These days my life seems measured in numbers. I guess it's more accurate to say my productivity is measured in numbers. Today I wrote 1000 words to conclude the Canadian chapter of the thesis and jogged for a solid hour racking up 10km on the treadmill. It seems I really like these nice round figures to measure progress. I think I'm more proud of the latter figure because it's the most I've ever ran in one go. I'm sure to all you stellar fitness buffs out there 10km is chump change, but I've never been a long distance runner.
I've limited my cardio to once a week because I've read everywhere that it takes away from your other gains throughout the week in regards to building. As you can tell, I really am becoming a bit of a gym convert. There is a euphoria I get every time I conclude a good work out, relax in the pool facilities, and make my way home. The contented feeling lasts for the rest of the night and I miss it on the rare days I don't make it down to the gym. Without it, I think this dissertation work would feel like wrestling a lion, but with it the dissertation is like a little kitten - I give it some attention, take care of it, and make sure it grows into a cat (the simile kind of falls apart but you get the idea).
There have been two wonderful highlights to this week and they both happened to fall on Monday.
Bec celebrated her 24th birthday! After having previously gathered for some pre-birthday drinks last week, a few of us crashed over to the Aussi household on Monday to wish her a proper birthday. I was in charge of baking the cake. It was something I considered an easy feat, but as I gathered the ingredients I remembered that I hadn't baked a cake in ages. Honestly, I couldn't remember the last time. It was dreadfully easy though so I expect to do it more in the coming months. I made a Devil's Food Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. I garnished it with strawberries on top and in between the layers. Aside from the icing melting a bit on the walk over I would say that it was quite a success. Bec's housemates were generous with the wine and we sat around and shared a lovely evening. It's tough to celebrate birthdays away from home (the second one for some of us) so it was nice to give Bec a proper celebration. I even found a hilarious Donny Osmond themed card (with a voice message from Joseph himself) for the birthday girl. I think she appreciated the humour too - there's a market for these cards?!
The second highlight of the week came before the cake adventures. I had a wonderful two hour skype chat with Miss Emma Jane Hunter. Emma went to the trouble of getting incredibly dressed up for our conference call. She looked just as I remembered her. I gave her a formal update as to what was going on in the Spa and narrated some of the more interesting summer travel experiences. She told me about her summer in Prescott, the current gig in Ottawa, the SSW comedy happenings, and all the good stuff I'm missing in Toronto. It was a much needed update. I was happy to share and receive some goss, laugh the afternoon away over shared jokes, and make future plans. It may get lonely over here sometimes knowing my best pals are continuing on with their lives over in Canada, but all it takes is hearing one of their voices (Emma's dear sweet British inflection for example) and I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such a stellar group to return home to.
Today was spent on campus. It was productive, as I mentioned above, but it's icky there. The bus there was incredibly crowded both ways (although I did get to read more of my latest - Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die), the library was jam-packed and extremely warm, and I'm not as comfortable as I am back home. Luckily my efforts at raising our book haul back to twenty at one time was successful, so I have all I need at home to keep going. It was nice, however, to sneak in a quick lunch with Lotte and Courtney after their supervisory meeting.
We have a spooky Halloween party on Saturday night. Until then...
Doc's Prescription of the Day; Plan to mark big occasions. Highlights make the weeks and months more bearable. The current highlights I am looking forward to include Saturday's party, a visit from Talia, the trip to Berlin, and a possible November highlight still to be confirmed.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
At Home and Abroad.doc
I'm sitting here on a beautiful Sunday morning sipping coffee and watching the sun illuminate the autumn toned trees. Leaves whip around in the wind and land abruptly on the fresh ground. Not much has happened over here between my last post on Wednesday and today's weekend update. On the other hand, a lot of excitement has been going on back home in my absence. While Leamington is probably home for another ten weeks or so, for these purposes it fulfills the abroad portion of the binary.
At home and abroad, sorting, packing, and moving are on the horizon. At home, my parents have sold the house and are moving on November 16. This is something I knew could become a reality while I was gallivanting over here, but it will all be completed in a mere number of weeks. They're moving into a beautiful condo in St. Catharines (Thorold residents no more!) I think the move comes at the right time - they're understandably tired of shoveling snow and mowing the lawn. At the same time, it's difficult to not be there to help with the process and say goodbye to 20 years of memories in our home. I'm not the type to get nostalgic about a building, but it's a big family change. Abroad, I'll be moving again in about ten weeks. It'll be the fourth time I've moved in 16 months. I don't know where I'm moving yet - back to Canada (Toronto?), somewhere in the UK for a bit, or a few weeks of traveling. I have NO solid plan, but I'm pretty certain I won't be in Leamington after December. I'm waiting for a few more things to become clear before making a decision about what the next move might be, but I know I'll have to choose something fairly soon. It's not that I'm scared to pull the trigger on something (even though I am naturally indecisive), there are just SO many variables in the mix. An incredible number of variables. Thankfully, I know that whatever the decision, I'll have support from home.
At home and abroad, new chapters are being penned. At home, my friends are charting new paths and blazing incredible trails. Two of my best friends, Michael and Megan, are settling into a condo downtown. I'm so proud of their wonderful venture and cannot wait to share a few glasses of wine and catch up in their living room. Their example is one of the reasons I'm excited to jump into the working world. I've been trying to picture the routine they'll soon be forming (like that at 135 Isabella) and all of the wonderful parties they'll host along the way. Michael is one of the busiest guys I know, but he's been a fantastic correspondent the whole year. It'll be great to visit and spy one of my postcards tacked up somewhere. Abroad, I'm penning new chapters - literally not figuratively. The dissertation work continues. I've been mixing it up recently and working from Cafe Nero in the city. The lack of net helps me focus and it's nice and quiet. The work makes for pretty standard days and means that I have to dream up gimmicky blog structures to make things interesting.
At home and abroad, we work hard and play hard. At home, some of my favourite girls are working incredibly hard, but I'm sure it feels like play. I'm talking about the fantastic She Said What comedy crew (Carly, Emma, Marni, Meg, and Meg Mack). I recently took a look at a video promo and was blown away. I remember seeing three of their initial shows (over a year and a half ago now) and the video features all of their new stuff. It's weird that a video like that would be a reminder of all I've been missed, but my heart ached to be in the audience watching these funny ladies shine. They are one of five 2009 Tim Sims Award Nominees and will be competing in the Cream of Comedy in November. I'm incredibly proud of how far they've come (from rehearsals in the 135 living room) but I'm also a bit sad I won't be there to cheer them on. Abroad, I continue to temper my work with play. On Thursday night I went out again with the Warwick Pride group in Coventry. It was loads of fun, and a good break after a really quick week. Thankfully, a cab back from Coventry was shared by five of us Leamingtonites and I randomly met Zoey in town; we walked home together. Friday night, Courtney invited me to dinner - she prepared a fantastic three course meal. We had pastries, pasta, and carrot cake. She spoiled me! Courtney and I had a great routine at the U Amsterdam library, and unfortunately I've abandoned her a bit with my affinity to work from home, so it was great to catch up over a wonderful meal. I'm returning the favour this evening.
At home and abroad, retirement is only a few weeks away. At home, my Dad is retiring from work after this week! He fondly speaks of starting at Todd's Men's Wear at the age of 15. After 45 years, he's due for an end to full time work. It doesn't mean that he'll stop working at Henley House, but he'll switch to part time. Like the move into the condo, I wish I was around to celebrate this milestone with my Dad. His friends and colleagues at work had a party this week in his honour and I would have loved to be there. I'm deeply proud of his accomplishments. Abroad, I'm not really retiring from anything. But I AM taking a break from school and academia once this dissertation is handed in. I'm much too jaded for my own good. I actually looked up jaded to see if it's the word I wanted, and the definition is perfect: to make or become dull, worn-out, or weary, as from overwork or overuse. This is precisely how I feel. I don't know if I'll be "retiring" from academics, but I'm done for a while. There is light at the end of the tunnel. But unfortunately, I'm not sure what's on the other side.
Doc's Prescription of the Day: At home and abroad, life goes on. I hope to be home soon to share in these moments, and describe to you my travels abroad.
At home and abroad, sorting, packing, and moving are on the horizon. At home, my parents have sold the house and are moving on November 16. This is something I knew could become a reality while I was gallivanting over here, but it will all be completed in a mere number of weeks. They're moving into a beautiful condo in St. Catharines (Thorold residents no more!) I think the move comes at the right time - they're understandably tired of shoveling snow and mowing the lawn. At the same time, it's difficult to not be there to help with the process and say goodbye to 20 years of memories in our home. I'm not the type to get nostalgic about a building, but it's a big family change. Abroad, I'll be moving again in about ten weeks. It'll be the fourth time I've moved in 16 months. I don't know where I'm moving yet - back to Canada (Toronto?), somewhere in the UK for a bit, or a few weeks of traveling. I have NO solid plan, but I'm pretty certain I won't be in Leamington after December. I'm waiting for a few more things to become clear before making a decision about what the next move might be, but I know I'll have to choose something fairly soon. It's not that I'm scared to pull the trigger on something (even though I am naturally indecisive), there are just SO many variables in the mix. An incredible number of variables. Thankfully, I know that whatever the decision, I'll have support from home.
At home and abroad, new chapters are being penned. At home, my friends are charting new paths and blazing incredible trails. Two of my best friends, Michael and Megan, are settling into a condo downtown. I'm so proud of their wonderful venture and cannot wait to share a few glasses of wine and catch up in their living room. Their example is one of the reasons I'm excited to jump into the working world. I've been trying to picture the routine they'll soon be forming (like that at 135 Isabella) and all of the wonderful parties they'll host along the way. Michael is one of the busiest guys I know, but he's been a fantastic correspondent the whole year. It'll be great to visit and spy one of my postcards tacked up somewhere. Abroad, I'm penning new chapters - literally not figuratively. The dissertation work continues. I've been mixing it up recently and working from Cafe Nero in the city. The lack of net helps me focus and it's nice and quiet. The work makes for pretty standard days and means that I have to dream up gimmicky blog structures to make things interesting.
At home and abroad, we work hard and play hard. At home, some of my favourite girls are working incredibly hard, but I'm sure it feels like play. I'm talking about the fantastic She Said What comedy crew (Carly, Emma, Marni, Meg, and Meg Mack). I recently took a look at a video promo and was blown away. I remember seeing three of their initial shows (over a year and a half ago now) and the video features all of their new stuff. It's weird that a video like that would be a reminder of all I've been missed, but my heart ached to be in the audience watching these funny ladies shine. They are one of five 2009 Tim Sims Award Nominees and will be competing in the Cream of Comedy in November. I'm incredibly proud of how far they've come (from rehearsals in the 135 living room) but I'm also a bit sad I won't be there to cheer them on. Abroad, I continue to temper my work with play. On Thursday night I went out again with the Warwick Pride group in Coventry. It was loads of fun, and a good break after a really quick week. Thankfully, a cab back from Coventry was shared by five of us Leamingtonites and I randomly met Zoey in town; we walked home together. Friday night, Courtney invited me to dinner - she prepared a fantastic three course meal. We had pastries, pasta, and carrot cake. She spoiled me! Courtney and I had a great routine at the U Amsterdam library, and unfortunately I've abandoned her a bit with my affinity to work from home, so it was great to catch up over a wonderful meal. I'm returning the favour this evening.
At home and abroad, retirement is only a few weeks away. At home, my Dad is retiring from work after this week! He fondly speaks of starting at Todd's Men's Wear at the age of 15. After 45 years, he's due for an end to full time work. It doesn't mean that he'll stop working at Henley House, but he'll switch to part time. Like the move into the condo, I wish I was around to celebrate this milestone with my Dad. His friends and colleagues at work had a party this week in his honour and I would have loved to be there. I'm deeply proud of his accomplishments. Abroad, I'm not really retiring from anything. But I AM taking a break from school and academia once this dissertation is handed in. I'm much too jaded for my own good. I actually looked up jaded to see if it's the word I wanted, and the definition is perfect: to make or become dull, worn-out, or weary, as from overwork or overuse. This is precisely how I feel. I don't know if I'll be "retiring" from academics, but I'm done for a while. There is light at the end of the tunnel. But unfortunately, I'm not sure what's on the other side.
Doc's Prescription of the Day: At home and abroad, life goes on. I hope to be home soon to share in these moments, and describe to you my travels abroad.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Strawpedo?!.doc
You know you’re getting older when younger ones are teaching you new bar tricks probably dreamed up over one too many vodka-cranberries back in residence. This past Saturday I had a big night out on the town (the Coventry town of all places) with a new friend named Reece who I met at Warwick. He’s an undergrad doing Creative Writing – we met through one of the societies at the uni. He’s a super chill guy, and it was nice to be introduced to a group of new Warwick friends.
We started at an event on campus with a free buffet! You know how much I love free food and this didn’t disappoint. The group is Warwick Pride and has events throughout the term – it relates a lot to my thesis interests so I may check out more. They’ve got a stellar library of interesting books (so much to read, so little time). We mingled with the crowd and (like MAIPR) I met interesting students from all over the world. We even managed to purchase a few beers from the student union bar and bring them over to the buffet.
From there we hit the town at a bar in Coventry called Bows. That night they had a singer performing whom apparently is fairly well known here in UK. I can’t remember her name, but she had some really good pipes. It was nice to see some live music again. There is another spot here in Leam called The Clarendon that has live stuff, but we haven’t been recently. The rest of the night was spent chilling out downstairs and then heading upstairs for a bit of a dance. Hinckster and Talia sent a couple of messages from London – it was really nice to hear from them.
So, a strawpedo. Reece introduced the concept and said it was something I just had to do. Basically, all it is is a surefire shortcut to chug a bottle of beer or cider (not necessarily something I’m use to doing anymore). See, the idea behind it is that you place a straw into the bottle and instead of using it, you bend it downwards so air can leave the bottle as you drink. This counteracts the vacuum problem that tends to happen when you chug from a bottle. I’m guessing this strategy originated from a group of bored physics majors. Disclaimer: I’m presenting this information to you not as an endorsement to try it out, but rather as first hand evidence of the types of rituals currently entrancing the youth culture I find myself in. Like an anthropologist in the bush, I’m just reporting the strange and exotic behaviour.
So I strawpedoed one cider and apparently was quite adept at it – I think it’s the Canadian genes. Instead of heading back to Leam (since it was after two and the buses had stopped) we crashed in the living room of one of Reece’s friends. Couch crashing for one night was a nice change of pace. It felt like I was back in undergrad (probably because I was partying with them!) It was great to meet a group of new friends. Coventry is not as pretty as Leam, but we had a great night out.
The last few weekdays have been spent back at the routine. It continues to go well, but as usual, is far too uninteresting to blog about. This week, Joao, one of our fellow program mates from Portugal, is visiting! It’s great when visitors come to Leam – they provide a welcome distraction from school work.
Doc’s Prescription of the Day: Avoid the strawpedo at all costs. There are reasons why alcohol should not be consumed that quickly.
We started at an event on campus with a free buffet! You know how much I love free food and this didn’t disappoint. The group is Warwick Pride and has events throughout the term – it relates a lot to my thesis interests so I may check out more. They’ve got a stellar library of interesting books (so much to read, so little time). We mingled with the crowd and (like MAIPR) I met interesting students from all over the world. We even managed to purchase a few beers from the student union bar and bring them over to the buffet.
From there we hit the town at a bar in Coventry called Bows. That night they had a singer performing whom apparently is fairly well known here in UK. I can’t remember her name, but she had some really good pipes. It was nice to see some live music again. There is another spot here in Leam called The Clarendon that has live stuff, but we haven’t been recently. The rest of the night was spent chilling out downstairs and then heading upstairs for a bit of a dance. Hinckster and Talia sent a couple of messages from London – it was really nice to hear from them.
So, a strawpedo. Reece introduced the concept and said it was something I just had to do. Basically, all it is is a surefire shortcut to chug a bottle of beer or cider (not necessarily something I’m use to doing anymore). See, the idea behind it is that you place a straw into the bottle and instead of using it, you bend it downwards so air can leave the bottle as you drink. This counteracts the vacuum problem that tends to happen when you chug from a bottle. I’m guessing this strategy originated from a group of bored physics majors. Disclaimer: I’m presenting this information to you not as an endorsement to try it out, but rather as first hand evidence of the types of rituals currently entrancing the youth culture I find myself in. Like an anthropologist in the bush, I’m just reporting the strange and exotic behaviour.
So I strawpedoed one cider and apparently was quite adept at it – I think it’s the Canadian genes. Instead of heading back to Leam (since it was after two and the buses had stopped) we crashed in the living room of one of Reece’s friends. Couch crashing for one night was a nice change of pace. It felt like I was back in undergrad (probably because I was partying with them!) It was great to meet a group of new friends. Coventry is not as pretty as Leam, but we had a great night out.
The last few weekdays have been spent back at the routine. It continues to go well, but as usual, is far too uninteresting to blog about. This week, Joao, one of our fellow program mates from Portugal, is visiting! It’s great when visitors come to Leam – they provide a welcome distraction from school work.
Doc’s Prescription of the Day: Avoid the strawpedo at all costs. There are reasons why alcohol should not be consumed that quickly.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Lotte's Pudding.doc
You know you've been working hard when the highlight of your week is a pudding. To be fair, this wasn't just any pudding. But now I'm getting ahead of myself.
Since Emily left on Tuesday I've returned to the normal routine that brings me a lot of joy. I'm back to the dining table dissertation desk followed by a few hours at the gym in the afternoon. Lately, as process on the dissertation keeps steady, I've also incorporated job searching into the daily routine. My job site bookmarks increase each week - the full court press will be in full effect come mid-November I imagine.
Tuesday evening we went to a play at the Warwick Arts Centre called Deep Cut. It's a piece that explores the strange and unnerving "suicides" at a UK military outlet by four youth in the span of ten years or so. I didn't know much about the issue before the play, but from the outside it seems like there is a coverup going on. The play used some verbatim material in weaving together a portrait of one case in particular. I thought that the various perspectives speaking to one another (parents, journalist, official report, first hand accounts) was an innovative way to tell the story, but that's about all that grabbed me about the play. It was too didactic for my tastes, and my most astute colleagues assured me that the Welsh accents had been butchered. Nevertheless, it was nice to see some theatre again as it had been a while. We went out for a cheeky pint afterwards.
On Wednesday I made only my fifth trip back to campus in six weeks for a MAIPR seminar. There were two very distinguished scholars visiting from the United States as part of the coursework for the new class. Each presented a paper at the seminar and then chatted with us afterwards. It was nice to see a good group gathered again. In particular, Sue-Ellen Case (who Natalie Rewa will be just THRILLED that I chatted with) is one of the leading academics in my field. Her research interests are extremely diverse, but she has an accomplished body of literature about the very things I'm writing about. I chatted with her briefly about my topic and she thought it sounded promising. It was nice to hear from such a distinguished professor. She sent me book references via my supervisor that will help as I go.
In business news I had a major breakthrough with the thesis. Instead of focussing on Canada, the States, and the Netherlands, my supervisor and I decided to focus solely on North America. He was fully supportive of narrowing down. I think it will be a nice way to frame things now as a comparison of two countries that share a border. It's a shame that I won't get to discuss the Netherlands (since I wanted a more diverse study) but with what I've written so far I wouldn't have the space for three nation studies and a chapter of theory. This means I'll arrive at a draft sooner than I thought.
On my way home from the gym on Thursday Lotte called and asked if I wanted to come round for pudding. I knew pudding would probably cancel out my time at the gym, but I didn't care. Translator's note: pudding means cake here in England (so don't picture me eating a bowl of liquified chocolate but rather a delicious cake). We met at the grocery and picked up some supplies. The cake was simple but cleverly chocofied: two large chocolate swiss rolls lathered in nutella and covered with bits of a cookie infused chocolate bar. It was placed in the oven for about ten minutes where it baked into pure joy. Talk about chocolate overload. It was a delicious pudding, and so rich that no one could have another slice. It was the highlight of my weekdays.
Doc's Prescription of the Day: Some pudding - I'll let you interpret that as you will.
Since Emily left on Tuesday I've returned to the normal routine that brings me a lot of joy. I'm back to the dining table dissertation desk followed by a few hours at the gym in the afternoon. Lately, as process on the dissertation keeps steady, I've also incorporated job searching into the daily routine. My job site bookmarks increase each week - the full court press will be in full effect come mid-November I imagine.
Tuesday evening we went to a play at the Warwick Arts Centre called Deep Cut. It's a piece that explores the strange and unnerving "suicides" at a UK military outlet by four youth in the span of ten years or so. I didn't know much about the issue before the play, but from the outside it seems like there is a coverup going on. The play used some verbatim material in weaving together a portrait of one case in particular. I thought that the various perspectives speaking to one another (parents, journalist, official report, first hand accounts) was an innovative way to tell the story, but that's about all that grabbed me about the play. It was too didactic for my tastes, and my most astute colleagues assured me that the Welsh accents had been butchered. Nevertheless, it was nice to see some theatre again as it had been a while. We went out for a cheeky pint afterwards.
On Wednesday I made only my fifth trip back to campus in six weeks for a MAIPR seminar. There were two very distinguished scholars visiting from the United States as part of the coursework for the new class. Each presented a paper at the seminar and then chatted with us afterwards. It was nice to see a good group gathered again. In particular, Sue-Ellen Case (who Natalie Rewa will be just THRILLED that I chatted with) is one of the leading academics in my field. Her research interests are extremely diverse, but she has an accomplished body of literature about the very things I'm writing about. I chatted with her briefly about my topic and she thought it sounded promising. It was nice to hear from such a distinguished professor. She sent me book references via my supervisor that will help as I go.
In business news I had a major breakthrough with the thesis. Instead of focussing on Canada, the States, and the Netherlands, my supervisor and I decided to focus solely on North America. He was fully supportive of narrowing down. I think it will be a nice way to frame things now as a comparison of two countries that share a border. It's a shame that I won't get to discuss the Netherlands (since I wanted a more diverse study) but with what I've written so far I wouldn't have the space for three nation studies and a chapter of theory. This means I'll arrive at a draft sooner than I thought.
On my way home from the gym on Thursday Lotte called and asked if I wanted to come round for pudding. I knew pudding would probably cancel out my time at the gym, but I didn't care. Translator's note: pudding means cake here in England (so don't picture me eating a bowl of liquified chocolate but rather a delicious cake). We met at the grocery and picked up some supplies. The cake was simple but cleverly chocofied: two large chocolate swiss rolls lathered in nutella and covered with bits of a cookie infused chocolate bar. It was placed in the oven for about ten minutes where it baked into pure joy. Talk about chocolate overload. It was a delicious pudding, and so rich that no one could have another slice. It was the highlight of my weekdays.
Doc's Prescription of the Day: Some pudding - I'll let you interpret that as you will.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
