How do you know you're an adult?

I have found two clear lines:

1) Cool summer weather is not disappointing, but a blessing (especially when it falls on moving day). Doesn't matter to me if its 60 degrees out at night and the pool water is getting chilly. I haven't even been in a pool (well, a non-hotel pool) all summer. Or last summer. And weather in the 70s? OK!

2) You need movers. There is a point in everyone's life when its just not practical anymore to scrounge up friends/acquaintances/anyone you know who likes beer and pizza enough to haul boxes and furniture out of one apartment and into another. This point is clearly demarkated when said friends would hate you forever after spending their entire day on said move (especially when it involves two flights of steep, narrow stairs and a pretty substantial amount of furniture that has never seen a dorm room).

Hello late-20s.

insanity in the snow

I thought I was a little ridiculous this morning since, rather than waiting for the weather to pass, I left my apartment at 7:40 this morning to make it to the gym more or less in time for work (under the assumption that everyone would be a little late anyway). Then I saw a guy out running.

It was still sleeting a bit.
There's 3 inches of snow covered with a layer of ice on the ground.
Philadelphia appearently doesn't believe in snowplows.
I fell (and am admitting it) walking to campus wearing my snowboots.

How the HELL was he running?

I thought the people who've been out running the last couple of weeks were a little crazy. I admire their dedication -- and cold tolerance -- but I'll stay partial to the treadmill when conditions call for any gear commonly associated with snowsports. This guy though, running on ice with winddriven sleet pelting your face...that's not dedication, that's insanity...

brrrrrrr

It is incredibly cold.

Its currently 11 degrees here, with a windchill of 10 below. The high -- 19 degrees, with a wind chill of 3. Granted, I shouldn't be complaining. It was in the 50s until, oh, 3 week ago. And I could be in Madison or Ann Arbor, where the wind chill is another 10 degrees lower......and that's not going to happen.

So Mom, I think you'll be happy -- I've officially deleted the job/HR sites of Michigan and Wisconsin from my favorite places and will no longer be considering jobs in the upper-middle portion of the country, as appearently I am a huge pussy about the cold. (Also, side note, thank goodness for treadmills, or I wouldn't be getting any cardio exercise for quite some time, seeing as we're not forecast to break freezing until at least Friday).

Lets blame it on the 5 years I spent in Texas. Wind chills in the 40s don't even make the map!

(Also, side note #2: I just noticed the wind chill in central IL is 20 below. Moments like this I thank the heavens that I left my plant job -- I don't even want to think about spending the day working around the stills or --eek-- loadout (which was right on the river) in this kind of cold.)

brrrr

Ok, so its really not THAT cold outside.

But in comparision to the "winter" we've been having....we might as well be in Alaska. While I HATE the cold for the most part, I'm excited for two reasons (as my office has been hearing me discuss pretty much all month):
1) I would like to go snowboarding sometime this winter. And since I'm a poor graduate student, it needs to be on the east coast. Hence, we need the cold to allow for snow (or snow making).

(Now for the more exciting point)
2) I shut my window last night for the first time since that bizarrely cold day in December, before it hit 65 around Christmas. While I do like having fresh air and all, I don't like being forced to have it because the heat in my building is set at approximately 90. Seriously, with the window closed I can sit around in my skivvies when its 40 degrees out. Such a waste. I'd complain, but technically the place is a condo, so even if the heating costs drop, only my landlord might reap the benefits.

Also:
Stinks to live in the ice-covered parts...especially when you're in the south and a freeze is news, much less actual ice...
Really though, the most disturbing part about this article for me is that the strawberry crop may be damaged...sigh...

Almost the holidays

But alas, sure doesn't feel like it.

a) I'm sick. Its been coming and going for the past 4 or 5 days, and I think has firmly settled itself in my head. And neck. Basically I feel like my sinus cavities are going to explode. It's not too bad when I'm up and about, but when I go to bed (and I'm extra tired!) I can't breathe and it makes sleeping awkward. Major, major dry mouth. Yuck.

b) Its rather warm out. Like Christmas-in-Texas kind of warm. And its supposed to rain on Saturday and be around 50 all through Christmas (which stretches, sans gifts because I've gotten to old for the relatives, from Sat till Monday)...Weather.com insists north jersey has a 38% chance of a white Christmas, but I only have one in my memory of 25 years, so I think they're full of crap (unless a random flurry or snow on the ground counts).

c) I'm not done for the semester yet. This school has finals/class-&-papers-for-grad-students through Dec. 20. WHO PLANNED THAT?!? And we go back on Jan. 8!!

d) I haven't done any baking really. I'm hoping to reinstate my old tradition of cookie-trays for holiday functions this year (which means 4 trays, so around 6 batches of cookies)...Thurs and Friday I'll be in the kitchen. In the meanwhile, I'm going to remind myself what an awesome job I did on my first ever double-crust apple pie at Thanksgiving...