Where are you, Christmas?

                                                  Our xmas tree. Not perfect, but it works.

It's hard to believe that another semester of graduate school is over. Only two more semesters then I'm
a woman with a Masters in Museum Studies--don't make fun. I'm not entirely sure when I'll actually work in a museum, but I do plan on using (for lack of a better word) my degree sometime in the near future. The thing is, I have such a sweet job right now; I may be too spoiled to ever leave unless we pack up and move to a different city. I don't think I'll ever find a job that has such amazing benefits as mine. I mean I get 4 free days to take in December whenever I want, all of which do not count against my personal leave time, hence the word "free"!  I have to say though that using two free days to study for finals this semester was one smart move on my part, especially when both counted for %40 of my grade. But, I have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am ready to put on my Santa hat and sing Christmas carols! Not literally, but I am ready to jump into the Christmas spirit! It just doesn't feel like Christmas yet. And, it doesn't help either when the shopping centers and malls here do an amatuer, if not pathetic, job decorating, and no one says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays."  People seriously seem so off guard when I wish them a Happy Holiday....like it's not a week before Christmas or something. They're the weird ones, not me. Again, this is just another reality reminder that I am in DC, where people battle over parking spots, shove their way through the grocery store w/o saying "excuse me," and think it's the end of the world if they miss the Metro, when another train is 2 minutes away. I try very hard to resist succumbing to this mentality, but I have to admit that I do get annoyed when people don't understand escalator ediquette around here: stand on the right, walk on the left--the difference is I'm polite about it. Well, at any rate, now that I'm finished with school for the semester, I'm on a mission to find Christmas. What better way to begin than to bake some cookies tonight and attend my office Christmas party tomorrow! Again, how can I leave an office that throws a Christmas party during the day with a fully stocked bar??? Chardonnay or Grey Goose??? I know, my decisions are so tough...

My xmas cookies...never as good as my mom's and Jeff's famous nuts.