Planning Ahead

Garrick and I are enjoying a lazy weekend together before he leaves early Monday morning to attend two conferences,  ETS (Evangelical Theological Society) and SBL (Society of Biblical Literature), in Baltimore with fellow St Andrews students and scholars from all over the world. He'll be away for a week and a half, and I'm not looking forward to it. It's lonely to be in Scotland without my husband or family, and in these times I feel most homesick. There are a few other wives who will also be on their own, and we'll get together for meals and coffee dates, giving just another reason why the St Mary's community is amazing. My friend Jackie, who inspired this post, will be visiting from Edinburgh at the weekend as her scholar husband is also away.

So, I thought I'd be proactive and make a list of activities or goals to accomplish while I'm on my own:

• Cook something new. Garrick recently bought me these cookbooks: The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and My Little French Cookbook. I plan to have many dates with my new cooker.
• Knit! I have almost finished an infinity scarf, I'm almost done with one fingerless gloves, and I have a few balls of yarn needing a purpose.
• Play my piano. I want to make progress on "Claire de Lune" so my mom can help me when we are in Seattle over Christmas.
•  Reach out to friends. I need to schedule coffee dates and meals with the lovely ladies in my life.
• Show off St Andrews. As mentioned above, I'd like to show Jackie our favourite places in St A's.
• Attend Handel's Messiah.
• Put up our Christmas tree. Garrick strongly believes that Christmas doesn't begin until after Thanksgiving, but has given me permission to put up our tree early.
• Watch girly movies.  
• Organise the cupboards underneath our kitchen sink. (It looks like Tupperware exploded.)
• Skype with family. I'm excited to have free time in the evenings to chat with my parents, sister, nephews, in-laws, and friends.

I'm sure I'll be referring to this list when I feel bored or lonely, and I'm thankful that I have so much support for our time apart. I think it will go by quickly, but I'll sure miss this guy: