England!!

Merry Christmas from England!

Well, Merry almost Christmas from England, in any case.

I'm sorry I haven't blogged - at my Uncle's house there is absolutely no cell phone service (not that I'd blog from my phone, Mom!) and there is no wifi service with which I could blog late at night, as I usually do... and during the day I would rather be spending time with my family.

I've just played a series of board games with my little cousin Alistair, who beat me at four out of the five games! And last night, when we played Phase 10, I was stuck on phase 1 for a good four or five rounds. I am beginning to suspect that a great deal of cheating goes on here, as well as in America. It seems that we at least have that much in common! (Duncan won Phase 10 last night, although Jacqueline always gives him a run for his money.)

So far, the weather has stayed rather consistently cold, with temperatures ranging from 25-35 degrees (fahrenheit) and snow through Monday night, though last night it rained a great deal and temperatures for tomorrow and Boxing Day are a little bit warmer (7-9 degrees Celsius, according to the TV.) It's been a lot of tun to play around in the snow (or, at least, watch it fall from my "warm" spot inside.) I've pretty much given up all hope of ever feeling my toes again until I depart England, but for the most part, I'm okay with that.

My Uncle cooks delicious meals every night around 8:30 or 9pm, which is quite late to a college student who is used to feeding herself whenever she is hungry. We've had lamb, pheasant, ham... I may never leave! We tend to sit around the table and talk until eleven or so at night. There is always good conversation, good wine, and a good deal of laughter here.

The first few days I was here, I did a lot of reading (as well as knitting - finishing up those damned socks I started for Tom in June) and hanging around the room off of the kitchen that has a furnace thingy in it. Grandad always keeps it lit and it just throws off massive amounts of heat when it's going.

Last Saturday, I took the train to North Harrow to visit my friend Siobhan. To summarize (and do no justice to) my visit with her, we spent a lot of time in cafes talking about writing. She persuaded me to begin writing a story which I've had sitting in the back of my brain for a good few months now, and I hope that I write it as well as it seems to be in my brain. We went to the pub on Sunday and Tuesday night and I enjoyed my legal-ness with perhaps a few too many drinks, and I met a lot of her friends. I loved staying with her and miss her already!

Tomorrow is Christmas, and my uncle Neil has already started the preparations. He says he doesn't want to spend all tomorrow cooking! I agree with him - I wouldn't either. Jacqueline and Alistair are just beside themselves waiting for it to be Christmas (perhaps because they might have sneaked a peek at a certain present they're getting from their parents. But ssshhh. Don't say I said anything.) and Duncan and I have (reluctantly) given them permission to wake us up in the morning. We've defaulting to our Mother's rule: The first number on the clock must read 8. I expect that they'll come bounding in at about 8:00:01.

Well, I believe that's all for now! I hope you all have a very merry (or, happy, since I'm in England) Christmas and if I don't blog before then, a very happy New Year!

Packing procrastination

In the middle of packing... I get bored and I filmed this vlog.

To Do and To Pack

Two lists up on my mirror right now: To do and To Pack (before going to England)

So far, I've made a small dent in my To Do list. If you want to, click to embiggen and read through the lists... the small print are my little quips to myself. (This is what I did yesterday while I didn't feel like studying...)

Took my exam this morning - think I did well enough. :) Officially on Christmas break now!! Yay!

Le Blog sur Le Decembre

Hey readers. So a few times over the last week I've filmed vlogs and written blogs and then decided not to post them... and that (for some reason) has tricked me into thinking that I've actually kept you informed. As you can tell, this is not the case.

My other excuse is that I have been busy... procrastinating studying for my finals.

Nonono, it's totally legit. Like, on Wednesday night, I went to the All Star dinner for Mom and Mike, who are both All Stars at Whole Foods. They're like the dynamic duo... and, according to the guy who was announcing everyone, the "second most fun couple at Whole Foods".

(Congrats, yall!)

And on Thursday I had to go to the eye doctor's (who wants to see a picture of the back of my eye?


I have two healthy eyes in my head! And okay, who wants to see a really cool picture of my eye?


Thanks, Karynna for the nifty camera trick! She calls it her "vampire eye" trick.)

But also on Thursday I had to go shopping, right? So I went with Pippa (Stepmother extraordinaire) and we found me a nice cream sweater, lacy camy, and my new favorite pants ever to wear to the wedding in England. And then I had dinner with them.

And then Friday... well, Friday I actually studied.

Saturday morning, I took my Chemistry exam, which took me about an hour to complete (I'm a fast test taker) and then I took a nap. But then I went to play a duet with one of the students at my old piano... school, I guess? It went well - we played Ode to Joy. And then after that, I went and babysat Emma, who is just SO CUTE with her little teeth!


And on Sunday, I went to brunch at Maudie's with Mom, Leslie, Duncan, and Mike to celebrate Mom's birthday on Saturday (Happy birthday, Mom!) and then I went shoe shopping at the mall to wear to the wedding in England. I bought black leather boots that are just so comfortable! I never want to take them off.

And today I went and had lunch with my friend Susanne (who has gone off to college in Denver) and that took a while... and here I am now, studying. My last exam is tomorrow, and I'm not too worried. I've been paying attention all semester - I got this. ;)

Tonight is Knit Night. I think I'm going to pick up some yarn for my trip... I need more cotton yarn. (For purposes you all will understand later.)

OH. OH. OH. I almost forgot! Pippa made me the most beautiful and gorgeous curtains! They're amazing and I love them. :D


And look! They make my room glow a pretty turquoise in the mornings.


And that's all for now! Hopefully I will blog again before Wednesday (when I leave for England) but you never know. Until then, ciao!

A blog about nothing in particular

I don't have much to say in this blog, except that my first exam is in nine hours, and I've just finished what I need to get done. (Which, in large part, was damage control on my procrastination efforts of the weekend.)

I want all of my blog readers to venture out to your local bookstore and buy (and read) The Passion, by Jeanette Winterson... because seriously? I think I could read that about six more times tonight and still not tire of it. Do it now, because this blog will still be here when you come back.

Tomorrow, after my English exam (which will feature eight essays in three hours - if my hand drops off, who wants to help me reattach it?) I'm going to go indulge in Kerbey Queso (which is ambrosia from the gods - or something of similar ilk) with my friends and then return to my apartment to bury myself in notes for my Chemistry exam on Saturday morning.

That's all for me tonight! I'm going to go to bed now... and maybe my dreams won't be so weird again that I'll wake up and still remember everything in the morning!

I'm Cleaning! (Ahem, studying)

At the moment, I am totally cleaning my room. Because later today, Pippa and Dad are delivering my curtains! Can't wait! Pictures when that happens....

I thought that while I was procrastinating studying and doing what I am supposed to do I'd share with you my semiannual study plans, as well as a few other pictures.


And look! My scarf! (It is super, super warm! And so worth knitting.)


And look! I made marmalade! (Albeit, it is a little runny. But it's delicious. I know - I've tried it.)

Also in this picture (in the smaller jars) is the orange syrup that is the result of the candied orange peels. I made these last year, and this year they're even better!


I can't help but keep snacking, because these are seriously addicting!

I do need more sugar... because between the orange peels and the marmalade I used two entire bags of it! I am baking cookies sometime today or Tuesday (probably tuesday) because I'm going to a cookie exchange at a friends.

Wonder what I'll be baking? I am thinking gingerbread cookies, but I also kind of want to make yummy peanut butter cookies. Suggestions?

Hodge Podge

Things that have happened in November and so far in December that I haven't blogged about. Because believe it or not, I had a life outside of nanowrimo... just no time to write about it!

1) I got initiated into Alpha Phi Omega. Ceremony and everything. (Sunday, November 22)

2) I played capture the flag on the Capitol lawn with APO. (Saturday, November 7)

3) APO gave me the "Most likely to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days" pledge award at our banquet. (Sunday, November 22) My reponse: "Crap! Now I have to!"

4) I went out to dinner and Dad and Pippa gave me nice presents! A lovely and fancy box for pens as well as some really unusual book ends for my bookshelf! Love you guys! (Thursday, November 19)

5) I went to the midnight showing of New Moon with my friends, and ended up liking the movie a lot more than I had expected. (Thursday, November 19)

6) Tom came and ran the flag with APO at the last home game. He loved it! (Saturday, November 21)

7) And on Monday, since he had no school because of thanksgiving break, he came with me to two of my classes and he really enjoyed himself. He says that college is a lot more interesting than middle school. And then he watched Twilight while I took a nap... Afterwards, we went to see New Moon (he really enjoyed it too, though he enjoyed it for the werewolves and I enjoyed it for... other reasons. Hello, Taylor Lautner's abs!) (Monday, November 23)

8) At a nanowrimo write-in at La Madeline, I made a friend whose name is also Stefanie. (Wednesday, November 25)

9) Today is the last day of classes. (!!!) I am currently (not) studying for a politics test I have in an hour and a half. I needed to write this blog, though... and as soon as it is posted I'll get back to the studying. (Friday, December 4) (My friend Karynna just tweeted: "Dear politics test, you are extremely inconvenient. Dear clouds, make it snow more than 2 flakes. Dear ground, don't melt the more than 2 flakes." Amen, sister.)

10) Today, it is supposed to snow. However, snow is nowhere to be found. It is freaking freezing outside, though. (Friday, December 4)

11) Yesterday, we made ice cream with liquid nitrogen and then made thunder with it too in our chemistry class. (Thursday, December 3)

12) I won Nanowrimo - did you hear? (Sunday, November 29)

13) We marched in the annual Chuy's parade again. Pictures on facebook. Mike made his comeback as The Carrot! (Saturday, November 28)

14) I finished the scarf that never ends! It's lovely - I'm sure I'll show it to yall with a picture sometime. Just in time for this freaking freezing weather, too! (Tuesday, December 1)

15) Did I mention that I joined the Green family in APO and my big is a girl named Lindsey? I can't remember if I did or not... (Sunday, November 1)

Right, I've run out of things to remember. Hope that sums up the last five weeks of my life, nicely!

Now, enough about the past!

The next few weeks are filled with final exams, the studying that goes along with said final exams, and a whole lot of sleeping. I'll post my finals to-do list again, though maybe in a bit of a different format this time.

On the sixteenth (I don't believe I've mentioned this yet?) I'm off to England to spend Christmas with the family across the pond, hang out in London for a week with Siobhan, and go to cousin Marcus' wedding! But at the moment I can't even think that far ahead with the beast that is final exams looming in my immediate future.

Right... I have to go back to studying for that test now!