Wintry Things

"We just moved here recently. About six or (mentally counting in head) no, it's been eight months now." That's how it usually goes in conversations with acquaintances. Then there's a moment of recognition that over half a year ago may no longer qualify as "recently".

Neither of us is overly eager to check out new and unfamiliar places on the weekends. My mental list of local restaurants to try and nearby cities to visit has grown faded and yellow with disuse. I guess these are signs that we have settled in.

But then again, there's also the cold. The frigid, bone-clattering cold might be to blame for us laying low too, storing up our energy for the winter holiday to come. These days, I practice macro photography in the mornings, trying my best to take pictures of snowflakes on my windshield with a cell phone while my car warms up.

I finally realized that there is a "pro" (aka manual) mode on my phone and look forward to the next flurries for an opportunity to improve.

If I had a past life, I'm pretty sure I was a meteorologist because I just love weather and precipitation so much. Even when there have not been snowflakes, there's usually some kind of icy forms to snap away at while I wait. It amazed me how much it can vary from one day to the next. Thick ripples like stained glass, fractal clusters like magnetic shavings clung together in the oddest ways.

In case I hadn't gotten the temperature's chilly hint, the holiday season has arrived. Yet I still felt surprised to find goodies on my desk at work one morning.

I used some leftover yarn to crochet some motifs to create an "ugly Christmas sweater". The kids at school loved it and it won the grand prize at a party Isaac and I attended - a hot cocoa variety pack and a restaurant giftcard.

We ventured out on a cold evening and found some pretty Christmas lights in the neighborhoods nearby. Here are our three favorites: More is better, giant dog, precision.

I apologize for getting off of my regimented weekly schedule. It's been a slowly slipping thing - from Fridays to Sundays, then missing a week and then another week. I'd like to blame it on the holiday season or the bitter cold weather we've had lately, but I can't be sure about that. It might just be that we are settled in now.

And so I have decided, for now at least, to write posts here bimonthly. I'll finish 2016 with a holiday wrap up, and then begin the new schedule next year. Starting in January, I plan to write new posts the second and fourth weekends of each month. I still wish to maintain this blog and want to do it on a regular basis. But I want to keep things interesting too, and since our pace has slowed down, it makes sense that my blog will too.

Thanksgiving and Break

We blink and it is December. Looking through my phone pictures from the past two weeks, the tell-tale signs of late autumn stick out - nearly monochromatic images - raucous crows on bare trees and surprise ice on windshields.

Two weeks have passed since my last post - and in that time I learned that the cliche is true about holidays - sometimes it feels like you need a second holiday to recover from the first. Our Thanksgiving was special and memorable, but was also so busy and eventful that I just now feel back on track, a week later. It's hard to get back to normal life after so much fun.

We stayed in Louisville for Thanksgiving - a decision first formed after making the 8 hour drive back in September. It's a lot of travel for just a couple of days. Our choice was cemented when we received the exciting news that our friends from South Korea (our former next-door neighbors) would be visiting the States over the holiday.

And so I planned and prepped for my first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner. After returning from the three grocery stores I visited to find all of the ingredients on my list, I tried to take an artsy photo of the produce. Maybe it was silly, but I'm glad that I did because in the end, I barely took any other pictures of the big meal.

Our Thanksgiving dinner: planked salmon, roasted pork loin, sweet potato wedges, a foofy salad, rolls nobody ate, garlicky veggie chicken pasta that I forgot to take out of the fridge and pumpkin loaf.

Unbelievable. That these are the only pictures that I took. So out of character for me and my friend who always have a moment of silence before meals to take photos.

I blame it on the fact that we had not seen each other in eight months and were simply too ecstatic and distracted to bother.

We enjoyed our meal - and ended up eating the pumpkin loaf and sweet potatoes for breakfast for the rest of the holiday.

























After dinner, we and our friends (who were not so tired thanks to jet lag) did something that was a first for all four of us. Black Friday shopping on Thursday night. I feel a bit ashamed to admit it, and to inadvertently support companies making employees work on holidays, but it was a neat experience.

I have never seen Target as packed as it was at 6:30pm on Thanksgiving. Two items stuck out of almost everybody's bright red buggies - flat screen TVs and giant teddy bears. Another surprise - for the first time I ran into one of my students outside of school - a third grade sweetheart shopping with her mother!

Over the next several days that comprised our holiday weekend, the four of us kept busy. I was excited to show our friends around the place we call home now, and especially to introduce my girlfriend to some of my favorite brands like Target and Kate Spade. We made coffee with our beloved nespresso machine and enjoyed relaxing mornings together. We visited Frankfort with its charming small town vibe and toured Buffalo Trace Distillery.

The Distillery was just as lovely and enjoyable on trip number four. And I truly think our tour guide this time was the best one yet.

November just disappeared, time snatching our holiday right out from under us like icy winds whipping brittle dry leaves. Since our friends left, Isaac and I can't help commenting on how our apartment feels empty, or on how nice it was to be living side by side with "our neighbors" again, if just for a little while.