Hello again

I'm surprised that it's been nearly a month since my last update. David and I have been very busy, but we have not been having grand and fancy adventures. Instead, we have been working hard and enjoying time with friends (or time alone) in our free moments. January has included:

- way too much junkfood! Last week alone we had pizza for four meals. Needless to say, this was mostly unplanned and was from either relatively impromptu pizza parties or, at least for me, managerial bribing for overtime work

- David has been working 14-19 hour long days. Work is going well, but there is a lot of it as he has his thesis, several encyclopaedia articles, and a few conference papers to get out of the way. His first major conference is in March, when he flies to Montreal to speak at the Renaissance Society of America conference. He is doing an excellent job of balancing this massive workload with family-time, so I really can't complain. In fact I am quite proud of how considerate he is ensuring we spend time together each day

- German lessons for me. One of the conditions of my new position was that I learn German so I spend my Wednesday evenings at a Sixth Form College taking part in Adult Education language classes. It's fun, but it makes my Wednesdays incredibly long as the college is far from the house. My watercolour class was canceled this term, however, so the long Wednesdays aren't unmanageable as I've gained an extra night at home. Sadly, German conflicts with the Bible Study time so that has been put on hold for now. Can't do everything!

- plays: we've been to two plays so far this season. We say an excellent, but dark, rendition of The Taming of the Shrew, and then we accompanied a friend to see Closer, which her friend was directing. The former was what we have come to expect of Cambridge theater--great acting, challenging but not over-the-top/cliche, and led to a thought-provoking evening out. The latter was not our sort of play at all, but through no fault of the director or actors (the acting was excellent). The script tried to attempt "shocking" but didn't really pull it off. The offensiveness was tame, the characters engaging but predictable, and it was no different than anything else in that genre. But we still had a fun evening out and it never hurts to see something different.

- a trip to the Fitzwilliam Museum. It is so awesome to be able to visit this museum whenever we like. We spent a good three hours browsing through its treasures. My favorite paintings (this time) were Renoir's "Gust of Wind" and Cornelius Cleve's Virgin & Child. I love the Cleve due to the mischievous expression on Christ's face as he bites into the fruit--it is so whimsical. As for the Renoir, words almost fail. Up close the painting is just a blur of brushstroke and colour, and then as you step back it suddenly snaps into focus and you stand there, breathless, feeling the wind and the sun.

And now, just when I was starting to get an urge to travel out of Cambridge and was planning a trip down to London, I received an invitation from a friend to attend the Old Vic Ball with her in Bristol. Normally I hesitate when it comes to last-minute plans (especially ones involving sizeable sums of money) but David has taught me that there are certain opportunities that need to be jumped on. This is definitely one of them, so on Saturday I am [nervously] making my way from Cambridge to Bristol (Yatton, in specifics), a journey which includes THREE transfers and takes four hours. I confess that I normally I sort out the transport/tickets but David actually navigates the journey, so I find this trip a bit daunting. But I am 27 years old and I managed to get myself from Vancouver to Cambridge and thus should be fine. Ball update to come once I return.