Entering the final stretch

I love this time of year--crisp, cold mornings; hot chocolate; the anticipation of Christmas and my smug enjoyment in having already bought all my presents . . . oh, yes, and finals. I have to say, being the one to *give* a final is much less stressful than taking one (even if this year I'm doing exit interviews/portfolio evaluations in lieu of a final). Much as I have loved teaching this semester (and I have loved it), I'm looking forward to a break!

This last week was pretty crazy--mostly for me, I think, since finals don't really seem to interrupt the rhythm of Dan's research-oriented existence, and they barely register on Andrew's perceptions (with the possible exception of a crankier-than-usual because more-stressed-than-usual mother). And Evelyn is pretty uniformly sweet, although she's developing a new bad habit of wanting to be held all the time--more specifically, wanting to be held by me if she can see me at all. While it's undeniably flattering to be the center of her little universe, I wouldn't mind sharing some of that glory some of the time!

So, this week. (And I have to apologize for the lack of pictures--last week's photo-fest was due to my parents' generosity in loaning their camera. We apparently left our camera in Cedar City over the Thanksgiving break). I held my last two sessions of class. I somehow had this naive idea that, since my students were doing presentations in class all day Thursday, this week would be a light work load. I'd forgotten that I still had to meet with some of the students I supervise (still do, in fact) and that I was largely in charge of our closing social, which, due to stricter regulations of how university funds ought to be spent, was a bit trickier to plan than usual. (I was under the impression that we would have to do this mostly pot-luck, because of the new regulations, only to find the day before our party, in talking with the woman in charge of the budget stuff, that they're not going to crack down on implementing this policy until next semester. . . which resulted in a rather embarassing breakdown on my part right there in her office. I find that unlooked for kindness when I'm stressed out is often my undoing). But the party went well, despite its irregular set-up: we picked Hawaiian Haystacks as one of the easiest, cheapest things to prepare, but this meant setting up crock-pots and rice-cookers in three different rooms in two different buildings on campus (one was our office, the other two were rooms we'd reserved for our party) so that we didn't blow the fuse in any given place. I'm sure people looked at us strangely as they saw us setting up, but it all worked out okay in the end. And I found myself feeling a faintly maternal sense of pride as I looked over the collected group of students I supervise. They really are a pretty amazing bunch.

At any rate, we survived the week--shopping for the Writing Fellows closing social, for the few unpurchased presents we need for family, and for the two names I picked off the angel tree at the local Macy's. I thought that by choosing names of kids close in age and gender to my own kids, it would be easier to figure out what to get for them, and easier for Andrew to understand the concept of giving Christmas presents to a little boy like himself. That part worked out okay, I think, but the whole process did have one unintended consequence: this little boy was enough like Andrew that Andrew thought *he* needed to have the same kind of book and movie (Diego) that we got for this other little boy. Maybe next year we'll pick out a girl his age instead.

On Saturday we braved a snowstorm to go up to Salt Lake to see family--most especially Dan's sister Sarah. If I'd known how bad the snow was going to be in the morning (most people were going 35 on the freeway) we might not have gone. But we went and we had fun, despite the dismal weather. Andrew was in heaven running around with his cousins. After Evelyn went to sleep, Sarah and I (mostly at my instigation) abandoned the crew for the lace store where I stocked up on ribbons to make accessories for Evelyn. We came back and Sarah made some yummy coconut-lime cupcakes w/ sour cream frosting. About mid-afternoon, once the snow had stopped falling, we headed back home and spent the rest of the day at home, in pursuits mundane enough not to need mention here.