January 21, 2014

It's a new year!

Wow. I can't believe January is almost over! 
It's been an eventful month, for me personally, and the City of Philadelphia as well. I started the year by going to the Mummer's Parade, both morning and evening, I started (temporarily) watching my cousin Ashley's boys full time, I have a new Quizo Trivia gig, I started going to (and plan on continuing to attend) a new church, and it's really starting to hit me that I need to start my new home search. 
There is so much that I want to get done before January is over, but it's moving so quickly! I started/continued to read 3 books this month, and if I want to stay on my goal of reading 24 books this year (only 2 books a month!), I'm going to need to finish any of them soon. 
My January/February Booklist
Also I promised myself that I would get more sleep, and have more regular sleep patterns this year. Yeah, that's not going well. Sleep is for the weak.

Ashley's kids are awesome. Jameson is 28 months and Shane is 16 months old. So they are exactly one year apart *not stressful at all*. Really, they are cool, but they drive me nutso. It's been so darn cold out in Philly this whole month that we haven't been able to go out and do anything. It sucks for them and then they drive me nuts. Add not getting any sleep on top of that and my days kind of suck. I will post tales of our adventures, once we have any. Other than indoor fun.
Firefighter Jameson
Doctor Shane
Quizo! I love quizo, I just wish that it didn't interfere with my sleep as much! Monday nights I host at the New Deck Tavern, Tuesday nights I play, Wednesday nights I host at the Victoria Freehouse, some sundays I play too. That means that three-four work nights I am staying out late and getting home later and still have to be up by 7am. I was so thankful for my snow day today. I slept until 2pm. Which, coincidentally, doesn't actually help regulate my sleep pattern. Womp womp womp.

Hmm, what else? Well, there is church. I started going to a new church, and it's not nearly as ethnically diverse as my old church but it's a bit more liberal and open. For instance, they accept openly gay members, which would have been hard at the church of old because practically everyone who attends there is a young married couple. Also, oddly, new church doesn't have a sermon per se on a regular Sunday. They have a reflection time. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's kind of nice to not be preached at. If there is anything I miss from OCMC it's having a sermon. On the other hand, no one is asking me to babysit, so that's a huge plus.

On the book front, and you should expect several more of these updates throughout the year, I started The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, and I am almost finished The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, but I'm only 5 pages into Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. Oh! and I still have about half of The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer. 
Currently Reading
Oh My God what is going on with this weather? Seriously, it's crazy. The polar vortex, or as I have taken to calling it, Polar Vortex Part 2: The Climate Strikes Back  has turned my little city into Hothadelphia. (That was a Star Wars reference, Amanda) I just went out and checked, there is 11" of fluffy white snow out there, and it looked like it was deeper out front. We went out to "play" in the snow this afternoon, which involved Brianna jumping around, laying, snow angeling, and trudging in the snow while Jen and I cleaned off our cars and shoveled the walk. News Flash: It's really COLD!!!
Snow Angels!
So I suppose that's it for what I'm up to, next post will be about something that is weighing on my heart, the utter rampage of violence in my city this month. It's really utterly insane. But more upsetting things are for a later date. So long, and have a safe stormy day! 

January 19, 2014

A Busy Day

Today I ...
* had quail eggs on a bagel for breakfast
* was moved by a church service
* shopped til I DROPPED with mom (My Dolly) Aunt Sharon, Grandmom, and Aunt Reney
* spent some quality time with my bestie Anne after hitching a ride with my little sister Caroline.
* had a wonderful dinner with my mom, Joe, Grandmom, Pop-pop and Aunt Reney
* watched the Broncos kick some major Tom Brady ass with my Pop-pop
* explained Twitter to my 75 year old pop-pop (I think he's totally on board)
* hung out briefly with Joel, who helped inflate my tires (thanks again!!!)
* made plans to buy my Maid of Honor dress tomorrow with Anna Jane Dennery
* am currently in my footie pajamas, moments away from curling up on the couch to watch some Bones and maybe Sherlock.

I'd call today a success.