I am finally done after a particularly loooonnng day. I handed in my last grad school project, took my last long exam...and have only one more oral exam to go tomorrow. I am sooooo done with all this!
I should be focusing on Christmas, but my shopping is almost done, and I don't feel like going all out to decorate...I have pointsettias and a few little things, and that's frankly enough...just the idea of UNdecorating afterwards requires too much energy at this point.
Now, all I want is a nice glass of wine, or some eggnog, a nice book to get lost in (that has NOTHING to do with my university studies!), and q..u..i..e..t...
sigh.
Well, at least I bought the eggnog on the way home.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
I haven't blogged much lately, because I was having trouble with this blog. My posts kept not showing up. I see this past one (now over a week old) has finally arrived, so I've decided to try again.
I have discovered a new love. I do not subscribe to the cable conglomerate, and rather borrow videos and DVDs from the library for our down-time relaxation. About a month ago, my library had a new DVD: the British mystery/drama series Rosemary & Thyme. It is wonderful! Each of the DVDs holds 3 episodes...and after the first DVD, I was addicted. I love everything. The opening scene is a bouquet of flowers on time-lapse photography (which I always love!) This becomes a bouquet of rosemary and thyme. All this happens with a background of a beautiful version of "Scarborough Fair" played by John Williams on classical guitar. It is absolutely lovely.
The show is about two middle-aged ladies who are horticultural specialists. They rescue beautiful English gardens that've overgrown and such, and they inevitably stumble onto murders, which they solve, of course.
After the first DVD, I returned it to find (oh joy!) another one! After a few weeks of hard-core university research, I finally got a break and went back to the library to find they'd gotten 2 more! These are as delightful as the first 2.
So...if any of you enjoys Agatha Christie or any of the more recent British crime dramas (can't remember any names...sorry), then this will be right up your alley. I only wish my mom were here to share it with me. She'd have liked it too.
Happy rest-of-December, and may your holiday family happenings be blessed!
I have discovered a new love. I do not subscribe to the cable conglomerate, and rather borrow videos and DVDs from the library for our down-time relaxation. About a month ago, my library had a new DVD: the British mystery/drama series Rosemary & Thyme. It is wonderful! Each of the DVDs holds 3 episodes...and after the first DVD, I was addicted. I love everything. The opening scene is a bouquet of flowers on time-lapse photography (which I always love!) This becomes a bouquet of rosemary and thyme. All this happens with a background of a beautiful version of "Scarborough Fair" played by John Williams on classical guitar. It is absolutely lovely.
The show is about two middle-aged ladies who are horticultural specialists. They rescue beautiful English gardens that've overgrown and such, and they inevitably stumble onto murders, which they solve, of course.
After the first DVD, I returned it to find (oh joy!) another one! After a few weeks of hard-core university research, I finally got a break and went back to the library to find they'd gotten 2 more! These are as delightful as the first 2.
So...if any of you enjoys Agatha Christie or any of the more recent British crime dramas (can't remember any names...sorry), then this will be right up your alley. I only wish my mom were here to share it with me. She'd have liked it too.
Happy rest-of-December, and may your holiday family happenings be blessed!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Well, it is December. I don't know why, but I get excited when I flip that calendar page from November to December...even when the weather's warmer than it should be. I dislike so much about the overcommercialism of the holidays, but there are still the basic reasons why I love this time of year, anyway.
When I was a little girl, my mother used to get an Advent calendar every year. (Does anyone remember those?) Every day, from Dec. 1st on, I'd open the little window for the day, and she would read to me what it said, and we'd get to see the hidden picture (a star, an angel, one of the animals in the stable.) One year, a German friend gave us one with little chocolates behind every window.
My mother was born on December 25th, and was named Carol in honor of the day. She was almost Noel, but her father was afraid it would be pronounced wrong. It's a funny thing about names. My mother was definitely a Carol, always singing...Noel just didn't suit her.
I think about my mom a lot, especially now. As Little-Sir-3-Year-Old loses his babyness and gets more like a rough and tumble boy, I wish she were here to share it all. She would absolutely adore him. There's so much about my life today that is completely different than when she was here with us. I wish she were here now...healthy and happy.
Yeah...more bittersweet times. Every wonderful thing I experience is saddened by not being able to share it the way I want with the people I want. Every awful thing is lessened a bit by the knowing that my mom didn't have to see it and be hurt by it.
And now it's December. Soon we'll have the first snow of winter, the holidays will rush by, the lull after Jan. 2 will come, and I'll seek opportunities to curl up with a good book on a cold evening.
Now, if only I had a fireplace...
When I was a little girl, my mother used to get an Advent calendar every year. (Does anyone remember those?) Every day, from Dec. 1st on, I'd open the little window for the day, and she would read to me what it said, and we'd get to see the hidden picture (a star, an angel, one of the animals in the stable.) One year, a German friend gave us one with little chocolates behind every window.
My mother was born on December 25th, and was named Carol in honor of the day. She was almost Noel, but her father was afraid it would be pronounced wrong. It's a funny thing about names. My mother was definitely a Carol, always singing...Noel just didn't suit her.
I think about my mom a lot, especially now. As Little-Sir-3-Year-Old loses his babyness and gets more like a rough and tumble boy, I wish she were here to share it all. She would absolutely adore him. There's so much about my life today that is completely different than when she was here with us. I wish she were here now...healthy and happy.
Yeah...more bittersweet times. Every wonderful thing I experience is saddened by not being able to share it the way I want with the people I want. Every awful thing is lessened a bit by the knowing that my mom didn't have to see it and be hurt by it.
And now it's December. Soon we'll have the first snow of winter, the holidays will rush by, the lull after Jan. 2 will come, and I'll seek opportunities to curl up with a good book on a cold evening.
Now, if only I had a fireplace...
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