Visit to Brighton

I went to Brighton on Wednesday, partly to help Alison & Sian with a little bit of babysitting and partly to cheer myself up. I've been down in the dumps lately and I needed a boost. There is nothing like a smiling Harry to bring out the best in anyone. That boy was born to smile and I love him. Alison usually has Thursday off but this week she had two hours of meetings so I kept the Fox and had a lovely time. See below




Alison was giving a lecture on Friday and she invited me to come. Of course I took her up on it. It was surreal. I sat at the back of the class and kept my mouth shut but I kept wanting to ask what was the little girl doing in front of a class of 3rd year psychology students. She has come a long way in 30 years and it was an excellent lecture. Having been to a few lately, I'm a good judge. Afterward, we got Harry from the creche and met Sian and John and Pat and went out for a bevvy.

Backing Up

I was doing an ego blog search (looking at one's own blog) and discovered that I had forgotten to tell about my trip to California. I was there for three weeks and had a lovely time. I'm posting a couple of pictures of Olivia to exemplify her gorgeousness. Unfortunately I took very few pictures but here are two of them.





I spent some of my time staying with Darcy and Joe and the rest with Daniel and Michelle and Olivia. I also saw Malcolm a couple of times. It rained a few of the days that I was there but mostly it was California sunshine which was much appreciated by me. I would like a bit of it today.

I'm home

I got back on Monday afternoon in time to have a short nap before my class. I had forgotten how boring this class is. I don't think I am cut out to be a historian. I'm giving it till the end of this term before I make a final decision.

It is wonderful to be home again in spite of the cold. I got up yesterday morning to find that the central heating had stopped working and the temperature outside was about 28F or -3C. The plumber came round and diagnosed a frozen pipe. He got out his trusty blowtorch and fixed the problem in about 5 minutes. I'm plugging away at my essay and have it about 2/3 finished. I have to finish up tomorrow because I am busy on Saturday - I'm meeting Malcolm's girlfriend who is coming to Oxford with him!!! This should be worthy of at least a short story. I will report next week. I'm doing a photography course on Sunday (flowers at Waterperry nursery) and the essay is due on Monday. I should have some pictures next time.

COMING HOME

Tomorrow is flying home day. I've been away three weeks and I'm more than ready to get back to my own house and especially my own bed. I would like to come up from Heathrow and sleep for about 12 hours but, unfortunately, I have a class that evening. It's the first one of the term so I can't miss it. I kidded myself that I would have my essay finished by the time I returned. Ha Ha. I did a little bit of work with emphasis on the little. One good thing - Jane gave me a lesson in essay writing when I was in SLC and I know it is going to stand me in good stead. Once again I say that I will do some writing on the plane!! At least this time I plan to have my computer with me so there will be less excuse.