Fall 2023 Semester Comes to an End

Today is my first day of winter break.  Yesterday I turned in my final paper, the big one for Systematic Theology class.  I had hoped to have a complete rough draft by the end of the day on Wednesday.  I didn't make that deadline, but I was close enough to sleep well.  I knew that the second and last section, the soteriology section would be easy for me to write, with its task to answer the question, "What is salvation for?" and tie it in to a current issue we're passionate about.  I chose climate change, because I thought there was a chance that fewer people would write about that issue than others we could have chosen, and I knew I could make it work.

Yesterday I got up and wrote the last section, while also circling back to proofread and to look through my notes from class lectures and the PowerPoints to try to determine what I still needed to add to the first section.  Around 10 or so, I thought, maybe I should have organized this paper a different way.  For a brief second, I thought about trying it, but then I told myself to stop being ridiculous.  I had about 12 hours before the deadline, and that's not enough time to rewrite the whole paper.  Plus, I was almost done.  

I went for a walk, and then we had our simple lunch of leftover hambone bean soup.  After lunch, I added some more Bible references to the paper and fixed some spacing.  I proofread and proofread again.  Finally, about 2 p.m., I went ahead and turned it in.  By then, my spouse was asleep, and I waited for him to wake up so we could celebrate.

I had thought of ways to celebrate.  I've been craving pizza for days, but a heavy meal like that is not something I wanted later in the day.  I thought about going to a brewery, but I didn't want to be out in rush hour traffic, which meant my spouse would need to wake up from his nap soon.

In the end, I went to the public library to get the books I had on hold.  In a way, it's fitting.  I've always spent my school breaks reading whatever I wanted.  I've always taken great pleasure in going to the library and getting whatever I wanted to read without having to pay.

But it was early enough in the day that I knew I would want something to eat before bedtime--but what?  I knew that I didn't want anything that was in the fridge, and I didn't want to cook or bake.  So I headed over to the nearby specialty bakery, hoping it was late enough in the day to get some discounted baked goods.

It was late enough in the day, half an hour before closing time, that there was not much left at all in the bakery at all.  I couldn't decide between the focaccia and the 3 cheese garlic bread, so I got them both.  Part of me thought that I overpaid, and part of me thought that I got 2 loaves of bread for what I would have paid for a pretzel and beer cheese dip at the brewery, so I got the better deal.

I got home and heated up the bread, which I enjoyed with a glass of wine and a stack of books as I glanced up periodically to watch the progress of the sun setting behind the mountains.  It was a low-key, but satisfying, celebration of the end of a semester,