Glow

It's been a strange week. Up and down. Cold.

But at least I have a Christmas Tree. I got it right before Thanksgiving--on sale at Target. A $20 6-ft Canadian Fir. Skinny. Small. When I put the three parts together and flocked out the tips, it still looked skimpy. Then I strung clear lights around it. Then I hung a few inherited ornaments and balls collected from previous years' post-Christmas clearance. Snowmen inhabited the tree. I found a tree skirt for $1 at Dollar Tree.

And so it glows. Snickers, partially bald right now, immediately took to lying underneath and kicking at the skirt.

This Christmas, there probably won't be any presents underneath. Someday, either this tree or a larger one in a home will oversee a family of gifts. Someday.

Not that future but another is on my mind. Three months until my thesis is due. Can you believe it? Three months of writing and editing. Well, actually only two more months of writing and then one month of solid editing. It's scary again. And then there's graduation (conditional upon successfully writing and defending my thesis) and a job and movement.

Is there hope? Oh, yes. I am looking forward to the challenge of something new. And right now, I'm disappointed that I only have two more days with my 101 students this semester. This time of the semester is hard--it's saying goodbye after just really getting to know one another. We mesh, and then it's over. And this is my last time teaching 101 at KU, which is sad. I don't want to not teach. But what to do?