It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Having handed in the last of my mid-term assignments on Friday (following the aforeblogged nervous breakdown one of them induced), I thought I might get a few days of respite before the workload kicked in and I was once more flitting in and out of my house so often my housemates started to wonder whether I was merely an apparition.

I suppose, technically, I did have a break - my parents came to visit over the weekend, celebrating their anniversary up Yorkshire like and stopping in to see me on the way. Aside from being crushed in the Christmas Markets on Saturday (York town centre + weekend x Christmas = NO), we had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend watching the football, catching up on family gossip and imbibing every kind of mulled cider my delightful town centre had to offer*.

I'd kind of forgotten how good it is to spend time with them. I think being at home last year ruined me a little - I was frustrated and caged and a little bit angsty, and they felt rejected and unable to help, which made for an occasionally prickly year for all. (Don't get me wrong, I wasn't Houseguest From Hell, but they were often aggravated by my choice to spend most evenings holed up in my room, laptop on knee, trying to pour myself into the screen in order to forget that I was living in Stoke for a few hours.)

Living away from home makes things approximately a billion times easier for us all – we had a proper, family weekend, and it reminded me what tip-top people they really are.

However, as soon as the week proper kicked in, I realised that – in reality – I had more to do than ever. Presentations to plan, birthdays to celebrate, directed readings to, um, read. Sometimes it feels a little like being tied to a skateboard, if you'll forgive the ghastly analogy; it's preposterously exciting to be zooming from place to place without stopping, always on the move, but occasionally – just occasionally – I get a little scared, and want to stop, just for a moment.

The people that seem to be suffering the most are my longer-term friends, which crushes me. I spent my last, rather lonely year forging the most incredible relationships with some of the best girls I've ever known, and not being able to speak to them on as regular a basis makes me want to gnaw at the furniture – I get withdrawls! I'm hoping that my discovery of Google Calendar and its ensuing organisational effect on my life will enable to me to schedule people in a little better. Not that I want to have to 'schedule' my friends into my ~social/academic butterfly~ existence**, but I do want to make sure I get enough of these excellent humans in my life. You know who you are.

However, I am exceptionally lucky to have met some utterly marvellous people up here in York, people with whom I have bonded at a speed and intensity I've never before experienced! I've never known such a sweet, smart and thoroughly lovely bunch of people, and the fact that we're all postgrads gives us all a much-needed support network, wherein we can cry on each other's shoulders over our workload (as I did last week), and celebrate each other's successes (such as the lovely Becky kicking intellectual arse and winning a place - as captain, no less - on the University Challenge team!). At risk of it going all wanky and tragic, having so many wonderful people around is a rather new feeling for me, and I'm absolutely cherishing it.

Another lovely evening was had last night, in which my poor put-upon housemates finally found a few hours where I wasn't holed up in the Berrick Saul building and could spend the night Christmasifying our humble abode. Too Much Fun was had by all, and while mine and Steph's haphazardness might have infuriated the perfectionists Cath and Emma, the result was a living room of festive wonders.

Yup, that's The Muppet Christmas Carol on in the background.

And to celebrate? A Christmas dance party, of course.

GOD we're cool.

*SO MUCH MULLED CIDER. Finally, the non-wine drinkers among us are vindicated with this warm, treacle-y deliciousness! Personal snaps for the Rekorderlig mulled cider with vanilla and cinnamon – I could quite happily drink myself into oblivion on that shit.
**ahahahahaha, whatever.