In Dulci Jubilo

All week, I have been studying for my final exams.

I rise when Andrew rises, and I begin studying as soon as Andrew leaves for his office. It is very quiet at home—much quieter than the law library—and I can study without distraction.

I study in the living room, and the Christmas tree—with its blinking lights—makes a world of difference in adding warmth and cheeriness to the room. I told Andrew we may have to keep the Christmas tree year-round!

Around 1:00 p.m. each day, I take a long walk to the nearest food store. I could drive, but the purpose of my food store walks is to take a break, get some exercise and clear my mind. Picking up a few fresh fruits and vegetables at the store each day is a purely secondary consideration.

When I get back home from that three-mile walk, I eat a quick lunch and get back to the books, and I study again until Andrew gets home.

I get a decent dinner every night, and the couple of hours it takes us to prepare and eat dinner is the best part of the day.

It’s been cold here, and we have been eating foods that are appropriate for cold weather. Tonight we started with tomato-cream soup, which Andrew had made from scratch last night. We ate our soup with sharp cheddar cheese and water crackers. After the soup, we had chicken breasts baked in a cream pepper sauce, along with wild rice, butternut squash, lima beans and a strawberry-pear-walnut salad, which I have liked since the first time I had it in Minnesota. It is one of Andrew’s mother’s specialties. We had our dessert a couple of hours after dinner: fresh gingerbread, still warm from the oven.

I will continue to study every day and most nights until Christmas Eve, when we depart for Oklahoma. I shall even study this weekend during the day, although we have Christmas parties to attend on Saturday night and Sunday night.

We return to Boston on the evening of New Year’s Day, and I shall resume studying the next day because my exams begin the following week.

The Christmas gifts we ordered a week ago Sunday have all arrived at their destinations. We hope no one has been naughty and opened their gifts prematurely—but, if so, we know everyone must be having a ball playing with their new yo-yos!

Law school is now one-sixth over.

And Christmas is only a week away.

Good Christian Men, Rejoice!