What a day!

Today was a day of firsts. Some things went as planned: I taught grammar labs, which I do every Tuesday; I finished a few assignments for my coordinator; I had a meeting; I parked really far away, like I do almost every day.

But some things were new. While I was in my office this morning, I got an e-mail to my cell phone which was from my mentor. The subject line read "And the verdict is..." My heart stopped. I knew it was about my thesis, so I didn't even read it until I finished my project. When I opened the e-mail, I almost died. It said:
MY THESIS WAS ACCEPTED! AS IS! NO REVISIONS!
My mentor said that is "unheard of." I was so excited. It was so nice to feel that relief and also know that I had done a good job on something that was such a huge project. My oral exams are next Thursday. I am so ready to get that hour of my life out of the way!! The countdown begins...

I got home from work and Belmont was preparing to make a delicious supper for me in honor of the exciting news. He picked up all the fixings to make our "special meal" (which we had the first time he cooked for me and for my birthday/our engagement meal). As we were chatting about our days and he was preparing the salmon, A CHIPMUNK RAN ACROSS OUR KITCHEN FLOOR!! I screamed like a little girl. Belmont jerked around and saw what he thought was a rat and then he screamed too. We saw the classic chipmunk markings and knew that it was not, in fact, a mouse of any kind. Praise the Lord! (Although chipmunks can do similar damage to your house, my psyche does not place them in the same category as mice. They are cuter, and therefore less disgusting. Logical, right?) Anyway, I sat on the countertop for 1o minutes or so while my brave husband carefully scoped out the area to try to find the little critter. No such luck. We have been searching everywhere. We cannot find him! We are now resorting to little plates of peanuts in every room. Each plate has 10 peanuts, so we'll know if he took any and (hopefully) which room he is in. Belmont set up a laundry basket trap so that if we are sleeping and he hears the chipmunk come out of our closet, he can throw a pair of socks at the basket and it will fall on top of him. (I, of course, will hear nothing as I have been known to sleep through two fire alarms and my little sister's entire childhood of waking up at 2 a.m.) I will have to hear the results in the morning. :)

As I told Belmont yesterday, this Chipmunk album is one
of my favorite Christmas albums of all times. It doesn't
really have to do with the story... but it's CHIPMUNKS! :)

Belmont is now straightening up the kitchen. I made some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins for a get-together in the Spanish department tomorrow and need to finish those up, but there is one last first on my list for today:

IT IS ELDON'S 2-WEEK BIRTHDAY!
Happy birthday, little one! ¡Feliz cumpleaños, sobrino!

He's bilingual. He needs both. :)

Praise God for such blessings! (Well, the chipmunk isn't really a blessing, but he's an adventure... right?) I am so glad to have my thesis written and be getting near the end of my graduate program! We will see what the Lord has in store for us next...