curses, curtains, & chaps

It's been a while since the last post. It's all good news in this one.

First of all, the curse of the Incomplete paper has finally been lifted. This is where I spent most of last Saturday, in the fabulous public library here: It did the job, as I tied up the last few loose ends and sent it off to the professor. It was almost 2 years ago that I was in that class. It was near the end of the semester, which is always a stressful time, and I had 2 seminar papers to write, plus a wedding to pull off a week later. I finished one paper, then felt totally overwhelmed and near an emotional breakdown. I pathetically asked for an Incomplete on the second paper. At the time, it was a lifesaver, but soon after that the Incomplete just became a BIG dark cloud hanging over my head, as Incompletes always do.

I could go on and on about how guilty I feel that it took me so long to finish the damn thing, but I won't. I've done that to myself, internally, for a long, long time, so I just want to stop with that. It's finished!!!! I can finally move on to my exams. I feel such incredible relief, it's pretty impossible to describe.

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And curtains. Several weeks ago, a package came in the mail from my mom. In it were our custom-made curtains! It's sure nice to have a mom who sews. And they are the exact colour that I wanted. Thanks Mom! Here they are in the day time:


And at night:

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Last of all, I recently found out that my chapbook has been accepted for publication some time next year. It's with Dancing Girl Press, a small press in Chicago. I'm excited, and it'll feel good to have a good part of my dissertation already published.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Josh's mom and her husband will be visiting us for the holiday. We're excited to have family visit again. I was a little nervous about doing a turkey since I've never done one before. But then I found out my mother-in-law hasn't done one either, so it's going to be a fun adventure that we're going to have. I'll let you know how it turns out.