It is finished

So what news shall I share today. I sit here and ponder on it as the sun breaks through the glass of the back windows of my office and threatens to blind me. This is a daily occurance that tells me its about 9 in the morning. It also tells me that it is winter.

Yuck.

But I digress.

The one plus about it being winter is that I can officially say that the fall semester is over. Praise the Lord. Each semester that I have embarked on thus far (and my current count is 5 including two on campus intensives) has been different.

There was my first semester last fall, trying to master Greek and remember how to do school again. Then there was my first intensive in January, dealing with being gone from home and family for two weeks and trying not to be worrying about work the entire time I was gone. Last spring was Pentatuech and Creation (systematics) which was a huge challange in terms of work load. Also we threw in the first session of contextual work that time around. June was intensive number 2, and I do have to admit that one was pretty easy as semesters go.

This time around was again different. Matthew (Synoptics) and Foundations of Pastoral care. The reading wasn't as heavy as its been before, but the work was still a challange. Needless to say, when I made my last responsive posting on Saturday, there was a celebratory dance going on.

And now, a break...it should be a month, but yet its not because I have at least one book to read before the second week of January. Hopefully its only the one.

In other news, Sunday night was my wife's staff Christmas party. In a way, it almost (emphasis on the almost) feels like we are both on staff as the church is also my contextual site.

It was a fun evening. Good food, good conversation. One thing that we do that's a little goofy is called Steal Bingo. That's how we tackle the white elephants. We play bingo for a few rounds until all the presents have been taken. Then we all open them. Then we play a few more rounds and the winners get to steal gifts from other people. Its a good time, but admittedly cheesy. My partner pastor loves it though. I think its the highlight of the year for him.

I did well at the beginning, winning two rounds. I ended up with a box of pens and a Crazy Cat Lady action figure (complete with separate cats and a quiz to indicate if you are, in fact, a crazy cat lady). I didn't fare so well towards the end though, and by the time it was all said and done, I had lost my two prizes...That's alright though. Even though I have a cat, I don't believe that I'm a crazy cat lady, or even a crazy cat codger.

At least not yet.