Blizzard '09

On the evening of Friday, December 18, 2009 a blizzard began to hit the Richmond metro area. Our plans were foiled. Jeremiah and I were supposed to head up to Montrose, PA on Saturday morning to spend those glorious, anticipation-filled days leading up to Christmas with the Link family. Jeremiah's mom's 50th birthday was also on Sunday. 

But when I was driving home from work a little after 6pm on Friday night and received a call from my mom inquiring about our travel plans, I knew this plan we had so carefully mastered was about to crumble to pieces. You see, Friday night was also meant for Jeremiah and I to have our own Christmas together--open gifts, cook our Christmas fettucini, and watch A Christmas Story. Unfortunately, I arrived home to my wonderful husband (who had cleaned every inch of our apartment and even lit a fire in preparation for our evening together) not having a clue it had begun snowing and instantaneously stressed by my own stress. We may or may not have been rather on edge and at each other's throats for the next hour and a half as we tried to figure out whether to quickly pack (packing for 12 days can't be done quickly) and leave that night or to wait it out til Sunday (hopefully) and cross our fingers the power won't go out in the process. The snow was already accumulating and apparently was moving along most of our route north. 

Around 8pm our verdict was in: wait it out til Sunday.

We've never been so confident in our decision after we woke up Saturday morning, and then tried to drive on Sunday morning. Some of these pictures/videos I posted look like we're driving in sludge, but alas it was thick, solid ice. If you look closely, in the picture with the plows, we are driving to the left of the rumble strip. We too were wondering why the left shoulder was the only 'lane' VDOT could claim as 'passable.' The shaky camera is not from my inability to have a steady hand, but we were actually being shook around violently as we tried to maneuver over the treacherous roads.

Jeremiah's Premature Mid-Life Crisis

I must share with you a couple snapshots from this morning. It was our last day of work before our two-week Christmas break (the one good thing about Virginia) and Jeremiah was very excited for crazy hat day at school. Wouldn't you know he had quite the plan.

Thursday night he went out and bought a Santa hat.

And white hair spray.

And this is what he looked like twelve hours later.

Petrifying almost. I can't help but laugh to myself as I recall eating breakfast this morning as I heard my dear 23 year old husband practicing his "ho ho ho"s in front of the bathroom mirror. A cheap Santa hat, lumberjack flannel, and a bushly white beard are perhaps not the most flattering of looks for Jeremiah. And can you believe this is post-accidentally-shaved-off-two-inches-of-his-beard? Can you imagine?? 

'Tis the season I suppose. 

Koehler Sibling Fun

Right now, a blizzard is striking down on Richmond, VA, keeping us from traveling north tomorrow for Christmas as was planned. Also, Jeremiah conked out on the sofa about ten minutes into A Christmas Story (which is a cardinal sin in my book). So, as I sit dealing with those two tragedies, I thought perhaps I should update on last weekend.

Last weekend Andria and Cameron came to visit us for the weekend. We had a blast!! There visit was highly anticipated, and far surpassed our expectations. We laughed a ton as we embarked on many fun and festive adventures. Soon after their arrival, Cameron clued us in on his two goals for the weekend. (1) To get fat. (2) To get poor. Mission accomplished.

Friday night we saw about nine houses on Richmond's FAMOUS (yes, a featured show on TLC even) Tacky Light Tour. Who knew there were so many nutty people out there? These houses were absolutely crazy, and the people who put the time and effort into decorating them must be completely off their rocker. But I'm glad they are. Their crazy antics provided hours of fun for us. Here are just a few. 

Saturday we went to a little ol' thing called TubaChristmas. Only, I don't think it's that little. I think it's like a legitimate thing in many cities. A bunch of tuba players seated on folding chairs accompanied by a large Italian soloist and a bunch of Richmonders shaking their keys as pseudo jingle bells. Outside in downtown Richmond. I felt embarrassed to have brought them there. But, with JEremiah being a veteran sousaphone player, I thought it might warm his heart. Not sure it did that, but it cultured us I suppose. We then walked to Bottom's Up Pizza and stuffed our face with pricey, mammoth-sized pizza. And even though we could barely breathe because our stomachs were puffed up to our diaphragms, we then headed to Two Sweet, a gourmet cupcake shop. Delicious! Here are some of the ones we sampled.

We fell asleep to A Muppet Christmas Carol when we got back and continued to eat and laugh more into the evening. Sunday was a complete washout (as is customary every time my family visits), but we made the most of it. We went to a second cupcake place, called Frostings. Better cake, but less cupcake for the money. The verdict is still out on the better cupcake vendor; however, I think Two Sweet is a step ahead. Lord knows we continued to eat onion dip and buffalo chicken dip the rest of the day, and started gaining our holiday weight a tad bit early for the season. It was worth it.

Deck the Halls

Our Christmas decor is finally coming together, and although these pictures don't do it any justice (in my opinion), I thought I'd share anyway. I went for a peppermint type theme this year, with lots of candy cane and peppermint patterns... even big red and white candies hanging above the dining 'room' table, which are quite fun. This afternoon we also put up some retro, fat colored lights on our railing--something that never would have been seen at the Koehler house growing up. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of my parents' taste in decor, and I myself try to mimic it, but there's nothing like the feeling of a hint of fun, gaudy Christmas.

Kitchen Concoctions

We've been getting crafty in the kitchen recently. Well, one of us has been crafty, the other just went nuts. You be the judge.

Here is Jeremiah with his huge mixing bowl full of homemade eggnog. He made it last night, I won't drink it, and we leave tomorrow until Saturday night. May or may not have been his wisest choice. He declined to comment when asked why he didn't half the recipe.

Here is what remains of the cake I made for a little going-away shindig we had for two teachers that I work with. Isn't it so fun?? Remember, I work in an elementary school, so things with bright, fun colors are wonderful! Cameron, please refrain from commenting. I already know many many things you may have to say about this.

Bye Bye Santa Beard

'Twas a sad moment in our apartment two nights ago. Jeremiah went into the bathroom to cut his hair, as he has always done. And kind of like the children's book, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Jeremiah couldn't settle with just a haircut. He then wanted to trim up his sideburns. And then he wanted to even out his unruly beard. We examined the monstrosity on his chin, determining it to be more than an inch long (the longest setting on his clippers) but not by too much.

We were wrong.

Jeremiah looks like a normal man now, with appropriately trimmed facial hair. We figure his beard must have been between two and a half to three inches long. Ew. As much as I joked about that Santa beard, I really felt for my husband after that trimming mishap. He was a sad man, and I was sad for him. He had been so diligent about growing it out and not giving in to my most desperate of pleas. He was even looking forward to appearing on stage as Santa himself at our cousin's high school band concert (he's the band director) on December 10th. No more cameo in store for him. And I have been dreading breaking this to you, the fans, but I'm afraid our Christmas card photo may look semi-normal now. Unfortunate, I know.

Maybe throw up a prayer or two for rapid hair growth for Jeremiah, in the hopes that his joyful spirit will soon return for the holidays.

Uneventful

I haven't posted anything, largely due to the fact that our lives have really been uneventful. We leave for work by 7am, Jeremiah returns at 5:30 or 6pm and I arrive shortly after him at about 6:20pm. I make dinner (although Jeremiah was the culinary master last night since I wasn't feeling well), we watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and then I typically fall asleep on the couch while Jeremiah does more work. Good times.

We're in the midst of sorting out our Christmas decor and figuring out what gifts to buy for family. Next week we'll be heading north to Montrose for Thanksgiving and return on Sunday to put up our own tree. We're looking forward to being with family and celebrating the holidays. At that point, there will be much more to share with you.

Hang in there, December should be a more eventful month!