October in December

My last post got us to the end of September and since I can't remember for the life of me anything exciting we did in October, I can only suppose it is because we were trudging through very difficult semesters for both of us.

I was "super smart" and decided to take 4 classes while teaching a new course 4 days a week, tutoring two nights a week, and working part time at UNC Press. I am happy to report the semester from Hell will be officially over on Friday (I just have one take home exam to finish)! It was a great semester, albeit busy, and I am looking forward to teaching Spanish and Women's Studies in the spring with only 3 classes and no part time jobs!

Paul successfully defended his dissertation prospectus on Dec. 6 and has the green light to start dissertating as soon as he finishes grading 65 Spanish essays on the "Discovery" of America. I guess I can say good-bye to our lovely-looking yard for a while!

Here are two photos of our October. We had warmer than usual temperatures and I made Paul carry our dining table onto the deck so I could study outdoors. (Today we took the dogs hiking in t-shirts in 80 degree weather. It's December 12th!!)

We didn't do anything for Halloween. I had a busy week that week with a paper due the next day and I had to teach Thursday morning at 8. Ugh! Maybe next year...

More Soon,

M