'tis the season

this has been quite the whirlwind holiday season. i'm in north carolina now, and it was surprisingly easy to get here given that it started snowing heavily on christmas day and didn't let up until a few hours before i landed. it's been awhile since i've had a white christmas; we used to have them all the time in indiana but there's not much snow in texas (although miraculously, it did snow in dallas on christmas day last year, which i saw via skype from china when i called my dad, stepmom and brother).

i got to spend time with jj's family and go see my grandparents in their new retirement community in mansfield, which was nice since i hadn't seen them in over a year. i'm glad i was afforded lots of time to hang out with drew, too; we made our own light sabers out of wrapping paper rolls, built tons of lego star wars things (ships?), and played board games. wish i could see him more often.

i love being in north carolina because this place feels more like home than any place besides austin. my grandparents moved to pfafftown when my mom was in third grade or something like that, and this house has been in the family ever since. now that my mom's home living with my grandma and working for the paper again, she's completely redone the basement to make it into her own little apartment, which truth be told is bigger than most one bedroom apartments i ever lived in. she also has two little rescue kitties that have been hiding under the bed, but ringo doesn't run away from me now, and george has at least let me pet him. i've gotten them both to purr, which mom said doesn't happen much. maybe if teaching doesn't work out, i could become a cat whisperer or something.

now, i know christmas is over, but there are still a few things i want. don't get me wrong, i'm very happy with my kitty wig (from dad and nancy) and my bump it (from my mother), but since i also got a bit of money in my stocking, i may go out and get me a few of these things:

a vintage clock. my digital alarm clock with the agonizingly bright green numbers is something i don't even use anymore, so might as well get something pretty like this for my bedside table.

any pillows from this shop would make my couch and/or bed happy. 

a self-inking return address stamp. i've always wanted one of these, and even though i'm not sure how permanent my current address is, i still want one.

 black riding boots. classic.

this duvet cover from dwell studios. i've been looking for something that matches my taste but is also masculine, since i'm sharing my home with a boy now. i think this matches my criteria perfectly.

as for now, i have to repack my bags for a road trip to richmond. i've never been, and it'll be fun to meet my cousin's girlfriend. hope to get lots of reading done in the car. i'm currently reading this, and it is quite interesting.

and speaking of reading, if you want to laugh out loud (which i did), read this.

if you want to read a great article that pinpoints what i've thought to be true since i started teaching, read this.