I have survived Christmas. All in all, in fact, it has been quite enjoyable. I've acquired some nice alcohols, some bike accessories, books and this bellydance DVD, which I'm quite excited about but am expecting to make me hurt. I also bought myself a brand new ex display model town bike:



which has set me back by the (un)princely sum of £51.99, including courier costs. If only I had time to cycle the damn thing into town... I don't have the time as I am currently engaged in a pitched battle with "the role of the professional in the delivery of sustainability". 3,564 words down and another few thousand to go. The guide limit is "in the region of 10 pages of A4" which doesn't even remotely resemble a useful word-count, or indeed even mention what size font we should use or have guidelines on the use of images (all of which have a big impact on the word count). However, given the range of professional backgrounds on the MSc courses it is easy to see why the guide limit is so vague: I'll use my own best judgment here. I'm aiming to get it done, dusted and proof-read before Smelley&Sticky (AKA Eleanor and Vicky) arrive on tuesday night as I fly to Madrid with them on wednesday and return two days before the final hand-in. I should probably be writing it now but I've been doing it all day and I've made good headway into the subject hence I'm now faffing around online. I'm only human.

On an unrelated note, my mum's handmade Christmas present from me went down well (excuse the awful quality of the photo, the colours are really much more vivid and glorious in real life):




felt jewellery, apparently = good choice.

What kind of cheese do you hide a horse in?

Turns out it's Marscapone.

:D

He delivers it better than I do. I'm just saying.

merry christmas eeeeeveryone

She's female. This makes me smile... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seshat it also makes me smile that she's depicted wearing leopardskin and a smug expression whilst doodling.

My idea? "Let's get married for tax purposes at the courthouse."

Well, the snow that chose to appear in Sheffield yesterday (shortly prior to my 180mile drive to the parentals) has followed me to Bristol:



Oo, snow...




snowprints from the fox

I've had a pretty great weekend in Sheffield which involved cups of tea, catch up, sleeping on a sofa, jogging down the road with Liz and Kim singing the Indiana Jones theme tune, dancing until my ankles hurt, the Boomshanka Christmas meal and getting stuck in a blizzard on the drive home (although it only took about 30 minutes longer than I thought it was going to). I also had my first commission (for a dance belt), delivered by hand to Sheffield (I should charge more for RoyalMail-proof postage):








On a final note two of my random friends from Sheffield who agreed to answer some questions for me for my "role of the professional in the delivery of sustainability" assignment I have due in January 4th (fecking rubbish deadline timing)sent their answers back today. This has made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Awards for nicest favours of the week go to Anthony Jarvis and Steve Fotios: Thanks guys!