winter in Texas

This morning I woke up to the sound of hail on my windows. Not even enough to coat the ground when all was said and done, but it accumulated in the gutters and on my windshield. The high today was supposed to be 42, which is pretty cold for us - most days it is in the 50s and 60s, though it got to 77 two weeks ago.

So was 39 degrees at lunchtime and I walked outside to go to the cafeteria and I saw this. 

Um, yes. This is a tree that is blooming. Like it is spring. It is February 6th. 

I can officially say that I do not understand Texas winters. 

ice day #2

another day with no school!  it sleeted (that looks wrong - is that the correct usage?) all day and didn't get above freezing until 4pm, so it was probably a good decision for us weenie southerners.  we got the call that school was cancelled at 10:30pm last night, so i was able to turn off my alarm and sleep until 9 (minus the half-asleep stumbling to the bathroom to feed ruby at 6:30am).  yippee!  ruby and i watched tv and napped all day, and i finally ventured out at 5pm to buy more yarn for some projects i'm working on (stay tuned*) and to buy some groceries.  i'm about to kick this cold, so it was fantastic to have a day at home to focus on getting better.

*i recently bought these two books on knitting little stuffed animals, and i'm kind of obsessed with trying out some new patterns.  right now i am finishing a rainbow octopus, and then i want to try an elephant wearing a sweater.  because what self-respecting elephant goes around naked all the time?

weekend recap

i hate blogs where people just tell you what they did.  and here i am doing that.  ugh.  but here's what i've been up to!

on school on friday - ice day!  houston, as you might imagine, is not prepared for winter weather, so when there was freezing rain and 28 degree temps all night thursday night, school got cancelled for friday.  yippee!  i did a whole lot of nothing and it was fantastic.  i maintain that every year school should be cancelled for one day for a weather related reason, so i appreciate houston making that dream come true this year.  the joy of a snow day does not wear off, even when you are 31.

saturday - my sister got engaged!

i had been in on the surprise for quite a while and am so so happy for her that she's in on it now, too!

saturday i went to yoga and a coworker's party even though i felt a cold coming on, and both were fantastic.  sometimes i go to yoga and feel really strong and have excellent balance and try advanced moves.  this was one of those classes (yesssss).  (alternatively, sometimes i go to yoga and somehow can't stand on one leg even if my life depended on it and get tired really quickly and have to drag myself through the class. often their is no logical reason.)  then i went to a coworker's party that i almost didn't go to (see: cold coming on), but she texted to make sure she had enough vegetarian food for me, and then i couldn't say no.  the party was so. fun. and i ended up being one of the last people there, playing cranium and laughing a lot.  hooray for new friends!

today the cold attacked with full force, so in between trying to take breaths through my nose i watched a lot of the last season of dexter and then went to the movies to see her with elizabeth.  pretty good movie - it really made me think.  still want to see nebraska and captain phillips before the oscars in march.  i tried a new recipe and made spinach dal for dinner and it was pretty delish.

downton abbey + nyquil + 9pm bedtime + ruby had better want to snuggle = what i have planned for the rest of my weekend.  on to monday!

the last week of winter break

late on saturday the 28th i got back to houston from NC.  on sunday i picked up ruby.  she approves of the pajama pants that becky got me for christmas.

i finished knitting this stuffed bunny!  i am helping teach a knitting class during my school's interim term, so he is a demonstration bunny so the kids have an idea of what they might be able to make.  more stuffed animals to come, as this one was easy to make and is SO CUTE.

ruby has worms (not pictured.  you're welcome.).  she gets a dewormer and then proceeds to spend 23 hours a day on my bed looking SAD for the next three days.  i kind of panic.  she is eating normally, but seems to have zero energy.  becky and mom both have to talk me down.  i do a lot of lying on the bed, reading my book, and petting her.  normal ruby follows me around the apartment, plays with toys, and purrs when petted. this version of ruby does not do these things.  i tell myself that a pill is destroying a parasite inside her and this cannot feel good.  i decide to call the vet on day 4 if she isn't feeling better.

in the meantime, i buy my 2014 calendar from paper source.  you, too, need this calendar.

new years eve with two new friends!  good food, fun music, hilarious people-watching, and great company.

when i get home i try to make ruby pose with my new years headband.  she feels well enough to attack it from her spot on the bed.

new years day...sad ruby continues.  and i don't get out of my pajamas.

january 2...ruby feels better!  she does all her favorite things...play with toilet water:

help me cook:

try to get in the washing machine but accept the fact that she can just sit on top of it:

yay!  my kitty is okay again!  we do lots of cuddling and playing to make up for lost time.

jenny visits on her way back to austin from NC.  i see the secret life of walter mitty.

i also went to four yoga classes this week - it feels good to start the new year on the right foot.

season 4 of downton abbey starts tonight!!

and tomorrow…up at 6:30am and back to work.  sigh.

knitting projects

the latest round of knitting projects, just in time for christmas!

1. adult hat.  this took a little perfecting - the first one i made wasn't quite long enough and looked slightly ridiculous, but i think i've got it down now.

no selfie is complete without a kitty.

2. baby hats.  i mean, how cute are these?  i have no idea how large a baby's head is, but the internet has some ideas, so let's hope the internet is right.

3. baby blanket, take 3.  this one is so comfy that ruby snuggled up on it.

up close so you can see the detail.  i think it turned out great, but i did get prettttty tired of knitting the pattern.

completed blanket!

all the christmas music is making me sentimental

i sit here with a kitty taking a nap on my lap for the SECOND time today, which is unprecedented…normally she would like to be right. near. by. (as in, under my chair, next to me on the couch, following me around the apartment, lying on the kitchen floor while i cook dinner, cuddled up against my legs when i sleep), but not on top of me, and i'm enjoying her soft warm self very much.  oh wait - she had enough.  she is back to her spot under the chair.

what i was GOING to say still applies…which is that i feel very very lucky these days.  why did i wait so long to get a cat?  ruby is the sweetest kitty ever (and is now back in my lap).  i felt a great deal of love from my students this week, with several of them stopping by with cards or candy or little gifts for me.  i went to trivia with work friends this week - my first trivia night in over a year - and it was so much fun and sounds like it will be a semi-regular thing.  today i went to get tea and see philomena (and cry kind of a lot - what an amazing movie) with a new non-work friend.  i am healthy and happy.  i am lucky.  thank you for being part of my little life.

i've probably posted this before, but it's one of my favorites so you get it again:

a kitten a day

ruby explores.

 

a photo a day

after hours upon hours of basketball watching yesterday, i needed to get out of my building and get some exercise today.  it is hard for me to get motivated to go outside when it's so cold, but i managed to take a chilly (39 degrees) walk through riverside park this afternoon.  it's still stark and winter-like...

...but with tiny patches of spring emerging!

i feel much better after some exercise.  now, back to basketball!

be impressed that i made it all the way to february 17th

today is the day: i'm officially so tired of winter.  22 degrees and a fierce wind as i walked down broadway?  NOT AMUSED ANY MORE.

a photo a day

miss claire's post-blizzard update: the snow stopped overnight.  this morning my friends and i went to central park to play in the snow!  we definitely got more than a foot, and central park was gorgeous - there were patches of untouched snow.  it was very grey at 10am when we were there, so the photos are a little dark...

kiddie hill for babies to sled on:

dominique is queen of the hill!

this dog (like many dogs we saw) was wearing snow booties:

after an hour of playing, we warmed up in ben's apartment and went down to times square to try to get tickets to see book of mormon (they do a lottery every day for twenty-two $30 front row tickets)...after failing at that (sigh), we ate lunch and got manicures.  SUCH a fun new york day with my friends!

now i'm warm in my bed and trying to do some reading for school before heading out tonight with talia - the fun continues!!

(mom, the smartwool socks you gave me for my birthday were CRUCIAL to warm feet and today's happiness.  thanks!)

miss claire's 9:30pm blizzard update: still snowing, though not as hard.  the roads are relatively clear (i saw a bus creeping its way down the street) and someone is coming through to shovel the sidewalks occasionally.  (the photo below is on a side street.)  not much more accumulation...we'll see how it looks in the morning!  there are central park sledding plans in my future...

a screenshot a day

that's right: this exists.  i can check online to see when my street was last plowed.  the internet is magical.

miss claire's 10:30am blizzard update: the weather did not stop the trash truck from making its morning trip outside my window this morning.  a rain/snow mix is coming out of the sky, and the sidewalks are slick.  plows are coming by pretty regularly, though, so hopefully the roads won't get too dangerous.  the library at teachers college is closed because the college is closed, so i'm in the (apparently unheated right now) dining hall with a couple other students, trying to get some work done before i get together with friends this afternoon.  with the amount of work we've been given this week it can keep myself entertained for a long long time if the snow keeps up...

new york fun / a photo a day

today was a touristy day in new york - hooray!

when i've visited new york around christmas time in the past, one of my favorite things i've done is walk along 5th avenue and look at the fancy window displays.  this afternoon i rounded up three friends and we set off to see three stores that my new york city guidebook recommended.

first stop: barney's.  at first i was confused...why are there tv screens (um, excuse me - i have just learned that they are called "microtiles") in the window?  where are the elaborate displays involving mannequins?  are we at the right place?  and then a 5 minute long animated video began, complete with sound coming from outdoor speakers, that was incredible.  minnie mouse is walking down 5th avenue and sees a pretty dress in a window.  begin dream sequence where she buys the dress and has a runway show with the black disney princess (tiara), daisy duck, and cruella de villa (don't ask questions about why it is these people in the show - logic is not important).  when it was over, we leave the dream sequence and mickey has bought the dress for minnie in real life.  aww, mickey.

actually, you can watch the video here!  (of course it's on the internet...)  it's got nothing on the surprise and excitement of seeing it on the sidewalk this afternoon, though!


(not pictured: obligatory stop at fao schwartz.)

next stop, bergdorf goodman, which was pretty incredible and exactly what i was imagining.  (we got the traditional and the 21st century version of a window display in the span of 20 minutes - pretty cool.)  this was my favorite window - poodles in a circus!

cartier, looking all pretty:

then past rockefeller center!

and then to saks 5th avenue, which was lame compared to the other two and not worthy of being photographed.

it was so festive to walk down 5th avenue with hot drinks from starbucks and gawk at the beautiful windows.  you may have gathered from reading this blog that the little things in life make me SO happy sometimes, and one of my friends here, dominique, is the same way.  we were pretty ridiculously giddy the whole afternoon.  it was crowded, but not claustrophobically so, and felt so christmas-y.  good day.

i thought this would be my last day in new york before heading home to NC on a 12noon flight on friday, but i got 5 (literally) automated voicemails from delta while i was at a party tonight informing me that my flight was canceled and i was now on a flight on saturday that was not direct, but had layovers in both DC and atlanta.  um, NO.  i called and they very quickly and easily switched me to a flight on friday night...and the only seat available was first class.  i have never flown first class before!  this is very exciting and i am pretty sure my new silver status on delta may have assisted in the ease with which this change was made.  woo hoo!

so, bottom line: i have an additional 7 hours in new york tomorrow, so i will be plotting more fun touristy things to do!  stay tuned!

all my papers are DONE!  after my ethics class tomorrow morning i'm done with classes, too. first semester, you're almost complete!

this is bittersweet - it has been a busy and at some times hectic semester, but i love my cohort and my friends here and my classes, and it's crazy to think that in another 5 months i'll probably be moving away from new york.  part of me really doesn't want this year to end.  another part of me has started to miss teaching and working in a school.

in the 3 hours since i finished my paper, i have gotten bored.  bored!  i am ridiculous.  apparently i don't know what to do with myself when i don't have papers and reading assignments hovering over me.  i've made plans, though: tomorrow afternoon i'm going to the met, and thursday i'm going to see the tree at rockefeller center, look at the window displays on 5th avenue, and maybe take a walk on the highline.  a new york day!  i can't wait.

friday i fly home, which i'm also very much looking forward to.  baking* + eating + time with family will just be the start of my awesome winter break.  hooray!


*family, get ready.  i plan to bake up a storm - i miss it so much and i have lots of recipes saved up for us!

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
     --Dame Edith Sitwell (1887-1964); British poet

for all of you out there who love love actually, i present you with this.  again, props to nora. :)

http://thehairpin.com/2011/12/hate-actually

now i must go home and watch this movie.  oh wait!  i can go home!  half dayyyyyyyyyy!

december 16th.

63 degrees outside when i drove to work this morning.

wtf.

the adviser to our school newspaper asked me to write an article for the december issue from the point of view of rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.  i agreed...and this is what i came up with.  thought i'd share it with you all...


Dear Santa,

I won’t be able to come to work on Christmas Eve this year. I know that you’ve been relying on my nose to guide your sleigh for the past 72 years, but I hope the night vision goggles I’ve enclosed will be a good substitute. You’ll also find enclosed a bill for $139.98; the goggles didn’t come cheap. I’d appreciate reimbursement by the end of business on Friday.

The reason I can’t come to work on Christmas is because I’ve become involved in the #OccupyNorthPole protests, and we aren’t taking a break for Christmas. I hope you are able to make the trip to deliver toys to children even if I’m not there. It’s not the kids I’m trying to hurt. It’s you, Santa.

Let me take a moment to speak for the 99%. The 99% is made up of all of us reindeer, plus all the elves who work tirelessly to make toys for you to distribute to kids all around the world. We, the 99%, would like to inform you of the complaints that have caused us to stop working and to join the protest that Prancer started.

1. For a long time you have been violating American law by asking the reindeer to work more than 8 hours on Christmas Eve without paying us time and a half for overtime. Actually, Santa, without paying us AT ALL. Paying us in kind (through food and shelter) is not a valid form of payment under United States law. (You may recall that I was born at the North Pole but my parents were born in Alaska, thus making me a United States citizen.) Minimum wage in the United States is now $7.25/hour, and we reindeer and elves expect to receive at least as much for our invaluable work at the North Pole.

2. Santa, you have always taken the credit for the work we do on Christmas Eve. This credit is built on the backs of countless generations of reindeer and elves. We ask that you make a speech to be broadcast on television and radio of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, plus the Vatican City, Kosovo, and Taiwan which do not have member nation status. In this speech you will acknowledge that the reindeer and elves deserve the credit for the success of Christmas around the world, and that you are merely the face of the organization.

3. How long, Santa, will you continue to discriminate against people who are not Christians and thus do not celebrate Christmas? Our Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu brethren deserve presents, too. Include them in your yearly trip around the globe or risk history remembering you as a man who discriminated against the majority of the world’s peoples.

I have my drum and my protest signs. The other reindeer and elves have joined me. There are only a few weeks until Christmas, and what will Christmas be without Rudolph?

Sincerely,
Rudolph

this is an incredible true story.  it gives me goosebumps and makes me a little teary.

watch this video first.



then watch this one.



i heard about this on NPR (i love NPR just as much as the new york times), but watching the videos is even more incredible than listening to the story.

the world is small.

there are true mysteries that can be solved.

people are inherently good.