Stranded

The last time it snowed like this was Valentines Day Weekend 2003. I remember this because I went to Johnstown for my friend, Jodi's wedding shower and got stranded there for days until I could get back to Maryland. Maryland at that time was under a state of emergency and I barely made it back. I drove straight to work only to find that I was the only one who had showed up from my department.

So six years later, circumstances are different. I was supposed to stop at the grocery store for much-needed groceries on Friday after work, but Claire's dad flaked out once again and didn't show up to pick her up, so I had to rush up from downtown to get her before the daycare closed. She is very difficult to shop with, and I was still assured her dad would be there later, so I took her home for the night. Well, of course, he never showed and we spent the weekend with the barest of necessities. Until last evening at 6, I hadn't eaten since the morning the day before. She was eating applesauce cups and cheese slices, and I was stranded inside of an apartment with no shovel and no help in sight.

Fast forward to today. Claire is safely with her dad in Bethesda. I had asked if he could pick up a shovel for me at the store so I could shovel myself out, and he showed up, no big surprise, with no shovel. I attempted to dig my car out last evening with the lid of a Rubbermaid container, but I quickly grew numb and the snow is piled at least three to four feet all around my car, especially where the snow plow plowed me in behind me.



So today I'm sitting at home, unable to get to work unless I spend the money I don't have for a taxi, still with no shovel and unable to find one.

I do try to remain positive. My friend at work insists that I should be open to the universe, convinced good things will happen and they will. I guess my 36 years as a cynic have made me guffaw at that. The new storm is predicted for...of course...Christmas Eve, so the reality is my child will not be with me for Christmas, she'll be with her dad, and I will be in this apartment with no cable (cable boxes have never been replaced...who has time to go to White Marsh when I work full time?), and no family, no gifts to give my sweet child, and probably still snowed in.

Through the years, I have always treasured Christmas as my very favorite time of year. Slowly but surely, I join the ranks of the other "Bah, Humbugs" out there and just can't wait until it's over.

A Different Kind of Christmas

This year is going to be a different kind of Christmas for Claire and I. It has been a difficult year with losing my job, and I'm still getting back on my feet.

So this year there is no tree and no gifts, at least not in time for Christmas Day. Keeping up with bills has taken most of what I have, but I honestly feel very blessed because my bills ARE paid, I have no credit card debt, and my daughter can continue attending a daycare I am honestly thrilled with.

I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition this past Sunday, and they featured (as a side story) some children living in a rough section of Erie, PA, whose bedrooms were in shambles. Many didn't have a bed to sleep on. Ty and his team blessed them each with a beautiful new bedroom, and these children were in many cases reduced to tears.

Talk about putting things into perspective! I tuck my child in at night into a beautiful crib under warm blankets, her humidifier running thanks to electricity, her body warmed by clean, well-fitting pajamas, a sippy cup of clean water with her if she wakes up thirsty. I call and speak to my family on a working phone, eat hot food for dinner, and take hot showers with clean water.

So even though funds are limited, I felt it was God's will that I should adopt an "Angel" from the Salvation Army. I have normally always adopted a child. This year I decided to adopt a senior. I thought about how cold and lonely the holidays must be for someone older, often with no family at all and no income. I chose an 81-year-old man living in Indiana, PA. He just wanted a sweatshirt and a new cover for his bed. I think there was a hand at work behind the scenes, because I found these items extremely marked down, and the items are on their way to the Salvation Army. I hope this brings some peace and joy to this man for Christmas.

No, we aren't celebrating the usual customs of Christmas that I've always known, but I hope to pass on the spirit of giving to others to Claire, and there is no gift that can match that.

City Love

I left work yesterday a bit later than usual. Claire's dad had picked her up from daycare already, and I wasn't in my usual daily sprint for the 5:27 pm train. So I left the office around 6 pm. The city was a little quieter, a little darker at this time.

For a brief moment, the cars must have all been at red lights and the usual hoards of bustling, purposeful people not yet to where I was walking. All at once it was completely still. In the cold, crisp air I could see my breath in foggy puffs, and I looked up. The whole city glittered. I studied the beautiful old architecture of the buildings, some still bearing their original names from days long past. I observed the different heights and colors of the surroundings and the sparkle of the street lights. My mind flashed back to a time as a little girl when this is what I imagined. Kara, a grown up, in the city. Kara presenting the 2010 marketing plan to her investment management firm (which is exactly what I did that day), and Kara running to the cafe for a drink (and I only had to look backward to see the Au Bon Pain just a short few steps from my building).

And then in the next moments, the traffic lights turned green, the people rounded the corner onto my street, and the surreal moment was in the past. But I kept smiling, because in a year where a life was dashed, where hope was pulled from my secured footing, I realize I'm exactly where my 12-year-old mind dreamed I'd be. In the office. In the city. In the dream.

And sometimes dreams take us to places we weren't expecting, and you realize that your plan would have been completely meaningless but for those things that happened just as they should...



I hope, my little love, that you too have dreams one day that come true beyond your greatest expectations.

In My Absence...

I'm guilty of Uninspired Syndrome. I haven't blogged in forever because I've been tired and unmotivated. I'm hoping the spark will return soon.

In the interim, I found these plates/bowls on etsy and am IN LOVE!

Snuffy

I want a Snuffleupagus for Christmas
Only a Snuffleupagus will do
Don't want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy
I want a Snuffleupagus to play with and enjoy

I want a Snuffleupagus for Christmas
I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you?
He won't have to use our dirty chimney flue
Just bring him through the front door,
that's the easy thing to do

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
creeping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what surprise
when I open up my eyes
to see a Snuffy hero standing there

I want a Snuffleupagus for Christmas
Only a Snuffleupagus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses
I only like Snuffleupaguses
And Snuffleupaguses like me too!

The Infinite Spin Cycle

The longest wash-rinse-spin-dry cycle ever recorded in history occurred at Willow Bend yesterday, while we anxiously awaited the completion of the cleaning of the beloved Blank-et.

"Blank-et?"

"It's in the washing machine, honey."

[Thirty-seven seconds pass]

"Blank-et?"

"Still in the washer, Claire."

[Dramatic pause of 5.3 seconds.]

"MOMMY, BLANK-ET!!! MOMMY, BLANK-ET!!! MOMMY, BLANK-ET!!!"

And approximately 56 years later (or so it felt), Blank-et emerged, clean and fresh...well, at least for the next five minutes.

The End.

Maclaren Recall

Recall of Maclaren strollers...I don't have one, but posting it in case anyone else might...