Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Godmorgen her fra spisebordet hvor jeg sidder på en meget blød pude efter at have haft fornøjelsen af at gå ud med skrald henover et fortov med isslag -av. ALT er glaseret i et tyndt lag is her til morgen og vi har tænkt længe over, om der mon er faldet egern ned fra træerne her til morgen. En ret sjov tanke faktisk. Især Luca kan sagtens se det for sig.
Kristian skal hen i kirken for at øve (vejene virker til at være OK, når først man er kommet helskindet ned fra fortovet red) og min plan var at slæbe ungerne med i Whole Foods, da de har sygt mange smagsprøver sådan en lørdag formiddag, men jeg tror vi holder os inden døre indtil isen er smeltet.

Goodmorning from the dining table where I am currently sitting on a soft pillow after having enjoyed an encounter with a sidewalk covered in ice when taking out the garbage - ouch. EVERYTHING is glazed this morning and we have thought about whether the squirrels actually fell down from the trees this morning. Luca in particular can easily picture that.
Kristian is on the way to our church for a band rehearsal (the roads seem to be OK once you are safely off the sidewalks red) and my plan to drag the kids to Whole Foods where they have an amazing array of samples for tasting on Saturdays seems to be cancelled for now.

Teresa ligger og bobler ovenpå en sygedag i går (samme dag som hun skulle have haft sit første veninde besøg herovre - "isn^t it ironic, don`t you think". Det kan muligvis have noget at gøre med at hun nægter at skifte tøj efter basketball træning og derfor render rundt i shorts snevejr:

Teresa is still snoring away after having had a sick day yesterday (the exact same day where she should have had her first hangout with a friend - "isn^t it ironic, don`t you think". It might be related to her purely refusing to change her clothes after basketball practise which causes her to be in the snow wearing shorts:

Jeg har haft fornøjelsen af at bruge de lokale busser en hel del, da det er på grænsen til selvmord at cykle i snevejr herovre. Der er såmænd ganske udmærkede busser og jeg kan køre gratis med mit universitets ID, men jeg er SÅ dårlig til at fange den rigtige bus på det rigtige tidspunkt. Jeg har først for nyligt fundet ud af at der går en bus fra mit arbejde, der skifter nummer inde i byen og fortsætter direkte ud til os. Skønt! Hvis ikke det var fordi der er "road construction" på ruten og jeg derfor skal tage bussen fra den modsatte side af vejen i forhold til hvad der står i busplanen. I andet forsøg får jeg så taget bussen den rigtige vej. Jeg vælger så desværre den bus der først kører HELE north campus rundt inden den ender oppe ved samme busstoppested 20 minutter senere (det står heller ikke køreplanen). I går valgte jeg så bare at skifte bus, men den bus, jeg skal videre med kører selvfølgeligt lige for næsen af mig. Jeg havde røg ud af ørerne på det tidspunkt og jeg glæder mig som et lille barn til tøvejret her i weekenden, så jeg kan bruge min cykel igen.

I have had the pleasure of using the local busses as it is suicidal to try to bike in the snow here. The busses are supposedly really good and I can ride them for free with my university ID, but I suck SO badly at getting on the right bus at the right time. I just recently figured out that there is a bus that goes straight from my work into the city, where it changes number and then continues to where we live. Nice! Was it not for road construction on the route which means I have to take the bus from the opposite side of the street of what the plan says. In the second attempt I get on the bus in the right direction but this time the bus loops the entire north campus before ending up at the exact same busstop where I got on - only 20 minutes later (this is NOT in the bus plan either). Yesterday I choose to transfer, but the next bus leaves as my bus pulls up. I was fuming mad at that time and I SO look forward to milder weather this weekend, so I can start using my bike again.

Det kolde vejr har desværre også forvandlet Kristian til "Onkel Morfar". Han har købt sutsko. Fnis. Men han er lykkelig og er nærmest ikke til at hive ud af dem:

The cold weather has turned Kristian into "grandpa". He got himself a pair of slippers. I am speechless ;-) but he loves them and refuses to take them off:

Thanksgiving er lige om hjørnet og et par fridage er hårdt tiltrængte for os alle sammen, der nærmest har været i gang non stop siden d. 2. september. Jeg har været lidt stresset over Thanksgiving, da jeg kommer til at føle mig meget ensom når resten af nationen går amok i familie hygge. I Californien tog vi bare væk fra det hele men det har vi ikke mulighed for denne gang. Vi havde snakket om at hjælpe til ved et arrangement for hjemløse, så vi slap for at sidde derhjemme og have ondt af os selv. Jeg sender derfor en mail, men inden jeg får svar bliver vi inviteret op til Teresas venindes forældre (hende Teresa skulle have været sammen med i går). Vi har aldrig mødt dem, men alligevel inviterer de os. Det er så sødt gjort at jeg næsten fik tårer i øjnene da vi fik invitationen (arj, jeg tudede faktisk......). Men jeg havde noget dårlig samvittighed overfor føromtalte hjemløse arrangement, men der ville de faktisk ikke ha` vores hjælp. Hvor kikset er det lige at blive afvist til at hjælpe til ved at frivilligt arrangement? Men enden på det hele er at vi kan sidde oppe hos Julias forældre og proppe os med kalkun med god samvittighed. Vi har samme plan her i eftermiddag hvor vi er inviteret til Turkey Dinner hos Kim og Sarah (dem med den gnavne baby). Vi tager dessert med og har en "frozen maple mousse pie with candied cranberries" klar i fryseren. Nammenam.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and a few days off are really needed for all of us, as we have been going full speed since September second. I have been stressed out about Thanksgiving, as I easily feels very alone when the rest of the nation goes crazy in family quality time. In California we went out of town, but we don`t have that option this time. Vi talked about helping out at a Thanksgiving for the homeless instead of sitting at home feeling sorry for ourselves. I send them an email, but before I get a reply we are invited to join Teresas friends parents (the girl she should have been with yesterday). We have never actually met them and still they invite us over. That is such a sweet gesture that I almost teared up, when I got it (well, okay, I did cry). But at the same time I felt really bad about the homeless dinner we would have to turn down then. It turned out they did not want our help. How akward is that - getting rejected for a volunteer event? But in our situation it allows us to stuff ourselves with turkey without feeling bad at all. We have the same plans this afternoon where we have been invited for a Turkey Dinner at Kim and Sarah (the couple with the grumpy baby). We bring dessert and a "frozen maple mousse pie with candied cranberries" is ready in the freezer. Yum.