Oh The Weather Outside Is Weather

It's snowing.  Work is cancelled for tomorrow.  I have a large mug of hot chocolate steaming to my left, and just enough food to get me to Wednesday.  Both of my roommates are home in New Jersey, and I'm snowed in alone with three bottles of wine and a plethora of Malibu.  My brother stayed with me for two nights, and we ordered in a Chinese food feast, watched Elf, Knocked Up, and at least 20 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, dipped chocolate Teddy Grahams into vanilla icing as makeshift Drunkaroos, and played an obscene amount of Lego Batman and Mario Brothers 3.  Symbolic dying flowers flop over the side of a vase on the top of the microwave because I didn't have the heart to throw them away.  My skylight is completely covered in snow, and there is actual drifting happening on my windowsills.  The sky is purple.

Memories have been flooding my vision today - each and every one of them making me smile from ear to ear.  There is something truly magical about the first big snow storm of the season (how very Lorelai Gilmore of me), the reminiscence, and the feelings that resurface.  Cancelled classes;  Lunch tray sledding outside of the Towers;  Stuck car doors; Snowball fights after rehearsals, resulting in a wicked case of bronchitis and 2 rounds of antibiotics (worth every second); Guitar Hero and practically ice skating across campus from the furthest and most dangerous mountain point to the next;  Fireplaces, and s'mores, and watching my kitties chase the flames; snowmen on our last winter as a family; a week-long state of emergency and being snowed in with Lauren for 5 days, while Jim, our neighbor, made a maze of paths with his mini snow plow for us to navigate (and Max was only 4, so he wasn't allowed out in the snow for fear of actually losing him); the giant mountain made by the snow plow in the center of the circle, resulting in weeks of fort making and sledding patterns; down to last years New Years Eve, and getting iced-in with some of my closest friends.

On a completely different note, I've gotten mixed up in a little bit of drama recently (and slightly by accident).  This incident, while  bringing some harsh realities to light, has given me reason to look at myself a little closer.  I don't like drama, or gossip, or anything of the sort - and if that is the case, I need to work a little harder on ridding it from my own life, and making sure I do not take part of it.  I've always believed that when things go wrong, it's important to take a step back and look at the situation as objectively as you can - if you are the common denominator, then maybe you are part of the problem.

My specific plight is that I'm too trusting, and too open.  I pride myself on being as honest as I can be - blunt even - and I think I need to pull back a little.  I need to keep my nose out of where it doesn't belong, even if I'm not doing so intentionally or maliciously.  Part of being a friend is just being there, and letting those you care about know you're there.  My friends have been amazing the past year - being there for me, holding my hand when I needed support and kicking my ass when I needed a wake up call, helping me move (some of them helping twice, and some on their birthday), and caring for me, even after seeing me at my worst.  I need to give some of them more credit, stop over thinking things, and let the little things slide away.  All I can do is hope that the people I put my trust in are the people who will always be there, and always have my back (as I will always have theirs).  Everything else is unimportant.

My horoscopes have been eerily on point as of late.  I hope they continue to impress.  I leave you with this one:

If you are having negative thoughts about this crazy season, you should really change your tune.  You have much to be grateful for, and you will have even more to be happy about very soon.  Live in the moment and appreciate it.