Good Things

1. Watching US-Canada Olympic hockey with Jason. It's amazing how much my ability to follow the puck has improved over the past few years. Unfortunately, I don't know any of the US players (all the good Caps are Russian).

2. The Olympics. We are big fans and have watched about everything but Shawn White's half-pipe (sad). Don't you love the Olympics--suddenly becoming an expert on triple axles and "The Quad," remembering the sound of icy snow under your skis, quoting "Cool Runnings," choking up at Visa commercials?

3. Our great discussion about submission (erm...) in Sunday School today. Have I mentioned how much we love our group at church? We can't stop thinking/talking about how radical it would be if we all treated each other with Christ's spirit of grace.

4. Roasted asparagus. For lunch today we had the best asparagus I've ever tasted--it was so good it was almost like fruit. We are planting asparagus in our garden this year. Mmm...

5. My husband. I was about to lose it this weekend, in a panic about having to finish the first draft of my thesis weeks earlier than I thought, but by being so understanding (making dinner while I read, listening to my shrill freak-outs, providing tea at just the right time, acting like it's totally normal that I've been uber-type A about the coming week, and dolling out hugs when needed) he has largely made me feel in control again. I don't know what I would do without him.

6. Green things peeking up. It's been sunny and "warm" (i.e. above freezing) this weekend, and as the dirty stacks of snow recede, we've seen tiny bits of new green on the chives and butterfly bush. Spring? Are you out there somewhere?

Escape

After 40+ inches of snow and the chaos that follows, we were super happy that we had already planned a trip to Florida for President's Day weekend. Granted, it didn't get above the 60s while we were there, but the sun was shining and there was no snow on the ground!

We braved the beach for a couple of hours the first day we were there (I was glad I had a sweatshirt, which I pretty much wore every day).


The next day we went down to Everglades National Park, where we took a sweet airboat ride and checked out some alligators (an American safari?).




After our ride, we drove through the park to see what there was to see. The Everglades are pretty cool. We had a picnic and did a short walk among a bunch of birdwatchers, then headed back to Ft. Lauderdale, where we to see the Broadway show "39 Steps." Good fun.


And then we landed back in DC, where the ground was just a sheet of white. I have never been so ready for spring.

Cabin Fever

I love a good snow day, and working from home is significantly less stressful (and distracting, actually) than working at work (in spite of the frustratingly slow computer connection--agh!). But not long ago the prediction for tomorrow's snow storm went from 3 inches to 10-20 inches, and I started to panic again at the very real possibility that we might be stuck here the rest of the week. I've decided that it would be really awesome to go to work again some day. I love my house, but it wouldn't hurt to wear something other than long johns and fix my hair again one of these days.
To combat cabin fever, Jason and I donned our make-shift snow gear (the real stuff is, unfortunately, in Idaho) and went for a walk. Since we seem to be the only ones who have shoveled our sidewalks, it was a pretty short jaunt, and before we went in we decided a snowman was in order. Not exactly snowman snow, but we made do, complete with a carrot (we're going to the groc again tonight while we still can, so we figured we could splurge) and a scarf someone dropped in front of our house yesterday.
We've made a couple of important decisions this weekend:

1. We are buying snow pants and boots to keep in Virginia. Storing our snow gear where we are most likely to see snow has worked really well for years, but it turns out there is a bit of a flaw in the plans.

2. We need to get to know our neighbors better. They are the only people we've seen besides each other since noon on Friday. Also, it is a good thing we like each other a lot.

3. Still, should the opportunity for both of us to work at home all the time ever arise, it wouldn't hurt to give it some serious thought... :)

4. Definitely time for a new snow shovel.

I'm lobbying hard to go out to dinner--Chili's, McDonald's, whatever, just get me out of here!

Snowmageddon

As Jason and I drove to work the other day, listening to the outrageous weather report on the radio, we wondered what it will be like when someday we move to an area that doesn't freak out when it snows. I'm pretty convinced that there are areas of the country where people actually drive, work, and go to school when it snows. Here? People usually refuse to leave their houses when the first few flakes fall. It is pretty difficult to explain to Idahoans who call our office that the Congressman's staff is all at home because it is snowing--as we tell our interns, it's not that you can't drive on snowy roads, it's that no one else on the road can.


But hey, since we're here, we might as well jump into the crazed-out-ness with both boots, right? I think calling this storm "Snowmageddon" is a bit ridiculous, but it is one of DC's biggest snow storms in recorded history. That's why there was no school in Arlington and the government shut down 4 hours early, even though the snow didn't start to stick to the roads until around 4:00 yesterday. That's also why Jason got up at 6:45 a.m. yesterday to go fight the crowds the grocery store because we were out of milk and the county had warned folks to be prepared to not go out for 3-5 days...we tried to go on Thursday, but the shelves were bare and the wait at checkout was nearly an hour. The weather folks around here have a bad habit of using "snow" and "blizzard" synonymously, but this time at least there were actual blizzard conditions.



For the record, we are not freaking out. We are suffering through a long weekend with a full pantry, a pile of fire logs, and stacks of things to do. This is seriously the best winter ever.

So far, we have:
* Watched it snow outside. A lot. Once it finally stopped this evening, we measured 18 inches. That's a lot of snow to fall in one day.

* Read Pride and Prejudice. Because sometimes January is just too much to bear, and Jane Austen is the only thing that gets me through. I sat by the fire last night until I finished it.

*Did yoga together. Jason did his first downward facing dog after breakfast this morning. I suspect it will also be his last.* Eaten split pea soup. What is a snow storm without soup? Our tummies are still warm from the yumminess of split pea soup. Mmmm...
* Baked. The breadmaker has proven once again that is is not just taking up space, making a batch of homemade bagels a snap. Maybe there's still time for cookies tonight.

* Planned the garden. Nearly 20 inches of snow covers my garden, but that isn't stopping me from picking out seeds and plants for planting this spring! My friend Deanna is planting her first garden this year, so we've been pouring over seed catalogs.

* Started the 2010 budget process. Dangerous to discuss the budget when we are stuck in the house together for three days, I know, but as this is our 6th budget process, we've managed to minimize the more intense...discussions. Besides, we're being gazelle-intense.
* Made snow cream. First time for both of us--we intended to do it during the last big storm, but we got distracted by packing and Christmas, etc. Yum!
Church has, unfortunately, already been canceled for tomorrow, and they're waiting until afternoon to see whether Monday will be another day off. I think a snowman is in order...

Brussel Sprouts (and other January doings)

In general, experience has proven that veggies taste best (and are cheapest) when you eat them during the season in which they are supposed to grow. This mentality works well for someone like me, who can get a bit obsessive about one thing (right now? Lord of the Rings, black bean tacos, and Mat Kearney) before suddenly wanting nothing to do with it for a while because I am so bored. I do well with seasons--remember how in love with fall I was a few months ago? Now nothing sounds better than spring.

When it comes to food, I feel perfectly comfortable gorging on one meal over and over while the star veggie is in season (spring = asparagus frittata and ginger chicken with snow peas, summer = chicken with haricot verts and feta-crusted tomatoes, fall = butternut squash pasta as often as Jason will let me make it) because by the time boredom sets in it's already time to move on. You notice, of course, what's missing from that otherwise steller menu. January, of course. Seriously, what grows in January?!? I'm not much of a veggie aficionado (I eat them, but I don't love them), and by the end of January I have seriously done about as much damage to sweet potatoes and squash as I can possibly stand.

So Friday night we tried out brussel sprouts for the first time in our adult lives. Jason and I both gave them a hard, skeptical look as they sat on our plates, looking for all the world like the bitter, mushy greens we knew brussel sprouts to be. Except that they weren't. They were quite tasty (in a green, vegetable sort of way, so don't get too excited). Per Bon Appetit's feature on them last month, I sauteed them in butter and then simmered them in chicken stock with herbs. You should have seen the surprise on Jason's face when he tasted them. He even ate my leftovers (let's be honest, even at 30 it's rare when I finish off all the vegetables on my plate). I think we're growing up.

Speaking of greens, kale is next on the list. Anyone have thoughts on kale? Like it? Have a way to fix it that doesn't leave salad haters (me) running? I'm mulling over the idea of joining a CSA this year, which is a bit daunting for someone who prefers ANY type of fruit over ANY type of vegetable, since I know at some point in the year we will be buried in leafy greens.

Hard to believe, but we're actually doing more than eating our veggies (but you get the drift that none if it is too exciting). Our past few weeks have been filled with:

Traveling: I love going to Idaho, but I have to confess that it'd be nice if the trips were a little more spread out--we were back in VA for two weeks after Christmas before I loaded up my carry on and flew back for the annual work tour of Idaho's Second Congressional District. It's a pretty long four days (though two dinners at the Sandpiper made it a little easier to swallow, and I do love staying in hotels). The silver lining came on Thursday night, when I headed up to McCall with my parents (are we noticing a trend here?) for the annual Bunn family weekend in the snow. While I missed having any time in Meridian, we had a blast up at the cabin--Jason was the only thing missing! It was really too cold at Christmas to do much outside, but the weather was warmer this time, so we went cross country skiing. So, so fun.

Waltzing: In an effort to make my 30th birthday as classy and grown-up an occasion as possible, Jason gave me a private ballroom dancing lesson. Between a busy schedule and a broken ankle, we only got around to doing it on Thursday night. I had a wonderful time--I think dancing is like floating. Jason...well, let's just say that Jason was a good sport.

Bussing: Jason has been getting re-acquainted with the bus and metro schedules in the morning since he started his new parking space-less job after New Year's. We're back to a "normal" schedule in the morning, where he is up before me...and I confess to loving it a little too much. It's been interesting to see how his Hill experience has impacted him so far. I miss having him around.

Organizing: Ah, organizing things. The sense of faux-control that an organized closet/pantry/bedroom gives me is exhilarating. Take, for instance, my new 4-week menu. Or the alphabetized DVD collection. Or the plan to tackle one room every weekend until our house is immaculate. This weekend's project was reorganizing the pantry and cleaning out the freezer. Somehow we ended up picking up the Spare Oom and spending an unplanned three hours organizing our disastrous office without giving more than lip service to the pantry or freezer. Oh, well, next week. The label maker has been busy.

A Finished Family Room

Tonight I put pictures in the frames in the family room and said, "Wha-la!" Apart from a teeny bit of woodwork on the banister, our family room is finished and beautiful!

Before:



After:The project included sheetrocking, putting in insulation (for which we are grateful, as it's freezing right now), painting, redoing the light fixtures, and putting in new carpet and baseboards. Most significantly, and unfortunately something you can't see well from the pictures, Jason and his dad moved the wall where the TV is back about two feet, adding a good chunk of space to the family room and allowing us to watch TV without feeling like we're sitting in the front row of the theater. We LOVE it. Jason did such a good job getting it all wired and finished up!

While I'm posting on the basement, here's a picture of the library (which is notoriously hard to photograph), painted a crackly orange that I love. vastly prefer to the old color. Jason, how do I love the, let me count the ways: 1. repainting a room we'd already painted. 2...

A New Decade

Remember 1990? How much we talked about the turning of the decade? This time around, I totally forgot that we were launching into a new decade. I suspect that turning millennia last time around--and our wildly unfounded Y2K fears--sort of overshadowed any future decade-turning.

So far, 2010 has been pretty spectacular. We started it off with a make-your-own-pizza party here with a bunch of friends, and since then we have pretty much spent it in sweats. To date this year we have slept in, watched movies, and read January magazines. I honestly don't know how I am going to go back to work on Monday.

I'm having a bit of a hard time letting go of Christmas this year. Last year the tree was down by the end of New Year's Day and I was ready to wipe my hands of the whole thing, but this year it is still hanging on, dropping needles onto the rug, and I just can't seem to be too bothered. And can someone find a reason for me to leave my twinkle lights up for a while longer? January needs twinkle lights, don't you think? Something to balance out the piles of dirty snow and frigid, hopelessly short days?

There are nice things about January, though. Like organizing things. Tonight I went to Target on a mission to get my cleaning supplies and bathroom cabinets organized, and I feel a bit better about January now. And, with no projects in the queue (pictures of the finished family room coming soon), we can spend our weekends hibernating the winter away. Not bad things by any stretch of the imagination.

Christmas in the Mountains

We made it without (major) incident to Idaho, in spite of the snow (v. thankful for a long layover and a tortured decision months ago to fly out of Dulles instead of Reagan National, which didn't reopen on Sunday). From the moment we arrived, Christmas was in full swing, fat goose and all. We celebrated with the Idaho gang of Bunns, had lunch with Alison and Amanda, and did a lot of grocery shopping and packing before heading up to the mountains first thing on Wednesday.

This is about as good a picture of the three boys together that we could get.

The snow in McCall was sparkly and the weather was frigid--we woke up to -6 (Fahrenheit) some days, and it never got above freezing the entire time we were there (somehow, -6 didn't keep us from sliding out to the hot tub in the mornings, where our hair frosted over). Because of the snow, we weren't able to drive all the way to the cabin and had to snowmobile in--I stupidly neglected to put my goggles on before the snowmobile took off and literally thought my nose would be frostbit by the time we got there!

Sledding is 15 times more fun when you can hitch a ride back up the mountain from Cole and Papa.

Long train!

The cold kept us inside for a couple of days, where we played games, ate an obscene amount of food, watched hours of special features from Lord of the Rings, and played Guitar Hero incessantly. On Saturday, though, we all bundled up for some sledding and snowmobiling--our first time down the hill, Shaanti and I almost hit a tree and ended up laughing so hard we fogged up our goggles. Good, good times, especially when they end with hot chocolate and apple pie by the roaring fire!

I especially love how Shaanti's small child is clinging to her leg...completely ignored...

Christmas Eve and Christmas were great fun, too. Auntie Fay, Uncle Charley, Katie, David, and their friend Jeannette spend the week with us. We had our traditional Christmas Eve seafood feast on Thursday night, which gets better every time (Jenny and Chad's coconut shrimp took the cake this year).

Uncle Charley, Auntie Fay, and Jeannette

The Feast

Mom gave us each this year's ornament and a Bible verse she had for us, and Jason read the Christmas story from Luke. Dad read The Littlest Angel before we opened our stockings (Santa comes early at the Johnsons'), and on Christmas morning, Cole was overjoyed to find that Santa had brought him the bow and arrow for which he'd been fervently asking.

Mason's ornament and verse

Someone is definitely going to get their eye poked out.

Here were a couple more of my favorite moments: Cole opening his prize from Santa, and Mason...well, being Mason. "Maam!" is his favorite word.

Cole sang us a lovely song called "We're at Granny's Cabin for Christmas," and I think the sentiment was shared across the board. After a wonderful week together, we headed back to an almost-snowless DC, where our last week off is going far too quickly! As Dad said, it's nice when you look forward to something so much and it is exactly what you hoped it would be, and that's how I feel about our Christmas in the mountains.

Into every situation, a "little" snow must fall

...but the fire is so delightful...

I'm sitting by the fire with my third mug of Twinings Christmas tea, and I think it is snowing even harder than it was when we got up this morning and Jason shoveled the driveway. I know it's a good idea to get ahead of the snow as much as you can, but shoveling seems a bit like an exercise in futility right now--when we measured it then with a 12 inch ruler, it was almost completely covered, and I think six more inches have fallen since then!

It's really the nicest kind of day to be snowed in (you know, apart from the fact that we're supposed to be flying out tomorrow afternoon...). The only plan we had to cancel was lunch with Dawn, which is rescheduled for when we get back. Otherwise we've been drinking warm beverages and listening to Christmas music and opening our Christmas presents from each other (there's already enough to pack for Idaho without lugging our gifts from each other there and back again). It's a white Christmas after all!
I think, to celebrate, we will go ahead and watch White Christmas and eat Thai food at home (since we most certainly can't follow through with our plans to go out to our favorite Thai place). Then we'll pack up all our bags and keep our fingers crossed that, unlike many of our friends who were forced to abandon their travel plans for the holiday, we make it off the ground tomorrow!