Blizzards & Blogging…making the best of a snowy situation and avoiding cabin fever

Wow, has it really been over two weeks since my last post???  Sorry, kids…between finishing up my grad project (got an “A”, thank you), holiday craziness, etc. , the time there seemed like it was slip-sliding away for a bit.

Until now, that is.

Winter Wonderland, my ass.

The Blizzard of 2010 (the post-Christmas Nor’easter which dumped over 30″ of snow on the Jersey Shore) has caused most New Jersey residents to take an extended pause.  Three days after the Boxing Day Blizzard (cute, huh?), it’s still terrible out there.  Major NJ highways are still closed due to abandoned cars that hindered snow plowing efforts.  Many residential streets are also not plowed, and some residents are still affected by power outages.   Grocery stores and gas stations are also affected due to delivery trucks being unable to make the daily rounds.

I am thankful to say that my family and I are not among those poor souls without power or food.  (That would be bad.)  Over the past three days, we have shoveled out half of our long driveway – enough for a one car-width path to back out to the street.  With my OCD personality, I calculated that we moved about a ton of snow…maybe more (think about a 10-lb scoop of snow and multiply that by 200 scoops…trust me, I was keeping track.)  And, I probably burned as many calories as a one-hour spin class!

It hasn’t been that bad, a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.  (Except if I see one more Eyewitness News people-on-the-street interview of oblivious Upper West Siders who think the snow is “marvelous, we took baby Sophie for her first sleigh ride in Central Park..isn’t that a novelty har har”, I may puke.

My Mink Coat and Ski Mask shoveling ensemble. The Michelob hat adds a nice touch. Too much?

Our Non-Jersey Girl dons “Jeggings” – fashion crime does not ensue (?)

This year for me has been all about major life changes (no, no, not that kind of life change…I’m only in my early 30’s.)  At times some of it was great…at times some of it was awful beyond comprehension…and at times some of it was truly triumphant.

"When it's time to change, you've got to re-arrange" - Peter Brady

I’ve had enough change this year to make Linda Blair’s (from the Exorcist) head turn 180 degrees and vomit pea soup. I’ve had to stop a lot along the way to re-evaluate myself, my goals, and where the next direction will take me.  And I’ve also had to re-learn how to breathe.

I think many women in a life-changing situation go through this internal reflection period, as well as a literal makeover. As Peggy Lee once crooned, “I’ve got to go wash that man out of my hair.”  It’s a cleansing process.  A re-affirmation of self.  Plus it just makes you feel good.

And little by little, I’ve been doing just that.  I had my long hair cut into a funky, edgy bob.  I treated myself to a new Bobbi Brown holiday makeup palette, and have been mastering the art of creating the perfect, sexy  “smoky eye” and mascara’ing my already long lashes to Lady Gaga lengths.  I got serious and finally lost the 20 pounds I had packed on in the last 2 years…(it’s called going to the gym and Weight Watchers, people.  It works.)

Last week I stared into the mirror and didn’t recognize the woman who stared back.  And I liked it.

So, still feeling confident, I decided this week to push the fashion envelope one more time.   I bought a pair of “jeggings”.

Because Neil Diamond and the Chanukah Song go together like peas and carrots…

That is supposed to be David Lee Roth, FYI

It’s not like there are a ton of Hanukkah songs out there to choose from. Besides “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel”, I can’t think of many others, until Adam Sandler came along with not one, but THREE versions of the Chanukah Song (Hanukkah).

Neil Diamond (affectionately dubbed as The Jewish Elvis) shares his cover of the now-iconic Sandler tune (can we say “iconic” yet? too early???) from his album, A Very Cherry Christmas (still not enough Hanukkah hits to merit its own album).

p.s. Adam Sandler, you should come up with the 2010 version of the song STAT. I’ll even feed you a couple of new lyrics…any more and I want royalties.

“Guess who this year won’t be lighting the menorah…Drunk ass Snooki and the guidos of Jersey Shore-ah!”

“So many latkes to make us all fat…who knows how many calories…there should be an app for that!”