I had to double check the calendar to make sure today is Friday and it was time for me to write a Weekend Open Post. Drew has been off work since Christmas, Jackson’s babysitter has been off since Christmas Eve, and we were out of town from the 28th until yesterday, so we’re definitely off our regular routine and I haven’t really been keeping track of what day is what. I guess we’ll go back to normal on Monday when we’re all back at work, and for me that means back to regular posting around here. It’s been nice to have a little time off though.
You may have heard that a lot of us got hit by a big winter storm overnight. We were so lucky to get back to town just a couple hours before the snow started. Our flight even landed early. In the air, though, things weren’t so smooth-sailing. It was a super turbulent flight and Jackson ended up puking all over me — in my face, hair, all over my clothes. It was disgusting. And I had lost my voice the day before through a combination of allergies, a nasty case of acid reflux (sexy), and lots of hooting’ and hollerin’ at the Wllie Nelson NYE concert Tuesday night, so, when I needed to push my way through the crowd of people waiting for a turn in the tiny bathroom to clean Jackson and myself up, the best I could muster was a raspy whisper. “Sick kid!” I whisper-yelled, my arms full of toddler and puke, “I have a sick kid!” I’ll spare you the rest of the details, except to say that when I was done cleaning us as best I could, the flight attendant had to actually lock the bathroom for the duration of the flight and declare it a biohazard zone. I was never so happy to get home and put on a fresh set of clothes.
Anyway, it’s cold as fuck here (9 degrees), but it’s supposed to warm up to 32 tomorrow, so hopefully we can take Jackson out for his first sledding adventure. I’m also looking forward to breaking in my new running tights that I bought for cold weather, but who knows when the snow and ice will melt enough for that to happen. In the meantime, I am enjoying wearing them at home in lieu of leggings because they are pretty much the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn. Side note to runners: have any of you tried running cleats for snow and ice? Thoughts? I really hate to go more than a couple weeks without getting a run in and I no longer have (or want) a gym membership, so I have to figure out how to get through the winter…
Anyway. Not to bring it back to puke again, but I have to say that we aren’t even through the third day of 2014 and I’ve already had to deal with the puke of three different people (myself included) and one cat. I just thought that needed to be said, but again, I shall spare you the gory details. I am not pregnant though! That needs to be said too. I hope your new year has been less puke-tastic… and maybe even a little fantastic.
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kerrycontrary January 3, 2014, 4:20 pm
My nephew has reflux so I got puked on over the holidays too! Even in my hair. It was gross. Thankfully he’s not my kid so I just handed him over. I love UnderArmour tights I can’t recommend them enough. I wear them outside, but I also wear them inside cause they are soooo cozy. It’s freezing here too but we did not get the fun amount of snow that NYC or Boston did. So its just slippery and freezing.
Banana January 3, 2014, 4:47 pm
I almost replied to your comment, “Yep, same weather here,” before I remembered that we are, in fact, in the same place.
Is it 5:30 yet?
bethany January 3, 2014, 4:41 pm
I love running pants. Actually, all running clothes. They are so comfy and warm.
I haven’t used YakTrax or any other ice cleat type thing, but I’ve run a few winter trail races and a lot of people wear them. YakTrax aren’t the expensive, so I’d say just go for it and try them out.
I’m sorry about your flight. That sounds so, so awful. I hope your weekend is puke free!!
TECH January 3, 2014, 4:50 pm
Has anyone else caught a case of the winter blahs? All the excitement of Christmas and New Years is over, and right now it feels like I don’t have much to look forward to. For any fellow Bachelor fans, Juan Pablo starts on Sunday night. You know it’s bad when that’s what I have to look forward to this weekend. That show is ridiculous, but it’s my guilty pleasure.
So what are people doing to combat the winter blahs? I need to do stuff I can look forward to!
bethany January 3, 2014, 4:53 pm
I’ve been keeping track of the sunset times, and it’s been helping me to be less depressed about winter. For example, yesterday the sunset was 4:47pm, and on Monday it’s up to 4:51! I realize it’s only a few minutes, but that means that soon it’ll still be light out when I leave work! And then soon, it’ll still be light out when I get home from work! The darkness of winter kills me, so this has been really helpful so far this year.
kerrycontrary January 3, 2014, 5:03 pm
I’ve been doing this too. Twins!
Lemongrass January 3, 2014, 5:41 pm
I believe it’s “twinsies!”
dabbler January 3, 2014, 5:00 pm
is it sad that i’m actually looking forward to getting back to a routine? i like the holidays, but i just haven’t really felt all gung-ho about them for years.
i’m looking forward to my finances evening out (no more buying presents for everyone!), getting the junk food out of the house, and my exercise routine has really suffered. i’ve been working from home for the last two weeks, since everyone was on vacation, and i didn’t want to bother with the commute to sit in an empty building by myself. but i’m less productive when i work at home (work’s been slow with everyone out anyway), and i’m just stir crazy from being in my tiny studio apartment so much.
oh! and traffic dying down. i live by the mall, and traffic this time of year is miserable. and stores not being so crowded!
kerrycontrary January 3, 2014, 5:06 pm
Ok, so the way I live my life is that I pretty much plan something to look forward to every weekend. So this weekend its going to a pirate bar tonight (yes, you read that) and possibly going for a hike on Saturday. Some weekends it’s cooking a fancy dish. Most of my “looking forward to” activities either involve being outside or cooking. Being outside helps with the winter blahs! That way all week I can look forward to it if I need to. I also look forward to stupid little holidays like MLK day, valentines day, etc….Even if they are commercialized they get me pumped up. If you need to get active you can try The January Cure through Apartment Therapy which will help you clean up your space/home. January is a great time to do some deep cleaning, reorganize, donate old items, etc….
dabbler January 3, 2014, 5:17 pm
you’re in dc, right? where is this pirate bar? that sounds fun!
Wendy January 3, 2014, 6:29 pm
Ooh! That reminds me: i have a good game to play for the season premiere of The Bachelor, and I also want to do live threads during the episodes this season. Join me here on Sunday, y’all!
Nicolasa January 3, 2014, 8:29 pm
Is there anywhere to watch it online? I cut the cord and ditched cable. Hurrah for netflix, hulu, and amazon prime!
TECH January 4, 2014, 10:12 am
I don’t believe you can watch it online live. But I highly recommend you buy a leaf antenna. You can get all the basic channels for free (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX). http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B004QK7HI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388848281&sr=8-1&keywords=leaf+antenna
It is by far the best thirty some odd dollars I have ever spent.
Cassie B January 4, 2014, 1:28 am
Oooh count me in! Yeah Sunday and Monday are going to be hibernation days for me. It’s going to be a high of -8 degrees F on Sunday and a high of -15 degrees F on Monday… it’s absolutely insane. So I will just have to heat up the screen with Juan Pablo and all the drama.
By the way, has anyone ever watched Burning Love? It’s a parody of The Bachelor, and it’s hilarious.
TECH January 4, 2014, 10:13 am
I’ll be here! Live Bachelor threads sound fun!
CatsMeow January 3, 2014, 8:54 pm
I’m actually really glad that the holidays are over! I realized something, though…
People get sick of all the celebrating and drinking, and then they make all these New Year resolutions and vow to drink less and eat healthy and blah blah blah… and then I’m like, but WAIT!! NOT YET!! My birthday is coming up!!
Soo, my birthday is at a really inopportune time for celebrating. I don’t have anything planned, though, so I guess I just won’t make a big deal out of it this year.
AKchic January 3, 2014, 4:52 pm
It’s snowing in Anchorage right now. It was raining at my house this morning (NOT COOL).
I’ll be glad when this day is over. My ex and his girlfriend leave today (after being here two weeks) and I can get my house back in order and not have to deal with “guests” any longer. I want to just hermit up and ignore the world for a while.
TECH January 3, 2014, 5:05 pm
Wow, your ex and his girlfriend stayed at your house for two weeks? I wouldn’t be happy with anyone staying at my house two weeks — let alone an ex and his girlfriend. Strong woman!
Nicolasa January 3, 2014, 4:53 pm
Ahhh- poor Jackson, poor you! I’m glad for you that that ordeal is over!
This weekend should be pretty low-key. In my industry, we don’t really get a holiday vacation. Just the actual holiday off. But my boss has been nice and gave me Christmas Eve and NYE off- which I spent helping out at my family’s restaurant. Sigh. My mom wanted me to help out again tomorrow, but I said no so I could have some one-on-one time with my boyfriend. I’m excited as all our time together the last few weeks has all been completely dominated by family events. Though family time is nice, lets just say I’m glad the holidays are only once a year.
bittergaymark January 3, 2014, 5:01 pm
Its ten billion degrees out here in LA. The state is so dry — even Big Sur and SF are brown and bleak. Arizona is wayyyyyyy greener than us right now. Yikes.
Lemongrass January 3, 2014, 5:45 pm
I just bought running tights and a long sleeve and jacket so that I can go running outside again. And a fancy jogging stroller. I basically spent so much money on it that I can’t afford NOT to run. At least I got bronchitis for Christmas and therefore lost my appetite and didn’t gain too much weight over the holiday season! Silver linings, amirite?
GatorGirl January 3, 2014, 5:52 pm
Our low down here in FL is 37 tonight, which is flipping freezing for here. I finally broke down and turned the heat on when we got back from our holiday travels.
Puke on an airplane sounds miserable, I can’t even imagine. We spent over 35 hours in the car, traveled over 2,200 miles, ate Wendy’s twice (barf), and spent one afternoon in a downpour at the Panthers game. It was a doozy of a 12 days. I’m looking forward to getting back to normal.
Fabelle January 4, 2014, 10:03 am
GG(eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)!
rachel January 3, 2014, 5:56 pm
The high temperature on Monday is going to be something like -10. The HIGH. The university still hasn’t announced that it’s closing yet, though the schools have. I really hope I don’t have to wait at the bus stop in -40 wind chill. Yikes.
I found out there is a place I can go run INDOORS for $4 a pop. I think Ross and I are going to check it out this weekend, and maybe start going a couple times a week when it’s too cold or snowy outside to get a run in. It’ll be annoying to drive there, but worth it to not completely get out of the running habit over the next couple months.
Cassie B January 4, 2014, 2:14 pm
Yeah, it’s pretty cold around here too. It’s around -12 to -15 (without windchill) for the high in MN on Monday. This is the time of year I start thinking about moving to Hawaii. Then summer comes around and I forget.
rachel January 4, 2014, 4:20 pm
Haha, yeah, I applied for a job in San Diego. That seems pretty good right about now.
Bethany January 3, 2014, 6:04 pm
I am on a fucking train that is losing power. We are going about 2 miles an hour and the power keeps going out. Get me off this fucking train!! And we’re still like 8 stops away from my stop (it’s an express train, so it won’t stop at any of them, but still at this rate it’s going to take forever!)
I just want to get off this train. 🙁
rachel January 3, 2014, 6:05 pm
Yuck. Of course that would never happen on the way TO work!
Bethany January 3, 2014, 6:32 pm
Ugh. I got off the train, but that’s because it totally died, so we had to get off and wait in the cold for another train to come pick us up. The new train is making all the local stops though, so I’ve still got another half hour at least. Poo. I should have been home an hour ago.
Christy January 4, 2014, 10:24 am
One time (when I took the commuter train from Baltimore to DC) I had a train AHEAD of me die on its way to work, and MY train was the designated picker-upper, and I ended up getting to work three hours late! So it can happen, and it does happen, and it sucks, because everyone is tired and worried about needing to take time off of work for the damn train delays. My train had regulars who sat with each other, and Friday evenings were actually pretty fun – you become friends after that many years commuting together. They’d semi-regularly bring beer for the journey. One time they sang Christmas carols.
Oh, and that same day we were three hours late getting in, we ALSO had to stop at downtown Baltimore and they were going to BUS the rest of us north. A bus, in rush hour I-95? It was the worst. I cabbed it to a friend’s apartment and waited.
So Bethany, you have my sympathies.
Lyra January 3, 2014, 8:38 pm
The high for Monday here in Minnesota is -12, with a windchill predicted of like -60. Not even joking. The governor actually cancelled school for the entire STATE because of that. So that’s exciting, having a 3 day weekend. I’m planning on staying in most of the weekend because of the ridiculous cold. Hopefully I can finally finish some work stuff and get caught up on my reading.
Cassie B January 4, 2014, 2:15 pm
Yeah I’m not even going out of the house on Sunday and Monday.
Lyra January 4, 2014, 2:33 pm
Agreed!
d2 January 5, 2014, 7:05 am
And what is it with these wild temperature swings? We are in this weird cycle where Saturdays jump out to be unseasonably warm, then we are back to frigid on Sunday!
Last weekend it was +45 degrees late Saturday afternoon at my house and I was out in the driveway in shorts and bare feet washing the car. Then Sunday night it dropped to -15. A 60-degree temperature swing in one day! This weekend we will go from +32 on Saturday afternoon to -28 on Sunday night.
I like the different seasons. I like spring. I like winter. I just don’t like them all in the same 24-hour period…
Tiffany January 3, 2014, 8:44 pm
YakTraxs are pretty great. When it’s really bad out the full coil ones are best and you can use them on the regular, not just for running. Im not a huge fan of the ones that have little spikes and a pad of rubber, they tend to wear out easier.
As with all of them careful on regular floors like, marble or tile, as they don’t have the same traction you get outside. Learned that the hard way.
Hope the rest of the year goes better for all that were puked on. May we all have great health and fortune this year and years to come.
CatsMeow January 3, 2014, 8:51 pm
I remember one winter when I was about 8 years old, it snowed about a foot and then somehow we got a thick layer of ice over it. My dad put on his golf shoes with the metal spike thingies and was able to run on the ice, pulling me and my brother behind him in a sled. So I say, even though I don’t run and have no experience with running ice shoes YES. Go for it.
katie January 3, 2014, 10:42 pm
I gave a kitten a shot today! It was neat. I am hopefully joining the cat medical team at the shelter where I volunteer. The little girl hissed at me, which is to be expected, I guess, but I did it!
something Random January 4, 2014, 11:43 am
That’s awesome. Hissing cats scare the shit out of me. I totally couldn’t have done that!
d2 January 5, 2014, 7:32 am
Yay Katie! When my girl cat became elderly, I had to give her daily shots and subcutaneous fluids every few days. Even though my vet office trained me, I was so nervous at first. It’s not really hard to do, but it is kind of freak-out the first few times. (Cue AliceInDairyland to chuckle at us amateurs here…) You will be a pro in no time! I think that the volunteer work you are doing is really great.
katie January 5, 2014, 9:44 am
Aw thanks! It really wasn’t that much of a freak out for me- I mean it was the first time I’ve ever done it, so it was- but I had things pierced in high school and if I ever wear earrings I have to kind of re-peirce my ears, and so I just saw it kind of like that? Because it’s just under the skin. Now, drawing blood for the feline lukemia and fiv tests, that is going to be freaky I think! I hope I’m not bad at that lol
I just hope the scheduling works out, because I travel for work a lot so that limits me during the week. But hopefully it will work!
jlyfsh January 3, 2014, 10:50 pm
I lost my voice over Christmas break too due to a nasty nasty flu/cold/evil virus/something. I am still sick and it’s starting to drive me crazy. Whatever flu hit my husband’s family over Christmas was AWFUL. Luckily we did not pick up the second stomach virus they got! I felt well enough to take Christmas down today and it feels so refreshing. Like I gained so much space in my living and dining room. We had the dogs away from home for a week and a half which is the longest they’ve ever been anywhere but home since we adopted them. They’ve barely wanted to leave the house to go to the bathroom since we got home. It’s pretty adorable especially since they’re so cuddly.
Fabelle January 4, 2014, 10:08 am
I started my new job on Thursday, & I … don’t think I like it? Part of it is just having a hard time adjusting (& feeling all sentimental & dramatic about my old job, which I wouldn’t miss if I just, you know, wasn’t there since last Tuesday, but since I can’t go back, I miss it TERRIBLY? if that makes sense. And then I feel guilty for being so sad. Fun, fun…) & part of it is just legit not liking it very much. I have an interview on Monday at a place I’d interviewed at a few weeks ago, so right now I’m just hoping for the best there?
TECH January 4, 2014, 10:23 am
Why don’t you like it? Is it the people? The environment? Both?
Fabelle January 4, 2014, 1:08 pm
Ehhh it’s both, sort of? Mostly environment, but environment affects the dynamics so I can say it’s the people as well. I guess. Like, the girl who’s training me is cool, but it’s just a small, closed office, which I’m unaccustomed to now (coming off my last job), although I’ve worked in similar environments before. The work is similar—front end stuff, & this job incorporates admin duties & application processing, but somehow (so far) I’m MORE bored? I mean, I’m trying to keep an open mind, I really am, but after yesterday especially I just feel sinkingly… sinking… about it. They also are much less regimented with my schedule, which is annoying (i.e. I asked about lunch times, & they were basically like, “half hour, hour, whatever”. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. And then with the snow yesterday— I didn’t find out when I was supposed to go in until 10:30, when I texted somebody. like, I heard from the person at 8 am, saying they weren’t in yet—so thus the office was closed?—but then they didn’t let me know when they got in. I realize these are little things, but it drove me crazy & sort of added to my negativity. I started crying as soon as I left the office yesterday, & if I think about everything too hard now, I start getting tear-y 🙁 And I feel pathetic admitting it. It sucks, I dunno. I’m starting to wonder if I’m fragile minded or something, that I’m dealing so poorly with the change?)
Longest parenthetical ever, whoops. And sorry for all the venting!!
Cassie B January 4, 2014, 2:22 pm
Just hang in there. Transitions can be hard, especially if you didn’t leave the place you were at before because you hated it.
Fabelle January 4, 2014, 6:30 pm
Thanks <3
Lyra January 4, 2014, 11:47 pm
You guyssss. Tonight Navy Guy and I were cuddling and my cat jumped up by me and snuggled in with us. It was the cutest thing ever. I got cuddles with my kitty AND cuddles with my guy at the same time! Best thing ever. The way he treats my cat is adorable. He’ll throw her catnip mice for her to chase and he’ll play with the laser pointer with her. Any time he’s over he will feed her because he wants to earn her trust, and he’ll fill her water dish when it’s empty. He actually has a minor cat allergy but will still do all this despite that because he knows how much my cat means to me. What a sweetheart. 🙂
CatsMeow January 5, 2014, 1:24 pm
Sooo, I’m totally unprepared to be snowed in. Yesterday I thought I had everything, but today, I’m like… um, DUH… I don’t have snow boots or a snow shovel, for one… I am out of toilet paper… and I have no BOOZE.
MaterialsGirl January 6, 2014, 11:08 am
super late to this, but Yaktrax are the best. I used them yesterday when I went out running Chicago. Best way not to fall on your ass every single day