This Crazy Break

I must admit that this Christmas break is not turning out to be the relaxing break that I had in mind. As you know from my last post, I found out that my beloved pastor, Msgr. Reynolds, passed away on the first day of my break. That was pretty shocking.

We then left for Houston, where we celebrated Christmas with my mom’s family.

Getting a ticket to this Christmas dinner table is extremely coveted. My mom’s side is French, and the food literally does not stop coming until you go to the airport for your return flight home. That’s when you realize how much weight you’ve gained in the past two days and now you need an extra seat.

That proceeded as normal, except with one twist. My aunt Sue is a huge benefactor of the Houston Zoo, and she was able to arrange a special behind-the-scenes tour for us. We were able to feed giraffes and pet elephants. It was so cool. They’re magnificent creatures to see so close.

I realize that this photo isn’t of a giraffe, but I had to post it. See, this is my wonderful sister, Caitie, who recently graduated from Colgate. Anyway, in this photo, she looks like the crazy one and I love the look of “Are you sure we’re related?” that I’m giving her. Usually, it’s the reverse.

This is me feeding Diva, who is…well, a diva.

Then we came back to Atlanta, and I started to feel quite sick. I was doing a pretty good job of taking care of myself, but then New Year’s Day, I was completely gone. My parents and I started to attribute it to the fast pace of this past semester, but something was wrong. Really wrong. Then, on Monday, I woke up with blood coming out of my ear. After a rush to the doctor’s, it turns out that I contracted strep throat…in my sinuses. I’m not sure how that’s even possible, but I’m living proof that it can happen. Apparently, my body was trying to force it out…through my ear, which resulted in a ruptured ear drum, which resulted in the blood. So. Merry Christmas!

All in all, I’m glad that this happened when I was at home and not when I was about to get on a plane to go back to Holy Cross. I’m also really glad that this happened this year instead of last year (I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done if this happened when I was in England). But the most depressing thing about this sickness is that it’s affected my equilibrium, which means…no dancing for a bit. 🙁 Oh well. Happy Christmas Break!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 6th, 2011 at 10:38 am and is filed under Breaks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “This Crazy Break”

1. Megan says:

   January 13, 2011 at 12:27 am

   Hi Colleen, I’m Megan, and we actually have a lot in common! my parents went to holy cross and my grandfather taught there for a while in the english department. Also, we are from Alpharetta too! I read about you in the paper I believe! And I also went to Oxford this summer for 3 weeks and loved it! I hope to do study abroad there because I just adore that city. I blogged while I was there and now I am blogging all through the year. I will be applying to schools soon and look forward to visiting holy cross again. It’s nice to read your blogs and connect with someone just like me!
   ~ Megan