Sourdough

24 January 2016: If you had asked me around 2:00 what my "one good thing" post for today would be, I would have been certain that it was this, a photo of my cleared driveway. It ain't easy to move 40.5 inches of snow all by yourself in about two hours, but I did it and I was proud as a peacock. I mean, I wanted to play the Rocky theme.

BUT...

Then I found out my sister Erin is having another baby, a little girl due in July. That's the good thing for the year.

(Right now they are calling her "Sourdough." They called Krista "Nugget," especially cute since their last name starts with a "Mc." Who doesn't love a Sourdough nugget pretzel? Thus, this post's title) 

Skyping with the Little Man

23 January 2016: Best part of today? No, it's not the 30+ inches of snow. I mean, that's just obscene. It wasn't the hour and a half of shoveling I did to clear about 1/3 of my driveway, even as the snow kept pouring down. It wasn't the time I was in snow up to my butt, fell over, couldn't figure out how to get up for a moment, and thought, "So this is how I die..."

It was Skyping with Colin up in NY. They are getting walloped, too, though not quite like here. Every story I told him--about the towers of snow, about the untouched roads, even about the fall--either made him laugh or say "Lucky!" It's fun to spend time with a kid, even virtually, and be reminded that this stuff is still joy-inducing for them.

Like chocolate and peanut butter...

22 January 2016: Let me be honest: today was a weird day for me emotionally. We are in the beginning of this awful snowstorm which just bums me out. I managed to teach 3 of my 4 classes today before having to cancel and felt so down about pulling into the garage, thinking, "When am I going to get to get out there again and see people?" But I am doing better than I usually do in these situations. I think part of the reason why is that I had this to listen to while getting ready in the morning and cooking dinner tonight. I love it when two great things come together. So what a treat it was today when Sarah D. Bunting of the awesome previously.tv and its terrific podcast, Extra Hot Great, was the guest on today's episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour. My two favorite podcasts coming together? Heaven!

"Loved the opium."

21 January 2016: This post's title comes from one of my student course evaluations from last semester. Evaluations are problematic assessment tools for so many reasons, but for now, they are what we've got at Shepherd. My are never problematic (again, not patting myself on the back--they are flawed mechanisms of evaluation), but I still have some butterflies in the stomach each time they arrive in my mailbox. Silly, I know. Anyway, this time they were completely in line with what they always are, if a bit funnier than usual. My favorite line came from a student in my Victorian Lit. seminar, the line in the post's title. Lots of opium in Victorian Lit., after all. Made me laugh out loud.

"Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain..."

20 January 2016: I got to teach some Anne Bradstreet poems in my beloved ENGL 204 classes today. I haven't taught that class in a year and I forgot how much flippin' fun it is to teach her. The post's title comes from one of my favorite lines from her poetry, the first line of "The Author to Her Book." Bradstreet is just so awesome: a woman balancing so many competing identities with skill, humility, humor, and a deep and abiding faith. For me, she puts a very human face on the Puritans. And Lord help my students because on Friday (assuming we have class...stay away, Blizzard of 2016!) we get to my favorite Puritan poet, Edward Taylor. The forecast calls for major geeking out.

"Remarkable messes..."

I just stumbled upon this interview with David Sedaris, focusing mostly on his sister's suicide several years ago. The interviewer, Blake Bailey, also a writer, also had a sibling who committed suicide. The conversation is moving and engrossing and just so worth reading. I found myself nodding as I read, experiencing that surprising desperation to find little moments of connection with people who have been through similar losses. Sedaris's "Now We Are Five" came crashing back into my head right after Ryan died and I still find myself thinking about it in quiet moments. I remember emailing the link to my other siblings and talking with them about it.

Every case is different, but the similarities hit right in the gut. Sedaris's sister, Blake's brother, my brother...messes indeed, but remarkable, too.

New 'do

19 January 2016: Today was a productive day on lots of levels. I am especially glad I decided to pop into the salon and get my hair cut. I thought about waiting until next week, but I had this vision of being snowed in and grabbing some scissors in frustration. Anyway, it's done and I think it looks pretty good.

Win/win?

Just ordered an expensive snow shovel from Amazon. Should be here by Thursday. So it probably won't snow on Friday. Sorry everyone.

(But not really...and if it does, at least I'll be prepared.)

Have I mentioned how much I still hate snow?

"Mom Jokes"

18 January 2016: What a fun long weekend it's been! Each day, I spent lots of time with some of my favorite people. Today I was back in Rockville for a bit, having lunch and playing a game at Tim's house. As I drove home, I listened to the latest episode of This American Life. The segment below, featuring the awesome Tig Notaro, made me laugh out loud as I drove.

[For some reason, I can't link to the specific segment--but the Tig segment is Act II. You should listen to Act I, though, too. It's so fascinating--more memorable and important than the rest of the episode. It's just that Act II made me laugh more.]

Brandi Carlile on The Tonight Show

17 January 2016: Sunday's good thing came late in the day--a day full of good things including some productivity in the morning, a walk in the park with my friend Amy and her dog, having some friends over for dinner, Pandemic, and some TV. After everyone left, I found myself walking circles around my downstairs rooms to get my 10,000 steps in. Watching and listening to Brandi Carlile's performance on The Tonight Show as I did so made those last 700 steps or so much more fun and reminded me of hearing her sing the same song when Erin and I saw her in July.

Pretty pastries

 
16 January 2016: Today's good thing is the pastry on the right, which I enjoyed after seeing Carol  (which was amazing!) with Tim and Kevin. A lovely ending to a perfect afternoon.

"Oops! We're at your door!"

15 January 2016: That moment when you and two other friends just show up at a fourth friend's house on a Friday night when she isn't answering her calls/texts. You're pretty sure she's fine--she just isn't checking her phone--but you want to make sure and you don't want her to miss out on the fun. So you stop by, pulling into her driveway just as she finally texts you back. And she says in that text that what you thought is true--she wishes she could have joined you, but it's probably too late and she's got her pjs on. But you knock on the door anyway. And she protests a bit because she's in her jammies and hasn't cleaned and you laugh and blow off her concerns. And you all charge in and end up playing the game you were planning on playing at her house. And you all have a great time.

And later you realize--when you think about how silly and comfortable you all are with each other--that you all really are good friends.

A good win

14 January 2016: Our team won trivia tonight (the game got moved from Tuesday to Thursday). Of course, it's always more fun when we win, but I don't usually mind when we lose so long as we did our best. I know that sounds incredibly cheesy, but I really do mean it. I give credit to my Lutheran school upbringing: years of lessons in good sportsmanship and being happy for the other team. It sunk in. But we did win today, in part because we worked out some answers together. I love when that happens.

Best Work Husband Ever

13 January 2016: So Tim, my work husband, is amazing. There's no argument here. But today's good thing is an email from him about possible plans to see a movie this weekend. In said message, he identifies not only show times, but the most "civilized" theater, a list of "amazing" restaurants nearby, and even venues for dessert, "should we not like the dessert selections at whatever restaurant we choose." He's a keeper.

Walk in the snow

12 January 2016: I am still me--not a fan of the white stuff. But today on my walk, a brief snow squall started up. It was a bit crazy, a bit bewildering, but also quite pretty. I felt like a kid for a bit.