While Lincoln is buried in snow, I am buried in work.

As you can see, the time between postings is getting longer and longer which is in direct proportion to the amount of work I find myself doing here! With a studio project, Hampstead Garden Suburb neighborhood analysis, the product for my independent study research on urban green space, my thesis proposal (which also requires research), scholarship applications, registration, and a sightseeing requirement all up in the air, I am a busy busy woman. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed especially by the things I'm trying to take care of from afar (like arranging a summer internship). I'm trying to prioritize and breathe deeply but if you have a second, you might offer up a little prayer... especially for the internship since my graduation rides on it.

St. Patrick's Day in London was a bit on the crazy side. Some of our guys headed to the pub at noon and when we met them there after dinner, we could see that this could be a very long night. Every bar we went to was wall-to-wall people but it was generally a good time. When London goes smoke free in 2007, it will be a wonderful thing!

On Saturday, I took some time to get out of London and visit Sam in Oxford where I got the behind-the-scenes tour of the city, enjoyed the company of an American other than the 14 I am here with, and had wonderful home-cooked food. Did you know that Oxford University is made up of 40-some individual colleges? Sam is working on his doctorate (a D. Phil over here) and living at New College. Sunday was a beautiful sunny and slightly warm day so some of my pictures of Oxford have BLUE sky! I even got to attend an Oxford Symphony Orchestra concert in Sir Christopher Wren's Sheldonian Theater.

The daffodills are coming up in London by the handful - I think more and more emerge overnight. Unfortunately, it's not getting much warmer or sunnier so eating one's lunch on a bench in St. James's Park still requires a coat and scarf. I'm ansty for warmer, clear weather - you don't realize how much you miss the sun until you go weeks without seeing it.

We heard that we have missed out on not just one, but TWO University snow days due to a massive snowstorm that rolled across Nebraska this week. TWO SNOW DAYS! One is rare enough but two is unheard of! How fortuitous that this should happen at the end of spring break, too. I'm so jealous... I miss the snow.

We have a scheduled break Thursday through Sunday of this week but I will be staying in London to get work done and hopefully take a day trip to Cambridge for pleasure and a day trip to Newcastle for research purposes. A week from Saturday is my birthday (I am halfway to 50! Yikes!), then three weeks from Friday is the end of our time in London and then it's off to Paris to start my European Adventure. Time is flying by!