One month left of first term!

Today marks the beginning of the end of the term! It's hard to imagine that in one month, I'll have finished 1/3 of my masters degree (hopefully successfully!). And, to celebrate, I'll hop on a train and go to see my family, who will be waiting for me just outside of London. :-) It will be hard to not see my extended family at Christmas- this will be the first time ever for me. But we're prepared for that- and I'll have my computer so I can skype Grandma and we'll at least be able to see her via internet, and we're getting cheap international SIM cards for my parents' phones- so we'll be able to call everyone else. :-)

Before then, I still have three essays to complete. I've been thinking a lot about them recently, doing lots of research, and planning how I want to dissect the topics. I'm most excited about the essay where I'll develop a proposal for a peace education programme. It's such an open-ended idea that I'm not sure where it will take me- hence my excitement.

In addition to needing to finish those essays, I will be giving four speeches to different Rotary groups in that time, and traveling to London for a late Thanksgiving dinner with my (American) godparents who live here in England, and, I can't believe I'm doing this... I'm hosting an early Thanksgiving dinner here in my flat on Sunday. Yes, I must be crazy. I don't think I've ever attempted a full Thanksgiving meal by myself before. I've cooked a turkey before- that's not hard- but coordinating everything in a kitchen shared by 6 people (who I'm not inviting- that may be awkward)... hmm. Plus, as I learned shopping for the groceries online today, many of the ingredients I need aren't sold here in the form I'm used to- including shortening, and cream-style corn (it's way too hard to carry a Thanksgiving's worth of groceries on the bus by myself- so I am having them delivered- which is just a pound or so more than the bus ticket- totally worth it!).

My Thanksgiving menu:

• Corn Casserole
• Cranberry Scones
• Mashed Potatoes
• Turkey
• Gravy
• Stuffing
• Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pie (if I can find a pumpkin around here- they don't have canned pumpkin, at least from what I've seen!)
• Vanilla ice cream
  

Mmmm.

It will be the smallest Thanksgiving I've ever attended- only 6 of us. How did I arrive at that number? Well, for one thing, that's all my kitchen table will seat. Also, in my kitchen, we have six people sharing three baby-sized refridgerators. That means I have two shelves in which to keep all the cool ingredients cool. I figure, if I take out one shelf, I will just be able to fit the turkey in (to thaw), and pile the butter, milk, and cream cheese (for the mashed potatoes- yum!) around it. Should be interesting. :-) I'll post pictures afterwards!

Back to work!!! I will achieve my daily goal of adding another 500 words to an essay today... I will, I will, I will!