Thursday, December 27, 2007

Change of Attitude

Dusk at 4:11 pm, and the snow is falling hard, but strangely slow. The mix of evergreen and leafless trees outside my window give varying surfaces on which the snow accumulates: harsh branches with long, thin lines of white tracing the outline of each dark finger, and feathery green coated with a thick layer of powdered sugar. It's warm inside, I have nowhere to go, and suddenly the snow becomes...a thing of beauty.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Defense of LDS faith in NY Daily News by Ken Jennings. Click Here

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Wishful Thinking

Laguna Beach in June, rather than New Hampshire in December during the 4th major snowstorm in 10 days....

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Things I love about Winter in New Hampshire
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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Pre-Nor'Easter Insanity

I went to the grocery store Saturday before the big storm hit. I loathe to go to the store the day before a storm hits -- it looks like the pictures of Florida grocery and hardware stores before a hurricane: devoid of basic staples and practically sold out of everything else. But, Paul had been out of town until late Friday night, so I had no choice. My goal: get to the store before all the bottled water is gone. No, seriously. (Don't worry, I did).

I had an experience I have never had at a grocery store before: Not only did I have to wait in a parking aisle with my blinker on to find a space, but when I left someone started waiting for my spot as I STARTED unloading my groceries into my car. This type of parking nonsense is commonplace at a mall in December in Southern California, but I have never had it happen at a grocery store in New Hampshire.

Inside the store, the insanity continued. I have noticed a few trends in people's shopping carts at times like this: they are usually full of frozen food and beer. Come on, people! If you lose power, you lose the freezer in which to keep the food, and the microwave in which to prepare it!! Hello!!! BUY CANNNED!!!

And the beer? Well, I suppose if people have to stay indoors for a day or so, they think they should get totally wasted. There is more than one way to keep warm, but personally, I'll stick to my emergency propane heater.

Friday, December 14, 2007

On Wintering in the Northeast without a Garage

Tools needed:


Ice scraper/snow brush and shovel, for obvious reasons.

Broom and dustpan -- the broom for swishing away large amounts of snow from your car (over 3 inches) and the dustbin as a makeshift shovel to remove even larger amounts of snow from your car (over 6 inches).

An even temperament, for when you have a baby or young child who is sick, and your husband is away on business, but you still have to get dressed, get your child dressed, and go outside to clear and move your cars before 10 when the snowplow comes through your parking lot. If you don't move the cars by 10, they will be towed. However, you couldn't possibly leave them on the street overnight, because the city has a "Snow Emergency" during which all cars parked on the street are towed while city plows try to clear the streets. There is no lovely lingering over hot chocolate and chicken soup -- after EACH AND EVERY STORM, you must get out and move your car, whether it be on the street or in the parking lot.

A hot bath, for after you have cleared your cars, and both you and your daughter are soaked to the bone and freezing.

A large doormat, for scraping not only ice and snow off your feet, but also the copious amounts of sand that follow you into your apartment. Apparently, sand is the ice-melt of choice here, and it builds up over the winter months so that you would think we lived near the beach. It gets ground into the bottom of your shoes, into the floor of the car, and every fiber of the carpet in the apartment. It scrapes the finish off the kitchen and bathroom floors. Somehow, by about April, food even tastes a little gritty.

A reliable alarm clock, for waking up 20 minutes earlier than you normally would to make it to work, church or anything else that requires your leaving the house. You see, even when it doesn't snow, it is so cold that the icy frosty buildup on your windshield and windows takes a good deal of time to remove.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Friday, December 07, 2007


I would like to take a few moments to eulogize (sniff) my dear Phone. Phone worked hard -- she logged an average of 2600 minutes of use each month. She was abused by a three year old (and a thirty-three year old!) who regularly dropped, lost, and sometimes even threw her. She was neglected, running out of battery nearly every day and having to beg to be recharged. The nights left alone in the car in the harsh New England weather certainly wore her down, as well. However, the final straw came when she was placed, harmlessly, in the pocket of my jeans; and then, not-so-harmlessly, in the washing machine.

You will be missed, phone.

Wells, Maine in late June of this year. Lord's Seafood is behind us, and we are waiting for a table so we can give Jacob the experience of eating Maine Lobster and Maine Shrimp. He didn't much care for the lobster, but he couldn't get enough of the Maine shrimp. They are smaller, but considerably sweeter than Gulf Shrimp, and I admit that I can't get enough of them either! I usually keep a bag in my freezer for shrimp emergencies :)