Snow+sleet+rain+ice = smiles

It never ceases to amaze me when school gets cancelled due to weather here in DC. It started snowing around 10am - big, wet flakes. It continued to snow like that through the early afternoon and then the snow switched to sleet, back to snow and then snow mixed with freezing rain. I think they were worried about residence life staff making it in to work tonight and academic staff doing so in the morning, so they cancelled school for tomorrow and sent the kids home after school today. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 48 and sunny. Strange, huh? But not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I left work at 3:15p and am snugly tucked into my sweats and my couch one short hour later. Not too shabby (although the 20 mile drive home did take 50 minutes).

Anyway, I thought I'd spend some time relaxing and reflecting, two things I enjoy, but can never seem to get enough of. So I made some hot chocolate and decided to spend some time talking to all of you. Because I know I don't do that nearly enough.

As most of you know, I have officially moved in with Brian (if you didn't get the new address email, let me know and I will pass it along). Well, not officially because I'm still working off a pile of clothes and all of my stuff is still at the apartment on the Hill (I'm still not really sure where it is all going to go), but he asked and I said yes and the plan is in motion. In some ways it is a little overwhelming, but that's mostly the logistics. I like structure and deadlines and for things to happen naturally, but this is much more fluid andhas no natural timeline. It's not like my lease is up or an official subletter is moving in and while that has made it all a lot easier in many respects, I'm not really a fluid type of girl. I went over this week and packed two boxes of books, which is a start and I might use my snow day to put a serious dent in things. I may also wait for Brian to be able to help me (the up/down motion of packing irritates my back). Either way, I'd like the move to be completed soon - ideally by next week, but by the end of the month at the very latest. I just want it to be truly real - I want the place where I live to be my home, not just Brian's home where I happen to be all of the time. I know nothing will really change, but it will be different to me and I'm looking forward to that.

Work was a little more sane this week. Not by much, but every little bit helps. My classes are still moderately to severely off the charts, but I'm forging better relationships with more of the students and that makes me feel better - more connected - if nothing else. I still feel like the school's going in a bad direction and I still don't feel like I belong to any sort of work community, but I no longer feel like I'm not sure how I'll make it to June. (This may be the four day weekend talking.) That being said, I am still looking for a new job and have found one or two that look promising. If you know of anything in the DC/MD area that sounds like something I would like, pass it my way.

My back is doing okay. Last weekend I had no pain at all, but by Tuesday afternoon that wonderful sensation was gone. Still, even now, I am feeling much better than before. I have a full core exercise regimen, including some to get my legs and glutes working (my right side doesn't really "turn on") and that seems to be helping a lot. I'm hoping to start back at the gym in February - four months after the injury first happened. We'll see.

Last Saturday, Brian and I went to see the Wizards-Celtics game and we had the most amazing seats. Seriously. We were seated two rows behind the media table at nearly half-court. I planned on posting a photo to give you an idea of how close we really were, but the site's not letting me. Trust me, it was so cool - we could hear the players yelling to each other and see their facial expressions as they raced around the court. The Wizards won, which surprised me a little, but it was a pretty good game overall.

I think that's about all from me right now. I'll close by giving a shout out to Elizabeth, who landed a great new job and Sarah B, whose birthday is fast approaching. Lots of love to both of you wonderful women and to all of you. Have a great week's end!