Are you happy with where you are in life right now? Take 2

I missed my re-evaluation deadline. I don't tend to miss deadlines but those three months turned into almost 4, but here we are. (If you don't know what I'm talking about go here: http://dft.ba/-5things).

In short: 5 things I wish I could change about my life at this very moment.

1. Not speaking to my family as much as I used to.

This is a big thing for me. Last term we used to speak almost daily and now we hardly speak at all. It's partly down to me being busy at times when they're free and them being busy at times when I'm free. It's not all that difficult to make the extra effort, but these things happen and things slip through the cracks.

2. My pool ability.

And I was doing so well. I'm not really a quitter, but I imagine Sarah hates me for the amount of times I've been threatening to quit the pool team over the last 7 days. They say practice makes perfect but the more I've been practising recently the more I've been losing by huge margins (and by that I mean three 7-balls in the last week - Chris, Joanna and Dani) and then my confidence takes a knock and I don't want to play anymore. I don't want to give up because I have dreams of playing for Roses in my third year; but when you're playing as bad as I have been it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The worst part is knowing what you're doing wrong and knowing how to fix it and trying the best you possibly can to fix it and failing; because that's the point that you feel completely useless.

Although we did discover the secret to my success on Wednesday after our match. It turns out that all I need is a bottle of Lucozade two hours before playing and half a cider just before I play and I can beat Joanna 3-1.

3. Susceptibility to illness.

So recently I've had a cold, a stomach bug and now some nasty cold/flu-like symptoms including headache, sore throat, nausea and fever. I know it could be due to the stress I keep putting myself under by spending too much of my time playing pool, but it's starting to get annoying. I'm hoping on a period of good health to set me up for my week 10 deadline; fingers crossed.

4. Inability to respond to stress until very serious.

I'm not a night-before kind of person. I very rarely write an essay the day before it's due in and my last three assignments before week 8 were all handed in just under 24 hours before deadline. However, Psych 102 for Monday and Psych 101 for Friday were finished at 5am on Monday and Friday respectively. It's still not last-minute per say, they were both ready a good few hours before the deadline and there was even time for sleep while I asked my mum to proofread them before handing in, but it's still not like anything I've ever done before. I used to know a deadline was looming and start writing a week beforehand and keep going at a steady pace until it was done. Both assignments were started early enough but then ignored for too long a period of time until the night before work was necessary and I had to scramble to make up to my word limits while just wanting to go to bed. This kind of thing can't carry on happening and I imagine it can't could have contributed to the scratchiness in my throat and the mild pounding in my head.

5. Relationship status.

And here's the one that makes me look shallow. Of course I'm looking for love, I'm an 18 year old Fresher for God's sake; now is the time if there ever was one. I've pulled twice in clubs this term, but both straight girls, so not really an option for a relationship there. I've never been one for peer pressure, but it seems like everyone else at uni is getting some and I'm not. Maybe I'm a little bit jealous - so shoot me, at least I'll admit to it.

Sickness and Health

I got a tattoo. I said I would and I did it.It's a rosebud, in orange, on my lower calf/upper ankle. It was really pretty when it was first done and it'll be really pretty when it's healed.

However, it isn't pretty now.

It appears to be leaking orange ink. I have asked a few people who also said that their ink started to leak for the first few days and my dad said something about them putting in too much colour to cover against things like this happening.

I've never had a tattoo be

fore, I don't know if this is something to worry about. My mum has one but her's is on her shoulder so she wouldn't have noticed so much and my dad has two but had them so long ago he doesn't remember. I'm not entirely sure what to do.

I had a similar issue when I had a nasty cold at uni. I've had colds before, but I've never been sick on my own before. I've always had my mum to stroke my hair and give me medicine and fetch me water, but most of all to tell me when I need to worry about something.

I had an issue with my throat (I won't give you details because it's kind of gross), and I rang her up before my lecture to check that it was a normal thing that you have during a cold. Perfectly normal, perfectly reasonable reason, and perfectly helpful advice to go to the doctors if it didn't go away.

I got better. It was fine. I have since got sick again, but that's not the point.

Anyway, the tattoo doesn't hurt anymore and seems to have stopped leaking ink. However, it has started itching, which is both good and bad.

Good because apparently this means it's healing, but bad because it's really freaking itchy.

Are you happy with where you are in life right now?

Myles Dyer (this guy again) was talking about life in his podcast - as he seems to do a lot - and I was inspired - as I seem to be a lot.

So yesterday http://dft.ba/-milesboo he asked what 5 things you would change about your life.

I couldn't help but think what I would change. And I thought maybe this could be a running thing, every 3 months I re-evaluate and see what I would like to change in my life in three month intervals.

Well, let's see if I stick to it eh?

1. Not speaking to my mum everyday - I used to check on her each night before bed and if she was still up we'd sit and chat until she was so tired she pretty much told me to f*ck off. Since I've moved out we speak most days on Skype, but it's just not the same.

2. Not living 30 seconds away from my best friend anymore - I had a huge argument with my mum once and it was just a 30 second walk up the road to a cuddle and a mug of hot chocolate with my beloved Tash. Now she's 45 minutes away by car and neither of us can drive.

3. Not being able to properly use my hand - this is a long term thing that I'm sure many of my IRL friends are sick of hearing about. I've not been able to use my right hand properly since the morning of the 29th January 2010 because it hurts between my little finger and ring finger. I'm having to try and adapt my writing style, but it's easier said than done.

4. Being unhealthy. In general I don't eat enough fruit and veg or do enough exercise and I guess it comes down to a lack of time mixed with a bit of laziness (which I'll be the first to admit). I gave up on my sponsored swim due to having no sponsors, so that won't have helped and being a student a lot of my food choices are based on how much time there is till my next lecture, what food is actually in the cupboards and how much washing up they will create, so I'm off to a very bad start. The jar of chocolate spread in the cupboard probably isn't a good idea.

5. My knees. Inevitably this was going to be on the list. It's not a serious condition - and hopefully by this time next year it should be mostly gone as the cartilage matures - but my chondromalacia patella gets worse this time of the year because of the cold weather. This usually is an excuse to go out an buy funky tights to try and keep warm but the fact of the matter is that it is painful and there isn't much I can do about it except rest with my hot water bottle (which, by the way, is never a bad thing).

I guess this list means that my life is pretty good. There isn't anything drastic in my life that needs to be changed, I'm not living somewhere I hate, I'm not surrounded by anyone that I hate and most things are just great as they stand.

One thing that would usually appear on a list like this is I would like to change my teeth. They've always been the only aspect of my physical appearance that I've been unhappy with. But my braces come off in three and a half weeks, so that's something that is already rapidly changing.

So, three months from now is the 17th February (two days before my bestest's birthday), I'll see you then for re-evaluation :)

To clarify, I'll see you before then as well, but not in this format.