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My students are gone now.
I don't want to talk about it.
In an effort not to mope, I've been decorating the house for the Christmas vacation package that will start on Wednesday. Our big (I'm talking at least three stories big) blue spruce has supplied me with lots of pine cones and greenery, and I've had fun accumulating various ornaments, candles, chocolates, and other odds and ends over the past few weeks to sprinkle around. I've not taken many pictures of the house for you so I'll do some photos once I'm done and put them here.The house is starting to look ready for the Holidays, and I began thinking it even smelled like Christmas in all the rooms...until I realized I had pine syrup all over my left hand from cutting up all the greens.
Oh, I miss Kurt, Nathan, Becca, Katie, Mollie, Megan, Natasha, Meredith, Jamie, and Megan. Not fun.
I am sitting upstairs in the students' living room (a square landing with 5 big bedrooms and 2 bathrooms surrounding it) while they pack and putz around. Every ten or so minutes, someone will come out of their room to ask if I'd like something they either don't need or can't fit in their suitcase. This has resulted in a shower of early surprise Christmas gifts, albeit random ones, and here are some of my favorites:
- Thank you note stationery
- Toothpaste...lots of it
- A perfectly good Juicy Couture hooded jacket in black (Vandy girls, you'll understand how lucky this is)
- More pasta than I could possibly consume in the next five months
- A pocket-sized calculator-slash-German translator
Poor Greece. The unrest in Athens right now is very scary, and the students and I are glad to have missed the riots by exactly a week.While I still would like to write up my time in Athens and Santorini, the week and a half since that trip has been so eventful that I'd rather document that first.We returned to Vienna the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and from that evening until the following Saturday night, I had one mission: to finish this blasted book chapter once and for all! If you've not been keeping up with me until recently, I've been working on a writing project with one of my Wake professors since last June. Our paper will become a chapter in a book about self-esteem across the lifespan. Our chapter talks about the idea that when older adults do creative things, it can help their self-esteem.I won't bore you with details, but for a variety of reasons it was difficult for me to make much writing progress this summer and this past fall, despite the fact that I've taken a big binder full of journal articles EVERYWHERE with me for the past 6 months. What matters most is that I've got 20 pages of decent writing and over 70 sources to back it up! Sending this second draft to our editor was absolutely exhilarating.I stole the picture below from Kristi's blog to show you our women's Bible study at the Christmas party we had on Wednesday:
These women are wonderful, and I am thankful that I can continue to get to know them when we start up again in January. My attendance this Fall was pretty sporadic, given some travel conflicts and general confusion about whether or not I was free to leave the house on some Wednesday mornings. I think it'll be a lot easier this Spring.Speaking of dear Kristi, we spent the day on Tuesday at one of the largest malls in Europe--totally overwhelming. I will be in Vienna over Christmas to help with a Wake Forest vacation package for 17 Wake Forest alumni and their families. Part of my responsibilities for this include decorating the house, so Kristi and I did our best budget shopping at IKEA and other places for some beautiful things that Wake Forest can use this year and in Christmases to come. I'll take some pictures for you when I get the place all gussied up.My dear students! Today's their last day in the house all together. Most are leaving tomorrow, some are traveling for a bit and then flying out of Vienna in a few weeks, and one is staying on for the Christmas package at the house with his family. I am so sad to see them go--I have SO enjoyed getting to serve these kids this Fall. Each one is so bright and unique, and I'll look forward to keeping in touch to see how their lives unfold from here. I don't know. You probably think all of this sounds cheesy. But I love 'em, and I'll miss them a lot.
Meet my friend Barb. Barb is from my hometown of Butler, PA, but we didn't meet each other until we became co-counselors at Summer's Best Two Weeks, the Christian athletic camp I attended as a kid and worked at all through college. We totally hit it off (holler cabin 3), and the next year were co-counselors for my dear cabin 14 (Barb is in the green visor up there in the corner):
In short, Barb is one of my dearest friends because she's a great listener, she's lots of fun, and her life's twists and turns have been remarkably similar to mine. And also because I crashed her mom's car in Nashville during Passion '06 (long story) and her family showed more grace to me than I've ever felt in almost any other situation.
So. You may be thinking, That's great Beth, and boy do you look like you're 12 in that red and blue picture there, but why are you telling me about Barb?
Well. Barb is currently teaching high school English in West Philadelphia through a program that's similar to Teach for America. Her kids come from rough and poor neighborhoods and many are trying to overcome a two grade-level achievement gap. Her classroom is impossibly hot (yes, even in December) so she's trying to raise money for a small A/C unit.
I would LOVE for you to join me in donating to this project! Perhaps you're busy and don't have time to do an Angel Tree project this year, or maybe you simply know you can live without $10 and could send it her way with a few clicks. Either way, I know Barb and her kids would appreciate it.CLICK HERE to read more about Barb's class and how you can donate.
