I don’t think Mum was too keen on them – 19th April 2001

Wednesday 19th I went to Manchester with Cat today and I bought my really cool trainers! 🙂 They look something like this:

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I think that’s a fairly good likeness! Yes, I’m proud of those pictures! 🙂 I don’t think Mum was too keen on them when I was wearing them before but I think they’re great! They’re really bright and really comfy!

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[The only picture I can find of me wearing the horrible trainers. I was at Noss Head Lighthouse in Caithness where, thankfully, very few people will have witnessed them.]

I really wish I had more money cos I saw so many nice clothes too. Most were in the O’Neill and Quiksilver shops, in which case they were VERY expensive!

We trekked round all day trying to find Cat a bloody hooded jacket with a zip but we didn’t find one until Gap which was the last place we went in. I was pretty fed up by then.

We missed a train home so we had to get one to Warrington so the bloke made us pay an extra £1.15! Rip off!! Cat’s mum was going to pick us up but ran out of petrol so we had to get the bus home. It reminded me very much of Tuesday!

We went in Affleck’s Palace while we were in Manchester. It’s so good in there! I’ve walked past it before but it looked scary so I never went in but I like it now!

Bye!

I think he was being deliberately cheesy – 30th & 31st July 2000

Sunday 30th I’ve caught up on a bit of sleep now so Jake and I went to the Trafford Centre together. Both my mum and dad (who’ve decided Jake’s got a look of Tim Henman about him!) dropped us off on the way to Grandma S’s. They couldn’t help but embarrass me by telling him things such as my not being able to sleep at a Youth Hostel in Stirling cos of a graveyard outside! I was glad to get out of the car!

We just wandered round the shops all day, stopping off in Starbucks for a drink, of course! When we were eating out McDonald’s for lunch, there were some people from Key 103 there going round with a microphone so we legged it!

I bought some nail varnish from Boots called Fallen Angel and Jake saw the name and said something like, “Cos that’s what you are, aren’t you?!” I couldn’t help but laugh but I don’t think it was a serious comment. I think he was being deliberately cheesy!

He also persuaded me to get a Miffy pencil case from Selfridges and some Milk lip balm from Boots cos he liked the taste. I got The Corrs new album which he said he wants to borrow and Moloko’s new single, Pure Pleasure Seeker, which triggered him saying if he played an instrument it’d either be the saxophone or drums.

All he got was more pairs of Tommy Hilfiger boxers, minidisc things, and the Toploader and Coldplay albums I think they were. He looked at the hideous orange Quiksilver shirt in River Island but decided against buying it. I think he would’ve done if I hadn’t have been there!

[I hate, hate, HATE this bloody Toploader song but I will suffer it being on here and stuck in my head for the next 3 weeks because feel I need to show you the sort of shite on our MiniDisc players at the time…]

After we got bored of wandering round, we went to the cinema, got 2 tubs of Phish Food ice cream and went to watch Chicken Run. It was such a good film! I expected it to be good but it was better than that! Jake enjoyed it too.

We ended up getting a taxi back to my house and Jake ended up staying until 1:00 am! We just stayed in my room playing my new CDs. He decided he liked my bed cos it’s comfy and said he didn’t want to go home and leave me. I spent quite a while tickling him and messing with his hair and then I switched my light out to show him the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling (that really was the reason!) and it ended up staying off cos he said he really liked them.

We just kissed and cuddled for a bit and then 2 and 3. He tried to undo my pants but I’m still on my period a bit so I stopped him. I told him he didn’t have time before the taxi came. I didn’t want him to leave and he didn’t want to but I think my parents would’ve been a bit shocked if he was still here in the morning!

Bye!

Monday 31st I didn’t see Jake today so we planned to cycle to Sarah’s over the fields tomorrow. One message I got had a nice ending. It said, “HI! : ) YOU OK? WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? HOPE IT’S NOT RAINING TOMORROW – WE MIGHT SINK IN THE PEAT! COULDN’T SLEEP LAST NIGHT! NEED TO BE WITH YOU ALL THE TIME! LOVE xJx”.

That was just about the highlight of my day!

Bye!

Sad cow!! – 27th March 2000

Monday 27th Went to the Trafford Centre tonight with Mum, Abby and Sarah in search of a pair of jeans and a jacket for the summer. I only got jeans though from Gap.

Sarah and I went in French Connection and as soon as we walked in she told me to sniff. I did and I could smell Jake so we were smelling all the fragrances to see which one it was. It was a FCUK once but I don’t know which. I’ve sprayed it on my wrists and can’t stop sniffing it now. I’m not sure that’s what he wears but it smells like it. Mmm!

Hayley embarrassed me in front of Jake after college by telling him that every time we were talking about Andy on Saturday, I kept saying Canada instead of Germany. What really annoyed me though was when I mentioned Sarah wanting to come to Valkenburg with Swing Band if Emma’s parents won’t let her go (because of her tongue piercing), and Hayley started going on about how she doesn’t want Sarah to go because we’ll all come back and go on about it in front of her like we always do cos she can’t go.

Bollocks! That is so selfish! If she was going and Sarah wasn’t, she wouldn’t think twice about “going on about it”. Mind you, Hayley wouldn’t come in the first place cos I don’t think she ever leaves the Warrington area without her WHOLE family. Sad cow!!

Jake said it’s pretty definite he’ll join us on the Swing Band trip. Yeah!!

Bye!

Maybe they’ll make her look a bit different – 1st November 1997

Saturday 1st I’m back home now. I think another day of walking round shops could have been even more boring so I’m not too bothered.

We walked round Camden Market all morning and some of the afternoon. It was good coz it was all unusual little crafty stalls and a bit different but after an hour I got fed up and felt sick after the huge chocolate doughnut I’d eaten.

We did buy a few things. Mum got a handmade paper book and a cool mobile with little people on it all made out of banana leaves which the man said came from Tanzania.

November 1997 - Mobile

[We’re a family of hoarders.]

Abby and I both got a necklace done with a pendant containing a grain of rice with our names written on. The woman did it when we were there with a very fine pen and a really steady hand.

October 1997 - Rice

I also go Emma a pair of frog earrings. I hope she likes them. Maybe they’ll make her look a bit different to me considering the clothes she wears are getting a bit too similar to mine for my liking.

We ended up getting an earlier train home and got seats together which was better.

I tried to phone Emma this evening to see if I’d missed anything but I couldn’t coz she’d gone to sleep at Zoe’s or summit.

BYE!

P.S. Man Utd 6 – Southampton 1   YES!

Ralph is quite funny in his own sad little way – 27th October 1997

Monday 27th Well, that was another good day. I couldn’t sleep last night coz I was excited coz it was Emma, me, Dougie, Freddie and Ralph all going to Manchester today. Hayley was meant to be coming but couldn’t so there were just us two girls with them.

I went to Emma’s at about 10:30 am and she told me that we didn’t have to bother with the train coz her dad was going into Manchester to work so he’d drop us off. She’d told her parents who was going but I daren’t coz I know how mine would react.

We really wanted to go but it was too early for her dad so we had to wait half an hour before we could go. In that time, Emma managed to scrub [borrow] £8 off her parents.

Eventually we got going and arrived in Manchester at about 11:30. Her dad just parked at the college so we had to walk from there. It’s a good job I know where I’m going coz Emma doesn’t have a clue! We got to The Arndale Centre then I showed her the fountain outside the Warner Bros. shop where we had to wait for them at 1:00 pm.

October 1997 - Fountain

[The Cotton Bud fountain in St Ann’s Square. Via BBC]

We were far too early so we wandered round the shops for a bit and ended up in the toilets in Debenhams. When we came out of them we worked our way to the ground floor to try and get out. [Still easier said than done in that place.] When we got to the bottom of the escalator, I spotted Dougie with his mum in the women’s clothes section so I waved to him. He smiled and gave me a look like he wanted us to go. Poor lad, stuck shopping with his mum. How boring can you get?!

So, Emma and I went to get some sandwiches from Tesco and had another walk round. We kept going back to the Arndale. We were just going back out onto Market Street when somebody came up behind me and put their hands on my shoulders. It didn’t half scare me and I yelled, “Oh shit!” and turned round to see Dougie grinning at me.

He was hungry and it wasn’t 1:00 so we had time for him to get summit to eat. We went in McDonald’s but the queues were really long and he ended up getting an ice cream.

Every time we walked past the Arndale, we went back in in case Freddie and Ralph were there. Between times we ended up walking up to the Town Hall and having to get a tram back to the Arndale. Then we went back in the Arndale.

They still hadn’t come so we got Dougie to phone Ralph and his sister said he’d come. We walked back to the fountain and Dougie saw his mum and sisters ad they said they’d seem ‘em and Dougie spotted them so we ended up legging it after them.

We caught up and went back in McDonald’s. As we were queuing up, Dougie and I had chance to tell Ralph and Freddie about Emma falling in the stream which sent him off laughing again and Emma went really red. I got a choccy milkshake and we all set off walking again.

Ralph wanted to go in some cooking shop (don’t ask me why) which was on Deansgate but we ended up walking miles round the back streets of Manchester trying to find it. He swore to us he knew where it was! We also had to put up with him singing, “If you want my body and you think I’m sexy, come on baby let me know”. They’re the only words he knew too!

We were just outside Kendals, trying to cross the road, when we heard all this yelling and “fucking” going out. At first we thought it was a fight coz there were a few men running about grabbing this other one, until we saw blood everywhere. We thought he’d been stabbed but then we saw the broken glass door which we think he’d been shoved through. We didn’t stay to see what happened coz a crowd was forming and we didn’t want to get in the middle of it all.

We eventually found this shop of Ralph’s (after he nearly got himself run over by a bike) that he worships and it was full of old women (Ralph included! Soz, that’s tight.) but it didn’t have what he wanted so we went in the music shop with Dougie to get a drum book but they wouldn’t sell it him without some CD so she came back to the Arndale (again) with the rest of us.

Dougie had to meet his mum there coz of a dentist appointment so he said bye and ran ahead.

Ralph is quite funny in his own sad little way [Heh. I was totally starting to fancy him…] and so’s Freddie so it was actually better than I expected after Dougie went. We went round their shops and stuff and they wanted to go in the lingerie shops but we wouldn’t let them!

Emma then complained that she wanted to go in one of her shops after stopping off in the toy shop where Emma and Ralph had a pretend fight with the plastic guns. Ralph asked for sparklers but got told he was too young. We also stopped in the outdoor sorta shop to look at the skiing gear and Emma was going in all the tents. We decided to get out of there before we got chucked out after getting funny looks from the staff! [God, I bet we were so annoying!]

We went in the shop she wanted to go in after going in the sports shop to get Ralph a tennis ball. Oh yeah, Freddie supports Man Utd too which is good. Emma’s shop was full of weird stuff including this gorilla which sang Macarena when you clapped at it. Freddie bought one of those keyrings tht beeps when you whistle at it. So, on the way back to the station, we had Ralph bounding his ball and Freddie whistling and beeping. We were going to take it in a library or summit but we couldn’t find one. [Good. Don’t be twats, kids.]

On the way to the station, we found a big slippy marble rock so we were climbing all over it until Freddie started panicking coz he had a paper round at 4:30 pm.

October 1997 - Touchstone

[Big slippy marble rock or, if we’re going for it’s official name, The Ishinki Touchstone. Via Our Manchester]

We passed these esculators too on the way with no-one on so me, Ralph and Emma all went down on the up one and up the down one, pretending we were on the travellator on Gladiators. Then we raced each other to Freddie. The ground felt like it was moving under my feet. It was really weird.

When we got to the station we were on the wrong platform and a train was coming so we legged it all the way down the steps, under the track and up to the other platform and it didn’t bloody well stop!

Our train did come and we got it to Freddie and Ralph’s stop. Ralph was doing sit-ups on his seat and signing again and we all got some funny looks from passengers. When we got to their stop, we got a bus to Freddie’s village and then walked across a field to Freddie’s house so they could both get their bikes for the paper round.

october-1997-train-ticket

We went round the back and Ralph yelled to Freddie’s mum, “Look, Mrs Bevan, Freddie’s brought his girlfriend home!” and he dragged Emma to the window. His little bro came to have a look. We could tell when Freddie was coming back out coz you could hear him beeping!

They took us to the phone and I phoned my mum. Freddie went off to do his papers but said he’d be back in about 15 mins if we were still there. Ralph waited with is. My mum came and asked me who Ralph was so I had to tell her who same with us and what we did. It was embarrassing but she didn’t seem to mind.

I wanna do that again sometime.

BYE!

P.S. Freddie’s birthday is November 8th. And Dougie said that, other than school shoes, he was looking for some Kappa pants. I’ve got some of them. [SO MUCH IN COMMON! Shame it was all sportswear.]

There’s a field full of elephants – 27th September 1997

Saturday 27th There’s a field full of elephants up the road! No joke. [This happened. I wasn’t delirious from whatever bug I’d had in the week.] It makes a change from cows anyway! There’s a circus on actually with animals and they’re keeping 3 elephants outside. I’m not going coz I don’t like the circus. I hate clowns and it’s cruel to the animals.

Dad took Abby and I into Bolton today. He wanted to get a Bolton Wanderers top from a Reebok shop. On the way, he took us past the new Reebok Stadium. It’s brilliant! I hate to say it but, from the outside, it’s actually (just slightly) more impressive than Old Trafford.

Dad didn’t actually buy any Reebok gear but he got a catalogue so he can order stuff from home which is easier coz he’s not sure what he wants yet. He spent £80 on me and Abby though and wouldn’t let me pay half for me. He bought us both a Manchester Utd white away shirt. They’re brill! He must have been feeling generous! It looks a bit like this:-

September 1997 - MUFC shirt then

[It looked exactly like that. I know because I found it stuffed in the back of a drawer 18 years on…]

September 1997 - MUFC shirt now.JPG

All my friends have gone to the cinema this evening. They went to see The Full Monty which is meant to be really funny but my mum wouldn’t let me go coz she says it’s about male strippers. Emma said Cat wasn’t allowed either. I don’t mind but I would’ve liked to have gone too.

BYE!

Going on and on about cooking cabbages! – 5th September 1997

Friday 5th Today wasn’t too back actually. For school that is!

First thing I had was French. I’ve got a new teacher called Mrs W and I don’t really like her much but the people in the class are mostly the same.

Second thing was Maths with Miss W. The new American boy, Davis Nolan, is in front of me. He’s not fat, he’s just big and I can’t see the board!

3rd I had the food part of my Food Technology with Mrs K going on and on about cooking cabbages!

4th I had Science with Mr L. We’re doing Physics and I just can’t get my head round it. [All the family brain cells equipped to understand Physics went to my 3 of my cousins who are now physics-ing at space, nuclear energy and the LHC.]

At last break, the bell went for last lesson. I had P.S.E. [Personal & Social Education] with Mrs L (who I can’t stand) so I walked there with Poppy. I saw Dougie walking towards the same door as me but I didn’t think he’d be in my lesson. So, I was just standing there, talking to Poppy and Jill Baines and I heard someone say, “Have you got P.S.E. now?”

I turned round and had Dougie stood next to me! My heart started beating so fast and I just said a simple, “Yeah”. It went even faster when he said, “Oh good. Someone I know.” He was stood next to me for ages after that.

Every time I think of that it makes me smile! I also feel a bit sorry for him coz none of his friends are with us really. Then again, lads tend to be worse with their mates.

After school, Mum took Abby and I to the fire salvage coz they’ve got loads of sports gear in at the moment. [It was a shop that sold clothes, furniture, toys and any other crap they could get their hands on that was old, slightly faulty or had been salvaged from things like warehouse fires. I had many a (slightly smoky-smelling) bargain from that place.] I’ve ended up with a half price Diadora coat for school.

September 1997 - Diadora coat

[This is the coat. Please try to ignore my handlebar fringe. It was not one of my finest fringe moments.]

I’m really pleased with it! The stuff there is all slightly defective or dirty. All that I’ve found wrong with my new coat so far is that a toggle thing for pulling it together at the bottom has come off.

BYE!

I DON’T WANNA GO BACK TO SCHOOL YET!!! – 2nd September 1997

Tuesday 2nd My mum took me to Grizedale Forest today in the Lake District because that’s where Andy Goldsworthy does some of his work so we thought it could be quite interesting. My sister Abby and her friend Cassie Forrester came too coz they had nothing else to do. Emma came as well coz she is also researching Andy’s work. Oh yeah, we took our Scottie (Mollie) too as it’s a forest walk and dogs are allowed.

It took us a couple of hours to get there and we were all feeling pretty travel sick when we did coz the roads in the Lakes tend to be very windy.

We had lunch on a picnic bench when we arrived and then went on some of the walks.

September 1997 - Grizedale (4)

It was better than I expected actually even though it did rain a bit. We took plenty of photos coz the sculptures were all dead good. [They must’ve been AMAZING to get a ‘dead good’ out of teenage me.]

September 1997 - Grizedale to use

We saw one of Goldsworthy’s called Seven Spires but the rest were too far away. Anyway, I did get postcards and a few photos but they probably won’t be developed in time for my first Art lesson.

I’ve still got loads of work left and only one more day to do it in. Plus I’ve got to pack my bag, sort out my uniform and equipment, phone my friends to check stuff etc. It’s gonna be a busy day! [Packing a bag, picking an outfit and talking to my friends would be a lovely, lazy day for 2015 Tess. I do all that in half an hour most mornings.]

Emma’s also put me in an awkward position by asking me if I want to go to Bolton to find her a pair of shoes. I found it hard to say no but I did manage to get out of it. I hate shopping anyway, especially for other people!

I DON’T WANNA GO BACK TO SCHOOL YET!!!

Only one more day to go! It doesn’t seem like 6 weeks since I was I Year 9. Woah! That’s another thing. Writing ‘Year 10’ on stuff!

BYE!