I said "it's a lesson in life then - be more independent, you're not going to be with someone from day 1 to the end of your life" - so Jammy slated me for being negative. I didn't think that was negative, my mum taught me that (admittedly it sounded a little bleak to me too at first); with a little thought, I think it is a massively important piece of advice. You should be independent - doesn't mean you can't love the people with you when they are and appreciate every minute, it just means when they're gone you're not left completely lost. Maybe I go too far the other way, and am fiercely independent (the poor bf) but I think if you invest 100% in someone you can still be independent and realistic. I don't think that these are mutually exclusive.
Anyway, Day 28 of the No Sugar Challenge (2 days left) - I still can't decide if I am going to gorge on maltesers or just keep going and see how long I can go.
Day 18 of the countdown (can't really enjoy this now we have so much work)

I made a promise today, my friend Sammy is applying to do the law conversion in Bristol and I said I'd move in with her if she's accepted. Fingers crossed I actually earn enough...

Flamin' Tea Towels, Spank!

So the other day I was cooking my dinner (which involved warming up an amazing sausage and lentil meal the bf's mum made me and boiling sweet potato to make mash); I had just finished on the hob and was mishing up the sp with a fork and I thought I could smell something burning and I turn around to see a tea towel someone had hung off the extractor fan had fallen onto the hob (which was off, but boiling hot) and was smouldering with serious smoke pluming off it. I grabbed it quickly and my first sensible instinct, to plunge it into the manky dish water, was overriden by my second, irrational instinct which said to get it to the window as the smoke was really noxious. So i flailed past my bewildered housemates and half hung it out the window. For a couple of silent moments we all stared at the towel as the additional oxygen fed the embers and caused flames to lick up. Suddenly J started forward and flipped the whole tea towel out the window: we all became hysterical. It was now a sun for the tiny animals living in the grass, flames licking in the wind and even more awful smelly smoke. We enjoyed the hysteria after a near-miss of a flame-grilled death, until we clocked the security man coming over, when we promptly legged it to our prospective rooms.
That was yesterday, I offered to replace Spank's tea towel but he said it was OK. Today G somehow locked himself out of his room and after 20 minutes of a maintenance man trying to get into Gary's room, jiggling the lock, he admitted defeat and the human tank that is Spank was brought in to kick the door down. G has had to move his stuff into Spank's room over the weekend whilst Spank's at home.
It's all excitement and drama here at AP. I am in good spirits as H, our teacher, rather generously let us all leave at half 1 today (friday) rather than at 5pm so it meant everyone could leave early and I could do a workout - I missed yesterday's because I was up until 2am doing a maths homework test thing. You wouldn't know I was 26 would you? I'm living an 18 year old life (going out tomorrow night in beachwear fancy dress to a rock night, as you do. No pole dancing this time though but I can't promise not to try the surf machine). I can't prove it, but I'm really not having a mid-twenties crisis, this is just where my life has took me, although I have to say, I am enjoying it. I went to see Robin Hood with D, G, Dolph, Spank and T in the week and I wore shorts and a hoodie with my little shoulder pouch bag thing and the boys said I was turning heads everywhere and 2 cars nearly crashed - it was so funny, I never saw anything (maybe they were having me on) but as my 17 year old friend G said, whilst you've got it (thanks, G: I think you mean if you've got it).
In training for the Hull 10k I went for a 9pm run after cinema (before dinner too...don't ever take me as the way to do it) for a quick 4 miler and man it felt so good. I plan to run again this weekend hopefully around 6 or 7 miles then another mid-week short run then it'll be the big event!
Speaking of EDS, I woke up this week and hobbled awkwardly into the shower (no time is wasted in a morning for me - it's upright and showering within a minute). By the time I was walking to college my hip was achey like a bruise: this isn't especially unusual until I realised this is unusual - just not to me. It's not normal to pop a joint out and have half a day (I'm intensely lucky it's not that bad for me) being a bit bruised and uncomfortable. Actually that's not entirely truthful, it's sore today. Anyway, yeh. Smacked in the face with reality a little bit but apparently I am super lucky I have a strong core which makes it not so bad for me (at least I choose to believe I have some control) and to that end, I have just received my door frame pull up bar for my workouts! It's brilliant :o)
Tonight I am going to do some project work and get an early one because tomorrow is my day of C-adventures :o)

tattoo your name across my heart

I have had the most amazing day :) (photo from another amazing day last year walking RSPCA dogs). I haven't mentioned (I don't think) but I am running the Hull 10k for EDS Support Group on May 23rd and I took my sponsorship form to work today. I was really embarrassed about asking people and I didn't want them to feel they had to sponsor me but Dan, my mentor, said to bring it to him first and he'd put a big amount down and everyone else would follow. He was right! Everyone sponsored me - the biggest being £20 and that wasn't even Dan's! There was hardly anyone in the office and I've already raised £163.20 :o) My family have sponsorship forms too and they're going to collect some in their prospective cities too so I am hoping in a couple of weeks I'll have a fair whack :o) I am really excited to get my EDS support group T-shirt too :o) I am going to wear it on every run I go on, every mile I ever tread...unless it's sweaty from the last workout, obviously.

So tonight I needed to pop to Tesco for bread; I've never mentioned before but I am a bit special (haha, no seriously) and am intolerant to several foods which are fairly central to the western world's diet: wheat, corn, oats, yeast, diary, chocolate, sugar. I have to get special bread (rye or spelt - it has some wheat and yeast but I only need to avoid it not completely cut it out if I can't) and I asked the bakery woman because there wasn't any of the usual bread I got. She was totally brilliant and took me to the selection of Polish breads which have less wheat, asking if I was allergic or if it was intolerance and she told me the aisle the totally wheat free stuff was (which I already knew, but she was so thorough!)She must've spent at least 5 minutes with me. Honestly, I was unbelievably knocked off my feet; it's just not what you expect from Tesco. I said "thank you so much, I really appreciate your help" and I hope she took that genuinely because I am still delighted :o) I'm trying the Polish bread, btw.

So, bouyed on by this fulfilling and Disney-style day I've had, I feel more ready to tell you what has been on my mind recently: I have a few things wrong with me (who hasn't?) such as being partially deaf and food intolerances, but recently I was diagnosed with something new (well, new to me). I've hesitated to mention it because I've not really told anyone in my day-to-day life, but it probably won't come as much of a shock from my blogs: I've Type 3 EDS. It's mild, but a very close relative I love to bits has a severe form and it's all been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I tend to be ashamed of things like this, embarrassed at the focus. I don't like people to look at me and see me a certain way. I hate to show weakness or, dare I say it, imperfectness (I think I just created a word). With EDS I feel a bit of a fraud because I have it in a mild form and so just don't suffer like my relative does, but on the upside it means I can do things like the Hull 10k. In keeping with this amazing day, I told my relative how I felt and they wrote this response to me which blew me away a little bit (I should've put a warning on how bluebirds and singing this was going to be):
"Well, Severety (sp?) isnt the issue, it's a thing that definately affects your life, you have to be super careful not to hurt yourself, you have to be informed without panicing yourself about the what if's, you have a close family member who is very sick with the same illness which is upsetting and scary at the same time... anyone with their head on straight can see that's a burden to bear and I'm super proud of you that you are channeling your feelings about it all into such a possitive and constructive path. I was honestly in abit of a panic when you got diagnosed as I already knew it was true but I was scared of how you would react.. and I appologise for that cos you're doing everyone proud :D And you can quote me on that on your blog (if you can stomach my poor grammar and spelling dirtying it up lol) Love you Little 'Un xx"
And on that note, I'm having a night off from exercise and spending some extra time with the bf :o) x