A Month Away

I checked the dates. Spring begins on March 20. It's just one month away, and I'll be counting the days. 

It hasn't been a snowy winter here--our biggest snowfall was four inches. The flurries that we're getting now are part of an originally predicted snowfall of 14 inches. Flurries are a relief.

While the snow's been light, the temperatures have been bitterly cold. At least I don't have to wait a month for relief. Temperatures will rise to the 40s beginning Sunday. Maybe I can lose a layer of clothing when I go outside.

Wet Weather

It feels like it's always snowing. I know that isn't true. Didn't it snow/rain three times this week? And three times the week before that?

There are hints of more snow to come later this week--possibly a lot more. 

Not even two-thirds through winter. How am I going to hold on? The Mets play their first spring training game next week. Maybe that will help. 

More Snow..and Cooking

It's snowing tonight for the third time this week. We got off easy the last two times--only about two inches. It doesn't look like we'll get off easy again. The latest forecast is five to eight inches. We'll see. At least, I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, except to take Jace out. 

Speaking of Jace, he's had a rough week; he had diarrhea twice. I took him to the vet today and got him some medicine. I'm so glad I bought more chicken yesterday. I made chicken and rice for him and chicken parmesan for Jeff and me. 

I also made bison and black been chili for tomorrow. It's one of Jeff's traditions to have chili for the Super Bowl. 

As for me, I'm looking forward to the Puppy Bowl.

Winter is Here

The winter solstice was yesterday: the beginning of winter, and it snowed. Actually, it started snowing on Friday. Today was the coldest day of the season to date. I don't like winter. I don't think I minded it that much before. But now I worry about falling and breaking a bone--thank you old age.

Let's look at the bright side. It's going to warm up over the next few days. It's almost Christmas. Each day will become lighter. Yesterday, my neighbor's boyfriend cleared the snow off my car.

Think of the positive.

Winter Solstice

Today is the first day of winter. While I don't celebrate the onset of winter, I appreciate that daylight will get longer each day, although it will take a few weeks to even notice it. 

Winter is coming, the Stark words from Game of Thrones. If winter is not here now, it will be in a few minutes. They can pinpoint the start of the seasons by minutes now.

Winter is my least favorite season, but I have to muddle through it.

Cold

Today is the coldest day of the year--five degrees during my morning walk with Jace. At least it wasn't windy. Obviously, I didn't want to be out walking in five degree weather, but that's part of the deal in having a dog. In other words, "you knew the job was dangerous when you took it."

Other than Jace walks, I stayed in. I wrote. I made oatmeal, soup, bruschetta with tuna steak (left over from last night's dinner) a carrot salad, and chicken parmesan. 

Tomorrow temperatures will shoot up 20 degrees. Looking forward to that. 

Welcome February

February is my least favorite month. But I welcome it because we need to get through February to get to March and spring. Plus I didn't enjoy the last few days of January. I went into a funk last week at this time. I had an ambitious to-do list and barely made a dent in it. Then I got thinking about self sabotage; I had trouble with my story; Jasper landed on my head. I started to turn things around yesterday.

***

I woke up to snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's as if winter itself suddenly woke up and said, "I better get to work." It had been in the fifties on Sunday and Monday, and the snow didn't linger. New York City got its first snow of the season yesterday--apparently a news story of the utmost importance.

I checked the news to see what Punxsutawney Phil predicted. Whatever he says, we have six more weeks of winter--I just hope it feels like spring. 

*** 

February brings Valentine's Day. It's overhyped, but I still enjoy it. Jeff and I are talking about dinner plans. I'm thinking a sushi appetizer and a saketini. Do I want to cook or get more takeout? Oh, we'll need dessert too. Decisions. 

Winter Weekend Miscellanea

We're about one third of the way through winter. It's a relief to be out with Jace at 5 PM, and it's not pitch black. So far, the weather's been mild. I can't expect that to continue, but I hope it does. 

Is there some kind of societal rule--like don't wear white after Labor Day--about when people should take down their Christmas decorations? I saw one man removing lights from his house on the morning of New Year's Day. Now most people have taken their decorations down. Yesterday I saw two houses next to each other that still had lighted Christmas trees in their windows. Tonight only one remained. 

Halfway down the block from the Christmas tree holdout, people in one house are clearly moving on. Valentine's Day hearts adorn their door.

Winter is Here

Today is the first full day of winter and most of the country is in a deep freeze. We are reprieved for two days. Tomorrow temps will reach the low fifties but with a windy rain. Then temperatures plummet. I hope things don't ice over. Jace needs his walks. 

I love that daylight will increase daily, although it will apparently take a few weeks before it's noticeable. Winter is my least favorite season. I am trying to think of good winter things, but I'm not feeling it right now. I need to get through the next three months. I need to be positive.

Spring is Here

As I was driving home from the gym yesterday, I learned that spring officially began at 11:33 AM. It couldn't come fast enough for me. I have to admit we had a relatively mild winter, but it seemed interminable. 

Spring means more daylight, warmer temperatures, longer walks, birdsong, outdoor dining, and hopefully a mini getaway. 

Lots to look forward to. 

Snow

We knew it was coming, but as one weatherperson said, our first major storm of the season overperformed. (Don't think I've heard that expression concerning a snowstorm before.) 

We got about nine inches of snow. Luckily the snow was dry and light--relatively easy to brush off the cars--no scraping required. I made it to Lola's vet tech appointment at 2 (but damn, forgot to ask about her weight--she's been losing weight lately.)

Afterwards, I took Lola to Sherwood Island, but it was closed. Next we tried Winslow. Lola ran and seemed to enjoy herself in the fifteen minutes we stayed. 

Unfortunately, the snow will be around awhile; it's going to be a cold week. 

Snow Hangover

It started to snow sometime around 9 on Sunday night and lasted through sometime today. Norwalk got 15.9 inches (way to be precise News 12 Connecticut.) We also dealt with rain, sleet, and flurries today. 

Living in a condo, I don't have to shovel the sidewalk, but I do need to dig out my car. That's a job I hate. At least there wasn't ice on my car this time. 

Today Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. I'm sick of winter already.

Winter Solstice

Today is the first day of winter. The last week of fall brought the biggest snowstorm in years. Ironically, today was the nicest day in a week--sunny and 46 degrees.  

Usually people describe the winter solstice as the shortest day of the year. I think it's more accurate to call it the darkest day of the year. Going forward, each day will have more light (at least until the summer solstice.)

Getting more light is something to celebrate. 

On the Road on the Darkest Day of the Year

Today is the winter solstice, the first day of winter, and the darkest day of the year. Jeff, Lola and I drove from Norwalk to Winchester, Virginia. Our destination is Cornelius, North Carolina to spend Christmas with Jeff's family.

It's been ten years since Jeff and I have made a long road trip, and it's Lola's first. Cornelius is much closer to Connecticut than Hilton Head, South Carolina; Saint Simons Island, Georgia; or Stuart, Florida: our earlier road trip destinations. I guess I'm out of the long drive practice, the six hours in the car today was tough. I drove the first half and Jeff the second--our usual split.

After we checked into our hotel, we took Lola to the local dog park. We tried to find a winery tasting room, but I guess our information was outdated. The tasting room wasn't where we expected. We did find Old Town Winchester. Old Town is a pedestrian-only brick walk consisting of a few blocks with stores and restaurants. It was charming; if it were only about ten degrees warmer--we could have eaten outside.

We have another five-to-six hour drive tomorrow. It will be getting warmer, so maybe we'll have a chance for outdoor dining.

This Day

It's a cold, windy day. I even saw a few snow flurries around 1 PM. Too much, too soon.

I'm reminded that we had our Interlaken getaway over Veterans Day weekend last year; a weekend of record cold.

At least it's a little warmer than this Veterans Day weekend. But winter seems to be on a hurry to get here.

Slip and Fall

This morning I slipped on ice in our parking lot. My left knee bore the brunt of my fall. My first thought was there goes the gym.

I got up gingerly, feeling stupid. After I went back inside, I sat down on the couch, propped my knee up on a pillow, wrote a few emails and entered my work hours. Then I went to the gym, but skipped leg work and cardio. I kept my walk with Lola at the Norwalk River Valley Trail to about a half hour. It was bitterly cold, so no sacrifice there.

My knee stiffens up and gets sore from-time-to-time, but it's not too bad.

It reminds me how quickly things can go to hell.

January: A Partial Review

I expected this month to drag. Instead it seemed to fly by.

As usual, I didn't accomplish everything I wanted. Technically, I didn't have a January-specific to-do list but I did want to start off the year right.

The first week was a blur. We were in the middle of a cold spell--temps didn't crack the freezing point for two weeks. I didn't work much--two tutoring cancellations. I had the first of three consecutive weeks of taking my mother to doctors' appointments. These appointments ended up taking four to five hours each, and they are my responsibility. Yes, my mother could get to the doctors without me, but nowhere near as conveniently. Plus it's good for me to stay in the loop concerning her health. Usually these appointments are spread out over months. January was bad luck in that regard.

I tracked my time for two weeks. I still need to do a thorough analysis, but time-tracking forced me to focus on how I wasted time. My time-wasters weren't surprises, but the amount of time wasted was. "Just let me check this blog, read this one post" can be dangerous.

I've been enjoying my walks with Lola. It's too easy to stay inside in winter. Lola gets me out when I would otherwise hibernate and miss some beautiful days. In the cold spell, we had some bad walking days even when wearing multiple layers, but these were few.

We got a new couch and love seat over the weekend. We chose them on MLK Day. We had our old couch hauled away to the dump and gave the love seat to Jeff's co-worker. One more love seat to go--we've had a spare in our spare room for too long.

I got a raise this month. It was nothing specific that I did; it was part of a simplification of tutoring options. Instead of having three separate tutoring rates, I now have one--the highest of the three. Let the new tutorials commence.

Overall, January's been a good month. On to February.

The Week Between

I had thought about how to describe this week, "limbo"?  How would I title this post? It's the last week of the year, but I'm not ready for year-end analysis or new year goals and resolutions just yet.

I had a much nicer Christmas than expected--specifically the time spent with Jeff's sister and her family. It was relaxed and fun from Christmas Eve dinner through Christmas morning. I didn't want to stay overnight originally, but it worked out well for us.

***

I always hated to to back to work the day after Christmas. I felt guilty Tuesday morning as Jeff got up at 5:30. I didn't work this week. I planned to get many things done. As usual, I didn't succeed. I did a little bit of everything--TPR work, cleaning/organizing, shopping, cooking. Maybe cooking was my best category: in addition to dinners, I made carrot-ginger soup and marinara sauce and froze about half of both.

***

It's been a cold week--temperatures barely making it into the twenties. It wasn't conducive for long walks or hikes. The longest walk Lola and I had this week was 35 minutes. Today it snowed for most of the day. Luckily it didn't amount to much. It did mess up my plan to go to the gym this morning. Instead, I exercised here--it was better than nothing. Jeff and I took Lola for a walk up our street--a first for Lola. She was a little skittish when cars passed by, but did well. I hope it's the first of many neighborhood walks for her.

***

We're down to our last few days of drinking. Every year we stop drinking around New Year's Day. I think January 1st will be our last day this year. We'll have a long weekend. Jeff likes to have a beer on Super Bowl Sunday. I'll wait until Valentine's Day. In 2018, it's on a Wednesday. I don't know if we'll celebrate that day or the Saturday before or after. For now we're enjoying some red wine. Champagne tomorrow.

Snow Day

Today is the first real snow of the season for us; I don't count snow flurries. It started snowing sometime last night and continued into this morning. We ended up with a few inches of snow, which turned to rain sometime this afternoon. Jeff and I didn't have to go anywhere. I had gone food shopping the day before, so we were pretty well-stocked, except for no beer.

I spent most of the day doing light cleaning and Christmas decorating. Jeff cooked a pork loin with carrots, potatoes, garlic, onion and apples in the slow cooker.

By the time I have to leave tomorrow, most snow will be gone. Temperatures will rise to the fifties--a bit of luck for me and my schedule.

The term "snow days" reminds me of school. Schools are more lenient in calling snow days than businesses. And you didn't have to worry about being docked pay in school.

I'm not sure what to expect of this winter; there have been contradictory forecasts. I'm hoping for decorative snow and no ice.

February is the cruelest month...

It had started to snow as I wrote my last entry yesterday; we got another few inches of snow and ice. I drove home through flurries this evening. My car now looks like a powdered donut. We're getting more snow Monday night into Tuesday morning. I think I speak for the most of the US when I say enough is enough.

Predictions of temperatures in the forties sound good, but I was fooled by predictions before. I'll believe the forty degrees when I feel them.

I have to give a shout out to our condominium super and his staff. Our sidewalks are clear (except for that one driveway from the garage which ices up at night and melts during the day.) The parking lot is in decent shape. But damn, we are surrounded by mounds of snow--some six feet tall. It's hard to drive down the street because parked cars are sticking out in the driving lane because of too much snow along the curbs. We can't cross the street for walks because that condo hasn't cleared its sidewalks. Snow piled up on corners makes entering intersections risky.

T.S. Eliot says April is the cruellest month. But this February has to be the worst.