A Lovely Weekend

I had a dinner party on Friday which was very successful then Alison, Sian and Harry turned up on Saturday for the weekend. Alison dropped Sian and Harry off with me and then went to the farm to get Rosie. Charlie was having his birthday party (23 guests from 3 different schools) and it seemed advisable to get Rosie out from under. She and Harry played together. Actually I think it is called parallel play. It's like an old married couple, each doing her own thing but in the same room. They had tea together (I have two highchairs) and then they had a bath. Rosie walks now but Harry is still at the crawling stage. Alison took Rosie home and the three of us crashed in front of X Factor. The girls were glad to see Daniel voted off but I would have liked to lose JLS. On Sunday everyone came to me for lunch. We had Ikea meatballs and they were a great success. I was going to serve them on Friday evening but Rachel said I would be hounded out of the neighbourhood club so I desisted. Everyone left after lunch and I fell asleep. On Monday I finished my second essay so I'm feeling pretty good except when I think about having to start immediately on the next one so that it will be done before I come to LA next month.

The grind goes on

I had my tutorial this afternoon and it was disappointing. Not because she said anything bad. It was just rather flat although I did get a few hints for the next essay which will be useful. The amount of work I am having to do for this course is quite overpowering. I used to hang out in coffee shops and M&S; now I hang out in libraries. I have to keep reminding myself that it's all good and something that I wanted to do. I have a stack of books on bloody Napoleon and his effect on Spain and Austria (next essay subject) which I have to read and turn into a lucid argument. Ha Ha. I have to stop myself from writing things like, "then he took troops to Spain where another 4 or 5 thousand young men died in a muddy field." Maybe I should have done Sociology. Military history sucks. We don't get out of Europe and back into England until February and then it's the Tudors who shed a fair amount of blood. Why can't we study a nice king like Edward II who was a sweet, gay boy. He did die a horrible death at the command of his homophobic mother and her boyfriend but his son had revenge on his behalf.

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water............

It has been almost three weeks since I have updated this. You all know that I am 'back at school'(American)'have started my course'(BR) It is hard work; fortunately, very interesting. I'm reading about Napoleon and the French Revolution. It seems that there were about 39 different countries in need of subduing. Some were no bigger than Oxford and were eventually incorporated into the larger ones but in the meantime, they all have kings and they fight constantly. And I'm supposed to know what they are and who is in charge. My next essay is due in about three weeks and this one counts. I have my first tutorial on Tuesday to talk about the first essay. By Tue evening I will be either very pleased or ready to quit. I will let you know.

Oh dear!!

(this is a copy of my post on the GoalsRUs blog)
I slipped up on Friday evening. I had some people round for a meal and by the time I had cooked it, it just seemed too cruel to deny my self a glass of Sancerre. Strangely enough, that lead to another and another. On the plus side, it was an excellent evening. I'm back on the wagon again. I was looking after Rosie and Adam on Saturday and driving Chloe back and forth to Bicester for her ballet. Had it not been for those tasks, I would have spent a good deal of the day resting up. Rachel had a birthday drinks party for herself last night. Depending on your point of view, it was a great success because the last people didn't leave until 2am. Adam and I went home at 9:30 so we would be able to get up for the Star Wars movie this morning. Now I have to get back to work. I'm going over to have a meal with Nancy tonight and I will drive so there is no chance of my being tempted by a glass of anything.

At the beach

I'm in Brighton and having a relaxing time. Little Harry continues to be the most wonderful baby. I looked after him on Friday so Alison could go to work (he had the week off creche due to a slight illness). You can plan your day with a child like Harry because he is on a schedule. We all went in to town on Saturday, dodging rain showers but, nevertheless, having a good time. I love shopping in Brighton. I found a beautiful chest of drawers for my bedroom. This, after buying some Ikea junk the week before which is considerably cheaper and considerably uglier. Now I have to convince myself that I can afford it given the dodgy financial climate. I'll be happy to hear from anyone who wants to assure me that it is okay to spend 800 pounds instead of 250. Now I'm off back to Oxford to continue reading history. Until I got involved in a British academic course, I thought it was pretentious to say, "I'm reading history." Now I understand it.

H1

Ian Hacking came to town on Saturday to visit his child and grandchildren. I put him up at my house and I cooked a big Sunday lunch for everyone on Sunday. He went off to London to attend a conference on Monday and Tuesday. I went up to meet him yesterday when the conference finished. I arrived just in time for the drinks party and then we had a meal and then I went home. It was an interesting visit. It is the first time I have spent more that about 10 minutes with him in 40years. We did a bit of catching up. He doesn't have any corneas but otherwise he's in good health.

The boys and the kids

Darcy and Joe

I dropped the boys off at Heathrow this morning at 7. We had three excellent days. They took me out for a meal at a nice restaurant on Saturday and Rachel made Sunday lunch for us. She does a killer leg of lamb and it was delicious. Charlie showed D&J his camp in the woods and demonstrated starting a fire with a flint. Darcy captured it and much else on his digital video camera (new toy). On Monday we went to Buckingham Palace. Talk about bling. Everything glittered and shone. The state dining room was quite magnificent. I got tearful because it reminded me of the wonderful dinners I used to go to in Washington. I wouldn't like to live that way but it is great fun to get dressed up and go to a grand dinner every so often. We came back from London at 7pm and went straight to the fish and chip shop for a down-to-earth supper. The boys are off to Africa tomorrow and will doubtless have lots of movies of them snuggling up to gorillas.

Change of Plan

It wasn't just Nancy shooting me down; I had a couple of serious talks with other people who know what I was about to attempt. Also, and more importantly, I was becoming very stressed and anxious about trying to apply to Oxford in less than a month. Ergo, I have decided to change from the one year full time history course to the two year part time course. This will give me a full year to get some history 'under my belt' and to see if I really want to be a serious student for the next umpty dump years. I still start on the 29th but at Rewley House instead of Ruskin. I feel much calmer and I'm looking forward to a visit with Darcy and Joe who are coming to Oxford tomorrow.

Reality

Nancy came for coffee this morning and burst my bubble. I have been fantasizing about applying to Oxford and being accepted. She calmly asked me which Universities I would be putting on my application. Of course, I said, "Oxford". She looked at me like I had lost my mind and said that I had to name four different places and that my chances of being accepted at Oxford are nil to 1%. I know she's right but I didn't like hearing it. I'm going to go ahead anyway. I start my course at Ruskin this week. I have also been accepted to do a foundation course at OUDCE but I will stick with Ruskin because they got to me first and theirs is a one year, full time course. The other one is two years part time. Now I have to start preparing my UCAS application and practising for the HAT (history aptitude test). I shall soldier on and hope for the best.