Your Foreign Correspondent

I am reporting from the wilds of the Chicago suburbs, sipping a latte and trying not to blow my nose so loudly as to gross out the other coffee shop patrons, but I know it's hopeless and they all hate me. Such is life. I'm not going to leave just as they put on the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, that's for damn sure.

I'm here in Chicago attempting to help my sister as she approaches the birth of her second child. I say "attempting" because I feel pretty useless most of the time... Mainly, I find myself playing with my niece a lot, as my poor sister gets burned out on reading her the same books and playing the same games over... and over... and over...

My niece will be two in May and is the cutest and sweetest little thing you ever did see -- except that she's just figuring out how to be verbal, and occasionally it's just easier to scream. I get it, sweetie, I get it. Sometimes I just want to scream to get my point across, too.

But I love being an aunt. I get to invent awesome games that she loves and make her laugh and play and have fun, all without having to make any of the big decisions or educate her or ever discipline her for anything!

My stay has no set end point, because it all depends on when that nephew of mine decides to show his face (likely by next week, we are told!). I work from home* so I don't need to be back by any certain date. Which is getting me lots of wonderful quality time with my sister, niece, and brother-in-law, and enables me to be here when they will most be in need of help, but I certainly am getting homesick, and not knowing when I will return makes it harder. I miss my husband, I miss my dog, I miss my -- friends? Do I have friends, now? I think I do, and I think I miss them! And... I miss my adoptive home. This is the third time I've gone away from Minneapolis since moving there in April, but it's the first time I've been able to think of it as home when I'm not there.

Chicago finally got its first snowfall of any significance, so it feels a little more like home now..!

Did you know that our dog Brian escaped the other day? He went for an adventure in sub-zero temperatures because somehow both of our front doors blew open and Dan was in the other room and didn't notice. Very luckily a kind stranger took pity on him and caught him after he was almost hit by a truck, and kept him safe and warm till Dan could come get him. Thank you, thank you, stranger. You have no idea how much that dumb little mutt means to us.

This afternoon I get to accompany my sister and niece to a toddler dance class. Apparently the little one gets a tutu to wear and gets really excited about it. Oh lord, the cuteness.


*Although I technically work from home, it's kind of not going so well -- see how I came to a coffee shop to work, and instead I wrote a blog entry? That's pretty much how working from home has been going for me. And other work bullshit that I don't care to address. And probably we won't be able to pay our rent and will be evicted onto the street and everything will be ruined forever, the end. Or, perhaps more likely, we'll scrape by till I can get my act together (...) or find a new job (yes!).

Those Days In Between Christmas and New Years

I thought that the holidays this year were going to be difficult. I miss my family down in Florida, and we couldn't afford to go back so soon. I assumed that Thanksgiving and Christmas would only heighten my loneliness.

Instead, I found myself feeling grateful to have a family that can make me feel special and loved from halfway across the country. And so happy with the life that we are slowly building for ourselves here. We had wonderful friends to host us for both holidays. They weren't the same as they had always been, but isn't that why we came?

And the snow..! It is just stunning and the fun of it is not yet losing its appeal for me, even though I can barely keep my balance on the ice, and even though my husband almost died this morning when he spun out and crashed into the guard rail. He would say I am melodramatic, but I am not. I knew as soon as he was ten minutes late this morning that he was in a ditch somewhere, and he was.

The car does not look awesome, but he is fine, so who cares.

I learned to knit this month! I've knit four dishcloths and am moving on to a scarf! And otherwise accomplished very little. Almost nothing, really. But I did mail my Christmas presents on time.

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I am uncertain of my place in the world, as a socially awkward woman who appears to be motivated neither by children nor by career. I am unsure of what I am doing with this blog. It seemed clear, once, and now it doesn't.

But it's snowing, and right now I think I would rather go forth and spend money I do not have on gifts nobody needs. A full week of moping about the house seems quite enough, thank you.

Do you even know how many drafts I have saved up in here? I don't know how to share myself.

Alien

Dan will be in Florida until Tuesday. He left for the airport about an hour ago, and I am already lonely.

Do you ever wonder whether or not you may be an alien? Like, does it ever seem as though everyday things that other people seem to manage so easily -- socializing, making friends, going to bars, being in public, saying hello, bonding with other people --  feel so foreign and strange to you and it is just possible you might not actually be a human?

.... me neither.

On the plus side, it would appear that Dan is taking the heat back down with him.

I don't know what I'm so excited about, though. There is a snow shovel in the basement, but I do not know how to use it. Where do you put the snow? And the City website for trash collection said you have to dig a three foot path (or something like that) but if you put them out the night before might they not get buried anyway?!

This should be fun.

My Blanket Fort

I have built a miniature blanket fort in my bed. All this really means is I pulled a light blanket over my head and laptop, so as not to awaken my sleeping spouse. The blanket is light, so the carbon dioxide won’t accumulate and result in my untimely death. My blanket fort is admittedly half-assed, but still the greatest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve been meaning to build a blanket for for ages.

Snow Watch 2012 is officially in full swing. There were flurries today, and there were flurries about two weeks ago. I took a lovely cold walk and got snowed on and almost died of happiness. Prior to that: several hours of Roller Coaster Tycoon. After that: wrote some words on my novel.

In summation: a wonderful day.

The novel progress is slow and steady. Yesterday, I was woefully behind until I attended a Top Secret Write In, and I managed to write over six thousand words. Huzzah!