In anticipation of going on holiday (and alright, leaving house keys with my parents so my mum can paint my walls), I decided to clear out my wardrobes today seeing as there was some detritus lurking at the bottom of them that’s gradually accumulated in the 5 years I’ve lived here. It’s funny the things (read: mostly junk) you had forgotten you had stuffed away. I found:

- 3 empty cardboard boxes that had held a printer, a laptop and an ab cruncher respectively
- a jigsaw puzzle mysteriously missing half its pieces
- a torn suitcase full of clothes that need to be taken to the charity shop
- 3 pairs of strappy shoes, 2 silver and 1 purple (I own strappy shoes??)
- a pair of navy blue heels that, if I remember correctly, I last wore for a job interview in Exeter 2 years ago
- a pair of short wellington boots that I got at Chatsworth Fair (last year, I think) along with a waterproof jacket when the heavens opened
- a rucksack containing a bicycle puncture kit and a piece of amethyst
- a handbag
- 2 sports bags
- a small silver suitcase with a broken handle
- a pair of swimming goggles and a snorkel (Zakynthos, 2 years ago)
- 2 travel pillows
- a silver goblet from Medieval Times, South Carolina
- and a pair of blue pyjamas that are too short in the leg by about 5 inches
- a rolled up rug
- an A3 size charcoal picture of me hand drawn by a street artist in Kos in 1996

Some of it went back into the wardrobe neatly. Most of it didn’t. When the bin men come this week and empty the big black bin, I’ll be refilling it again immediately. Oops.

The other bit of tidying I did today was something I keep meaning to do, but never get around to. I have a problem with books, you see. I have too many of them. It’s a great weakness. A year or two ago, I pruned my book collection down ruthlessly, taking around 100 books to the charity shop. Now, my shelves are full again. The other problem is that a large number of my books aren’t actually on my (already full) shelves. I read books, and then leave them beside the bed, or on the living room table, or beside the sofa (out of sight, out of mind, alas), or in the bathroom (oh come on, you all do it). So I went round the house, picking up all the books that weren’t in the computer room on the shelves where they belonged. Then I counted them. Chick lit (6), fantasy (10), gaming (8), horror (3), humour (7), non-fiction (6), sci-fi (5), thriller (2), travel (3), and psychology (2). Fifty-two books. Also counted on the shelves - 153. Like I said, a bit of a problem. Maybe it’s time for another trip to the charity shop.

[Because it’ll get it out of the way.]

When book 6 came out, my brother and I went to Meadowhall to be at Waterstones when it opened at midnight. I’m not a rabid, undying fan of the books, but I do like them, as does my brother Chris, so there we were. It was late, I was mildly crotchety, and by the time we got back home I didn’t want to stay up and read for any more than half an hour.

The hype about the seventh book has been unbelievable. Movies get hyped beyond belief, but never books. Saying that, though, I can’t think of any other multi-part epics spanning 7 fictional years (10 in reality) in recent times. For my part, I actually read the book several days ago through a not so legitimate route, avoiding the crowds in town. Yes, I liked it. Yes, I’ll probably get a hard copy of the book eventually, but not for now.

I was saved from having to drag myself into town and hang around in the rain for ages in the middle of the night. I sensibly went to bed instead to get a good night’s sleep, but I woke up at 2am, dreaming about the damn book. Perhaps it was the projected unbridled joy of thousands of kids clutching copies of the book in their hot and eager little hands. Ugh. I tossed and turned for ages, getting out of bed at one point to shut the cat downstairs because she wasn’t helping, but still couldn’t get back to sleep. I just felt hot and itchy and uncomfortable. That’s how I ended up having a shower at 3.20am in an attempt to settle down. By the time I’d dried my hair (feeling slightly guilty in case the sound of the hairdryer at 4am woke my neighbour) I was finally able to get some sleep.

Out at Meadowhall today, there were still piles of the book in Waterstones and WHSmiths. Interrupted sleep or not, I’m glad I wasn’t there at midnight.

Me, Simpsons style, courtesy of the Simpsons Movie website.

It’s seemed like quite a busier than usual weekend up here in (finally slightly!) sunny Sheffield. My weekends are usually fairly quiet, with lie-ins, laundry and general chilling. No such thing on Saturday, though.

I had to be up relatively early to do a couple of chores, including making up the spare bedroom. Prompted by my sister’s impending round the world journey, I signed up to a site called CouchSurfing. I’d actually come across the site before, several years ago, and completely forgotten about it. I signed up last month, not thinking I’d get many requests, as Sheffield isn’t exactly a major tourist attraction. To my surprise, I’ve had 3 requests to date. First was an American girl called Kristin, who lives in Moscow. She stayed with me for just under a week whilst doing research at the university. Last night, a Chinese girl called Yi, who lives in Amsterdam, stayed the night for convenience in getting to Doncaster Airport. And this Tuesday, I’ll be hosting a guy called Jamie, who’s playing a gig in the city centre. I’m not missing having a lodger at all (he moved out at the start of June, after some fuss with a gas bill - a bit of dirty laundry that I’m not going to air any more than I have to), but the occasional couch surfer for company is really quite nice.

After getting my eyebrows done at the local salon, I headed out to Meadowhall. The recent floods hit the shopping centre hard, but I hadn’t realised just how much so. The vast majority of the shops on the ground floor were boarded up, closed for repairs after flood damage. I asked one of the guys in Fresh! on the upstairs level how bad it had been. He said that the flood waters had risen to above the small litter bins. I was amazed.

I had to get my currency for my upcoming holiday, and I bought a new pair of shoes to wear there. Somehow, I think trainers in a desert country would not be comfortable.

Coming out of the travel agents, the Vision Express store caught my eye, and I decided to have an eye test. I don’t have any problems with my vision, and I’ve never had to wear glasses, but it’d been 10 years since my last visit to an optician, so I figured I’d get a check up. Turned out to my surprise that I’m slightly short-sighted, so I’m now the owner of a pair of glasses. I had no idea it cost so much to buy glasses! I wore them home to see how they were - and what a bizarre experience! I guess it’s something you have to get used to. I don’t have to wear them all the time, but they’re there if I need to.

I stopped off in Waterstones on the way out of Meadowhall - a fatal mistake. I can’t resist books, and they were doing a 3 for 2 offer, so of course, I left the shop with three new books. Unfortunately, when I got home I realised I’ve already read one of them at some point in the past, so I’ll have to return it and swap it for a new one. My bookshelves would be heaving if it wasn’t for the fact that a large number of books are in various places around the house - the living room, the bedroom, and the bathroom (admit it, you all do it).

Back home, I arranged a weekend trip to Alexandria during my holiday to Egypt. I’m meeting up with some CouchSurfers in Cairo, and we’re taking a trip to one of the guys parents’ villa. I still haven’t decided exactly what to do with all the holiday. So far I have just the first 3 days and the second weekend planned, so that still leaves me with 8 days to fill. I’m going to decide when I get there. Depending on if I can stand the heat, I’ll go either to Luxor (able to stand the heat) to see Valley of the Kings, or Hurghada/Sharm el Sheikh for some watersports (unable to stand the heat). Either way, I’m sure it’ll be a fantastic holiday.

Also this weekend (Friday afternoon), one trip to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, my first time there. The photoblog has finally been updated, and there’ll be a couple of new photos over this week.

I’ve got some time off work over the summer. I had originally planned to go over to America again, this time spending a week in New York before heading down to see my friends in Georgia. However, I figured if I was spending a wodge of money flying to the US, maybe I should look at other options too; somewhere I’ve never been before.

I decided to look into various different places. I considered Canada, Egypt, Kenya, Russia, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe, then started paring them down according to budget. Clicking through various websites yesterday, I decided it was too quiet and opened iTunes. Setting it on shuffle and pressing play, the first song that played was by The Bangles. Walk Like an Egyptian.

Flight to Cairo is booked. Two weeks in Egypt in the height of summer. I must be nuts, but I’m really, really looking forward to it.