barefoot, blue-jean night(s)

So, anyone know where the month of May has gone? Because it seems like the last 3 weeks just flew by without so much as a warning!

Post-paper-frenzy, I took a couple days off and visited Greg in Glasgow, where we did adorable things like visit the Auchentoshan distillery, eat delicious Indian curry (surprised? didn't think so), play Scrabble and wander around in the semi-drizzly weather.

Celebrating Greg's "birthday" a few days late in Glasgow 

Scrabble! in a bar. because we're nerds. (also, evidence of my awful, awful hand...)

I think it's that last bit, combined with the stress-let-down, that made me ill upon my return to St Andrews. We're talking full-on immune-system meltdown, lock myself in my bedroom with tissues and chicken noodle soup for 5 solid days, watching several seasons of How I Met Your Mother and sleeping 12 hours a night, ILL. Also, I tried to go to work on day 2 of this illness. Yeah, work ethic! They sent me home when I couldn't stop sneezing near the kitchen window. Note to self: people don't like it when you're sniffly near their food. Gross.

Anyway, I gradually reintroduced myself to the land of the living with nerdy movie nights with my girlfriends. Here is where I make a shameless plug for BBC Drama, because it's revolutionized my TV experience. Particularly, the BBC's Shakespeare Retold series...Please, please, tell me this in't wonderful:

Okay. Seems cheesy. But really, it's brilliant. And when paired with good friends and mexican food? Unbeatable.

And, just when I thought that May would be a miserable month filled with rain, sniffly noses and the occasional bright spot of movie-watching...The sun came out again last week! Which, obviously meant that the whole of St Andrews dragged their pale, fleshy bodies out of their wool jumpers and stockings and into swim trunks and sundresses. It was... a sight to behold.

Of course, I'm no better. I pulled on a breezy skirt and spent a couple lovely afternoons picnicking on West Sands / stocking up on vitamin D before the sun disappears forever.   The plan was to do some dissertation reading outdoors, but I think we only managed 10 solid minutes of reading before we gave into girly gossip, trashy magazines and an epic search for ice cream cones. As you do.

I also attended not one, but two backyard barbecues-- one with my undergrad friends, and one with the postgrads. It was great way to wrap up the year with both crowds-- although I kind of can't believe those punky little first years I lived with in 2009 are graduating! How time flies... (nostalgic sigh)

Plus, Greg came into town for the end of the week (aka, to celebrate my birthday!), and we attended John Burnett's Garden Party. Which, frankly, sounds more sophisticated than it was. But it was, again, gorgeous, sunny, and warm, and we got to hang out with some great, fun people (specifically, Greg's buddies from his time abroad). And there was a giant Jenga set. What more could anyone ever want?

My birthday was a super-low-key and wonderful day. Greg and I wandered by the sea, browsed old bookshops, skyped my family, ate at this fantastic Thai restaurant that I've been eyeing since I arrived in September, and had a few drinks with some of my friends. All in all, a perfect, perfect day.

Celebrating my birthday! (please note the difference only a few days makes. That's Scottish summer for ya)

...And a perfect May. Lots of idyllic quality time with the people I like best--the greatest way to unwind after a wonderful (but stressful) year. Plus, a little bit of color in my pale, pale cheeks! (I'm pretty sure most of the town population has a sunburn.)

And FINALLY, (I swear this is the last thing), due to a clerical error, I've been given this weekend/week off of work till next Friday. So, with our extra time and some clever budgeting, Greg and I have booked a trip to Dublin next week! We'll leave Monday and get back Thursday morning and we are OH so excited to see nerdy stuff (Book of Kells and Oscar Wilde's home), and maybe some less nerdy stuff (live music and a tour of the Guinness storehouse). So get ready to hear more Greg & Christy adventures next time!

Oh, don't even lie. You know you're pumped.

And now, for to read about Scottish kings in the sunshine. Maybe I'll go somewhere with a view of the castle... :)

mission: accomplished.

Guess what?! Today, I turned in (drumroll, please)...

My LAST coursework...EVER.

EVER!

Oh, I've still got a dissertation to write. But that's the fun stuff,  the part where I get to just pick interesting things to read and then write about them. (And PhD's are more of the same :)) This paper felt a little like I was sticking my brain into my washing machine's "Spin" cycle and trying to submit the drippings for a grade. Sorry to be so graphic. The last few weeks have been pretty stressful...

But guys! This is 5 years of higher education coming to an end! I don't think I was this confused over my undergraduate education, 'cause, hey. No one can sustain the undergraduate lifestyle forever and live to tell the tale. (I'm talking about all the intense studying, obviously.)

But I also left undergrad feeling hyper-aware of everything I didn't know yet. I'm not sure if that's the way everyone feels, but I felt it strongly enough that I decided I needed to go to grad school. There were just too many things I still needed to learn! Like Old English. And how to decipher the handwriting of sixteenth-century Scottish secretaries. And I certainly wasn't going to read hagiographies in my spare time (Y'all know that I much prefer a nice, jaunty poem about gassy knights who fall off their horses. Yes that's a link, because I knew some of you would think I wasn't serious. It's poem 77, if you fancy a peek into my world.)

Now, I've been made to read, understand and discuss a lot of things that no one had ever really had a chance to teach me before. It has been SO eye-opening. And now that I've done that, guys, I can safely say that that I really do not ever want to enroll in another full-time, taught degree again. But then, the great thing about this degree is that I finally feel like I have all the tools to pursue the things that most excite my mind.

I also have a some mental exhaustion, about 20 books out from the library, not one but FOUR different piles of laundry on my floor, a wicked Coca-Cola addiction, and about 8,800 words under my belt. So, even though I'm SO excited about "contributing to human knowledge" (to quote my wonderful boyfriend, who totally believes in all my bizarre goals. I'm the luckiest).... Right now, I'm just really excited about watching bad TV and eating junk food.