Winter

Jefferson in Snow
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I actually thought it might be too late to post these pictures--in the last few days the temperature has crept up to fifty, creating visions of daffodills and tulips, and I actually ventured into a short-sleeved shirt yesterday. February is not quite over, though, and Winter has a few more tricks up his sleeves. This morning we woke to a "wintry mix," and by the time we got out of church at 11 a couple good inches of snow had fallen. The fence posts now have tall white stocking caps and the flakes are coming down in thick globs. Jason is humming about the weather outside being frightful, and I think hot chocolate might be in order.

So much for an early spring.

The picture of Jefferson was actually taken last week, after what we'd sort of hoped would be the last storm of winter. At least this storm is light and fluffy--last time the ice fell in sheets from the sky. It turns out a good ice scrapper can not only clean off your car but can also dig your tires out of ice. On one hand I'm anxious for a snow day, but it's gearing up to be a really busy week and starting it off without a Monday might not be as good as it sounds.

Okay, I'm off to do some homework before we go see "King Lear" tonight at the Folger Shakespeare Library (assuming the Bard is not inconvenienced by the weather). And, Andrea, your entry on grad school is coming shortly...

Hearts and Stomachs

A Heart for Missy
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Some romantics say Valentine's Day is for love and affection, yada yada. Other cynics say it's just a day made up by the card companies, blah, blah. Both wrong. Valentine's day is about food. Well, food, and red, and flowers, but mostly food. The way to all hearts is through heart-shaped victuals.

V-Day offered us a wide range of food choices: Saturday night we decided to beat out the Heart Day crowd, and we dressed up and went to Sequoia in Georgetown for dinner. Num. And on Wednesday I made a really remarkably good chicken piccata (apparently the recent Food Network addiction is paying off), served on fancy china and crystal. And then we swapped hearts--I got a box of chocolates and Jason got a raspberry pie. Awww...

Oh, and we also got "The Office" Season Two. Because it's even funnier the sixth time.

Fight, fight, fight!

Fight, fight, fight!
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

For Christmas I got Jason tickets to see the Capitals play, and he hinted (not so subtly) that he wanted to sit so close he could almost join in on the fights. As you can see from this picture, we did indeed almost get to throw a few punches. Hockey is a whole new game when the puck and players are hitting the glass only a few feet away!

We had a great time at the game. Though the Caps lost (we must be bad luck), the game went into overtime and ended with a shoot-out--a first for both of us. As we poured out of the stadium and onto the Metro with the crowd it started snowing, ushering in the coldest week of the year. Perfect for hocky, I guess.

The budget, and other uninteresting tidbits

The President's FY2008 budget is sitting on my desk, staring at me in its ominous, 4-inches-thick way. So exciting. Like the rest of our life hence a) the lack of recent blog entries, and b) the fact that this one is about...the budget. Of course, "unexciting" does not mean bad. On the contrary, right now we are thoroughly enjoying the fact that we don't have anything to report (see summer 2006). In fact, Friday we went to a late dinner at P.F. Chang's with the Bakers and then basically holed up for the rest of the weekend.

The wind is howling outside the window behind me, and it seems like after a positively balmy January winter has arrived in full force. Luckily, even though the wind chill makes it 3 degrees outside, the heater in our office is finally fixed so it's cozy enough in here. I should say "fixed," because it really isn't working properly--last week there was no heat at all, and this week you cannot turn the heat down or off. Everyone else is sweating, but I think part of me is still frozen from working without heat for three weeks, so I'm still thawing.

In other non-news, I have been trying to get back into the swing of saying "I have homework." Blech. I mean, I have really liked my class so far (though five years out of academia has left my smart-speak very rusty), but that feeling of always having some assignment hanging over your head is not an old friend with whom I particularly want to resume an acquaintance. I've decided to start with self-discipline on smaller levels first: straightening up the living room before we go to bed each evening, making lunch to take to work, sending birthday cards on time. Perhaps if I can accomplish these small things I can also manage to finish my readings over the weekend. Until then, at least procrastination IS a good old friend.