<p>Hello Gadad and other CC family,</p>
<p>I am still here! I’ve been sick with a terrible cold/flu the past few weeks. I do pop in every few days to catch up and see how things are going. I am still amazed at the generosity of everyone here. I am now in the midst of the blocking/suitemates etc. of the next few years. My son tells me not to worry, but that’s what I do best :)</p>
<p>1001 yay!!!</p>
<p>I’ve got the same crud, Guitars. As of tonight, my voice is down to a whisper. Have you found any medicines to be helpful?</p>
<p>My first visit to Urgent Care they suggested I take Musinex DM. I could only take it for 2 days. It was very hard on my stomach. I have an appt. tomorrow with my Dr. to hopefully get on some antibiotics. I have a nasty cough with phlegm. YUCK! </p>
<p>I’ll let you know. Hang in there! I know it’s a terrible thing to go through.</p>
<p>I am a senior applying to Harvard and I stumbled upon this thread; I have the same exact illness, and it has lasted for 2 weeks (during two days, I had a high fever (100-102 F and severe/constant coughing). Although it is very mild now, I still cough out phlegm every few hours :(. I can recall two times during the course of this sickness when I would literally choke on the phlegm for 20-30 seconds (which was kind of scary). When I went to my Urgent Care, they gave me a strep test which turned out negative, but they made me pointlessly take antibiotics (penicillin- which, btw, does not taste good), for the next few days in case the official lab report strep test turned out positive. Urgi-Care wrote it off as a cold, but I can tell this is no ordinary cold. </p>
<p>My own tip for those unfortunate enough to come across this or any other Phlegm/cough related illness- If there is a significant amount of mucus stuck in the throat try exhaling deeply and swiftly as to force the mucus into your mouth. Then, spit it out in sink/ wherever else you find it appropriate to spit. Swallowing mucus will only clog up the bottom portion of your throat and make things worse (at least in my situation it made it harder to breathe). Yes, I know its gross and potentially inappropriate depending on where you are, but it worked for me.</p>
<p>Yup . . . we’ve all clearly got the same bug. :)</p>
<p>H and I had a great time at Jr. Parents’ Weekend last year. The House Masters’ receptions should not be missed. We also had a wonderful dinner (in Harvard Square) with all of my son’s suite-mates and their families. They have been together since freshman year, so it was really nice to meet everyone. If you want to consider something like this I’d recommend planning ahead as reservations for a large group could be difficult.</p>
<p>The advance reservations suggestion is a good one. Thanks.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Somehow I managed to miss all the Widener tours and never stepped foot in the place until the day after my daughter graduated. Even though she was no longer a Harvard student, her ID card was still good till the end of the month, so she sweet-talked the Widener gatekeeper into letting her give her ol’ dad a personal guided tour.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the Jr. Parents weekend a lot. Peter Gomes gave a great lecture on how the junior year is the best year at Harvard. As I recall the Master’s reception featured live music provided by a string quartet. Not sure if all Houses do that. Her House also had a fun fund-raising auction after the big dinner. The centerpiece item for auction was getting to stay in the JFK guest suite during commencement. I can’t remember how much it went for, but it was well into the thousands. Too much for my wallet.</p>
<p>We loved the glass flowers exhibit, too. We were lucky enough to see the pieces with a horticulturalist who attested to the amazingness of the display.</p>
<p>Re: Widener library - After the invocation Drew Faust recommended that we parents visit the Widener library. When we got there the student monitoring the stacks said absolutely not. But, I explained, Drew Faust just said it’s okay.</p>
<p>He relented and let us in but not the children. So we toured in shifts.</p>
<p>Great line! If there’s anything you want to see on campus, it’s “Drew Faust said to just tell you it’s OK.”</p>
<p>So … anyone know anything about senior pictures? I was stunned when my junior received a postcard at home to book a sitting this April!</p>
<p>^^Which ones? There are the yearbook pictures and the cap-and-gown graduation pictures. We got both.</p>
<p>I always thought of yearbooks as a high school thing, but Harvard actually puts out a pretty good yearbook.</p>
<p>Yes we received this also. When we called our d about it, she cried - couldn’t believe how fast the time has passed.</p>
<p>“The House Masters’ receptions should not be missed.” After going to this a few weeks ago, I decided I want to be a House Master when I grow up! Does anybody know what responsibilities are involved besides academics?</p>
<p>I really enjoyed meeting my D’s House Master. He and his wife are moving out this summer after 13 years of living in the House. I asked how many evenings during the academic year he finds himself involved with the students - his answer: every single one of them. BTW, he’s pretty active on his day job too - he has a Nobel Prize.</p>
<p>The house master of my D’s house doesn’t have a Nobel Prize so I guess I may still be in the running!</p>
<p>Go Parent Thread :)</p>
<p>Coureur - I guess these are the yearbook pictures as it said business casual was the attire. Does everyone take them with the same company?</p>
<p>DocT - I’d settle for living in a House Master’s house!</p>
<p>S had his photos taken in the fall by the yearbook’s preferred studio. (He wore a jacket and tie.) I have to say, they were god awful; in part because he looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. We will take pictures on commencement day and perhaps another with a local (to us) photographer whose work we know.</p>
<p>Coureur - Do they wear those cheesy disposable caps and gowns?</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Business casual suggests it’s the yearbook photo. I assume they contract with only one company, but I can’t promise that.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>The cap-and-gown looks okay in the photo but what looks cheesy is that they posed the kids holding up a copy of their old Freshman Register facebook. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s supposed to pass for a diploma holder or something. But if you squint you can read the title and see it is in fact the facebook.</p>
<p>We have the yearbook photo framed and displayed at home and in my office. It’s very nice. But we never did that much with the cap-and-gown photo. We made much more use of the real cap-and-gown photos that we took ourselves at Commencement.</p>