Thankfulness.doc

When Emily arrived on Friday night I was truly in shock. It took a good five minutes for my brain to actually process that she had descended upon me, gift in hand, to celebrate my 25th. That evening my mind raced because I hadn't planned anything for us to do and because the fridge was bare. Thankfully, I was reminded that with a best friend, it doesn't matter what you're doing or for how long, just that you're together. We didn't do anything spectacular over the four days and there was not a one special tourist stop, but it was yet another wonderful visit.

On the Saturday after my birthday we started the day off with oatmeal. It was probably the only thing I had in the house to be honest. We then took a small jaunt through Leamington. Fall has definitely arrived. While the trees are bursting with vibrant shades worthy of Debbie Travis, the temperature drop is also felt. I think it was a drastic change from the sun swept landscapes of the Portuguese beaches Emily was use to. I took her to a quaint little candy shop in town. It has an old school sweet shop feel and shares the building with a milkshake shop. We stocked up on all kinds of refined sugars and made our way to the city gardens. We placed ourselves on a bench and people watched for a good two hours talking of the usual random meanderings that tend to pepper our conversations. That evening we made a thanksgiving dinner. We shared a nice sized turkey breast with cranberry sauce, broccoli, and potatoes. For dessert we had a strawberry cheesecake. It was the first time I had had turkey since maybe Christmas 2007. Much overdue. It was nice to share the meal with a friend from home.

Sunday was a bit more relaxed. After a breakfast feast, we both took time during the day to get some homework done. I edited a draft of one of my chapters and Emily started some online school applications. We shared tea and concentrated on our various tasks - see, quiet time with Hincksy and the Doctor is possible too. That lasted for about two hours and then we couldn't take it anymore. By the time we were finished with our work we realized the grocery had closed so we decided on heading to a traditional English pub instead. I had my second roast meal of the weekend - a traditional roast beef with yorkshire pudding and a pint of Guinness. Em had a delicious chicken burger (also with a pint of Guinness). We stayed for two more rounds of pints and chatted the evening away. It was really nice to treat ourselves to a meal out since we're usually such budget conscious travelers.

On Monday morning we shared yet another delicious breakfast before I jumped on the bus to campus. I had a meeting with my dissertation supervisor. (Sidenote: It went extremely well and set my mind at ease). It was a few short hours on campus before I returned home. Emily had spent a lazy day at the apartment. She even chose to watch a film by herself on my computer. I don't think she has watched a film by herself since 2002 or so...or maybe it has never happened. In fact we had watched a film two evenings before so I think I doubled the number of films she has seen all year in two days. Regardless, we made a journey to the grocery and picked up a delicious indian meal that we later devoured. We ate cheesecake for dessert for the third night in a row.

Re-reading this post it seems that all we did for the four days was eat well. Interesting...

The next day I put Emily on a train. It was sad to say goodbye as always, but the visit was perfectly timed. Dissertation work can get boring (even with the gym to balance my routine) and spending my second birthday here reminded me of all the wonderful things back home. Hinckster swooped in at the perfect time. The visit provided me with the momentum to get through this leg of the writing and a journey to Berlin to look forward to in just a month. A visit with my hip, tanned, horse riding friend was the perfect prescription for October.

Doc's Prescription of the Day: I am deeply thankful for all of your birthday wishes. I hope you were thankful for all the wonderful things in your life - including me.