one down. eight to go.

I crossed the academic finish line on Wednesday.  It felt UNBELIEVABLY wonderful.  Okay, in reality it was like crossing a 2 mile marker in a marathon.  I do still have 8 more semesters, a dissertation, internship, postdoc fellowship and licensing boards ahead of me. . . but for the next three weeks I can take a bit of a breather.  I turned in my last Assessment report on Wednesday afternoon. A bunch of my classmates who hadn't left for break yet met up for dinner and drinks that evening.  The tiredness had hit me on the metro ride into DC in the afternoon to attend a final lab, so I wasn't sure I wanted to go but ended  up being so glad that I did.  Philip and I cruised into DC at 8:30 (and, yes, at 8:30 on a Wednesday night traffic was still not clear).  We had a really great time. 

My friend Leslie's husband works for the State Department, so he and Philip talked government business. 

When we got home I commented to Philip how much I am looking forward to celebrating all of the (aforementioned) milestones that lay ahead with this incredible group of people.  I feel so blessed because our class has cohesion and comraderie that isn't seen in very many classes (sometimes the competitive nature of things gives way to a not-so-nice environement - the class above us has some pretty serious personality clashes)

Tonight we had Philip's squadron Christmas party.  It was nice to meet the commander and his wife.  We sat at a fun table (always makes events like this more fun).  It definitely has a different feel to it than life overseas.  You feel a bit more annonymous (which in a way can be nice).