Scott Campbell, This Is For You

I just finished reading Stephen R. Lawhead's "Hood." Once again, he has totally stolen my brilliant idea for a book. He keeps beating me to the punch. I love him, I love him, I love him. Maybe not so much for the quality of his writing (the dialogue is pretty stilted sometimes and he spends a lot of time describing the natural surroundings, skim, skim, skim), but his subject matter and plots cannot be beat, and his research is impeccable. Someday I will write him a letter. Maybe tomorrow. I can't wait to read the next one.

Another Dream

I dreamed last night I was coaching a Little League team at Cassie's church. I don't know which is more implausible - the one where my adult dog was implanted into my uterus and I gave birth to him or the one where I teach little children to play team sports.

Another Weird Dream

Last night I dreamed I gave birth to a tiny little Toad (my dog, not a real toad - gross). He was about the size of my index finger, but he acted like a grown up dog. I carried him around in a little plastic bag, and he kept escaping from it. The weirdest part was that somehow Toad had been implanted in my uterus - it was not a naturally occurring thing. I think I was trying to save his life or correct his behavior or something. Like, maybe if he could start over and have a new, happier puppyhood he wouldn't be such a little bastard. Anyway, it was weird.

In other news, I am enjoying my first week of freedom. I actually forgot what day it was today, so that is a good sign that I am starting to relax. J's family is coming in tomorrow, and we have a lot of stuff planned for this weekend, so the Christmas season is officially starting. We haven't even put up a tree or bought a single present yet. Well, that's not true. J bought me an Xbox so that I could play "Munch's Odyssey." He gave it to me already so I can play with it while I'm on my break. I was very excited.

Papers Done

I turned in my final paper last night. Let the grading marathon commence!

Dream

So, last night I had this dream that my Bibliography and Research Methods class all went out to dinner together. My professor brought along a distinguished colleague of his from another university. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up to the Playboy mansion and there were, like, 20 topless girls walking around. There were also a ton of little cocktails that my professor had made in advance for us to drink. Getting into the spirit of things, I took my top off, grabbed a cocktail, and started looking around. The next thing I know, everyone is sitting down at tables waiting for dinner to be served. They are all dressed. I hear someone on a loudspeaker or something calling me to come sit down and eat. I, of course, have no top on, so I must find something to wear. Lucky me, I found a T-shirt stand, so I stole a T-shirt from it. By this time, though, my professor was really mad at me. He found me just as I was leaving the T-shirt stand and began to lecture me on my inappropriate behavior and how disappointed he is. I began to apologize when I realized that he hasn't graded my paper yet! OMG! I started to blurt out apologies and panic a little bit. I was about halfway through my "I was being especially inconsiderate of your personal time..." speech when I woke up, drenched in sweat, and started laughing at myself. The end.

Out of Commission

I am unavailable for social interaction until Monday, Dec. 15. I have one paper due tomorrow and another due on Wednesday, plus a group project due on Tuesday. I have barely started, and I have a total of 40 pages to write. That's like 2/3 of my Master's thesis. Then I have my students' last essays to grade. THEN I have to grade their final exams. What have I gotten myself into? Any and all words of encouragement would be appreciated!

Cleveland Pictures

Peyton Manning putting on his helmet.

Merry Christmas, Jonathan!

The Browns vs. the Colts!

Rock and Roll!