This actually is the epitome of my life...

Thursday night we all decided to go out as per usual to the stiff kitten because we rarely go anywhere else lol It was a great night but at 12 or so me and Gill and some random guy called Ryan were standing out in the smokin area and my 2 friends walk out the front door and were like "right we're leaving!"

We look at them confused because the nights not half over but they insist we are goin to the emerald - a Chinese takeaway place and then home to halls for a gathering. So we leave and head towards the takeaway place...that random guy and all! We walk past the emerald and go to another takeaway place a lot further away called Esperanto's!

I did not eat any food because the people behind the counter were sweating profusely and it made me feel sick! So there's like 10 of us in there and they all get their food and their eating and as per usual Gill was teasing me and pokin my in the stomach with her foot and I was just standing there and the next thing I feel a sharp pain in my arm! Yes I GOT STUNG BY A WASP!

It bled for a second and then my whole elbow went red and stayed red for the rest of the night - now there's like a red lumpy patch on my arm that itches and this is 4 days later!

But everyone had a field day laughing at me I mean they really should....Who the HELL gets stung by a wasp in the MIDDLE of the night in the MIDDLE of October! Only me - that's just how unfortunate I am!

In other news I'm being so good this week - working hard and only goin out 1 night (thursday) compared to last weeks 4 nights! I caouldnt handle that! lol

I'm looking forward to Thursday though it's goin to be hilarious! I'm goin to LGBT with my hall mate and all my friends have decided they want to come too because we're goin to the Kremlin afterwards and they're all really curious - so I'm gonna have like 7 straight people to look after in the gay bar lmao Roll on the funny times!

Ok it has taken almost 5 days but I think I am now officially moved in to my uni apartment/dorm/bedroom whatever you want to call it. My new digs are as described below.

One bed - complete with laminated...yes, laminated matress (in case we get so drunk we soil the bed in our sleep...at least that's what we figure.

one en suite bathroom complete with shower that at my immense height of 4ft 11" I find is a bit small for me, so I pity all the tall people I know living here.

One window, complete with black out curtains, you can have daylight or no light, no in between and they'll be damned if you personalise your curtains.

One make shift wardrobe - some shelves and a curtain to cover it. Extra storage space on top.

One desk...well it's more like a bench if I'm honest with dsl internet connection and 4 sockets, one drawer and 1 cupboard and a shelf.

And one chair for sittin at said desk/bench...though I will say it is a rather comfy chair and it also doubles as a bed side cabinet when you want to watch a dvd on you laptop from bed.

The room uncomfortably seats 14 - provided you've all been drinking and dont mind sitting on top of each other.

Experiences in halls

first night party - 14 people squeezing into my room with booze and then eventually moving out into the common room where 1 cup was broken and I had to sterilize the room the next morning!

Second night party - walkin to my friendshouse (about 7 minutes down the road) with my friend wearing a robe with beer in the pockets and a funnel and hose over his arm.

Third night - dvd in my halls night, my drunk friend passed out in my bed and i took joy in wakin him at quarter to nine the next morning when I had to go to uni to enroll.

Last night - first night using my student card to get cheap cinema tickets! Nothing like it!

About my student card...I was too short for the picture so I have no neck and a bout a foot of blue above my head and my name was too long to fit on the card so the end of my name gets cut off. HOWEVER it's still awesome because it says medical student not just student card!

As a result of uni I think I will get very fit because the walk to my lecture building place thing is at least a mile...it takes about 20-25 minutes to get there and that means getting up at 8 on the mornings I have 9 o'clock lectures...how cruel! After 5 days I can already feel my calf muscles tighten lol

Other than that uni is pretty kool! Had a talk about mycourse today and it looks pretty awesome!

Morbid, who me? Never. lol

Excuse the bad pun in the title but it had to be done.

So first things first, I guess I should address the 'Why is a perfectly healthy 18 year old girl considering her own wake?' the answer to that is actually quite simple.

When I was 7 my dad was killed, when I was 9 my mum's best friend's son died at 9 of a brain haemorrhage, when I was 10 my uncle in Scotland died, when I was 15 my godfather and only uncle died of septicemia and then when I was 17 my grandfather died on an undiagnosed tumour than burst and again sepcticemia - so needless to say there have been a lot of deaths in my family and, as a result of being exposed to death from such a young age, I have no real fear of dying or the dead and it is a fairly common topic of conversation between family members.

Tonight me my mum and my mum's friend were discussing wakes, which are, as the title suggests, becoming less common!

Being Irish and wakes being a big part of Irish tradition I feel knowledgable enough on the subject to enlighten you to the traditions behind a wake. In Ireland long ago it became tradition after the death of a loved one. Essentially it is a period of greiving during which friends and family members of the deceased come to say their final goodbye and pray for the soul of the departed. That's the religious aspect of it; now for the fun part.

As we are Irish we like to look to the good times rather than the bad (and we're also partial to the odd drink too)and it became customary for people to hang around after saying their goodbyes and paying their last respects and share stories and memories of the deceased. Nowdays it's pretty much the same only we've becomg more refined such that tea and sandwiches are served instead of whiskey or rum.

In my time I have been to many wakes and I have to say that despite the sad nature of the gathering I have had some of the most hilarious and fun evenings of my life at wakes. Everyone gathers and in the room with the dead they shed their tears and utter their profound words but then they come to the kitchen and remember the good times and before long everyone is in hysterics.

My first experience of a wake was my dad's; a very sad circumstance indeed. I was only 7 and hadn't much clue as to what was going on but looking back now it was more like a circus than a wake. Reporters were knocking on the door every half hour to ask for interviews with my family or a comment or a picture (my dad's death was kind of high profile over here) and it was always busy. At the age of 7 I was running in and out of the "Dead room" talking to my dad as he lay in his open casket and thought nothing of it.

By the time my uncle had died I was old enough to be involved in the proceedings and helped serve the tea and usher mourners to and from the body. And by the time my grandfather died I was dressing the room (the bed/table on which the coffin sits must be covered with a white cloth and all mirrors covered or removed. A candle must be burning in the room at all times) and holding court by the coffin (talking to mourners - usually involves explaining the nature of death and thanking them for their presence and kind words)

In my own personal experience I have to say that wakes are a testament to undertakers. Every wake I have ever been to has been an open coffin and the body has been made up brilliantly. Which with 6 gunshots to my father's head was no mean feat for the undertaker and my grandfather dying abroad meant it was a week before we got his body home and the elbalmers did a great job - minimum decomp and he didn't smell that bad.

Nowdays though the wake is becoming a thing of the past it would seem with more people choosing to 'wake' their loved ones in funeral homes rather than in their own home. Personally I will wake every member of my own family and want a wake myself. Funeral homes have limited excess and opening hours whereas the wake house is always open and the family can stay with each other at all times during their tme of grief. And I also hate the thought the the departed is left alone in a cold dark room over night.

To me a wake is a celebration of the life that has passed and I know I would want mine to be a damn good party. So I have instructed everyone I know who may be there when I die that I wish to be waked and so help me God if they put me in a funeral home I will haunt everyone of their asses!

If you read that whole morbid script I would like to say to you congratulations! I was just very bored and over thinking so I thought I would share lol