And the Mountains in Reply....

Ah, Christmas.

It's been quite a week, what with holiday parties, finals, and basketball. (We're on a losing streak, if you're wondering. Instead of our normal 10 players--our star(ting) point guard, Amber, is out for several weeks with an ankle inury--we'll have a walloping 8 to field in our games this Thursday, due to holiday travel. That ought to be a character revealing experience. I should mention, actually, that we've made some improvements as a team, although they aren't improvements that necessarily show statistically.)

If I was driving this sleigh ride (and by "this sleigh ride," I mean, of course, this household) I'd have, oh, about 2-4 small parties each holiday season; nothing fancy or stressful, just nice times with friends and family, something about validating Judy Garland warbling "Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore..." My parents do not agree with my philosophy, and generally abstain from Christmas cheer in the social department as much as possible. Oh, they're not Scrooges or hermits, they just prefer to be home as a family, enjoying to lights on the tree, reading or what not. However, they appear to be thawing a bit from the anti-social ice that has gripped them the past few years (deny it if you will, Aunt Bee), and we had some friends over last Sunday for a filling Italian meal and pleasant day of warm fires, Monopoly and conversation. It was quite an enjoyable day, and perhaps an encouragement to the 'rents to do more entertaining (the word "entertaining" used here solely for lack of a better term). A change in philosophy, perhaps.

Anyway, the holiday spirit was also alive and well in our sign language class this week, as we watched a The Miracle Worker (the version with the curly-haried chick from Polly and the Pepsi commercials a few years back) while munching on popcorn and apple juice. I think it was the first time those 7th graders have ever shut up for more than twelve seconds at a time. Flabbergasting, really. We also had a lovely evening at my aunt and uncle's house on Monday.

As for finals....
Chemistry was actually fun, and much easier than I expected, coming from a college. The "blue book" final consisted of four questions to be answered in essay form; however, as the professor has a keen awareness of the extent of scientific knowledge his students possess, he makes some allowances, such as posting the pool of questions he is going to choose from online a week or so in advance. About half the class walked out without completing--or starting--the final since they had enough credit with their returned portoflios to warrant an "A."

Debate, on the other hand, well, the final didn't happen. Mainly because it wasn't scheduled to. Of course, for whatever reason, I assumed it was (the original syllabus did say it was the 13th), and studied for several hours. Naturally, it isn't until January 10th. Ah, well, more time to improve my cases, I suppose.

And now, it is winter break (notice how politically correct I am), and I--foolish I, who consciously chose to go on a domestic rampage and sew a bunch of stuff for my friends--have some gifts to make. So, adieu.

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Snow (n. A vile, white substance consisting mostly of H2O that falls to the ground on freezing December days and manages to get inside one's shoes despite preconsidered plans--such as stepping in existing footprints--to avoid this unfortunate predicament. Romanticized in many seasonal carols sung by the likes of Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole.)