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...