Let it snow!

As you might have guessed from my title, the snow has started falling in Montreal. We had already gotten a couple of (retrospectively inconsequential) snowfalls, but last week was crazy! On Tuesday (Dec. 8) we got several inches, and from that Wednesday to Thursday we got 25 centimeters - that's right, almost 10 inches in a day! Before and after:







David and I are handling it pretty well, if I do say so myself. We both have snow boots (and boy am I glad we got them BEFORE the real snow started), plus gloves, hats, scarves, and coats of course. As long as we wear layers, the cold isn't so bad, but the wind on face/nose/ears can be brutal. We have already had days where the wind chill is -20F, and that's pretty tough! I had forgotten how totally bizarre it feels when the inside of your nose freezes. Thankfully the apartment is warm and we are generally pretty cozy, and David has even shoveled and salted our stairs already. The only one having trouble is Callie, who hardly knows what to do with all the snow. The first time David took her out in it, he set her down and she just sank straight in... now we have to clear a place for her so she can even have her head above the snow! She walks so gingerly across the ground, shaking her paws after each step, and looking at us so reproachfully.



It's interesting to see how the city changes with the weather. Everyone is required by law to have snow tires, so there are cars on the road all the time even when there is snow/ice all over the roads. It's strange snow, too - gritty, slushy, but not really wet. Since we had freezing rain recently, now it's sort of like having a couple of inches of damp sand on top of solid ice... it's pretty tricky to walk on!! And it's not just pedestrians who have trouble with it; anytime I'm outside there is a car within earshot that is squealing its tires, trying to get out of an icy parking spot or to accelerate from a stop. Cars are even less likely to stop when the traffic lights change, too - often times they just sort of continue sliding through the intersection. Generally I've been impressed though; I haven't seen a single traffic accident yet, so obviously they have some idea what they are doing. The reliability of buses suffers in the snow, however. The city didn't plow streets or sidewalks overnight when it snowed so much, so that morning I waited forever for a bus that never came, before I finally just walked the half hour to the metro. (Walking takes much longer in the snow.) It made me late for work, where I realized that pretty much everyone else was late, too! So at least it wasn't just me having trouble with this weather.

Despite mild discomfort and a little inconvenience, I think we are both really enjoying the snow. It's very pretty for the most part - except for the brown slush on the roads, which Quebecers call something like "slotch." I can't spell it but I can kind of pronounce it - it's a lot like "slush." (: I am looking forward to when we have the chance to ice skate outdoors, and to go skiing on a nearby mountain! That will definitely be an adventure.



Last weekend we hosted (rather unexpectedly) a secret santa Christmas party. I cleaned in the morning, bought/dragged home/decorated a Christmas tree in about an hour in the afternoon, and then had just enough time to fix appetizers before the party started! I actually MADE appetizers - a roasted garlic hummus dip and these little broccoli/cheese/egg mini crust-free quiches. It was all pretty good, too! We had Joan, Jesse, Meg, Ryan, Mikaela, Jim, and Pascale here.



Everyone seemed to have a good time, and Mikaela and Jim stayed into the wee hours of the morning playing cards - including some good old E.R.S.! We had a lot of fun with everyone, and will probably do something again for New Year's.

Well, it is now Thursday night, and in just over 24 hours we will *hopefully* be back in Fayetteville! We have much cleaning and packing to do between now and then, but it can't come soon enough. For those of you at home - can't wait to see you!! For everyone else, Merry Christmas, and more updates to come after the holidays!

-Shannon

*More pics on Picasa (toward the end of the album)!

Ice Skating, Party, and Christmas!

Two great weekends in a row!

I guess I'm a little behind in my updating, but I know everyone will forgive me. So let's see what you've missed...

Two weekends ago (Nov. 22) I actually got a group of people to go ice skating with me! Mikaela & Jim (dating), Pascale and Alejandro (dating), Joan and Jesse (married), and David and I all made it out for an evening on the ice. Since it isn't that cold yet, we went to an indoor rink, and the 8 of us had a really good time racing around the track! Ok, some of us weren't racing... think "pulling self along the wall via handrails" speed for a few people. Most of us did pretty well though, balancing somewhere between cruising pretty comfortably and/or leaping acrobatically through the air over the five year old who somehow bolted straight into your path... Pretty amazing. Here's us on the ice, and several more pics are on Picasa!





After skating we felt a lot like you do after swimming (STARVING), so we got some dinner, and then all saw Bond in the stadium theater together. We had a lot of fun, and I think we are going to try that skating thing again outside when things start really freezing over!

Last weekend was Thanksgiving, kind of strange for us since we didn't get off work or school at all, and not too many people noticed. Thanksgiving isn't as big a deal in Canada as it is in the U.S., for some reason. Still, our landlords invited us downstairs on Friday for a not-typical but yummy Thanksgiving meal (roast beef, string beans, and twice baked potatoes), followed by a very competitive game of Scrabble! It turns out they have moved to one of their other apartments and will now be renting the one downstairs to someone else, and at present it is suddenly unoccupied. Kind of good/bad, in various ways. Unfortunately for them, they weren't moved out yet when we had our party on Saturday night! The same group who ice skated came over for an evening of Guitar Hero, a DDR rip-off PC game, wine, beer, pizza, cookies, and this card game that I think was called "Jungle Fever"..! Yes, it was as fun as it sounds. (:







Most everyone stayed so long they had to get a cab home because all the public transportation had shut down, which I took to be a good sign. It was nice to have people over for a change!

In other news, the weather is taking its sweet time getting cold - I think it is enjoying our fear and drawing out the inevitable. We got a pretty decent snow last week, with a couple of inches of accumulation. So far it only seems to snow at night.



The ground is so cold that even though it has been well above freezing (near 40) in the day for the last week, there are still blobs of snow around town that have turned into tiny glaciers - a little jagged and completely solid. It makes me realize that once the snow really starts, it won't go ANYWHERE for a while....

Regarding our household appliances, there is an exciting development. Our poor old stove has been slowly dying for the last month, and finally finally our landlords brought us a 'new' one today! They installed it while David and I were both out of the house, so I came home to a shiny-ish surprise. Ceramic top, too - fancy! Here are pics of the "new" stove, and the tragic old one, where it was left to die:





Despondent appliance aside, we are doing well here. David has just about wrapped up his first semester, which will be a great relief for him! I know there are a few seminars and papers to go, but he's almost there and things are looking good. Meanwhile I have officially applied to the MA program in Gender & Women's Studies at McGill, so I will have to find a way to not think about it as much as possible until I get the verdict sometime next year!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed though; I am loving the idea of being in school - and NOT at a desk - for a change!!

We are just over two weeks away from coming home for Christmas, and we absolutely can't wait to see everyone!!! It will be a busy week (Dec. 19-28 if you're keeping track), and we are going to make the most of it. In the meantime we are counting the days!

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody! Hope everyone is warm!

love,
Shannon