I disappeared from St Andrews at short notice before the Christmas holidays.  I was just so drastically fed up of being there and being under so much pressure from my degree, so I left.  Back in East Kilbride there is very little to do but that is just what I needed, peace and quiet and lots of sleep.  Oli came up from Oxford a few days later to stay for the week before Christmas.  Although we didn’t do very much, mainly lazing around and watching movies, it was lovely to be able to relax and have fun.  I showed Oli Glasgow and Edinburgh which was fun and we did our shopping for our families in Edinburgh, oh! and we went on the big wheel on Princes Street too.  I gave him his Christmas present a bit early too and he loved it.  It is a lovely little mandolin, expensive, but every penny was worth it to see the look on his face, and in any case, what else is a student loan for? 

After Oli headed back on the 23rd I spent lots of time with my family (my grandparents are up visiting too) which has been really nice.  My grandparents are, for lack of another word, old.  My gran especially, I do worry for her, although she seems happy, she speaks so quietly sometimes I find it hard to hear her and she has such trouble comprehending anything that anyone says that conversation is very slow and limited.  She has been getting slower and slower every time I see her.  But on the other hand, she seems happier and just getting on with life.

Christmas day was not that different to last year.  I hadn’t wrapped my presents until the last minute and didn’t get to bed until very late and my sister wakes me and the rest of my family up at 6am.  She gets so overexcited about Christmas.  I must admit though, at 14 years old, it is getting a little tiring.  6am is not a reasonable time to be getting up, whatever day of the year it is.  So of course, by about midday we are all snoozing on the couch while my mum finishes preparing the Christmas dinner (which was lovely, as always). 

The days after Christmas haven’t been as good, I have had the guilty shadow of impending exams drawing over me.  I have tried, really tried, to get studying, but I honestly just don’t want to.  Usually I am so good at getting my head down and studying like a maniac when it comes to it, thats the only way I have gotten to where I am now.  I just hope that come January when I am back in St A’s and living my life in the library for a week or so that the studying bug will catch up with me.

Oli is coming back up to Scotland tomorrow evening which will be lovely.  Its not very often now that we get to only be apart for 6 days, it’s almost bareable.  We have got tickets for the Edinburgh Hogmanay Street Party however I am informed by my mother that there is going to be ‘damaging’ wind and rain that night and the celebrations might be cancelled!  Boo! I really hope that this doesn’t happen as we are supposed to be meeting two of Oli’s friends from uni, Chris and Ian, as well as some of my friends from uni, Amanda, Belinda and Richard and there are lots of other uncertain people too who will probably come along is the weather is ok. If it does get cancelled I am not sure what we will do, either stay at home (which wont be very exciting) or else go to my friend Robert’s house near Giffnock where there will be a bit of a party.  Worst case senario, we would end up in bed by midnight – but then again, that wouldn’t be bad at all!