Winter Break! (Also known as: “Catching up on Netflix”)

Ahhhhh!! We made it! It’s finally here! The last week of school to be followed by finals… and then… WINTER BREAK! If you are like me, you have been looking forward to this since about mid-October. Our hard work has paid off and we can now sit back, eat some Christmas cookies, and catch up on all of the television and activities that we may have missed while we’ve all had our noses in books over the past few months. Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of things that we now have time for:

1. Television – Ok, so I have a habit of having the television on in the background while I’m doing homework, not because I’m watching, but because I need the background noise. Now… I can actually pay attention to at least one full program!
2. Cooking – So, I really like to cook, and having class has made that a bit more challenging than I had expected. But, for winter break, I can now try out some of the recipes that have been calling my name.
3. Facebook – Enough said.
4. Going out with friends – Most have my friends have gotten used to me saying, “I can’t, I have homework”… now I get to say, “Yes! Let’s do it!”
5. Reading… for pleasure – This almost seems counter-intuitive. I mean, we just spent the whole semester reading LOTS of different things for classes. However, there is a great deal to be said for reading a novel, simply because you enjoy it.
6. Family time – This is probably the most important one, at least for me. To get to be more present with my family and less distracted by looming deadlines for school-work is really one of the greatest holiday gifts we could ask for.
7. Exploring – Have you seen some of the amazing things that are available both as part of the Montgomery College community and the county at large? I wrote a blog about some of the stuff that MC has to offer, that is “off the beaten path”, and you can click here to read it!

While I know that the next semester will be upon us before we know it, we have been given this small window of time to toss our cares to the wind and live a little… at least until January. Sharing this time with you all has been… amazing, stressful, wonderful, chaotic, enlightening, and most of all… ENRICHING. I can’t wait to see what next semester brings for all of us. But in the meantime, may we all take some time to relax, breathe, and enjoy PRESENCE and presents! Happy End-of-Semester, everyone!