Thankful

Ok, a few days late on the thanksgiving post, but we've been busy. :)

So, first, I am grateful for my wonderful husband(!) Before meeting Matthew, I didn't entirely believe that I would ever find someone who complemented me so perfectly, who would be so willing to go along with my crazy schemes, and who would make me laugh every day. Whatever else goes wrong in the world, just being with Matthew calms me down and cheers me up. I am head over heels in love.

Second, I am grateful for family, my immediate family and my growing extended family (Matthew's family, Claire's family, etc, etc). My mom and I may get a little snippy sometimes, but we talk on the phone nearly every day, and she and my father have always been amazing supportive. Spending the past few days with Mom, Dad, Brian, Claire, and Matthew was just fantastic. It's so comfortable and easy to be with them. I don't think my extended and extended-extended family always entirely understands me, but they are really great and accepting and fun.

Third, I am grateful for my kitties. Maybe that makes me a crazy cat lady, but I just adore the kittens. Right now, one of the little furballs is snuggled up next to me under a blanket, purring away. And I love them even when they try to sleep on my head in the middle of the night or whine for food.

Fourth, I am grateful for my job. In this economy, I am happy just to have a job, but to have a job I love that actually uses my education, where I'm given a ton of autonomy and paid very well, that's almost unbelievable.

Finally, and not least, I am grateful for my friends. I know I'm not always a very good friend. I disappear and fall of the radar for weeks or months at a time; I get married without telling anyone in advance; I don't blog very regularly; and I'm not even very good at answering emails. But I somehow have friends who've been willing to put up with all of it. You guys rock. :)

Ok, enough sappiness. I'm going to eat leftover wedding carrot cake.

This is only a test.

Exactly how old am I now? Staying out til 9pm drinking white wine gives me a headache the next day? Really?!?

Everyone (at least everyone in my little corner of the world) says that universities are the safest places to be in a bad economy. People will always want to go to college, and when they can't find jobs, they want to go to grad school. This is mostly true, although there's some question now about whether students without funding could even get student loans... The real problem is that universities, especially private universities, rely on endowments. And endowments rely on two things: (1) earning money on interest and investments; (2) rich donors with lots of money from interest and investments donating more money. Obviously, this economy is not so favorable to either of those. Rumors have been running rampant at my university that there would be massive budget cuts, but no one has yet known what that would mean. Well, I still don't know what that will mean, but I do know now that I need to cut my budget and that we're going to give out even fewer fellowships this year than usual. Oh joy. I *think* my job is safe, at least for a while, but it's getting scary here. And everywhere, I suppose.

So, um, what the heck do I spend my time online doing now??

Very relieved, very happy, very tired.

I was hoping for a better night for the Democrats, and I'm disappointed in California today, but the Obama happiness trumps all for the moment.

But wow, is today going to be a long day at work.