HarrisWorld.org

Christmas, part 1

First of all, let’s just say that putting “part 1″ in that title does not guarantee that there will be a “part 2″. Turns out I am lazy about blogging these days and my vacation will be coming to an end shortly after round 2 of Christmas takes place.

Nathan loved Christmas. We opened presents here on Christmas Eve and in spite of my world-renowned scrooginess there was an entirely too large pile of presents under our tree. Of course I am thankful for all the generous people in our lives, but that doesn’t stop me from wishing that our Christmas Eve had been filled with fewer presents and more family. (see? maybe not world-renowned yet, but it should be.) The snowstorm kept Mike’s dad snowed in at home, and it was very strange to celebrate without him. He was definitely missed, but I hear rumors that he will be able to make it to Christmas, part 2. Nathan also had a fabulous time at Great Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Christmas day. He thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention and I love to watch him charm everyone in the room. He was incredibly well behaved for a toddler who didn’t get a nap. The ride home was wonderfully silent since he fell asleep about 2 minutes after we got on the road. =) I continued my trend of letting everyone else take pictures, so until someone sends me pictures, I only have a couple of my own. Here goes…

What? Smile? No, thanks.

Yes, I am having fun. No, I still don’t want to smile.

Who knew that nearly-18-month olds could learn to play the harmonica so quickly?

I know the lighting is terrible on this one, but I still love it. This was right after I taught him to use an upside-down bucket as a stool so he could climb into the rocking chair all by himself.

Holidays are VERY tiring.

Q & A

Q: If a Christmas tree falls in the family room and everyone is asleep upstairs, does it make a noise?

A: Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it does make a big, wet mess.

It did provide an opportunity for Nathan to put together the first two-word phrase I have heard him use — “fall down!”.

Getting there (for real this time)

13 days of classes left! with two weeks of vacation coming up in 3 days! Soon and very soon I will have a new normal that does not involve hours and hours and hours of studying each week. I think that will be nice.

What? You haven’t seen any Nathan pictures in a while? Here are a couple from Halloween. The rest are being held hostage by the camera… I’ll have to work on that.

Getting there

I usually feel pretty guilty when I neglect the blog for such a long time. Currently, it is making me happy to see how much time has passed since my last post because it means that the end of classes is that much closer. School is going pretty well, but it’s just so much busier than I thought it would be. So much more work than I ever expected. And my brain is so much slower than it was when I was last in school. After Thanksgiving I should be done with my part-time job, and I am really looking forward to having those hours back even if it does mean less income for a while. And then at the end of January we’ll be finished with classes and starting our rotations, so it will be regular working hours again with only a bit of studying to make sure that I am ready for the board certification test after completing the program. So really, before I know it all of this will be over and I can get back to my computer games and my TV shows. and maybe some yard work and housework and more time with family and friends, of course. =)

Germ Factory

Two weeks ago a plague descending upon the Harris Household. Nathan brought home some conjunctivitis. Mike was spared, but I got it. Both eyes. No school (or work) for one week. That is a lot of school and work to make up the next week when your eyes are still hurting. The conjunctivitis saga was not so much of a saga for Nathan. He looked not so great on Sunday, terrible on Monday, much better on Tuesday and pretty much normal by Wednesday. On the other hand, I discovered that eye drops make my tongue swell up and that eye ointments cause eye irritation and by Friday had talked to 10bazillion nurses and 3 different doctors in 2 different departments (the nurse count is the only one exaggerated in that list) in order to finally determine that it was viral conjunctivitis made worse by all of the preservatives in the things the other doctors/nurses told me to put in my eyes. whee! I took a picture of what I looked like one of the nights while I was trying to study and keep up with school work, but it is too horrifying to post publicly. Also that Friday, I developed a fabulous sinus/head cold to go with my icky eyes. It was a great week.
Last week was much better for me, but Nathan got kicked out of daycare on Thursday for having a fever. It was a rough couple of days for him. I don’t really think he was sick, though, because tonight I discovered some fabulous new teeth just under the gums that are REALLY MAKING HIM MAD. VERY MAD. The kind of mad that only goes away with a pacifier and an early bedtime. Even bath time didn’t make him happy.
I am hoping that our germ factory is entering a slow time, because I can’t afford any more days out of class. Conveniently, fall arrived this afternoon to our little corner of the world (no, seriously, suddenly this afternoon someone flipped a switch, the wind started blowing like crazy, and the air feels like fall), so I’m sure there aren’t going to be any germs or seasonal illnesses going around at all now.
*sigh*
(I know this was horribly un-entertaining. It was more of an update, I’m still alive, here’s why I only post once, maybe twice a month theses days, kind of post. One day, when I have more energy, maybe I’ll tell you something fun again.)