SNOWMYGOD, the recap.

Spoiler alert:  we did fine. 

Ricky and I both were at home on Friday, which was key because then we wouldn't need to fight our way onto the last train out of town.  I could also make a crock pot roast to feed us all week.  It was nice to see the snow lightly falling during the day.

After dinner, we did a pre-emptive shoveling, but it didn't matter because we were covered in snow so badly at the end of it.  We also tried to walk and see what the water looked like, but the conditions were so bad that we had to turn around five minutes in.  It was so windy and white out that we couldn't see, and feared walking into a plow.

The next morning, we woke up to the most snow we'd ever seen in Salem.  At least 2 feet, possibly more.  It was to the top of my boots, whatever that may be.  I tried to walk and see how it looked, but nothing was plowed so again I turned around.

Ricky and I made egg sandwiches, then spent an hour shoveling.  We'd end up doing another pass at it once the snow stopped, and then cleaning up our cars on Sunday.  My arms are still sore from shoveling.

We took a walk to see the snow once it stopped and the plows had been through.  It was crazy how desolate the city looked.  since there are so many historic buildings in Salem, it also made us feel like we went back in time with the barren streets and no cars.

At night, the city began to wake up again and we walked to Howling Wolf to meet up with friends and get tacos.  It was nice to see people again.

Sunday things were getting back to normal.  One crazy thing was that there is nowhere to put this snow.  Most of the sidewalks are still covered in snow, not because people didn't try... but because there is nowhere to put it.  It'll be warmer this week, so hopefully the accumulation will melt a bit.

Here are some of my photos from the storm.

Our street on Friday night.  Not a lot of snow at this point, but a lot of snow is falling.

Derby Street, Friday night, in the middle of the white out conditions.  You can't see the harbor straight ahead of us, but you can see two people who had a similar plan of taking a snow storm walk.

Yard, Saturday morning.  I had shoveled this last night, but it was all for naught.  This is at least 2 ft of snow.

Custom House, completely covered in snow.

Salem Commons, looking like it's 1900.

Fifty Fifty Book Round Up: Books 6-10

I thought I had blogged this, but I guess I hadn't.  Well here we go!

6. Winesburg, Ohio: A Group Of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson (11/5-11/9).  This was a quick read and interesting, but after a bit all the stories tend to bleed together.  I can see how it inspired similar works.

7. Taft 2012 by Jason Heller (11/12-11/16).  I liked this, and I'm glad it was short because if it was too long it might get tiring.  A quick, clever read.  All the Craigslist rants were really funny.  Interesting to read post-election, too.

8. Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos (11/16-11/29).  I liked this book a lot.  It was entertaining, fast, and I love writing about Austen from an Austen fan.  It's expected at times, but I didn't even care.  A good, girly, fast read.

 

9. When You're Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris (11/30-12/11).  Standard Sedaris.  It was interesting reading an earlier Sedaris and then a later one to see just how different his life has become ever since writing/This American Life.  Typical weird and funny.  If you're a Sedaris fan, you'll enjoy it.

 

10. A Separate Peace by John Knowles (12/11-12/19).  I think if I was a boy who went to boarding school I'd enjoy it more.  But when I started reading it I knew that one of the two best friends was going to die, and since it couldn't be the narrator, I guessed the end correctly.  I get a feeling the writer was a bit of a one-trick pony, since he wrote a similar work later on in his career.

Fifty Fifty Movie Round Up: Movies 11-15

I haven't updated this in a bit, and since I'm at home I figured why not?

11.  Lincoln (11/17/12).  SO GOOD.  OH MY GOD.  It's a quiet movie that says a lot and is riveting.  There's no crazy action scenes and the only special effect is good acting.  Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty much a shoo-in for Best Actor and he deserves it.  Ricky loved watching all the political wheeling and dealing.  It's also great that a book like Team Of Rivals can get a movie deal.

12.  She's Having A Baby (11/21/12).  Very sweet and cute.  It's a weird movie at times, but I enjoyed it.  The end credits is pretty much made for John Hughes fans.  I loved young Elizabeth McGovern, especially since we're in the midst of our Downton Abbey watching.

13.  The Last Waltz (11/25/12).  This movie has been on my mental queue for years, but I wanted to wait until we had a bigger TV.  Well that finally happened so I rented it.  It's really beautiful and good, a loving tribute to some of the best musicians from the 70's.  Oh, and so much coccaine.  Soooo much coccaine.

14.  Miracle on 34th Street the 1947 version (12/21/12).  Neither of us had seen this movie, so during our Christmas movie stretch we made sure to watch this.  I liked it, a lot more than the remake from the 90's.  The end feels a little rushed.  It's great seeing what parades and deaprtment stores from the 1940's looked like.  And the guy who played Santa Claus... I'm pretty sure he's Santa in real life.  He was that believable and filled with mirth.  I read that Natalie Wood thought he was actually Santa, and was disappointed that he was not.

15.  Les Miserables (12/26/12).  Day after Christmas we made our pilgrimage to the Salem Cinema to see this movie.  Ricky enjoyed it, but me being a fan of the musical enjoyed it.  Yes, some of the performances were bad (Russell Crowe) and he used too much upclose and didn't mix it up at all, but I had realistic expectations and they were met.  This won't win Best Picture or even Best Actor, but it was enjoyable.

SNOWMYGOD

Ricky and I are at home this Friday due to the snow storm Nemo.  Ricky is off getting a bit of gas and a DVD player (priorities) and I have made a roast so we can eat for the rest of the weekend.  Lewis is beyond excited to have both of his parents at home all day.  We have salt and shovels at the ready.  The laundry is done. 

BRING IT, STORM.

I'm excited to use my new camera to take high-quality storm photos.  Probably won't do it until after the snow has fallen.

According to the news, the snow has already started and Al Roker is in town.  It looks quite light right now, which is good since Ricky is still out buying a DVD player to replace our broken one.  I'm looking forward to being snowed in and drinking wine and eating pot roast and brownies while we watch movies.  It seems very cozy.

Again.... BRING IT, STORM.

Inauguration 2013: an ode to the photobomb

While watching the Inauguration on Monday, I was struck at the sheer number of photobombing happening.  There was Malia photobombing a picture of her parents that her sister Sasha was taking...

...then there was former president Bill Clinton photobombing Kelly Clarkson...

...but my favorite was first brother-in-law Craig Robinson photobombing president Obama.

Gotta love a good photobomb!

The Gift Outright

I always love the ceremony of the Inauguration.  I always get goosebumps during the oath.  And I'm a sucker for nice winter gear.  The poem is always great to hear, too.  My favorite of all the Inagural poems is Robert Frost's poem, The Gift Outright.

Busy little bee.

2013 is already proving to be crazy busy.  My weekends are filling up with social obligations.  I have a wedding to plan.  We've had family sadness, though in the midst of that it was good to see family and feel a sense of closeness with them.  The school semester is starting in a matter of days and I hope I am ready for it.  We have plans to travel in the coming months.  I feel like my 2013 is already getting booked and we're only 17 days in!

I am sticking with my goals quite well.  The running has taken a back seat to the start of the semester, but when the days get lighter and things calm down, I will be running my little butt off. 

I've only had coffee ONCE since I started, and that was the day I had to go to my step-grandmother's funeral and I knew it'd be a long day.  This goal has been an easy one to kick.  Next year might be harder, as 2014 is going to be the year of kicking caffeine.

The vegetables are also going well.  Some days are a struggle to find a vegetable I ate so I'll try to make sure to have some carrots.  I think once the semester starts I'll be able to find time to eat healthily again.  We've been roasting a lot of brussel sprouts lately, which I love.  I also have a pinterest board of plenty of tasty vegetable entrees to cook up this winter.

The sweater.  That hasn't started yet.  I think I'll be working on it this Monday when I'm at home watching the Inauguration.  I need to find where I left off and my pattern directions again so I can pick it up.  What's annoying is that I am quite close to being done, and yet I keep putting it off with Christmas knits and a cowl for me.

As mentioned, the beginning of the year there was some sadness.  My stepgrandmother passed away suddenly.  We were heartbroken, as she was very kind and loving.  It was the first family loss Ricky and I experienced, and it's hard to think that she won't be at the wedding, just a mention in a program and a "oh Fran would have loved this!"  It was nice to see the cousins on all sides of the family, and I was glad to be there for all of my family.  January has proven to be sad and with loss two years in a row.

Wedding planning is going well, but no real plans to discuss or cool crafts to show off.  I think we're getting closer to bridesmaid wear, flowers, and food.  You know, the things people will talk about the next day when they're rehashing.

Reading for 50/50 is going really well.  I'll post more books soon to review.


That's it, really.  Just a life update for the three people who read this.

For Fran

All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems... But all these stars are silent. You-You alone will have stars as no one else has them... In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. ...And so it will be as if all the stars will be laughing when you look at the sky at night..You, only you, will have stars that can laugh! And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me... You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh.
~The Little Prince

2013: Four Simple Goals

A blog I like to read called A Beautiful Mess blogged about the idea of Four Simple Goals.  Since 2013 will be nuts and the year of The Wedding, instead of writing a huge long list of things I want to accomplish I decided to keep it simple this year.  My goals are:

1.  Eat (at least) one vegetable a day.  I've been getting better about thinking about what I eat and trying to make better choices about what I eat.  I've lost a few pounds (hooray!) as a result, so something must be working.  I've been using an app where I can keep track of what I eat and what exercise I do, so it'll be easy to track this.

2.  Quit coffee.  I actually started this a few days ago, but the goal is to continue it into 2013.  I haven't had coffee since Wednesday.  So far so good!  I'm drinking black tea, which is better because it's less sugar and cream and less expensive since I can just get a tin of it instead of spending $10-15 a week on coffee.  The goal is to keep it going once work starts up again.  I'm allowing myself to cheat on weekends when there's a fun latte with crazy flavors involved (i.e., Starbucks, Gulu, Jaho)

3.  Finish my 5k goal and run the 5k outside in a race.  As I've noted, I've run several 5k's in the gym alone on a treadmill.  I'm also working on improving my time.  I'm at about 40-43 minutes right now, which is decent.  Once it's warmer and there's sunlight after work, I'm getting outside to keep it going and then I'll be signing up for a 5k in the spring or summer.  There's a breast cancer 5k I'm looking at or the Fiesta 5k in June.

4.  Finish the blue sweater and knit another fun sweater.  The blue sweater is about 60% done.  Maybe 70%.  But then all my friends made an unofficial pregnancy pact and had babies, and those babies needed hats.  So the blue sweater went into hiding in the closet.  Well now most people have had their babies, so it's time I finish it and wear it!  I also want to make another sweater for myself.  I might just do a plain thing, I'm not sure.  There are a few I'm eying and I have a ton of yarn asking to be used.


I'll keep this updated with how it's going.  I'm also still doing the 50/50 challenge, but that I'll keep separate from my goals.

Television PSA

The West Wing is streaming on Netflix right now.  All seasons.  GET ON IT.

Also, there's a storm coming, so I think today might be the best day to watch all of season 1 and get started on it. 

Holidays

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and is enjoying their Boxing Day.  Ricky and I have been tidying up, enjoying our new gifts, and are off to see Les Mis at the (newly funded by Kickstarter so it doesn't have to close!) Cinema Salem. 

Above is some star lights that were on my aunt's porch that I thought were pretty when I was leaving their house the night of Christmas.  I though they were pretty against the blue and black.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 12

Christmas Eve!  This has been fun, albeit often done in bulk.  Tonight, we're featuring one of my favorite songs of not only Christmas but probably of all time.  That'd be True Blue Miracle from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.  It's such a beautiful happy pretty song, and I love the idea that all the Sesame Street gang takes the subway to a different area of the city to get Christmas trees and go ice skating, then have to take the subway back to town.

Ricky and I have spent the last few Christmas Eves watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.  It's been a fun way to prepare for Christmas... and this special is so nostalgic and fun.  I strongly recommend it.

I hope you enjoyed this mini series.  It's been fun talking about what festive things I've done and thinking about what songs I like.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 11

Yesterday I continued on my tour of old friend Christmas parties by heading to Worcester to embrace my college days.  Tim has been teaching at HC and living across the street from the campus, and he held an egg nog party for his friends.  It was really fun getting together and laughing about crazy old stories.  When we were getting into our cars, though, Jess and I both agreed that we wished that this was 7 years ago and we lived across the street from an off-campus party and didn't have to drive over an hour home.  Alas.

I asked Ricky what Christmas song he wanted, and that was Robert Smigel's Christmastime for the Jews, which was featured on SNL a few years ago.  It made him laugh so hard he cried.  Not a traditional Christmas carol, but definitely a good one for this.  And it's clay animation... who doesn't love that?!




Christmastime for the Jews from Bix Pix Entertainment, Inc. on Vimeo.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 10

It's been a crazy weekend, so I am woefully behind on this.  Saturday night was Friendmas.  Friendmas is the annual Christmas get together my friends from high school and I have every year to get together and catch up.  We have a Yankee Swap and play weird games.  It's really fun, and as we've all been pairing off and settling down it's been nice having the spouses be a part of it.

This song doesn't have anything to do with Friendmas, but I wanted to talk about it for a moment.  This day, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about a favorite one of mine from the 80's.  I am of course talking about Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC.  It ends Die Hard (a Landry brother Christmas movie favorite) and it always makes me laugh. 

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 9

Tonight was one of our favorite Christmas traditions:  decorating stockings!  For the last few years, Ricky and I have been painting stockings for ourselves and the pets.  It was very nice to have some egg nog, paint, and watch Bob's Burgers.  I will post our stockings soon.

Speaking of pets, can we just take a moment to appreciate this photo of President Obama shopping with and for Bo at a Petsmart?!?

HOW CUTE IS THAT?  He's picking out some snacks for his dog Bo.  How great is that?  There are also photos of Bo meeting a poodle named Cinnamon.  Worth checking out.

Anyways, back to Christmas music.  We watched a favorite of mine for the last 20 (!!!) years:  The Muppet Christmas Carol.  I've loved this movie since it first came out in theatres, and no season is complete without a viewing.  In honor of that, here's my favorite song from it, It Feels Like Christmas.  Keep your eye out for the cutest mouse Muppets ever, which Ricky loves.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 8

Caught up on this!  Huzzah!  Tonight I had perhaps the least holiday-ish thing:  a dentist appointment.  But it was a necessary evil, I suppose.  Clean bill of teeth health, though I need to get a filling replaced.  The week is winding down, and we're getting closer to some Christmas parties, and the big day itself.  Tomorrow is my last day of work for the year, and we get out early which is nice.

Today we'll play some super cheesy music... I'm of course talking about Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime.  I feel like it's super cheesy (and possibly highlights why Paul needs someone like John to edit him and keep him from going into super cheese fest).  I do like the music video because it's so dated and of that era.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 7

Wednesday I managed to get a lot of Christmas wrapping done!  Is there anything more satisfying than getting almost all of you wrapping done?  I locked myself in the bedroom and wrapped almost everything and organized it.  Only a few things left that need to arrive in the mail, to find where I put a calendar for someone, and then I'll be done.  In the craziness of the last few weeks, I was nice to have a night to catch up and checking things off my list.

In honor of Christmas wrapping... It's Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses.  I've always thought this song made me feel like I'm working seasonal help at The Gap, folding sweaters.  I have a feeling if I actually worked at The Gap, I'd be really sick of this song, but since I haven't I'm cool with this song still.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 6

Tuesday was another holiday party, but this one was for the entire college.  It's nice to get fancy, have some drinks and tasty food at a swanky club, and look at fancy paintings of famous people.  The desserts weren't as good as last year, but it's okay.

For Tuesday, let's play Someday at Christmas.  I often feel like Stevie Wonder's lyrics leave little to be desired, but after the events from last week it's been on the brain recently.  I also am a big fan of the background singers and blasting this song on high.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 5

Monday began a very busy week of holiday events.  My department had a holiday lunch downtown, and we did our Yankee Swap.  I managed to luck out and being a wine and a weird sushi kit and come home with wine and beer.  Huzzah!

Today let's highlight a favorite of mine, though I know somewhere my mom is groaning.  I've always loved the marriage of styles and generations when David Bowie and Bing Crosby came together to sing The Little Drummer Boy.  The opening is insanely cheesy, but I do love the arrangements.  (I found a version that skipped most of the opening, which is probably for the best)

I tried to purchase it on iTunes for a Christmas mix I made for a friend, but unfortunately you can't get it on iTunes.  WTF, iTunes.

12 Days of Christmas Music: Day 4

No surprise, I've let this slip, so I'll just do a bunch of catch up right now and talk about what I was doing on each day.  On Sunday, I worked.  I've been doing some holiday hours at a gift shop on the weekends.  It's been fun, and as Ricky says, fulfills my high school desires to be Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail.

So let's do something a little classic.  I've always loved The Nutcracker, and I feel like it's so pretty.  So here's the dance of the sugar plum fairies.  Whenever I hear those bells, it brings to a moment when it's cold and snowing and there's lots of lights everywhere and evergreen.  Here's a version of it I heard recently and am a big fan of.  It's from a favorite band of mine:  Pamplemoose!