Weekend #21...

According to my (hasty and not double-checked) calculations, this is the twenty-first weekend we have spent away from Oklahoma. That does not seem possible. But clearly, it must be. Boy how time flies when you are having fun, right?!

Well, this past week started and ended on a high note. I baked cookies for Matt's classmates (TWICE), not only because I like them and because they deserve cookies, but because I wanted them to know the joy that only snickerdoodles and peanut butter M&Ms can provide. The last time we hung out with Alberto and Magda we discovered that they had only tasted peanut butter a handful of times in their entire lives. Furthermore, not even the other American students knew what snickerdoodles were. I guess these are just two southern/midwestern delicacies. I found the injustice entirely intolerable and immediately sought out a means to rectify their deficiencies. Monday, the MBE students received some slightly crunchy snickerdoodles, which they appreciated heartily. Then on Thursday, my most gracious mother sent us another care package in the mail for Valentine's Day. I didn't even take a photo of the contents this time because I was so eager to start demolishing them that I ripped the packaging to shreds with zero regard for pictorial documentation. The customs form on the outside of the padded envelope contained the words "candy" and "socks." That's all I needed to see to know that treasures of untold deliciousness awaited me on the inside. (Licorice, M&Ms, brownies, fuzzy socks, and a sweet card!) So anyway, I restrained myself enough to decide that it would not be in the best interest of my midsection to ingest all of the candies by myself. Matthew's class was having presentations on Friday, meaning that the maximum number of students would be present, so it was the opportune moment to unleash sugar cookies with peanut butter M&Ms onto their taste buds. <Quick side story on the presentations: When Matthew met with one of his groups to work on a project, they were trying to decide who in their group would present the project to their class. They unanimously decided that Matthew had to be one of the presenters because he was the ONLY native English speaker! That blows my mind. For the overwhelming majority of the students in Matt's program, English is their second or third language. Yet they all speak it flawlessly. Amazing.> Anyway, I baked something like 4 dozen cookies, minus the 6 cookies hubs and I ate, left 42 cookies total for the 25 MBE kids. Matthew came home later that day with only 2 remaining goodies. I think they were a hit. I felt the love on my facebook wall from several of Matt's male classmates. Now if only I can think of another distinctly American sweet to catapult into the global community...

Friday afternoon, I had the chance to meet up with Paola for a lunchtime concert put on by Kettle's Yard. Kettle's Yard is an art gallery that is free to the public and offers weekly concerts. The art and the premises were donated to the city by a man named Jim Ede who lived there (with his wife Helen) for many years during the 1950s to 1970s. He had been the curator of the Tate Gallery in London and collected an immense amount of artwork over his lifetime. While he was alive, he felt that people (especially young people) should have a means to appreciate art in a domestic setting, so he opened his home (one building made of four conjoined cottages) and invited anyone and everyone inside. Paola used to be an invigilator at Kettle's Yard, which was a new title to me, but I think it means that she used to be a docent. She would supervise visitors to the house and supply them with information about the artists and the stories of the man who brought it all together. I'm telling you, this lady has more knowledge and more life experiences than I ever imagined one person could possess. Usually, the free concerts are held in part of the exhibition space in the cottages, but Friday it was moved across the street to St. Giles Church. I had never been inside this particular building, but it was really beautiful.

The instruments were played below the center arch in front of the altar. I particularly loved the dark wooden ceiling.

The steps leading up to the entrance of Kettle's Yard.

Not sure which church this is. It was just to the right on the same land as the Kettle's Yard cottages.

Listening to Mozart's Clarinet Quintet K.581 (yes, that's its name, according to the handout) played by undergraduate student musicians in a centuries-old church is one of those things I will miss when we move back to Houston. Honestly, I get a little down when I think about how new and shiny everything in America is going to seem after living here. Before Cambridge, I thought that the 18th and 19th centuries were awesomely old. Antiques from the 1920s were astounding. Now, anything after the 1500s is incredibly young. The United States have only been around for 200ish years. Here, some people live in apartments that were built before our nation existed. My perspective on age has shifted drastically. I've only been on this earth for 23 years. What a shallow breadth of time. Hopefully, I've got about 3 times that amount left to stick around, but even that seems like a blink of an eye in the scope of eternity.

Ok, enough thoughts of mortality. I digress. After I parted ways with Paola, I came home to veg with my well-coiffed man. He got a haircut. And it's pretty short, but I like it because it's so soft. We ate dinner at Wolfson Court and then watched a Cary Grant classic courtesy of Blinkbox, an online movie site that has a bunch of free films and some newer ones available for renting. We watched His Girl Friday, and as always, Cary didn't disappoint. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

Comedy, suspense, crime, and romance. Rated G, meaning it's suitable for all general audiences. Rated E (by me), meaning entertaining for everyone.

After sleeping in until 10:something (surprise), we awoke to temperatures barely out of the single-digits (Farenheight.) And, our pipes were unexpectedly frozen. It was so cold that the snow was blowing off of the branches in our backyard, and when the flakes caught the sun, it looked like the air was freezing and sparkling. It was like glitter. Captivating. So, showers were omitted from the morning routine, and instead, we opened our cabinets and turned up the heater. We couldn't mess with it for long because we were scheduled to meet up with Asha and Chad for brunch at Pembroke (weekly ritual), so we left the faucets on and hoped for the best. Brunch was scrumptious (as usual), and Asha's friend Matt joined us as well. We walked through St. John's on the way home, enjoying the leftover snow and beautiful scenery.

Never noticed this giant clock before in the Senate House Passageway. It looks like a crypt.

Asha and I in the Pembroke courtyard waiting to go inside for our waffles and pancakes.

I thought the snow and grass and stone made for a photo-worthy combination.

Asha and "her" Matt.

On days when the sun actually shines, we can't keep our eyes open. We are like bears emerging from our winter hibernation hidey-hole. It's kind of pathetic.

The snowfall from last weekend is just not ready to let go yet. And I don't mind one bit. The only downside is that in the places it has melted, it left behind a muddy mess.

I'm so happy that Asha understands my need for constant Kodak moments. Matthew never wants to stop to take pictures, especially if he has to pose for them, but when Asha is with me, we can gang up on him and win. And speaking of winning, by the time we got home, the pipes were slightly thawed. After running the hairdryer on them for a few minutes, they sputtered to life! All was right with the world again, and I was able to shower without succumbing to hypothermia.

And that brings us to this evening. Hubby and I are having dinner with a couple of wonderful hosts - Alberto and Magda. So exciting! I just love them. I'm sure their culinary skills are going to put the Grants' to shame. And then tomorrow, it will be church, then the monthly international tea at the Cooper residence, and then an event at Girton entitled "Blues, Booze, and Chocolate." What a day to look forward to!