Hi everyone! If you haven't noticed, I've decided to cut back on the amount of posts I do to once a month, at least for a while because, frankly, we're not doing tons of really exciting stuff. We've been in hibernation with the weather.
Let me update you about the last month: cold. Done.
Just kidding...but really, it's been cold. We've gotten some good snow. They predicted 30 inches a few weeks ago, but all we got was about 6-7 inches. Listen to me - "just" 6-7 inches!?!? I've been affected by that Northerner syndrome of downplaying snow. But, let me tell you people around here freaked out just as much as people in NC freak out about a 1/2" of snow (I know, it's not the snow but the ice people are worried about - and rightfully so). The line at the grocery stores were ridiculous and the mayor was forecasting a storm of Biblical proportions. The wind is what makes it so much worse here. Matt and I are still walking to and from work, though the bus has worked itself in a few more times than in the past.
This was the line at Trader Joe's the day the storm was supposed to start. Egg and milk sandwiches for everyone!
I enjoyed the hype and excitement. We actually got a snow day and it was beautiful! Our neighborhood was a great place to be because all the kids came out with their sleds and snowboards and slid down the 2 hills close to our building. They could sled down and out into the streets because 1) there was enough snow that it wasn't a butt-buster and 2) most cars were snowed in. It was kind of magical to see how excited people around here became by the snow. I sort of expected that people would be ho-hum about it, but there were people just as giddy as me, so it was fun. It was so much fun to go thigh deep in fluffy, soft snow. I wasn't used to that. It stayed really soft for a few days too, until it turned to sludge and got a layer of ice on top. There are still mounds of it all along the sidewalks.
View from school as the snow started swirling.
It came down fast and the wind was blowing it sideways.
My kids were enthralled by it : )
This was the walk home from school that "blizzardy" day.
The next day I jumped the fence to an unsullied patch of snow...it was deeper than any snow I've been in before. Fun!
Charlie LOVES snow and wanted to go bounding in it for days. Every time we left the building he would start wiggling and sniffing and hopping around in the snow. We (and everyone else) broke the rules and hopped the little fences to access the more open spaces of snow. He really wanted to go sledding with all of the kids, but that wasn't going to happen. The dog park is now like a skating rink, so we don't go quite as often. He has a new ball, though, that has been great. He actually likes retrieving it, which wears him out, which makes us happy, so we try to go and throw the ball as often as we can.
That's a lot of ice. I was a little scared that Charlie might slip and hurt himself. He did really well on it, actually, but we didn't stay for too long.
We have dug out from under the blankets and done things around town. We went to the Met and MoMA saw some of our favorite artists, including many Impressionists and some Post-Impressionists. It's so nice to be able to go see awesome art, some of the best in the world, just a 30 min. train ride away.
We've been hanging out with friends. We went to Astoria to see my colleague's new apartment and meet her boyfriend. We hosted our annual Superbowl party for friends and had a good crowd and a fun time. We played the dollar game and didn't win very much, but enjoyed watching the commercials and halftime show. Best commercial was the Budweiser dog-pony one. They get me every year.
We also celebrated my birthday (6 months late) and finally went to the murder mystery dinner that Matt got me. It was fun. We had to go to Jersey, but I suppose that's a fitting setting for a murder mystery ; ) There were lots of people who really dressed the part - they wore flapper dresses and zoot suits and whatnot. We got our mug shot taken and were in charge of using clues that they revealed throughout dinner to piece together who did it. Our table won the "best detective" award because we figured out who dunnit and how. Our team was Team Al Kouholic because that was the character/suspect at our table. (Thankfully, he wasn't the murderer.) We thought it would be fun to do again with a group of people.
We had to walk around and bribe people for clues during the meal courses. Matt was ruthless about getting the truth...no surprise there!
We have been busy planning for fun things to come also...Mom and Nick are coming to visit next weekend and we've got lots of fun things planned to do. I'm going to the Berkshires next week with a teacher friend on our mid-winter break (we get one of those!). We're going to visit friends Pete and Heather in April (a nice warm place). Aaand, we're taking a trip to Italy in the summer and we're so excited! I've been planning our route and a basic itinerary. We're planning to go for about 10 days. We want to hit Venice, Florence, Siena, and Rome. If you've been before and have suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.
Yes, please.
I've enjoyed singing with the church choir. We sang for the service on Feb. 1 and it was such a thrill to stand with the Christ Church choir and sing. Singing makes my heart really happy, so I'm glad I have joined. We've been busy with other church things too, like writing reflections for the Lent booklet that they are publishing and trying out the adult forum, which is kind of like a Sunday School class. We're glad to be a part of the church community. It's really helped me recover from the shock of transplanting to a new and different world.
Ooh! I've read some good books too. Lately I've been flying through them. Where'd You Go, Bernadette, A Dog's Purpose, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night are all ones I would recommend. They are very different from each other, but well written and with interesting plots. A Dog's Purpose needs to be sold with a box or tow of tissues, but soooo good. There's a sequel to that one that I need to get soon from the library. I just started The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, and I'm enjoying it too. I'll need some good titles soon; if you have any, send them my way!
This sums it up!
I hope everyone has a loving, warm, bookish month ahead. (Posts about Italy and books will keep me going strong through these cold winter months...please write!)
