Warm

I wore a t-shirt outside today!

It's going to be a real shock when I get back to Georgia and it's hot.

Lawn

So John is still working on his paper(s?) leaving me alone all day to try and entertain myself. His ploy has worked because I decided to try and mow the lawn.

Factors working against me:
Floppy British grass
Very long grass that was neglected all winter
Damp
Our crappy man(or, in this case, woman)-powered push mower
The dull blades on said mower

I managed to sort of cut almost half of it (remember our garden is not that large) before I had to give up due to exhaustion and frustrations. The biggest problem was that clumps of grass would get caught in the mower and the blades would stop turning. I would pull out the grass clumps only to catch more on the next push of the mower. Either John will have to do the rest or I'll attack it little by little over the next few days.

While I was outside I noticed pieces of John's hair from when I cut it back before our road trip. I guess neither the winds nor the birds wanted it. At least I did a better job cutting John's hair than I did cutting the lawn (John had better agree, or else!).

Busy Day

I actually kept pretty busy today. I found another job to apply for, then I went into town to talk to some of the librarians about upcoming events. John is still working on his papers every day so I told him I would run errands for him in town. I bought more drain-unclogger and stopped by the pharmacy. Then I came home. So it doesn't sound like much, but it was a pretty day to walk around town.

Sunshine!

Still no big adventures today but I did convince John to walk into town for lunch so we could enjoy the sun. The rain made it much colder outside the past few days so it is nice to have our spring weather back now.

We went by the school this afternoon to listen to the American law students talk about the universities they have chosen for their year in America. There are three, including Samford, that are partnered with UEA. The first year students had to say which university they have chosen and why. The second year students (who will spend next year in the US) had to give three facts about the place they are going. It was interesting to hear what they all thought were the most notable things about each place. I wish them well and hope that they learn as much from living in America as John and I have learned from living in England.

Not What I'd Planned

I didn't have a lot going on last week and I was really looking forward to this weekend when we would have the car and be able to go places. And we did go places yesterday...

...but not today. Today John was sick. So I tried to take care of him by telling him repeatedly how much more fun he is when he isn't sick, thereby motivating him to get better.

Instead of traveling we spent most of the day on the couch watching Dr. Who and playing Mario Party (a very low impact Wii game). It was a shame because there was actually less rain today.

Hibernating

I remember when, over the summers, as a child, once I got into a rhythm of sleeping when I was tired and waking up when I wasn't I would naturally wake up around 8 in the morning. Now I have to set an alarm to get myself up even when I don't have anything scheduled or I will practically sleep all day. I have decided that since I am in a colder climate my body is trying to hibernate.

Although I can turn into a bear in World of Warcraft, IRL I am NOT A BEAR. Do not be fooled.

In spite of oversleeping I did manage to update the website and write a book review.

Can bears do that?

That's what I thought.

Hints of Spring

It was warm today. Okay, it was in the 40s (Fahrenheit). But it seemed warm. Especially while I was running and had to shed several pieces of my cold weather gear. I think everyone was really excited about the nice day because the park was packed! And it was a school day so school age kids weren't even in the mix.

I've been practicing my storytelling and I've realized that I somehow speak differently when I'm telling a story than when I'm just talking to people. I know this because I talk a lot. I can talk to Amanda for hours on the phone. But if I practice storytelling for an hour or two my voice feels kind of raw. It takes almost an entire day of non-stop regular talking to do that. This may seem worrisome since my voice is sort of important to my storytelling, but I have found in the past that frequent practice builds up tolerance. My throat actually gets stronger. Strange but true.

Valentines

John and I celebrated Valentines Day today to beat the crowds tomorrow. We had lunch down town and saw a movie.

Since I complain sometimes about the bad weather I thought I should let you know that today is the second day in a row that we have gotten light snow in the morning and then had blue skies all day. Beautiful!

<3

Snow!

It actually snowed pretty much all day today. I went running in the snow this morning, which was mostly powdery and not too slippery.

Then John and I went in the garden to play in the snow this afternoon. John made a tiny snowman named George. And I made a snow cat.

The Mist

As I was preparing to go out for my run this morning I looked up the weather on my computer. It said that the temperature was back near freezing and there was 100% humidity. I wondered how there could be 100% humidity when it's not raining. Then I went outside.

I was going to add a picture of the very thick fog outside. But (BTW John's off the hook because he's next to me watching TV and NOT playing WoW) the picture wouldn't upload! I guess the internet is just finicky sometimes. Poor John taking the blame all this time.

Different Types of Cold

The sailboat pond is temporarily unfrozen and I walked back from the co-op without my gloves on. In Georgia I would have thought of today's temperature as pretty cold. But compared to what we have had here for the past week, it was warm. I actually walked outside in low 40s windy, rainy weather, and thought "this is warm." I guess you do adapt.

Feeling With Your Fingers

I went to Ancient House this morning to help out with another event. This was the third day of programs about blindness and mobility. There were several things going on today including learning about guide dogs, typing in braille, and feeling with your fingers.

I was in the kitchen with a bowl and a box of cereal. I encouraged people to close their eyes, then pour the cereal into the bowl without looking. Throughout the day many people of all ages came in to give it a try.

I went to a talk on stuff that blind people use in their daily life (like a device that tells you what color your clothes are!), and typed my name in braille. (You might want to click on the picture to see it up close.)
















I got John to walk with me through the park yesterday so I could take a picture of the sailboat pond (and then I forgot to post the picture). It has looked like this all week. I usually see it in the morning when I'm running, but I think it looks kind of magical in the twilight.

It is Colder in England

I was worried that after being in the comparatively tropical temperatures of Georgia for the last two weeks I would have trouble adjusting back to freezing Norwich weather. But I'm pretty much fine when I go out. I bundle up and keep moving. No problem.

What I wasn't prepared for was the chill indoors. John turned the water heater off while we were gone to cut down on our gas costs. Not only does it take a long time for radiators to heat a two story frozen flat, but it doesn't help when the plumbing isn't functioning properly (again).

The water heater was showing a water pressure of zero and our bathroom radiator was warm on the bottom, but not the top. The flat was still pretty cold when we went to bed on Thursday night, so we slept with all three comforters on our bed.

Yesterday while I was at Ancient House, John stayed home and met the plumber. He fixed the problem with the water pressure. And John apparently tried to fix the radiator issue himself. There was air in that bathroom radiator and John tried to bleed it out. He was looking sheepish when I got home and said that water spurted all over our bathroom and bedroom. He had cleaned it up very thoroughly and I saw no evidence of the mess. Between the plumber's expert work and John's valiant amateur attempts, we now have a warm home again.

This morning we both got to sleep in. And we were only sleeping under one comforter.

Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose

Mom always said "If you keep making that face, it'll freeze that way."

Here, it just might.

Short Update

I was supposed to go to a meeting today about an "America Week" that is to take place in April. 2009 is Lincoln's Bicentenary and his birthday is not in April, but there is some reason that the America Week will take place then.

Well, the meeting was snowed out. There wasn't snow in Norwich, but there was snow in the city from which most of the other meeting attendees were coming.

So, I was a little disappointed that my excursion for the day was canceled, but then John scheduled us a new excursion. He RSVPd at the last second for a post-grad Christmas gathering that was taking place tonight at the Thai restaurant in the city. He had to pre-order the food and got me chili chicken that was too hot to eat. Good thing there was an appetizer and desert.

It may not be snowing here but it is cold. There is lots of ice.

Migration

I moved my office upstairs into our bedroom. This is partly because I felt a little crowded in the old office and mostly because I felt cold. It is much warmer upstairs.

But future visitors, don't worry. I'll get a nice fluffy comforter to go on the bed in the downstairs room.

I had a picture of my new office set up but I can't get it to upload. I will withhold my theory on why this has happened. It is probably unrelated to the fact that John just got an expansion pack for World of Warcraft and is using up all our bandwidth playing it. At least, that's what the computer genius man says.

Abundance

I did an abundance of running this morning. I was feeling pretty good at the end of my half hour so I did another lap which brings me up to about a three mile run.

I got an abundance of fun new things in town today. John decided (agreed) that I needed more warm clothes and the next guitar lesson book.

There was an abundance of rain which made both of us really glad we got new rain coats yesterday. We were surprisingly comfortable walking around town during the persistent downpour.

"The Foolish Frog" has had an abundance of views. About three times as many as the next most viewed video I've put on YouTube, "Mattie Groves," and nine times as many as most of the other videos. I can't figure out if people I know have been watching it over and over again, or if people I don't know are actually watching it.

Nelsonesque

First things first. From this day forward John shall be known as John esquire because he passed the Georgia bar!!! (We haven't heard from Tennessee yet.)

I took another trip to Thetford today to observe what they do for "Ancient House Alive" days. I've observed a few different events since moving here but this was by far the most fun. I stood drinking tea amongst women in Roman and Iceni costumes talking about everything from Roman Briton to what the locals think of Thomas Paine. I really enjoyed being around the other volunteers and seeing what they do. They each designed their own station. There was Roman food in the kitchen, an olive tree, pipe cleaner torc bracelets, and paper mosaics. I'm looking forward to participating in the coming months and designing my own station! They also have some knitting events that I might go to so I can learn a few things.

As I walked from Ancient House to the train station it started hailing.

After lunch John wanted to go into town to buy some warm clothes and get an iphone. We had a very productive trip. On our way back to the flat we stopped at the co-op to get some candy. I put a pumpkin picture in the window so kids would know we were participating in Halloween. It was worth it because we did get one trick-or-treater. He had on a shirt with skeletons and a witches hat with stars. Not sure what he was other than cute. I think John and I will find a use for the left over candy.

Oh, and I'm wearing the spiderweb tights today with my black dress. Not quite a costume, but Halloweeny.

Happy Halloween

I went out of the house three times today! I've actually been pretty good about running because the cold doesn't bother me so much when I'm overheated. I had to switch from the baseball cap to the knit hat today though.

But, later in the day I covered my every possible inch and rode into town to buy a few things we have been living without. Then I had to go out again to get dinner groceries.















Here I'm just modeling the Halloween shirt that was in the care package.



















And here is a Halloween story for you:

Guilt Culture

My mother gave me a series of classical mythology lectures on CD for Christmas. The myth lectures were actually my listening material when I first started running. It was once I finished them that I started looking for audio books to listen to.

In one of these lectures, the instructor, who happens to be British, was talking about the "shame culture" of ancient Greece and Rome. When you do something wrong it is very public. You are punished by other people. I can personally attest to Italy's current shame culture. When I was visiting Rome, Antonella (the lovely woman who cooked dinner for us) would shake her finger at anyone who did something they shouldn't have and call them "shamo." This shame culture is a result of the Mediterranean climate. People spend so much time outside that their wrongdoings will inevitably be public.

The instructor compared this to England's "guilt culture." England does not have a Mediterranean climate, so people spend most of their time inside. If you do something wrong here you are punished by yourself. You sit alone in your room watching the rain pour down the window, being devoured by your own guilt.

I haven't been suffering from shame or guilt since moving here, but I am starting to see how the weather could influence an entire culture. It's still only fall but when I open the door and feel the wind, I tend to want to stay indoors. I tried to prepare myself for this last winter and learned that most of my problems with cold weather come from not really wearing the right clothes. So as it gets colder I will be buying some warmer things to wear. And then I can get back to public humiliation. My Italian roots wouldn't have it any other way.