Winter Wonderland!

It snowed. A lot.

I made the mistake of staying home for the rest of the day on Thursday (after Dad & I went to Trader Joe's) and all of Friday, which inevitably led to all of Saturday, because it just kept snowing. I should have gone out before snowpocalypse hit. It was a little scary. I was alone and the storm was making creepy noises. Of course, I was reading all of the weather reports online, having bizarre and frustrating dreams, and reading about the Knickerbocker storm... basically making myself more uneasy.
My Mom says it's probably good I don't have a TV, because, per usual, the news, which they should really call Bad News, was over hyping the storm.
Yes, it was serious, but it's not as though we live in caves.
I could hear snowplows out there during even the worst parts of the storm. I'm lucky and thankful my electricity did not go out. I would have been spooked even more if it had.
I made a mad dash to get outside yesterday. I walked, camera in hand, up to CVS to pick up a prescription. The dull task was made magnificent by what I saw.
Breathtaking.
Absolutely.

Let It Snow!

Wow!

We (as in the residents of the DC Metro area) are gearing up for a crazy big snowstorm (crazy big for this area).
From Weather.com:

WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM FRIDAY TO 10 PM EST SATURDAY.... HEAVY SNOW. STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 18 TO 24 INCHES. PRODUCING NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AT TIMES FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. WITH GUSTS (of wind) TO 30 MPH. CONDITIONS IN THIS STORM ARE EXPECTED TO BE COMPARABLE TO THOSE IN THE STORM OF 19 DECEMBER(I was in the hospital. My doctor cross country skied in!). PLAN FOR SUBSTANTIAL DISRUPTIONS TO TRAVEL FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT.

My Dad & I spent the day together yesterday, and he (thanks, Dad!!!) bought me a cart full of groceries (that was the plan regardless of the weather, disability girl is a poor girl) at Trader Joe's, and oh my goodness - frozen pizza, unsweetened soy milk, and bananas were already scarce. This is one of those times I wish my TV was capable of tuning into a channel (I only use my TV for DVDs, if you were wondering) because the weather people go nuts for this stuff. The media frenzy makes many people wild with anticipation, and over the top with preparation. We're looking at maybe two days of staying indoors, but the lines in the grocery store made it seem like we'll be hibernating until Spring.
The school is even in on it. I received a text message at 3:38 a.m. (yes, I was up. I woke up around 2 something) letting me know the school will close at noon today and remain closed over the weekend. They don't make decisions like that ahead of time unless it's going to be bananas!
I've missed several paid snow days since I've been on short term disability, dagnabbit!
I imagine today will not be the day they let me know what's going on with my doctor's request for a schedule change before allowing me to return to work. It's causing me loads of extra anxiety. What's taking them so long to decide? That's why I'm not sleeping through the night. It's only two days out of the week where my schedule needs changing. ALL of my doctor's are on board with this. I didn't even come up with the idea. Dr. C insists upon it.
Working different hours on different days just screws me up massively; my OCD and GAD skyrocket. My body needs a constant same same same schedule. I need to be sleeping 11-7 (or something akin to that), and with the 7am-3:30 shift on Tuesday's and the 1:30-9:45pm shift on Wednesday's, and the Monday, Thursday, Friday 8:30-5... well it just about kills me (literally).
I've tried for two years,and my body cannot deal. I'm just so gosh darn anxious, and I already have an anxiety disorder! I know I'll sleep like a baby once my restrictions are approved. In the hospital I slept 11-7 every night, and continued to do so, until this disability business became such an ordeal. Now I sleep 8 pm-2:30 a.m., and nap 12 pm-2 pm. It's weird, but it's still structured: the same thing every night and day, and my mood remains stable, for the most part. I do worry about my job and money, but I've been practicing, and I can concentrate again, and I'm not letting scary thoughts rule my world.
So, if you were wondering why I'm home all of the time and blogging way more than I used to, it's two fold: I'm on short term disability, anxiously waiting for HR to report back in regard to my doctor enforced restrictions and limitations, and I also made a five year happiness plan in the hospital, and blogging more was part of it - it's like journaling for a small audience. With pictures. Totally odd, and strangely satisfying.

I pray the homeless have found shelter and warmth for the wintry weather, and the wild animals are able to find food and warmth as well. I am blessed and thankful for heat, food, medication and a supportive family(as well as a gazillion other things - it would be tedious for everyone involved if I completed the list).

It snowed a few days ago & melted in the afternoon sun, but look at the beautiful branches, after the snow stopped falling:

Lovely. Yes?
Have a super Friday!
=^.^=

John and Mary, 1969

Mia Farrow and Dustin Hoffman are lovely in this tidy, and tight meditation on a one night stand. Shocking in its' day for its' casual approach on sex; I found it more surprising, in this day and age, that they decided to hang out together for the rest of the day. There was no walk of shame for either party.
Their desire to stay together eating, talking, touching, and revealing their emotions to one another after a brief sexual encounter was refreshing and sweet.
John and Mary is a quiet film, almost play like in its' simple atmosphere and stage direction, as well as the focus on dialogue as opposed to action.
I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a small, kind hearted look at free love in the late sixties.
Four stars.

Do you get to keep the tiny child?

Do you get to keep the tiny child? You could probably make a lot of money showing him off., originally uploaded by Lady Detektive.

I've been posting a lot of goodies from my vintage book and paper stash.

Come have a look!

There's much more on the way!

Dead Until Dark

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for vampire tales, due to my teenage crush on the vampire novels of Anne Rice. My tastes have grown more selective over the last seventeen years, and it is only on the rarest of occasions I find myself reading a mass market paperback. If a book is popular enough to appear at Target, more than likely, I won't be reading it.
Yes. I am a book snob.
Alas, I found HBO's first season of True Blood, fresh and exciting, and was completely drawn into creator Alan Ball's re-working of Dead Until Dark. I listened to his commentary on the first episode, and he spoke of the book with respect and genuine love.
I found a copy by chance at a thrift store and decided to see what the fuss was all about. I assumed if I loved the show, I would certainly find the book even better: richer, multi-layered and textured in a way that cannot translate from novel to screen. I was dead wrong.
I won't bore you or myself by rehashing the details of this silly little book. I can tell you, however, it's written in a simplistic style, the characters are one dimensional, and it contains the silly juvenile sex scenes of a bodice ripper.
I sped through the book; it's an easy, albeit, unenjoyable read, and I can see why and how a writer for television found it ripe for reinterpretation. There is so little development of plot and character, there is plenty of room to spice things up.
If I had to read one more description of Sookie's clothing or hair, I might have ripped the book in two and thrown it across the room. Reading Dead Until Dark was an absolute waste of my time. It has nothing new to offer the vampire genre, nor is it notable for any other quality. It's a bubble bath book at best. One dim star.
So far, I've been picking crummy books for my 2010 read-a-thon.
Here's to hoping the next one is better!

Waiting For The Morning Sky

Waiting For The Morning Sky, originally uploaded by Lady Detektive.

My apartment is up in the trees. When it snows, and the flakes cling to the branches, it looks a bit like a fairytale world. Then, of course, it stops, freezes on the roads, leaves my car in an icy grip, and all in all is a big fat pain in the hoo-hah.

My major frustration of the moment is: I need soy milk! I just drank a cup of tea without it. Yuk. So. Bitter. I'm also out of honey, and it's 4 o'clock in the morning. Why am I up? Stress. I'm completely freaked out right now and I can't rant about it here. It's inappropriate.

My car is covered in snow (I just peeked out into the dark, limply lit street). I won't know if I can make it down to the supermarket, until the light comes up. If it's too difficult to drive, I can walk the two miles to the store, but it also depends on the iciness of the ground. Oh snow! You're so pretty and so annoying.