The week before finals!

T'was the fall semester and all through the class
Not a creature was stirring not even for gas
The grades all were placed on the gradebook with care
In hopes that the students still would be there.

The students were nestles all full of dread,
With visions of planerides and trips in their head.
And me in my jacket, and my group in their place,
Had just settled in to finish this race.

When out of the agendas arose such a clatter,
I dropped my jamba juice making a splatter.
I rushed through my days, it was gone in a flash,
Tore through the homework, closed books with a smash.

The sunsets and days I completely ignored,
Assuming that I could be nothing but bored.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But the week before finals, and holidays dear.

Looking back through the weeks so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
This year the holidays wouldn't be lame.

The excitement for travel and family to see,
Crowded out tests and places to be.
Replacing the void with things most important,
my husband, my God and my most tiny infant.

The spirit of Christ arose in my heart,
and I knew in a moment I couldn't be tart.
My giving increased and my heart knew no bounds,
I felt joy and peace in ever increasing mounds.

I hope that you've seen from the story I've written,
The importance of life that isn't too distant.
Take time every moment and of every day,
"I love you, I need you" is not hard to say.

Our week has been a good one. Too many of our friends are beginning to pack up. Everyone who is leaving needs to be out of their apartment by the end of next week, so they've got to pack and plan while studying and stressing for finals. If it were up to me I'd give them at least a week to get out, but that's just me. As it is we're losing our friends the Jimenez who have stood by us in thick and thin. We're losing the Edens who have become a part of our lives. (Though they aren't moving far). We're also losing the Wadels and the Sielers, both of which have been here since before us. It's a hard thing each semester to watch people we know and love move away. I can't say I'm not excited for the day when we graduate and leave, but it's hard to watch people go. Especially the Jimenez. They've been watching Alisabeth since she was two months old. She loves them, and though she's not going to really understand why she never sees them anymore I'm sad for her.
Other than that it was a great week. Jason and I were able to take a ride on the last night of the IBC group's horse-drawn wagon rides. It was a neat experience. Alisabeth enjoyed watching the world pass by. It was one of the nicer nights, so despite the 20 degree weather we were able to sip our hot chocolate and enjoy the trip with some neat people.
We also made caramels . . . again. But this time was a disaster. We wasted A LOT of money. One batch got cooked too much, one didn't get mixed right, another was taken off the heat too soon and the last batch somehow wasn't right either, but I can't figure out why on that one. All in all it was frustrating. I want to do it again, but it takes time to do it right, and it needs to be done without 2 and 1 year olds running around without naps at lunch-time. It's sad to say, but every time we tried to do it one of the 5 children was screaming about something or other. I am usually one to say a few kids never hurt a cooking experience, but this time I think the distraction was a leading cause of not-workage.
Jason went back to the doctor this week and was told that he's still on the brink of needing physical therapy, so we're still waiting for that to pan out. The insurance paid us for his glasses and the car though so we've been able to get our savings back where it needs to be.
Jason has also started his own business, it's a wrecked computer misfits and car fixing shop. He runs it out of our pantry using the schools internet and phone system and his old uniforms to get discounts. So far it's been working well :) He's fixed brakes, an XP computer and done some troubleshooting for the neighbors. Plus he has a few positive leads for the future. :)
Alisabeth has been growing like a weed. She lost her belly this week, shot up a few inches and sprouted a few new teeth. It was an exciting couple of nights as you can imagine. She has also begun repeating words. She has been identified saying "Theresa," "Alena," "glasses," "uh-oh" and "no." She also sucessfully identified a mommy, daddy and baby in a photograph and could point to each one in turn as we asked her to. Needless to say I was almost overcome with joy at my little girl :)
My classes are wrapping up nicely. I am almost finished with my on-line class, done with all the homework that needs to be turned in in any given class. . . taking one final each day of the week next week. Then it's FREEDOM!!!!!! I can't wait to see Tucson again. Hopefully we'll even have time to fit in a trip to the zoo for Alisabeth's sake.