Consider The Day Seized

Dashing Throught the Snow!

2009-12-24T16:55:00.011Z

Dashing through the snow,
In a 2 horse open sleigh.
Or the fields we go, laughing all the way. (Ha! Ha! Ha!)
Bells on bobtails ring,
Making spirits bright.
What fun it is to ride and sing this sleighing song to night!

Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!
Jingle All the Way!
Oh, What Fun It Is to Ride
In a 2 Horse Open Sleigh, Hey!
Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!
Jingle All the Way!
Oh, What Fun It Is to Ride
In a 2 Horse Open Sleigh!

A day or two ago,
My mother booked a ride.
And so we set right out,
My parents by my side.
With friends we rode along,
Across the fields of snow.
Hiding in a groves of trees we saw a little doe!

Santa's Been Delayed

2009-12-23T16:31:00.004Z

Got sent this photo from my Dad. I was actually sitting in the room when he opened it, and he laughed so hard he couldn't breathe. It's great.

What I wondered, though, is . . . what do you tell your kids? Are they going to end up with nightmares about Santa crashing into an airplane? Will they worry that they won't get their pressies because he's a red smear across the nose of a plane? And . . . what about the reindeer? And, wouldn't smashing into Santa bring the plane down?!? At the very least, it'd put you on the naughty list for the rest of your life!

Driving Home For Christmas

2009-12-17T23:21:00.000Z

One might well ask, 'How is it possible to drive from England to the Untied States? There's that pesky little bit of water in between.'

The answer, of course, would be, 'Start in Canada.'

Yes. Canada. Why Canada? Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Rather than going to Georgia or Texas and then up, I went from London to Calgary, Alberta. I was [i]supposed[/i] to connect to Denver and then to Billings (yes, I know. It's ridiculous.) However, we were an hour late leaving Heathrow, and then we had to circle the airport for half an hour before we could land. I'd nearly missed my connection before I even left the plane! I got through Canadian customs very fast (I ran to be at the front of the queue) but then got stuck waiting for 30 minutes for them to decide to deplane our luggage. Finally got that, walked over to the connecting area, and they said, 'Your plane is gone. You'll have to rebook.' Nice. That was the last plane Stateside for the rest of the day. After quite a long discussion with the airline personnel, we came to the conclusion that they couldn't actually get me to the US for 48 hours. Uh huh. 2 days. Ummm... it's only an 8 hour drive!!!! So, we decided (the reservation woman and I) that it would make most sense for me to cancel the rest of my flight, and drive to Billings. So, I canceled my remaining flight (and got a refund). [color=red]NOTE! DO NOT DO THAT UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE DEFINITELY FOR SURE GOT ALTERNATE BOOKED!!!![/color] Then I went over to the car rental desks and tried (note the word TRIED) to get a car. Umm, turns out you can't rent a car in Canada and return it to the US. Or, you can but it's very difficult and quite expensive. So, there I am, in a foreign country, no way out, jetlagging major time. I didn't actually burst into tears, but it was an effort. I called my folks (again) and just as I was starting to tell my mom the full situation, the manager of National Car Rental comes up and said, 'You'll never believe this. We've [i]just[/i] had a US car returned, and we need to get it back across the border. I can give it to you for 1/2 the price of a domestic, turn up on the day rental. That's $150 plus tax.' (Canadian dollars.) Umm... YES! I'll take that! :D So, I drove out of Calgary last night.

Stayed the night in a tiny little . . . I hesitate to say town . . . just north of the Canadian/US border. It was that small. It was a hotel over a bar. The room had a bed, a light, and a sink. That was it. (Everything was very clean, just very spartan.) Smelled faintly of smoke. Didn't care. It was 10.45 pm local (6.45 am London!) and I was tired. Very tired. I was asleep before 11. But, by 5.00 in the morning, the random plink-plink noises the radiator was making got to be too much for me. I got up and hit the road.

And then, the border crossing. For the second time this year I've managed to confuse a US Customs Officer on the US/Canadian border. Last time it was because my answer to 'Purpose for visiting Canada' was 'To get a haircut.' This time it was 'Driving from England to the US.' Ok, so what I actually said was 'In transit from England to the US.' But, I got an equally blank look. (The answer to the previous question - How long were you in Canada? - was, 'Over night.') So, then I had to explain why I was now driving, instead of flying to Montana. Eventually he gave up trying to understand and just sent me on my way. It was funny.

Finally, I got to Billings a little before noon today. Yeay!! I'm home!! We immediately drove up to the airport to return the car, then stopped off at WalMart for necessary supplies (DIET COKE!!!!), and now we're back.

I'm tired!!!!!

Thank You, Vandals!

2009-12-14T12:05:00.002Z

Today is my last day of teaching for the term. Every Monday I've been heading into London to teach my Language in the USA class at Queen Mary University of London. And I turned up at the train station this morning to catch my train in, only to discover that vandals had stolen the signal box (or something to that effect) up in Wittham, so trains into London were cancelled. All of them. For the whole day. In other words, I ain't gettin into London today! Which, of course, means my class is cancelled. So, I rang the office and told them that I needed someone to put a note on the door and email the students to try and let everyone know. Exciting way to end the term!

A Little TOO Much Excitement!

2009-12-13T00:20:00.004Z

This last Monday I came home a bit early from London, intending to get to bed before midnight. Normally on a Monday night I don't get in til gone midnight, so getting home at quarter past 11 was quite good. Unfortunately, the gods were against me. I live on the corner of a street (more or less, it's kind of complicated, because the actual street I'm on is a close, and it's really more of an extended drive than a street. I'm ignoring that for the moment, so you'll have to just sort of go with it). The street my house is on (for the purposes of this essay) comes to a T-Junction, just a couple doors down from me. So, I'm driving up the cross-road (the top of the T) on my way to my road from the Station. At the T, I turn right, onto my road. Up ahead, opposite and a couple houses down from my house, I see an orange glow. And then some sparks. And the top of a flame. And then . . . it blossoms. An enormous housefire. I quickly parked the car and ran up the road to see if anyone had called it in. Someone had, and in fact, the fire brigade was just arriving. We ended up with 6 trucks out there, and they stayed til after 11.00 the next morning. And then came back at 2.00 in the afternoon!

The Fire Photos:

Due to the location (next to an Electrical Relay Station and a Gas Mains) we were unsure if we were going to be evacuated or not, so it seemed a bit pointless to go off to bed if they were just going to come knocking at our door to send us off somewhere! And anyway, who'd want to miss the excitement?

I ended up meeting all these neighbours I didn't know. I only knew the 5 families on my close, and the people I share a back fence with, so there were a lot of unknown neighbours there. Was really quite nice to meet all these lovely people. In fact, I've been bumping into them all week at the Co-Op and the Local (Pub). One of them, Jean, said to me, 'I don't see you for 2 years, and all the sudden, you're around every corner!'

So, it was well after 2 in the morning when I finally got off to bed. Fortunately I didn't have to be up crazy early on Tuesday. However, what I didn't know was there'd been a power cut. Daylight, though, not such a big deal. Except. Except. Except that it's Winter! And winter means Cold! And no electricity means no HEAT! We eventually did get electric back. It wasn't til sometime in the late afternoon, though!

I went round to the house and the owners let me take a bunch of photos. I'd met them the night before. What was tragic about the fire (apart from the fire part, of course!) was that it was the original house to the area. Fortunately the owners had not been living in the house. But, it was sad to see such a piece of Colchester history destroyed. The land has had a house on it since the end of the 13th Century (1200s), and this house since the middle of the 14th Century, with additional bits being added on in the middle of the 17th Century. This whole area was once owned by the author Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe), and his daughter lived in this house.

Here's what it looked like in the cold (wet) light of day:

T Minus 10

2009-12-06T19:32:00.002Z

I'm heading to my folks' house in 10 days!! But who's counting? Oh...right, me. And my mom. Possibly my dad, too. It's been a really rough term, and every day's been a bit 'just get through today'. Well, this next week looks like it's going to continue in much the same way. I'm going to be working like a mad woman all week just to keep my head above water. As many of you know, I'm a big holiday decoration fan. I always have up my Christmas Tree (usually sometime in November!) and garlands over the windows and down the banister. A wreath on the door. Yummy smellies throughout the house. Not this year. I didn't even dig out the wreath for the door. Yep, that's how pushed for time I've been.

And speaking of time . . . I'm out. Gotta get back to work.

The 6 Month Curse

2009-11-30T16:49:00.003Z

I moved to this Ward (church congregation) in September 2006. I got called as the Young Single Adult Sunday School Teacher. 6 months later, I got called as the Primary Song Co-Ordinator (but not released from Sunday School). 6 months after that, released from both Primary and Sunday School, called as Ward Missionary. 6 months after that, released as Ward Missionary, called as 1st Counsellor in the Young Womens. 2 weeks later additional calling as Ward Music Co-Ordinator (Seriously, what's up with the music callings?!? I'm not particularly musically talented, though I enjoy it.) 6 months later (well, ok, 8 months), released from Young Womens (but not Music). Moved to USA for 6 months. Called there to be Humanitarian Co-Chair. Released from that. Moved back to England. Released from Music. Called to be 2nd Counselor in Relief Society Presidency. (Which also means I've now served in every axillary of the church that I'm eligible for, within this one ward!)

It's now nearly 6 months later.
I'm thinking, I'm the 2n Counselor in the RS.
They don't change those positions very often.
I'm safe.

Tuesday, 23rd November.
My phone rings.
'Sister Beck?'
'Yes?'
'This is the Stake Executive Secretary.'
(Stake is Regional Church Organisation. 8-12 Wards make up a Stake.)
*Gulp*
'Yes?'
'The Stake President would like to see you. Tonight. Can you come in?'
*Gulp* 'Yes, sure.' *Gulp*
'Great, 8.00 alright? Sorry about the late notice.'
Who are you kidding?!? THANK you for the late notice. Now I only have one day to sit around wondering why the Stake President wants to see me.

8.00 rolls around. I'm up at the Church, waiting outside the classroom that President is dong interviews in. He's running a few minutes behind. Everyone and their dog is at the chapel. 'Hi Adele. What are you doing here? In to see the Bishop?' 'No, Stake President.' 'Oh, Temple Recommend?' 'Mmmm.....' I leave it trailing off. I'm not really sure how to answer that question. (We're not really supposed to say anything about new callings til the official word is given, in Sacrament meeting on a Sunday.) I finally get to escape into the interview. (Who knew going into an interview would ever be an escape?!?)

'Sister Beck, we'd like to extend to you the call of Stake Relief Society Secretary.'
Umm.... Come again? It must have been interference from my racing heart, but I could have sworn you said Stake Relief Society Secretary. Oh. You did. I see. Umm.... You do know I'm dyslexic, right? You don't care? Oh. Ok. Umm.... Righty then. 'Ok.'

So, now I'm the Stake Relief Society Secretary. Seriously. When I called my family, they laughed at me. Thanks for the support! I'm looking forward to it, but have NO IDEA what a Secretary is supposed to do. Guess I'll be finding out, won't I? Someone up there is having a laugh, that's all I can say.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T16:59:00.005Z

I truly love Thanksgiving. Partly it's the food. Who wouldn't enjoy a holiday where the main component is eating?!? Other holidays include food (4th of July Picnics, Easter Dinner, Christmas Dinner . . . ) but Thanksgiving is food. However, as much fun as eating all that luscious bounty is, I love more than just that. I actually enjoy the whole week. You start the preparations ages before hand.

Here in England I get to cheat a bit. Since there's no competition for the food at the supermarket, I can do my shop on the Wednesday, which means everything's nice and fresh. (I always try and get a fresh turkey from the Butcher, rather than a frozen one, so I don't have to worry about defrosting. But even on a year when I get it frozen, that's still the only thing I get ahead of time. (*Edit* This year's was horrible! There were simply no juices to use to baste. Not impressed. It wasn't dry, but it wasn't up to my usual standards, either.) In any case, the preparations start at least the day before.

Making the Desserts. This year I went with apple pie and brownies with this yummy (and very easy) moose. It's been ages since I made pie, though, so I was a bit worried about the crust. Had a bit of left overs, which I made into a quiche for dinner. Wow. I needn't have worried. Flaky, buttery and soft. :-)

Oh the lovely smells! One of the best bits about Thanksgiving is all the delightful smells. Many times I enjoy that part more than actually eating anything. Oh so yummy. And none of the drawbacks to actually eating it!

Family. I've been known to be terribly homesick for the whole week of Thanksgiving. It's one of the days that I most wish I were with them. Probably mostly because I know they're all together laughing and having fun without me! I've never liked being out of the loop. Fortunately, we've come up with a few creative solutions. The best bit is Clever Endeavour. That's a board game we've had since I was a teenager. Clues are read out and you have to figure out what the object is. You get more points for getting it sooner, but if you guess wrong, you lose points. Points move you forward (or backwards!) along the board. But the game is really all audible, not visible or activity based. So, I can guess, too! So, we always play that or Double Talk (similar idea, but based on Puns). It's great fun, and one of my favourite traditions.

Friends. Since I can't be with my family, I choose to be with my friends. I invite people I love to come share my Thanksgiving Dinner. I choose different people every year (although there have been a few overlaps!) so that as many people as possible get to find out what Thanksgiving means. This year I had 6 guests, only 2 of whom were Americans.

That's what I love about Thanksgiving (apart from eating the food, which obviously is part of the list). So wonderful. A day dedicated to feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Love it!

Essay Marking Blues

2009-11-22T19:45:00.002Z

I collected the midterm essays on Monday. If that isn't depressing enough to make someone sing the blues, I don't know what is! I've finally realised the reason I got such good marks as an undergraduate. It had nothing to do with how well I understood the material, and everything to do with the grasp of punctuation usage! The prof was so pleased that s/he could follow the sentence from one end to another that s/he didn't actually care about the content. And I'm not even talking about complicated things like semi-colons and hyphens. I'm talking mastery of the full stop! Don't get me started on comma usage. *shudder* Would you believe that in this set I've actually had a submission which ends nearly every paragraph with . . . ? Yeah! No lie. Talk about a Dot, Dot, Don't.

I'm reminded of these comics from PhD Comics:

Fortunately, there was a remedy for my soul's anguish this week. Saturday was Down Home Blues night over in London. It's my favourite dance night in the month, and not just because I'm a Blues Junkie. It's awfully nice of them to put the venue across the street (literally) from the train station I arrive at! It's awfully nice not to have to travel the hour into London, and then an hour across London! Terribly decent of them to cater to my needs thus.

Peeeeeeeeka-Boo!

2009-11-18T01:59:00.002Z

Found this video on Cute Overload. It's an African Ringneck (probably Blue Mutation) talking to his new 'friend', the stuffed bunny. It's really funny, especially if you like birds, which my family does.

So You Think You Can Jump?

2009-11-14T15:57:00.004Z

Thanks to KellieBean for this link....

You've never seen jump rope like this. Seriously. Amazing.

Crazy Busy , Yet Nothing To Report

2009-11-13T19:25:00.004Z

How is it possible that I can be quite so insanely busy, yet have nothing interesting going on? I've fallen into a routine of PhDing, Christmas Present Creating, Church Duties, Teaching and Dancing. This week I didn't do either the Teaching or the Dancing, because Queen Marys is on Reading Week, and the Dance Class was canceled (room unavailable). If you're interested in the Christmas Present Creating, head on over to the ScrapBlog. For the Church Duties, I'm now responsible for running the Relief Society (our Women's Organisation) Blog, plus I'm frantically getting ready for the monthly activity next Wednesday. It's Christmas Crafts, so I've been running around making sure everyone who's doing a class is sorted, plus getting my supplies for the class I'm teaching all ready. PhDing is same as always. Working away. Every day. Pretty boring to watch. I appear to just be staring at a sheet of paper. Every so often I'll switch to a different sheet of paper. And if you're really lucky, I'll start typing! *phew* Such excitement. *Fanning face after such exertion*

So, that's my week!

Remember

2009-11-08T21:07:00.003Z

I'm not sure what it is about November that sparks the British Memory. You've got 'Remember Remember the 5th of November', and then, the next week you've got Remembrance Sunday, followed, of course, by Armistice Day on the 11th of November (the end of WWI was officially declared and the peace treaty signed in the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). In any case, today's Remembrance Sunday, roughly equivalent to the American Memorial Day.

During the end of October and up through the 11th of November, Britain is awash with poppies. The 'Poppy Appeal' raises money for the families of service men/women who've died in the line of duty. It was lovely to see so many poppies at church today.

So, to you who serve: Thank you. You put your lives on the line. You protect us. You put everyone in your country over your own needs. That's an incredible act of love. I pray for your continued safety every day.

To you who send your husbands/wives and sons/daughters off: Thank you. You parents have taught your children selflessness. Something that's in an increasingly short supply. You spouses give these men/women the support they need at home to be able to do these dangerous jobs. You're equally deserving of our gratitude. You are also in my prayers.

To you who've lost friends and loved ones: Thank you. I grieve for your loss, but I celebrate the cause. They have not sacrificed for nothing.

As most of you know, I'm a religious person. I very firmly believe that those who have offered the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf are taken into God's arms.

"Greater love hat no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13.

Guy Fawkes Night

2009-11-05T18:36:00.005Z

You gotta love the Brits! They don't have our 4th of July excuse to blow things up, so they came up with their own. It's called 'Guy Fawkes Night', or Bonfire Night. It celebrates the day that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled back in 1605. Guy Fawkes was supposed to have been the lead Catholic conspirator to blow up the Protestant Parliament and King (James I). So, every year on the 5th of November, they have bonfires and burn a Guy in effigy. Yep. Really. Oh, and they set off a load of fireworks, too.

So . . .

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent

To blow up the King and Parli'ment.

Three-score barrels of powder below

To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'd (or by God's mercy*)

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. (Holla*)

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

And what should we do with him? Burn him!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T00:27:00.003Z

Hope everyone's having much more fun this holiday today than I. Nothing exciting planned. England doesn't really 'do' Halloween. I don't even have a costume. :'( Too much else going on in my life to try and plan a Halloween party. Anyway, enjoy! Hope you have a fabulous, slightly spooky day.

Baking Day

2009-10-29T00:36:00.004Z

One of my very dearest friends in the entire world came to visit me this weekend! Jill lives up North, near Sheffield, where I used to live. We were in the same Ward (church congregation), which is how we met. She had to come down to London for a lecture (to do with her MA). Now, the trains are funny in this country. They stop running at very odd times. In this case, trains stop running from London to Sheffield around 7.00pm. That's a bit early, if you ask me, but they didn't. However, it meant that Jill couldn't get home on the Friday night, because the lecture didn't get out til after 8. Because I live just on the inside of the London commuter zone, trains run to Colchester til nearly 1.00am! So, she came to stay with me. Yeay! Friday evening we just sat and chatted. We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, but we've got one of those easy friendships that you can pick up again at any point, and it's like you've never been apart. Saturday, when we got up, it was raining. Rainy days, to me, are Baking Days. Cakes and cookies turn out much better when the air's humid. So, we dug out all sorts of ingredients and made: brownies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and baked bean/cheddar grilled sandwiches (for lunch). I know, the sandwiches sound odd. But they're really amazing! It's something she and I concocted together several years ago one day when I was round her house. They're really yummy, and perfect for a rainy day! It was awesome to see Jill. I really hated to drop her off at the station to go home in the afternoon. I miss hanging out with her every week.

My Scrap Life

2009-10-26T17:20:00.002Z

I've got a new Blog. Don't worry, I'm not discontinuing this one. I'm just branching out. I also figured I'd try out a new Blog Writer, so it's over on Wordpress. We'll see how I like it.... Figured, it's good to learn new skills. It's a ScrapBlog, though. It's dedicated to my Scrapbooking Habit. If you want to see what I do with my photos after I take them, that's the place to visit!

Mud Puddle Mayhem

2009-10-24T20:15:00.004+01:00

Just got sent this video. Not mine (though I'd loved to have seen in in person!), but I had to share it with everyone! It's so cute :) And proves that the allure of mud puddles spans the species gap. (Elk Calf)

Finally Getting Better

2009-10-24T11:17:00.004+01:00

I've been fighting this horrible sinus infection since June. I'll start to get better, then come back down with it. It's been so frustrating! Well, this week I went (back) to the doctor (again), and she's now got me on an even stronger antibiotic, and in addition she's given me a steroid nasal spray. I'm not a huge fan of taking medicine . . . as in, I'd rather use peroxide to kill off the buggies, because they won't develop immunity to that! However, there comes a point when you've just got to get well. 24 hours after starting the new regime, I felt worlds better. I hadn't realised how poorly I'd felt! And I'm still not at 100%! Rather shocked me how far away from 'well' I'd been. But, I'm finally on the road to recovery, I think, touch wood. Let's just hope I can stay healthy for a while.

Gravity's Pull

2009-10-18T16:47:00.002+01:00

Contrary to everything you've ever been taught in physics class, gravity's strongest pull does not actually emanate from the object with greatest mass. Going down in elevation does not increase the pull of gravity on your body. Gravity actually pulls towards your mattress. And it's very difficult to escape its gravity field! It keeps pulling me back down.

When Ooops Doesn't Cover It

2009-10-15T23:32:00.006+01:00

I think my Grandmother's least favourite word in the English Language was 'Ooops'. I remember as a teenager helping to redo her kitchen, and my Dad told my cousin to say 'oops,' so he did. And Grandma (in the other room) says, 'What?!?' It's one of those moments I'll never forget.

Anyway, I had an 'Ooops' moment today. Except, I'm not sure that 'oooops' quite covers it. I'd made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and had put the cookie sheet into the sink to soak. I plugged the drain, and turned on the water, and made my mistake: left the room. I was sitting down working on my computer when all the sudden I realised I'd been hearing the sound of water, falling water, and loads of it. I jumped up and ran into the kitchen to turn off the water and assess the damage. Fortunately it was really just a bunch of water on the floor, and it cleaned up in a hurry. But it was an impressive mess!

Back In The Saddle Again

2009-10-12T00:31:00.002+01:00

My year doesn't start in January. It starts in September. Kind of funny, I guess, but it's true. The calendar year's never made much of a difference, and I guess since I'm 30 and my whole life has revolved around the academic year since I was 5, that's not much of a surprise. But, yet again, the year has started. I'm back teaching at Queen Mary University of London, and I'm back in the PhD game at Essex, too. Yep, the fun never stops.

Leading Cause of Napping

2009-10-10T02:56:00.004+01:00

Haaaaa! It's so true! That's the reason the PhD Offices all have the comfy chairs; for 'reading articles'. Uh huh. Right.

You Know It's A Terry Pratchett Book When . . .

2009-10-07T14:36:00.004+01:00

As many of you are aware, I'm a huge Terry Pratchett . . . excuse me, Sir Terry Pratchett . . . fan. There are several Hallmarks of a Pratchett book. I just started reading the latest Diskworld, Unseen Academicals, and thought:

You know you're reading a Terry Pratchett book when

It takes 4 paragraphs to finish the first sentence.
There's a footnote in the footnote (and occasionally a footnote in the footnote in the footnote!)

And that was just reading the first sentence in the book!

I've also got a few for the 'You know you're a Pratchett Fan when . . .' list:

You can pronounce Capitol Letters.
You swear in Nac Mac Feegle.
You have First Sight and Second Thoughts.
You can translate Orangutan.

If anyone has any additional items for either list, PLEASE add them in the comments!

Good Bye Summer

2009-10-06T22:54:00.003+01:00

Well, Autumn has arrived full blown to Essex. It's gone chilly, damp and term has started. I broke out the woolies, hoodies and jumpers, turned on the heat and am headed to campus to register tomorrow. Yep. Summer is definitely over.