Steven Harper Piziks

 Today Darwin and I revved up the Yuletide season, the first one in our new house! I baked a pile of piragi for our family gathering next weekend (including ones filled with Nutella and ones filled with raspberry, as well as the traditional ham) and some banana bread just because I could. Then we put up the tree and strewed the living room with lights and decorations. Afterward, thanks to the magic of streaming, we decided to watch SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN ("Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you are walkin' 'cross the floo-ooo-ooor!') and the George C. Scott version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which is the best one, in our opinion. It was a cozy day!

Darwin and I were supposed to go to Ypsilanti for more research on Sunday, but a big weather system moved in.  HUGE STORM! the weather service shouted.  MANY INCHES OF SNOW! ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD GO OUTSIDE IN THIS!

So we nixed the trip and decided to decorate the house instead.

We got started just as the storm began in earnest, so we had the perfect Michigan combination of snow, pine boughs, lights, and decorations. Darwin got all dressed up:



Maksim figured out where the lights plugged in.



Aran took more photos.  He was also our designated top-of-the-tree decorator.



I had bought a pine garland and intended to use it as a runner for the dining room table, but it was way too long.  Darwin had another suggestion, and it came out beautifully:



In the end, it all turned out just lovely.  With the snow coming down outside and the lights on inside on the tree, everything felt soft and cozy.  I even made a batch of cookies (and started two other batches of treats that have to refrigerate overnight).



Dinah gave her stamp of approval.



Not long after that, my phone rang.  Snow day tomorrow!



We're ready!

Today was the last day before winter break. Break comes inexplicably late this year. Our last day should have been Wednesday. We're back on January 3, so we don't even have two weeks.

At any rate, on the last day I always bring Corey in to play for my students.  They always enjoy this quite a lot, and Corey does too.  :)

Partway through the day, the snow arrived.  It was the first snowfall of the season.  Until now, we've had weather in the 40s every day, with occasional rain or even thunderstorms.  We got a decent amount, and the wind was blowing it everywhere.  It mixed with the water on the ground and froze, creating an icy crust on many surfaces.  At the end of the day, the principal came on the PA to warn everyone that the parking lot was slippery and to drive carefully.

I stayed after a bit, mostly to avoid the slippy-slidey traffic.  On the way home I stopped at Maksim's school to pick up some frogs.  His classroom has a small aquarium with two frogs in it, and Maksim was somehow chosen to take it home over break.  Except they wouldn't allow him to take the thing on the bus.  (Probably because some little jerk would snatch it away from him and try to break it or something.)  That meant I had to pick it up, which I did.  The frogs, both very tiny, are now sitting on the piano.  No doubt the ride to my house gave them some kind of froggy freakout, but you wouldn't know it to look at them.

And then it was time to prep for Yuletide!