White Christmas in Southern Virginia

James, Lulu, and I headed down to Southern Virginia to spend Christmas with my family at my parent's house. We had a fantastic time. Great presents, good conversation, and most importantly....snow!!! And lots of it!

It is unusual for Chesapeake to get snow. It happens. Just not that often. The storm that all the weather folks had been hesitant to talk about last week hit Chesapeake just after 2000 on Christmas night. And didn't leave the area until early Monday morning. My parents had more than 13" of snow on the ground. And for those you think 13" is nothing, for your areas that is true. For Southern Virginia right on the coast? This is near blizzard like weather. It just does not snow there like this storm on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, this storm made 2010 the 2nd snowiest December in Hampton Roads recorded weather history.

We lost power just after 0900 on Sunday all we could do was laugh. And then we headed down to a neighbors for cards, food, and warmth. The power was back on that afternoon.Molly and Chris were to leave on Sunday morning. And that wasn't happening. So we got another 24 hours to spend with them.

Okay, enough of the snow talk. Santa was very good to James and I this year. I got a couple of items that I really wanted. This included a two-shelf bread box! And this one was made by Fiesta! Even better! James had an outdoor theme to his presents: outdoor greenhouse, camping crate, and an original copy of James Beard's Outdoor Cooking.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends!!!!

Check out all the photos from our visit here.

A life lived in fear is a life half lived

Those immortal words as Fran speaks them to Scott in hurried Spanish (name that movie) always intrigued me. I understood the meaning in the context of the film, but it wasn't until last Sunday that they truly sank into my own context.

James wanted to take the boys ice skating during our "Christmas" weekend and I needed to go to a Paper Source store. Reston Town Center had that all. So on Sunday morning we all piled into Lola and drove out to Reston. I showed James where to take the boys to find the ice rink and I went to Paper Source (who had the cutest holiday paper crafts that I just had to have). I wasn't there long since I knew exactly what I wanted and as I made my way to the rink I thought that maybe we would spend about 30 minutes total there. I came upon James leading Jaime along the rink wall and Joe slowly inching behind them. It was a little comical. But isn't everyone's first few times on ice comical?

I noticed that Jaime's laces weren't that tight so I helped him to the exit and to a bench so I could tighten them up to prevent his ankles from flopping around. He got right back up and on the ice with James. Joe just sat on the bench. Here was our conversation:

Me: "Are you having a good time?"
Joe: "Sort of."
Me: "Are you going to go back out on the ice?"
Joe: "In a bit."
Me: "Do you want me to come out on the ice with you?"
Joe: "Yes."

So in I went and paid my money, got quarters for a locker to stow my purchases and purse, and cautiously made my way to the rink. Now, I haven't been on ice skates since 1999 when I worked at an ice rink the summer between my Junior and Senior year at Mary Washington College. So I wasn't really sure how this was going to play out.

But I knew I couldn't chicken out. If I was going to fall, I would just have to fall. And I did really well! I never fell once. I realized that I can't show fear to the boys over ice skating. If I show fear over ice skating the boys would be scared and wouldn't even want to even try. The boys did fall more than once. But after the first time they just kept getting back up and kept skating.We skated for over two hours!

Jaime was having a blast skating with James, with me, with James and me. To make Jaime feel even more at ease I started calling toe pics, cupcakes. Which made it even more fun and easier to remember to use the cupcake when trying to get up.

Joe was Mr. Independent, but he never gave up trying to get better at skating. And he did even take my hand a few times. 

Jaime and James after a "fall." Jaime is always the actor.

I was so happy just skating round and round and watching the boys grow with confidence about their skating. I know now that I will not be able to live a life in fear. Because if I do, so will the boys. The little sponges that they are will pick up on that, and I don't want them to ever be afraid of trying something new. Of thinking outside of the box. Or stepping out of their comfort zone.

Life is to short to be afraid or fearful. Life is meant to be lived. And being a step-mom to these two boys is certainly making me live.

Joe's the dark mark in the middle. Always going against the grain.

Impromptu caroling

While on the Metro this morning (reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and listening to Christmas music) a gentleman boarded at the Pentagon Station and proceeded to sing (aloud) the first two refrains of Silent Night!

If you aren't aware of Metro commuting, we are a silent lot keeping to ourselves and the cars are usually quiet (depending on the line and location). So of course no one joined in the caroling, nor did anyone ask him to stop. He wasn't that bad. I think he then exited at Foggy Bottom because I didn't hear him after that.

Three days til Christmas!!!

And so it begins! We got our first accumulation of snow! Now it is less than 2", but when you put it in context of the area it is enough for traffic accidents and school closures. While it did snow last December, it hasn't in the past couple of years. It has everyone wondering if we will have a repeat of last winter.

J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!

For James' birthday and Christmas present I bought tickets to us to go and see the New York Jets play live at their new stadium at the Meadlowlands in New Jersey. He is a big Jets fan. There were only two games that James was interested in attending. I didn't want to see a Patriot's game, but I was willing to see them play the Dolphins. Needless to say, as the time drew nearer for us to go his face would light up at the mere thought of the game we would be attending.

I was very concerned about the cold weather in New Jersey. I didn't really relish the idea of setting out in the cold. So I started to prepare: toe warmers-check, hand warmers-check, fleece/flannel lined jeans-check, hats/scarves/gloves-check, check, and check. What I wasn't prepared for? Rain.
 
When we woke up on Sunday morning it was as if a monsoon was hoovering over the Meadowlands. It was raining side wides with wind gusts up to 30 MPH. And it was to be a high of 57 degrees! Warm as compared to what we had been exprencing in the DC area. We were lucky that the rain broke before the game and didn't really start raining again until half-time. We bought cheap ponchos at the stadium (umbrellas were not allowed and we saw a lot being thrown away) which helped to a point. But the weather really never got as bad as it had been that morning. Wow for small miracles.
 
This was the inaugural season for the new Meadowlands--all shiny and new. And James was so excited to be able to see a game this year. We arrived early enough to see warm-up and take in the stadium and all its glory. It was very surreal to see an NFL game live. Normally it seems like games last forever on TV, but live they go by pretty quick.

The new stadium. It looks weird with the wind break surface.

Panaroma of the field from our section.

James' first look at our seats. Three rows from the field.

They ended up losing to the Dolphins (10 to 3), but James had a wonderful time nonetheless. And he got to meet Snoopy!

Yay mobile blogging!

I just registered my phone so I can blog on the go! If we see something on the road, or the mood strikes our fancy, we'll be able to share it with friends and family.

Way to go technology......

Test for mobile blogging