Meeting Kate!

Nanny and Kate
Kate, curious Muggsy, and me

As if she were my own child, I fell in love with little Kate when I first held her this weekend. She is the most beautiful child (I know everyone says that about babies close to them, but she really is!!) and has the most gorgeous head of red hair. She is very blessed to have wonderful parents, her Nanny, Oma and Opa (Hans and Kathy, Sarah's parents), and the rest of her family. Kate will be one spoiled child. I am only sad that we don't live closer to her. Now, each time we see her, she will have changed, if only just a little bit. I regret that I can't be a better auntie.

There is just too much snow here!

From today's Boston Globe


I am posting from my kitchen since (snap!) I have a laptop battery. I haven't had a battery for my mac in over a year and I just never really cared to have one because I kept it plugged in the whole time. Nor did I mind that every time the computer came unplugged, the date would read Dec. 31, 1969. Yes, this happens with apple computers. However, when I dropped the computer (only about two feet) and the power cord was messed up to the point where the computer would become unplugged every five minutes, I started to mind. And that is when Brian bought me a new battery.

Well, we are on day three of the big snowstorm of 2008. I spoke too soon in yesterday's post and now I am getting cabin fever. What was I thinking when I moved here? I have only left the house (besides walking around outside) once since Friday at 11 am. It's quite sad. However, we can walk several places from the apartment so we are fortunate in that sense. Also, we have power and that is definitely something to be thankful for.

Last night, my friend and co-aide at school, Jessie, picked me up in a 4-wheel drive SUV so that we could go to a holiday party at another teacher's home in Framingham, about ten minutes from here. The roads weren't so bad then, and the party was pretty fun. I made an interesting trifle that I will make again, only I will replace the brownies with a softer cake. We had a Yankee Swap and I ended up with three Christmas themed nesting bowls. Jessie brought those and she ended up with my gift, a cranberry scented candle from Anthropologie. I almost got the bottle of yellow tail, which could be quite useful right now.

And what have I done today? I have watched a lot of TV, which is another thing that makes me feel guilty about myself, but unfortunately, it happens in the winter. Brian is trying out this new program called Hulu, and we have been watching old and new TV shows, like The Office (Season five), WKRP (and Cincinnati looks the same as it did thirty years ago), and we watched an episode of Hell's Kitchen tonight, which is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Also, I did yoga as I watched yoga videos on the internet (my exercise for the day) and now I am making a healthy (?) beef and eggplant lasagna.

As I am ending my post, it has stopped snowing.

Frosted windowpanes, candles gleaming inside, painted candy canes on the tree, just look and you'll see

What a beautiful morning to wake up to today! We have about 10-12 inches of snow on the ground, we don't have anywhere to be (except a work Christmas party tonight), and the apartment is quite warm. What more can one ask for? Well, I am awake early, per usual, and am just sitting around typing away and watching All I Want for Christmas, a sappy 1990's Christmas film, on TV.

Due to a power outage from the crazy ice storm we had on Dec. 11th and bad weather forecasted for yesterday, we only had three and a half days of school last week. This week, we only have one and a half days of school; personally, I don't even think we should go because it leaves so little time to go home for Christmas. Brian and I (and possibly Geralyn?) are leaving on Tuesday at 4 pm and we have to make it to Louisville for the Christmas Eve family party at 5:30. I guess we'll be driving all night and I am praying that the weather is decent for the long trip, but so far, it looks good for Tuesday.

Gift giving. I've spent too much on presents this year again. However, I feel like I haven't done much giving to charities or volunteering this year and that makes me feel quite guilty. Also, at the end of the year, there is this time of reflection. What have I done this year that I am proud of? Let's see, there are probably only three significant things-- 1) I was married to Brian, 2) I changed my career to something that I enjoy, even though I took a pay cut, and 3) I became an aunt (and that really wasn't something I personally did). Other than that, I am not so sure. We can only try to improve ourselves for the next year.

#100

"Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talk that would describe it as interesting are obliged to exaggerate, in the hope of justifying their own existence. Inside its cocoon of work or social obligation, the human spirit slumbers for the most part, registering the distinction between pleasure and pain, but not nearly as alert as we pretend. There are periods in the most thrilling day during which nothing happens, and though we continue to exclaim, 'I do enjoy myself,' or, 'I am horrified,' we are insincere. 'As far as I feel anything, it is enjoyment, horror'-- it's no more than that really, and a perfectly adjusted organism would be silent."

Excerpt from A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

I've been pondering the fact that one of the eight stations they play at the gym is the Home Shopping Network...

It's not like I am going to grab my cell phone from my locker in the middle of working out on the elliptical machine or the treadmill and order that fabulous CZ ring or the the skincare line that is being promoted by Susan Lucci.

It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, the baffled king composed Hallelujah...

Although this week was not really a stressful week at school, I was nevertheless happy to be home on Friday afternoon, to relax and reflect. My job can be very challenging and stressful, but it is almost never boring, unlike the job at the credit union, and for that I am appreciative and satisfied. Yet, I also worry about these kids, not only in school, but what will become of them in the future. I think for some of them, the real world will be very harsh; I wish it were not so, but reality can really be a disillusionment at times.

After hearing about my friend Dena's upcoming engagement party in Oxford, Mississippi, in February, I decided (a little bit impulsively) that I wanted to go. The last time I was there was in the spring of 2006 to see my old roommate, Allison's, senior recital. I have to admit that I am often haunted by the deep south and feel myself drawn there. So, I purchased a plane ticket on Friday afternoon from Providence to Memphis, and now I am delighted that I made this decision. I see my friends traveling to all these different cities and countries and I must admit, yes, I am jealous. One person I know from high school aspires to travel to fifty different countries before she reaches age 28, and she said she is almost there. Although I don't think of her travel is work-related and I don't have a clue how she affords it, but that is really not my business.

On Friday, all I did was relax and watch reruns of "The Office." Funny show. Saturday, I prepared a special birthday dinner for my mother-in-law-- a spinach salad, cajun shrimp casserole, and a peppermint chocolate cake that she loves (and is so rich that I only make it once a year). We had a nice evening having dinner and playing a downloaded demo version of "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" (I wasn't, at least not every round). On Sunday, I sang at church, had lunch with Mary in Burlington, we shopped at L.L. Bean and Ann Taylor Loft, and had the most wonderful pedicures at the Green Tangerine salon.

It was nice coming home to my husband on Sunday evening. All we did was lay around, watched more episodes of "The Office" and snuggled in the cold, New England winter.