Things to be thankful for...

After a lovely Thanksgiving break, here are a few things I am thankful for:

1. My wonderful husband, Derek

2. My loving family

3. Our spacious 2-bedroom apartment

4. Paid holiday time

5. Wal-Mart and Cracker Barrell being open on Thanksgiving

6. duck ponds

7. Black Friday sales

8. My two jobs that help to keep us afloat during this joyous but expensive season

9. Christmas cookies and hot cocoa on my first day back at work

10. The all-Christmas music radio station

These are just a few things I could think of off the top of my head. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and welcome to the most wonderful time of the year!

Time to be thankful

As I happily put the finishing touches on my Prospectus paper, I leaned back and sighed. I was elated - the paper is due on Wednesday by 5:00 pm and here I was already done with it on Tuesday morning! Now I had time for Derek to look over it tonight and then I could just send it on its merry little way through cyberspace to land in the awaiting portal of my professor's inbox.

These are my thoughts at the moment. I know I complained all through October about what a terrible month November was going to be, but I was wrong. Remind me next time I get the same idea - it's not so bad, Mary! Remember last fall? Oh yeah...

So now I'm done with that. All I have left is a short 2-3 page critique of someone else's prospectus due Dec. 7 and then a final paper for my Nationalisms class due Dec. 6. However, I'm going to take it easy the rest of the week and enjoy the Thanksgiving Holidays. Derek and I are staying in San Antonio, but my parents are actually coming to visit us here. That's a first! They'll arrive Thursday night and leave Saturday morning. The reason for the brevity of their visit is because I'm having to squeeze them in between celebrations with Derek's families (dad's side on Thanksgiving proper, Mom's side on Saturday after Thanksgiving). I wish my family could stay longer, but I will get to see them for Christmas when we go on our "big 'venture" as my dad would often say when I was a young'un.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Running to the finish line

I'm feeling a little better nowadays about my school situation...I've talked it over with my professor and we've decided that I should take an incomplete for my Mexico City Independent Study paper. It was pretty obvious that I was not going to be able to finish it by the end of the semester with all I have going on. The only thing I don't like about this decision is now I have it looming over my head all during Christmas break. I told her that I would try to work on it over the break, and finish it up by late January, early February. I don't need to stretch it out over another semester, that is for sure, especially with what I have coming up NEXT semester.

So, now I need to concentrate on my other two classes. I think I can handle the assignments, especially now as the readings are considerably lighter than previously in the semester. I think it's going to be okay, and I am going to make it to the end of the semester!

In other news, Derek runs the San Antonio Half-Marathon on Sunday to help him train for the Houston marathon coming up in January. I know he will do really well in this half-marathon - for Derek, the longer he runs, the more people he can pass, the better his time is, etc. So, for 13 miles, he should do fairly well. I'm excited to see how it goes!

And you thought the title was a metaphor...