it's been too long

Wow. I haven't blogged in months. Winter break is approaching and I will have a lot more time on my hands. I might give in to the blog temptation. Let's see......I guess to start back into my blogging life I should start with some dots.

• I am wrapping up the fall semester. I was in three classes this semester, all of which were pretty decent. I am pretty much finished, though still have to wrap up one more paper, due this Friday. I was fortunate to take a class with a woman who may be one of the best profs I have ever had. She is more than a teacher, but has been a mentor to me. Her class had a radicalizing effect on me: theologically, politically, socially, etc. I had had those radicalizing moments in past classes - reading Angela Davis in my freshman year in college, reading Bordo and Foucault in grad school - but she expanded me even further. She is one of the most amazing human beings I have ever had the pleasure to know. I could listen to her lecture for hours. She is retired, so she doesn't teach multiple classes each semester. However, I am one lucky lady, she is teaching another class in the upcoming Winter semester. I am in.
  

• Emily is away in residential program in Wyoming. It's so incredibly hard having her gone, especially at the holidays, but she is doing well. Things have been so hard since Brad died, and she was getting into some pretty self destructive behavior. We find out more and more as time goes on and she opens up. I am glad she is healthy and safe, but my heart just aches.
  

• The last few weeks have been particularly difficult - I have been physically sick (strep throat and a nasty cold) and feeling really down, emotionally. The tears come easily these days.
  

• I am so thankful for Graham's unwavering love and support. While it sometimes seems like we are ships passing in the night, our relationship is as strong as ever and I am always thankful just to be in his presence. It's nice to married to my bestest friend. :)
  

• I am headed to St Louis in a week! I will be there for about 2 1/2 weeks. I will be working most weeknights at the women's homeless shelter that housed in my mom's church. Some evenings I will work dinner and leave at 10pm. Other nights I will be staying there all night. Graham will come down with the dog on the 19th and we will drive home on the 27th. We are going to be working at the shelter overnight on Christmas Eve and the evening shift on Christmas. With Emily gone, I really need a distraction, and maybe this will start a new tradition! I am looking forward to it.
  

• I am also looking forward to time with mom, friends and their kids in St Louis. I am planning an Aunt Katie trip to the art museum with Callie's daughter, my dear little Esther. We will be joining my friend Robin and her 5 year old, Clara Jane. I am really excited about getting some Auntie time in. Robin and I are also planning a knit-in, with Golden Girls episodes saved on her DVR!
  

• Oh yeah, speaking of the Lou - we are planning on moving back to St Louis! YES!! While I am certainly content and comfortable in my little corner of the world, outside of Chicago - I am not really a fan of living here. St Louis is so much more my speed. We weighed a few options and St Louis really is the best one. I have connections for jobs, there are good law schools for Graham, I know the school systems well (for Emily), it's a heckuva lot cheaper to live there, and when Em comes back from Wyoming we want to give her a clean slate. We will either be moving into my mom's townhouse, or looking at houses in Webster. It's still a long ways away - so we'll see how it plays out.
  

• We will be traveling in mid January to see Emily in Wyoming. I am really looking forward to this.
  

• I continue to be thankful for my friends in Chicago, St Louis and across the country. They have really reached out to me and have been so kind and understanding during the difficulties of this year. You know who you are. I wish I could say the same for most of my family.*shrug*

• Oh yeah! I will be interning in Milwaukee in two programs. Most of my time will be spent working in a holistic healing center for women who have suffered sexual assult or childhood sexual abuse - I will also be doing some acute crisis work with assault victims in the emergency room. I visited last week and was really impressed with the program and with the people I spoke with. I don't start until June or July, but am already so excited. I am so ready to be finished with the program and get working. Most of my coursework will be finished after this spring. I will have a couple classes in the fall and spring next year - but they are courses that coincide with my internship. No, I am not moving to Milwaukee (though it would be nice) but I will be staying a couple nights with my friend Judy. It's nto a bad drive, either. There are days it takes me longer to commute within Chicago than the time it took me to drive to Milwaukee.
  

• I continue to knit and knit! I am so addicted. However, my etsy shop never really got going. I did sell a bunch of commissioned baby sets - but I tired of them rather quickly. I have a number of projects on the needles right now - mostly Christmas gifts!
  

• I have been watching a lot of movies from the library and seasons of The Office on DVD.

• Every Thursday evening I go to my friend Sarah's condo in Rogers Park after I get out of class at the North Shore campus and get take out and watch The Office at 8pm. Yes, I am hooked. It is a highlight of my week. I love having a key to her place - home away from home, indeed! xo (she has AWESOME cats, too!)
  

• I am reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield - after some pretty heady reading this semester, it's nice to sink my teeth into such a juicy beach read!

I guess that's about it - I am going to try and be better about updating. Now, back to knitting - or shower, book and bed - it IS almost 2am afterall.