And the Winner is . . .

Me!  Well, me and my debate team.  This was my day today.  I finished my second paper around 3:00 a.m., slept five hours, got up for two hours of lecture, went shoe shopping (Hey, I needed/deserved a break!) and then spent the next two hours talking to myself like a crazy person while practicing for the debate I participated in for my EU foreign policy class.  Two cappuccinos and a Diet Coke later my teammates and I were seated at the panelists table in front of the rest of the IRD department.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  I love that kind of stuff: high pressure, high profile.  What can I say?  Sometimes I enjoy a little limelight.  Anyway, my team was the pro side and while we lost in the class vote on the resolution, we won the "Best Team" vote.  So I feel pretty awesome.
The past few days in general have been pretty fantastic.  While I spent most of the weekend shut in my room writing paper 2, I managed to have a wonderful Saturday evening.  I went out to dinner with three Italian friends and we shared a giant bowl of French fries and then went to dessert and got real, huge, strong cappuccinos (not from an automated machine that uses powdered milk) and warm waffles!  My waffle had banana slices!!  I cannot tell you how happy that evening made me.  It was a perfect mental break and a chance to spend some time with some girls I don't get to see often enough with my crazy schedule.
So now it is Tuesday and I am preparing to commence work on paper #3.  The last big project of the semester before exams.  I am so tired of footnotes I could throw something.  I am actually looking forward to next week when I will have enough time to just do the course readings again.  But I am working hard so I can have time to spend with Sally this weekend!!!  I think that her upcoming visit is the reason I have been in such a good mood the last few days.  I should be super stressed (and trust me, I am) but I am just so excited to see her!
Hopefully this mood and my current motivation level will last until Monday.  I have the feeling I have an all-nighter in the near future.  But I'll deal with that later.
That's all for now.  I hope life is lovely for all of you.

Peace, Love, Waffles, and Visits from Best Friends!!!!!!