I got all my information today about where I’d be staying in London. I’m excited now . . . it’s all starting to feel real! It’s a little more expensive than I thought it’d be, but it sounds pretty close to the university, so that’s probably why. I’m not looking forward to the initial jet-lag, however, I will tell you that!

I have oodles and scads of paperwork to send out over the big blue pond, including one so they’ll meet me at the airport. The thought of me lost in London is just . . . scary. London might never recover.

I also got my lists of classes . . . v. odd, they only meet for one or two hours a week, and yet they’re worth 4 credit hours. Wow. Funky. Maybe you have to do a lot of stuff outside of class . . . yeeps . . . wouldn’t want that, would we??

In other news, it’s as near to Christmas as makes no difference. Whichever holiday you celebrate (and there are a lot out there), have a happy one, and try not to kill your families! Keep telling yourself, “Wait ‘til next Christmas . . . hahahahaha . . .”

Book for today: Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley. This is a re-working of the Sleeping Beauty story, with the most unlikely princess you ever met in your life. Of course, just about anything by Robin McKinley is great stuff . . . she’s written at least two versions of Beauty and the Beast, and her other books are award-winners. Highly recommended.

Just a quick post to see if my comments program is working . . . so quick I don't even have a Book for Today. Wow.

Well, I’m all done with my last classes at my American university. Exams are all written, for better or for worse (I have the sneaking suspicion that, given my general attitude of “oh, whatever” for the last couple of weeks of the term, it’ll be “for worse”) and grades will be coming in a couple of weeks. Whimper.

I’ve also packed myself up and moved back home on Saturday. Sigh. I’m really going to miss my apartment--in addition to great roommates (and you know who you are), independence, and constant internet access, it had the added advantage of distance . . . from my mother. *snicker* Kidding, mostly.

So anyway . . . now I have about six weeks to hang around at home until I leave for London at the end of January. In that time, I need to get my greedy little hands on some money, not only for Christmas shopping, but also for living on in London, which is apparently rather expensive . . . Anyone know of a job that’ll earn me mucho moola and allow me to sit around and read or write all the livelong day?

No?

I didn’t think so.

Book for today: The Thief by Meghan Whalen Turner. This is a Newbery Honor book from about five years ago, meaning don’t look for it in adult fantasy. Maybe young adult. Anyway, it’s set in a quasi-ancient-Greece fantasy world, which was why I first picked it up. But don’t read it for that--read it for the main character, Gen the thief, who is the kind of kid that everyone wants to slap upside the head, but yet manages to make you root for him. What a trick! And it’s not the only one he pulls off . . . watch out for the ending. Bwaha.

It's final exam time, kiddies. Have you had your nervous breakdown yet?

No, really, finals aren't that bad for me. The week before finals, now . . . presentation paper paper study review . . . argh! But that's over, and now there's only three finals to be got through for me. Oh, and also turn in my independent study, but that's practically done anyway. Feel free to throw all the tomatoes you want. I have an umbrella.

It's been a strange week for me. In my head, I know I'm going to be leaving this university forever in just a few days, and also leaving people who have become very dear to me. I'll keep in touch, of course, but it won't be the same. Yesterday, I participated in the graduation ceremony for Fall semester, even though I won't technically graduate until April. It was a nice, short little ceremony. I didn't see my family until the very end of it, when I was walking out. My parents and brothers attended, as well as my grandmother, my grandfather on the other side, and his fiancee, plus my aunt and her family, not to mention my roommates. Wow! What a cheering section I had! It was a nice feeling. I still didn't feel like I graduated, especially since I got just a diploma case and not the diploma itself.

I went to church on-campus today, and I nearly lost it during Mass. I've been attending this Mass for 3 and a half years, minus summer breaks, and it hit me like a brick to the head that I'd never worship there again. Isn't it strange what kinds of things set you off?

I tell you, this growing-up stuff sucks like a fleet of Hoovers.

In other news, I might not get the classes thing ironed out by the time I get on the plane--which really really worries me, because I need them done if I want to graduate on time. The international office is a mess right now, but the woman who's handling my stuff has told me she will try to get to it as soon as possible. I believe her, but I'm still itchy and worried. Grumble.

Good luck on finals, everyone who has them! And everyone else, happy holidays!

Books for today: Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. This is a truly exceptional romance novel, I'm telling you. The hero has a stroke close to the beginning of it, and since this takes place in the early nineteenth century, he is thought to be mad and put into an insane asylum. The heroine is the only one who believes that there's still a human being somewhere in there. Laura's descriptions of the insane asylum are truly horrifying, all the more so since the characters consider it an advanced place of treatment. SHUDDER! Also, Laura writes the scenes that are from the hero's POV as if you are in his head, with things not connecting the way a stroke victim would think and feel. Read it for a GREAT love story. Insert mooshy sighs here.