Goodbye, Christmas

Despite the fact that Brian continually insists that Christmas is 12 days long (ending on Epiphany, January 6), I already feel like it's over. I'm back in Chapel Hill, getting ready for work tomorrow --and for once, I really wasn't ready to leave home. Christmas wasn't as awful as I had anticipated (it was actually very nice, despite the un-Christmasy temperatures) and for the first time in a very, very, VERY long time, I had nothing to do and didn't feel guilty/bored. I spent most of Friday and Saturday reading and sleeping (helped along by a seriously bad headache on Saturday), and I have to say I wish I could do more of it. Work last week was beyond exhausting, and I ended up covered in bruises and barely able to move (thank you, whoever decided to send autistic kids to the roller rink). I'm hardly looking forward to it this week, besides that fact that no one will be in town for New Year's Eve--hence, I'll have to spend it alone. I think I was dreading most coming back here and being lonely--thankfully Brian comes back on Friday, as we have to go to a wedding on Saturday.

But enough for the negative.

For Christmas this year, I have to say my favorite gifts were decorations I can put up next year--I found it really hard to get in the spirit when all I had was a wreath on the door. I got a little plush tree on a stand (John), a Santa mug (Lara), a "Santa's Favorite Cat" pillow with a picture of Maddy (Brian's family) a Snowbabies statuette with penguins (Brian's grandma), and some snowman mugs/dessert plates (Dad). It's nice to start collecting things like that, and hopefully it will make next year's Christmas more...Christmasy. I also got a GPS (which is a seriously good thing, if you know how much I get lost) and a new iPod, as my old one died a watery death back in the spring when my thermos leaked. Not to mention a new thermos, one of those metal ones rather than the plastic ones, which I've heard are bad for you, and anyway start to smell after a day or two, and are hard to wash.

I also went to see Valkyrie, against my better judgement because I can't stand Tom Cruise these days but Brian asked, and he so rarely wants to see movies that I couldn't turn him down. It ended up being really good, in part because Tom Cruise's massive ego, which usually overpowers any character he's playing (Mission:Impossible 3, anyone?) actually contributed to the character, which was one of the major players in the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. I recommended it if you like dramatic WWII movies (there aren't many explosions, etc., but the plot made up for it).

Life Lessons

It seems that my main Christmas gift this year has been to learn a whole bunch of life lessons in a very short time span...

1.) Don't speed. This seems like a no brainer..but it is very tempting to drive 70 when you are on country roads when no one is in front of you. Note to self: Don't. Or you'll get another ticket and then you'll lose your license.

2.) Circular highway exits can be treacherous. They may lead you right into the cars of African-American obama-shirt-wearing women who are not too nice about it.

3.) Don't let your cat encounter your mom's cat(s). This will result in blood and an emergency vet visit, and a week's worth of tracking her down so you can put antibiotic ointment on her eye.

4.) I am not the only kid with divorced parents who hates Christmas (or for that matter,all holidays). I think we should mutiny and pick one spot where we can stay the whole day.

5.) Good movies with moral lessons DO exist...in the form of The Tale of Desperaux, a great movie with a good plot, animation, and voice-overs. I recommend it, especially for kids growing up in our ridiculous environment (just today in the newspaper there were letters to Santa, most featuring ridiculous lists of toys and video games. Alas, consumerism).

6.) Really young kids are now getting engaged/married...case in point, my stepbrother, who is 19 and just proposed to his 18-year-old girlfriend. Also the masses of people I know who are younger than me I see in the wedding announcements every time I open the paper. Perhaps I am just a 23-year-old fogie, but this scares me.

Now, having learned all these lessons, I must go forth and work tomorrow. Merry Christmas to me.

What a Week(end)

This week started out easy--I finished up my Christmas shopping, and the rest of the time sat around in my pajamas working on my online class (which is getting ridiculous..more on that in a bit). Then somehow it exploded, and I ended up working about 30 hours in three days, plus some today, and some tomorrow. I'm so exhausted I can barely see straight, and I've been having dreams about making breakthroughs with my clients in therapy, and waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking that I've forgotten something crucial for one of the many things I had to do this weekend.

Here's a run down of my week:

Monday: shopping, online class

Tuesday: online class

Wednesday: 10 hour workday, including a potluck/meeting with the JFS advisory board at which I had to present what the special needs committee is doing.

Thursday:9 hour workday, including 4 clients (one of whom I had to convince to get out of bed and help dress)

Friday: 10 more hours, including a clinical lecture on ABC therapy and the first Special Needs Shabbat (this one for Hanukkah).

Saturday: Attempting to go to the gym (I nearly fell asleep halfway through) and a family Christmas party in Burlington.

Sunday: Hanukkah party for the seniors, online class, mass.

No wonder i'm tired.

The special needs dinner went well--and now they want me to start a group for young adults. This is a good idea...but I'm already feeling overworked, and I didn't even have class this week. Plus I felt like the whole thing was a giant test--I was co-facilitating the young adults with someone who worked at TEACCH for a really long time (and has offered me an internship there next year) and I felt like all my actions were being judged. I think I did well (maybe too well, since he wants me to start up the group and reallly wants me at TEACCH next year). But there's a reason I quit my job on the weekends..I don't want to add more work for which I don't even get paid.

The Hanukkah party today was packed, and Brian was a hit, since I drug him with me. Also, i'm now addicted to seltzer (it's everywhere at Jewish functions!) and latkes are quite tasty. I can also sing most of the blessings in Hebrew now without having to look at anything. 

Now, for the online class: This is ludicrous. It's SO much information that it's worth a semester class. I've probably spent 30 hours on it so far at LEAST and i'm only halfway through the fifth section (out of six).  Today alone I spent THREE HOURS watching videos on gay rights. And we have an exam after every section that has ridiculously specific questions on it.  Honestly, working myself to death was not what I had intended to spend my first week on break doing. 

Done! Mostly...

I have at last finished all my classes...papers, exams, meetings..over!  I'm glad of it, as it's been a bit of a rough semester (this 9-5 or 6 schedule every day makes me long for the days of undergrad when I had breaks AND time to work for money during the week).  I also finished work with Joe yesterday, although I did tell his parents I would sub sometimes, and I'm really hoping they don't call me all the time. Not that I can't use the money, though...

I still have a week left at my internship before I can take a break from that too (kind of...i'm sure the special needs team will hound me with e-mails). BUT..I have my online class hanging over my head, that I DO NOT want to do. Class over Christmas break?? It's just wrong.  Really.

Twilighting

Having just finished the last of the Twilight books, I thought I would share some thoughts on them. First, a summary for those of you who haven't read them (if you don't want to know, skip this part):

Twilight: Bella moves to Forks, Washington to live with her dad. There, she meets Edward, who at first acts like he hates her, but then falls in love with her. She follows suit. It doesn't freak her out that he's a vampire. There's some drama with some vampires who drink human blood (unlike Edward's family, who all drink animal blood), but Edward saves Bella, and then convinces her to go to the prom.

New Moon: Edward decides that he doesn't want Bella going to hell like he's going to do because he has no soul; he leaves. She spends a lot of time comatose. Jacob steps in. Bella and Jacob start doing risky things, like riding motorcycles. Bella breaks a lot of bones. Turns out, Jacob and a bunch of his friends are really werewolves. Edward thinks Bella is trying to kill herself and has succeeded; he tries to kill himself. Bella saves him. They get back together. Jacob is not happy.

Eclipse: Bella tries to convince Edward to change her into a vampire. He says, after graduation and they have to get married first. She eventually agrees. There's some drama with one of the vampires that tries to kill her in Twilight, who has created an army of newborn vampires. Bella realizes it might not be so awesome to be a vampire. Jacob tries to convince her to leave Edward and be with him. Bella says no. Jacob runs away.

Breaking Dawn: Edward and Bella get married. Bella gets pregnant, which no one thought could happen. Turns out, half-vampires grow super fast and in a month she has the baby, which breaks her spine--so Edward now has to turn Bella into a vampire. Miraculously, she has no ill effects, and is in control immediately. Jacob finds out Bella's daughter, Renesmee, is his soul mate. No more Edward-Jacob awkwardness. The Volturi, the vampire police, use Renesemee as an excuse to destroy the Cullens & friends, but they convince them not to. Happily ever after.

That done, I'll say that I think Stephanie Meyer's writing style is very amateurish-her plot lines are never fully developed and her settings are barely there. And she takes up a ton of space recounting really mundane occurrences, making all her books 700ish pages long. It bothers me that these are the books that have of the US is addicted to--they're so unsophisticated, what does this say about us? However, despite my criticism, I do think she has a strong literary voice in Bella, and her books are very readable, if barebones and generally just kind of silly.

If you like vampire books but didn't like Twilight, I suggest Sunshine by Robin McKinley--the settings are much more established and the characters are stronger (plus, less silly romance).