Yet Another Ending

Yesterday was my last day at school.  It's weird to think about not being a full time student any longer.  Even weirder still is the fact that I am no longer a TA (well, technically I am through the end of the month, but my classes are finished).  When I started this job two years ago it was just a way to pay the bills and learn the skills I would need if I chose to pursue a PhD in the future.  There was no way I wanted to teach.  Now the idea that I will be out of the classroom for more than six months feels absurd.  I've grown to love my job and my students. Freshmen get a bad rap because they are so inexperienced and often riding on a parent-free high that makes them come off as arrogant.  But they are in college.  Even if they think your class is stupid (let's face it, a good fifty percent or so think history is utterly boring), they are on some level there to learn (well, maybe most of them).  I don't want to wax poetic, but the opportunity to work with these students has been one of the most rewarding parts of my post-graduate career.  I had so much fun sharing my passion with them, learning the unique personality of each group, and reveling in that true genuine laugh that means they "get it." 

 Hopefully by January I'll have found a way to get back in the classroom.  But for now, moving!

Last night Chris and I went out for a farewell-to-this-experience-hello-to-new-adventures dinner at my favorite restaurant.

I have been going to this restaurant for as long as I can remember when we came down to the beach for family vacation.  They have the best calzones ever.  Or at least in the South.  They're pretty much my standard for any restaurant.

For dessert we got a cannoli to go and split it out on the beach.  Not your typical beach food, but it was super good.

The highlight of the evening was when we climbed up the lifeguard tower just in time to see a trio of dolphins swim past.

Trust me, there are dolphins, just too far for my camera's zoom to make them really clear.  I do love the guy in the orange screaming and running away (yes, he was screaming "dolphins!" not "shark").

Farewell, Wilmington.  Thanks for all the crazy adventures.

And the knitting.