Winter Wonderland

Meet a West Ashley snow couple!

You know that storm that left 14 inches of snow in some parts of Texas this week? Well it was kind enough to drop a little on Charleston on its way out to sea. It started sleeting around 5:30pm and had turned to snow in an hour. We took Connor for a walk in the snow before his bath. Then after he went down we watched the snow and the opening ceremonies to the Olympics. Tom headed off to bed and I was cleaning up the dinner dishes when the power went off a little after 10pm. It was out until some time after 2am. When Connor and I got up this morning the whole neighborhood was a flutter with kids and adults playing in the snow. Tom tells me there were several neighborhood snowmen on his way home. You can see in the pictures that they cleared a yard making walls of snow to have a snowball fight. Evan and Mariesa from across the street stopped by to take my snow. Evan informs me that it hasn't snowed in Charleston in 10 years. He's only 7, but I'll take his word for it.

I only hope our poor daffadils make it! They have not had a good life at our house. I bought them at Costco in the Summer of '08 and they sat in the garage until March '09. When we finally planted them, along with the tulips that had suffered the same fate, the daffadils never came up - though the tulips did. We were shocked to see them popping up last week and now they have been hit with overnight snow and temperatures in the 20's. You can see them under the tree in the frist picture below.

My nights with Harry...

I got a bit of a shock today. It involved Harry. We've been meeting every evening for a few months now. I'm talking about Harry Potter. Along Hermoine and Ron and the whole gang.
Tom had started slurping them up soon after Potter fever struck 'Tweens around the world. I think it was when book three came out that Tom jumped on the band wagon. Then as each subsequent book was released I would buy it for Tom and he would crack it open and not set it down until he was finished. He'd forgo getting dressed or getting sleep. If he had to work he'd go, otherwise he was hanging with Harry and the rest of the world be damned. That's just how Tom is. It's like Tom with water at restaurants. His glass is empty before the wait staff has filled another and he wants more... more! He'll latch onto something and he can't get enough. This has caused more then a few problems between us. He's the same way with video games. His current obsession is Eve. He can't wait for me to leave town so he can sit and play unencumbered when he isn't at work. He wanted me to get into Eve so we could play together. He has never quite grasped that if he isn't living in the real world and doing all the real world things that need doing, then I have to. This means I don't have time for video games. We tried it with Age of Empires, it really did not work.
I had never read the Harry Potter books. I had gone along happily enough to all of the movies, but I was always reading something else. I've been shocked at how dark the last few movies have been. To scary for J. K Rawlings readers I thought. Tom assured me the books were just as dark. Since Connor was born, I've been slowly working my way through the books. I just finished "The Half-Blood Prince" last night. I'm not nearly as fast a reader as Tom. I started off reading to Connor as I nursed him off to bed at night. I also reread "The Time Travelers Wife" like this. Then as Connor became more aware of the books behind him and every night this became more of a tug-o-war, I changed to reading while I pumped and reading before bed. I really want to get back to reading to Connor so I have a fall back bedtime ritual when the time comes for weaning, but it's as though that little hand has a mind of its own, then he gets more wired than relaxed.
I have been trying to get through the series in time for the release of the last movie. I was positive I had seen a commercial saying it would be out at the end of this month. I hadn't seen anything since though. So I went looking today and low and behold Part I of the Deathly Hallows won't be out until November and Part II in July 2011! I already said I'm not a fast reader, but I think I could reread the series before November. Oh well! I'll definitely be done before the next movie is released!
I really wish we were still in Portland to see it though. I've really been missing the McMinnamins pubs. It would be so great to see Harry Potter at the Kennedy School, sitting in the old auditorium eating Pizza while sitting on antique furniture. Somewhat Hogwarts-esqu.
Tom and I have really been missing Dim Sum as well. There is none here in Charleston. We so hope that Connor continues to be an easy kid to feed and we want to expose him to new flavors to get him a taste for them now. He's already had a little Indian. I really don't want him to be a burgers, fries and chicken fingers kid. I actually saw an ad in one of our local parents magazines tonight for a free kids meal at McDonald's (burger, cheeseburger or nuggets with fries and a soft drink) with the purchase of an adult mean on certain nights of the week. I was shocked. I honestly hope that Connor rarely if ever eats at McDonald's. I only eat there as an absolute last resort (I'm starving and on the road and nothing else is open.) If I have my way, he won't drink soda until he's in college (preferably never.)
I borrowed a book from the library called "Hungry Monkey" and it was written by a dad who wanted to raise an adventurous eater. The author was living in Seattle but had lived in Portland and mentioned Hot Lips Pizza and referred to a few other of our Portland favorites. It made me homesick for Portland. Or maybe just Hot Lips. We are asked frequently if we will be going back there when Tom is done. We don't know. It depends what jobs are available. I honestly don't know if I miss Portland, or the IDEA of Portland. I went through this same thing when we left Boston. I still miss Boston, but I don't' know that I would want to live there again. Guess I'll have to go back and visit, both, a lot - maybe that will help me decide!