Down With The Sickness

We have been very blessed in our lack of sickness this past year.  In the summer and fall, through Christmas break, and all the way through the first few weeks of January, the four of us avoided colds and flu, stomach bugs and viruses, despite being surrounded by family and friends dropping like flies on a regular basis.  We knew it would hit us eventually though, and Pete & the boys got a cold in the last week of January.  It was so bad that they are still constantly coughing more than six weeks later.  We've done the doctor visits, gotten the cough syrup, used the nasal spray, etc, etc, and it's not budging.  It keeps them up at night which is especially hard for Nathan.  The doctor says that it just has to run it's course and it may be a few more weeks yet.  Poor guys!  On Valentine's week I worked each day at the flower shop, business was crazy and stressful.  The night of the 11th and morning of the 12th I spent cleaning up projectile vomit from a nasty stomach flu that hit Zack and then Pete.  Luckily since Pete was sick too I was able to get to work still while the two guys stayed home and threw up together.  Ew.  On the 13th I got strep throat, just in time for the big day at work, but I powered through it and was acutally a little bit happy that I didn't have a voice to talk to anyone...  I'm actually the lucky one through all of this, I didn't get the coughing or the barfing, so I could take care of everyone for the most part, which is a definite relief.

The Japanese Experience

Nathan will be a world traveler when he grows up, I'm convinced of it.  He has always been into geography, other cultures, other languages, and relentlessly asks questions about any country he can think of.  Thank goodness that we can sit down together and Google most of his questions; Nathan and I spend oodles of time looking up all kinds of information while he cradles his globe beside the computer.

Right now in school, Nathan is studying Japan.  He brought home a list of his classmates with their names written in english and japanese, and studies them regularly.  Just like with most of the countries he learns about, Nathan has decided that he is going to move to Japan and live there as an artist and a ninja.  For the last month (and still going), Nathan will say hello, goodbye, and thank you to anyone & everyone in japanese.  Nathan brought home chopsticks on Tuesday, and for a few nights I made asian-style dinners to try them out.  Nathan and I used chopsticks while Pete and Zack opted to go for a fork.  Nathan is a fabulous chopstick user, by the way.  I couldn't believe it.