Small Victories

First of all, I want to thank everyone for all the positive feedback about the blog.  I'm gratified to know that people are not only reading it, but enjoying it.  Please keep those comments coming!

So after my little pity party blog post yesterday, I went out in search of a pitcher so I could make my own iced tea.  After poking around a few shops in Wimbledon, I finally found one that was narrow enough to fit in the refrigerator door, but tall enough to hold more than 2 or 3 glasses of tea.  It was much harder to find than I expected, and set me back nearly $12, but I was on a mission.  As soon as I got home, I washed the pitcher, brewed some tea in a pyrex bowl, and pulled my new ice cube trays out of the freezer.  I guess you get what you pay for, because they cracked in several places as soon as I tried to get the ice out.  Sigh.  Nevertheless, the end result was a pitcher of iced tea, which is now keeping moderately cool in our refrigerator.  Yay!!!

Iced tea in the upper left!

This morning Josh took the train to Oxford to attend a conference, where he will be giving a presentation tomorrow.  I was a little bummed that I couldn't tag along, since I'd love to have a chance to see Oxford, but he's staying in the dormitories with his boss, so that would have been a little awkward.  He has at least three more business trips coming up next month, none of which I'll be able to join him for, so I might as well get used to being home alone.

This afternoon I went to the library to check out some books and movies to help pass the time.  The selection is somewhat lacking, but I did find some BBC adaptations of Pride & Prejudice (with Colin Firth!) and Mansfield Park, and decided a Jane Austen festival would be just the thing.  I ran a few errands and then stopped at Morrison's to pick up something for dinner.  While wandering the aisles, I came across a package of non-party paper napkins!  It wasn't where I would have expected it to be (with the other paper products), so I had assumed they didn't carry them, just like every other supermarket I've been to.  That's one more thing to to cross off my list of things I thought I'd have to go without (ice, salsa, iced tea, peanut butter).

So, here's what I have in store for the rest of the evening:

Dinner and a movie, or two

A small pizza, a small bottle of wine, and a small blackcurrant cheesecake (just one) to go with my Jane Austen videos.  I always have trouble sleeping when Josh is away, so hopefully the wine will help.  If not I have a new Terry Pratchett book to read.  If you are not familiar with Sir Terry, he is one of England's most popular and prolific writers, and has done for the fantasy genre what Douglas Adams did for science fiction -- made it ridiculously funny.  Five of his books are on the BBC's Big Read Top 100 -- the 100 most popular novels in the UK.

Along with Monty Python, Doctor Who, and the sport of cricket, Terry Pratchett (and Jane Austen) is a part of British culture that I was already familiar with (and enjoyed) before I moved here.  It's good to have a little bit of a head start...