Finally. Some Frightful Weather.

At last.  Some snow in Denver.  Also, frigid temperatures.  Is winter finally here?

I finished that last semester, wrapped up some Christmas presents, and then whisked my children off to Idaho for five days so that we could see, enjoy, and love on our family there.  It was great--a truly fun and enjoyable trip--except that I didn't sleep the last two nights we were there, and we flew back into Denver early Christmas morning.  I sat in my jammies in our living room, sipping a cup of hot coffee and watching the kids tear into their presents in an exhausted and pleasant stupor.  I also tore into a few of my own presents, which were all wonderful.  I'm so tempted to take you on a tour of my gifts, but that seems a little...I don't know.  Suffice it to say I enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, all of them.  It was a wonderful day.

We're wrapping up the last week of Christmas break now and I'm finding it difficult to get serious about getting ready for next semester.  I have two new classes that need some serious attention.  My research partner, dear friend, and taskmaster Juan was in a serious skiing accident before Christmas, and I may need to step up my contributions to our shared projects as a result.  Eric and I are traveling almost every month for the next six months, independently, for work.

It's going to be a doozy.

And yet, here it is 9:30, an ungodly late hour of the morning, and I'm still in my jammies.  With absolutely no desire to get out of them.  This is unheard of for me, at least in my post-children life.

I...am...overcome...with...the...most...languorous...bit...of...laziness...I...have...ever...experienced.

And I don't want it to end.

Hmmm.  How can I bring a bit of this sweeter, gentler pace into my hectic spring schedule?  I think I'll imagine on that particular outcome for a while today.  Happy new year.

The Last Few Months in Cell Phone Photos

It's that time of year again.  Some or all of us may or may not be going out of town for the holiday (I don't like to say in case one of you pervies is casing our joint).  You're wondering where we're going.   It's somewhere fun, but not this fun:

Boy, that was fun.  I won't say where these were taken, because some people who are not pervies but who have a very big say in my professional future believe I should be working all the time and don't like to think about the fact that I might have gone on a vacation once.

Did I mention that Addie was the Statue of Liberty for Halloween?

What a cool little nerdlet.  Her whole school (which shall remain nameless, pervies) did a parade and so many kids who marched past her were enthralled with her costume.  They must have recently studied civics.  Either way, it was a big success.  Thank you $14.99 on eBay.

Skipping ahead a few holidays, here is a required shot with the North Polonskies:

See that smile Addie's doing?  That's her new fake smile.  It's a bummer.  It makes getting good pictures of her hard.  E. says the same about me.

Do I ever look like the same person twice?  And see the kids' faces in that one?  That's them being scared to death to meet Santa.  My children are anxious about meeting famous people.  But then they get over it and they act like they've known them forever, and fart on their laps.

And now, for the biggest news of all:  our family is skiing.  I won't tell you how much it cost to buy passes for everyone.  Okay, I will:  IT WAS ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS.  And that's not including the little bits of equipment that we needed to purchase and still need to purchase.  I get faint thinking about it.

We had our first day in the mountains on Sunday and I was so nervous because what if one of the kids refused to put her boots on?  Or refused to go out on the mountain?  Or refused to ski down, choosing instead to do that limp noodle thing?  That would be ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in the crapper.

Well, all of those things happened, and still by the end of the day both girls were skiing down the bunny slope and Addie even went on the chair lift once.  Nolie proclaimed from the magic carpet, "I LOVE skiing!  I'm going to ski all DAY!"

That was Addie in the green, there.  Not screaming and having a tantrum.  She's not Lindsay Vonn, but she's not pitching a fit, either.  Brilliant.

And E. and I got to snowboard and eat nachos and beer together.  Alone.

I'm not going to say all that was worth ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, but it was pretty close.  It was a beautiful, perfect day, I got to reunite with my sporty self, my husband and kids rose to the occasion, and we get to do it bunches more times this season.

Have a great holiday, my friends.  I hope to see some of you soon around the pool.

We Love It!

Crap.  I only have 10 days to get that article done before Christmas whacks us full on in the face, with travel to family and all that.  Confidence, take that.

Here's some nice scenes from around the house.

I like that Addie set up the nativity scene to make it seem like Baby Joysus was crowdsourced.

These figurines are so old and dirty they probably carry viruses that were only around when Baby Joysus was actually born.  Get the Lysol!

Our fully decorated tree.  Fully decorated thanks to my mother, who gave me Christmas ornaments every year of my life.  This seemed so completely lame when I was a teenager and in my twenties, but I'm grateful for them now.  Chalk one up to mom wisdom.

Note the Christmas ball, rather than angel, at the top.  E.'s atheist self would have a hissy fit if there was an angel there.  So I like whispering things like, "Honey, don't worry.  The angels are there even if we can't see them!"  He loves it!

My favorites get hung on the kitchen light.  E. loves it when I hang tchotchkes everywhere!  He loves it!

Although our singing/dancing cowboy Santa with the "Holly Jolly Christmas" tune is nowhere to be found this year.  Hmmm.

We all love Christmas, though.  We love it!

It Aint' Over

Is it too late to be sending out Christmas cards, on this 23rd day of January? Is it?

Santa Nolie says no.

So, look for one in your mailbox soon.