Out of the snow prison

My friend Allen said this in our bberry chat today, "At least you have snow!" I wanted to say, "As opposed to what..." I am SO over this snow. It was close to ruining my weekend plans again today, and it even merited a few tears. I'm actually a little giddy with excitement to go to work tomorrow... that's how over this I am!

I was so determined that I was going to get out of the house today, that I went to the mall. The roads were quite drivable, and the mall was full of people many of whom were in the same boat as me, I'm sure. I was able to get several things I needed (and didn't need). Now if only the boots I ordered will arrive tomorrow!!! Cross your fingers for me!

About day 3 of snow prison, I got bored of watching tv, and grabbed for the book that has been occupying the extra time I have between work and the gym. I guess I'll have to find a new book though, since I finished this one. The Piano Teacher by Janice Lee

Many of you will take one look at the title and know what drew me in, but it surprisingly focused very little on the teaching of piano. It was about an English piano teacher who stepped into a world shrouded with mystery and deception after WWII in Hong Kong. She falls in love with a mysterious Englishman whose life is intertwined curiously with the lives of her student's family, and much of the book is set during wartime Hong Kong unraveling the mystery of Will's story and the skeletons in his closet. The ending actually surprised me... which is rare, and I honestly don't know how I feel about the characters at the end of the day. Despite my feelings about Will, Claire, and Trudy, the book was quite well-written, and I would recommend it. Amber-it's coming your way.

I should have many pictures and stories to tell this weekend as Clay and I will be tourists for the weekend if the weather will allow. Thankfully, my plans aren't ruined, despite the threat. So, stay tuned! :)

The Kudzu of the North

When I think kudzu, I think about Fried Green Tomatoes, Steel Magnolias, and well, the south. Who doesn't?

As I was out cleaning my car off late this afternoon, I couldn't help but think of the many pictures of kudzu overtaking parked cars as I stared at the car next to me that seemed to be swallowed by the snow.  I'm beginning to think that snow is the kudzu of the north, it's definitely as annoying as kudzu!

Note the similarities??

Will it ever stop? I'm sick of snow. Please let it be cleared by Friday so my super-exciting weekend plans don't get ruined!

Oh, yeah, and I don't have work again tomorrow. I'm going to go crazy if I stay in this apartment another day, so Pentagon Fashion Center... here I come! After all, I did clean off my car this afternoon. :)

Happy Day!

No work tomorrow! Believe it?! Since this is post two today, I will make it short, but I had to tell you I have work off!

AND... I had to show you these darling cookies I made today. I wasn't sure how they'd work out, so I only made a very small batch, but they proved to be worth the extra effort!

What do you get when you marry an engineer and a woman with brilliant domestic abilities?! ... ME! ;) I didn't have a rolling pin, which for about 3 minutes stopped me from trying this recipe, but then... I said WHY NOT?! I can make this work. Paper towel roll+Pam can = rolling pin. I had to get creative on the cookie cutters too - parchment paper and butter knife. These things turned out to be quite tasty! Chocolate wafers filled with white chocolate and dipped in dark. MMM! I'm reveling in the heavenly taste of them! Let me know if you want the recipe. 

Life in the dark ages

When I'm 75 and telling my (hypothetical) grandkids about the blizzard of 2010, I will not be short of stories! That's for sure! However, they haven't been the most fun stories to live through. 

Yesterday I spent digging my car out of the snow. The sooner you clean, the less hard the snow is, so I planned to clean 3 times yesterday. However, the first time I went out wasn't until 4:00ish, and I only made it about ... 12 minutes, before my isotoners became ice sculptures with my hands locked inside. It was so bad I had to turn the water on with my elbow and stick my hands under the hot water until they thawed enough to open back out! After thawing my hands, I headed back out and these two kind gentlemen INSISTED that I let them clean my car off with their special utensils, and I just thought it rude to decline. :) I didn't even have to use my high pitched voice! ;) I went to work shoveling the car out of the mountain it was buried under, and then they even helped with that. They noted how much snow I could lift (quite a lot), and I was thankful for my bodyPump classes! Although, my back is pretty sore today.. 

Check out the snow!

The accidental lack of flash in this last photo foreshadows the rest of my evening...without lights. I thought I was home free when the electricity was good all yesterday, and then, 9:00 hit. Yeah, no more power til 4:30 AM when it all came back on and woke me with a start. Lots of candles and a good book rounded out my evening. I felt like I was in the dark ages. I can't imagine living day in and day out with only candles to operate by. I don't know how Laura Ingalls did it!

Today and yesterday I worked on making my blog a little prettier and user-friendly. There are two new ways you can follow me in my big-city journey: subscribe via email or via rss feed. If you subscribe via email it will automatically email you my blog post the next morning between 7 and 9 am - just in time for your morning fix of Sarah. :) You can also get the RSS feed if your tech-saavy. Subscribe on the right! This way... we're no longer living in the blog dark ages. :)