Thanksgiving was wonderful, filled with good food, good friends, and good times.  The turkey was great and all the side dishes were fantastic.  We had a four pies for six people, an illustration of just how gluttonous this holiday really is.  Growing up, setting the table was always a really big deal for me.  I grew up on Martha Stewart books and could fold a napkin into a bishop’s miter by the time I was six; I set tables with unnecessary silverware like shrimp forks and iced tea spoons.  Well, with the lack of resources here, I was trying to think outside the box for centerpiece ideas.  I saw on HGTV (which just happens to be owned by our sister company) this centerpiece that used pounds and pounds of beans, split peas, and lentils.  So Andy and I got together and made a wave pattern on the table with lentils and black eyed peas, punctuated with stones and orange candles.  It came out looking really interesting and was a very lovely centerpiece; we were very proud!  I didn’t take any pictures, but hopefully I can snag a few from our friends.

And now it’s finally December!  The holiday season is officially upon us and just 19 days stand between us and the our return to the U.S.  We’ve had to do all our Christmas shopping online and are actually almost done.  Things are busier than ever around here as my thoughts are consumed with selling our stuff, packing, and the long journey home.  There are so many things to take care of – closing bank accounts, selling everything in our apartment, cleaning every room, donating all our clothes to charity, and then the normal day-to-day tasks like cooking, working, and studying.

Every semester we divide it up into mini-milestones, a series of goals we can count down which make the semester move faster (or at least feel like it does).  This semester, we had the first mini, then the second mini, then Barbados, then Thanksgiving.  Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and exams are in full swing, only one countdown remains: the countdown to the end of our time in Dominica… just 19 days away.  Pray for Andy as he takes his exams and for me as I try to maintain this house, my job, and Andy’s sanity.