A great start

Well it finally happened. 

First snow of the season, and nearly everyone is excited about it. The dog was skeptical but enjoyed it once I pushed her out the door. And you would have thought it was Christmas morning when I got the munchkin up. Poor Daddy, who is a lizard at heart, was not thrilled. But then he never is. I was bursting with the winter spirit and enjoyed some Earl Grey tea with a Gingerbread bagel for breakfast. And we listened to Christmas tunes in the car pool. All in all it was a great start to the day, the weekend, and dare I say the winter season. Let it Snow!

As our days turn bitter cold , we're all snuggling up. 

And the munchkin has a cozy new reading spot 

And after an especially good effort at swimming lessons, we crack open the first Nog of the season. If you haven't tried Horizon go out right now and get some. It's probably the best premade Nog I've ever had. 

Next comes the parade of knitted items. Between baby showers and holidays I've got a lot in the needles. Hope you're all stating warm wherever you are. 

The Answer

So from my teaser shot, I’m sure it’s pretty clear that we have a new member of the family. Her name is Maggie, and she is a miniature schnauzer. And to say that she is the cute is really an understatement. She is also one of the most lovey dovey dogs I have ever had. The munchkin had been asking for a puppy, since she could say the word. And when my Mom’s dog passed away a couple years ago, Zoe got more insistent. But we had a diva house rabbit, so a dog was not in the cards. We told Zoe that if she took better care of the bunny maybe that would prove that she could have a puppy when the time came. In March we went to Arizona for a 90th birthday, and when we came home, we found poor Abby (the diva) had suffered a stroke and couldn't raise from her side. We nursed her overnight and let her go the next morning. A week later, after the kiddo internalized her grief, she said: But how can I prove that I will take care of a dog now? Well……. Good question. So after much deliberation (on my husband’s part) we decided to give it a go. And we adopted little Maggie. Now let’s recap….. We have an offer on a new house, we’re trying to sell out current home, we lost a car over Mother’s Day weekend (big pile up) and now we’re adding a new pet to the mix. Are we crazy? Probably. But funny thing is, I think Maggie the wonder dog is actually helping things. She makes us laugh and smile and showers us with unconditional love. I think she’s actually lowering the husband’s blood pressure. And the munchkin is so over the moon, she sat down and wrote a two page story about “Her Dog Maggie.” And I swear I've never seen her print so nicely. A guess the answer then is a snugly puppy, no matter what the question really.

A Reverent Pause

I don’t' usually write about religion. I feel that a person's spiritual beliefs are a very personal matter. So don't fear this is not a piece of evangelism. Today my daughter's school (Catholic) had a special mass for the second graders that have made their First Communion this spring. All of the children wore their special clothes and processed in with Father. The First graders always "put on" the mass, for their older friends and it's all very special and sweet. Last year I went to cheer on Zoe who was reading. And this year I went to smile and wave, and eat cake with her class afterwards. This morning I was struck by the sincerity and devotion of these little people. It's so sweet to hear their little, often lispy, voice read in church. But there's something strong about it as well. Little first graders holding candles and walking stick straight. These kids could but the Royal Guard to shame. There is a fierceness about what they believe in a way that's most often found in children. And how sad that that resoluteness so often wains in adulthood. We think of our children as small, fragile, naive. But when it comes to faith and spirituality they can often teach us a lesson. In our modern crazy world, full of distractions, we should all take a lesson from the youngest among us, those who are able, amazingly, to simply be in a moment. I'm sure their teachers wonder why they can't do that in Math class, but in church these sweet children are laser focused. They are a beautiful reminder of what faith and spiritual practice should be, however you practice it. I am so grateful that I took some time out of my work day to share the mass with my kiddo and all her friends. I am also supremely grateful to have my kiddo as a gentle reminder of what my religious upbringing was like, and how special it all was. Watching your children live through these milestones is a gift.

So many things

I have so many fun things to share with you. But for now here's a lite teaser. Much more text to come. :)

Spring cleaning

We are in the process of selling our house, so the idea of clutter has been bandied about a lot lately. I also hope that at soem point this year the snow will melt, and I will be able to open the windows. All of this puts me in a sparse place of mind. I wan tto stream line our meals and work out more (to hopefully stream line my body too). Some of my favorite simple recipes include: baked chicken the hubby's favorite Shepherd's Pie and amazing Mac and Cheese Cups And I plan to try this beet salad and Chinese Chicken Balls. I saw this on Food in Jars, and it fits perfectly into my current mind set. Why not Take the Pledge yourself. And while you're at it check out this post.

A Mommy High

I am riding a Mommy High! Zoe asked if she coudl be a speck for "Dress up as your favorite Dr. Suess character Day." I said "a speck?" And she said "You know the world that Horton saves." Well how coudl I say no to that? So I did a little web surfing and found a great idea for a wig..... And now she is the cutest speck ever. It's official, her Daddy said so.

And the best part is that she said I did the bestest job ever. So yeah I'm riding the Mommy High. I win the day!

Oh My!

Really that's all I've got. Oh My! and maybe a big sigh tossed in for drama. So much has happened since I last posted. The biggest.... We are moving. This may seem counterintuative to my Pinterest friends. No we didn't buy the little farm of my dreams. We put an offer in on a cute old house in the city. Yes. It's offical. We are moving in to the city, such as it is. But this is a good thing, really. The kiddo has offically started Black Belt training which means extra long sessions twice a week. And Brownies has started meeting twice a month. And we are getting to the point where there's no point to drive home in between school and activities. So we've been eating out (a lot of junk) and acting like Gypsies. Also this semester the DH has had an influx of meetings, which hasn't helped any of this either. I've been perusing the realestate listings for awhile now, looking for the perfect little farmette with a building that could become the DH's woodshop. We ended up looking at a property in the city that had his dream workroom in the basement. It was in a nice neighborhood, if a little crowded, but the workroom was really the highlight. The rest of the house left me cold. So on a lark we stopped by an Open House at another listing that had great pictures but seemed to good to be true at the price point. And Bam! We fell in love with it and I am now looking up vertical gardening tips. Of course it's not all that easy. We cleared our house to get it "staged" in a week. (Thanks Honey!) And now we're holding our breath hoping that it sells fast so we don't have manage two mortgages. We've had a lot of interest, so that's a good sign. But it's still nerve racking. Add in all the usual activites a couple bad cold and a business trip and you can understand why I'm a little stressed. And next weekend we're off to Arizona for a big family trip. Grandpa Joe turns 90! So even though I have much more interesting things to talk about liek book reviews and the First Communion dress I'm sewing.... this is in the forfront of my mind. Hopefully now that I've speewed it forth I'll be able to focus on the little things. And by the way.... Here's my little black belt Ninja princess.....

Sometimes you need to jam.

Journaling

The S Word

So it's official I've hit the point in the season where I am sick to death of snow. It's right on time, February is my limit. In the fall I am the annoying person who is cheering on the first flakes. I squeal in delight when I wake to a soft white blanket covering the earth. I put my sky high heels away in favor for my Docs and warm boot socks. And I am genuinely happy for a month or two. But by February my deeply annoyed husband has a true companion. I want to live in a hot bath or under a pile of blankets, nestled with my hubby and daughter like a nest of cats. I want all the rich, warming, comfort food. And most of all I long for sun and green grass. Don't get me wrong I'm not wishing for summer. I never fall that far down the rabbit hole. But I am becoming miserly with my warmth. So what am I doing to counter this bought of seasonal affective disorder? I'm certainly not doing the smart thing, and hitting the gym. Although I will make an effort in that direction tonight. Instead I am whining. I am winding bright green yarn, and planning spring dresses to sew. I am living under my covers with my latest books. I am sketching the new layout for my vegetable bed and dozing off while day dreaming about the new rail collection system I will build in March. On the one hand I could argue that I am planning. But to be honest I am no where close to productive. And my pants are getting any looser. I have one more month to the Shamrock Shuffle 5K. So today I vow to ignore the weather and get a run in. After tutoring I WILL go to the gym and get on that treadmill. And I will ignore the the forecast that littered with that dreadful S-word. I will perk myself up...... Just right after I finish this chapter and take another nap.

The weather outside is frightful

That's the view from the winodw of my office. Although now it's coming down quite thickly. This week we've white out conditions followed by torrents of freeziong rain, follwed by a warm and wild Thunder storms and now we're back to snow. And it should be dropping to single digits tonight so all the leftover rain and slush will adhere itslef to bridges and streets in a way that denture adhesives can only imagine. Our sump pumps has run more this week than any January week I can remeber and this moring when I heard a rumbling noise I outside I actually questioned if it was more Thunder or just the Snow Plow. All of this messes with my asthma in truely wicked way and of course my munchkin has been home sick as well. But she's a tropper and has been figthing off the second grade fever illness all month. So I guess she was due. This is of course has meant a fairly steady stream of Chinese takeout. It's my favorite "I can't breathe" comfort food. And the munchkin can slurp lo mein with the best of them. Well, as long as there are no "gross green things" in it. Luckily our place makes it plain. But as our waistlines bulge and our finger swell, I'm thinking of come better ideas. Meryl from "My Bit of Earth" wrote about her recent Soup Swap and I have to say that I can't wait to organize my own. And then there's Alana, who almsot made me feel like a bad Mom, for plying my child with greasy noodles. Her idea of sick food sounds much better, not to mention more wholesome. When I was pregnant I ate a Congee dish almost every morning for breakfast. It was comforting and soothing. My favorite toppings were toasted, crumbled nori sheets, sesame seeds and green onions. Yum! Maybe we'll do that tonight. Or I coudl always make my chicken soup, loving named Rem's soup after my Grandma who put the recipe together. Some day I'll have to write about why we started calling it Birthday Soup. But for now I leave you with a snowy cozy image and some yummy links to keep you cozy.