Sadly, our red umbrella finely bit the dust this morning after two and a half years of faithful service, due to heavy rain and winds. There will be a memorial service for the remains of the umbrella this weekend, Sunday at 4pm. This event will be held in our living room. You are cordially invited to attend. The remains of the umbrella will be laid to rest in the bin in Ashley’s office, today, 20th January.
First I shall ask you to try and name that above quotation? (I’ll give a clue: it’s from a relatively recent movie with some great actors in it). 
In list form here are a few things about us as of late:
1. I shall be published! An essay I presented at a conference this summer is going to be published. This is exciting and although my advisor says encouragingly, “an illustrious career beckons…”, I’m not so sure it’ll be illustruous. But it shall be a career of some sort.
2. I’ve decided after to-ing and fro-ing quite a lot, that I like the academic life. Of course getting one’s first real publication helps. But additionally, tutorials went very well today. I think the students are really feeling more comfortable with me and we had a lot of laughs. Other things that went well are that I helped a number of students individually with their essay-writing and close reading: two things I really enjoy.
3. I had a lovely lunch date with Neyir and we chatted about loads of future possibilities, which is always fun to discuss.
4. Bryce is regularly making dinner and after being out of practice on that front for quite a while, he’s jumped in well! Dinner has been yummy each night. Well done!
5. My head is clear. After being home just over a week we’ve nixed the sleeping pills and although we’ve either not been able to fall instantly asleep or sleep all through the night, I can think clearly all through the day!
6. My friends here think I’m tan after being in California. Now that’s funny.
Now, I also have a mission!
De-lurking.
If you tend to read this blog now and then, or compulsively, and we have no clue that you’re reading because you rarely, or never, comment. I’m inviting you to make your presence known. Take off that mask!
Good day all.
… cuz I can’t think once I’ve gone on vacation mode
1. I got to drive today — and on the freeway! I haven’t driven a car for a year. It was fun to drive and yet, I don’t really miss it. This brings me to …
2. California drivers are awful, full stop.
3. Our CA king bed is heaven.
4. Things here are so convenience-heavy, I don’t know what to do. All of the fancy dancy kitchen gadgets we have (and that are stored away in my parents’ garage) seem silly and utterly superfluous…however, I’m still glad we have them.
5. It’s hard not to get sucked into one’s past when you inhabit past spaces.
6. I had a great time with my cousin, aunt, grandma and parents at my cousin’s high school choir concert and appetizers afterwards at the Yard House. Best line: “I feel like I’ve gone through the rabbit hole” — Nana upon being affronted with the noise and technological savviness of the Yard House.
7. I’ve done remarkably better than I thought being away from Bryce for 3 days.
8. I think I become (somewhat of) a different person when I’m on vacation or at home — this I think is due to: not much responsibility (and therefore less stress), getting to eat meat, getting to drink wine with dinner, and sunlight.
9. I have a pile of books on my nightstand to read, but I think they might just stay there for most of our 3 weeks here. It’s glorious to just be with *people* (rather than only with books).
10. Still haven’t succumbed to the tele.
With very little (to no) sleep, exams, deadlines and generally too much to do, we’re just trying not to go crazy and to eat three meals a day and keep the flat somewhat clean. Ashley is (as always) making compulsive lists of things to do that she keeps in pockets, purses and on her desk in her office and Bryce is getting his requisite sweet and salty snacks galore into the wee hours of the morning as he studies. Regular more thoughtful posts will come probably once we’re both on the other side of the Pond. Please pray for our safety as we fly (separately) home; I don’t relish the thought of a transatlantic flight all by my lonesome (here’s where my girly self appears). The end.
1. Getting to go home for Christmas! (This means I get to sleep in our *huge* bed, get to keep the lights and heat on, go barefoot, see the sunshine, my mom will cook for us and Bryce doesn’t have to do the dishes!)
2. Relaxing for once and not doing any work.
3. The German Christmas market in Edinburgh.
4. The Christmas lights up all over the city; the wheel’s pretty cool too.
5. The ice skating rink in Princes Street Gardens; one of these days we’re going to have to go.
6. Getting my dad to give me a nice back rub when we go home.
7. Christmas lights up in the flat.
8. Baking things with cinnamon and nutmeg in them.
9. On a more serious note, celebrating Advent.
10. Marvelling at the mystery of the incarnation.
11. New Year’s parties with good friends
12. Getting clothes in after-Christmas sales and paying in American dollars (not pounds!).
So there are my mostly superficial things I love about December. Feel free to add your own. (Okay, I’ll stop procrastinating now and get to writing my PhD chapter!)
As some of you know Neyir and I have taken the plunge and slapped down our 40 quid to get all the haircutting and colouring that we want at a local Higher Education college (read: beauty college). It was slightly scary at first being that to get one’s hair coloured a skin test is required each time and that we are the only people under about 78 who go to the college for hair treatments. Neyir seems to always get the chatty ones while I get the shy hairdressers. I haven’t even had to tell anyone yet about my husband training to be a minister (which is usually quite a conversation stopper). Then again, maybe I’m just shy. Somehow chatting with your hairdresser (and when this person changes every time you get your hair cut) just isn’t on the top of my list for fun activities. Beyond the general civilities, I’m not sure what to say. How does one work on one’s small talk skills?
I think this may be one reason why Bryce’s hair is long and yet still standing upright — as a means to avoid the difficult hairdresser small talk.
In other news, it’s cold and windy. I’m thankful I did get my hair cut last week (it’s at the shortest it’s been ever I think) because the day after I did, winds upwards of 25 mph were swirling my hair around like I was being tossed around in the dryer. And I’ve decided that having short hair or long-enough-to-pull-back hair is the only way to make it out alive in this Edinburgh wind tunnel. I’ve been super busy with reading for tutorials, reading for my PhD, and reading for my research job.
A post to come on intentional living, Derrida and Thoreau — it’ll probably find a home on Intellectuelle within the week.
Check out how good your UK/US terminology is here. I think I knew most of them, which is good considering we’ve been here more than 2 years.
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I just finished making a nearly vegan chocolate cake and it was super fabulous. This was attempt #2. Attempt #1 involved me not having maple syrup (and so I added sugar and water and it was awfully hard and bad); additionally, the recipe for attempted cake #1 called for brown rice, and this should’ve tipped me off that it wasn’t going to be good. So I threw it away and baked this. Bryce loved it and being quite anti-vegetarian, this is quite a feat. I imagine you could substitute brown rice syrup for the sugar and maybe some applesauce as well.
Finally got a few pictures up from our trip to Skye as well as ones from our party on Saturday night here. Sadly the pics of Amanda’s rocking’ pirate outfit didn’t come out due to my incredibly poor photography skills.
I just found a blog entitled The Vocabulary Reclamation Project. Go over and have a look around. This is the sort of fun I really enjoy; I know, I’m a dork. But on the flip side, I do think that we have a responsibility to care for the word(s) and this may be one way to do just that.
HT: little cabbages
I’m sick. Yesterday I think I tried to be healthy again and so my nose is extra-stuffed-up today. Somehow I think that having 2 tutorials, walking all over town in high-heeled boots and doing Bollywood dancing in an Indian restaurant with Neyir doesn’t qualify me for the “sick” category. Thus I’m still sick and not getting too much better. Maybe I’ll sleep in on Friday. However being that I’m sick my dear husband insisted I take the bus today from our flat to church, to the Uni and back home, which is very sweet and saves me a number of walking hours.
The tutorials were 100% better than last week. First off, people showed up! AND, they talked! It was really nice being unwell actually as I didn’t care overly much how “successful” the tutorials were and they all carried the talking load well. It didn’t take up too much of my time for prep either.
Bryce has turned in his 2nd essay already of the term. He’s now working on his third, due Tuesday. Please pray for him; he’s starting to get run down and exhausted, physically etc.
Our flat is a mess. Like super messy. Life is a bit crazy but we’re off to the Isle of Skye next weekend for a break! (Bryce is preaching). Okay, that’s it for a few days in the life of yours truly.