A Season of Change

Yeah, so I'm clearly not the best at staying up-to-date on this whole blog thing. Well, I have some good reasons for that.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

I know, I know, it's been almost two months, and I promised to post more often last time. Well...I guess I just didn't realize how much busier I would become with grad school added to the plate. My days are now pretty much divided up like this:

• Caring for Smash during the day - feeding, changing, playing, taking him to classes and playgroups, going on walks, errands, etc.
• Giving reading lessons in the evenings - I have 10 students now, who are divided up in three weeknights and a full day Saturday. Super demanding, but I'd be stupid to say I wasn't thankful for the steady business.
• Doing my homework at night - After I come home from my lessons, I sit down at the computer and knock out any homework I have to do for my grad class. Since it's all online, I love the flexibility of doing it on my own time. I'm trying my best to stay on top of my work by being a day or two ahead on assignments, and it's a challenge. The hardest part is motivating myself to get down to business at 8 or 9pm, after a long day.

...Yeah.

So, on to other things. The cruise was fantastic, and we enjoyed a lot of quality time with each other and our close friends, but, honestly, having Smash with us made it really challenging. I think we'll wait a little until he's at least 2, so he'll be old enough to leave with my parents, and then we'll go on vacations without him.

I finished The Magicians maybe a day or two after my previous post, and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, since my class started, I haven't had much time to read anything new, even though hubby got me a Kindle for V-Day. By the way, I absolutely love it. It was the perfect present! I was able to read Ramona the Brave for my book review for class while Smash was napping, without having to run around the whole house and search for a physical copy. Ahh. I love technology.

Smash now has his 2 top front teeth and gnawing on everything he can get his little hands on. I've been freezing a lot of his teething toys for some extra soothing action. He hasn't progressed much these past two months in terms of walking, except that now he can walk while holding on with one hand. We're getting there! :)

It turns out hubby didn't get that job. He had three phone interviews and then the company decided he didn't have the requisite experience to move forward. How frustrating is that? You would think they'd let him know that right off the bat before wasting so much of his time...this is why I wouldn't do well in a corporate environment. I don't play politics.

The big thing happening around here is preparation for Smash's big 1. In exactly one week, my little baby will become a one-year-old toddler. I can hardly believe it, but it's coming fast, and I need to prepare for 2 parties (one for the babies/moms and one for our family and friends). Wish me luck!!

Update central.

Unfortunately, posting once a month means my entries are little update-heavy. I apologize. I will try to post more often and write more ~witty~ and ~insightful~ things. Now...let's get these updates out of the way.

Maybe I need one of those UV lamps or something?

A few updates:

• Our vacation was FANTASTIC. Everyone needed a little time in the sun and the heat. 
• It's SNOWING here at home. It's COLD. I HATE WINTER. BLEH. :/

Ok, no more whining. I promise. :) Now, back to my list:

¡Vámonos a México!

That's right, I still remember [most of] the Spanish I learned back in junior high and high school. It helps that my husband is of Cuban and Spanish descent, and whenever we see his family in Miami, we hear a lot of it. Granted, we haven't been down to Miami in two years now--not since our wedding. This is mostly due to my becoming pregnant the following summer and now taking care of Smash for the past 8½ months. We're actually coming down to visit at the end of January for a couple of days before we go on a cruise (Planned Vacation #2 with Smash!).

Let's talk about Planned Vacation #1. You guessed it, this will be Smash's very first vacation, as well as his first flight. Like the title of the post suggests, we are heading to Mexico--an all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya. My parents are going with us, too. My mom and I planned the whole thing back in September when we decided we both need a tropical getaway, for very different reasons. My mom needs some time away from her hectic new job that keeps her working at all hours of the day and night and forces her to be glued to her Blackberry. I need a change of scenery and some relaxing time on the beach, as a treat after so many months of thinking only of Smash's needs and well-being. My dad and husband could use some well-deserved time off from their jobs, too, and everyone has a chance to spend some quality time with Smash. This vacation couldn't have come at a better time, either. Going over Thanksgiving means having to take less time off for everyone. Also, now that it's actually starting to get cold in earnest, the warm weather is more attractive than ever. Our flight leaves on Thursday morning, and the projected high in Chicago is supposed to be around 30, but I'm looking forward to being welcomed by 85° sunshine at Cancun Airport!

Now...if only I could stop reading The Hunger Games (aka procrastinating) long enough to start packing. :-)

Diehard fandom

I will come right out and say it: I am an extremely devoted Harry Potter fan.

I feel the need to talk about this right now for a couple of reasons:

1. It just hit me that I'm going to see Deathly Hallows Part I this Friday night. That's only 3 days away! I've been dreaming about this day for almost 10 years. It's unreal that it's finally happening.
2. Because of the revelation in #1, I've been thinking about how hugely popular this phenomenon is and how lucky I am to have lived alongside it and enjoyed it while it happened. My kids and my kids' kids will be reading Harry Potter because it has indisputably become a classic piece of literature.
3. Once Part II is released in theaters next summer, it will all be over. The living, breathing phenomenon will be done, finished, in the past. This is incomprehensible to me, since Harry Potter has been a part of my life for the past decade.

How many literary series can you think of have had even close to what Harry Potter has? Zero.
Just how pervasive has Harry Potter become in our society, and the world? Let's take a look.

Why do I even bother?

Something has really been nagging at the back of my mind over the past couple of days. It's really troubling when I bring it to the forefront, and makes me feel completely hopeless and deflated.