Sickos

Bronwen has been sick over the past week, which is a shame because this weekend is absolutely beautiful - highs in the 80s! Throughout this Fall/Winter, I've been sick at least three times, which is unusual for me. Maybe it's because I haven't been exercising much, or because I haven't taken my vitamins regularly, I am going to blame the weather. Whenever I've been sick it's when there was a dramatic change in temperature. It's no wonder, then, that Bronwen was sick this week: from lowest low to highest high, the temperature has gone from 16 degrees to 82 in less than a week. And this Friday night, temperatures are supposed be back down into the 30s.

And I'm not really complaining about the weather. I love it when it's cold, I love it when it's hot (I think I prefer the heat). I don't even really mind when the weather changes like it's been, but I think my body objects.

Only 28 Days Until Spring!

I know it's been a tragically long time since I've written anything here - nearly a month exactly - and it was nearly a month exactly before I wrote then. There are, of course, the usual explanations, excuses and reasons for why I have not written. And some of them are actually pretty good, if I say so myself.

First of all, I've been busy. That's absolutely true. I got a promotion at work (hold the applause, please) and am now the AV director at the Raleigh Marriott City Center hotel. And while it's great news that I even have a job right now (and don't think that I take that for granted!), it comes with a very steep price; namely, I lost a lot of free time, both at home and at work. My free time is very precious to me and I was very sad to see it go. On the other hand, free time is now more valuable than ever, so I am less inclined to spend an hour or two each week discussing my life.

But of course that isn't all of the story, because if it were important to me, I would find time. The second reason for my lack of punctuality here is that not much has happened. Really! I'm sure you would love to hear from Bronwen and me each and every day, but the truth is that we live pretty boring lives here in Raleigh. We work, then we walk the dogs, then we watch Jeopardy, then we eat dinner and then we watch a movie, a TV show or play a video game. And then we go to bed and do everything all over again. That isn't to say that we are bored. We get quite a lot of pleasure from this routine and look forward to our various TV shows or Netflix arrivals or next levels on BioShock and Eternal Sonata. But that just isn't much to write home about. There are weekends, of course, but until recently, they just haven't been much more eventful. We visit one restaurant or antique mall or museum, but there really isn't much else to do.

Which brings me to my third point: Winter sucks! Yes, it's great fun to wear jackets, sweaters and gloves in the lead-up to Christmas, but after that, it just becomes kind of a drag. I've said it before and I'm sure you'll hear me say it again, but humans are hardwired for a four-season year. One thing I never knew I never knew was how instinctive a season is. By the time I start to get tired of a season, the next one is just around the corner! So although North Carolina hardly suffers bitter winters, it is legitimately cold at times. Leaves do indeed fall from the trees when they are supposed to and they grow back (presumably) when they are supposed to. So a whole bunch of things suddenly make more sense to me. I see the value of Spring cleaning, for example - after months of being shut indoors by muddy, chilly and unpleasant weather, throwing open the doors and windows sounds like a luxury!

For my part, I can't wait until the weather warms up and green starts to creep back into the landscape. We have hiking trails aplenty here, and we are dying to visit them. We are also really looking forward to swimming in lakes again - Summer is still months away, and that's fine. Springtime will be beautiful, I am sure. Trails we hiked in November will be unrecognizable in April, and the JC Raulston Arboretum in bloom is a mouth-watering prospect. Believe me, there will be pictures!

Things are starting to warm up. A few weeks back the temperature was in the 70s and we wore tee-shirts and jeans - no jackets! yay! - and took Lux to the dog park to run around. We hiked up to the dam around the corner and took the dogs. It was beautiful, like a free sample of what Spring will be like.

So things will improve here on NXNC. More things will happen to write about and my time-management will improve. I really want to get on a more regular schedule here. I will commit - here and now - to writing a new post every Saturday. I'm even putting it on my calendar! I may write more throughout the week - this post was particularly enjoyable to write - but I don't want to promise to more than I can reasonably deliver.

A quick explanation of the pictures you see on this post: (because I don't know how to make captons) We visited the grounds of the NC Museum of Art which is dotted with large-scale art projects in a natural setting. There is a wind machine, giant cement sculptures, Stargate-looking rings and a camera obscura (the Hobbit-hole looking building) which we were, sadly, unable to enjoy to the full extent because of cloud cover. Look for a revisit to these things in the future.

Thanks for tuning in and have a good weekend!

Broken promises

I know I promised pictures of snow. I know, I know, I know. And I'm sorry that I haven't posted any yet. This week has been absolutely crazy for me. I'll give you the short version.
Snow on Tuesday. It's hard for me to believe that it was only three days ago. That was the day of the inauguration, and also the day that I got promoted at work. So now the AV department Raleigh Marriott City Center hotel is under my control. Anything that goes wrong is my fault from now on. Also on Tuesday was our busiest week in months. And it isn't stopping or even slowing down until at least this coming Tuesday.
Bronwen took hundreds of pictures of the snow, and I will (eventually) post them here. Until then, however, please feel free to check out her Flickr account.

Downtown morning

Here are some pictures I took on my way in to work. These are from my phone, so the quality is pretty poor. Nevertheless, this is what downtown Raleigh looks like at 7:00 a.m. in the snow.

Snow is slippery

I would love to have the day off so I could just play in the snow all day; having to go to work, however, I am glad simply to be off the road, and to have arrived unscathed and unbumped. I slipped a few times on the road - I was driving very carefully, but I still felt the car slide just a little bit. I am happy to see the snow (pictures by Bronwen will follow later today) but I am equally happy to know that it won't be around for very long.

Weather forecast

No pictures of snow yet, but here's a fun picture anyway.

Wintery mix

I'm so very excited - we are expecting snow over the next few days. As much as 4 inches, in fact. I'll post pictures when (and if) it happens.

Cold January

I know, I know - I haven't written anything here in weeks. But I don't like to start off with an apology, so forget about it. We're emerging from the shadows just to show you how cold it is here. I have photos from a Christmas Eve hike to post soon, and now that the ice has broken on this frozen blog, future entries may come easier.

The point of this post? It's cold. Especially tomorrow night. Crazy!

Christmas Eve

It's silly, I know, but I'm very happy to be home. We went hiking this afternoon (pictures to follow) and now that we're back, we plan to be here for the rest of the night and all of tomorrow. I feel like we're preparing for a siege or a blizzard with all of our plans and preparations. We have movies (Home Alone, Millions), TV shows (30 Rock, Battlestar Galactica, Colbert's Christmas Special) and video games to keep us occupied. We also have pizza for tonight, pancakes, potatoes and sausages (vegetarian, of course) for tomorrow morning and a Tofurky Feast for tomorrow night. We have desserts like crazy - cake, pastries, cookies - and plenty of alcohol - red wine, white wine, beer and scotch, not to mention hot cocoa (with marshmallows!), coffee and tea. Presents are under the tree (technically they're on the window sill so Lux doesn't mess with them) and presents for the dogs (squeaky toys and treats). We will try to take plenty of pictures and post them tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas!

Internet Coffee

Christmas is all about the senses, and for a scary moment, I thought we might have to forgo yet another of Florida's luxuries that I had, until I moved here, taken for granted. Barnie's Coffee (and tea) has no locations in North Carolina. There is a location in Saudi Arabia and eight in Turkey, but nothing here. So sad!

But thanks to the magic of the internet, we are able to enjoy Santa's White Christmas during our own not-so-white Christmas. Disaster averted!

The things we lost from the move surprised me. Not the small, independent stores - those I expected to lose - but the big stores. Publix, for example, and Washington Mutual. Barnie's was pretty much dead anyway, so that wasn't a huge surprise, but Einstein Bagels was. The thing that makes these absences feel even more absurd is the fact that so many things are the same: Target, Barnes & Noble, Mellow Mushroom Pizza (which we have yet to dine at, due to finding an even better pizzaria in town), PetSmart, Home Depot, Best Buy... if it wasn't for the different landscape, I might have a hard time telling one American city from another.

Holiday films announced

Sorry for the delay: I have created a new calendar (actually, I just edited the old one) to reflect the new films in our Holiday Film Festival. For those who wish to follow along, please feel free. We would love to welcome you along.

12/14: Bad Santa
12/16: The Ice Harvest
12/21: Edward Scissorhands
12/22: Home Alone
12/23: Millions
12/24: Holiday Inn/White Christmas double feature!

This is obviously just Bronwen and me making stuff up. Schedule is subject to change without notice. If you don't watch our movies, please watch your own and tell me about your favorites!

Toasty

Coming in to a warm house (fine - apartment) from the chilly outdoors is one of the simplest and most sublime joys available. The only way to top it is to have some toast spread with peanut butter and jam. Throw in a cup of tea and nothing else in the world matters. The more I fall into winter, the more I remind myself of a hibernating bear. I just want to curl up with a book or a video game or watch a movie, eat some snacks, drink hot tea (cold beer works too), dread going back outside and enjoy being inside.

Today was actually pretty warm - I can't believe I live in a place where 61 is 'pretty warm', and I suspect that it may be one of the last warm days of the year. I made a point to enjoy the weather when I was out walking the dogs. Despite my obvious love for being snuggly warm, I do love the cold weather - don't interpret this as a complaint. I am really looking forward to the rest of winter (which hasn't even technically begun). I still have my giant stack of paperbacks (I'm enjoying Lincoln), I have plenty of tea, a full catalog of my favorite winter music (I'll confess here that I have a huge weakness for pseudo-Celtic pop musicians like Enya and Lorena McKennett), plenty of hours left on my video games, plenty of movies to watch, plus the never-ending fountain of Neflix, as well as Bronwen, Lux and Julian. It is going to be a fantastic winter!

Chilly dogs

Here are some pictures of Lux and Julian in their nice, warm winter coats! Outside temp says it's 40 degrees but feels 35. Pretty cold!

Paperback reader

Yesterday we found heaven. A library book sale! Unlike the Orange County library system, the Wake County libraries do not have a used bookstore. Instead, they save all of their old and excess books and blow them out in a gigantic sale! $1 paperbacks and $4 hardbacks... how can you resist? We obviously did not.

The smell is intoxicating - if you like books then you know. Old books, especially old paperbacks, have a certain earthy mustiness, dry and bitter but sweet at the same time. I do see the danger in this: we got rid of dozens of books - perhaps over a hundred - when we moved from Orlando, and here we are, just buying dozens more on a whim. But again - are $1 paperbacks really hurting anyone? I think we have found a new Fall tradition. And I think I'm not done. The sale is going on for the remainder of the weekend. I want to go back!

So this is what I'll be reading through the winter.

Do amino acids make you sleepy?

So here's a fun fact: there's a story, ages old, that turkey contains tryptophan (it does), which causes drowsiness (also true - tryptophan does cause drowsiness). What is not so true is that eating turkey causes one to fall helplessly asleep and thus skip out on the cleanup. I have always been skeptical of this assertion, but I would be plagarizing a large amount of research if I simply declared it false. Instead, check out this link from the Food Detectives, where they test the premise about as scientifically as you could hope The Food Network could manage. Spoiler alert: the turkey element of a Thanksgiving dinner does not cause the drowsiness. What makes people so tired is because they eat too damn much! But watch the video. It's pretty fun.

Cloudy with a chance of snow

It wasn't much snow, but still. It's more snow than I've ever driven in before. I did not have time to take any pictures - in addition to having little time available, there was also no accumulation on the ground.

Misty river

Ahh, November! Such a fantastic month - it has traditionally been my favorite, although we'll have to see how that plays out with some actual 'winter weather.' We went to an apartment sponsored Halloween party last night (sorry, we forgot to take pictures) and got to meet several of our neighbors. One of our main topics of conversation was the weather - we regaled them with tales of warm winters and 80 degree Christmases - and, in turn, we were given a clearer idea of what to expect as fall turns into winter. For one thing, many residents come from colder climates - Wisconsin, Nova Scotia, etc - so our shock at the cold weather did not really impress them.

But time marches on and the seasons change with or without us. The temperature this morning was 40 degrees. I took some pictures of the river that was steaming in the cold air.
Remember - there is an open invitation for anyone to come visit. We have a spare bedroom with a view of this very river.