real life snow globe!

today i took the dog out a 6:15 and was disappointed to find that all the winter storm hype had come to naught, but then when i took him out again at 7:15 it was like the world had been turned into snow globe! the snow was falling steadily but softly, the ground was just dusted with white, and everything was calm and quiet. it was so beautiful, and really fun to be outside in it. maybe winter does actually have some upsides :)

feeling inspired?

this weekend, on our group excursion to the American History Museum, i learned so much about our country! i have to say, it was really inspiring to be there, and remember all of the great and hard things this country has been through to stand where it does today. it made me proud to recognize that although we have had our pitfalls as a nation, we have always emerged stronger for them. we should be proud of our government, our legacy of peaceful power transitions, even when the times were not themselves peaceful at all. even though i live in our capital, sometimes i still forget those things, so today, on no particular holiday at all, i wanted to be grateful for that :)

it's not so bad...

after reading everybody's posts about the cold, i felt obliged to pay homage to a place that experiences real cold...that's right, chi-town! my mom called the other morning and said that is was -20 degrees when she woke up...now that's degrees, not windchill. with the windchill, it was -40! schools were closed for 2 days (kids can't be out waiting for buses for fear of instant frostbite), and even hudson was hesitant to brave the weather, and he loves the snow and cold! so every time i start to complain about the cold out here, i remember my roots, and feel just a little bit warmer :)

end of the traditional commute?

a friend of mine posted this article in his gchat away message, and i was so intrigued that i thought i'd pass it on...it's about the first (potenially) marketable flying car! could you imagine a world where everyone flew their cars to work? parking lots would need runways, traffic laws would need some serious updates (how do you put a stoplight in the sky??), we would all need new drivers/ pilot training....crazy stuff. check out the article and let me know what you think!

back surgery successful!

this weekend i was in williamsburg with alex and his parents, because friday morning alex had his back surgery! the exact procedure was a microdiskectomy...basically, the doctor removed the portion of the ruptured disk that was pinching on the nerve. he said the surgery was successful, and alex should experience significant relief from the pain in his back and leg!

it was an outpatient surgery, so alex was back in his apartment by lunchtime after the surgery friday. because his spine was involved, he isn't allowed in public for five days to avoid germs and infections that could cause meningitis if it got into the spinal fluid. also, he isn't allowed to sit upright or bend over for a few days, so basically we had a whole weekend of reclining and relaxing with his parents, watching movies and football and playing cards. he did go outside to walk the dog once, but to do that i had to put on his socks and shoes for him...i told him this is a perfect instance when crocs would be ideal, but he still refuses to invest in the greatest shoe of all time :)

as for me, i'm back in DC now and getting ready for another week of work! whoo hoo!

new year's resolutions

yesterday, kayla, alex, and i were watching the rose bowl at chris and katie's (booo USC and all biased commentating) and katie asked me if i had a new year's resolution...i told her i didn't and that i didn't really make them because i felt like i was setting myself up for failure. i'm thinking about this now while i'm at work, and feeling like it is odd that i, of all people, do not buy in to new year's resolutions; i love to plan, i love setting goals, i love crossing off lists, i am genearlly determined and dedicated when i put my mind to something...you would think i could actually better myself by committing to a good new year's resolution, but i don't...do you all make resolutions? and if so, why do you do it?

holiday blogging...

i am sad to report that over the past few months i have officially become a holiday blogger :( so on the eve of the new year, i figured it was appropriate to renew my dedication to this awesome form of communication...also, i figured out how to access my blog at work, so now i can use my downtimes to write to you all!

so let's see...Christmas was wonderful, i was home in chicago, it was FREEZING when i got there (with Leonidas in tow!), like highs around -3. needless to say, neither the dog or i were very pleased, although i think he had it worse...everything i took him outside to go to the bathroom, he would start shaking and stepping gingerly on his freezing little paws. we tried everything to fix this issue, from his parka vest to a new sweater; we even bought little doggie booties for his feet (they didn't stay on very well and he looked like he didn't know how to walk in them)! we tried to get him to run around with hudson at a school behind my house (they played a ton inside) but he started shaking so much that my dad wrapped him up inside his down coat and carried him home. eventually, we settled for very frequent, very quick trips into the artic tundra and waited for the weather to warm up.

by Christmas eve, all was warmer, we had 8-10 inches of snow on the ground, and it was truly beautiful. below is a picture of the biggest icicle outside my house (we eventually knocked it down to keep it from breaking the gutter). my whole family went to church, my brother and grandfather sang in the choir, and it was all very fun and memorable. Christmas morning, we had the grandparents over for breakfast and presents, followed by dinner with my aunt, cousins, all four grandparents, and my family. the food was delicious but we were tired at the end.

the next few days i spend relaxing at home, until sunday, when the puppy and i reboarded a plane and came back to the east coast. he was a wonderful little traveler, didn't cause any problems on the plane or in the airport, but he and i are both glad to be back.