Friday: donating blood

 I donated blood today, and as always it was a bit of an adventure.  They used the opposite arm as normal, which surprised me but I don't really care which they use.  Getting the blood to flow into the tube was a little hard, but once it was going is was going well.  But then I got a hematoma - apparently some blood was leaking a bit into the surrounding tissue, causing a small bump and the flow to slow way down.  We moved my arm around a bit and it started flowing enough to finish up.  (Phew.)

I had to ice it for a bit right afterwards and then I applied heat this evening.  There's still a bump, bit it might be getting a little smaller.  My elbow is also slightly sore, but just barely.  They kept talking about the bruise that might show up - I usually get a pretty nice bruise a few days after donations, so I'm kind of hoping this one is awesome.

Thursday: class

It was a rather normal day, really.  Class had a bit more content than I would have preferred: I had a review, we talked about differences between Excel and Google sheets, and they had some time to practice.  The second class I took quite a bit out and that made it a little better, but I had still been hoping to finish just a bit earlier for more practice time.

Due to the change in credit hours and restructuring of the class, I don't have anything else pressing that I want to teach.  Next week is the last week of class so we'll have a quiz and then leave early on Tuesday.  Everyone is so busy at the end of the semester that I expect the extra half hour will be appreciated.  We'll review on Thursday, but that content is mostly put together.  I'm really ready for the semester to be over.  It wasn't a bad semester, but it felt busier than normal.

This evening I drove people around and had my karate class.  There's apparently a recertification coming up in two weeks.  It feels more like a normal test, but I should still get a little bit of extra practice in.  There's a new form that I don't have much practice with and some old forms that I don't remember that well.  I've tried to practice, but only manage about once every two or three weeks.

I should get to bed.  I should have gotten to bed a while ago.

Wednesday: inspections

 The cats inspected most of the work I did today.

Nap?  Inspected.

Unplugged the humidifier?  Inspected for a long time.

Cooked food?  Inspected

That being said, I didn't think I was going to get most of my list done today, and it was a bit of a problem as most of it needed to be done today.  But I even got a few extra things that were added at the last minute done, so I was rather happy.

Monday: lights

I'm getting closer to showing pictures of lights.  I got quite a bit done today, but the house is still not clean...enough for pictures.  I still have a month.

I got one with Joshua right after school.  He's been really amazing about turning them on and off.  I tried to get one at night, but it was cold and the garage light was on and I didn't have the patience to figure out how to get a good picture.  Again, I have a month to get a good one.

 

Ben was playing Minecraft with the boys and he and Isaac were going to spawn a monster.  The monster creates a lot of damage, so they went far away to a savannah.  However, they had to move to a different spot because Isaac said, "Dad, we can't do it here.  I've seen a giraffe around."  I know I don't write quite as much about Giraffe as I do Grey Bear, but Giraffe is a beloved member of the family. 

last Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was a nice day.  We did church at home and then the kids helped with the fruit for Thanksgiving dinner while I made the corn pudding.  We already had the pomegranates done and were just using canned pineapple, so food prep on our side was rather easy.

The Box was brought over and proved to be a hit.

Dinner was delicious, as always.  I claimed the right to carve the turkey.  I'm not a great turkey carver, but I'm willing!

 

Afterwards we talked, played some games, and I took a quick nap.  We snacked a bit near dinner time.  And by snacked, I made a plate of food for myself and told the boys they had to eat something healthy before more dessert.  I think Joshua listened to me, but I think Isaac just didn't eat.

Sunday: Happy Birthday

Today was Ben's birthday.  I had a good day - hopefully he did too.

I had some unique present ideas and I was rather excited about one of them.  It was just a cutting board with Ben's name on it for building Lego sets on.  It actually took me longer than expected to find the right size in the right price range.

We also went out for lunch, had a special cheesecake, watched it snow, and played Space Base. 

...and I didn't manage to get any pictures. 

Saturday: another good day

 Today was just a nice day.  We finished up most of the Christmas decorations, I brought Isaac rock climbing, and did some work.

Let's see...I needed to do some grading because I was rather behind.  However, one of my graders had already graded about half of what I thought I needed to do (because it had been turned in late) and it was amazing.  I did it while Isaac was rock climbing, but was also able to belay him on a few courses and help out with some take-aways.

We mostly finished putting up the Christmas decorations.  I think there's still a few stragglers, but just a few small items.  Everything also needs to be put away.  Between empty boxes and taking apart Legos the main area has been a bit of a disaster lately, but it is starting to get better.  The house is fun.  I ordered some new lights this year so that all the house lights matched.  And I splurged and got special white/color LED lights and it has been so much fun.  First of all, there's are different colors and they can fade in and out and we've been having a fun time trying out the different schemes.  Secondly, the lights are about five times as long as the old light strings and so the whole house is covered with lights!  I knew they'd be longer, but I was expecting about twice as long.  Thirdly, the kids can do some of the stuff themselves.  Joshua put up some outdoor lights and Isaac did the downstairs lights and they both look great.  I'll get some pictures within a few days.