Well, it's actually more of a "snowstorm caused branches to break which in turn caused power outages that canceled school" kind of snow day, but that's a bit too long for a title. We got snow in October and in some areas it was bad enough for the schools to lose power, so I had time to relax at home.
We came home from the BU hockey game to this:
On our Sunday morning walk with Emma,
it definitely looked like winter.
After sealing some more windows,
my snow day was begging for some crafting.
My centerpiece pumpkins are almost done!
It's so nice to have an unexpected day off to do homework and craft. With this early snowstorm, I'm anticipating (or praying for) a winter full of them!
This is so ridiculously exciting!! Today I got a random envelope in the mail from Dad. I open it and just guess what I found out? The best book ever written has an iPhone app! Shut up!!! I love it!!!! (Guess what makes it better - he sent me the voucher so I could download it for free!)
This is my favorite book. Ever. Dad used to read it to me and it is hilarious! I can't believe that they turned it into an app! And it isn't just a book, you get to take apart the string, and the wood, and break the brick wall. Awesome!! Amit was fighting me over who got to touch the string. Looks like this will be the app that breaks my no technology for the kids rule! (At least when Grandpa isn't around to read the story.)
Thanks for sending this, Dad!!! Looks like I have a new app to play with - forget games, this is so much better! Here's the teacher side of me coming out: they even have a button to press in the corner of certain pages, so you can start discussions with your kids based on the book. AWESOME!!
While Amit was up in Keene, since there was no internet access and it was too early in the season for our favorite shows, he found himself doing a lot more reading. A LOT. He found some books at a bookstore near his dental office, so we've been adding to our library. We were driving around on Friday and saw a sign at the Needham Library advertising their semi-annual book sale. Since Amit is now obsessed with reading, he decided we had to go. So we did. We ended up buying nine books for $9! What a great deal! We're heading back tomorrow afternoon since books are 50% tomorrow. Looks like we'll need to build some more bookshelves when we move to our new destination.
Can you guess which one is meant for Emma?
I think she likes it!
I got a book by Temple Grandin, which I am SO excited to read.
Amit bought a lot of other good looking books.
I found two vintage Winnie the Pooh books, which I was psyched about.
And the highlight? An old children's book about a fat kid who visualizes a gorilla and
somehow that makes him not like junk food and lose weight. Hilarious!
I also read this great article on CNN by one of Amit's favorite authors, James Patterson. I think he makes a great point - just read what interests you, then try to branch out a little. Looks like I'll be printing this and adding it to my teaching bag of tricks. Now go read:
Both the backyard and the neighborhood are covered with branches and leaves that were blown all over yesterday. Lucky for me, Emma decided to help me with the local clean-up effort.
If she keeps this up, our backyard will be free of sticks by the weekend!
Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit Boston, so unfortunately it has just been a windy, rainy, gloomy day. The news showed clips of the surf, which was pretty impressive, but since we no longer live on the coast, our day has been rather boring.
The wind forecast for Needham from Saturday:
Here is a video to give you an idea of the wind and rain:
Since we were stuck inside all day, we decided to bake the best chocolate chip cookies ever! Thanks to Mel for sharing the recipe with us.
In my early birthday present - I love my apron!
Watching the rain, while eating a cookie Amit was in heaven.
Mmm.. Warm cookies!
You have to be creative when bored and stuck indoors. Amit decided to mimic Emma when I came out of the kitchen - hilarious!
That's about all the excitement that's been happening in our town today. Can't wait for the sun to come back!
Well, so I hear. New England felt the effects of Virginia's earthquake yesterday afternoon. Sad to say, I was sitting on the couch next to our snoozing baby and felt nothing. Emma didn't even open her eyes. I got a text from Amit that said "earthquake!" and I replied "what"? He said they all felt an earthquake and that even the pictures were moving, so I went online and sure enough, we felt the tremors here in Boston. Gotta love Facebook and it's fast updates!
This is now the second earthquake that I haven't felt, but Amit has - the first one was in Schaumburg back when we were in high school. I think it was late at night, so of course I was probably sound asleep.
I checked my e-mail this morning and found this from our local website. Turns out that probably half of Needham felt it and the other half didn't. Crazy!
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to recently. Let me know if you notice a theme...
Watching TV one night.
We were cat-sitting Ellie for Seth and Kirsten this past week.
The two of them are starting to get along, some of the time.
Napping after getting home from the wedding.
Emma was exhausted from all the playing at the dog-sitter's house.
By the end of the week,
they would even sleep in the same position!
Since I am done with my summer semester and Amit is just on his externship, we've been doing a lot of relaxing. I guess when we go for hikes and walks in the heat, we're allowed to veg on the couch? That's going to be my excuse. Now that this post is done, back to relaxing...
So we were getting ready to eat dinner tonight and Amit looked out the window and saw this rainbow. The picture doesn't do it justice, just wanted to blog about it. We thought it was so cool - first rainbow of the year.
Even though there wasn't a pot of gold at the bottom,
it looked like it ended right by one of the islands...
So I technically started this New Year's resolution before 2010 came around, but I haven't done a very good job of blogging this January. I can't believe it is almost February now! I do have a good reason for not blogging though, we have spent the beginning of 2010 with several trips and fun outings. I promise I will make up for my blogging laziness!
I'm not really one to make New Year's resolutions. I'd rather make a well-planned decision to make a change whenever I decide to do it. That being said, I figured January would be a good month to let you know some of our plans for 2010.
One fun resolution that we have is to blog more about what Amit is learning and doing at BU. Hiking story after hiking story is only fun for so long. I'm going to relinquish (a little) control and let him fill you all in on what his classes are all about. (Expect a very interesting blog in August about the first time he works on my teeth in the clinic!!)
Amit's personal resolution is to hike Mount Washington. We got about half-way there this summer with Mom and Nate, so he is planning to get to the summit by this summer. The boys have been talking about doing some smaller mountains during the winter, so all of us girls will enjoy some down time in the warmth of somewhere else!
My resolution? It is made up of a lot of little ones. Besides wanting to exercise more often, I want both of us to eat healthier. I'm making Amit cut out deli meats and canned soups (both have way too much sodium for him). We try to cut down on the number of premade dinners we buy; it is much healthier to make everything from scratch when you can control what goes into it. I also want to cut out high fructose corn syrup entirely, which so far we're doing a decent job of. My biggest vice is artificial sweeteners, so it is going to take a lot of dedication and effort to cut those out. I hope that by next year I will be sweetener free! (That will mean giving up my diet coke, yikes!)
The biggest diet change for us is a rather lofty goal, but one that I think I can meet. By next year, I hope to only be buying free-range beef and chicken, with no added hormones. I'm not sure how easy or affordable it will be, but it is part of my hopes to "go natural," at least in terms of food.
I think that's enough blabbing for now. I will definitely blog about our progress, hopefully all good blogs. Any one else have any interesting resolutions?
Wondering what we do in a wonderful city like Boston on a Saturday night? Me too!
Since the boards are so close (November 30 - pray that day!), our weekends are remarkably like the weekdays... We find something fun to do every weekend, but most evenings consist of the following:
Amit studying his dental decks, which are HUGE, its unbelievable how much they are expected to know! He also spends time studying old lecture notes and his study guide for the boards.
So what do I do to kill time? Well, sometimes I watch TV, but mostly I read, surf the internet, scrapbook with our wedding photos, work on our blog (like right now!), but I do have a new hobby.
I'm teaching myself how to knit! I have no idea how it will turn out, but hopefully I can figure it out on my own. ;-)
So we got the rest of the Halloween pictures from Melissa... Bad news. Amit has his eyes closed in EVERY photo! Take a look -
At least I looked cute!!! Amit was a very handsome cowboy, though... even with his eyes closed.
