Oh My God, it’s Glorious!

These are the days I live for, honestly, it is so beautiful outside! It snowed last night, a good eight inches or so, and this morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise. The sun was just peeking over the mountains, turning the remaining clouds purple and then pink.

I left the house knowing that I would have to scrape my car, but not minding in the slightest. The snow was fluffy and squeaky when I stepped on it, and the road was quiet and serene. The fluffy snow just slid off my car, no ice underneath, which made me all the happier.

Luckily the roads were not slick, and although the commute was slow, I enjoyed every moment of it. The sun finally rose over the mountains, and the entire world turned bright and marvelous. I sang Christmas songs with the radio (surprisingly Winter Wonderland was on) and thought about how thankful I am to live in such a beautiful city.

As I pulled into the parking lot at work, I decided to park on the roof of our parking garage. I knew it would be empty up there, and didn’t mind the walk in the snow. As I got out of the car, still singing my favorite Christmas tunes, I did a little twirl and laughed at how lucky I am.

Today will be a glorious day.

Oh it was so worth it!

Our beautiful Christmas tree this year.

Getting a pre-lit tree is so worth it! Every year, the day after Thanksgiving we put our Christmas tree up, and every year I tell myself I love putting the lights on the tree. Well to actually make it looks good is a long, hard, itchy process. Last year I hated it. So, this year, E and I decided to just bite the bullet and buy a new, pre-lit tree from our favorite store- Costco!

We got it home, set it up, and were awed by how beautiful and bright it was. The ornaments went up quickly and easily, and our house was transformed from a dull home to a sparkling magical Christmas paradise! My cats really enjoyed the entire day too, and one of them is always either under the tree sleeping, or pestering the low hanging ornaments.

The Thanksgiving weekend went smoothly as well. Wednesday E and I made four pecan pies for Thanksgiving. Then on Thursday we relaxed and headed over to E’s house in the mid afternoon. We ate a fabulous dinner, enjoyed the company, and celebrated Ch’s birthday. Then we headed to my Mom’s house. Things were different, but fun. My Grandpa was feeling a little better, and enjoying the time with family. My sister brought her boyfriend, and my brother brought his girlfriend along with a roommate. My mom invited two “friends” and all it all it was a great night.

Then yesterday we went over to my dad’s and celebrated with him. We had steak, sweet potatoes, salad, bread, and more pecan pie. The changes were hard, but we had a wonderful time with family and friends over the holidays.

Grandpa Joe

My Grandpa is still very sick. A month after his chemo and radiation the doctors were able to go back into his bladder with a scope, and see if the cancer was gone. To every one's disappointment, it was not gone. This minor surgery of testing for cancer really upset my Grandpa's system, and made it so his kidneys could not function properly.

Well after a short hospital stay, the very disappointing news that the cancer was not dead, and his weakened state, we are hoping things will take a turn for the better. He might decide to get his bladder removed altogether, which will be a huge, scary surgery for someone his age, or he might decide to live with the cancer until the end.

It is a very hard decision for all. I hope he's feeling a little better for Thanksgiving.

Figs in Italy

I've always dreamt of Italy, walking her streets, hearing her language, and eating her food. It sounded so romantic and wonderfully different than my day to day life back home. When I was there in September everything I had hoped for was true. Italy was wonderfully different, and the streets, language, and food all enticed me.

On day in an open air market in Bolzano I bought some figs, by far my favorite "Italian" specialty. I picked them out, ordered, and paid for them all in horribly broken Italian. I ate my three figs right there on the street. It turned out to be one of my favorite Italian memories by far.


Paying for figs at the local market in Bolzano.

Yoga- a memoir

Okay, maybe it’s not a memoir; it’s really just a blog entry.

I’ve been going to a yoga class at my local gym on and off for about six months. It is hard, but wonderful. Usually when I get there, I’m tired, cold, and hungry (it is held right over the dinner hour). We are told to focus on our breathing, and always to try to do a little better. The class starts, and soon I begin to enjoy myself.

We do many moves, poses, and stretches, and I’ve become substantially more flexible. By mid-class I’ve worked up a light sweat, and I feel energized and strong. The teacher is wonderful, and keeps things simple and calm. She talks almost as if we were meditating.

Before class ends, we close our eyes, breath, and tell ourselves to have clarity of mind, clarity of speech, and clarity of actions. I go home feeling much better.

Math, math, evil evil math

So E is planning on going back to school. This time he’s going to get something he’s always wanted - a computer science degree. He can do the work, he’s excited about the challenge, and he already has a strong foundation in many codes. However, there is a drawback, the math. E has always struggled with math. He is so quick, clever, and smart in all other areas of study, but math has always stumped him.

In the beginning of his college career math was proving to be such a stumbling block, he and I decided to see what could be done about it. E went to disability services and they found he actually had a mathematic learning disability.

So E got a great degree in something that didn’t require math, and he excelled. He was first in his class, helped teachers give guest lectures, and even was a TA for a couple classes, but he always dreamt of computer science.

So he’s finally ready to go back. He’s going to have to work his ass off to get through Calc I and II, and it will probably be the hardest thing he’ll ever do. He’s already hit the frustration of not understanding what he’s learning, but he’s pushing through. I’m very proud of him, and I hope every day that he’ll be able to overcome the evil evil math his degree requires.

502 Calories Burned

Staying slim is hard work! I enjoy working out, like I enjoy cleaning the house- it needs to be done, and I feel better once it's over with.

Last night it was dark, late and cold and I was so tired. But, I got my lazy butt out the door and went to the gym. I spent about 45 minutes on the elliptical watching an interesting show about Monk Seals. Negative 502 calories later I felt much better, accomplished, thin, and ready to eat a hamburger!

Ha ha! Oh well, at least I resisted the burger temptation and had leftover Halloween candy instead.