La vie est belle: j'ai fini avec mes examens

Je suis tres content. What? You say you didn't understand a thing I just said? Oh, that's right: you don't speak French . . . wait a second, neither do I. It must be all the delicious Swiss chocolate I've been consuming as a precautionary measure against psychological meltdown during finals week. It worked, too. I took my last final last Thursday. I don't know how well I did, and don't really care at this point. :o) Okay, that's a lie; I do care, it's just out of my control now. Update: I passed all my finals.

Today I delivered to my employer/professor what I believe to be the last of the papers/assignments that I will have to read/grade/review/cringe over until next semester. Actually, I enjoyed reading most of them, though it was sometimes painfully obvious that not all students are created equal in the writing department. The last batch of papers I read were the author portfolios for British Literature--the same class I took a year ago. It was interesting to see the varying levels of quality, as well as author choices. Two students chose Nathaniel Hawthorne, and one chose Robert Frost. Sadly, neither of these authors are BRITISH! Jane Austen was the top choice, with 20% of the students opting to spotlight the reigning queen of British Romanticism. (Go Jane!)

The boys have been revelling in their free time by spending large quantities of it in the pursuit of absolutely nothing, but I think we'll go skiing tomorrow. Parker went to the Christmas dance last Saturday, and had a good time, as you can see in this photo:


Oops! Clearly not Parker and his date. Hang on a sec . . . the picture was here a minute ago [sound of mouse clicks, fingers furiously typing]. Ah ha! Here it is:



Now that, my friends, is an attractive couple, yes? Parker looks nice in his new suit. Remember when he looked like this:


Who gave him permission to grow up? :o/

I did the majority of my Christmas shopping online this year, and everything has come save one package--its estimated delivery date is December 24th. I know that's cutting it close, but if it doesn't get here before Christmas, I'll just print a picture of the item to wrap up: "Here Hayden, this is what you'll eventually get--someday." :o)

I spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. Fortunately, we have a bishop who is well aware of the craziness which is/has been my life this semester. He gave me a month to prepare, knowing full well what he was asking of me. I think it went well. It proved to be cathartic, forcing me to organize the thoughts and feelings that have been bouncing around in my head for the last year. I was asked by a friend if I'd post my talk here, but I think seven pages would be a bit much. Maybe I'll put it on my Weebly page instead, which can be linked from here.