a winter wonderland...

{this was actually written on Friday morning (02/26/2010) but could not be published for lack of internet}

Our snow storm started yesterday morning. We've had some snowfall so far this winter. But it's been nothing compared to those of you south of us... Virginia, DC, Jersey, North Carolina... even Georgia!

We've had winters where we've gotten this much snow.

But all at once?

Really Mother Nature?

Necessary?

I think NOT.

We thought we would be okay in all this snow.

Until the power & phone went out around 5pm Thursday.

Yep... just in time for nightfall. So, as I was multi-tasking between my Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, ebay, & etsy...

power outage.

and then the phone lines were dead.

Oh - did I mention that I live in a cabin in the middle of the deep dark wood?

When the power goes out here, it means...

no electricity (obv),

no heat,

(save for the woodstove, which we... ok Dad.. had to dig out the woodpile after all of the snow)

no water (septic tank, hello?),

no internet/cable

and spotty cell service

(we basically live in a hole where cell phone service requires you to hold your cell phone high up in the air with one hand while standing on one foot and praying for a signal as you walk from one end of the house to the other, standing by the windows and wondering if signals can travel through log walls...)

So in the midst of all of this - Dad & I get our gear on and trudge up the mile (seven tenths of a mile, to be exact)-long private road to check and see if the rest of the neighbors are in the same boat.

Yes. All of them. Same deal.

(some do have generators, but come on..)

So on our walk back home... we actually have to navigate through fallen trees on the road

(yes, they fell in the 15-20 minutes whilst chatting up the neighborhood)

So, in addition to all of the snow...

this is what I woke up to this morning...

 

 

 

"heavy duty" carport

our poor trucks...

roof rack is gone. tires are being squished... roof is a lot closer to the floor now...

(dad's is worse)

carport leaning on my poor sweet jeep.

snowblower was saved by the jeep...

dad.. fixing the snowblower..

with duct tape, a wire hanger & a spike.

(he's a ranger... what can I say?)

oh, yes... that's the carport. You can see the shed behind it...

but that has just sunk into the ground... not collapsed.

And so far... the roof has held steady.

I count my blessings that no one was hurt,

and I pray that I can make it to the airport somehow for my seven AM flight to Vegas tomorrow...

so much to say!

first, let me start by saying a happy {belated} birthday to Alex over at The Sugar Tree.

I hope it was a wonderful day for you!

Ok - Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnndddd..

I made it back to New York last night!

I did have to sit in the Atlanta airport for an extra hour because the original plane we were boarding had some mechanical issues.  Which I don't really understand why people get so worked up and angry when there are delays like that... I mean, do you really want to take a plane that has mechanical problems??

And then when I saw Jackie at the airport, I hugged her for a good five minutes.

After claiming my bags,

which by the way,

went from this...

to this...

yeah, I know...

amazing, right?

it's my mad packing skills.

yeah, no.

I don't have any of those.

As much as I was able to get into the bag

(it even has a zipper to expand the lid)

I did have to leave some stuff there for the next visit.

So, after picking up my bag,

got home and gave Dad a big hug, too.

Then - had to return my {overdue} library books...

oops.

And picked up hoagies.

mmmmmm..

I missed those.

And theeennnnnn...

braved the snowstorm with my buddy, Sean for a few beers.

oh, New York, how I've missed you!

the last days of 2009 (Wednesday, Thursday)

My last days of the year were spent with Dad & favorite little brother working on installing drywall in Jackie's old bedroom. 

Yes, I'm renovating it so that I can set up a little guest room for my dad before I go to Africa.  I'll stock the bathroom with all the guest necessities, and the bedroom with hotel amenities, sheets, fluffy pillows, etc.  I want to make sure he doesn't have to worry about that stuff while I'm gone.

I am also working on packing away my life so that it will fit into just a few bins so that I can move it out to California in June after I get back from Africa.  So this is what my room looks like...  it's a hot mess.

And I have a party to get to tonight to say goodbye to 2009 and welcome 2010 with open arms.

a welcome back, NY style.

I miss San Diego.

Goodbye New York

Weekend Wandering

We got to wandering around Beacon this weekend. These are some of the photos from our adventures.








We went pumpkin picking...




And afterward...




Aren't we talented?

A list of places

My birthday was Friday. This is what my cousin Meg brought me. The biggest coffee table book I've ever seen. Ever.

Looking through the book, there are so many places for me to go. The sites are listed by continent and what happens to be first?? Africa. And Kilimanjaro is on the list!!

There are plenty of places for me to start right here in North America. Especially the ones right in NYC. Although I have been to two of three in the city, I'm going to start there and go back and see them again. Since Meg has never been to these places (and because she's so thoughtful...) Guess who's going with me?

It won't be this weekend, with Halloween coming up, but definately before she goes off and becomes a married woman in December. I'm hoping for early November... We'll see how that turns out.


NYC places to see:
The Empire State Building
The Statue of Liberty
The Guggenheim Museum

Wine Festivals

I saw this ad while flipping through the Saturday paper this weekend. We were looking for something fun to do this weekend and we went for it. The wine tasting was fantastic. I'm a big fan of Riesling and they carry an excellent ice wine. The desserts, strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, chocolate covered strawberries, and of course chocolate brownies... also amazing. Wound up buying a case of wine. Mixed variety obviously. Baldwin winery is on the Shawangunk Wine Trail. Overall, the festival was so much fun and if you're in the mood to spend a day 'wine-ing' through the gunks, the people at this particular winery are helpful and so happy to have you.