Well, Scotland lost the rugby yesterday. I didn't really expect them to win but it would have been nice! Darlo won against the MK Dons though so I'm happy. We had our captain, Clark Keltie, sent of after just 30 minutes so we were playing the rest of the match with 10 men. We always tend to win when we have gone down to 10 men, just as we always tend to lose when we are playing against 10 men. I think when a team is a man down there is just much more grit and determination.
I got so much reading done yesterday and I am ready to write my essay which is good - I'm just having difficult starting it! That is always the most difficult part!

I'm sitting in the library at the moment reading for the essay that I have in on Monday. It is nearly 2.30pm on Saturday and I have been here since 9am. What makes it worse is that there is somewhere where I'd much rather be - the north west of England where all my friends are presently because it is Jonathan's birthday tomorrow. I can't believe I'm missing out! Gutted! But this Barbarians essay won't write itself, as they say! The reading is going quite well so far - I'm not panicking anyway and I think I chose a good question to answer... Are Latin histories of the Goths more Roman than Barbarian? It seems to be pretty straight forward at the moment anyway!
I am listening to TFM over the internet at the moment. Soccer Saturday used to have a feature called Hodgy's Choice where David Hodgson would pick his favourite of three songs and it would be played at the end of the show. This was the first time that I had listened to Soccer Saturday since DH had been sacked and I'd forgotten that he, of course, wouldn't be picking his favourite!! lol It was a bit weird really. They didn't speak to the new manager, Dave Penney, at all. I have no idea what he sounds like which is also weird!! Darlo are playing MK Dons today. Hopefully we'll keep the winning run going but this is Darlo we are talking about here so I doubt it!
Scotland are playing Australia in the rugby which will be a tough challenge but if we win then we will finish the year off at Murrayfield unbeaten which would be awesome!
Well, I'd best get back to the reading!

I managed to get up in good time today to head out to Edinburgh. I got the train from Queen Street at 10am and met Margaret at Edinburgh Waverly at 11.15am. It doesn't actually take that long to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh but we planned to meet at 11. I arrived at about 10.50 and Margaret at 11.15!! lol
I really wanted to go to Starbucks so we walked pretty much the whole way along Princes Street to get to one! How ridiculous! There were two at one end of the street and none at the end where we started! It is so different to Glasgow where there is one on every corner! Anyway we got there eventually. So, we had our Starbucks and then rang my Dad who had arrived at the Rosses. Instead of picking us up as planned, they decided it would be easier for us to get the bus!! Nightmare! First it took us ages to find the bus stop and when we did the no. 11 had just left so we had to wait about 15mins for the next one!! We did get to our destination in the end. It was good to see Mum and Dad and Hattie, of course! We had lunch and chatted for a while and then Mum, Morag, Margaret and I headed out to a shopping centre. Great fun! We spent most of the time in Marks and Spencer. It was so busy that Margaret and I kept losing each other. I bought a brilliant hat but would have loved to have bought some of the beautiful skirts, dresses and tops that they had. I was obviously in a girly mood! We did eventually make it out of M&S and ended up in Dorothy Perkins. Margaret and I both got winter coats - the same style but different colours! Very exciting!
After we were done shopping we took Margaret back to her flat and then went back to the Rosses for tea. Then I pretty much had to head home on the train back to Glasgow! It was a nice day but I didn't want to come back to Glasgow or say goodbye to my parents!

My mum was telling me yesterday that she was looking at the pictures of the Murder Mystery. She said that I really looked like someone from the 1930s, especially with the hairstyle! That made me so happy!
At the moment I am watching Children in Need and being terrified by Jackie Bird. If you have never watched BBC Scotland (especially the news) then you won't know what I am talking about but she is the most scary woman in the world! I don't want to give her any of my money! They should really get Sally Magnusson to present it cos she is much less scary!

Oh and I have a film recommendation - The Prestige! It is just fabulous!!!

This was posted as a bulletin on myspace by one of my friends. It made me giggle, especially the final two answers!

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?

(written by kids)
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you likesports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep thechips and dip coming.-- Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry.God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you'restuck with.-- Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.-- Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at thesame kids.-- Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

Both don't want any more kids.-- Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?

Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.-- Lynnette, age 8

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that Usually getsthem interested enough to go for a second date.-- Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?

I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapersand make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. -- Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

When they're rich.-- Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.- - Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry themand have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.-- Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?

It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone toclean up after them.-- Anita, age 9

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?

There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?-- Kelvin, age 8

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.-- Ricky, age 10

So I guess that I should update you on stuff that has been going on recently. To be honest, that isn't a lot. Last week I had an essay due in which I (obviously) handed in on time. It was an insanely difficult essay though - What was the impact of the Reformation on Popular Culture? I mean, seriously, could I have picked a more difficult topic? I think not!! I'm not convinced that I wrote a very good essay but there is nothing that I can do about it now!!
Other than that my weeks have been very, very boring! I'm looking forward to the weekend because my parents are going to be up in Edinburgh visiting the Rosses. So I'm also going to take the very long and very expensive (yeah right!) trip through to see them. I'm also hoping to meet up with my cousin, Margaret, as well cos I haven't seen her for a while. I think I'm going to have to head through to Edinburgh pretty early cos the trains are going to be busy on Saturday. There is a Scotland rugby match going on at Murrayfield that day so I guess many Glaswegians will be making the same trip as me. Last week Scotland beat Romania by a fairly large margin which was pretty encouraging but this week we are playing the Pacific Islands (or the Specific Islands as I keep saying!) which will probably be a much sterner test? Another happy note is that England lost in the rugby again last week!
I'm really excited because this week I got an email from one of my Summit friends, Annie. She and her sister, Laura, who was also at Summit, are going to be in London over Easter and they may come and visit me!!! I am so excited! YAY!! So next year I'm getting visits from Andrea (and Ruthie) over New Year, Annie and Laura just after easter and Keagan at the beginning of summer!!! Lots of things to look forward to!

A few more murder pics:

Lucy Loveless (Esther) and Jimmy Open (Andy)
Suso Shady (Kerry)
Dick Lacey (Findlay)

Ok, so on Saturday 4th November Christine held a murder mystery for her 20th birthday. It was so much fun.
The story was that we were all dinner guests of Sam Shady, a private detective. He was shot in the garden and, of course, all of us were suspects in his murder.
The cast list was:

Mandy Seever (me) : femme fatale (hahahaha!), married to Al DaBone but unfaithful. Sam was blackmailing me.

Jimmy Open (Andy): small time crook, Sam's long lost brother but Sam wanted to keep him a secret.

Suso Shady (Kerry): Sam's chinese wife, he had been cheating on her

Dick Lacey (Findlay): also a private detective and therefore Sam's rival, was losing out to Sam. His secretary was sending work Sam's way.

Lucy Loveless (Esther): Dick Lacey's secretary, having an affair with Sam and pregnant with his child.

Al DaBone (Phil): 'Pet Shop' owner, being investigated by Sam Shady, running illegal businesses and having an affair with Lady Faddington

Lady Faddington (Christine): famous actress but secret alcoholic

Bobby (Bobbi) Cuffs (Julie): police officer, was a bit crooked.

Gemma was also there and was sharing Christine's character. It didn't really work out but it was really nice to see her cos I only tend to see her once a year on Christine's birthday!

So we went through the rounds where different things are revealed and ate a lovely meal. It was great fun! We also had a few fireworks in the garden which gave me the opportunity to wear the fur cape that was part of my costume. Whether you disagree with fur or not, it was very 1930s so don't shout at me! Phil was in charge of lighting the fireworks - a fact that scared me to the very core but actually it went without a hitch thankfully!
Maybe I'll leave you to guess who the murderer was.....

Mandy Seever (me)
Al DaBone (Phil)Lady Faddington (Christine)Bobby/Bobbi Cuffs (Julie)

ok so presently i am annoyed at blogger. yesterday i wrote a really good post about christine's murder mystery last saturday and then it got deleted so i was a bit angry! i will write the post again later i think. im sorry that i haven't posted for a while!

I'm gutted. I missed my first class of the year today. I had been doing so well and was secretly pretty proud of myself because I've not been so good about lectures in the past but I was making a conscious effort to go to them all. But I do have a reason why I didn't go - I'm ill. It isn't fun. It is times like this that I wish I didn't live all alone. :-(