Jazz Hands

I don't know what it is about this time of the year but no matter where I've lived ...  North, South, New York, Maryland, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Texas ... January and February positively wreck havoc on my skin. 

I usually have "combination" skin or problems with my T-zone. If I break out anywhere, it's usually my chin.  Yes, at 48 years old I still have the occasional zit.  However, this time of the year my skin goes haywire.  My sometimes oily T-zone area gets very dry and flaky.  Over the years I've learned to exfoliate regularly, keep my face exceptionally clean and drink lots of water.

Unfortunately 8 glasses of water doesn't always do the trick and my hands get horribly dry and cracked.  They get so cracked they actually start bleeding.  My cuticles are the worst and it's not uncommon for me to be sporting band-aids on 5 or more fingertips at a time.  Although I love a good hand lotion (i.e., L'Occitane or Crabtree and Evelyn), they contain a lot of chemicals and make the situation even worse.  In the evenings I slather my arms and legs with Aveeno Overnight Relief lotion but that really doesn't help my hands. So, this winter I invested in a pair of therapeutic cotton gloves and a good old fashioned jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly.  It puts the lotion on and then it puts the gloves on.  Hopefully this remedy will help.  I look like a total clown but wear the gloves throughout the day when I'm at home.  KJ says I look like a crazed health inspector but I like to think I look like Mickey Mouse or like I have really happy jazz hands.

Snowmaggedon 2015?

Woke up this morning to a light snow fall.  And I do mean light.  We are to get some accumulation but nothing compared to our northern friends.  KJ had school as usual, no delay or anything.  Which is good.  They haven't had to use a snow day yet!

This weekend was #LaxCon in Baltimore.  Cosmo attended this year as a "civvie" and not in an official capacity.  Which is just fine with me.  He was able to catch some of Coach Danowski's presentation which is always a highlight and he met up with some college friends.  So funny how once lax gets under your skin, you're a laxer for life.  All of Cosmo's college buddies, high school buddies, still play or coach in some capacity.

KJ had a v-ball tourney on Saturday.  I did not go because I had a hair appointment.  I know that sounds so incredibly lame but I had an appointment last week but had to cancel to drive to NY for the funeral.  So I rescheduled for Saturday not realizing she had a tournament.  I've been in MD since September 2013 and have not had my hair highlighted since leaving B'ham.  I was in desperate need of a cut, too.  I was starting to look Amish or like one of this Morman sister wives.  Ick.

Saturday night we watched the Interview on Netflix.  It was better than I thought . . . typical Franco/Rogen set-up -- lots of F-bombs, completely over the top, but I still chuckled.  After Bagel Boy took care of us on Sunday morning I caught up on Black Sails which premiered season 2 Saturday night.  I like the series a lot and this season looks like they'll be filling in some blanks with flashbacks.  Plus, they had a quick little preview of what to expect when Outlander returns in April. Squee!!!

The First Snowfall by James Russell Lowell 

THE snow had begun in the gloaming, 
 And busily all the night 
 Had been heaping field and highway 
 With a silence deep and white. 

 Every pine and fir and hemlock 
 Wore ermine too dear for an earl, 
 And the poorest twig on the elm-tree 
 Was ridged inch deep with pearl. 

 From sheds new-roofed with Carrara 
 Came Chanticleer's muffled crow, 
 The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down, 
 And still fluttered down the snow. 

 I stood and watched by the window 
 The noiseless work of the sky, 
 And the sudden flurries of snow-birds, 
 Like brown leaves whirling by. 

 I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn 
 Where a little headstone stood; 
 How the flakes were folding it gently, 
 As did robins the babes in the wood. 

 Up spoke our own little Mabel, 
 Saying, 'Father, who makes it snow?' 
 And I told of the good All-father 
 Who cares for us here below. 

 Again I looked at the snowfall, 
 And thought of the leaden sky 
 That arched o'er our first great sorrow, 
 When that mound was heaped so high. 

 I remembered the gradual patience 
 That fell from that cloud like snow, 
 Flake by flake, healing and hiding 
 The scar of our deep-plunged woe. 

 And again to the child I whispered, '
The snow that husheth all, 
 Darling, the merciful Father Alone can make it fall! ' 

 Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her; 
 And she, kissing back, could not know 
 That my kiss was given to her sister, 
 Folded close under deepening snow.

Yesterday was our first official snow of the 2015 Season! We ended up getting a bit more accumulation than originally anticipated and the roads were a disaster. KJ had a 2 hour delay and then, moments before the bus was to arrive, they cancelled school all together. T-bone was happy to have seen some snow while she was home and the girls shoveled the driveway so Cosmo wouldn't have to do it when he came home. KJ, however, was a bit miffed. She had received a Keurig Mini as a Christmas gift but it was recalled so we returned it to Macy's last week. She was so mad becasue she really wanted to make hot chocolate with her Keurig!

Drag Queens are our Friends

Despite being a little gloomy and gray all weekend, we had such a fun time at brunch on Sunday!  The girls and I met my aunt and cousin and took the Metro to the Adams Morgan neighborhood in DC.  It was KJ's first time on the train (she really, really wanted to ride the subway in NYC but we really didn't need to) and, obviously, her first time at a Drag Queen Brunch!  The food was very good, the mimosas were flowing and the entertainment was great!
http://perrysam.com/brunch/sunday/

While we were gone Cosmo packed up the rest of the Christmas decorations, I just have my Christmas china to properly pack up.  It will be nice to have the house back to normal (whatever that is!).  Saturday the girls cleaned their closets and also organized the guest room closet for me.  New Year's was pretty quiet.  KJ had a couple of neighborhood friends over.  Nice group of kids who made a point of coming upstairs and saying hello to us.  Of course, one of KJ's friends told her "your sister's pretty hot" and they're all intimidated by Cosmo.  Which is so funny to all of us.