Lessons from a Snowy Oxford:

With the UK covered in snow it is time to stop and reflect on the last ten days or so.

Lessons of the last week of January:
1. Haggis is surprisingly good. I'll let everyone look up for themselves what is in haggis, but I must say it was much better than I expected. I do think it's a once a year Burn's Night kind of meal though.
2. It is easier to cycle in rain than snow. Snowflakes go every which way they want and get right in your eyes. It is not safe to cycle when you can't see.
3. It costs 1 million pounds to get your name in the College Prayer which is read at Candlemas in perpetuity. I'm now taking donations. :)
4. Sometimes it's easier to face fears on your own. And sometimes it's really good to cry. I finally sat down and watched my Grandfather's last sermon on Friday. I think I may have learned a lot more about my Granny than my Grandpa, but I am more thankful for my family than ever before. And most importantly, I now have a seemingly eternal piece of hope planted within my heart.
5. I was adorable when I was 2. And my desire to follow in Erika's footsteps (sometimes literally) seems to be something I have possessed since birth.
6. I am a messy person.
7. It is expensive to get to London, but faster to go back and forth between London and Oxford each day than trying to stay with a friend in London and then having to commute across London to get to the British Library.
8. You cannot get to the British Library when it snows. London doesn't work in the snow.
9. Latin sermon collections are the most prominent in late-medieval England in the period between c.1350 - c.1450. This is because of the Lollards.
10. The medieval Church seems to have given parents a lot of flexibility in raising children unless it related to concerns about eternal salvation. I am convinced that the Church (at least when it comes to parenting) was genuinely concerned for the souls of her members rather than an attempt to control her parishioners.
11. Some sermons read like saints lives (especially if they are sermons for saints' feasts). I'm not sure what to do with this.
12. Basketball is the best sport in the world. That said, I am pretty sure it is going to cause me an early death due to stress. I blame this on my father. I am also thankful for it.
13. Books in my field which I would like to own cost a lot of money. $204.00 for a book is too much.
14. I miss my family and friends in the Ville. This isn't debilitating, it's just a fact.
15. I may have A.D.D. I cannot concentrate for much more than an 1 hour at a time. This is disruptive when you are a PhD student in History. It also makes the other library goers around you angry when you need to stand up and stretch. I fear I may be stabbed with a ball-point pen as it gets closer to exams.

That's all from me for now. I've run out of attention for it anyway. :)

Love to all,
Elizabeth

P.S. GO CARDS!!!!!