Typically, I hate winter. Hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. Hate it like I hate cilantro — and the hatred of cilantro, it grows stronger with each passing day.
My mother always told me that “hate” was “a strong word,” a word specifically reserved for those special times when other strongly negative verbs fail to suffice. A word to be used sparingly and with caution. Indeed, until this year, hatred is a sentiment and hate a word I have reserved especially for winter and snow and All Things Frigid And Ice-Laden.
To my great surprise, this year something has happened to my hatred of the Season Of The W. The fact that this year I have been very much uncharacteristically enjoying winter-time and all of its attributes leads me to believe that the shell of solid ice previously encasing my winter spirit has melted, leaving a mushy, winter-loving puddle in its place.
This year I haven’t minded feet of snow, or hazardous driving conditions, or the fact that people drive INSANELY in this town in the winter, or the fact that my feet and toes and nose become instantly cold upon stepping one foot out-of-doors, or that I sometimes have to scrape my car for a good ten minutes before I am able to pull out of the driveway. In fact, the first time it snowed I smiled. And when it continued to snow for days, I continued smiling.
Yes, I’m beginning to love my winter wonderland. But walking in my winter wonderland, that remains a different story entirely.
(Enter entirely different winter wonderland story.)
On my way to a guitar lesson on Monday afternoon I went to ascend the steps on Le Guitar Instructor’s front porch. Unbeknownst to me there was about a half an inch of solid ice resting comfortably underneath a thin layer of freshly fallen snow, and as I placed my right foot on the bottom step I lost my footing and fell backward, throught the air, off the steps, and landed oh so gracefully /on top of my guitar.
Landed oh so gracefully on top of my guitar that was not safely tucked away in a hard case, as it should have been, but was instead still snuggled in the crappy soft casing with which it had come when I originally purchased it.
Not only did I so brilliantly topple upon my guitar, but I actually very brilliantly WWF’d my guitar, ultimately slamming my entire left side into the once musical instrument in one fluid, painful motion, and not to be outdone with the falling, moments later careening my left elbow down on top of the center of the guitar as if it was The Rock and I was Hogan, angry and professional with the elbow slamming and anxious to redeem my title as The Biggest Baddest Wrestler With The Prettiest Hair.
Cracked a hole in the center of my guitar? You bet I did.
After all you can’t expect someone so accurately imitating The Biggest Baddest Wrestler With The Prettiest Hair not to break whatever they so professionally fall upon.
You can, however, expect her to be mightily bruised (both in body and in pride) and yet still somehow quite entertained and even mildly impressed with herself the next day.
This week I have been:
Writing, editing, and organizing grant proposals, and preparing gargantuan-sized grant budgets feverishly, to meet deadlines both old and new.
Snuggling with my pug and enjoying any downtime I have been able to muster.
Writing! I’m so excited about three different stories I have in the works, and thanks to a recent prompt by Danny, I’ve been sitting down daily to translate my excitement into actual words on a page. (Not unlike snakes on a plane. Only → Read more...
This post inspired by my friend and partner in movie quote crime, Home Sweet Sarah.
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Some of the most memorable places I have stood, in no particular order:
On The Great Wall of China. Next to my sister as she took her wedding vows. In front of the Kremlin in Moscow. Next to my favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Priest Lake. Specifically, my family’s Priest Lake dock spot. On Mt. Seorak, South Korea. Poolside for countless summers with friends, and cousins, and awesome(ly ridiculous) bikinis. At the base → Read more...
Full disclosure: I initially considered titling this post !!!!!!!!! but Wordpress started laughing at me, and threatened to throw spam.
At this point to say I cannot contain my already typically excessive exclaiming is to understate. HOW am I going to refrain from blurting out, “Hawaii! I’m going there!” from now until I leave at the beginning of September? Better yet, Maui! + getting to see my sister in TWO WEEKS = how am I going to sleep tonight? And the → Read more...
Originally aired: January 19, 2007. Watched by Kerri Anne: August 1, 2010. Courtesy of: Netflix Instant Watch. Because: a) I was in the mood for a lighthearted, kid-centric story; b) Netflix told me I would four stars enjoy it and saw fit to leave out crucial somber-tone-revealing plot points in their synopsis; c) Netflix is a lying liar face; d) ALL OF THE ABOVE.
Starring: A slew of great Spanish actors you’ve probably never heard of, most notably Ivana Baquero and Maribel Verdú. Protagonist’s → Read more...