known aliases: But the fire is so delightful

I've been wanting to write a new blog for quite some time, but I always end up way too tired. So now I'm forcing myself to stay awake a little longer. I've been really bad this year at blog posts. They're so few & far between. So here goes the abridged version of my December pre-blizzard. The first few weeks were mainly spent waking up super early (How did this happen??? I had just been working a month of night shifts & I am not not not a morning person!)... and sitting by the fireplace! I love love love having a fire when I'm home. My dad knows this & kept a fire going for practically 3 weeks. Holy moly! I didn't expect that. It wasn't even that cold outside but I will not complain! I was sitting there thinking about how much wood we burned though. It was a lot... a lot a lot a lot. We got a Christmas tree this year & that combined with the fire really started making me think about consumption of resources & blah blah, you see where I'm going. At least a lot of the wood we burned was from a tree that fell across the street. An extremely tall tree. Our Christmas tree turned out gorgeous. I had a little camera fun with the ornaments & lights.

Once my sleeping schedule drifted back to normal (for me, not you), the holidays fast approached... along with a lunar eclipse! I stayed up all night. I went outside from time to time, but alas, what promised to be a clear view soon was full cloud coverage. I did however get a couple shots off beforehand when my sister called me to come see the giant ring around the moon. Unfortunately I can't (or don't know how to) get a proper shot of the moon & see the surroundings with my point & shoot.

Later in the week I met one of my friends in NYC then later met a couple more friends for dinner. We walked Manhattan like no one's business (what does that even mean?) in freezing cold temperatures & high winds. We must be crazy! We walked around & saw all the NY Christmasy things, saw some awesome store decor, went to the MET to see some art but mostly pose for pictures with statues & then barely made our trains back home. I had 3 minutes to spare when I got on my train. Phew! I got excited to see more Monet paintings. If you ever have the chance to go to his home in Giverny, France - go. It's my favorite place on earth.