I have returned from Florida. Not a moment too soon apparently since it seems to have waited until the exact moment my plane touched down at O'Hare to start snowing...again. It finally stopped this morning sometime. I turned sideways on my way to work this morning and the SUV that was following too close (and with a window covered in snow) had to turn into a large snowbank on the side of the road to avoid hitting my sidewaysness. Thanks for not hitting me, you tailgater!

Florida is nice. We were only there for two full days and a little extra, but it was a nice relief from the weather and the roads and the lack of Chik-Fila that we have here in Chicago. I got to eat Cajun food and seafood and all things delicious that make Pensacola yummy. I also got to see a few of the folks that still manage to live in Pensacola. I doubt I will ever be able to find a job in a place like Pensacola. Unless I am a lawyer (I'm not) or a manual laborer, it's probably not going to happen any time soon.

We did experience a rare event on Sunday afternoon. All of us were sitting on the front porch of my parents house and two of us saw something "fall" out of the palm tree in the yard. We thought it was maybe tree debris since that happens a lot. But then it MOVED. Granny, Dad and me investigated and it was a little bitty bat. It appeared to be stunned from the fall, but it was still breathing. Dad used a big stick and the little guy held on to the stick while Dad moved it across the street to a more bat-friendly tree. Hopefully the little guy is eating bugs tonight! I have developed a cough overnight so hopefully I wasn't exposed to something nasty. I hear they can harbor some nasty stuff.

Watched the Oscars this weekend, of course. I was kind of glad I ended up staying in Pensacola another night since I hadn't programmed the show to record at home. It wasn't a very exciting show, but a few of my faves won awards and that's nice. I don't see nearly as many movies at the theatre as I used to so some of the movies I had not had a chance to see.

Scarlett Johansson told me I should cut my hair last night. We were chatting about things and then she just got a pair of scissors out and chopped off the front right lock of hair from my head. This page about scissors and dreams is interesting. I do not know Scarlett personally of course. I know no one really famous. I know of famous people through various ways and other folks. I am a few degrees of separation from some interesting folks. No one in my family is famous. No one in my family is infamous either. I'm thankful for both of those.

I finally saw "Walk the Line" this past weekend. M watched it with me. I was surprised by that. We also watched "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." I remembered bits and pieces of it from when I was a kid, but that is a darn good movie. I had always heard that part of the movie was filmed in Mobile, AL but even I was a little hesitant to believe that. Well, turns out that as far as I can tell, it's true!

I recently bought a gently used poster from the NYC Transit Museum.

I wish I had waited and got the one of Coney Island. It is gorgeous!


But I think the Hand one will be a great addition to our living room that has desperately needed something more personal since we moved in over two years ago!

No one seemed to notice that I used the wrong word to describe atmospheric events: whether instead of weather.
Either the snow is getting in my brain or I should turn in my English degree. For whatever it's worth, I am leaving the typo so everyone can see my brain functioning in true form.

I had that common dream this morning where I am getting my towel and getting ready for my shower and picking out clothes, brushing my teeth, etc. Then I wake up and realize I have to do it all over again even though I just did it all in my dream. I hate that.

Also wanted to say that I was saddened to hear that one of my favorite actors passed away this weekend: Roy Scheider. He didn't just kill sharks...

It is snowing again this morning.
This is after Wednesday when we were sent home from work and my Vibe got unceremoniously stuck in my own driveway. A foot of snow will do that to a Vibe. I had three of the men from the neighborhood help me get it unstuck. It would probably still be there is it wasn't for them.
I took pictures that you can see on our Flickr page.
On another Flickr note, I've added a bunch of older pictures to the Asia Set. Mostly of Hong Kong from Thanksgiving 2006. They were sitting in limbo due to my laziness and the fact that they mark the last official trip we took with the film camera.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you are. Don't call me telling me about nice whether wherever that may be either.

Mardi Gras Mambo everybody!
I truly miss Mardi Gras - the Gulf Coast version. Since moving away to the cold, dark north, I have been bombarded with bombastic cries of, "Oh yes, today is Shrove Tuesday" and invites to celebratre something called Pancake Day. There are also apparently these Polish cream-filled doughnuts called push-keys (spelled paczki). Give me what I grew up with: a big, sugary, slightly gaudy King Cake, a parade and some women who are flashing for beads. New Orleans needs to survive and re-build if only to show the rest of the world what a celebration truly is.

I did a little research about today and how it is celebrated around the world. Here area a few of my faves:
*In Sweden they eat sweet buns filled with whipped cream and almond paste.
*In Hawaii it is called malasada day and they eat, you guessed it, malasadas. These are a Portuguese doughnuts that we enjoyed on the Big Island of Hawaii when we visited.
*In Iceland they eat salt meats and peas.

Today is also Super Tuesday. Martin and I made a special trip to the elementary school (our polling place) to vote. We even got up early! I hope everyone has voted in their primary and voted for who they think will be the best nominee, no matter what your affiliation.