Month: January 2011

The Calm Before the Storm

Today was a sunny albeit chilly day. Although the walk into work this morning was a bit severe (even with corduroy pants – I was regretting not wearing long underwear as I turned the last block), the walk home was rather pleasant.

But tomorrow, it may all be icky. The forecast tonight is 100% chance of icky, tomorrow, 80% chance of icky, followed by tomorrow night 100% chance of icky changing to snow (or rain). We are currently in a Winter Storm Warning (it was a Watch all day today and has just been upgraded to Warning) and one of the local networks is saying this may be the Winter Storm of the Season!!!!oneone!!!

Although I’ll believe that when I see it, I am a bit concerned about the chance of power outages. I have my cell phone and iPod charged up. I should do the same with my netbook. (OK, it’s plugged in now.) My flashlight is charged and I have loads of candles (all nice & smelly candles). Oh, and I know where all my blankets are. I’ve also warned the cats, but they could care less.

If the weather is only half of what they’re promising, we likely won’t have school the next two days. And we’ve used up our 3 alloted calamity days for the year (the Friday after my last LJ post was another snow day), so any we miss now, we make up at the end. That isn’t a big issue like it was last year. We don’t have to be out of the school building by a certain date. And we now have air conditioning. So I ain’t worried about that.

The wonderful coincidence about all of this is that it was February 1st or 2nd when I broke my arm 12 years ago – by slipping on the ice on my way into work. So I have no desire to go into work if there’s any ice on the ground. No sense celebrating the anniversary with a new break, eh? 😉

Anyhoo, for those of you also encountering this latest winter storm, or for those of you with other exciting weather issues, keep warm (or for you antipodeans, keep cool), keep safe, and try not to slip on the ice!

Ice, Ice, Baby…

Surprise! Fog + freezing drizzle + temperature of 30°F = school is closed! The 2-hour delay call arrived a little after 5am today, so I happily (OK, groggily) turned off alarm A and turned on alarm B to get another hour of sleep. But then the closure call came at 8am, which is a bit later than usual for a close. I suspect the superintendent was hoping it would clear up in time, but the “freezing rain” warning lasts till 10am and the sun isn’t up enough yet to start undoing the damage.

So happily, the power is still on, I’m up and hair is washed, and I now have a day off ahead of me. Calamity Days are often the best days off since you don’t already have it full of plans like weekend days or vacation days. (And we poor teachers didn’t get a day off on Monday. Still, the work day was pretty productive.)

I’ll probably play some World of Warcrack (it’s been taking over my life again. I should probably stop playing when my current 60-day card expires later this month) but I also hope to get a few other things done. Book inventory? Photo organization? I’m sure I’ll think of something. 🙂 And when the weather clears up some, I need to get ’round to the folks’ to help papa with a Pinnacle Studios question (no idea if I’ll know the answer).

Reading Overview for 2010

Since 2001, I’ve been keeping track of books which I have read (but not reread – that would be too much work!) For 2010, I wound up reading 61 books, which is lower than I had hoped I would (64 is the most since I started this record-keeping) but still on the upper level of yearly scores.

One of the things that probably took a bit away from my reading was that I was rereading the entire Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold in anticipation of Cryoburn coming out. It was my first time rereading and I almost got the books in the right order (messed one up – whoops!) I enjoyed the reread as much as the initial read, and then capped it all off with Cryoburn, which continued the excellence.

This year had me discovering two wonderful trilogies: the Millennium Trilogy (by Stieg Larsson) and the Hunger Games Trilogy (by Suzanne Collins). Lisbet and Katniss are both women who kick ass (and are on fire, heh) and it was fun getting to read about their adventures.

The year started with me reading the books for my Masters thesis, so I guess I can blame the thesis for not getting more than 61 books read. Heh. But despite the required reading and writing, I got a few classics read, including Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson) and The Time Machine (HG Wells). I didn’t get any new Dickens read, but I intend to rectify that this year.

Other notables were the discovery of Poppie Z Brite’s foodie books, Liquor and Prime. I bought the rest which I’ll probably get read this year. Thanks to gregmce for recommending her and for recommending The City and the City by China Mieville.

Chemistry got a good showing this year in popular nonfiction. The Poisoner’s Handbook (Deborah Blum) was excellent and both dad and I finished it while we were visiting my sister this summer. I got about half of The Disappearing Spoon (Sam Kean) read before I had to return the book to the library. But both of those books will be going into my collection when they become paperbacks.

I’ve noticed that many of the books that I read this year came recommended by friends IRL and virtual – thank you for your recs and keep ’em coming! I’m now using the library again (thanks to my Masters program and being able to order books online) and can expand past the books in my own library. Still, I have far too many unread books in my library which I hope to fix (and not by selling ’em!)

(Already for 2011, I have two books read. Plus there’s a partially read one from 2010 that I should finish up. Didn’t get too many books for Christmas, but that’s OK. I have lots to read as it is!)

The Big Four Oh!

Wow! I’m 40! It doesn’t really feel any different from my other ages. Go figure.

Winter break has been a blast and I should have been keeping up with my journal about it. But it’s been a busy (and fun) one. judiang and elsaf are visiting and it’s been great having them here. We’re watching ABC at the moment through my converter box & antenna. (I haven’t missed cable for the most part, but I needed to see the dropping ball and later today is my parade! I can’t miss my parade!)

Hope that 2011 treats all of you well! And to the rest of you in the ’71 Club – 40 isn’t so bad after all!