Quite the Week

I have a sink full of dishes from my sugar cookie bonanza and a pile of magazines sitting near the door to my living room that I shove under said door in case a little mouse wants to come eat me.

Goods of the week:

• Finished the term! 
• My final went okay and I am just hoping to squeak into the B category in one class. 
• One of my teachers wrote a comment on my final paper that was so sweet it almost made me cry. After class, she took a bunch of us out for the most delicious pizza. She also invited me to her house for Christmas in case I wanted to go somewhere. 
• Had free food pretty much all week but none of it was considered healthy by any means. I did enjoy THE best donuts I have ever had and they were totally worth the calories. 
• Socialized with my program people and really enjoyed myself. We had great conversation and are feeling more like a cohort every day. Dare I say, I actually look forward to seeing them in class in a few weeks!
• Snow! We'll keep it in the "good" side since it is still pretty just a little scary to walk or drive in. 
• Presents on my doorstep after a very bad day yesterday. I have the new Tim Gunn book now and some great cookbooks to take a peek at. 

Bads of the week:

• Mouse in the house the morning that I needed to open up the office. My mom had a mouse problem in the winters at her apartment which completely terrified me. I have been assured it is just a visitor from the abandoned house next door and landlord will do something about it. Still a little scared. 
• My co-workers and I received devastating news yesterday morning. Our assistant director, Chuck Fulford, passed away the night before. He had been sick for about a week but was even in the office the day before and was quickly sent home since he didn't look completely recovered yet. He had been at Eastern Michigan University for 30 years and was set to retire in May. It was a huge, huge shock and counselors were brought in to help with the grieving. As I am the newest member of the group, I didn't know quite how to react. I gave consoling hugs where I could but was also incredibly saddened by the loss of such an amazing person. He had the best laugh, always loved puns, and wore suspenders every day. I was numb most of the day as was the staff, but we had students to see and had our holiday party already planned. Some advisors cancelled appointments but I needed to stay busy and did just that. Our holiday "party" was solemn but we tried to enjoy ourselves as Chuck would have wanted. There was an overflow of food, desserts, presents, and hugs. He will be truly, truly missed.