Running Out of Ink

Well, it's that point. The real (well, almost real) end of the semester. I'm not quite sure how we got here.
The weekend ended up speeding by pretty quickly. With papers done, I was able to actually sleep as well as make it to (and through) Beasts and Beauties performances. I spent most of the time watching kids (and telling them to shut up during the show) and then running around the theatre as needed at various points. But I did get to watch two of the performances, and a few of my housemates even came to watch one of the performances with me, which was super sweet. The kids did a good job in the show (as much as you can expect from a group of 12-14 year olds), and visually the show was amazing. I could live in that design and the director created some beautiful images with the staging. It was definitely a crazy and hectic weekend, but I enjoyed it.
This is actually the last week of classes. Which is kind of crazy. It felt like we would be here for forever. And now it's almost time to go. I had my last Jane Austen class today, and it just kinda felt like we would come back next week. (Well, we are to take our final. But that's not the same thing.) So now I have only two more classes left. And then finals. And then I go home. And I don't quite want to think about that yet. For a number of reasons (which I'm sure I'll probably get into in my next couple of posts, but don't want to get into now, mostly for mental sanity reasons), but one of the biggest ones is that we don't get to return here. At least at the end of the semester or year at Gettysburg, at least I know I'll get to return fairly soon. But this is the last time I'll be living in Bath and attending to ASE and hanging out with all of these people. I just want to strech the time a little bit more...
At least there's been some good happening on top of this foreboding melancholy. Like I said, some of my friends came to see Beasts and Beauties and support me and all the work I've put in at the theatre over the course of the semester, which is so incredibly sweet. Tonight we had a couple of friends over from our drama class to work on a scene we're performing next week (!) and had dinner before the rehearsal and tea and cakes afterwards. It was so nice to sit and hang out and talk with my house and these two girls and then to have an indepth rehearsal inbetween. Looking back, it was also just another reminder of why I'm going to miss this place.
But the highlight of my day was certainly my adventures with my roommate April. Last week, my housemates Courtney and Jan (who are roommates) came home one night with new stuffed animals from the Disney store that they had purchased for each other as Christmas presents. (Plus, the stuffed animals were on sale.) And, both being giant Disney nerds, April and I thought that was the best idea ever. So this afternoon, we headed off to the Disney store in Bath and spent probably 40 minutes wandering through the store and then agonizing over what stuffed animal we each actually wanted - so many options! (In case you were wondering, I ended up with a super soft Pooh and she got an adorable Donald.) We bought each other's animal and then headed over to Bath Abbey and the Christmas tree in the Abbey square. (Fun fact: Bath's Christmas tree is a gift from the city of Oslo, who apparently gift Bath a Christmas tree every year. Way to go, Norwegians.) As we exchanged stuffed animals in front of the Abbey and tree, we each gave a little speech about the other and our roommate experience together. It made me tear up a little. I love that girl. It was the perfect way to celebrate together, and really made my day.
Now, pretty much just over a week and a half to go. And I want to make the most of it.