Snowy New Year's Eve

Woke up to snow this morning, which was somewhat of a surprise. They'd been forecasting flurries and such, but there's about 3 or 4 inches on the ground right now.

The holidays were nice, but, as always, went by too fast. Spent some time with the family and the husband, and that's really what the holidays are about for me, not the gifts. Life is a gift. Family is a gift.

I'm a bit melancholy today, as I always am on New Year's Eve. I've been reflecting on the past year, and how much, as always, things have changed. A year ago, I was not a happy person. Life wasn't horrible, but I wasn't able to appreciate what I had. Now, I'm happy and able to see how incredibly lucky I am. I have a husband whom I love with all my heart, and who is just...such a good man. I have a family whom I adore, and love to spend time with. I have a great career, good friends, my cats. What more could I ask for?

I'm still working on my resolutions, so I'll post them later. For now, I'm going to enjoy the snow day and read until I have to pick up the husband from work (his car is horrible in the snow).

Today would have been John Denver's 66th birthday. He was Emerson's favorite singer. Yes, that makes me sound like a crazy cat lady, but it's true. When I played John Denver's songs, Emerson would purr like crazy. I can't believe he's been gone almost a year. I miss him very much. I like to think that he's hanging out with John Denver wherever he is.

Finals

After having most of last week "off" from school (still had grading to do, but didn't have finals to administer), I'm giving finals today and tomorrow. It's easy enough -- I just sit here with my laptop and poke around the internet (no Facebook, though, as it's blocked) -- but I'd rather be home. I wasn't nearly productive enough last week, and have a lot to do before the holiday.

I haven't sent out Christmas cards yet, and may just do it after the holiday. I wanted to write notes to everyone, and I'll have time to do that after Friday. The next couple of days will be filled with finals, grading, baking, and sleep.

My sleep schedule has been screwy the past few weeks. No matter what time I go to bed (typically 10-11pm), I'm awake at 3am. It's either due to hip pain (I can only sleep on my side), the urge to pee (seriously annoying), or just general insomnia. Sometimes I can fall back asleep, but most of the time I can't. So I just get up and watch tv. I'm too sleepy to do anything that requires focus, so it's not like I use the extra time to get things done. Oh well.

I'm on campus until 2ish, then I have to go home and bake. I'm giving baskets of baked goodies to my colleagues tomorrow. So far, I've finished (all homemade): strawberry jam, grape jelly, molasses spice cookies, and snickerdoodles. Tonight, I'm making homemade caramel corn with peanuts, chocolate covered oreos, and maybe homemade bread. Everything needs to be finished tonight so that I can deliver the goods tomorrow. I wanted to do more, but I just didn't have the time. There's always next year, right?

I'd better get back to work...

Gifts

I've been off from school since Monday, but have to go back on the 21st & 22nd for finals. I thought I'd spend my week baking and getting ready for the holidays, but that hasn't happened. I've been reading, napping, shopping a little...really not productive at all.

My mom came over today, and we made a batch of grape jelly (from juice, not fruit). It's setting (I hope) on the counter right now. If it turns out yummy, I'll post the recipe. I'm going to make strawberry jam, and maybe blueberry jam tonight. Tomorrow will be spent (really) baking cookies. I want to have everything finished so that I can deliver stuff on Monday.

I have an OB appointment that I need to get ready for. I don't feel like venturing outside, though. Very cold today.

Just not into it...

Today is the last day for my Tuesday/Thursday classes. I should be excited. I should go in there and wow them one last time before the final exam. But I just don't have the energy. It could be that I haven't been sleeping well (leg cramps, the constant need to pee, kicking baby), but I'm beginning to suspect that I'm just tired of teaching. That's something I thought I'd never say. And I hope it's not true.

Slowly but steadily, the desire to own my own farm has been creeping to the forefront. I want to be more self-sufficient. Instead of teaching today, I'd much rather stay home today and bake some bread from scratch. I'm not great at it, but I want to perfect it. I want to start going through my seed catalogs and plan next year's garden. But I'll go in and learn 'em.