blizzard of '06...

the first photo above is the view from my front porch across our courtyard. that drift runs down the center of the courtyard like the spine of an eel and is nearly 5 feet tall. we had some serious wind last night, so while the accumulation totals may not be great (not quite 2 feet), the drifts can be much more impressive. the second picture is a view out my window to another five foot drift that covers my fence and rosebushes. quite the storm...

i set out late this morning with some neighbors on a trek to the grocery store and to pick up ian. k lives a mile down the road and the grocery store is another couple blocks away, so i threw on the kid backpack, took the snow shovel in case there were any snow emergencies along the way, and we walked through the drifts...

it's the rare day in the city when the snow is enough to paralyze the movement of traffic - but today is one of those days. the streets were deserted of moving cars - but littered with buried vehicles strewn across the streets, unable to make it to their destinations in the storm. human foot tracks provided an unpacked trail, unleashed dogs frolicked in the pure white drifts, and friendly neighbors were dressed in all sorts of ski and snowshoe gear to traverse the temporary landscape. it was a beautiful walk, and - due to the 30-something extra pounds on my back, a shovel in one hand and some groceries in the other, i arrived home with a healthy sweat to watch rudolph the red-nosed reindeer with my little boy...

unfortunately, the blizzard brought a level of loneliness last night that was very nearly paralyzing. but with ian around the rest of the day, hopefully i can fend off the loneliness and huddle inside and out in the pre-christmas storm. and so long as things clear up in the next couple days so that my brother can get in from nyc and my parents and sister make it down from the mountains, we can look forward to the first white christmas in a while...

in search of a good meal...

in thirteen days i turn thirty-five.

and the thing i want most for my birthday is to have someone buy me dinner. on my birthday. like a celebration. if one were to celebrate thirty-five.

but... well, i know better. no sushi. no chicken picatta. just me and a couple frozen burritos on a saturday night.

at least the next day is crab legs for christmas eve.

thanks...

thanksgiving is so close. and while i've been dwelling on the bad these days, there's so much that i have going for me to be thankful for...

for my son - numero uno. because without him, life wouldn't hold the wonder that it does every day.

for my family. it's a big one, and i'm the person i am today because of them. all of them.

for my best friend. i have absolutely no idea where i'd be without her - except that i'm infinitely better for having her in my life.

for reasons to be hopeful. lots of reasons.

for a new year. and a fresh start.

for nature. for green. for life.

for the wherewithal to have gotten this far in the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle for myself.

for my health and the health of those close to me.

for good food.

and for love. in its every manifestation.

on the market...

it's official. the sign's in the yard. the pictures have been taken. the price has been set. and it may not be the best time of year to do this kind of thing (and i know - i've been through it before), but my house is on the market.

blogland, please cross your fingers for a quick sale. i need to move on with this life, and part of that is starting new in a place of my own. a place that can really reflect me.
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on a different note - since i haven't spoken a word about training lately - well, training. for the past couple months it's been running and weights on the weekend only... weekday life has just been too crowded. i may be a little hopeful (or naive), but i'm going to do my best to get my run on another day every week... starting this week. the positive is that the same chris who didn't run one bit this time last year is putting in five to six miles at a time - which is working out to about 45 miles a month. 2005 chris would have called me a lunatic...

down

not a great time in foolish epidemic land. too many memories, too much stress, too alone. thing is - this is the time of year that i used to look forward to the most. now, it's just a reminder of everything that i don't and can't have.

the next couple months are bound to suck. just hope i can get through them with some semblance of sanity...