Sleigh bells ring - are you listening?

What a beautiful (much more live-able) winter day in Philadelphia! Winter is the only time of year I can delude myself into thinking that cities aren't big havens for air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution,etc... For once, the air is crisp and clear - I can even see all the way across the street to the next high-rise building...

Although I really do miss my middle-of-nowhere roots of Clinton, MA, on days like today. We're so close to Christmas and the people of Philadelphia are as cheerless as ever. It's a wonder that they ever adopted City mottos of "The City of brotherly love" and now "The City that loves you back." It is such a visually and viscerally unappealing city.

Then again, nearly all cities are unappealing to me. Some day I'm going to have to find me a job out in the country, where I don't feel like I'm stuck in some dead-end waitressing job and where you can see all the stars at night.

Anthony is happier than a pig in guano (although "guano" is specifically from our winged friends, I would like to make some sort of leap in judgement here) now that he is back in rural Charlotte, NC - I got a phone call at 3AM in testament of that; he let me know that he could, "see all the stars in the sky - at least much more than in New York." Sometimes I am riddled with sheer amazement that he and I can have so many of the same characteristics at times - my first realization that I missed home is also when I get there and take a look at the sky. There's hardly any light pollution (comparatively) in my home town.

For that and so many other reasons I look forward to settling someday in a quiet, backwoods kind of area. Not Clinton, exactly, but somewhere not too far away from home, I think. With each passing year, I realize more and more that I would rather be closer to my family than not - even if we're not exactly of that family mold that MUST speak to one another at least five times a day...

So, like I said, Anthony is a pretty happy momma's boy right now, milking his homestay for all it's worth. He hasn't sounded this deliriously happy in a while...

A Note about Smokers...

Why is it that, even when it's between -5 and -15 degrees outside, smokers still line up in front of their office buildings to smoke? Sans gloves, sans hat, sans sanity...! Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Every mile is two in winter. - George Herbert (1593 - 1633)

Of course I would forget my hat - it's friggin' cold out there today!!! My weatherman says it's about 10 degrees outside, but it "feels like" -9. Yowsa!

I guess I wouldn't mind so much if at least it was snowing outside. All it did yesterday was rain, and now there's this cold front - but no snow! Excuse me, Mother Nature, but I would like to request a white Christmas please...

In other news...Anthony lived through The Muppet Christmas Carol, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas this weekend (with only a few complaints). That only leaves A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, two Christmas classics that will have to wait until I get to North Carolina on Wednesday. (And he's also promised to go to the theatre for Polar Express... mwahahahahahaa!)

Of course, Anthony left for Charlotte yesterday at the crack of 8AM - he thought his flight was at noonish so we were very lucky to get him out the door on time for his much-earlier-than-noonish canceled flight. Oh yes, canceled. Just like the second flight on which he got rescheduled was canceled. But fear not!, the third time's the charm... He actually made it into Charlotte only about an hour later than originally planned. Lucky dog!

I have nothing else to report, as I managed to completely miss Jimmy's annual Christmas party (sorry babe!), so I will wander off into my own little Office Space...