"The darkest hour is just before the Dawn. . . "

The origins of the statement "the darkest hour is just before the dawn" isn't known. But any fool, be he sailor or soldier, secular or spiritual, has experienced enough of life's eccentricities to know that it's true. It seems that just before he can obtain the greatest sweetnesses in life he must undertake the most bitter. He can call it Karma, call it Divine Intervention, or just call it sheer dumb luck, it comes to the call just the same. He can only remember that it is only a forerunner. . .

We're not sending up the flares, throwing in the towel, or anything similar. On the contrary, we're a "Whirlwind. . . (we're) back in this fight again, staying on (our) knees. Just because (we're) fallen, (we're) not givin' up. You're gonna have to break (us). . ." (Rumbleseat, 2005)

Man, are we looking forward more than ever to the end of this year and this semester of school. As many of you are more than likely aware, Claire has made the decision to take a year completely off from school, cold turkey, and take an assistant manager position at the Eccoci store here in St. George. (No, for all of you inferring schemers, she isn't pregnant. Thanks for the encouragement, though. ;-) ) She's really excited about this, as she hasn't had a break from scholastic rigors since. . . before Preschool. . . ? Yeah, she's a little ready for a break. I say more power to her, and go for it, kiddo! I'm behind ya all the stinkin' way!

To give you an idea of why we're so excited for this momentous change, let me give you an overview of today, which is typical of the next few left in the semester. It's Saturday. Claire left for work at 10:00, a little late, stealing some time for us in the morning. She worked until about 6:15, when she promptly went to the Cox Auditorium on Dixie State Campus to rehearse with the Southwest Symphony for the upcoming performances of Handel's "Messiah". Rehearsal cut off at 9:00, after which she had to stop by Wal-Mart. (Curse you, evil empire!) The time, when she got home, was near 10:00. Twelve hours. I was dying. Inversely, a look at my day:

Claire left for work at 10:00. I quickly ran through a short list of to-do's around the house. (I've never seen so much carpet-shed stuck in a vacuum! Disgusting!) After that, I sat around the house, finishing a take-home final due next Thursday for American Sign Language (ASL) and reading Dickens. (He was my only comfort during this dark time. Bless you, Chuck.) I've felt significantly less of a contribution in the months from October to December. When my seasonal job with the Division of Wildlife ended with September and Claire made her decision for the upcoming year, I decided I would try to do the full-time student thing for that year. (Does 20 credits qualify for full-time-and-a-half? Insane. . . ) I didn't think about how worthless I'd feel for the Holidays. Oh well. "This too shall pass" huh? Yup. And you can bet when it does, we're gonna come out the other side in a "Whirlwind. . . "