Oh, is that an end in sight?

After an intensive week and a half of exams, I've now finished over half of my GCSEs - I'm getting there! Today was my final official day of secondary school before exam leave - an emotional whirlwind filled with signing autographs books, taking pictures, hugging and me pretending to be a dinosaur hatching out of an egg in RS. I really will miss so many people, quite a few teachers and some of the aspects of the school. I know I've outgrown it now, but it served me well for five years.

I've decided that today should be a break - no revision (what a novelty!), a bit of Facebook and music, and even arranging to see Sam for the first time in so long.

I didn't acknowledge that it was my birthday last Sunday and just persevered with revision. Of course, I will celebrate my birthday, and I'm going to do it properly during the summer. You know that phrase 'work hard play hard'? Well, perhaps I'll epitomise that during the summer - I've worked painstakingly during these past two years, so I really need to, er, 'play hard'. And by this, I mean that I'll maybe throw a birthday party, visit London, go on holiday, see friends, read for fun, learn a new skill and just partake in all the things that I've longed to do but have put off due to revision in GCSE years.

Never before has the phrase 'the end is in sight' been more relevant - it's exactly four weeks until my final exam. Four weeks from now, I will be rejoicing. It's not been an easy two years, but the time has had many fun points and was full of new experiences.

Oh yes, and I'm sixteen now. Okay, right, this is... exactly the same. Not that I expected to feel any different. When you don't celebrate your birthday, it's really just another day.

Prefiero esta canción en español

Una loba en el armario
Tiene ganas de salir
Deja que se coma el barrio
Antes de irte a dormir

Cuando era menor, me encantaba la musica de Shakira.

More a yardstone than a mile

Today I came to the realisation that in less than a month I'll be 16 and under two months from now I'll have finished all my GCSE exams for ever. But, as has been the case for around 5 years now, I'm not at all excited for my birthday because:

• It's going to be revision-filled. I have exams the next day and in the following weeks. There's really no time to celebrate.
• As usual, I plan to postpone my birthday. I haven't even received my main presents for my 15th birthday because I postponed it and then never really got back into the birthday mood.
• I don't really feel like having a party or anything of the sort. Of course, I want to spend time with friends and family to mark the occasion.
• Although 16 is considered quite a milestone birthday, I don't really have anything to look forward to. I just want to make this a fulfilling year of life.
• The idea of buying lottery tickets, sex and being able to drink one glass of beer or cider with a meal in a licensed pub accompanied by an adult does not excite me.

What a sensible (boring) and mature (disdainful) 16-year-old I'm going to be.

Disregarding pretension

No matter how pretentious it may sound to burst into a foreign language unannounced...

Mon examen oral de français est fini - comme c'est marveilleux!/Mi examen oral de español es terminado - ¡Qué maravilla!

Which translates as 'My French/Spanish oral exam is finished - how marvellous!' Of course, it's a big relief - I've been preparing for these exams for months and had to learn many pages of answers for both exams which were within a week of each other. This weekend I became quite ill with some kind of flu/cold/sore throat combination, thus making the Spanish oral of today even more difficult. But both are done now and I can resume revision for the written exams.

Could I be a brand?

Some slogan ideas from Slogan Maker:

Abby for high quality
Start your day with Abby
Abby is your freedom
Nobody does it like Abby
It's miracle in the rain, it's Abby
Be funny with Abby
Abby for every day
Abby is rolling, the others are stoned
Abby enjoy it
Famed for Abby
Soft and silky as Abby
Abby is the only way to be happy
Abby shot from guns
Abby for every walk in life
Everything for Abby
Abby the real obsession
The art of Abby
Abby is easy
Abby is a female force
Abby can do
Abby is be lovelier to love
Abby you can trust
Abby you like it
Abby is blended
Abby - the natural way
Abby for a long career
Abby makes you better
Abby is the door to success
Abby is a legend
Abby & more
The Spirit of Abby

So, Barcelona...

It was highly enjoyable, however:

• The room at the hostel housed six people and was incredibly small with only one bathroom, making the whole living experience unpleasant
• We walked almost everywhere, taking the Metro only occasionally, so I spent 6-8 hours a day on foot and consequently I'm now limping
• I felt a bit isolated for part of the trip, but I went to join a different group of friends and then it all got so much better

And though we were supposed to return home at around 1 am on Tuesday morning, our 8 o' clock flight was cancelled so we had to spend another night. At first I panicked - I'd really been looking forward to going home - but then Easyjet provided us with a rather luxurious, four-star hotel which was a stark contrast to the ghastly living conditions in the hostel, so that whole experience turned out to be rather wonderful in the end. I unabashedly declare that the hotel stay turned out to be the highlight of the visit.

Sorry Sara - there was no chocolate turron! It must be a Christmas thing...

The skin on my thumb looks like that of a roasted chestnut

Most of my blog posts come to mind when my brain lets go a little and just starts to conjure up random ideas. A phrase might pop out at me, such as the title of the post, and then I'll just write. I hate routine andwant my blog to reflect my eclectic life, so after I the title has come about I try to let the words flow.

So, normally I shun the 'I did this, then this, before doing this' etc. type of posts as my life tends to spill out of traditional blog formats, but I feel that this week in particular could provide some interest...

Monday - Shuffle into school awaiting five hours of Drama for my final exam. Get on with the work surprisingly well, considering how scary the whole prospect of the final exam is, and return home proud of my group and our progress.

Tuesday - Pretty much do the norm in lessons, except Biology and Chemistry in which revision notes are attempted. Become frustrated at the messiness of my handwriting and hail the mighty computer.

Wednesday - Buckle down to another full day of the Drama exam. With the fellow group members, manage to finish devising our piece. Perform it to the teachers in the afternoon and receive a surprisingly warm reception. Stay at school until 4.40 pm finishing my portfolio, before trudging home to make revision notes about railways in Britain 1815-51.

Thursday - Act as an American gossip columnist persuading the magazine editor, my teacher, to run a story about Ashley Cole having further affairs, possibly with a man this time. Receive full marks and rejoice that something that comes to me so naturally worked out well. Continue through the day as normal.

Friday - Spend the morning frantically preparing for the Drama exam performance to the moderator. Squeeze every ounce of acting talent into the eventual performance and hope.

Saturday - Mill about the house writing my History coursework on the economy in Nazi Germany. Feel mentally taxed, and somehow physically, too.

Sunday - Do the same thing as yesterday, but over a longer period of time. Meticulously check through my work, print the 14-page essay and feel proud of myself. Take a pleasant bath, followed by an energetic shower.

Oh, and in less than one week I'll be in Spain, to revise for my upcoming Languages Orals, of course. ¡Adios por ahora!

(For reference, my the skin on my thumb looks like that of a roasted chestnut because on Wednesday I was 'hammering' the floor all day in Drama and this wore away the skin on my thumb. I've been wearing a plaster almost constantly since then which has wrinkled my skin)