You can take the girl out of New Mexico, but you can't take New Mexico out of the girl.

This is the first year I will not be in Santa Fe at all during the holidays/winter break. However, this does not stop me from trying to have a New Mexican Christmas.

On Christmas Eve my dad and I put about 50 farolitos in front of my grandparents house, and even though the picture doesn't do it justice the place looked great.

That same night my mom made our traditional Christmas Eve posole dinner, and for dessert we had the biscochito cookies she and I made.


To top off my New Mexican Christmas in Richmond, my parents gave me a book on the West, a calendar with wood block prints that are in the New Mexico Museum of Art, and a little note pad made out of a New Mexico license plate.

Overall I had a great Christmas, though it would have been better if my brother Ryan were here. Hope you all had a great holiday, too!

hey guess what

My semester is over! It took a while, I tell you what. Today was the last day of finals and guess who, as a graduate student in a field in which tests are not usually given in upper level courses, had a test. Ding ding ding, that would be me. So after a weekend of not studying I hopped to on Monday (except for that Christmas party Monday night...) and then got up this morning at 5:15 to get to school a little early (little early?) to cram before the eight o'clock test. Afterwards the professor asked me, "Now was that so bad?" and I replied, "I don't know yet, it depends on how you grade it." Anyway, that's a third semester of grad school under my belt and only one left to go.

Now I'm working on my holiday spirit and making sure that my no school time is a non-stop good time.

weekend review

Thursday: Went to a coffee shop to study Spanish for a few hours, took my Spanish test, home to putter around and try to take a nap, out with friends on Glenwood until late.

Friday: Went for a run, graded exams, and didn't study.

Saturday: Finished grading exams, went shopping (aka didn't study), out to a Christmas party.

Sunday: Read through some notes in bed, had to take a nap, went for a run, went to church, stopped by Target on the way home, now finally studying. (Or not, since I'm on the internet...)

I passed!

I just learned I passed my Spanish test, which was the reading comprehension in a foreign language requirement to graduate. This makes me very excited.

No one likes a six-year-old Christmas liar.

The only time I ever had perfect attendance at school was during the first grade. The first grade was also the year I lied at Christmas.

December 13 is Saint Lucia Day. I'm not going to pretend I know very much about the actual holiday and how it is celebrated in Sweden or wherever else it is celebrated. I can only tell you how Ms. Nelson's First Grade Class attempted to celebrate this holiday tradition.

Ms. Nelson told our class that on Saint Lucia day the oldest girl would get to wear a green wreath on her head and walk around the classroom passing out cookies. I desperately wanted to be that girl. I was six. My birthday is in April.

We interested girls gathered around her desk trying to figure out who was the oldest. I declared that I was.

"Aren't you six?" she asked.

"Noooo, I'm seven. Definitely the oldest girl here."

"When is your birthday?"

"April 13."

"Weren't you born in 1983?"

"Me? Nope, 1982. I'm seven."

Looking back, I realize Ms. Nelson must surely have known my real age. Or she could have easily looked it up. Yet I insisted, and she gave in. I wore the wreath and passed out those cookies and was immensely pleased with myself.

Of course eighteen years later I still can't see a picture of the blond Saint Lucia without cringing and feeling like a guilty idiot.

Did I forget to mention?

Ryan's employee of the year award included an all-expense paid trip to one of the company's other resorts, anywhere in the world. I have it under good graduation present authority that there is an incredible week of brother-sister bonding in the Caribbean in my future...

I'm the employee of the year's proud big sister.

My little brother works as a valet at one of the fanciest hotels in Santa Fe where all the rich people and celebrities stay. Not only is he an excellent professional car parker, he also has some mad people skillz. Everyone loves him. In fact, they love him so much that tonight at the employee Christmas party he won employee of the quarter AND employee of the year! Way to go Ryan!

weekend review

Friday: Slept in, worked on my paper, went to school to help lead a review session, ran a couple errands, home to work on the paper more, chatted with my friend Amy and learned SHE IS GETTING MARRIED!!!, went out with the video store gang.

Saturday: Didn't sleep in enough, drove to Richmond, had tea and chatted with my grandparents, went to my aunt's house to hang out and eat dinner, home to bed early.

Sunday: Worked on my paper, ate steak, took a three hour nap, finished and submitted the paper, played Rook and won the game by shooting the moon for the first time ever, went back to aunt's house to decorate for Christmas, now to bed.

four little elves gettin' down

Click here for an early present!

today felt like ice outside

It was also the last day of classes! As much as I love school, I also love when school ends for breaks. However, I still have to finish a paper, take a Spanish test, grade tests, take a women's history test, and possibly take another Spanish test if I fail the first one. When all of this is finally done it will be 4pm on December 18, which is a really long way away.

In the meantime, I have some procrastinating work and studying to do.

I froze and caved.

Last night I wore sweats and socks to sleep, and had an extra blanket on the bed. It still took a long time to fall asleep because I was freezing. This morning I woke up nice and warm though, until I got out of bed. I sat in my sweats with a blanket wrapped around me, and thought things might be fine. But then I cringed at the thought of taking all this warmth off to get in the shower, and I couldn't stand it. I have turned on the heat.

signs through radio waves

Yesterday I decided I might start looking into PhD programs in history in case I want to pursue a career editing historical documents, and tonight when I listened to NPR's Fresh Air I was excited because the guest Terry Gross interviewed talked about doing that exact same thing. Coincidence? Or a sign?

Chingedy Ching (hee-haw, hee-haw)

My friend Elizabeth heard a Christmas song on the radio and she became obsessed with learning about it and finding others who had heard it, too. Last I heard she'd only come up with one person, a girl from Boston. The other night she even gave us a rendition of the song, and hoo boy do I wish we'd had a video camera.

Well just now she IMed me to turn on the radio, and sure enough her ridiculous song really does exist. It's "Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey," and for your listening pleasure follow the link. It'll surely put you in the holiday spirit!

Things that went down this weekend:

Friday: Slept in, read some stuff, and went to dinner at my professor's house for mole enchiladas and mulled wine.

Saturday: Slept in even more, wasted time around the apartment, went for a run, read an article, graded some papers, pulled out my cello for the first time in Raleigh and scratched out some Christmas carols, graded more, and watched a movie.

Sunday: Slept in (again!), worked on my paper, went to church at 6, watched some TV, and worked on the paper a little more.

In other news, Ryan moved out of the house Saturday and the family is experiencing a sad empty nest. My parents are sad, Ryan is sad, and the thought of going home to visit (some day, maybe next summer, who knows?) and not having him in the same house makes me sad.

"It's priest. Have a little priest."

Guess who's excited about the movie Sweeney Todd!!! That's right, I am! I love this musical. I mean, a barber kills people and then his lady friend bakes them into pies! That's exciting stuff right there.

I learned about Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street when a cabinmate at Interlochen showed me a video of her performing the song "Wait" at her school. I was hooked from that song alone, and as soon as I got back home I bought the original Broadway production's soundtrack, starring Angela Lansbury. I played it all the time, including on family road trips. My brother Ryan was scared by the musical and didn't like it, which usually made me want to play it around him even more.

If he gets to come to Richmond for Christmas I'll make him go see it with me.

bundled

It's 61 degrees in my apartment, and since I'm still unwilling to turn the heat on I'll just put a fleece vest over my sweatshirt instead.