Gearing Up for Christmas Break

The semester is quickly coming to a close, and soon we will all be able to relax with our families for three glorious weeks. I know when that last final is done I am going to pack up in record time and head towards home, but don’t leave in such a hurry that you forget to do a few very important things…

1. Take everything out of your refrigerator that will perish, unplug it, and put a towel in the bottom to catch water when the fridge thaws. And make sure you empty the ice cube trays in the mini freezer. We forgot to last year and had quite a lot more water than expected to clean up.
2. Take out all trash
3. Unplug all appliance for fire safety reasons (maintenance will do it if you forget, but it will make their jobs easier if you do it)
4. Loosen laundry detergent bottles otherwise when the room gets warm they will leak from the pressure (I've seen it happen...you don't want that mess)
   
5. Close windows and blinds
6. Turn heat down (but not off) to prevent coming back to a sauna
7. Take home any summer clothes and shoes in your closet to make room for winter sweaters, boots, etc
8. Clean out your desk from first semester and throw away anything you don’t want. When you come back from break you’ll be really glad you already cleaned out your stuff
   
9. Bring home class notes, binders, and books that you won’t need next semester
10. Sell back texts books if possible (you'll probably want that money over break)
    
11. Find out what books you’ll need spring semester. You can order them online over break (www.half.com) for less. That way they will arrive in time for the start of classes.
12. Organize pictures from fall semester to share with your family and friends or to print at home.