Still straining toward what is ahead...

This is supposed to by my way-overdue blog post about how to making hosting a holiday gathering a cinch.  Or I should be telling you all about the great time I had at Christmas, or about how excited I am to be starting nursing school in January.  And all of those things would be good and true.  But if we're honest, that's not what I spend the majority of my time thinking about lately.

This is.

Big Newses, etc.

I'm breathing a big sigh, and starting to relax.  There are lots of things to tell you.  As usual, a list is the way to go.  For your convenience, the big newses are in bold, other newses aren't. 

Semester = Over

I took my last exams today.  My assignments are turned in and graded, the studying is done for a few weeks, and I am exhausted. What are you going to do now, Steph? Probably get sick, read ALL the books, sleep, bake Christmas cookies, etc.

My Thanksgiving dream came true, and it was a smashing success. At least in my book.  Tim's parent's and sister came, I cooked a turkey dinner, the smoke alarm only went off once, everything was delicious, and it was relaxing and not stressful.  I'm still have leftovers in my fridge.  I should probably throw those out, huh? I took pictures and I was going to share recipes but... those pictures are currently in Anchorage.  So, when they come back, I will get busy with that. Also coming up, advice for a successful holiday dinner!  Keep it simple, work ahead, etc.

Emily has started her new job.  She hasn't worked with BTTJ one single day, since he's been in Alaska. How's it going for her?  She's kicking butt, taking names, etc.

Alfonso won Dancing with the Stars.  And I loved it.  And Sadie made it to finals and was fantastic.  And Mark was a crying mess.  And next season is the 10th anniversary, so it could be pretty major.  Thankfully, I have Downton Abbey coming up in a few weeks to hold me over.  I also realized I am free next spring (2016) to do the show, so I should probably get on that.  Step 1: become famous, etc.

Progress on the basement in the last month: zero.  We still have no stairs.  If you have questions or concerns about this, please address them to BTTJ.  I'll be busy coloring in my blanket fort.

I survived working Black Friday, though to be fair, I got the easy shift--- the one where there were not customers.  Pretty much all I did was clean. It was great.  When I went back on Saturday, everything was a disaster again.

Jynx got a haircut, because she majorly needed one.  She looks cute, but I definitely caught her shivering today-- inside the house. Maybe we should turn up the thermostat?

(Cue the obigatory dog pictures!)

Here she is before (the fluff-bucket at the top)