November already!

I'm in the office at UIC and probably should be working on something more productive than blogging, but I've been meaning to do it for a couple of weeks now and am finished with all that I need to have done for today! Of course, there's "always something" one could be doing when he or she is a grad student, but sometimes you just have to set it aside for a minute.

Michael has been gone for almost a month now, and the time is really flying! Of course it is hard, and some days are very challenging emotionally - coming home to the empty apartment is getting easier. Grad classes are definitely wrapping up and the class that I teach is doing the same - just 4 weeks and a day left (not that I'm counting!) and things are quite busy. Well, actually, my students are busy is what I should say! We will be busy the last week of classes and finals week calculating final grades, but until then the lesson planning is pretty basic, even if the grammar is a bit confusing for them!

Chicago weather hasn't hit too badly yet, but I've been told that it really gets bad starting in January...good, so I have something to look forward to! Ha.

My parents came to visit two weekends ago, and we had a great time. We visited the Art Institute, the Field Museum and the John Hancock Tower. They came to visit my church, Willow Creek, who happened to be having a huge worship event with Jaci Velasquez and Salvador that Sunday. They also got to visit two of my favorite French restaurants during their stay, La Creperie and Bistro Zinc.

Outside the Art Institute, by a beautiful fountain...Dad & me.
Mom & me...
At the Creperie with my parents.
With two of my good friends who are also TA's, Sarah and...Sarah!

At the top of the John Hancock Tower, with the view of Chicago. It was cloudy, but still a perfect day and you could see for miles!
I hope that this finds you all well. I'm sorry, there isn't much else to say as far as update from my end. Michael is able to call 2-4 times a week, and we're trying to get into some kind of routine. He's actually doing really well, getting lots of time to exercise and settle in to their base. Hopefully they'll actually start working soon! Ha.