What a Glorious Feeling!

Do you like singing? Do you like being in the rain? Well, put 'em together and what do you get? You betcha...your Singin' in the Rain! It was the midnight movie at our little cinema yesterday. And let me tell you...there ain't nothin' like that classic on the big screen. It's got to be my all-time favourite movie! It's great cause our cinema shows a midnight movie every Wednesday night and they're always great movies. I went a while back with my friend Elizabeth to see Breakfast at Tiffany's and the cinema was packed. I think next week is The Muppets Christmas Carol...Brilliant! Oh how I'm going to miss the excitement of small town midnight shows.

We're not in Kansas anymore...

You know how I know it's been far too long since I've lived in Southern California? Today I heard a police siren in town and got very worried about what might be happening. I can't remember EVER hearing a police siren in St Andrews before. Crazy!

Santa's pointer finger and Captain Hook's ...well...hook

So today was the official "turn on the St Andrews Chrismas lights day." There we were (Jeff, Allison, and I)....surrounded by masses of people (Well, it was a lot of people for our small town, anway) all waiting for one thing...Santa to leave his grotto and get out his finger to switch on the Market Street Christmas lights. The local radio station was there to get the crowd hyped up and who should appear as the evil nemesis to Santa Claus and all the happiness that Christmas stands for, none other than Captain Hook?!? Now when I think of rivals to Santa the first few things that come to mind are Scrooge, the Grinch, even Rudolph's alter-ego if you want to get creative....but Captain Hook? Only in St Andrews (sigh). Anyhoo, once Captian Hook was scared away by all the melodrama-type boos and hisses (Thanks for reminding me of the word "melodrama," Angi.) then Santa emerged all joyous and ready to switch on the lights. And no Christmas light "on-switching" is quite complete without the large pause at the end of the countdown when Santa can't quite get a hold of the switch. It was perfect. Now for some highlights of the day: Seeing as how this celebration conveniently coincided with the weekend before St Andrews day, the town had a big to-do involving carnival rides and, get this, reindeer. Yeah, we had reindeer kicking it round St Andrews. It was pretty cool. The greatest thing was thinking back to our cruise when Jeff ate a reindeer hotdog in Finland. Oh, poor Rudolph and friends.

No longer alone

Two words (well, three words with two of them combined into a contraction): He's back!!!

Happy Thanksgiving.... or is it....

Well I went to an American Thanksgiving with a Scottish twist tonight. I quickly discovered that the Scottish twist meant that the food would be prepared by Scots and the entertainment would be provided by Scots...which basically meant that the "American" bit was a room-full of Americans on Thanksgiving day. I have to admit that I thought it was pretty cool at the beginning when the local minister walked out wearing a kilt, playing the bagpipes followed by another Scot holding the St Andrews flag and one of our own American friends holding the U.S. flag. We also sang the doxology together as our prayer before the meal...we must've had at least a 4-part harmony going; it was really cool. However, to say the food was disappointing is a huge understatement. First off, it was a British portion...not an American-sized portion. Second, here's what we had: turkey lunch meat, brussel sprouts, roasted potatoes, carrots, some rolled bacon thingy, and vegetarian haggis!!! Oh and for dessert... a rhubarb trifle. Hardly the traditional American Thanksgiving meal.... and I hadn't eaten since breakfast preparing for this meal!!! To top it off, the evening finished with some Scottish band which consisted of one guy on the fiddle, one guy on the accordion, and one guy singing. They did play a bit of Yankee Doodle Dandy for us Americans. Oh and they did play Edelweiss at one point which Allison and I belted out along side the band. Finally we ended with Auld Lang Syne which was good fun. Allison and I kept ourselves entertained by hula-hooping in the back with the kids. It's just too bad I went home still hungry. At least the Scots tried. :)

Baptist Church Meetings

We had a church meeting tonight. Oh and let me tell you about Baptist church meetings...they are by far the most frustrating experiences one can ever subject themselves to. I'm convinced that every Baptist church must have that one church member who chooses to disagree with abolutely everything just for the fun of it. And it isn't just the disagreeing that is sooo irritating; it's the constant talking that takes time away from actually getting something done. Our church is searching for a pastor, and has been for a long time. Tonight the meeting was called simply to discuss whether or not the church felt it was ok for the search committee to pray over and discuss possibly broadening the type of person they were looking for (ie. looking at people who aren't as old, or as experienced, as they'd prefer). Now it's all well and good that they want to bring this to the church's attention, but come on...asking permission to discuss and pray over it? I guess the whole reason for considering the change is because after considering over 30 names and not yet finding a suitable pastor, they would like to start considering those that might not fit the description of a "senior" pastor (senior implying that they've had quite a bit of pastoring experience). Now I'm not quite sure what the age cut-off was in their minds or anything, but apparently some names have been mentioned that aren't old enough so they want to discuss changing the criteria to include these younger folk. So the night ended with a vote as to whether or not it was okay with the church that the search committe discuss and pray over whether or not they should consider broadening the criteria, with the stipulation that any recommendations for changes be brought to the next church meeting. And, of course, there was 1 "no" vote. :) The funniest thing about all this is that the search committee still would've brought any recommendations to be voted on to the next church meeting whether we even had this meeting tonight or not. This stuff just kills me. What denominations vote in elders and deacons to do all this stuff so that the congregation can just sit back, relax and enjoy Christ's grace? Remind me to join one of those churches the next time we move. :)

News from Pennsylvania Avenue

I just talked to Jeff tonight. He, Chad, and Nathan are frollicking around DC. Tomorrow they are going to Maryland to see Angi while she's visiting her sister. Jeff had an interview yesterday with a seminary and college in Alberta, Canada. Jeff had sent in an application a few weeks back, and they sought him out at the conference asking for an interview. He said the interview went well and that they are still accepting applications through the end of November and will set up a short list once all applications are in. So I guess Jeff will hear from them sometime in December. Canada...hmm...well, I'm already acclimated to the cold weather. :)

An event-filled day

Today was interesting. Normally Sundays feel really rushed like there just isn't enough time in the day to get anything done, but this morning I left church thinking, "What now?" I went straight to the grocery store...got that out of the way...then headed back home and organized recyclables, took out the trash, ate some lunch, then thought, "What now?" Since Jeff isn't here to check up on the bank account like he usually does, I thought "Hey, why not log on and see why I've got no money in the account." Now I've used internet banking with every other bank we've had without any problems, but I try to log on using the User ID they sent me in the mail and seeing as how our normal password doesn't work, I do the whole "forgot my password" thing... I have to type in all my details in order for them to email me the password or whatever and they tell me my information isn't correct. WHAT IS WITH BANKS TELLING ME THAT I DON'T KNOW MY OWN BIRTHDAY!?!? I mean all they asked for was my User ID (which they sent me), my name, and my birthday. HOW COULD THAT BE WRONG? Seriously, British banks...what's the deal? Anyway, of course I have to wait to call them during their customer service hours (WHEN I'M AT WORK). Moving on.... so then again I thought, "What now?" So I headed into town and decided to go a matinee at the cinema all by myself for the first time ever. I went to see The Prestige. I don't know what publicity it's got in the States; it could've come out months ago over there for all I know, but it's about two rival magicians during turn-of-the-century London. It is definitely not a movie for everyone. It is very dark and has a great amount of twists and turns, having the ability to leave people shocked and confused. It is a love it or hate it type of film. Personally I thought it was incredible, although slightly disturbing. I'd have to size up a person's tastes before I could recommend it to anyone. The greatest thing is that there were like 6 of us in the cinema, and two older ladies leaned over to the rest of us at the end of the movie and said, "Did you enjoy that? I had no idea what was going on." It's definitely not for people who have trouble keeping up with movies that jump around with time and have complex plots or people who can't enjoy a darker film. Okay, enough of my movie critique. Moving on... by the time the movie was over, I had just enough time to have a quick visit with Allison as she was getting off work before heading over to the church to practice the songs for the evening service. All in all ... a day well spent. :)

The Universe

I was standing out in the freezing cold tonight, staring up at the gorgeously clear sky in complete awe of everything... our Moon, the planets and their moons, our Sun, the stars, the galaxies that make up the groups of stars. I do this often on these clear nights. It's amazing how many stars are out there... I mean, can you believe that there are that many other suns in the universe? Just balls of gas burning some thousands of light-years away. For all I know, that bright star I kept watching could be gone by now and I'm just admiring it in its hay-day. Crazy! It's at these moments that I am truly in awe of God's vast creation and a song of praise just pours out from inside me. There is absolutely nothing better than looking up into God's amazing night sky while listening to the powerful waves of God's ocean crashing against His beautiful sand. There is no other response but to worship Him. The universe declares His majesty. He truly is the God of wonders beyond our galaxy.

Shaken or Stirred?...

Allison and I went to see Casino Royale tonight, lagers in hand. Yeah. Our cinema is licenced for alcohol... and I'm pretty sure that even without the slight buzz I still would've thought that this Bond movie was AWESOME!!! I gotta admit that I was desperately hoping that it would never end. It was that good! Oh, and for those who have yet to see it... the "shaken or stirred" line is hilarious. You'll see.

Day Two

Well, I still haven't talked to Jeff, but he did have his mom call me this morning to let me know that he made it safely. I'm not quite sure how she was able to get a hold of him; I think she had the hotel number and called him there....she probably told me this morning when she called but I was half asleep. Anyway, his cell doesn't work over there....I told him so. I called the hotel and talked to Chad. Jeff's gone at his conference from 7am to 9pm and with the time change it doesn't look like I'm going to get to talk with him anytime soon. Oh well. Whatcha gonna do, you know? Well, I made it through day number two in one piece. I had a great time hanging out with Ruth tonight. We watched a french film called "The Choir." It's basically the same story as "Sister Act"... disobedient pupils being turned around by one teacher and music. It was really, really good. I highly recommend it. I'm thinking that I might drag Allison to go see Casino Royale with me tomorrow night. We'll see. Until tomorrow...

I'm Pooh!!!

You too can take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz.
http://www.half-asleep.com/pooh/interact/quiz/

One Day Down...

Well I made it through my first day without Jeff. He should've landed in D.C. by now but I haven't heard from him yet. I'll try not to be the worrying wife and just keep trying him on his cell. Day number 1 went by as normal until praise band practice tonight. It was REALLY weird locking up the church and leaving on my own. Usually Jeff and I stand around trying to decide where to get some dinner. But there I was all on my own. The dinner question wasn't too difficult though. I headed over to the local grocery store to get some ready-made chicken korma and pilau rice (Indian food). It doesn't taste as good as when Jeff makes it. I then headed over to the video store and, taking full advantage of not having Jeff around, rented a box set of movies that only girls in their late 20s and early 30s can truly appreciate (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty in Pink). The 80's rules! I'm doing pizza and a movie tomorrow night with our friend, Ruth, from church. She's a little older than the 80s loving group so we'll see if she's keen on watching one of these fabulous movies with me. I'll keep you posted on Jeff as well as my lonely antics.

All Alone...

Well today is the first of ten days without my Jeff. He's on his way to D.C. for a conference held by the American Academy of Religion. There will be lots of university reps there, some of which may be interviewing for jobs beginning in September. So it's a great opportunity for Jeff. I'm sooo jealous because not only is his brother, Chad, going to meet him in D.C. to hang out but Nathan and Angi might stop by to say hi while on their way to see Angi's sister's new baby. I feel soooo left out. I'll be here on my own, going to work, living my normal, everyday life. Actually, the time should fly by; I've got loads of stuff to get done. I'm definitely the type of person who loves getting the house to myself every once in a while, but a whole 10 days. This should be interesting.

New Windows

So we FINALLY got double-glazed windows put in downstairs!!! I think the extent of our excitement is lost on anyone who hasn't been to visit us in Scotland. For those who have the disadvantage, I'll explain... there has always been a distinct 10 degree difference between the upstairs and downstairs of our house... the wood in the huge bay window in the front of the house was soo old and rotted that the water just seeped right in, leading to mold all around the window and in our carpet... the wood also had a variety of holes which encouraged a TON of wood louses (similar to rolly pollies) to crawl all over our carpet (The funny thing is that they would never seem to get further than a few feet before they'd die; leaving our carpet literally covered in dead bugs!!! Tell me about it!) Ahhh, but now... the joy... the rapture... and unfortunately, the smell (The new windows don't smell so great but I'm hoping it will subside over the next few days.) Well, there you have it. The exciting news of Jeff and Meigan... new windows; although, as Jeff's just mentioned to me, anyone who comes to visit us will no longer have to freeze when sleeping on the extra bed downstairs. So that's got to be exciting to at least a couple of you. :)

The Biscuit Rules!

So my mom and step-dad always bring us a variety of DVDs when they come to visit, and the first time they came they brought us a copy of Seabiscuit. Well, Jeff and I both prejudged it as a ridiculous girly horsey movie and we hadn't bothered to watch it for the whole year and a half that we've owned it. In fact, I believe I described it as some gay movie with gay Tony McGuire prancing around on a gay horse. Well, it took our dear friend Allison to convince us that during our normal Friday night hang-out we'd finally sit down and watch Seabiscuit. She promised us that we wouldn't regret it. During the first 30 minutes, Jeff and I were having a great time making fun...yeah, we even had jokes for the Great Depression scenes. As the movie went on the jokes became fewer and farther between. And now...well now I have to say that the Biscuit rocks!!! It was a great movie....that is, if the closeups of the actors on the fake horses didn't bother you too much. It drove me nuts, but I still managed to enjoy the story. :)

What does pantomime mean anyway?

We had a pantomime at our school on Thursday morning which meant that we didn't have to do any school work but instead watch a bunch of amateur performers in some ridiculously silly musical performance. For those who haven't experienced the proper British pantomime, I'll quickly explain. Although it's called a pantomime, there is no mime-like quality to it. It's just the term used for a silly musical usually based on some ancient fairytale or other that is performed sometime around Christmas. Why Christmastime? I haven't the faintest...it just is. And the crazy thing is that these pantos (as they're called) pop up in various professional theatres all over the UK and, get this, fairly famous actors CHOOSE to star in these productions. I mean, these are the "boo," "hiss," and "cheer" type shows...the kind where the audience shouts out to the hero warning him that the villan is sneaking up behind him. It is mad!!! You can imagine my surprise when I tried to teach one of my first drama lessons to kids in London when they kept arguing that pantomime didn't mean that they couldn't talk during our miming lesson. Finally, the teaching assistant had to explain this whole British pantomime thing to me. So I dropped the "panto" and stuck with "mime" and this seemed to solve the problem. It's just another one of those crazy culture shocks. I have, of course, seen a few pantos since and actually found them really entertaining.

Aaaaah...Friends

We had dinner tonight with our former minister from our church in London, Brian, and his wife, Jenny. Brian has retired since we've left London, and they are now living in Manchester. He occasionally gets an invitation to preach at a church in Edinburgh, so we try to get together when they're in Scotland. This is the second time they've come to see us in St Andrews. It's always soo nice to catch up with old friends...chat about life. They are truly wonderful people and I'm sure that we will have a lifelong friendship with them. We had a discussion about community, and I brought up the amazing community among the post-graduate students here and their families. I explained that I feel the community is really something quite special. Jenny said that we're sure to find another community like this elsewhere, but I told her that I think it would be very difficult. I feel that this place is really unique, and I feel soo blessed to have the chance to be a part of it for a short time.

Mondays

I can't remember another time in my short history of blogging that I've ever felt THIS tired while attempting to write another interesting post for my blog fans. :) It's got to be the curse of Mondays. Is it just me or are Mondays the WORST day of the week for everyone? Of course it doesn't help that first thing on a Monday I've got the 3 most difficult boys in the school altogether for an hour and a half. I desperately attempt to teach some form of Math to these three boys as well as 2 lovely girls (who are complete angels) and I feel like I spend the entire 90 minutes just trying to keep the 3 boys from running around the room. Forget trying to teach to them and other people in the group. By the time recess comes I feel like I've already worked a whole day and am ready to go home...but oh no, I've still got to teach Math to 4 more groups before the day is up. In addition, Monday is our staff meeting day. The day just drags on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Sorry for all the repition there but I'm really trying to push the point. :) However on the flip side....the good side to Monday.........I get to leave work at the "early" hour of 6pm to drive down to Dundee College for my ballet class which is immediately followed by my jazz class. It's just the perfect way to relieve all the stresses of a typical Monday. Now for those who will appreciate the mental image....after finishing a very classical, proper ballet class I then walk to the next studio for my jazz class ready to practice our routine to Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back." Oh yeah, there are definitely some sexy moves that I know my mom would be proud of. I love it!!!

A Long, Productive Saturday

Well, here I am after a very long Saturday wondering why I'm still up when I've got another early day tomorrow. Well, of course the answer is that once you commit to blogging then you've got to find the time to do it....so this is the time I've got...midnight on a Saturday night. I was up and out to catch a 7.30am train this morning to take me across Scotland to an all-day Support for Learning Teachers' Conference. For those of you who may not know, as a Learning Support teacher I don't have my own class; I pull kids who are struggling with Reading, Writing and Math out of their classes and work with them in small groups. To be honest, it's a generally under-appreciated job in Scottish schools, and going to a conference solely for Learning Support teachers was really enriching. There were three speakers, two of whom were very informative and one of whom was fantastically motivational. I left with a renewed sense of being able to conquer the unconquerable. She gave us very practical ways of not only coping with stress but turning negative emotions and thoughts into positive ones. I know it all sounds a bit "self-help section of Barnes & Noble" but it was EXACTLY what I needed. It is incredible just how stressful teaching can be!!!

After my long journey back to St Andrews I got to spend the evening with a group of lovely ladies celebrating the near-arrival of a baby. I was reminded once again just how valuable these women are to me and how difficult it will be to say goodbye to them when we finish here this summer. Something that was pointed out to me rather than something I noticed myself was that I was the only woman at the baby shower tonight who didn't have kids (or one on the way). It's amazing how I instantly felt isolated like I didn't belong. Of course that wasn't what was intended by telling me this....but being the type of person I am, I felt like an outcast. In fact, I've figured out that there are just three of us in the whole of the St Mary's Divinity School community who don't have kids, and I'm pretty sure one of the other two is trying. It's amazing the number of babies that pop out once people move here to study. I mean, I guess you can't really argue with the free health care and the midwives who frequently make home visits before and after the birth. All in all, I suppose Britain is a great place to have children, but it almost seems like a hobby over here. I suppose this could just be my normal, cynical self speaking....or am I secretly, subconsciously wishing I were one of them? Hmmm...

Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

So we went to see Borat! tonight. Now I have no idea what experience those of you on the other side of the Atlantic have had with Sacha Baron Cohen and his various characters but I think his television show is absolutely hilarious. He's most famous for his character "Ali G" which I was first introduced to by some of my 14 year old students in London. One of my students, dear dear Simon, was a HUGE Ali G fan and I started watching the show just so I could understand what the heck he was saying most of the time. :) So...the movie...what can you say really? Another hilarious way to make fun of Americans. I highly recommend it but be prepared to be seriously disturbed.