Normal Life Returns

This is the first weekend in a looong time that I have not been traveling or planning on traveling or packing for traveling. It's nice. I'm not doing much of anything glamorous, but it feels ....normal.

The work week was back to normal, with the exception of a snow storm on Wednesday that crapped things up for a bit. Given that this is Massachusetts and it's supposed to be cold and snowy in the winter, I figured that everyone would be at work. Wrong. Drove an hour in the snow and discovered only a handful of folks there, so I went to a bunch of meetings and then drove home again in near white-out conditions. That took another hour, and when I turned into the parking lot, it wasn't plowed and I got totally, utterly, awfully stuck. Shovel. Gun it. Shovel. Gun it. Shovel. Gun it. Nada. By this time, it was freezing rain; I was soaking wet, and getting a tad freaked out by the guy in the truck staring at me while I was doing all this. He got out of his truck, walked over, and I assumed he was a Good Samaritan coming to help out. Nooo. He said, "Are you going to be doing that much longer? I really want to get out of here." Then he walked back and sat in his truck. WTF? Usually I can come up with a snappy comeback or just the tried-and-true "go fuck yourself," but my jaw just dropped. Thankfully YG responded to my Bitch Call and came and helped me out. I spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between laundry, conference calls and email, before we went to Sandrine's for Valentine's Day dinner. The food was yummy, we got a bottle of white burgundy, and then spent a romantic evening shoveling ice.

Last night, I saw the MG for the first time in three weeks and we went to Friendly's and played balloon volleyball -- standard fare. I missed her while I was gone. This morning, we went sledding and she's downstairs now on a "play date" with her friend, frosting cookies. YG is reading, I'm up here and it feels good to be doing nothing that requires actual movement or aerobic exercise.

We're heading back into Cambridge tonight for our usual Sunday -- church and then Temple Bar for brunch. In preparation for Lent, here are the things I'm giving up:
1. shoes
2. beer
3. chocolate
4. dropping f-bombs

JC would be so proud!

I suppose I should think about DOING something, rather than giving things up, but it's hard to erase what's ingrained. I had thought about committing to doing this (the blog, writing, etc) for at least 40 days, but that's sort of selfish, and more for me than anyone else. But then again, happy me = happy others. I dunno -- it's a bit shoddy logic, ya know? What's the difference between that and say, "Well, hookers and coke make ME happy so....everyone wins!"

I'm not feeling very inspired right now. Just content. And that makes for boring reading.

So I'll just link you to some funny shit that made me nearly pee my pants:

* Brenda Dickson -- Welcome to My Home Part One
Despite the frightening return of leggings, the 80's seem so very far away. "There was a time in my career when I wouldn't be caught dead in a gown like this," said while wearing a gold lame dress with shoulder pads.

* Part Two.
Make-up and diet tips.

During this religious season, I personally want to thank Jesus for Youtube.