1 quarter down, 7 more to go.

after handing in two final papers today and taking my last final for the quarter, my excitement could barely be contained. i walked down Los Robles Avenue, shaking with giddy gladness at how i can't believe i'm done with every paper, every exam and every assignment. from then until i got in my car and jumped on the 210 freeway which was like a parking lot traffic jam, a smile seemed to be plastered onto my face after repeating the phrase, "i'm done, it's over, i'm FREE!" over and over internally. normally, traffic jams make me mad (as they do most people) but i doubt if even a "the freeway is now closed" sign could've ended my seemingly eternal grin. what can i say, i'm happy right now. can you tell?

oh and one more thing (mood change) that i came across reading last night that i wanted to share. as you know, i'm a big fan of anne lamott (author of "bird by bird" and "traveling mercies"). and last night, while doing research and flipping through pages of "traveling mercies," i came across this beautiful description of just how big God's love is for us all (Yvonne, have you read this yet???:)

Lamott writes, "The mystery of God's love as I understand it is that God loves the man who was being mean to his dog just as much as he loves babies; God loves Susan Smith, who drowned her two sons, as much as he loves Desmond Tutu. And he loved her just as much while she was releasing the handbrake of her car that sent her boys into the river as he did when she first nursed them. So of course he loves old ordinary me, even or especially at my most scared and petty and mean and obsessive. Loves me; chooses me."

All the more reason for my smiling to continue. Good night.