Survival of the Marathon...

...And on to the holidays.

I have officially made it through my first semester of graduate school and two weeks of exhausting finals and projects mingled with a brutal ailment. Now that I have finished, I await my grades in the new year and move on to the holidays.

I go home tomorrow afternoon with Shannon. We'll see what kind of misadventures we can scrounge up in Rochester for a few days. I'm already through with boredom and for some reason I think I need a slight change of scenes for a few days. Now that I'm not focusing on classes or homework, I feel as though I'm floundering a bit, searching for a sense of purpose.

Maybe I will feel more in the holiday spirit once I get home. It will be nice to see a Christmas Tree again, I'll admit. Although, I'm not really holding out hope for a white Christmas--as wonderful as that would be.

I've kept busy though amidst all the work I've had to do. I've seen a few movies in the past week, Babel and the Queen. I would highly recommend both to anyone. I also went to a wonderful restaurant in Yorkville called Bellinis where I drank Chianti and ate incredible tiramisu and overall felt important in my dress and black heels. Last night's dinner took place at a park with cream cheese, a baguette and salami. While it was a bit cold, it was a relaxing way to enjoy the evening.

I do wish it would cool down and snow though. Get me in the mood a little more. This has been an interesting semester and in just three short months, I've come rather far. I'm used to Canadian money and feel weird every time I see a US dollar. I accomplished a marathon of finals and papers and presentations. I feel as though I've learned heaps more in one semester of graduate school than in four years of classes at SOC. Maybe I just tried harder.

I will miss the busy, bright city lights over the next few weeks. I will replace them with the lights of Rochester and then the noisy streets of New York City around New Years. I had planned on making a trip to DC, but I've decided it will have to wait until February. Timing will be better for everyone I believe.

Happy Holidays to everyone back in the States. I'll be crossing the border tomorrow.