I have to drive
I have my reasons, dear
It's cold outside
I hate the seasons here


My "real" semester ended with the winter holidays, but now I'm in the midst of the ever-intensive winter session. Three hours a day for three weeks. Fifteen weeks of a class condensed in twelve meetings. *whew*

Yuletide has come and gone, and although I really didn't feel that into it this year, by the time it rolled around I was ready. I cooked for christmas/yule/whatevs instead of thanksgiving this time around, and I was rather bold, I think: mashed potatoes with kale and olive oil, squash gratin, sweet roasted butternut squash. I kept some of the "regular" items regular, but everyone seemed to enjoy the different versions too. I wish I had had more time to put out my decorations, I do love my various tannenbaums and trinkets, but it's all said and done now, so no time to worry! New Year's Eve was spent at Yancy's home with The Hangover, junk food, a drop of beer here and there, and some lovely company. It was great! Very laid back, and I'm thankful for the bit of relaxation. I was really feeling out of sorts for a while with this crazy schedule and even with the two week break between fall and winter classes, that silly bank job got in the way of a lot of my plans. But again, no time to worry. Literally.

Besides various holidays and school and work, I've also gotten to see a lot of family recently. My cousin Chris just got married yesterday, so we got to hang out with a lot of my mom's side of the family. ALWAYS a good time! My love Christina turned twenty-six on friday, so we had a very chill party at her favorite watering hole in Salisbury. A good weekend all around. On a sadder note, we got to see a lot of Jim's dad's family due to the death of his stepfather, Charles. He had been ill for a while, and he finally passed on New Year's Day. Not the most wonderful way to start the year off, but sometimes we just don't get to choose. I wasn't close with Charles, but I do have grief for Jim's grandmother's loss, as well as the pain all their children and grandchildren are going through.

That was hard, but this part is harder.

Even though she was a stranger to me and my family, a little girl affected me in a way that I don't quite understand. I am not yet a parent, so I don't think I will fully feel the pain her family feels until the day that I have a child of my own. On December twenty-second, this little girl was taken from her home by a man. This man was no stranger to her or her family. On Christmas Day, her body was found. The search for this young lady with her whole life ahead of her gripped the entire lower peninsula for three days. Over three thousand people joined the official search for her, and thousands more searched their own property. When the word was released that a body was found, and that it was her, I am positive that anyone with a heart had at least a small piece of it break because of this loss. Delmarva is what we call a "small" peninsula - it's like our own world, everybody either knows or is related to everybody else somehow. As joyous as winter holidays are, this loss marred this past holiday and will absolutely affect future holidays. I will always think of this child on Christmas Day. I will think of her school friends that had to come back after break knowing they would never see her in class again. I will think of her family. I will even think of the anchorwoman whose voice cracked so terribly when the press conference confirming this child's death ended.

This is a small peninsula - things like this don't happen here...right?