long week

Friends, it has been -- and will be, cause Friday isn't over yet -- a long week. Long, in the sense, that I will go up to Sheffield everyday this week. The first time since I've started my PhD.

It's not like I don't like making the journey but the trip is awfully expensive, as I've metioned many times before, and long, 46.1 miles one way. I would have preferred staying home a couple of days considering it was awfully cold at the start of the week. On Tuesday, Derby recorded its lowest temperature ever at -8 degrees and was blanketed under a thick fog for nearly two days. All the daffodils and crocuses, early in bloom, shrivelled up and limped over in retaliation from the cold. I, covered in down and wool, commented on how cold it was and people gave me a strange look and immediately asked, "aren't you from Canada?".

But for the sake of collecting data for my thesis, I fought the harsh elements, as well as for a seat on the train. This week being half-term for the schoolkids made the train journey unbearable with hoards of people on the platform eyeing a limited number of seats and, not to mention, a greater frequency of delayed trains.

Until my first study is done, there will be less frequent work-from-home-days. I guess that means that the clothes hamper is over-flowing -- but there's evenings and weekends to do laundry, no running around the park -- but walking 6.4 miles to and from the train station and back again should suffice, and baking sweets and eating spoonfuls of Nutella -- but my waistline thanks me.

But there's something about busy work weeks: you definitely appreciate the upcoming weekend. And I'm definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend consisting mostly of this: