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

Little update

Not too terribly much has been going on up here lately. My birthday was Wednesday last week, and it was really nice what with the presents and the delicious Indian dinner we had. Although a box arrived for me on Monday, peer pressure kept me from opening it until my actual birthday! Mom and dad sent pretty much everything I asked for, plus a few extras for David, too! David got me a gorgeous necklace which I have been wearing pretty much constantly. I tried to take my own picture of it, but you know how it is with jewelry and poor lighting... so here's a pic compliments of Amazon.com!



I think mine is prettier though. I haven't yet had cause to wear the winter boots Hazel and Derek got me as an early birthday present during their visit here, but the way the weather is acting, it can't be long before I'll need those insulated flat boots!! It's a whopping 25.2 degrees right now, and should get down to around 16 overnight. In terms of weather, I think that moving to Montreal from Arkansas must be kind of like how you supposedly feel when you have your first child - you think you know what it (the winter) is going to be like, until it actually starts, and then you realize how totally unprepared you are!! Thankfully we only have to deal with one of those issues at the moment. (; Because of the wind today though, I was inspired to get a hat on my way home, and I'm glad I had it! It is very blustery, and the wind chill can be awful outside.



Despite the impending cold, we are enjoying the season here. The first Christmas lights I saw in town went up two days before my birthday (which seemed very early to us)! Here's a blurry pic of the lights that went up first on Mt. Royal, just to give you an idea:



By now lights and decorations are springing up all over town. The underground city is completely packed with garlands and oversized fake trees and lights everywhere, and the holiday music is blaring from every shop! (Except the shoe stores, which always, always play pop music.) Even my office building has a 25-foot tall tree in the front lobby, complete with fake snow! So far I've only seen fake trees, but today I noticed that the pavilion next to the metro - which in summer sells live plants and fresh produce - is now set up to sell Christmas trees! There aren't any in it yet, but the lights and signs are up and it can only be a matter of time before the trees themselves arrive. I don't know how much they will cost, where we could even put one up, or whether we will really want to drag a tree a couple of miles back to the apartment in the freezing cold (and let's face it, probably snow), but I am still excited to see that the option is there! I'll be sure to let everyone know, should we decide to go for it. (:

love,
Shannon

Follow-up - with pics!

Well, I said I'd add more detail, so here goes! This should catch everyone up on September through the present...

The leaves started changing here in September. The weather was gorgeous, and we finally made our way to the Jean-Talon Market. The variety and quality there was amazing! We tried to get outside as often as possible.





In mid-September, mom and dad (Gieringer) came to visit us for a week! We loved having them here. We went to a soccer match, visited "Old Montreal," and even went up to the Botanical Gardens. The video below shows Montreal Impact fans after the game, singing the team chant... catchy!









Naturally they spoiled their "grand-puppy" rotten, too - and she has hardly put that toy down since! (We just looooove the squeaker in it...)



(I have more pictures from their trip (and everything else listed here) posted in our Picasa album, so you can go there for more!)

October 13 was Thanksgiving here, and I made my first ever Thanksgiving dinner, including mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce from scratch, plus (part of) a roasted turkey. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. The next week the leaves started really changing color, and it was pretty gorgeous around town.



In the middle of October, we got another visit - mom and dad (Sears)! Although they were only here for a few days, we had a lot of fun taking them around campus, the Old Port, and the Chinese Lanterns display at the Botanical Gardens! The weather was chilly, but it was nice anyway.







By the end of the month, David and I had carved pumpkins and put up Halloween decorations.



Then out of nowhere, the temperature dropped and we got our first snow in Montreal!



It stuck overnight and the 'wet flurries' continued through the next day, although it dissipated quickly after that. Still, we were pretty excited, and the mountain looked really neat.



The temperature went back up, and by the time we got to Halloween it was back to 50-degree weather. We got a ton of trick-or-treaters (over 150), most of whom spoke French from behind their adorable costumes. We ran out of candy a couple of times, but when the kids stopped coming we went out for a nice (costume-free) Indian dinner.



Well, that pretty much brings us up to date! Since daylight savings time kicked in, it now gets dark much earlier than I had expected. By the time I get home around 5:15, it looks like the middle of the night! But I do appreciate having some actual daylight in the mornings now. If you want to see more pics, they are all up on Picasa now. When more things happen, I'll update again!

love,
Shannon

We have joined the blogging bandwagon..!

Well it took a while, but following the examples of family and friends we have decided to create our own blog! It will probably be a bit corny at times, and I can't promise regular updates, but we'll do our best! Since this is a joint blog but only a single account, we'll try and sign off so you know which of us is writing each entry! And now... on to the blogging!

We have been in Montreal for three entire months now. I can't believe it's gone so fast! We have started to refer to "the apartment" as "home" (as in, "are you coming home after work?"), so we are clearly feeling a little more settled here. I even decorated the stairs and porch for Halloween! It only took a little coercion to get David to carve a pumpkin with me, and I have to say, I think his was cuter than mine! I have pictures on my computer at home, but since I'm at work right now, that doesn't do anyone much good. I promise to put them online soon!

School is going well for David, and he really only has a few weeks left of the term, but I will let him fill you in on all that. Work is going fine for me, although I've decided to apply to the Anthropology department at McGill! Turns out they have a Gender and Women's Studies option, which I never knew existed, so I'm pretty excited about that. My job is actually a contract to replace someone on maternity leave, and the contract ends August 31 next year. Which would be perfect, because if I was accepted to McGill, the school term starts at the beginning of September! If it works out, it could be very exciting. Keep your fingers crossed!

Here is a picture. It's been posted on Picasa already, but since everybody likes a blog better when it has pictures in it... here you go!

From Move to Montreal

We are happy here, but we miss everybody lots. I'd better get back to work, but I promise I'll add more soon!

Love,
Shannon