Coming up for air

My grading is done for all three of my classes Monday (and it's only Friday!). The house is perfectly clean (thanks to recent added help). I'm caught up on laundry. Plans for winter break are mostly complete. All urgent emails are responded to. I spent a chunk of time tonight doing grad work. And for about the first time in at least a month I actually feel on top of things, instead of being carried along by an unmanageable current. That feels wonderful...even though the feeling may be somewhat momentary!
This past Thursday I went to the orphanage with a student to donate some money to pay for the surgery of the boy with spina bifida. We were wonderfully surprised (as was the orphanage earlier in the day) with the news that an organization from Changchun had come that day to pick up that baby, the premie, and a girl with hearing problems. The organization will take care of them and cover all medical expenses. I was thrilled with this answer, especially for the premie who the orphanage just isn't equipped enough to take care of. It was also really awesome to just hang out for awhile at the orphanage. Saturdays are usually pretty crazy with many students and people crowding the place. It's wonderful for the kids to have all of that love and attention. However, it was also cool to observe them in their "normal" daily life. Their personalities definitely shined through even more.
Thursday night Sonny, Seth, and I went to the English department's talent competition. There were a lot of the same performances that we're used to. However, there was a comedy skit based on Romeo and Juliet that really made me wish my Chinese skills were better...