I'm Sorry! I Just...Ended up in Wales Somehow.

First things first, I apologize for disappearing off the face of the virtual earth for the past few weeks. I'll blame a combination of my latest trip to Germany, having no internet in my bedroom and not feeling inclined to walk all the way down to the living room, and a completely unexpected turn of events that meant I ended up back in Wales this week.

I left the Beacon's house at 3pm German time last Sunday. I was prepared for the usual 10 or more hours of travelling and the hassle that is navigating Schiphol Airport. But then I remembered that due to recent 'adverse weather conditions' my train to Exeter wouldn't be running. My plane would land at 9pm and the next bus was at 2am and no amount of free KLM wine could make that prospect any less daunting. So when I landed in Bristol and found my Dad waiting to take me back to Port Talbot, for the first time ever I was grateful that my mother is so paranoid about me doing anything after sundown. Suddenly the fact that she says things like, "take extra care and make sure you have your rape alarm" when I walk home from campus at 6pm in winter was overshadowed by fact that I wouldn't be travelling through the apocalyptic Devon weather on a bus until 4:30am. Within an hour and a half I was warm, comfy, and wearing my amazing Mickey Mouse pjs.

Determined not to step outside the house into the whirling chaos of gale force winds and bone-chilling rain (why put my hair through such an ordeal unless it's absolutely necessary?), I decided to put my time to good use and get some work done. So naturally I constructed a cave in my parent's living room and watched Gone with the Wind. There was only another 40 minutes or so left until Scarlet finally realises Ashley Wilkes isn't all that, even if he does have a completely unnecessary British accent, when the storm cut off our power. After some deliberation about how my mother would react to us using her 'display candles', my father and I drank Jack Daniels in the dark. I did not leave my cave.

Picture from the BBC website to show
 I'm not being melodramatic.

A quick summary for my readers from outside the UK, we are currently experiencing mass flooding and 80mph winds. And will continue to do so until at least the end of the month according to the weather people. They've issued an Amber Warning, although I can't say with any certainty that anyone knows what that actually means. But it is wet and cold. Even by British standards. We're talking evacuations and train tracks in the sea.

That said, I was in no way discouraged from heading into Swansea with Ellis, Lauren, and my mother for a trip to TGI Fridays. That is the kind of necessity I am willing to risk my hair for. Lauren, now 4 years old, asked me for relationship advice. It seems her boyfriend won't play with her in the yard at lunchtime any more. I briefly outlined the 'men are like elastic bands' theory, but she couldn't quite grasp it. So I distracted her with a colouring book.

And now I'm back in Exeter with a cold, a full laundry basket, mould growing on my wall, and absolutely no inclination to get out of bed and face those 'high risk' winds. Maybe it's time to make a new cave...