Thanksgiving, Turkey, and Term papers

Sorry to drop off the face of the blogosphere like that. It's been a busy few weeks at school, and I've had to let many non-essentials (like this blog, laundry, and actually cooking) slide while I try to get ready for the end of the semester.
My dad is doing great, which I'm really pleased about, of course. He's home and very restless -- it's hard for him to accept that he needs time to heal -- but seems to have come through the surgery with flying colors. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and the whole family at Christmas.
Thanksgiving sort of marks the end of the regular semester at school. Now it's all presentations and final papers. I have four big ones due in the next three weeks. There's a presentation due tomorrow that I'm procrastinating on right now in fact. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape for the papers, especially since I'm usually a last-minute procrastinator.
This Thanksgiving was nice. I relaxed on Thursday and Friday, and spent Thanksgiving with some friends. YEsterday I did lots of sleeping, and also hit the libraries for a while. More library work today, and hopefully I won't have to stay up too late tonight to finish.
There has also been knitting. I'll try and get some photos up tomorrow or at least this week. Can't wait to show off my partly-done monkey. :)
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

What sleepless nights are good for

Socks! Yes the Roza's socks are finished at last. Plymouth Sockotta, color 367, knit on size 1 dpns. They're a grumperina pattern from the Spring 07 IK. Technically, I made three socks, but the first sock was so tight I had to frog it and start again. I went up a size and made the heel flap slightly longer, and voila! I really like this pattern. The brioche stitch is pretty and very easy to memorize. These were great socks for mobile knitting, and were knitted in Connecticut, Texas, the Bronx, and Manhattan. They've really gotten around, and I haven't even worn them yet.

I've been on the verge of finishing them for ages, and finally, I stayed up late to finish them off. I was on edge, and the knitting was just what I needed. I haven't talked about it much, but my father has not been well this past several months. He was diagnosed with liver cancer, and has been undergoing chemo since the spring. Thankfully, the tumor was isolated to the liver and shrunk a lot with the chemotherapy. Yesterday he underwent surgery to remove it. I talked with my parents about possibly going home to be with everyone, but we decided it was better for me to stay in school. I know it was the practical thing to do, but yesterday I was not feeling good about that decision. I really wanted to be with my family. I went to class, but I'm not sure I learned a thing. I was just waiting for the phone to ring. I finally got the call that he was out of surgery and stable around 7 last night, and I just felt all this stress leaving me when I heard he was out and safe. I still couldn't sleep though, and these finished objects are the result.
He's resting now, and finally, so am I.