update in reverse

tomorrow: we leave at 7:44 a.m. for an extended weekend in palm springs, california to visit my dad's and gil's new home. we will hopefully sleep on the plane. the time change will be in our favor. we will hang out and enjoy weather twice as warm as it is here. we will hang out and sleep in. on sunday there will be something of a family reunion (15 of us in the same family tree!), and rachel will come all the way to see me and bring her boyfriend. there will be sleeping, eating, hanging out, more sleeping and more eating.

today: i got a trim at the new salon across the street from the salon i used to visit. it new salon has all of the stylists from the old salon. beauty mutiny! i got a trim and commiserated with the stylist about not being a morning person and paid them a bunch of money. in a few days i'll know if it was worth it. also, scantron had her baby - happy birthday to anna!

before today: our house got brand spankin' new, energy efficient, easy to clean windows. drafts are down by about 98%. a few missed percentage points due to a window not entirely suited for it's frame, near nate's side of the bed. we think a bit of caulking will do the trick. when i came home today, instead of a freezing house i got a comfortable but slightly cool house. it was warmer today than yesterday, but i think we're on to something here...

also before today: we celebrated lea's birthday with some good sibling fun and pizza time. we celebrated post-holidays with friends in freetown and came away from the yankee swap with a well curated gift of a machete and a ski mask. and i bought a sparkly purple adult-sized hula hoop. we celebrated the new year with friends in somerville, eating cheesy things and having some good conversations. we celebrated the holidays at two homes, enjoying company, food, and more good company.

before all that, we went on vacation in andalucia during which: i became addicted to lemon soda; in seville we found a fast food donut/bagel place, not to be confused with dunkin donuts, called "duffin dagels" ; we walked seville up and down and left and right of the guadalquivir river; we visited alcazares reales de sevilla which made me want to tile every surface i possibly could; we spent a couple of days in the seaside town of cadiz, walking along the coast and zig-zagging through the narrow streets; we saw the southernmost tip of spain at the windsurfing beach town of tarifa; we woke early to be the first people of the day on the top of the rock of gibraltar, where, looking out at africa, nate proposed and i said yes; we had "milkshakes" which were only bottled yoohoo-type beverages shaken by the shop keeper, which made us frown; we spent a few days in granada, particularly enjoying a meandering night stroll in the hilly neighborhood of albaicin and, of course, visiting alhambra; nate got very sick and sounded like he was going to either die or become tone loc; we splurged on one night at a fancy schmancy hotel in the small town of osuna, which makes its own olive oil, has a beautiful town square, and perhaps the world's worst pizza joint; we finally returned to seville, where nate continued to be sick, i continued to be obsessed with lemon soda, and we contemplated bringing home creche figures ranging in size from mini to mondo from the strangely huge holiday fair outside the cathedral selling only creche figures; we wished for more time in spain and came home looking forward to our next trip.

(oof. that's a mouthful. sorry. next time, a sampling of photos. some day soon.)