Supergirl on Ice

We got another huge snowstorm on Sunday, and for this one, I was home and cozy. When the snow let up, we ran outside to make a snowman and shovel the walk and driveway (we had heard there'd be a nice coating of ice on things after the snow died down). I made a cute snowman, but failed to take his picture before the overnight rain melted him down. He had a good life, though...

We pulled a California and skipped our organizing meeting for Obama's campaign to stay inside and cozy. We're not so political that we brave snow and ice for political organizing; plus, we figure maybe we should wait to get involved until they are already organized!

We're thinking about training Seeing Eye dogs, assuming that our knowledge that we'll be here at least another year and a half is enough certainty to take on the responsibility of socializing a puppy for about that long. I go to orientation Saturday to learn more.

I've already slipped on ice once this winter (I believe everyone should have the experience at least once, ideally without injury), on the campus green with no one around--it was more entertaining than anything else, but I had a less happy spill on Tuesday. I was on my morning run, and stopped to pet a darling dog, who looked like a cross between a Bloodhound and a Wiemeraner. I was so distracted by the dog and by the fact that I was blocking a car trying to turn onto the street I was in the middle of, that when I resumed running, I didn't see the sheet of ice on the sidewalk. When I spotted it, I was already on it, falling forward. I fell on my face (naturally, during the morning commute on a busy street), picked myself up, and skulked off to a side street to survey the damage. It was nowhere near as bad as one fall I took in Golden Gate Park, when I destroyed my walkman and scared a small child (I was bleeding), but it was embarrassing. The only casualty was my wedding ring, which now has some divots in it that I'm going to have to discuss with a jeweler. This would be one of the reasons I don't have bling on my wedding ring--I'm too accident-prone. I continued on my merry way, and discovered a lovely new neighborhood, so I deem the run a success, despite one minor setback along the way.

Yesterday's big news was the purchase of new ice skates. When I skated seriously, in elementary and junior high school, my parents invested in some high-quality figure skates that I continued to wear into high school. However, at that point, I had quit skating seriously, and as I outgrew the skates, I decided I wasn't going to be doing much beyond skating in circles for the rest of my life. I replaced my beauties with lower-end skates and discovered how much I missed jumping blades, arch support, and ankle padding. I've been skating on those skates for at least ten years now, and now that I live in the ice skating capital of the world (or something like that) and am skating regularly, I decided it was time to get grown-up skates. These will be the skates I'll wear for the rest of my life, so they'd better be what I really want.

I cleverly, yet unintentionally, chose to shop at the end of the season, so when I walked into The Pond Pro Shop, I was delighted to see that the skates were all half-price! I had to wait a bit for two men who'd driven all the way up from Baltimore to buy hockey skates to make their purchases, and consulted one of them on the best figure skates to buy for his wife. A very knowledgeable UD hockey player helped me with my purchase, heating the skates in the oven so they'd mold to my feet, punching out some padding that was pinching, and talking music with me. I walked out with brand-new, high-end figure skates that I can't wait to skate in! I'd better get on it, because the synchronized skating season starts up again soon! The only bummer of the trip was that I didn't spot Johnny Weir, who trains at The Pond, but I hope to get to see him skate soon.

In other exciting news, one of my former students mailed me a copy of an article by Eric Schmitt of the New York times, signed by the man himself. I think I'm going to frame it.

It's sunny, and spring is coming!