Some bullets

• I have cleaned off my desk, eliminated the piles on the floor, and reduced the crap in the file cabinet by about one-third. I shredded an entire garbage bag worth of miscellaneous paper. Oh how I love feeling like my office is a space I want to be instead of a place I dread!
• I emptied the hall closet right off our master bedroom. It was full of crap (books, curtains?, photos, lots of jackets we don't wear, Halloween costumes, and cleaning supplies). I plan to put this cart in there for baby stuff because our master is downstairs, and baby will be in our room for at least 6-8 weeks, I imagine, instead of upstairs in the nursery. Now the closet is mostly empty, save a vacuum cleaner and some carpet remnents, a couple of light jackets and a box of stuff with no other home on the shelf. Yay for empty closets!
• We are heading to our friends' house tonight to meet their new addition. We met J & A in our adoption training class in May and hit it off right away. They only live about 30 minutes from us and we've gotten together several times over the summer and in the fall. They activated with the agency a week after we did and we've bonded over the whole process and the agonizing wait. Good news is their wait ended! They got a call the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and picked up their son 'Little J' the next day! He is now a month old and we have yet to meet him. The holidays were crazy for them, obviously, and so tonight we are finally going over to catch up and meet Little J! I am so excited and I can't wait to hug J & A!
• We are going to start planning our summer vacation soon. We've decided to spend 9-10 days on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and I got BigTex some travel books for Christmas. We'll probably stay in 3 different spots but it will depend on what we want to see and do. There will definitely be a lot of hiking and some kayaking, and probably some wandering around an old fort or two. I always get excited to plan our trip--it gives me something to look forward to.
• I'm buying the GRE study books today and I plan on scheduling an appointment with the English department at our local university to walk through my options for Grad school. This is my dream (well, the other one) and I am so tired of putting it off. I plan to get my PhD, but since I've been out of school for so many years, I can't even get in to a PhD program without some recent academic experience and references. So instead of doing an MA/PhD program at one place, I had thought I could get my MA at the local university (which is a medium-large, fairly well-known school) and then apply to the PhD programs I am really interested in (which are in Texas). It will take 2-3 years for the MA if I work while I'm in school, which I will probably have to do. I really was hoping to go full-time but it's not in the cards right now. I can take the GRE anytime, but the English Lit subject test is only offered a couple times per year. The next one is in April so I am planning to have the GRE done or scheduled for around the same time. I can apply to the university anytime and still get in for Fall semester up to 6 weeks before it starts. Well, this is my current plan anyway. More to come, but Yay!
• We now have 3 sets of friends who have babies due in April. That's going to be a tough one, I am pretty sure.

More later, but please think good things for Athena & Helo (who are going through a very tough time), Susan (who is PUPO) and Jo (who is waiting to see rising betas). Hugs to each of you!!!!