Relief

The semester is finally over! All of my finals are in, and all of my students’ finals are graded. This was probably the busiest semester I’ve had so far. I’m looking forward to this holiday break quite a bit, even though it will be mostly eaten up by other projects. If anybody has any good ideas for a doctoral dissertation, send ’em my way!

Our Christmas shopping is also nearly done. Having kids complicates Christmas in several ways. For example, Avey doesn’t really have much of a wishlist this year, but the one thing she wants is a giraffe pillow (giraffes are her favorite animal). We had seen animal-like pillows around, and so figured that couldn’t be too difficult to find. I went to Walmart to knock out some shopping, and spent about half of the trip trying to hunt down a giraffe pillow. They had horse pillows, bear pillows, dog pillows, cat pillows, unicorn pillows, even fish pillows, and yet nothing that resembled a giraffe! I gave up and stopped at a Walgreens on the way home to pick up a movie at the outdoor machine before heading home, when I noticed through the windows that there was a whole row of plush, pillow-like animals. I ran inside and found a large, plush giraffe, as close to a pillow as I could have imagined (an internet search from home confirmed that there wasn’t much better out there). I made the purchase, and we now excitedly await Christmas morning to see if Avey approves.

Carver is easiest to please. We received several infant toys as hand-me-downs from my auntie, and those will easily stand in for the boy’s gifts. He’s been growing bored with his other toys that he has thoroughly examined and repeatedly confirmed are not food. Of course, he’s content with a small scrap of wrapping paper for a few minutes, so he seems like he’ll enjoy just about anything.

We can’t wait to head back home for a few days, and hope to see some more of our old friends too.

#Happenings