On partisan relationships ...

I'm pretty sure I know which way the people we're house sitting for lean politically.

This is about the fifth phone call I've gotten from the Republican Congressional Committee for the husband. I just keep saying he isn't available.

Is it ridiculous that the lecture I got when I was six about never revealing too much about your house and who lives there to someone on the phone is still ingrained in my head and so I don't have the guts to tell them the guy they're looking for is gone for a year just in case it's some axe murderer or house thief is posing as a Republican and trying to get a confirmation that the house is unattended some of the time and that the owners are away?

Anyway, I'm tired of making up excuses so I'm thinking I'll have Dave answer next time, pretend to be the man they're looking for, and tell them he's decided to be Democrat.

That should do it.

Whose idea was this?

Just in case you wondered, writing a moot court brief during Christmas vacation is about as fun as it sounds.

Skiing with your in-laws on Christmas Eve, however, is REALLY fun!

As is getting a food processor for Christmas. Vegetables are way more fun to pulverize than they are to eat.

On procrastination ...

(I'm totally cherry-picking Reverb10 prompts.)

It's finals time and apparently, somewhere in the world (at least that's what I was told in an e-mail today), it's almost Christmas.

Dave made the most amazing pumpkin pie yesterday. From scratch. Short of growing the pumpkin himself, he did everything else -- the crust, baking down the pumpkin to turn it into what other people buy in a can, mixing it by hand.

It was delicious! He'd tried once before around Thanksgiving, but forgot some of the sugar. This time it came out perfectly sweet.

We still have our Thanksgiving decorations up. There is cornstalk on the porch. I have yet to exchange the orange colored candle I put out as a centerpiece with a red or green one. We're still making Thanksgiving-like desserts. By all accounts, it is November, not December around here.

And it probably will be until finals are over. Preparing for tests isn't the only thing I procrastinate. Switching seasons is difficult, too.

But when November means that you're cuddled up with a blanket and a textbook on the couch while the smell of homemade pie drifts through the house -- you can't help but enjoy it when it stays around a little bit longer.

On etiquette...

So it's two days from finals, I am scrambling to get everything together, and I'm starting to come down with a cold. I've been popping echinacea and vitamins all day.

I have a question for you readers: I walk into a study room yesterday and my friend greets me with: "I'm so sick!" Immediately all I want to do is run out the door. It's finals time, I'm thinking. I know I'll catch it because I'm running on no sleep and my immune system is low. I can't afford any more lost time. We could study by Skype instead, right? But I can't figure out a way to say that without sounding like a complete germaphope and a really insensitive person. I mean, we only have three days till the final and I know she'd put a lot of time into preparing for our review session together. I was in the same situation a week or so ago when I couldn't think of a good response a friend I drove who got in my car with the words "I don't feel good at all." What was I going to do? Tell her to drive herself? Nope. So yesterday I stayed and studied and, sure enough, I caught the cold just like I thought I would.

Anyway, here's my question: What should I have done? Is getting sick just the cost we pay for interacting or is it fair to ask that people let you out of your commitment because they're ill? Does it matter what kind of illness? I mean it was just a cold. It's not like she showed up with swine flu, right? What do you do in situations like this?

Respond.

(Please! =) )

ALSO, just in case you want more ways to participate in my survey, the friend I drove last week told me proudly that she's never missed school for being sick. that she always finds a way to power through illness and be at the lecture. She talked about how important it is to keep commitments, turn in assignments, even when you're sick. Not being a flake is her most important priority. I wanted to respond with how selfish that was ... that infecting everyone else was really not worth not having to ask someone else for the notes. But am I way off base? Does anyone else get upset when people show up to things sick? Do I lack compassion for the ill or are they rude for getting everyone sick? What kind of person are you? 1. You power through the cold and make sure you get done as much as you can that you promised to do? 2. The kind of person that gets frustrated when others show up sick, but when it comes right down to it, and you're the one with the cold, you probably show up to class, work, whatever? or 3. The kind of person that stays home -- not just because you don't want to go to class/work but out of consideration for others? 4. My husband, who has an immune system of steel and never gets sick?

Tis the season ... for wizards?

I love Christmas music.

I love Christmastime.

I love Christmas movies.

I'm still not sure how showing the Harry Potter series was in line with a certain television station's "weekend of Christmas movies" but I'm glad it was because it was the most entertained I've been while studying for finals in several days.

P.S. For some reason, Professor McGonnagal reminds me of Justice O'Connor. Has anyone else made that connection?

On pieces ...

#reverb10 -- Prompt: What one word sums up your 2010 year?

Shattering.

I'v alluded to it in past posts, but early January turned my world upside down. Our marriage, my biases, my life views, my expectations, family relationships -- everything went topsy-turvy. The details haven't, and won't be discussed in this forum. It's too personal. But the beginning of 2010 left everything in pieces, and the rest of it was spent rebuilding. Some parts of life have been rebuilt even more beautiful than before. Some parts are still under construction. And some things -- well, one thing I've learned is just because something is fractured, maybe permanently, doesn't mean it doesn't have worth. In some cases, it becomes more precious.

I chose the word shattering, not shattered, on purpose. There were some definitely earth-shaking revelations that occurred. But things are not in the disarray that they were, and for that I am grateful.

Not all of the shattering that occurred was negative either. As soul-rocking as the experiences were, a lot of impatience, intolerance, insensitivity, and prejudice were shattered and shaken right out of me. I'm better equipped to handle future upsets, and I'm far quicker to offer a sympathetic heart to others who are shaken. Also, there's no doubt the fabulous education I've been blessed with this year formally, and with the crime victims I assisted and in Samoa, shattered misconceptions I didn't even know I had and replaced them with beautiful truths.

All in all, its been a painful rebuild. All growth is. I have NEVER felt so much despair. The best way I know to describe it is that sometimes when you're trying to piece back the shards, you cut yourself. My understanding of depression has significantly and permanently changed. But I would be ungrateful if I didn't acknowledge how generous God was in every other area of my life. It was like He knew how focused I was on rebuilding a few key pieces, and so He quietly managed the rest. So quietly, it took me looking outward to realize how blessed we've really been. For example, in the year that may go down in many people's books as a financial nightmare, we never had a single economic worry. We were blessed with a home to care for, a fabulous job for Dave right out of college, and two internship opportunities for me. There were no significant health problems, no massive car breakdowns, and no deaths. We have been so amply blessed. I truly believe it's because of these blessings that we were able to start healing so well and so quickly. It's because of these blessings that the year progressed from shattering to strengthening. It was a long road here, but I finally think I am ready to face 2011. And I'm excited. There is so much good ahead.

My hope for next year? Balance.

What's your word?