So I hate March. No offense March birthdays, but your month sucks. Not only is it the only month in the school year without a National Holiday, it's also too long. January is awesome with 31 days, as are May, July, August, October, and December because of the prolific number of days-off those months provide, but March? No dice. Plus, it's an annoying transition month- still too cold to plant a garden, but the snow's all melted and everything looks dead and brown. At least all the other 31 day months have some nice scenery, but not March. Nothing interesting ever happens during the month and the time change occurs in March, usually, robbing me of a precious hour of sleep.
All of these things and more combine to make March my most hated of months.
The good news, this year, is that March is zipping by at an exceedingly quick pace. I am SO relieved that it's almost over with and that 3rd term is nearly complete (btw, 3rd term is the crappiest time of the school year because it has nothing cool happening during, and is generally dreary). To get myself through these last difficult days of 3rd term and March in general, I have been planning my trip to the UK this summer.
My little sister Emily recently moved there and will be living there for 2 years while her husband Brent completes a fellowship with his company. She sucks. And by that I mean I am insanely jealous of her, because while I am stuck in Utah she is galavanting around Europe. Not to imply that I'm not patriotic and that I don't love my state or my country or that I in some way feel that Europe is superior to the U.S.- I just REALLY REALLY REALLY love art, history, and interesting food- all of which Europe has in spades, and all of which Utah is sadly lacking. Plus, I *am*, after all, an English major so the whole birth-place of the language thing is pretty appealing to me.
So I am going to the UK for the first 2 weeks of my summer vacation and I am planning on seeing many things including but not limited to the following:
Giant's Causeway
Stonehenge
The Tower of London,
Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abby
The cliffs of Dover
Camelford (where King Arthur was supposedly slain!)
Stratford-upon-Avon
The Globe theater
any museum I can possibly squeeze in
St. Michael's mount
Glastonbury (MAJOR site in both Arthurian and Grail Legends... supposedly where St. Joseph of Arimathea brought the grail and Arthur's final resting place, alleged Isle of Avalon located here).
Edingburgh's underground city
Roslin Chapel
Loch Ness
Ruins at Bath
AND... if I have time and money (doubtful) I'd like to hop across to Ireland and see a few things, including the city of Antrim (where my family comes from), and possibly the Blarney Stone.
I'm pretty sure it's going to be the greatest experience of my life.
Wow. Just writing that list made me feel better. Take that, March!
6 comments:
Firstly, you should try out Arizona sometime. March is perfect. The weather is still nice, but getting warm, but not too hot yet. Everything is actually still green. And we don't do Daylight Savings, so we get to sit idly by and laugh as the rest of the country struggles to adjust to losing an hour literally overnight.
Moving right along, yes, Emily DOES suck. But so do you. I say that with all the love I've got (as well as all the jealousy, of course). In the two years they will be in England, we (or even I, alone) will make across the pond for a visit exactly none times. It'll most likely be at least a decade before I make it over to Europe, probably longer. So, you (and all the rest of you family who make it anywhere further and more exciting than Disneyland...and PLEASE don't tell my husband I admitted there is anywhere more exciting than Disneyland) are obligated to make the absolute best of your grand international adventures. You have more than just you to live it up for.
Lecture over. Thank you for letting me rant for a moment. See, you hate March. I don't mind it. You are excited about going to England. I dream about it and get sad. It evens out...right?
:) Love you!
PS--What, pray tell, is a guad hero? (Because the word verification just makes me type it, but refuses to define these odd terms for me.)
You have a point about Arizona in March, but April here is worth the wait.
As far as Emily being a LOSER for abandoning us for Europe, I'm on the same page. That's why I'm going for sure this summer AND next summer. I will make sure to take a million and a half pictures, buy you souvenirs, and party extra for you. I promise.
And as far as your question goes, a guad hero is like an ordinary hero, only guadier.
I totally hear you on March- it's such a filler month.
So cool that you are heading to the U.K. My absolute favorite sites there were Edinburgh, Oxford, and these gorgeous ruins at a place called Fountain's Abbey--so Pride and Prejudice! You are going to have an incredible time!
I'm pretty much focusing this trip on my two greatest loves- Shakespeare and Arthurian/Grail legend. I actually did my Senior thesis on Arthurian/Grail legend and believe it or not, I'm kind of an expert on the subject. I find that whole space of time between the Romans and The Tudors in England to be unimaginably interesting. If I ever go back to school, I'll probably get my doctoral degree in Medieval Brit. Lit. And yes, that does make me a nerd. Big time.
Ok, so yes, I DO suck for living somewhere completely awesome but here's how I see it...
Melissa, you keep having loads of beautiful, silly children and THAT is my life dream.
Cam, you own 2 houses and live super close to like half of our family members, which I will not for quite some time.
Living in Europe? my consolation prize. It's a pretty good one, I must admit. I *promise* I'll try really hard to party enough for everyone. I have a feeling by the time we move back, I will have taken at least 25,000 pictures.
So the word verification is "shermat". It sounds like a low budget mountain resort. You know one of those that claims to have "close proximity to the ski lift" which actually means you have to take the resort shuttle 25 up the hill to get there and the "full complimentary breakfast" is a do-it-yourself waffle maker and a bowl of old fruit.
Oh, you sisters of mine are *so* entertaining! The way you trash on each other just fills my heart with joy.
I, for one, love March because it's a time of BIG changes, and you can just feel the warmer temperatures coming on....it's also a time when I have, like, fifty birthday parties to go to b/c so many of my friends are born in March!
My verification word is "shedite". Does that mean "those who live in sheds", or "followers of the prophet Shed"? Hmmm...
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