I get a little warm in my heart
when I think of winter

I was born in a blizzard twenty-seven years ago tomorrow. History has (nearly) repeated itself! We've been hit with three major storms (at least down here we call them major - we are very unprepared for such things) in two weeks - one each the past two weekends, another that started last night. The first snow was lovely: soft and white, the kind of snow that makes you want to be outside and enjoying it.

It went downhill from there.

The second snow was less friendly...more wind, a little bit icier. It made a layer of ice form on top of the previous snow, then added more snow. THEN this current storm rolled in - sleet, freezing rain. And more snow. Wind gusts are making it difficult to see with all the snow blowing across the land. The slush on the road has turned to solid ice, and it's even a little too dangerous for the plows to be out right now. School was closed today and is closed again tomorrow, as is the bank. Even Wal*Mart closed. THAT is an historical event, ladies and gents. I can't turn down a good snow day for my birthday, but Mom Nature, you've outdone yourself this year. I think I'll request tropical weather for twenty-eight!

I have to drive
I have my reasons, dear
It's cold outside
I hate the seasons here


My "real" semester ended with the winter holidays, but now I'm in the midst of the ever-intensive winter session. Three hours a day for three weeks. Fifteen weeks of a class condensed in twelve meetings. *whew*

Yuletide has come and gone, and although I really didn't feel that into it this year, by the time it rolled around I was ready. I cooked for christmas/yule/whatevs instead of thanksgiving this time around, and I was rather bold, I think: mashed potatoes with kale and olive oil, squash gratin, sweet roasted butternut squash. I kept some of the "regular" items regular, but everyone seemed to enjoy the different versions too. I wish I had had more time to put out my decorations, I do love my various tannenbaums and trinkets, but it's all said and done now, so no time to worry! New Year's Eve was spent at Yancy's home with The Hangover, junk food, a drop of beer here and there, and some lovely company. It was great! Very laid back, and I'm thankful for the bit of relaxation. I was really feeling out of sorts for a while with this crazy schedule and even with the two week break between fall and winter classes, that silly bank job got in the way of a lot of my plans. But again, no time to worry. Literally.

Besides various holidays and school and work, I've also gotten to see a lot of family recently. My cousin Chris just got married yesterday, so we got to hang out with a lot of my mom's side of the family. ALWAYS a good time! My love Christina turned twenty-six on friday, so we had a very chill party at her favorite watering hole in Salisbury. A good weekend all around. On a sadder note, we got to see a lot of Jim's dad's family due to the death of his stepfather, Charles. He had been ill for a while, and he finally passed on New Year's Day. Not the most wonderful way to start the year off, but sometimes we just don't get to choose. I wasn't close with Charles, but I do have grief for Jim's grandmother's loss, as well as the pain all their children and grandchildren are going through.

That was hard, but this part is harder.

Even though she was a stranger to me and my family, a little girl affected me in a way that I don't quite understand. I am not yet a parent, so I don't think I will fully feel the pain her family feels until the day that I have a child of my own. On December twenty-second, this little girl was taken from her home by a man. This man was no stranger to her or her family. On Christmas Day, her body was found. The search for this young lady with her whole life ahead of her gripped the entire lower peninsula for three days. Over three thousand people joined the official search for her, and thousands more searched their own property. When the word was released that a body was found, and that it was her, I am positive that anyone with a heart had at least a small piece of it break because of this loss. Delmarva is what we call a "small" peninsula - it's like our own world, everybody either knows or is related to everybody else somehow. As joyous as winter holidays are, this loss marred this past holiday and will absolutely affect future holidays. I will always think of this child on Christmas Day. I will think of her school friends that had to come back after break knowing they would never see her in class again. I will think of her family. I will even think of the anchorwoman whose voice cracked so terribly when the press conference confirming this child's death ended.

This is a small peninsula - things like this don't happen here...right?

I am in the last week of classes of have finished my first complete year of full-time college education!!

Let me just say WOW. What a whirlwind this past year has been.

The first semester was pretty easy. Biology+lab, English, Health (ha!), Algebra. It was like high school all over again. The second semester was a little more involved. Chemistry+lab, Art, Speech, Sociology, and my absolute favorite, FOOD. I was also forced to take a "First Year Experience" class, which thankfully was only once a week and mostly informative rather than useless. Although this semester was much harder on me (I was working too much, I realize now) I still managed to pull out B's in Chemistry as well as the Chem lab and A's in all other classes. I have one winter class coming up after the new year, then Year Two begins. I'm working less (thank goodness) so I can stay more focused and LESS STRESSED. I like to think I'm a laid back person by nature, but I've definitely learned I do have certain triggers. My procrastination is a big problem, and I know now that when I can't get my housework done like I'd like that's a huge stress too. Is it possible to become Type A?! I'm fighting it!

and everywhere I go, people hand me quarters
and they pat me on the back, they treat me like I'm famous

In the squeaky and high-pitched words of a young Shirley Temple, "Oh my goodness!" I have not written in a long time. July thirtieth, to be exact. At which time I promised to write more, and soon.

Sorry 'bout that.
I won't lie anymore. Really.

So, let's just jump right in! Our cruise back in February was fantastic!!! I'm hooked! But broke, so another cruise will have to wait a bit. I'm finally posting a link to my flickraccount for your viewing pleasure. There's some other neat stuff on there too, not just cruise photos.

In March we got a new addition to our family. A (now former) co-worker's dog had puppies and we got the pick of the litter! Ursa (Latin=bear) is a chow/rottweiler/lab mix we believe, and she has been quite the learning experience stressor joy! Even today, she is still very full of puppyness. But, then again, she's not quite a year old, so of course she's still a mess! Jumping forward a few months, we got another doggy to give her an intra-species companion. Lots of work, but very rewarding and it's nice to see them both enjoying each others company so much. Ursa's sista from anotha mutha is Zada (Arabic=lucky), a rescue dog from the SPCA in Onley, VA. She had been shot three times before we brought her home, but you would never know she was harmed by any human. She is absolutely sweet and serene and extremely careful, unless Ursa is around. Then... madness! As Ursa is white-ish and Zada is mostly black, we like to call them the yin yang.

they say vision
it takes you back to just where you want

Huh. I haven't written a word since the end of January. I must have been busy. Want a quick recap? With more to come? I promise!

-February: Cruise to the Bahamas, 26th birthday - all in all a great month!
-March: New addition to the family! Also, a rather intoxicated St. Pat's celebrated at the Greene Turtle. I heart Irish car bombs!
April: Jim's 29th birthday! I love that guy.
May: What the hell happened in May?? Please remind me!
June: Allison and Kevin's lovely wedding! Great times. Also, earned straight A's for my first semester. Success!!
July: Fantastic cookout for the fourth. Kristy and Mark's lovely wedding! Great times AGAIN! I also took a week's vacation... only slightly disastrous...

It's bedtime again, but I promise to elaborate! I really do.

well lucky you,
to have me by your side...

I've been tagged both on Facebook and within the giant vague interwebs to list some random facts about yours truly. I don't know how many I'll think of, but I'll go until I can't go any more. So there! er, here...

1. I have bitten my nails since I the day I started to remember that kind of crap.
2. My oldest friend and I met in preschool. We would play Rainbow Brite most every day. HE played Rainbow Brite - I was the cat, Kitty Brite.
3. My bestest friend and I have been together (sometimes in life, sometimes in spirit) since first grade. I heart her very much.
4. I've had glasses since second grade, contact lenses since seventh.
5. My parents are AWESOME! They are very.. interesting.. people. I'm happy to say they've been married almost forty years now.
6. My dad was a disc jockey/radio personality/radio news director for almost thirty years, until commercial radio as we know it got a little too bureaucratic.
7. Due to number six, I have a keen appreciation (and fairly good knowledge of) top 40 music prior to 1980.
8. I realized just recently that my absolute favorite song (if favorite means I can listen to it over and over) is Bobby Darin's version of Mack the Knife.
9. My favorite male singer is Meat Loaf, whom I discovered while watching Entertainment Tonight in the early '90s.
10. My favorite female singer is Tori Amos, whom I discovered while watching David Letterman in the early '90s. Thanks a bunch, CBS!
11. I never had cable TV growing up.
12. I started getting tattooed/pierced the day I turned eighteen.
13. If I had kept up with getting a tattoo each year on my birthday, I would be getting my ninth pretty soon. Sadly, I'm stuck at four due to lack of funds.
14. I have two penguin tattoos, one lizard, and a Wolfsburg crest.
15. I've been through a couple of piercings: tongue, both nips, and three in each ear. The bottom holes in my earlobes are now at 2g, and the top two sets are at 14g. My tongue and nip piercings are no more :-(
16. I'm a huge snob about other people's body mods. I know what I like, and I really know what I don't.
17. I had my third first day of college on Monday.
18. In the time between graduating high school and meeting my husband (about a year and a half) I lost my virginity, started school at SU, dropped out of SU, drank a LOT, did some drugs, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and still managed to keep a job. I don't know how.
19. I have lots and lots of cookbooks, and sometimes I even use them!
20. I collect vintage Pyrex.
21. I FREAKING LOVE PENGUINS
22. I like to wear hoodies pretty much year-round.
23. I only recently found out what I want to do when I grow up. And I'm actually headed in the right direction! Hence, my third first day of college. And one day, I'll be a Dietitian.
24. My friends and I made a movie in high school. It was called Murder of a Girl Scout and it was fantastic. I wish I had a copy to show you.
25. I really really really love Edward Gorey, thanks in part to watching so much PBS as a child. He did the animation at the beginning of Mystery!.

So I did think of 25 things! And I could really go on, but I won't tonight. Maybe later. Maybe not. Stay tuned...

yeah, the streets are deserted, and that's the big news,
it's Christmastime for the Jews

If you ever had any doubt that Jim and I were meant to be... I point you in the direction of Christmas 2008. I got Jim the complete set of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD. My darling Jim got ME the complete set of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD. If that ain't nerd love, I don't know what is :-D

side note just for Jim: 80085!

'tis the season to be jorry,
fa ra ra ra raa, ra ra ra raa.

It's almost 2009, and what have YOU done with your year? Me, I've completely lost it! Not my mind, but my 2008. It has FLOWN by. I really cannot believe it's already a cold, cold winter and almost a frosty new year. I'm looking forward to 2009, it's got so much to offer! I start school in January, go on a cruise in February (AND turn 26! woo hoo!), and I know that the year will only get busier from there. I have a lot I hope to achieve in this upcoming year, but no real "resolutions." Most of what I want to do involves success in my education and still keeping up with housework as well as family and friends, but I would also like to enhance my recipe repertoire. I need to stray from my usual four or five recipes (delicious and easy as they are) and branch out into some still tasty and simple(r) but more exciting choices. I've got tons of recipes that I've never used, and cookbooks I've read but never taken from, and I need to change that.

girl, you got to know these days
which side you're on...

It's not even really cold yet, but personally, it's cold enough. We'll be in this house four years in November, and the only year we were actually comfortable in the winter was 2004. We had a little bit of propane that winter, and it was the nicest heat. Every fall after that, we just never had enough money to keep our heads above water, let alone buy gas to heat with. Electric baseboard is heat enough if you're desperate, but it's pricey. As a bonus, our house is wired in such a (sucky) way that the one thermostat is situated directly over a strip of heat. Meaning: as soon as that strip of heat gets warm, the thermostat shuts the whole damn shebangabang off. Niiiice.

On a lighter (and warmer!) note: HALLOWEEN!!! I bought a shit ton of candy at Giant yesterday (all on sale, thank you very much) and I think this weekend we'll finally get the decorations up and the house ready for our party. Just a little bit of cleaning in the dining room and some re-arrangement and we'll be set. We also ...gasping for breath from utter excitement... bought a Wii!!! One of our finer investments, honestly. In the past several months, thanks to getting bills caught up and some paid off (State of MD, Providian, Wells Fargo, Dr. Dormer, just to name a few) we have a copious amount of spending money. Seriously, we bought a ginormous TV with our economic stimulus check, a Wii just for fun, a cruise for vacation, and Jim traded his car in for a 2005 Chevy Colorado. Craziness! Honestly, I'd like to have a lot more locked up in savings, but why not stimulate the economy? And honestly, I don't know how much money I'll be bringing in once I start classes in January, so we'd better spend it now. See why I'm not in financial planning?? hahaha

In all seriousness, life is really, really good. We have been married for three years, honestly and truly happy with each other. Being financially stable is a huge weight off any couple's shoulders, and I can really see how much less stressed we both are thanks to more money intake and less outgoing. I don't feel selfish about first wanting, and now really going, to school, because I am confident that we can make it. I was informed just a few days ago that I am eligible for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan. That's a mouthful! It doesn't quite cover the full tuition for a year, but it's damn close. I did the online loan counseling and signed the master promissory note last night. Good times.

All other news:
-HOCKEY IS BACK! that is all.
-New cookbook: 1000 Vegetarian Recipes Really a nice cookbook. Not bad for $6.99 at Ollie's Bargain Outlet. I'm an Army member, you know. :-P
-Sivan is teaching me how to crochet. I'm not really good at it, but then again I haven't really practiced much since she taught me last wednesday. I've got to get on the ball!
-I've almost lost ten pounds! That's my first goal that I get a reward with. And what's that reward, you ask??

fingerstache! -

throw away yesterday
today is a brand new day

I'm in! Saturday's mail brought me a lovely acceptance letter from UMES and the endearing quote from Jim: "No surprise there." Thanks, baby. :-)