I'm taking a study break

I have a date with the girls at 4:30 (that's 18 minutes ago, by this clock). They're late. They're out with Richie, taking video and getting a cookie. We're going to make Christmas cookies, decorate the Christmas tree, and listen to Christmas music until 6:30. Then it's back to the grindstone for me.

I have a test on Tuesday. It's the biggest test I've had in med school so far, covering four weeks and three anatomy dissections (one mine, two of the other teams') total. I'm nervous about it and I feel like my brain is swimming in info that is still sort of half-baked. I hope it rises and sets if I add equal parts "diligence and patience" (Dr. Churchward's encouragement phrase). This has been a difficult holiday, but not nearly as difficult as it could have been. It's difficult because I absolutely do not have time to do the holiday things I love doing or spend as much time with the girlies as I'd like. But it's less difficult than it could've been in the sense that I have gotten to read a chapter of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to the girls each night and Richie is taking care of the rest.

This year Richie's making a Christmas website instead of us sending Christmas cards. That's why I haven't been posting photos; I'm saving them up so they'll be a surprise.

My fam is home, so it's off I go! And I actually showered just before sitting to type this, so I'm even clean.

Merry Christmas!

some pics

Here is one of the last opportunities to see Mazie with both top front baby teeth. She just lost her left one a week or so ago. She's very snaggly-toothed now, almost overnight. Just a month ago or so she had the perfect baby tooth smile (though she'd lost the bottom four already, it didn't seem to make much difference.). Now she has the top left blank space, the top right is crooked because it's on its way out, and the bottom far left is showing it's grownup tooth - but it's growing in sort of sideways. She's still so little; I guess she'll have to grow into her teeth.
Here we are at the corn maze. Richie took the picture. It was really fun. I felt addicted to finding the way. I was SO GLAD that the map was accurate. I was getting all ready for the map to be crazy, but it was really very good and made for a fun time.


So...Here's the most pitiful picture I have ever seen of Richie. Except one of him sleeping that Iwouldn't dare post. Of course, he's just coming off of general anesthesia in this one, so it's really not fair to post it. But he did take the photo himself (I was driving him home). He had just gotten two teeth extracted. Sad day. Here's one of the girls. They're wearing Skeledog tee-shirts. Our friends make them.