a jumble of collected thoughts

Nell is napping, my 9:00 am student is sick today and not coming for her lesson, and I have clothes in the dryer, sheets in the washer, and dishes in the dishwasher.  So, I thought I'd steal a minute to put my feet up and write something.  But what to write about?  Here are a few things on my mind:

Breastfeeding: Everyone says how great it is for baby's immunity, and how breastfed babies don't get sick.  Well, my daughter nurses every two hours throughout the day, give or take (and one to three times throughout the night), and has already had two colds in her short life.  Where is the fairness?  Where is the justice?

Speaking of sickness: I have had a cold for a little over three weeks.  THREE. WEEKS.  It's been going in and out of stages, constantly changing: horribly sore throat, then a day or two feeling better, then congestion, then that clears up, leaving me with a cough, then the congestion returns, a bit of a sore throat comes back, etc.  I am really at my wits' end with it all.  The mornings are the worst, with the afternoons being basically fine, and then evenings I start to feel sick all over again.  I guess if this doesn't end soon, I should see a doctor?  Is it normal for a cold to last for over three weeks?

Laundry: I remember Abby saying that she has to do a load of laundry a day to stay on top of it all.  Now, she has three kids and I just have one, but I'm pretty sure I could come up with a load a day, too, and thereby avoid the "Oops, Nathan has no clean socks" scenarios that sometimes arise.  Between sheets, towels, clothing, and cloth diapers!  Oh, the diapers!  ...yes, I'm sure I could, and should, do a load of laundry a day to keep up with it all a little better.

Nell: I know I've said it before but she is a pretty happy girl, and also a very sociable, interactive baby.  Unless she's extremely tired, if a friend or stranger smiles at her and says hello, she will give them a big grin.  As you can imagine, people love her wherever we go.  Last night we were in Target in search of some picture frames, and Nell was enjoying a spell of evening punchiness, that magical time where everything is hilarious and Mama knows we're about ten minutes away from the laughter turning into tears and a total meltdown.  But the laughter, while it lasted, was oh-so-sweet.   Nell sneezed, and I said to her, "Achoo!"  She laughed; not just a giggle but a long, loud chuckle.  People turned and smiled.  I said "Achoo!" again, she laughed again, louder and longer, a real belly-laugh.  And she and I continued this little routine for a minute, because she was being so cute I just couldn't stop 'sneezing' at her.  The other shoppers were just enamored with Nell.  It was a fun little time.

Christmas: We are slowly but surely getting the place looking Christmassy.  Nathan and Nell and I picked out our tree at a nearby nursery in Ipswich on Monday evening, and it's standing in a corner of the living room with lights, but no ornaments as of yet.  Maybe I should get to work on that today!

Concerts: I've played eight holiday concerts since Thanksgiving.  Eight concerts, seven rehearsals... and between them all, eleven renditions of Farandole (surely the worst piece of music in the world) and at least as many Sleigh Rides.  Aside from Farandole, I don't find holiday pops concerts to be objectionable at all.  It's nice to play to full audiences of people really enjoying the music.  

Well, my girl is awake now, and is sitting nestled up against my right shoulder as I type, sighing happily and making cooing sounds.

{I love her.}