Each winter is weirder than the last. This year, we seemed to have it all in one week, with 3 snowstorms and bitter cold, followed by unseasonably warm weather. Last weekend, I went for a walk around Gates Pond with my friend B and her dog, Puck. There was still snow in the woods and ice on the water, but the road was mostly mud, punctuated by the occasional ice patch. People were jogging in shorts and tank tops.

The past three days have been downright springlike, nearly 70°F (22°C). We ate lunch outside on our patio at work the past two days, and there were daffodils sprouting in front of the building.



Right now, I have the doors open, and it's 75° in my apartment. The heat hasn't come on in more than three days. Thanks to Facebook's "On This Day" feature, I see that it was bitter cold at this time the past couple of years. I really don't like to complain about nice weather, but geez. This is downright weird.

Being a lifelong Northeasterner (and longtime New Englander), I know winter isn't finished with us yet. We will likely get at least one more storm, and more cold weather. I just hope the trees don't bud too early and then freeze; that happened last year, and ruined much of the peach crop.

Other than the weather strangeness, not a lot has been happening around Chez LizzieBelle. Just trying to get through each day has been as much as I can handle. I've had to cut back on my social media intake, because there is just too much anger and scariness out there. I'm doing what I can do, and that's all I can do at the moment. Still trying to seek out the beauty and the goodness, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to cope at all. I'm really proud to see the budding activists amongst the younger generation in my family, though. My generation may have dropped the ball, but they're picking it up and running with it.

This morning, I went over to mum's to help her out with some housework and shopping. She's still pretty weak from having a cold, and was recently diagnosed with COPD thanks to her asthma and the recurring pneumonia the past couple of years. I do worry about her. It's hard to see a parent decline from the strong person who raised you. But she's stubborn enough to want to fight, and that's a good thing. She's not ready to give up just yet.

We had tacos from the delightful taqueria in Canton, and called my sister to wish her a happy birthday. I was exhausted, but it was a good visit.

I wanted to stop at the Arboretum on the way home, but by then it was raining, so I settled for stopping at Trader Joe's to stock up on noms. Not as much fun, but now I have lots of yummy food in my freezer and cupboards. I wish they'd open one closer to me, but then maybe that wouldn't be a good thing. Not as special.

What are you up to this weekend? Something fun, I hope!

My trip to Trader Joe's was successful: I now have plenty of yummy food. Crab cakes for supper, and dark chocolate pistachios for dessert! Yum. Plus, pirates on DVD. It's going to be a good evening. :)

We had some new folks at the Meet & Greet this afternoon: a woman and her daughter, both pretty new to Paganism. The daughter actually got her mom into it. We had a pretty lively conversation, with Cymbri & I, as the resident Wiccans, answering a lot of questions and explaining the basics. We gave them a list of books and websites to look at, and some to avoid. It's been a while since we had any real newbies!

Today was our monthly Meet & Greet at the ol' Barnes & Noble, where I finally picked up a copy of cmpriest's newish book, Wings to the Kingdom. I enjoyed the first book in the series (Four and Twenty Blackbirds); I love a good ghost story. :)

I'd wanted to get it from an independent bookstore, but it turns out that there aren't any around here that aren't specialty or used bookstores, so B&N it was.

Cymbri gave me a hand-painted leopard-print wineglass that she got on her last trip home to Texas. It matches the gloves she gave me for Yule. And about half of my possessions. *g* It came with a recipe for a drink called (appropriately) "The Leopard." It has OJ and amaretto and something else in it... sparkling wine, maybe? It sounded good. We'll have to try it out at camp this summer.

Since I was already halfway there anyway, I went to Trader Joe's for lots of yummy food. They've rearranged the whole store, but it works. There seemed to be fewer bottlenecks. I do wish they'd passed that wine in the supermarkets law, because some nice shiraz or merlot would go well with the bread and cheese that I bought. By the time I got out of there and fought with the traffic on route 9, I just wanted to get home. Oh, well.

They're saying we might get a little more snow tomorrow. A good day to stay home, methinks.

I went up to Noho today to visit my friend Kat, who had surgery recently, and got to meet her fiancé to boot. It was fun catching up with her. I also got some kitty love from her two furry beasts. Since I was in the 'hood anyway, I headed over to Trader Joe's afterward and got some nummy cheese and other goodies. I'm planning on making crab cakes for this evening's repast, and I have mojito mixer. Woo! I live such the exciting life. *g*

It'll be strange not to be with my honeys for New Year's Eve, but I'm glad I'm not travelling again this weekend. They're still calling for ice and torrential rain tomorrow. A good day to stay home and get stuff done. Or sleep. *g*

If you're celebrating the arbitrary turning of the calendar tonight, have fun and stay safe!

Today promises to be a spectacular day, and I aim not to waste it. I have a ton of things to do, and hopefully by getting an early start I can get a lot accomplished. I need to go food shopping, and I'm thinking of taking a trip to Trader Joe's; if I can get an early enough start, I can beat most of the traffic. I should also do some laundry, and at some point I'd like to get outside for a walk. I'm already clean, so that's a good beginning!

Ooh, and I'm thinking I can get my Secret Santa gift at TJ's. My Santee loves chocolate. She's always looking in the candy jar when she comes through the front office. Hmmm, I can think of a couple other folks who would appreciate chocolate as well! Crossing people off the list is so satisfying. :)

I had a weird LJ-related dream this morning: I was meeting a couple of folks from my flist at a grocery store (ones I don't know IRL), but just when I met up with them, I woke up.

OK, time for breakfast, then off I go!