It’s finals, and for the first time in my life, I’m excited about it.
Call me crazy, but finals this semester rock, mostly because they
haven’t officially started, and I’m already finished with three.

Wags surprised me Friday. She left a note on my persusasion
quiz: see me after class.

It was in red pen.

I was frightened.

I went through all these scenerios.
Like, did she somehow know I skipped class Monday,
so I could go to Red Lobster?
And how did she know that?
Was it cause everyone else turned in extra credit?
Would she think I was being pompous for not doing the e.c?
Would she know I had the fish sandwhich? etc.

But actually, wags just wanted to tell me since i was doing well,
that I didn’t have to take the final and that I was getting an A.
Ai yai yai. I wanted to give Wags a big, fat, sloppy kiss, but felt
it would hinder our teacher-student relations. So I smiled instead.

Anyway, so I got exempt from one final.
I set the curve on the internet class final yesterday.
I turned in my damn final paper for linguistics, so that class is done
thank the good and gracious Lord.

That only leaves EWL – Go To Hell’s class. As you will remember,
she’s the one who caused me to do the scream that screwed up
the scrolling on this page. Well EWL – Go To Hell has redeamed herself…
*slightly*.

She announced in class today that
A: we would have a “group final”, so we could link up in threes and discuss
B: the exam would require each group member to only write one essay
C: it would be open-note
D: that means no studying required!

I felt particularly blessed by her leniency, as I was already anticipating her
exam would prompt the return of the twitch under my right eye.
Am proud to note, as of today am twitch free.

I almost screwed up relations with EWL- Go To Hell today. I called her
about taking the final early, babbling something about flight scheduling
on her phone mail.

Well, when I talked to her in class she said yes, she would work with me.
Oh, and it was so funny, she said, because when I went to hang up the phone, it
didn’t really hang up. She heard me in the background going “she’s got to let me
take it early. She’s just got to let me.”

As EWL – Go To Hell relayed the message I left on her machine,
my blood ran cold. I quickly tried to remember the context of the conversation.
Did I use any noncomplimentary words to describe her or her class?
I remembered sitting at my desk, mumbling something about bitch-teacher,
and prayed the recorder didn’t pick that little euphamism up.

But EWL seemed pretty happy, so I tried not too look too uncomfortable,
and skulked back to my desk. I was careful to avoid her gaze throughout class.

So now, as I actually have a bit of free time I am working on a new site.
It will be the electronic version of the horn/dowell newsletter Mom typically
sends out around this time.

I will call it Carol of the Dumbbells, cause the fam looks fairly idiotic.
I got this crazy idea to put the fam’s heads on gingerbread bodies.
I will post the link here at the house when it’s ready, cause it’s for friends
and family. And anyone who reads my rantings can truly be called beloved.

I feel like I just got home from a long day’s work.
The ten minute commute from my English lab office was pleasant.
The air was crisp, so much that every person I passed on the
sidewalk had cherry-colored cheeks and pink noses.
Most people kept to the tended path, where the snow had been
shoveled away. Every once in a while a maverick could be seen trudging
through the lawn areas, leaving footprints in the snowy path less traveled.

Now I’m home. Finished with my test. Finished with my presentation.
And I’m warming my hands with a cup in between – a cup of delicious
coco, that is.

Kids around here have been complaining like crazy about having to attend
class in these “blizzard conditions.” Yesterday six inches of white powder,
perfect for snowmen and angels, fell in the burg. You’ve heard a rain dance,
well from my window you could see starry-eyed students snow dancing till
the wee hours of the morning.

And every other school around here is cancelled. No classes. No tests.
No nothin. Tech is literally, the only functioning university. Some people
think we should get a break, even though we just got back from Thanksgiving
four days ago.

I don’t know what the big deal is. I prefer to traipse through the flakes on my
way to class. It’s so clean, and pure. It makes going to class seem like a dream.
It lessens the monotony. It makes me feel like I am home.

Because even thoughI have lived here in southern Virginia for nearly four years,
I can’t forget the 18 + I spent in Alaska. In the snow. Riding snowmachines.
Skating on ponds. Sledding down hills with the dog chasing, and mom watching
from the kitchen window.

I have 13 more days left in Blacksburg before I fly home for Christmas.
Yeah I have a huge paper, a project and three finals to complete in that time.
But with the snow on the ground, it doesn’t seem to matter. I’m gonna greet
the end of this semester, my second- to- last, with calmness and dignity.
I’ve got no reason to rant, cause there’s snow on the ground.
And for that, we are all the better.