Happy Holidays!

What a year it's been for us! I knew change was coming when Rupert finished his PhD in 2012, but you can never be 100% ready for a huge change like moving across the country. The last six months have seen some highs and lows for me personally, but that's not surprising. The good thing is that I'm ending the year feeling positive about where I am at the moment, and that as a whole 2013 wasn't too shabby of a year.

[photo collage made by Rupert]

Row 1 (L to R): Maya & a butterfly (MD); Alisal Ranch (CA); Alisal Ranch; Museum of Play (Rochester, NY); softball (CA); C&O Canal (MD)

Row 2: baseball (CA); Alisal Ranch; first day of school (MD); Cornell University (Ithaca, NY); Thanksgiving (Keuka Lake, NY); Manhattan Beach (CA)

Row 3: end of the fall ball season (MD); keeping cool indoors (Arlington, VA); in our old backyard (Hawthorne, CA); Manhattan Beach; Mt. Vernon (VA); pool time (Rancho Mirage, CA)

Row 4: pedal boating in the Tidal Basin (DC); Manhattan Beach; fall leaves (MD); hanging out at home (MD); Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds at the Artisphere (Arlington, VA); on our old porch

Row 5: Little League World Series field (South Williamsport, PA); pumpkin carving (MD); C&O Canal; Ian as Han Solo at Halloween (MD); our old master bedroom; fall in MD

Row 6: pedal boating in the Tidal Basin; C&O Canal; hanging out at home (MD); afternoon in DC; riding the Metro (DC); summertime Maya (CA)

Getting used to the cold

Ian and I were walking to a classmate's house this morning, chatting about how we're getting used to the colder weather. It was a beautiful sunny morning and Ian thought it must be in the 50s. A quick look at my weather app told us otherwise:

I'm finding that temperatures in the mid-30s are actually tolerable, especially when the sun's out. This would've been unthinkable when we lived in LA. In the first place, when is it ever in the mid-30s in LA?? What passed as "freezing" for us back then were temps in the low- to mid-50s, which is pleasant, warm weather here. 

Just goes to show, you get used to most things!

Snow Day

Second Snow Day in a row (although, officially, yesterday was an Emergency Weather Day because of icy conditions). It's not even officially winter yet and we've already used up two of the four Snow Days we can have before the district starts tacking on days to the end of the school year. 

My brother-in-law and his wife live in Rochester, New York and we were talking about snow over Thanksgiving, and it came up that DC-area "Snowmageddon" was a regular occurrence in their area. Which makes me wonder how bad it has to get in places like Rochester, Minnesota, or Canada before they declare a Snow Day. 

The kids are, obviously, enjoying this unexpected long weekend. I actually am too. I've decided not to venture out and I'm taking advantage of the serenity (minus the kids' voices) to catch up on some reading. Luckily, we have enough food in the house so I don't have to go out. 

7:45ish

8:45ish

9:45ish

10:45ish

11:45ish

OK, so most of the pictures look the same, but it's been snowing consistently for several hours so it's piling up more than it did on Sunday. 

By 3:00 the scene was already changing ...

There was just enough snow for me to build a snow penguin:

First real snow fall!

[photo collage by Rupert]

Day 30 :: Thankful for ...

... the chance to be thankful everyday. 

What follows is a cheesy cliché-fest but it has to be said, especially on this last day of publicly sharing what I'm thankful for. 

When I Instagrammed the photo above, part of my caption read, "Purposefully chose #nofilter to remind myself how beautiful life is just the way it is." Could I be any cheesier? But I find that it's the truth. Is my life "perfect?" Of course not. But it's pretty darn close, and it really requires no embellishment or improvement to be a beautiful life. I occasionally find that I'm preoccupied with trying to make my life "better" by wanting things to be just right, or I make my life overly complicated for no good reason; the result is that I don't see what's already so good.

It's easy to complain about what's not right in my life, but in the grand scheme of things those problems are so minor they're laughable. Instead, I really should be thankful that I have so much to be thankful for. And remembering that will lead to a happier, more positive way of life, which I really need right now. 

Basically, I have the power and choice to make each day better and happier than the day before. To simply have the chance every time I wake up in the morning to focus on my happiness (instead of on sheer survival) is a luxury I should never take for granted ... or squander. 

I probably won't continue to share what I'm thankful for everyday, but I resolve to remind myself, as often as possible, of the many things that make my life a wondrous thing.

Day 29 :: Thankful for ...

... the chance to go back to Cornell for the first time in 15 years. 

Day 28 :: Thankful for ...

... Thanksgiving and Hanukkah falling on the same day, and that we got to spend it with Rupert's family. Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Day 27 :: Thankful for ...

... arriving safely at our destination after driving through some snow in the dark. (This picture was taken during the nice flurrying snow; we ran into some "can't really see where we're going" snow later in the drive.)

Day 26 :: Thankful for ...

... the mild craziness of getting ready for Thanksgivukkah. It means we have family to celebrate with and much to be thankful for. 

Day 25 :: Thankful for ...

... a little disposable income so I can occasionally treat myself to lunch (or a new shirt, or a book, or stationery).

Day 24 :: Thankful for ...

... our cozy home. 

Day 23 :: Thankful for ...

... my kids' new friends. 

Day 22 :: Thankful for ...

... my children's good health. I took them to their first check-up here and everything's A-OK. And we liked their new pediatrician, a youngish guy (a first for us and probably a good thing for Ian).

Day 21 :: Thankful for ...

... a few quiet moments staring outside at the birds and squirrels fattening up for the winter. 

Day 20 :: Thankful for ...

... libraries. (Left: Ian's middle school library where I volunteer; Right: my local public library's children's graphic novels/comics section)

Day 19 :: Thankful for ...

... my kind & loving/lovable husband, Rupert. (And, just to be clear, his real name isn't Rupert. It's kind of a long-standing joke that stuck on the blog.) We have a special thing going, mostly because he is extremely tolerant of me. (This photo was taken at Thanksgiving; we really need to take more pictures of just the two of us.)

Day 18 :: Thankful for ...

... sunshine.

Day 17 :: Thankful for ...

... family game nights. And an understanding family who lets me just be a spectator. ;)

(They're playing Takenoko, if you're wondering.)

Day 16 :: Thankful for ...

... former colleagues who are visiting DC and invited me to join them on a night tour of the monuments.

Day 15 :: Thankful for ...

... the children's literature community. I attended my second Capitol Choices meeting today and, like last time, it reinforced the importance of the work these people do. On a personal level, I've been encouraged and buoyed by people involved in children's literature who I've met online and in person.