Snow

It snowed last night.

During lunch at the conference in Effingham yesterday (which is 210 miles south of Chicago), they announced that the afternoon session at 3:00 pm was cancelled so that everyone from Chicago could get on the road early. Three-to-five inches of snow was in the forecast.

I took that as my cue to leave right then. I was sort of conferenced-out and the last thing I needed was to be ensnarled in traffic trying to get into the city.

Turns out, that was a good instinct. I made it back just as the snow was beginning to fall.
Ensnarling was ensuing.

Here's a pic of Chicago from today's news.
See? Snow.

It snowed most of the night. The Balcony of Terror now looks like a big, white mushroom cap.

I have to admit that I really love winter. Even in Chicago.

The only outdoor activity I actually enjoy is ice skating. I really love it. While I was in Seattle, The Neighbor thought it a bit strange that someone from Texas enjoyed ice skating so much.

It’s because I am from Texas that I enjoy it. It’s the only outdoor activity I can engage in where I can be assured of not getting hot. Getting hot, getting sweaty just goes against everything in my entire being.

Besides, I really need to lose some weight which, apparently, can only be done by getting off of one's backside. According to leading fitness experts, eating Chee-tohs and watching Judge Judy after work is a highly ineffective means of weight loss.

I’ve learned that I won’t go to the gym. There’s the danger of getting hot and there’s also the danger that someone might look at me.

The ice rink at Millennium Park is right outside my office building. So, I keep my hockey skates in a back-pack at work along with a pair of jeans. About 5:30 when most everyone has left, I change into my jeans (I have an office door that locks in case you’re wondering), grab my skates and i-Pod and hit the rink.

"Hockey skates??" says my mother, looking astonished. Isn’t that just awfully athletic and jock-ish of me, keeping hockey skates in my office?

Well, just to assuage any illusions of me being jock-ish, I’ll have you know that the first song on my “skate” playlist is Donna Summer’s "I Feel Love. Click here to listen to it. That song is an absolute blast to skate to.

Brian Boitano never had it so good.