A series of texts between me and my friend Brian about our friend (to save his identity, we'll call him Glenn) and his engagement.


Me: Glenn's listed as engaged on fb. Epic fail!
Brian: Looooooooooool. Epic life commitment fail!
Me: Hear that? That's the sound of Glenn's manhood leaving forever.
Brian: It's as if a thousand voices called out and were suddenly silenced.
Me: Well played star war reference!
Brian: The Jedis felt that one for sure.
Me: The entire galaxy will be feeling this one for quite some time.


Yep, we're nerds who compare an engagement to Alderon blowing up.

Songs for this snow day

Fleet Foxes, White Winter Hymnal




Arcade Fire, Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)




Dr. Dog, My Old Ways

And if the snow buries my, my neighborhood

A winter bike in front of Pampelmousse. So lovely!

I decided to take a walk around downtown and get one of my beloved lattes from The Gulu Gulu Cafe. I also wanted to see how Salem looked in the snow. I shoveled out my car, and unfortunately Dean the neighbor had not plowed our driveway yet. So I tried to shovel as best as I could, but got stuck in a snow bank. Chris from the first floor told me that his brother plows, so if worst comes to worst, we could hire him to help us out. Then when I got stuck in said bank, he pushed me out and told me how to get out of the bank. So I bought him some beer tonight. Who doesn't love beer, right?

Then I got downtown and about 5 minutes in realized that snow boots are not a maybe, but a necessity. Esp. in New England. Salem was beautiful today. No one was around, so it was so nice. I felt very energized and refreshed, since it's nice to enjoy my town without a ton of tourists and locals around. Photos of this are at the bottom, along with my beautiful latte from Gulu Gulu. So tasty and glorious. Not many people were there today, but per usual... serviced sucked. It's a good thing I want to be a cool hipster and will tolerate lack of service!

Then I sucked it up and went to the mall to start my Christmas shopping. Tons of people were there, but I knocked a few people off of my list. And by a few, I mean... I bought winter boots for myself and some hand cream. So that gets a fail. I'll have to head up there tomorrow or Monday to get the gift cards I wanted and some other stuff.

Then I came back here, got eggs, and made... MATZO BALL SOUP!! I've been brainstorming this bad boy for weeks. And let me tell you, it was totally worth it. Sooo tasty. Here is a photo of my soup... and me drinking Kahlua. It warmed my soul.

Now I'm continuing the domesticity with some shortbread cookies, more Kahlua, and knitting. I love being snowed in by myself!

Downtown, from I believe the front of Rockafellas. I was impressed at how many cars were driving around, but when I started walking there weren't many people walking around.
Delicious, delicious latte.

Matzo Ball Soup! Matzo balls in a chicken broth with carrots, parsley, and celery. I think the next time I may need to make smaller matzo balls. But this is my first time, and I think it's great. I have a ton of leftovers, so I might lightly grill them in a pan and then put them in a soup. I also love how my camera captures the steam coming up from my soup! So cool!

Sums up the post-photos blizzard

Just saw my roommate's boyfriend not wearing pants. So I told Tim this via IM:

Me: I just saw Sarah's boyfriend not wearing pants.
Tim: All of Ann's roommates...well all one of them have seen me in such a state.
Tim: Also I'm drunk.
Me: Neither of these things surprise me.

Disregard last year... this time, we REALLY mean that this is the storm of the century

At right, me just getting home from work early at 3pm for THE STORM OF THE CENTURY. OOOOOOOO AAAAAAA PANIC!!!!


So I'm sitting at home enjoying another snow storm. I really don't mind being snowed in, nor do I flip out. It seems, though, that everyone else in New England freaks the hell out about snow. I spent a lot of time this afternoon watching Storm Coverage, which is news casters rehashing the storm. "Oh my God, it's still snowing... I'm still on the side of this highway freezing my ass off..."

Why is it that every storm is the worst and filled with hyperbole and freaking out? I know you need to create news, and in this day and age, that means drama, but seriously? Don't report on nothing, and don't try to hype people up into freaking out. It's snow. It falls every year. Just be smart on the roads and keep your houses warm.

This DJ in Boston has made the same joke two years in a row, but it's very accurate "It's a snow storm, let's all run out to the store and buy milk and bread for your fat children". And sure enough, on my drive home, Shaw's was chaos with people trying to buy groceries. There was a line onto the street of people trying to get in. I made mistake of going last year during that blizzard where it took 2 hours to get home... insanity in the store. People running around with staples and what not. I went last night, and still nuts... but not as bad.

Sarah, my roommate, started dating a guy. Much to my surprise, it seems he's also hunkering down with us for the weekend. Ohhhh to always manage to find roommates with boyfriends so you're a third wheel in your own apartment.

I managed to get home in about 45 minutes, with the roads only getting bad in Salem. I must say, I think I'm pretty good at driving in bad weather thanks to all these storms and having to get to work. Granted, I did hydroplane and total a minivan one winter, but other than that... smooth sailing.

Tomorrow it's supposed to die down, which is good. I am supposed to have a Christmas Party in Cambridge tomorrow, but I'm concerned about the roads and parking, so I may need to bail. If that's the case, I might trek to Beverly to hang out with Crystal and her posse.

I took a walk to get away from the love birds and to also take some photos of the neighborhood. Usually it is hopping on a Friday night at 9pm around here, but it's very much a ghost town tonight.

I'm standing in the middle of Jefferson, taking a shot of the street with no cars coming. As you can see, not a very good job at plowing, but still not terrible.

On Arthur, looking up the street to the neighbors. The flash is on, so you can see it's still snowing.

At 3, when it was just beginning to pick up. Now plowing yet, nor will there be for a bit. But still, not all that bad.

Cute animals

No griping today, even though I'm stressed by work and getting sick.

No, today I am posting a very cute picture I saw someone else post on Facebook. It's a Mama hippo with a baby hippo. It warms my heart with its cuteness.

Blogger Guilt

From Thanksgiving to now, it's been bat shit crazy! And I keep thinking "man, I should post something", but then I'm so tired or sick of looking at a computer monitor, that I don't want to. So I don't.

Well, it's already the middle of December! What have I been up to?

Training, training, training!
As part of my job, I need to learn more about other databases and interfaces. I have absolutely no clue how and when this will come into play, but I've been living in conference rooms many hours a day for the last two weeks. Fortunately the two people who are getting trained in this full time are awesome and really nice and my age. We all agreed today that we're glad we're in this together. I'll be glad when next Monday comes, since I won't have as many meetings to take up my time.

I also found out I will be learning a new analysis/coding language next year as part of my job. It'll be good to learn this, since it'll look amazing on my resume. I'm worried about time stuff, but I'll figure that out later. And maybe when I have no time, they'll actually take some things off of my plate!

I definitely think my job is still a catch all for all the stuff in the department no one wants to do, but I'm realizing that this will not change, so I need to make it change for myself.

Roommate Sarah is dating someone?!
It's true. Sarah has a gent. His name is Matt. He's good people.

As for me...
Still single, so it's not like I've been busy in THAT realm of my personal life.

General whining about my other friends being busy
The inner posse is, pretty much, all in happy relationships, so they haven't been around much. Which is annoying, since I've been spending a lot of time by myself as a result, or as a third wheel. Trying hard not to get down because of it, or to keep myself busy and active. It's hard, but I soldier on.

Craft fair = BIG success
I'll post pictures soon, but w00t!

Is it Christmas yet?
No, better yet... is it NYE yet???


Yep, that's all.