Thanksgiving Unbreak

     Yes, I know that "unbreak" isn't(I don't think) technically a word. But "unbroken" and "unrest" both have different meanings that the one I was aiming at, though they sound like they could work. Anyway, that's what my time off from classes has been. (As every college student knows, they hear the words "Thanksgiving break" and smile at the Thanksgiving part. They snort at the "break" part, because there's loads of projects and tests and quizzes and papers and homework that need to be finished before finals, and in basically every class piles of material are passed out to students as a result of missing three class days.)

     Still, it was great to be around the family(both immediate and extended) and have time to read for pleasure and play cards and Wii games and wrestle with siblings and do laundry. And food, that's very important. And laughter and sarcasm. Not to mention fetch and cat-cuddles and picking out spirituals and Christmas carols.

     Monday was a little cold. Not that that was particularly newsworthy in itself; it always is in some way or another on campus. Half the students showed up for class, many deciding to get out of town as fast as possible. Had to go to nutrition, though; we were getting instructions on how to do our final project(which is miserable, involving copious amounts of math and unnecessary data-tracking the NSA could track down). Anyway, class let out early, so four of us wandered into our psych classroom and waited for twenty minutes after checking email. And...nobody showed up. Not even our professor. So, we waited about five-ten minutes longer into class-period-time, decide it must have been canceled, and go our separate ways.
     Latin was good like always, but Seminary was freezing. Like, seriously. It was so bad that a secretary in the Liberal Arts college office unlocked the conference room to provide shivering students a warmish place to wait. Social media lit up with complaints. "Is the A/C on? This is ridiculous." Turns out the heating systems broke in Seminary and the Science building, kind-hearted instructors canceled classes for the rest of the day. Also, the water-heaters in Leoser went down, leaving those residents without hot water, and the warped Ross heat did something, we're not sure what. Needless to say, everyone who could get away with it rocketed homeward at the first opportunity.
     A handful of SWAT members went on an expedition of Christmas caroling at this assisted-living facility place in town, consisting of me, Bubba Jacob, Becca, Susan and James. We pile into Becca's silver Impala, James as navigator in shotgun since he was the only one who knew the address. James tries to get us to scrap the idea, since almost everyone else bailed for various reasons, but the rest of us shoot that idea down immediately. "We are not bailing on two events we were supposed to be at in the same week." "And besides, what's so bad about about singing? Or spending time with old people?"
     We explore around, trying to find our contact-person, and coming up with merely an empty office. So we go back to our starting point and wait for Haley, who was late because she got lost. She gets here, we begin anew. And apparently our contact-person had forgotten we were coming, as she wasn't there. Her husband was, however; and he directed us in the right direction. So we sing about eight or so Christmas carols to maybe twenty or thirty elderly people, it was fun.
     Food at Burger King, then back to the BCM for the Bible study/worship service, then HOMEWARD BOUND...(Nope, not with Chance the bulldog, Shadow the golden retriever and Sassy the Siamese on their way through the California wilderness. And not the 1961 book, either, which the movie was based on, about Luath the Lab, Bodger the terrier and Tao the Siamese in the Ontario wilderness.) Mom said later that night, "Caroling...three days before Thanksgiving? You crazy college kids..."

     Tuesday was a nice day, both lit and editing had been canceled, so I could play Wii with Caleb and Trevor, get started on homework, and pet Rags. Didn't really do much useful of anything, other than sort of rest. Watched "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" that night, and got three chapters of my psych textbook reviewed for the quiz next Friday. And got a blog post written.
     Wednesday I was woken up pretty early by Rags jumping into her favorite vantage point of my windowsill, we had lunch in Tulsa with Aunt Kim and Logan and Kenzie. Hideaway Pizza is an interesting place. Sort of like a chain version of Sam and Ella's, but that doesn't quite capture it right. Felt very out of place, so did everybody else. But it was good to visit with Logan, he was very glad to return from his freshman year in Illinois. Started to listen to an audiotape of The Wizard of Oz in the van, but soon gave up due to the outlandish stupidity and strangeness of it. Apples to Apples with Courtney, finished writing haiku(same singular/plural, like "deer" or "sheep") for literature, and got the last(hopefully) nutrition chapter quiz finished. And watched the newest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and reread old favorite The Christmas Puppy for the twenty-eighth time. (Seriously, it's close to that number.)  Also got a good distance farther on a massive history of small-town America, really cool book written in readable academic style. (Nope, that isn't a misprint. Merely an interesting and encouraging oxymoron.)

     Amy woke me up at seven today, some more studying and reading and cat-petting and Wii-tournamenting and music-playing before heading to Grandpa's. Good to visit with them, we ate delicious food, sort-of watched the Packers-Lions game while talking, then really watched the Raiders-Cowboys game while eating pecan pie. And of course games of fetch with Fancy and Gretchen. (Whew...that's a tongue-twister.)
     Then it was time to head to Louise's just after halftime, great to see Damon and Trish and everybody else. Admired the new baby, played fetch with Trish's dog Mason(star of several picture books), more talking, and tuning up the mandolins and making 'em sing.  Everyone forgot to take charge of the betting pool, so it was left abandoned for the second year in a row.
     There's a lot to be thankful for, something we ought to be all the time, as much as we can. It's the little things that add up to so much, hard to encapsulate.
     Nothing special happened, but it was a very good day.

     Tomorrow night is the Ruscos' square dance, that should be enjoyable, hopefully. Still have lots of work to finish, maybe I can try to watch a bit of football somewhere in there. Banjo the new red heeler is extremely scared of me, oh well.
     Two weeks until finals....just have to keep pushing through. Stumbling or collapsing through isn't encouraged, but as long as you're moving forward in some way... Because of higher-than-normal panic mode/study drive, I may either post almost nothing on here until then, or my fingers will be flying almost as fast as the swirling sentence structures in my brain.