Avoidance Behavior

I (Mike) am in the midst of studying for my qualifying exams, and I know only one thing for sure (barring unforeseen disasters that reveal the relatively trivial nature of accomplishments like graduate degrees for what they are): February 2nd and 3rd will come and go, and I will continue breathing. The exams require me to remember a lot of material I have learned both in classes and on my own over the past two years, and I am only now beginning to realize how little I remember. So after each day's mini panic attack, I get back into slogging through the material. In addition to studying, I am also practicing a few avoidance behaviors. First, we ordered USD-TV (cable TV with an indoor antenna), even though I had committed a number of years ago that I would never pay for TV when I could get it for free. However, this last time when we went home American Chopper kept calling to us, reminding us of Paul Sr. and Paulie's heartwarming interactions, and HG-TV kept showing all those home shows we had been missing since our move to Salt Lake (cable was free in Provo, so it was fair game then). USD-TV cost us $18 a month, so I caved. Now, you can't buy something without using it, so I study by day and we watch by night. The second avoidance behavior I have practiced is preparing our second bedroom to be a nursery. This involved long hours of going through boxes and throwing out items that had not seen the light of day in at least two years as well as rearranging the bedroom furniture and building a new dresser (courtesy of IKEA--we love that place. This is really sad, but we want the next place we move to to be within an hour of both an IKEA and a Costco. Talk about your priorities). Finally, I sit here writing when I should be reading. That said, I will sign off now, but not before relating three bits of news. First, a case worker has our adoption file, so hopefully we will receive a call for an appointment soon. We have an orientation meeting on January 26th. Second, Hallie and I are now both back at Weight Watchers (too much TV and indulging in tasty treats results in clothes not fitting--surprise!), and last week I lost 2 lbs, and she lost .8 lbs. We go again on Saturday. Finally, we celebrate seven years of marriage on Sunday the 23rd. It has been one fast ride, and Hallie makes the best travelling companion a boy could have. Thanks, Hallie! I love you!