i have always worked, so it has never been a complete time of do nothing, but the absence of school makes a huge difference.
this term i turned in approximately 80 pages of written work.
completed approximately 1200 pages of assigned reading.
completed additional optional reading, research and intervention finding.
provided counseling to 4 precious families.
participated in 20 hours of supervision / evaluation.
worked approximately 200 hours at my job at the hospital.
but now it is Christmas. now i am getting home a tad earlier. going in to my internship a tad later. picking up takeout. sleeping (significantly) more.
it's not without its difficulty. shoes and i are finding this year to be the hardest year yet to be separated and living in 2 different states. we put up the Christmas "decorations" yesterday:
i realized i have been stringing Christmas lights around the perimeter of a room and hanging ornaments off of them (no room for a tree!) since i was 19 years old. next year .... dreams of a house i share with shoes and a real tree and Christmas cards and Christmas cookies ...
this is also a very, very, very favorite part of my holiday season:
holiday giving trees!! it is one of my great privileges to be able to buy toys for local kids, and as a social worker, i can absolutely, 100% assure you that your contributions do make a difference. the need is so great. greater than i could ever fully explain.
but, i prefer to think of it not as work or labor or a chore or an obligation. i like to think of the kids i work with and how super happy they are when they get to play with new toys. that happy kid innocence gets me far.
this holiday season i will continue my holiday shopping. i will attend the brightest holiday parties. i will bake my most favorite holiday goodies. i will hold on to this time of happy and shiny and bright before the madness that is my last Winter term starts 1/9/12. that's a little bit of a d-day ...
... but i have 4 glorious weeks until then ...
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Enjoy your Christmas break! I'm so excited for you for next year's Christmas celebrations... None-the-less, I'm sure this year's celebrations will be something special too, with many new memories to hold dear. Now I just wish we could share a nice long chat in person over a red cuppa joe...
Oh, W. Catching up over coffee sounds amazing ... maybe that's what I'll ask Santa for.
You, my friend, are "happy and shiny and bright". I love you.