Like Digging Out of a Prison Cell with a Spoon

That pretty much sums up the past week. I spent the last few days of November and the first few days of December absolutely wiped out with the worst sinus infection I have ever had. I could have sworn it was bronchitis, but the prompt care clinic doctor loaded me up with antibiotics, a prescription cough medicine, a prescription inhaler(!), and orders to take a couple of different OTC meds. Courtesy of The Sinus Infection from Hell, I missed two days of work and a couple of deadlines for class. Fortunately they were all for the same class and the professor is really easy to work with.

I've spent the past five days digging myself out from under this mess. It felt like I'd been given a table spoon to do a backhoe-sized job. I have chipped away at the workload and am finally down to just one paper, a unit test, and the final for one class. For a few days I wasn't sure that I'd get everything in before the semester ended, but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Class lets out December 14, and as soon as I take care of a few other things (like restoring order to the chaos that is the interior of my car, cleaning the disaster area that is my room, things that have piled up during the last few weeks, etc) I'll dive right into tack! I can't WAIT!

Oh, so that this post isn't entirely picture free...

I finished up the bell boots and pad for the most recent hunter set on Saturday and took a little bit of time to make a halter as a thank you to the buyer for her extreme patience. It's got the usual nifty stickywax closure (plus a tongue, because everything looks better with tongues) and a rolled throat that I am particularly pleased with. Plus, it's stitch marked. I also made a pack saddle for my mom's Fontanini donkey to prevent her from buying this: Fontanini Mary's Donkey, which is (like all Fontanini) very expensive. My pack system is based on the typical pack saddle and may not be culturally correct for first century Judea, but it certainly looks better than the one Fontanini put out (whose cultural/historical accuracy is definitely in doubt!).