Wicked weather

After my third "hey, didn't you just have a tornado?" email/text/phone call, I figured that I should let you all know that I'm still alive and well. I wasn't going to mention it because it didn't hit my immediate area, but since you all are hearing about it back in MICHIGAN, I guess it's noteworthy after all.

Yes, a tornado came through on Sunday afternoon/early evening. It was in the Ft. Myers "metro" area but in a neighboring city, Cape Coral. As far as tornados gone it was pretty small and, amazingly, no one was injured. Still, it damaged 23 homes and even upended a car. Here are a few pics:

And as if twistas weren't enough to worry about, we suddenly have a flurry of activity in the Atlantic, as well. The most immediate threat is Ana, although "threat" isn't really the right word since, as of Monday night, they expect it to be downgraded soon. The official forecast track has "the center of Ana approaching Southwest Florida by Thursday morning"; however, Ana would be "a weak tropical storm" at most. They advised that we should not "be surprised on Wednesday if Ana makes a last fight to strengthen" while simutaneously stating that "it's important to note that none of the official guidance indicates restrengthening." In other words: they don't have a freakin' clue. We'll know a LOT more in about 48 hours. We're watching it, but no one is boarding up the windows just yet.

Along those same lines, here's what they say about Bill (which is shaping up to be a much more dangerous storm--possibly even a 4, aka a Bad Ass Hurricane): "While every computer forecast model has this turning north with time, some of the morning model guidance pushes the track back farther west (ie, back towards Florida)."

...Thanks for clearing that up.

Just wed

I went to a wedding last night. It was pretty much my ideal dream wedding.

To begin with, it was on the beach. The bride came down a huge staircase (to that newer version of "Somewhere over the rainbow"--you've heard it in a million commercials), walked down a boardwalk-type bridge and then came out onto the beach. She got to wear a beautiful wedding dress BUT didn't have to worry about girly, uncomfortable shoes. It's the best of both worlds--Holla!

Her groom met her here.


It was a small (60ish people), informal, relaxed wedding.

I loved it.

Congrats, Kelly and Rich!

Happy 4th!

I've actually had a great start to the day. I got to be IN a parade today, out on the "rich island", otherwise known as Sanibel. My friend's husband is the GM at Sanibel's Lazy Flamingo, and every year they have a "float" (although I use the term loosely, LOL) in the parade. Ron buys TONS of swag like frisbees, footballs, baseballs, etc, as well as a couple hundred dollars worth of candy. My job was to look pretty and toss all the Flamingo stuff out into the crowds.

The funniest part, though, is that over the years, Ron has build quite the reputation for himself as the Water Gun Guy. He started by taking a few of the little water guns and squirting the crowd as he rolled by. Well, it's gotten bigger and bigger (as have his guns), and this year he was fully equipped with a huge tank of water, hoses, Super Soakers, etc. It's hysterical, because the crowd is ready for HIM, too--he was getting ambushed by the spectators every couple yards or so (some of them even had water balloons). Apparently, it's become something of a Sanibel tradition. People look for the Lazy Flamingo float because of the water fights and also because they give away the most (and best) free stuff. Needless to say, by the end of the parade, all of us innocent bystanders on the float were drenched too, but it was a lot of fun. I've already promised my services for next year.

Tonight, I'm hanging out with a friend. Liz, the friend I was with today, invited us to go along with her family to the Sanibel Causeway (which is truly beautiful, by the way--overlooking the Gulf) for the fireworks, so we'll see how things shake out. For now, though, I'm taking a nap (I was up at 6 am!).

Have a safe and happy 4th of July, everyone!

Disney recap

It will be impossible, of course, to recount the entire day without writing the longest post ever. Suffice it to say that even with the rain, the boys had the time of their lives. Here are some highlights.

1) We arrived about 10 am. The rain began while we were on the ferry to the Magic Kingdom and continued for most of the day. At times it was just a light drizzle; at others, it actually rained pretty hard. Luckily, some of the lines were indoors (in fact, we got in line for one roller coaster, a kiddie one, simply because it WAS inside. A. really liked it, though). Still, the rain helped with both the temperature (which was pleasant all day) and the lines.

2) When we walked through Main Street and got our first glimpse of the castle, I think I got just as excited as Donovan and Anthony.

3) We hit all of the major attractions other than It's a Small World, since we were souvineer shopping instead. That's okay, though. Yeah, it's a Disney classic, but I was there with BOYS, after all--boys who are almost 9 and 13.

4) We lucked out on the lines for 2 of the major rides, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. The first time we walked by TMR, it had just closed due to technical difficulties (not the rain). When we checked back later, it had literally JUST opened up; in fact, we were one of the first people in line. We had NO wait! Then, we Fast Passed Splash Mountain--twice. (That's when they tell you what time to come back and you get to enter the ride through a separate line and bypass everyone else. Man, it was exhilarating to walk by allllll those people.)

5) Space Mountain was closed--till WINTER. So that really sucked.

6) The parade was cancelled due to the rain; however, we were close enough to the start of the parade route that still got to see them all walk by on their way back to--wherever they go. So we lucked out there, too.

7) A & D both got to meet Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and many more that I'm sure I'm forgetting. We waited in line for about 45 minutes for Mickey (this was the highlight of A's day at the park--it was the #1 thing he'd wanted to do). We got some great pictures.

8) We stayed long enough to see dusk start to fall and the castle start to change colors (see previous pic). The color changed every 5 minutes or so. It was beautiful. We couldn't stay for the fireworks, though, because they started at 10 and that's when the last shuttle back to the hotel was leaving. HOWEVER,

9) As we were on the monorail back to Epcot (where the shuttle was actually picking us up), THOSE fireworks kicked off. The monorail driver actually stopped it mid-track so we could see the show. We TRULY had the best seats in the house; we were RIGHT in front of them. It was so cool; a great end to the day.

10) Missy and I both loved, loved, loved Pirates of the Caribbean (a "pirate-themed boat ride" that landed us in the middle of a pirate battle, but trust me, that description totally doesn't do it justice). It was, as dorky as this sounds, magical and enthralling. I couldn't take it all in fast enough. And the wait was only like 30 minutes. The boys' favorite ride was Splash Mountain (a close second for Missy and me). The second time we were on it, everyone, including A, kept our hands up for the entire plunge. It was awesome (the fall was like 5 stories! I looked it up).

Those, as I said, are just the highlights. There was so much more to our day, but it was SO good. It was a day that those boys really deserved.

Dreams really do come true!!

I don't know if the magic of the Magic Kingdom is rubbing off on my regular life or what, but I just checked my mail from the last few days--and something truly momentous has finally happened. I've dreamed of this day for as long as I can remember, and although at time my faith has wavered, I've never given up hope. Today, that faith has paid off.

I have FINALLY been selected to be a Neilsen "family."

You know the TV ratings you are always hearing about? Well, those are calculated by surverying a sampling of the American public, finding out what they're watching at any given time. And now, *I* get to be one of those people! I have to keep a TV diary (I'm not sure for how long yet; I've been too excited to actually sit down and read all the info, LOL) of everything that I watch and for how long. (It makes me wish I had Cinemax, so I could enter in a whole lot of late-night porn.) AND they sent me $4! I guess they want to know what single spinster teachers in their early 30s are watching these days.

So...yeah. Seriously, I've wanted to do this for years. I'm so excited.

I just dropped Missy and the boys off at the airport. This place is so quiet that it's actually loud, if that makes any sense. I've really, really enjoyed having them around. It was really nice to be able to spend that much time with Donovan and Anthony. Usually when I go home, I'll spend a few hours over at their house, but we've never been together for a week like this before. I had a blast with them. They really are truly great kids--very funny, very sharp, very smart, very sweet and loving. I'm lucky to have nephews like them. Oh, and Missy isn't bad either. ;)

I'll post a full recap of our Disney adventures later, but for now, I'm going back to bed. I just jumped online to post about the Neilsen thing, because I am THAT excited about it. It's truly a pretty noteworthy event. ;) In the meantime, though, I leave you with these camera phone shots that capture the beauty of the Magic Kingdom and Epcot at night. (I have the MK pic as the wallpaper for my phone and it looks amazing--like the kind of picture you would pay to download. The Epcot one is blurrier but you can still get the general idea.)

Everything's better in Florida, part II

Saturday:

We started out the day with a visit to the nature center and planetarium. They were both okay (especially the touch tank at the nature center, which let the kids pick up starfish, horseshoe craps, etc, and then the "tour of the solar system" show at the Planetarium), although neither will make highlight reel of the trip, I'm sure.

But the best part of the day was the cookout with my friends. The boys actually had a great time, because a) there was a pool, which is all they cared about, LOL and b) two of the guys, Andy and Rich, came up with this game that was a big success. It's hard to explain, but I'll call it Ultimate Pool Frisbee. Andy and Rich would stand in the shallow end of the pool, and they took turns tossing the frisbee over to Donovan and Anthony. The "catch" (no pun intended) is that the boys would have to take a running start, leap into the pool and catch the frisbee in midair. It was quite the party hit, let me tell you.

Sunday:

Today, Shawn took us out on the boat. We were very lucky because we saw a LOT of dolphins today. It was so cool. We saw them extra close up on our way back to the dock. Seriously, they were right in front of us. I'm SO GLAD the dolphins made an appearance for us today--in spades.

Shawn was nice enough to buy us all dinner (it was a little restaurant out in the bay; we pulled up and "parked" the boat right there, and then hopped off and went in to eat). The boys ate--are you ready for this??--GATOR TAIL!!!!! And they really liked it, too. Missy and I both tried it, but we weren't big fans (I, of course, almost hurled, but I kept it down). We were out on the boat for like 5 hours. The boys got to swim in the Gulf, and Shawn and I towed them from the boat onto shore (they had on life jackets), so they could look for shells on a whole different beach (Missy stayed on the boat, laid on the deck and got some peace and quiet, LOL). The boys had a great time--we all did, actually. He was a great host and gave them yet another memorable Florida experience. The boys seemed to really like him, too. It was cute. (I'm sure Mrs. A will be glad to hear that the I Heart Shawn Fan Club has two new members.)

And on the way home from the beach, we somehow ended up with Zeke and Thriller--Donovan's and Anthony's new pet turtles. It's a long story. =-) They've been asking for a pet for a long time, and, well, we were in the right place at the right time. (They're little itty bitty baby turtles; we're not sure how they're getting back to Michigan but I'm pretty sure they will count as a carry on; they're both in one little tank with a plastic lid.

Anyway--yet another great day here in paradise. Tomorrow, the zoo during the day and then we're heading up to Orlando later that evening. We have to get our rest on Monday night because Tuesday is DISNEY!!!! We'll spend the night on Tuesday night, too, and we'll head back here on Wednesday--their last night, already. How is that even possible??

In closing:

Donovan: "We can do whatever we want, 'cuz we're on vacation."
And later: "I have a ring of itch-ness" (where he's peeling on his back)

Anthony: "Turtles are awesome."

Missy: "It's Florida, bitches."

And there you have it.

Everything is better in Florida

The boys, of course, are already in love with Ft. Myers. Once I picked them up at the airport, we hit a Waffle House on the way home, where we discovered that Anthony (8) loves, loves, LOVES him some grits. After stocking up on groceries, we went down to the beach (it was rainy for most of the day but finally stopped around 5 or so). The boys went right into the Gulf and they took to it immediately. The looks on their faces when they got their first mouthful of salt water was hysterical, but once they got used to it they were diving into the waves like dolphins. Missy and I weren't planning on going into the water, but I sucked it up and went in wearing my shorts and a tshirt when I saw that the boys wasn't to go in a little deeper. We talked Missy into coming in, too. We also went on the pier and just walked around Ft. Myers beach. We took a break for dinner at Hooters, then went back onto the beach so the boys could swim and hunt for shells some more and Missy and I could watch the sunset (it was cloudy but still damn beautiful). Another highlight for the boys is "gecko hunting," where they stalk the gecko lizards and then try to pounce. The geckos, of course, are on to them and are able to jump out of the way pretty easily, but it's still so funny to watch.

Today, we have a cookout (where the boys can swim in the pool) with some of my friends. We were going to try to hit the planetarium and nature center today, too, but we better freakin' get moving since it's already noon (so Donovan, quit watching me type this and go get dressed).

In closing, I will let each boy give me one sentence that describes how they feel about Florida so far.

Donovan (12): "It's ten times better than Michigan."
Anthony: "Everything's better in Florida." *

*Hence the name of this post. It became a running joke yesterday that everything, from coffee to Target to trees to sand, is just way cooler down here--'cuz it's in Florida.

Pic of the Day: Wednesday

I call this one "Orlando From the 18th Floor."

Pic of the Day: Tuesday

I almost used a picture of Wine and Cheese night (hint: plastic cups, spray cheese and wine with twist-off caps were all involved). However, the BIG part of the night was our (attempted) trip to Universal:
See the ponchos and umbrellas?

Yeah. Good times. Like true Floridians, we know that rain showers are, often, frequent but short-lived, so we tried to wait it out. After several hours, though, we finally gave up. (We aren't talking sprinkles, either--we had torrential, bone-chilling downpours.)

If we're lucky, the "adventure will live on" tomorrow night.

Old hood/ new hood

Two news stories out today:

1) Detroit is, yet again, the most violent major U.S. city.

2) Ft. Myers has the 3rd highest foreclosure rate in the nation. (Hey, we're getting better; we WERE #1 as of just a few months ago.)

Can I pick 'em or what? (LOL--my choice of living environments is almost as crappy as my taste in men.)

Now, I need to go ice my neck; I hurt it tonight at the 5th grade social, doing The Worm.

Shut up.

I don't think we're in Michigan anymore, Toto

Since I moved to Florida, I've prided myself on being a Yankee--especially when it came to the weather. In the dead of "winter," I'd be walking around in short sleeves and a tshirt while everyone else was bundled up in winter jackets, scarves and (I shit you not) earmuffs.

Tonight, I went for a walk. At least, I tried to. But about 2 minutes from my door (which was like a millionth of a mile), I had to turn back. My teeth were chattering and I was shivering. It was PAINFULLY cold. How could Florida possibly be so frigid? I wondered. We must be undergoing the cold snap that the rest of the country was experiencing. I literally ran back to the comfort of my condo and jacked up the heat (yes, the HEAT). Then I checked weather.com--the hour-by-hour forecast, even. To what ungodly temps had South Florida dropped?

As of 7 pm, it was 62 degrees.

Three years into my tenure here, I am now--officially--a Floridian.

Dolphin-palooza

(But first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RENEE!!!!!!!!!)

This weekend wasn't ALL psychoticness (yes that IS a word), however. In fact, we had a pretty damn good Saturday. We went out on the boat--and this time, we actually SAW dolphins. No, scratch that. We EXPERIENCED dolphins.

See, every other time we've gone "dolphin hunting," we've never found them. Well, once we saw one, but that was it. This time, we saw dolphins a LOT. And I'm talking pods of like 3 and 4 at a time. And they were REALLY close to the boat. In fact, at one point, a group of 3 went UNDER our boat (that's how close they were) and resurfaced RIGHT NEXT TO US. I could have reached out and touched them. You have no idea the amount of willpower it took not to jump into the water with them. (Side note: dolphins are my "thing," in case you didn't know. I LOVE dolphins. And not in a "aww, dolphins are cute" kind of way, either. They make me happy and bring me this sense of--peace, I guess. So being that close to them was amazing.)

Once I get some pictures emailed to me (and maybe even VIDEO, I hear), I'll get them up.

Here's a pic he took on another trip last year. This is NOT one from dolphin-palooza, but it does "capture the moment" and the experience of Saturday.








I loves me some dolphins.

My last week or so

So you may be asking yourself, "We've been getting frequent weather reports, but what has Jen been UP to this last week?" Allow me to catch you up:

* Christmas Eve: after all of our last minute shopping (some of you do Black Friday; we do Christmas Eve), I stopped by Nee's parents house to spend some time with her and my second family. When you've been best friends with someone for 26 years, their casa becomes your casa. Plus, you know, it's always fun to get the "you're a dumbass" love life speech from a whole different group of people. ;) And, Nikki has already mentioned this on her blog, but in case you don't get over there: Renee can bake. I mean, BAKE. Her basket of goodies is my second favorite thing about Christmas, other than Christmas Day (see below). LOL: I'm crazy for Renee's goodies.

* Christmas Day (Thursday): everyone descended on Mom and Steve's house for Christmas-palooza. By "everyone," I mean 9 nieces and nephews, 4 sisters (plus me), and a couple of significant (or not so significant--ha!) others. All told, there were 18 of us. It's absolute chaos--and it's my absolute favorite day of the year for exactly that reason. Plus, the shots of Pucker that have been a part of our stocking for the last 4 years or so don't hurt, either.

* Friday: I saw my daughter, who turns 16 on January 6. (I think by now most of you know that I got pregnant very, very young and gave her up for adoption--but it was an open adoption so I still get to see her and stuff. She found out the truth about who I am just a couple of weeks before I moved to Florida. We're actually very close now and are more like friends or sisters.) Anywho, that visit went well. It was great to see her, and she's becoming a beautiful young woman. I'm very proud of her. I do wish that I was able to have more one on one time with her, instead of her whole family being there, but...you gotta take what you can get. Maybe some day.

* Saturday: Missy, Nik and I tore up the town. HELLZ YEAH!! For example, we went to Steve and Barry's, Target AND Denny's--ALL IN ONE NIGHT. We're crazy, I tell ya. I spent most of Sunday recovering. ;) Word.

* Monday: went to Katey's to see her kids again before I leave. Not seeing her kids and Missy's kids too often is definitely the hardest part about living in Florida. We made tacos, and then I got her kids all riled up right before bedtime and left. You know, typical cool aunt stuff. ;)

* Tonight: in addition to watching out for another snow storm (only 1-4 inches though), I'm heading out to dinner with Kish and another friend from high school. It sucks that I only get to see her for a couple of hours but somehow, we manage to cram a LOT into one dinner. =-) And in the meantime, I'm packing. I want to be pretty much ready to leave before dinner tonight. I'm doing that last bit of laundry, too. Packing to go home will be significantly more difficult than packing to come here, because--of course--I have accumulated a lot more stuff since my arrival. So packing will actually be quite a challenge...perhaps I should actually START, then, instead of just blogging (be-logging) about it. Yes, I'll definitely give that some thought and consideration.

Barring the first few days when I was snowed in and slowly going crazy(-er), this trip home has definitely gone by quickly. I always feel torn at the end of my trips, because on one hand, I'm sad to leave everyone, especially the little ones, and being home reminds me of how much I miss everyone when I'm in Florida (even if it's just acting stupid with my sisters). But at the same time, I'd be lying if I said I'm not excited about getting back to the warm weather in Florida and my friends and my life THERE. (And did I mention the warm weather?)

So...thanks, Michigan, for another great Christmas. I'll see you this summer.

And how was YOUR Sunday?

Just another typical December evening here in Florida.

Yeah, I know. I'm a bitch and you all hate me. But with sunsets like this--who cares?

;)

Update

See that third little "hurricane" from the bottom, the one that says "8 am Tuesday"?



Yeah, that's me. Almost exactly. If it were shifted slightly off the coastline, it'd be smack dab on top of me.

Since that bitch Fay's projected arrival time has shifted more from Monday night to Tuesday morning, they just announced that we WILL have school on Monday. And after that, who knows.

I'm not too freaked out. Yet. More moridly curious to see what my first real hurricane will be like. I hesitate to use the word "excited" because God knows these things can cause tragedy and destruction and I feel like it would be disrespectful to past hurricane victims to even go there--maybe "anxious" is the word, anxious to finally experience one and get my first hurricane out of the way. Like a final rite of passage to becoming a true Floridian. (Oh, wait. I have to fuck up the voting process in November--THEN I'll be a real Floridian. Ha ha) The fact that it's still projected to be a 1 or 2 does help, although even those are nothing to sneeze at (LOL. Even in the midst of a meteorological crisis, I'm still slipping in my gay phrases). I'm not so much worried about damage (less likely, as a lower-level hurricane) as losing power (more likely, even as a 1). I'm not big on "roughing it."

I'm hoping to be able to get a snippet (LOL) of the storm on video from my phone and post it on here--and definitely pictures, before, during and after. I feel like I'm reporting from the trenches, LOL. (Of course, THAT plan will be shot to hell if I dive, squealing, under my bed at the mere hint of our first raindrop, which is not out of the question.)

www.abc-7.com has good coverage, if I go incommunicado and you want to play along at home.

My point of contact will be Mom, i.e. the Rock of Gibralter In All Types of Crises (tee hee)--so she'll have the latest. Her # is 1-800-NERVOUS-BREAKDOWN. ;) Maybe I'll make Katey POC #2, but she's already told me to "go outside and wait for it," so perhaps not. LOL

My rooommate just told me that I've already blown the "true Floridian" thing, because I went out and bought 10 (!!!) gallons of water yesterday, and a "real Floridian never would have done that. Loser."

Um...I think that's all. There will be other posts before then, of course, including a First Day of School One--but that about covers the hurricane stuff.

My first hurricane?

Karate class is cancelled on Monday night, my sensei told me today, due to "the hurricane."

Hurricane? Imagine my surprise, as I've been so busy this past week getting ready for school that I've apparently been out of touch with the outside world. I had absolutely no idea.

Here's what I discovered once I got home:

The storm track continues to point the potential hurricane in the direction of south Florida by Monday night or Tuesday morning.

All residents of South Florida need to stay well informed on Tropical Storm Fay this weekend.

Latest models and the National Hurricane Center track this storm close to or over South Florida on Tuesday, possibly as a Category 1 hurricane.

(For those of you who didn't do well in geography, Ft Myers is near the bottom left-hand side of the state.)

While the models are fairly uniform in the forecast track, there is still a great deal of uncertainty due to the disruption of the low-level circulation over Hispaniola over night.

If the center re-forms north or south of the expected location, the forecast tracks will likely shift.

There is also a great deal of uncertainty regarding the intensity of Fay as it makes its closest approach on Tuesday, due to interaction with Cuba on Sunday and Sunday night.

And as of Saturday afternoon, school IS still scheduled to start on Monday.

Room with a view

So this pic totally doesn't do it justice, but this is the view from my new classroom. Focus on the palm trees and the beautiful sparkling lake (and the bright view sky)--not so much the parking lot, which I tried to crop out. =-)

Seriously, I love Florida.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

Okay, I'M not shrinking--but my waist sure is. I've lost 2 inches since I started karate!! (I've continued with my walking on my "off" days.) Whoot! (I have not, however, lost any in my hips--yet--but I'm guessing that this is more attributed to PMS bloat, since your hip measurement also includes part of your tummy. We'll see what I come in at after my Girl Time is done. Also, as of yesterday, there was no real weight loss yet, either, but I'm sure it will come--plus I may be building up muscle, blah blah blah.)

--------------

I'm going to the pool in a few minutes!! Now, some of you may wonder why this warrants mentioning, since I live in Florida, it's the summer and "going to the pool" probably isn't a significant event. And normally it's not--except that SW Florida has been experiencing rain of biblical proportions over the last few weeks. Hell, I've been getting ready to go to the Ark Building aisle at Home Depot (I can do it. They can help). Now, due to almost NO rain season last year, we've had some pretty serious drought-like conditions down here, so really, we needed the rain. But dang, being cooped up for days and days and days on end, with nothing but dreary gray skies, has been kinda sucky. And now today--GORGEOUS blue skies with nary a cloud in the sky. (Until 4 pm, when we'll get our daily summer rain shower.) So, if you'll excuse me, I'm off for some Sunshine Therapy.

I've died and gone to hell

Brad and I are compatible in many different ways.

We are not, however, a match when it comes to body temperature.

To wit: now that it's gotten "cold" here in Florida, Brad has jacked up the heat. (Mind you, it's 80 during the day and 60 at night--on the REALLY cold days, it's 70/50.) So I'll sit here, getting an early preview of menopause, as the sweat pours down my face...

...Until I can sneak out there and jack the temp down to a more reasonable temperature--say, 65. Before long, he'll come out of his room, blowing on his hands, rubbing his arms for warmth, muttering something about the "frigid temperatures."

I suspect it will be like this all winter, too, with the 2 of us sneaking around like ninjas, fighting for control of the thermastat.

I never thought I'd say this....

...but I miss the snow.

I don't know why it's just hitting me NOW, at the end of April--maybe because winter is really over and I'm realizing, I didn't get to see any and won't until next year--and that's it if happens to snow when I'm home for Christmas, which I missed out on this time around.

In my head, of course, I'm thinking of the pretty, fluffy, white snow that makes everything look beautiful. I'm thinking of sipping hot cocoa in front of a roaring fire place (which I've never actually DONE, LOL). I'm glossing over the crappy parts of snow--how it's great for like the first hour and it just sucks for the next 4 months; how it's cold and miserable; how it turns gray and slushy and freezes your feet and makes driving an absolute bitch. But that's okay--because, chances are, I'll never have to deal with it for more than a week or two at a time again. I'm pretty sure that it'd be impossible to LIVE up north again after having experienced life down here (you were right, John and Fred). Still, having been a Yankee all my life, I'm just struggling with my first snowless winter--just as I had a bout of homesickness in the fall, when I missed out on leaves changing color and apple cider and pumpkin patches and apple orchards.

I'll be fine--but I kind of wish I could look out my window again and see the snow falling down.

I guess I'll just have to settle for palm trees.