MrsHughey.com

St. Catz, Soul Night, Simon Oliver, and sore backs

Originally, we were going on a retreat this weekend to a Benedictine abbey near Reading, but the chaplain didn't get the required number of people signed up (not his fault - just didn't work out this time), so instead he and his wife hosted a lovely dinner party at their house on Saturday. It was also the annual Hertford College Soul Night on Saturday, so we had a couple of things we were to make an appearance at. And on Friday night was the second half of the St. Catherines exchange dinner.

We went home from our usual day at college in the mid-afternoon to get ready for the big night out. We showed up for Friday evening prayers with the chaplain. Unlike every other day when prayers are held in the chapel, on Friday evenings he holds prayer services in his room in college (not a room he lives in, he just works there). So that was the first time we'd gone to Friday evening prayers and it was rather nice. We stayed around for about 30 minutes after prayers and chatted with Simon (the chaplain) about America and stuff. Then we met with our compatriots at the Octagon and headed over to St. Catz for dinner.

St. Catz is a very new college at Oxford. It was built in the 1960s. It is quite large compared to Hertford and looked somewhat like a hostpital complex or something. The food was excellent, although the vegetarian entree included a hefty bit of pine nuts, which I am allergic to. So after dinner we had to sort of skeedadle quickly in case I started having nasty back and abdominal cramps from the pine nuts. But I guess I picked enough of them out because I only had a little bit of cramps.

So then on Saturday we slept in (yay!) and then spent a while loading Christmas music onto the computer. Then we got ready for yet another night out. We headed over to Hertford and helped the guys set up for Soul Night. It's quite a well-attended event for students all over Oxford, so they have to move all of the furniture out of the Octagon, set up a bar and DJ table, take all of the mail out of our mailboxes (so it doesn't get stolen since the mailboxes are right next to the Octagon's door), lock up the DVD player and VCR from the tea room (again, security reasons), etc. After that it was time to head over to Simon Oliver's house for dinner.

It was wet on the way over, but wet in that Oxford way where an umbrella is of no use because the air is just kinda wet. So we walked to their new house (they just moved in about 2 weeks ago). It was only about a 15 minute walk from Hertford. We were late, which is basically what people do here, although I think we wound up being the last ones there. It wasn't like an "everyone sit around the dinner table" kind of party, just food is out and sit where you like and socialize. Anyway, we arrived, met Jane, his wife (lol), and then went to put our coats and umbrellas away in the coat area. Well, you have to go down two little wooden stairs to get to his coat room. I had wiped my feet, but I guess they were still wet because when I got to the second one my feet completely went out from under me. In about a second my feet were straight in front of me and I WENT DOWN! HARD! Andrew was standing right next to me and tried to catch me, but I was already on the hardwood floor. Lemme tell you it HURT! I landed with my lower left back on the steps. OW! Fortunately I was able to get up and stuff, but it really hurt. Actually, it still hurts.

So all evening I was sort of pressing on my back and worrying whether I actually hurt myself. I have this softball-sized very sore spot on my back, but so far no other problems. I really wish it would turn purple and ugly so I could at least have a battle scar. It really hurts to lie on my back or move quickly. But no visible bruise or anything so far.

So after I fell down (!), we enjoyed a nice dinner of yummy pasta and lovely conversation. They had about a dozen guests for dinner, plus Simon and Jane. It was very nice. The Olivers have been married for about 6 years and are just a few years older than Andrew and I. We were the oldest guests there, the others being mostly undergraduates who are members of the chapel choir. Jane is a speech therapist with local children. She seems very nice. Simon loaned us two books to read. One is short stories by Flannery O'Conner. The other is a novel by Ian somebodyorother. Anyway, we'll peruse those.

We skipped out of the party at about 11 and, surprisingly, were the first to leave. My sore back made me limp and so we walked rather slowly to the college for the end of Soul Night. It was very crowded and very loud, but the music was excellent. Unfortunately, I was pretty nervous about my back, so I couldn't dance as much as I like to. After a few songs, we discussed it and decided we'd better get me home and rest my back. It was after 12, so we had to walk.

This morning when I woke up my back still really hurt, but there was still no purple mark. Just some swelling and a little redness like last night. Other than it being quite sensitive to the touch, again, no other effects from the fall.

Today was a rather lazy day for us. We slept in again, hung out at home, then came into town for church this evening and enjoyed a pizza dinner at a local restaurant.

Thus ends the entry.

Posted by Erin at November 17, 2002 10:11 PM