Snow!

It may come as some surprise to those down in Tucson, but snow is real. It's not just some white paint they've thrown over the top of Mount Lemmon... No! It's a real, genuine thing and it is COLD.

Three or four nights ago, I woke up (well, okay, I hadn't gone to bed yet) in the middle of the night to some strange noise. Sleet, actually, as I was told later. It left a white frost over everything, which was kind of cool, but it wasn't really what I was expecting snow to be.

That came later.

The next night it snowed. It actually snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed... and in a couple hours, everything was covered. In fact, that same night, my flatmates and I went out about two a.m. and made a snowman - my FIRST snowman in my FIRST real snow! It was incredibly exciting and finger-numbingly beautiful. Ice does, in fact, twinkle, and snow does, in fact, glitter.


But it's cold. It's -3C here, which is something like 21F... that is an unheard of temperature in Tucson. I'm learning to layer - today I went out in a turtleneck, then a hoodie, with a fur-lined jacket on top, along with two pairs of leggings and what I call my "Ice Princess" skirt.

I did have to find appropriate footwear. That was probably the most difficult thing. I have strangely muscular calves (I blame waitressing), so most boots do not fit me. But boots are sort a necessity here... so, I used up all of my Mum's Hannukah gift, plus a little bit of my own money, to get the most amazing pair of Rocket Dogs EVER. They are warm (yes!), waterproof (yesss!), and lace-up... so they fit my calves (triple yes!!!). Plus, they're kind of adorable. And now I can literally JUMP into the snow and kick it about without worrying about cold toes or wet jeans!

Don't forget to take a look at my Norwich in Winter album on Facebook (link at the side)! There are some fun photos of our snowman, plus some images of what Norwich looks like covered in white.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Sorry about the delay here - weekend in London distracted me from finishing the Thanksgiving story!

Arriving with the turkey brought on a huge cheer from the hungry flatmates. After unwrapping her from the towels and foil, I think there was a moment of shock for people at how big it was. Finally done with my contribution (someone else was given the job to carve!), I was able to take some time and see what the other flatmates had made. There was everything! Of course, Lois and I had done the cranberries, but there was stuffing, gravy, rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, and more.

As Liam carved the turkey, I patted myself, Lois, and Lochlainn on the back. It was beautiful. Moist, delicious, and an incredible attempt for a first Thanksgiving. I think we were all sort of shocked at how perfect it came out, but that was okay. =D Better to be shocked that it was good than the other direction!

We gorged. We thanked. And then came dessert and we gorged again (as I told the story of Thanksgiving and two of the drama students acted it out). No pumpkin pie, unfortunately, but apple cobbler, fruit crisp, mince pies, and a special surprise of See's Candies chocolate turkeys (yum!). It was a perfect Thanksgiving, though I admit it was hard without having my family around.

France photos are posted (link on the sidebar to the Facebook album!), and I'll be talking about my trip to Camden Market/Covent Garden soon!