Breaks are bad!

I've been looking forward to Thanksgiving break for a while, even with double work duty, just to have time off school. What I didn't count on was loving it too much! Yes, I did work my butt off at work with double shifts, but I went home and did "normal" things. I watched TV (well, OK, I do that every night anyway, but without doing homework at the same time), I rarely turned on my computer at home, and I even started my new stitch project! I did finish my last three English assignments, so technically, I'm finished with that class for the semester. I just have to turn them in as they are due and I can finish the semester focusing solely on programming, my hard class.

I am worried about my final paper because it was supposed to be 3-5 pages and I couldn't get it below 7 (shock, I know, me being overly-wordy). I rewrote the paper five times, from five different points of view, and each one ended up exactly 7 pages. My topic was the backlash against the original Disney Princess Model and the lack of a Disney Prince Model and basically how I think both are really bad things. But you guys know how I feel about that. I'm old school. I like happily every after and true love and all that OG stuff. Ever since a certain actress/Disney princess herself, had her little Twitter rant about it (and another one flat out said she refuses to let her daughter watch Cinderella because she doesn't want her to learn that girls should wait around for a "rich prince to rescue them" - sorry, did she watch the same movie I did?), this comic has been making the rounds and I find it pretty apropos for the issue:

Granted, I get why parents want to teach their girls to be strong and independent, but still, what about the boys? What are we teaching them? That they are just side pieces or villains? They no longer need to slay the dragons or fight the monsters because the girls can do that themselves. They no longer are held to a certain honorable, chivalrous, valorous code, one worthy of a princess because they simply aren't needed anymore. And trust me, I've noticed the difference in the generations of boys since the trend started. And if you wanna exchange stone-throwing, didn't Anna fall in love in five minutes with a total villain who tried to kill her and her sister, and then fell in love the very next day with a total waste of space (cuteness aside)? Yeah, SUCH a better role model there. I will never understand why everyone thinks that movie is such a good role model for girls just because of that whole sisterly relationship...I can't be the only person in the world that noticed that it was Anna's bad decisions that caused all the problems in the first place. I sometimes wonder if the people who complain the most about the OG princesses have actually watched those movies since they were kids. But I digress and I can rant about this topic all day.

But doing "normal" things reminded me how much I miss my "normal" life. This whole school journey started for many reasons, but one of the main ones being because I hated my job so much, especially one doctor in particular who is now leaving the practice. Now that he's leaving and work is getting better, it makes me wonder why I'm putting myself through all this struggle. I have to go back to class today and my nerves are all wound up. I'm terrified like it's the first day. Breaks are bad things! It broke my routine and now I feel like I'm starting all over again. Christmas break will be even worse because, after it's over, I start all new classes. Then there is summer. There is no way I can not take summer classes now, I see that, or I will never go back in the fall. I knew I could scrape up enough money for one summer semester (because I didn't take out enough loans for summer, not knowing how school would go in the first place), but I don't know how I'll come up the funds for a second one too, but I have to find a way.

But anyhoo, stitch-wise, I went out last Friday night and got thread and started winding it afterwards, but I fell asleep. So, I got up Saturday, started winding again, and midday I fell asleep again and didn't wake up until Sunday! I think I must have just been catching up or something. But, by Sunday, all thread was wound, the fabric was stretched and gridded, and Snow and Charming:

Went from a blank canvas:

And started it's long week of a journey. Granted, I didn't get to work on it much, like I said, it was a rough work week, but 7.33 hrs in, I at least made it here by the end of the week:

Considering I haven't stitched on anything since about March, not bad for my return, if I do say so myself! I also thought I had a needle minder bought for this, so I guess I need to find one by Christmas break, since I probably won't have time to touch it again until then.

It's going to be small, about 7 x 10 on 28ct, and I'm still questioning the detail that the pattern promises, but I'm hopeful! It was originally supposed to be stitched on 18ct anyway, so that accounts for mine's tiny size, but I'm still a bit worried. I just wish I had a Emma and Hook to match, but that's OK. I'm just grateful for this gift and hopefully I can do it justice!