So yes, I know, it's been a while...

but there's been a lot going on. Here's the laundry list:

In the past month, we've...
bought a log mansion,
started home improvements,
moved to said log mansion,
finished teaching lab for the semester,
finished my classes for the semester,
I've had a bad allergy attack,
I've had strep throat,
I've figured out I have Seasonal Affective Disorder,
we've all had the stomach flu (during finals!),
we've started evaluating Natha for possible issues,
we hopefully have solved all car issues (after replacing the MAF sensor *and* catalytic converter), among other things.

So Natha and I are now home for the holiday break - and he's driving me slightly mad. Now he's been doing this piecemeal for a while now - whenever we're home for longer than an afternoon he gets antsy and I get annoyed. I haven't quite figured out exactly what he does more than to say he's pestering me. One day last week Natha came up to me and said, "You'd better play with me or I'll start annoying you." No joke - and it was true!

He was wound up after lunch and was about to send him up to his room - then I remembered we now have a *backyard* that he can play in! So, I gave him his parameters and turned him loose. He came back in much more manageable, I must say. He then did two worksheets (school-like stuff) and then played Godzilla for a while. Now we're watching Episode I with Uncle Bob. Bob isn't really his name - Natha walked up to him one of the first times they had met and said 'Bob - hey bob" over and over again even though we introduced him as Sean before. So, the name stuck and now he's Uncle Bob, or sometimes Tio Bob. He's even got his own chair in our living room...

Ed bought me the prettiest earrings the other day - and he spent a lot of time trying to find them since what I want isn't exactly all over the place. They're emerald bezel-set round earrings. They're petite and very pretty. They're what I didn't even know I wanted. Yes, sometimes he doesn't get it right the first time - but this time he did and I've very happy with them. Thank you honey. :)

I got a new washer and dryer - a GE Profile Harmony series - and they're grey and absolutely wonderful. When you're finished with the washing it tells the dryer how to dry the clothes - so all you have to do is put the clothes in there and press start. I got them two weeks ago and I'm still all giddy about them.

I've got a bunch of unpacking still to do and some storage things to assemble that were recently purchased at Target. I've wanted to slow down the last couple of days, though, instead of working all day on stuff for the house. I've also been trying to approach our time off as time to do things with Natha instead of just occupy him until he can go back to school. So, we've been doing schoolwork-like things, craft things (like making models from clay), and watching Animal Planet together. He gets some attention and he behaves a bit better, so it makes like easier. I don't get as much done around the house, but life is slightly smoother during the day. Right on cue, Ed gets busy finishing a project right when I'm not as busy - but it's not so bad yet... but it's also not over yet...

I've been making Ed and Natha very happy lately since I've been cooking every meal that we've been home for - breakfast and dinner at least, and most lunches for Natha and I. When I've got the time, I don't mind doing it. The biggest hurdle for me is deciding what to cook and having all the ingredients to cook a given thing. So, we have a schedule to stick to - and I'm all about lists of things to do. Every day of the week has a different meal. When we get tired of that I'm sure we'll replace nights with different themes as needed... but it keeps me from having chef's block.

Ah, Jar-Jar. Everyone always found him to be annoying, but I've always kind of liked him. I'm going to go watch the pod race now...