My Academic Career

I have spent the last month thinking hard about whether to continue with the history course or call it a day. Today, I called it a day. I got my last essay back on Saturday and I had a slightly better grade than the first one but not good enough to make me want to go on. The real problem is that I'm not enjoying the course at all, I'm rubbish at essays, and I never seem to be able to do enough reading to feel comfortable. I was going to stick it out until the end of this term but I knew I would definitely leave then so I couldn't see any point in going on. I feel a great sense of relief but I'm glad I tried it because I would never have known that it's not me if I hadn't had a go.

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.

Party

I have just had my Oxford Christmas drinks party and it was a great success. Everyone came and they had a great time. and so did I which is what really matters. Tomorrow I clean up and then go down to the farm to spend the evening and night with the Gee's. We will watch the X factor final and I will get up early to go to the bus to go to Heathrow for the flight to America. I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel and Jane and families and also Darcy and Joe who are my mainstays. I will also see Malcolm but given our recent interactions that might be tricky. I will see and report.

This is the lattice fence as mentioned below.

A lousy week

I'm now at the end of the week I was writing about in the last post. Well, things only got worse. My cold carried on for a few more days. I had to leave the class on Monday evening half way through. Then on Tuesday I found out that Malcolm is bringing his girlfriend to England in January to meet his daughters and their families. I know I shouldn't mind but I do. They are coming on the weekend that I was planning a family get together to celebrate a late Christmas since I will be away during Christmas proper. So typical. Then, to top things off, I got my first graded essay back yesterday and I got a C. I'm so disappointed. I was hoping for a B so that I could feel good about this new endeavour of mine. I'll have the tutorial to talk about it on Monday and that should be helpful. I've been finding the course extremely difficult and this grade certainly proves it. I'm sitting here in a real funk. I've lost my husband and it looks as though I'm not going to be able to replace him with academics.

OK - enough moaning. The bright side is that I am having a party on Friday for my neighbours and close friends and I'm leaving for LA tomorrow week where I will have another party and see my American friends and family. I'll also be seeing Darcy and Joe which is a real treat. Another positive thing is that my garden is coming along beautifully. I've hired a wonderful person called Judith who lives nearby. She is an actress but she does gardens on the side, actressing being an iffy occupation. I'm very lucky to have found her because her taste in, and approach to gardens is exactly like mine. I've been trying for thirty years or more to have a proper English garden and now I will. At the moment it doesn't look like much because it is middle of winter but I have had a lattice fence put in and I will find picture of it to post.

Cold, wet and dreary

The title describes the weather, not me. It has been hovering around 0 (that's centigrade). I have a v. bad fluey cold which has kept me indoor for the past three days. The upside of that is that I have not ignored my essay, the title of which is: "How successful were Marxist Socialists in winning support amongst the European working classes". It is not due until 12 Jan but I want to have it mostly done before I go away for Christmas. I started Christmas shopping yesterday from the comfort of my chair in front of the computer. I think everyone should have a wish list on Amazon. It makes life so much easier. The tree men are here removing some branches from the huge trees in my back garden. It will give me more light for growing things.

I'm going to the Mall. Can I borrow your credit card? I'll take good care of it.