We will see:

We got a final interview with the teaching program that's so competitive. Yay, and sigh because for a job I don't even know if we will get it sure is requiring a lot of energy!

Don't I have the world's sweetest baby?

Just look at that!

Ouch!

Me: holding Cuppycake on my hip and waiting for Pappa Starbucks to pay for purchases
Rude Lady: "Awww, she's so cute!!"
Me: "Thanks!" To Cuppycake, who is 'flirting'- smiling at the lady "Are you making a new friend? "
RL: "How tiny! I don't even see any teeth yet! How old is she?"
Me: Switching hips "Almost 6 months."
RL: Pointing directly at my waist "And you're already expecting another one?"
Me: Eyebrows shooting upwards "What? No WAY."
RL: "Oh, it's just, you look pregnant. I didn't know if it was possible with her being so little still. "
Me: !!!!!!!!

Beginning

It started innocently enough.
I have never truly been a Christmas person. Even when I was little- I always resented the moods of shoppers crowding the aisles, and the hubub of visitors invading our tiny home.
And sometimes, the disappointment.
But now that we are three, we have agreed to have Christmas traditions of a different sort. We agreed to not do a tree, or lights. Or presents for everyone, and we agreed that we would stay here in our sweet town for Christmas and avoid my batty, crazy family.
But then we took some photos of the babe in sweet Christmas form, and today we mailed $20 worth of Christmas cards to friends and family. Most of whom will not look at the shiny piece of paper again after Christmas.
And we bought a wreath for the door, because it was our one festive agreement.
And then, decorations to fill a bowl on the table.
And now, my living room is filled with stacks of presents for all the tykes in my family. My mother guilted me into visiting for Christmas so we will be hitting the road for an (at least) eight hour car trip with the Cuppycake on Tuesday.
And then, today, while picking up those crazy expensive photo cards from Walgreens, we decided their $10 Christmas tree was a steal. And to go with it, we HAD to have ornaments. Lights. Garland. A skirt. And at AC Moore, with my dear, we found they too were having a sale, and bought MORE ornaments, cookie cutters, and wrapping paper.

It is all too familiar, and all to invasive. I would SO rather not get started on this....but how does one avoid it?

An update and some fo-toes

Well finally the debacle that was this semester is over. Some of it was awful, but some truly wonderful things happened too. I began classes this year with a four week old babe. And since those of you who have babies know what that did to me, I will leave it at this: I was in serious pain, and I have never felt more depressed in my life than those days when I had to walk out the door and leave my 'Plink' (Cuppycake) behind, screaming because, well, sometimes that's what babies do when they are unhappy.
But by now, I have acclimated to scurrying off to class, though I still don't enjoy it, it doesn't make me want to find a window to leap from.


Exams are over. The holidays are arriving!
Oh yes, exams.
I screwed up a little bit of the fondness one of my professors had for me this year by missing his final exam. To my credit, he rescheduled it (against University policy anyway) without the approval of the Provost's office, and then did not announce the changes via email, or on our course website.
I got to make it up, and it didn't cost my GPA too much because I somehow made a B in the class, so it wasn't that big of a deal in the end. Another professor lost all of my assignments for the year, which was a bummer. We figured it out though.
And Pappa Starbucks and I have not found jobs yet, but we did apply for, research for, plan and interview for (and yes, we got selected!!) a really incredible scholarship that is sending us, all expenses paid, to Ireland in the Spring.
And we're entering our very. last. semester (HALLELUJAH!!) in January.
Today, we are frumping around and fighting as much as we want to, and maybe finally cleaning a little bit, or searching for a few rampant Christmas decorations. I'm making many of the presents this year for nieces, nephews, etc. and there behind me and inspiring me is this book I wanted so long, and two sweet baby dolls are getting their own diaper bags, cloth diapers, rattles, and finger puppets as well as teeny blankets. 'Dorable!

Should be fun, because around here, we usually define "fun" as plucking each other's eyebrows.

Woohoo!