A great few days...so why the hell haven't I written?

I have really had a great few days.

This weekend, I finally got a letter from the grad school. They approved me for a one semester extension to finish my dissertation. They said they don't approve those extensions lightly, but given my extenuating circumstances (my service and my grandmother's death and having to handle her estate) plus strong support from my department, they were willing to approve it. So I have one last chance to finish my PhD. And I really want to finish.

Then Saturday, my wife and I did some running around, including a trip to the animal shelter. Our older cat passed away two weeks ago, and we have been thinking of getting another cat. Not to replace her, because that isn't possible. We are still both terribly sad. But we also feel that we know we can take care of two cats and there are lots of cats that need homes.

Saturday evening, the Senate voted to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. There is still some implementing to be done, but finally we can see a day when, like LGBT Foreign Service Officers, Gays and Lesbians will be able to serve openly in the military. Hoorah!

Saturday night, I went to the GLIFAA party, though only briefly. I didn't really feel up to it (I'm getting a sore throat), but my teacher said she might go (at my invitation), so I felt like I had to. I didn't stay long, but I was glad to see a good turnout.

Sunday, we went back to the shelter and looked at some more cats. This time, we found a little guy we liked. He is a seven month old kitten with black and white medium length fur. We picked him up today.

Of course, introducing a new cat is always challenging, but I think the pets will sort thinks out. He already showing signs of being a good traveller, a must for a DiploCat.

And today, we had our Christmas party for the Nordic languages and Greek. We did a presentation which was basically a quiz about Estonian Christmas traditions. We translated the questions into Estonian before letting the audience translate. While there were other presentations that were fancier or seemed better orchestrated, I was proud of us. We were the only language group NOT to read their parts. And what we said wasn't memorized. We just translated. So, I think our presentation demonstrated that we are getting a handle on the language.

And I was pretty proud of that.