Hello everyone, at last, it is National Squirrel Awareness Month, and I hope you are celebrating accordingly. I have not really celebrated yet, as it has only been 2 days, but I will probably get in on all of the spicy squirrel action this long weekend. That’s right, I’m talking squirrel petting zoos, finding a squirrel in my backyard and befriending them, and destroying the enemies of the squirrel. It will be magnificent. Maybe I’ll paint a leopard slug as well, I don’t know.

My semester has been going pretty well, I have been enjoying commuting and I have been enjoying my classes. In particular, Providence Suffering Freedom has been a joy, oddly enough. I was sprung with one of the most interesting assignments I have ever had on day one. Write a letter to a hypothetical close friend who has just lost their 4 year old child to bone cancer. How do you respond? That was the point. I have to grapple with why an all-powerful god would exist in the same world as suffering. While I am not religious, the topic is incredibly interesting to me and I am excited to show up every day.

What I am not excited for is Thursdays, which is why the next couple weeks are a treat. I have to start classes at eight in the morning, and go until 4 in the afternoon. It is basically three labs in a row and feels like a marathon. But now we have long weekend, and inexplicably, inauguration. So no Thursdays for a while. Yay.

I have also been feeling pretty good at the Tech Bar, I’ve completed a couple projects and have been killing appointments. I have loved having the new consultants around and they have been doing great so far. The future is bright.