Things I learned this week...

There is something oddly comforting about shopping at the Target you grew up shopping in. Even if it has been completely remodeled into a Super Target.

Scandinavians love to eat food that is white. It has nothing to do with race and everything to do with starch.

The Sonicare toothbrush will change your life.

Northeast Minneapolis is not really on the northeast side of Minneapolis. It's called Northeast because of the city's street naming system where all streets north and east of the Mississippi were labeled "NE." It is sometimes referred to as "Nordeast" as a tribute to the immigrant influence and their central European accents. It is also where I will be doing my student teaching starting January 19th.

Quitting my job last Thursday was ten times more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I have formed some amazing friendships here and I will miss them immensely. It will take a lot of effort not to shed any tears on January 7th, but you can bet that I will do my darndest to hold them back... at least until the car ride home. 

I have no problem squeezing glass ornaments (until they shatter in my hands) but I do have a hard time squeezing my new caroling Christmas bear. Also - some family memories really don't need to be posted on YouTube.

Cherrrrrryyy Mistmas!!!

This sums up how I feel right about now.

Festive... but uff da.

I'll fill you in later. Right now it's time for me to get my Christmas on!

Christmas Miracle

Thanks to Operation Christmas Spirit, I had a major, life-altering revelation on the drive home from work today.

I was merrily singing along to the song Mele Kalikimaka, when it came to the second to the last line... I belted, "Mele Kalikimaka is the wiiiiissse wayyyy, to say Merry Christmas to yooouuuu..."

WHEN IT HIT ME.

It is NOT "THE WISE WAY" to say Merry Christmas my friends. It is actually "HAWAII'S WAY!"

HOLY NIGHT! I can't believe I have gone all these years singing the wrong words. I feel like I have seen the light. This is truly a Christmas miracle. Go ahead and laugh, but don't you sit there and tell me you've never made an embarrassing song lyrics blunder. It happens ALL THE TIME. This, however, is bigger than just any old song. This is a classic Christmas carol.

My world will never be the same.

Operation Christmas Spirit

I woke up this morning feeling so relieved that I had made it through the week. Let's just say it has been quite a week. In the past five days, I have only eaten one meal at a table and that was yesterday, during my lunch break, with my Mom, at Target. Yikes. For the most part, it has all been positive and productive, but this morning, after the wave of relief washed over me, I realized that everything has been very much lacking in Christmas spirit.

COMMENCE OPERATION CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!

I got up and immediately pulled a BRIGHT green top and snowflake socks out of my dresser. Okay, so maybe it was a tank top and maybe I wore it under a black shirt, but whatever, it's a cozy ski shirt and I like to take advantage of my casual Fridays, plus ski shirt = snow = winter = festive. Then, on the drive to work I FINALLY tuned my radio to 107.9 for some Christmas music and sang out loud to Feliz Navidad and I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. Don't worry, the irony was not lost on me during the last song as I navigated my way down roads with entire lanes still missing under piles of snow.

From now until the 26th, I am all Christmas baby. Indeed, Andy Williams, it IS the most wonderful time of the year. Time for love, giving, caring, and peace. And Holidazzle, baking, candy cane socks, Toys for Tots, Elf, and in my Christmas mugs :) I am letting go of the stress and embracing the magic that is Christmas. I know it takes some effort, but I hope you can too.

Fah who For-aze
Dah who dor-aze
Welcome Christmas
Come this way!

The storm that was almost as epic as Halloween '91...

Are you sick of hearing the same old stories about people trying to dig their cars out or how the Metrodome roof collapsed? I know I am, but I am going to rehash the weekend anyway. So there. Like you have anything better to read about anyway.

So, the Midwest got puked on big time on Saturday. In my head, 20 inches didn't really sound that bad. I am used to thinking of "feet" of snow in terms of glorious powder days out West. I've driven up Little Cottonwood Canyon in much worse. No big deal, right?

Wrong. It was a huge deal. There is no where to put it. We got shut down. No bus service, highways closed, no concerts, even the plows were called off the roads for a while on Saturday because the visibility was ZERO. Schools are still closed today. People are just buried. This morning, out CFO is driving around and picking people up to bring them to work.

Here is a link to some crazy photos from the news, and here are some photos I took while stuck in my apartment over the weekend...

Saturday: It's snowing...

still snowing...

blowing and drifting...

Sunday A.M. - There are stairs under there somewhere.

Whoa drift.

Evidence that squirrels weigh less than the snow and cars do not.

There are stairs at the back door too. Those are grills to the right. That stupid orange shovel bit the dust after two hours :(

So far, however, ski practice is NOT cancelled for the evening. Here are the current conditions... note the "feels like" temperatures.... also note; practice begins this evening... after the temperature starts to drop... i.e. my face might FALL OFF.

Why my feet are sweaty...

My feet are really sweaty. I have been wearing my new winter boots all day long. You see, I forgot my shoes this morning at home. I got some really cute new winter boots this year that make traveling through piles of snow much more manageable. I really, really like them, but I'm approaching eight hours of having them on and the fuzzy warm feeling is not as enjoyable anymore. Actually I am starting to feel a little claustrophobic. EhhhhhHHHHHH!

It my own fault for being forgetful. I must have too much on my mind right now. There is A LOT going on...

My truck randomly stalled out in the middle of the snowstorm last week right before I was supposed to pick up Jake from the airport.
Jake came home after being in Colorado for two weeks and then left again for a week in Michigan.
There was a gymnastics team building event thing where I found out I cannot do a pull-up anymore... not hanging from rings at least,
a couple big parties happened,
I finally found my missing candy cane socks,
skiing started,
finals this coming week,
preparing for next semester,
crazy happenings at work,
Christmas,
FAFARAZZI!

There are so many things to think about that I actually left my pants at work yesterday. Yeah. Not kidding. FORGOT MY PANTS. On Monday and Wednesday nights I am coaching skiing over at Highland Hills and I have to jet over there as fast as I can straight from work. Somehow in the process of changing from "Work Kate" to "Ski Coach Kate" I left my pants in the bathroom. Don't worry - I left with twice as many pants on than I came to work in, I just left the third pair behind. SO MANY PANTS. When I realized what I had done I called into work and asked one of my friendly coworkers if she could retrieve my pants that I had left in the bathroom. So far that conversation is in the lead for most awkward conversation of the week. Not far behind is the one-sided convo I had with a girl at practice who refused to speak to me followed by me accusing her of being an undercover spy... then there was the conversation where I tried to explain to a high school kid why the boys weren't allowed on the balance beam.

Whip My Hair

Have you heard the "Whip My Hair" song? I heard an interview the other day where they were discussing how Willow Smith is going to be a superstar. I was all "Who the heck is Willow Smith?" and "Maybe I should add her to my Fafarazzi team?" So I googled her.

You guys, Willow Smith is Will Smith's daughter and SHE IS NINE YEARS OLD!

Check this kid out...