Lincolnicity

Hello All,

So I haven't really been up to much, just getting Christmas things ready, and spending time with Tom's family relaxing and whatnot, but here's a rundown of the past few days.

On Friday night, Tom and I went to his sister's to see the kids (Sienna, Mason and Milan), and then have a bit of a hang out with Nat and Ian after they went to bed. We also visited their new kitty, Flower, who was endlessly amusing, whether awake or sleeping. After many warnings of "5 more minutes, and then it's bedtime," the kidlets went to sleep, and the four of us ordered takeaway curry. I haven't had a curry since being back at home, so I was quite excited. We ordered a ridiculous amount of food, a Chicken Tikka Masala (which was supposed to be something called Masama, but oh well) and a Chicken Hatkora (which has this strange vegetable, described as a "Bangladeshi Lemon" in it- delicious) for Tom and I, as well as rice and pappadums with a pickle tray we shared with Nat and Ian. They also ordered themselves two curries, and two kinds of rice, so we had a feast. So good. I've missed curries! After we stuffed ourselves full of goodness, we visited, watched TV, and tried to keep Flower from climbing the Christmas tree and chasing her tail.

Saturday was the one quite busy day we had. Kev (Tom's brother) and his wife Marie hosted an anniversary party with the theme of Only Fools and Horses. Before planning for it, I had never heard of this show, but basically it was a comedy in the late 80s-early 90s about the Trotter brothers who will try any scheme to make a little cash. So, we spent the afternoon trying to get things ready for our costumes, and tidying up before Tom's mum got home from work. Tom's costume was as one of the brothers, Rodney, who is forced in one episode to pretend he's a 15 year old in order to keep a holiday package that he's won with his brother and girlfriend. He gets enrolled with "The Groovy Gang" to do "fun activities," and is stalked by a 14 year old who's in love with him. You can guess who I was dressed as. Fabulous. Hairstyles from 1989 do not suit me... the pictures are proof. Anyway, Natalie and Ian, as well as Tom's Uncle Alan (who was dressed as the Trotters' car) came with us in a mini-bus that took us to Mansfield for the party. Everyone had lots of fun with the costumes, and I even got roped into dancing with the girls.

Sunday was busy in the morning, and then relaxed in the afternoon. We stopped by Tom's granddad's to drop off cards and have a little visit. This was the first time I'd met him, so hopefully I made a good impression. Sue showed him my engagement ring, which he examined, and then kissed for "good luck" so now we're set! After that, we stopped by one of Tom's great-aunts' and were welcomed in for another cup of tea, but only stayed for a short while. Then, what was supposed to be a quick drop-off at Nat's turned into all of us staying for Sunday dinner! We walked in just as Ian was carving up the chicken, and after much persuading and confirmations that yes, there was enough food for everyone, we all sat down to a lovely meal. I think this tradition is fabulous, and I wish it was more common in Canada. I know that most of us have Sunday dinners every once in a while, but this is every week: a roast, mashed and roasted potatoes, roasted parsnips and carrots, another vegetable (brussels sprouts, yumma!), Yorkshire puddings and lots of gravy. I also had my very first mince pie with custard for dessert, and even though I don't like raisins, I thought it was quite nice! After we got home, I helped Sue decorate the Christmas tree. It's about 4.5 feet (think the table tree) high, and cost about $30, so you can imagine how much a full sized one costs. Crazy. It's a very pretty and well-shaped tree, even though it tried to tip over on me, and has dropped an insane amount of needles, ha ha!

Monday I went with Tom to Lincoln again, because I had a meeting with the head of department for one of the Master's I'm considering. I pretty much wrapped up all my Christmas shopping before I had to meet him at 11, and then made my way up the extremely steep street to the building. I had to wander around to find someone who could direct me to his office, and when I did, the guy said he didn't think Prof. Bracey was in. I found his office, and sat in the chair outside, waiting for about half an hour past the time of the meeting. I didn't hear any voices coming from the office, but just when I was wondering what had happened, the door opened and he came out looking surprised. So I felt like an idiot for a few minutes, but everything worked out and I got all the information I needed.

When I finished the meeting, I figured I'd walk up to the cathedral since I was halfway up the hill anyway. I made my way up numerous stairs, and came out on the green at the eastern end of the church. For some reason, I still have nerd-outs every time I see gothic architecture, and this was no exception. I took a whole bunch of pictures of the exterior, but my camera sadly died once I got to the western portal facade. The timing was good anyway, because the rain which had been falling all day was now getting heavier, and Tom called me to say he was finished class. I had to walk down Steep Hill (see previous post) to get to where he was, and almost wiped out on the wet flagstones numerous times. Baby steps and holding on to the railing for me! There are a ton of adorable and very interesting shops on the hill (Matrushka Shop anyone?), which were distracting me as I tried not to fall down. My mom would go absolutely crazy, as I saw a few signs saying "beads." I found Tom on the high street, and we finished Christmas shopping together before taking the train back, and that pretty much takes us up to today!
I went with Tom's mum to Tesco today to get the big shop done before Christmas, and got most of the ingredients for my mom's stuffing, which I'm making not only for her turkey, but also for Nat's. No pressure! I'll let you know how it goes!

Until then,

Ash