MERRY CHRISTMAS in advance! I made this wreath a week or so ago -- that is my favorite X'mas thing to do. We love the smell of the pine whenever we open our front door. We have also put up a string of lights around the back window of our house and picked up a Poinsettia. Marc is sad that we are not getting a X'mas tree but it really doesn't make sense since we will be gone for so long.

I am now done with my coursework and will have to re-focus on a paper I need to revise for a journal and dissertation work before we head to France next week (yikes!). It is hard to get motivated especially because I got word late last week that it is very likely my current advisor will be leaving UNC for a senior position at UMich's School of Public Health. This is bad news of everyone at the department because he is highly respected, and does lots of good work. I particularly like him as an advisor because he pretty much tells me what the deal is without dressing things up too much (though it can be hard to take sometimes). On the other hand I understand him wanting to move his career forward, but it just stinks because with some departmental rules, it means that if he leaves I will have to re-think my the composition of my dissertation committee. This may all unfold in the next week or so... I am not very optimistic.... *sob*

Marc left for DC early this AM and will be there until Sat. The Young Adults group at our church is having a holiday party Saturday evening, so it's great that he can make it back for that.

~ Shuwen