The endless winter...

Now I know as a native upstate New Yorker I should be accustomed to long, never ending winters that bring blizzards as late in the year as March and snow into April. In fact I have long prided myself on being a tough, cold loving upstater who makes fun of these silly Illinois winters and mocks the people here who don't drive when it snows. People, if we never drove when it snowed in the winter at home, we would never go anywhere!!! Indeed I came here thinking this is a joke in comparison to home. I mean sure, there is some snow and it gets pretty cold and windy but winter at least ends here at a reasonable time. And it's flat!! I survived 4 long years treking to class on a campus that earned us the title of "best legs in the Ivies." The hill known as the slope became more or less like an ice chute in the winter and it was safer to stay off the path and plod through the snow so that you didn't fall and roll to your death at the bottom of the hill where there was a conveniently located street. But this year....has been rough....and I'm tired of it. I think it's true that the older you get the less tolerant you are of winter. I guess that's why all of the old people go to Florida in the winter. But the winds, and the constant fluctuation in temperature....well frankly I've had enough. Last week I threatened to move to a tropical place and live off the land in order to escape the winter. I think it is the flatness that makes this place suck so terribly. And if it's going to get warm can it just stay warm? Otherwise I would just prefer it to be cold. I don't do well with all of these changes in temperature. It confuses my body and makes me crabby! I don't know if I have become more of a baby or maybe it's just a bad winter. Either way, spring can't come fast enough. Bitchfest over.......for now.

Moving on, it was a fairly uneventful week. Got some good and bad news on the job front for the husband but I'm convinced that if I talk about it, I'll jinx the goodness that happened. So we'll leave it at that for now. Watched Changeling last night and thought it was pretty good. I can see why Angelina got nominated for that role. But there were some unexpectedly disturbing moments. Sage has taken to digging holes in the backyard much to the dismay of Matt. Admittedly she looks super cute when she is digging but I understand his frustration. This week marked Ivy's first trip in the closet since the Fall. We had a couple of thunderstorms which absolutely terrify her and she goes and hides in the closet whenever she hears even the faintest rumbling. Occasionally, when the tornado sirens go off we have to join her in the closet and needless to say she is not happy about the company in her hiding place. She is particually annoyed that we have to bring Sage in there with us. Sometimes when the closet is unavailable she hides in the shower or between the shower and the toilet which is a space that no 65 lb dog should be able to fit into. I didn't know she was there one night when I got up to go to the bathroom and imagine my suprise when I sat down on the toilet and felt her furry head next to me. Not a pleasant night!! Anyway, her stay in the closet was pretty short in comparison to other times.

Finally, some more wine reviews because really what else is there to do in the winter except try new tasty wines? The first, sorry no picture, is the Trocadero Blanc de Blanc Spakling Wine. This little french delight is fantastic. It goes down nice and smooth with lots of bubbly goodness. The best part...is that it is dirt cheap for a nice sparkling wine. It is a steal at around $8-$9 per bottle, akin to many of the grocery store brands but infinitely better!! We buy this for any special occasion where we have guests since it is super good but easy on the wallet. We also buy it just for us! The second wine is a New Mexico (yes you read that right) sparkling wine from the Gruet family that makes super good sparking wines. It is the Domaine Saint Vincent brut and is great! We like the rose even better. Again it is light, with a little sweetness and moderately priced at around $14 per bottle.