Word Perv

With this weekend’s snowgasm still upon us Jay and I were getting a little antsy. We were still trapped in my house – well, in my neighborhood at least as there were no above-ground metros running and  my dead-end residential street was the lowest priority for plowing so it had yet to be cleared. Sunday morning we were both ready to do something. Except there was nothing to do and nowhere to go.

I made breakfast that morning, substituting the usual variety of egg combo with something a little different. This time I topped pieces to toasted french bread with herbed goat cheese, tomato slices, and egg whites. The results – a delicious twist on the fried egg sandwich.

After breakfast Jay filled Daisy’s conch with peanut butter and we watched her, amused as she frantically licked the hard rubber in an effort to get out the PB.

After playing a round of Scrabble, our favorite game, we took a break and I peeked outside. “Holy shit!” I exclaimed, “Everyone is out, shoveling the street!” Turns out my neighbors, about twenty in all, decided to take things into their own hands since it was clear our road wasn’t going to get plowed any time soon, and so they picked up their shovels and started clearing the street. The entire 100-yard stretch of road. Soon Jay and I were out there helping and before long we had the clearest street in the neighborhood and I felt like we’d fostered a sudden sense of community.

With the road cleared Jay and I made plans to meet with some friends for dinner that night – we needed to get out of the house and socialize a bit. Several hours, a lot of sushi, and plenty of beer later, we returned home, feeling a little less stir crazy and confined.

Well it turns out the meteorologists got it right for once when they predicted 16-24″ of snow would get dumped on DC this weekend. As of Saturday evening, when the snow finally stopped, about 32 hours after it first began, the reports were two feet of snow now blanketed our nation’s capital.

This time I was better prepared – on Friday, just as the flakes were beginning to fall, I purchased a snow shovel! By 2pm that afternoon it was starting to accumulate and by evening we had a lovely layer. Jay and I stayed inside, happily playing Scrabble while insulated from the cold.

At 7:30am the next morning Daisy and I braved the elements and went for a walk. I brought my camera so I could capture the winter wonderland that has been thrust upon us, which was still dumping down on us. I had to drop letters in the mail and before I cleared the snow from the mailbox, I snapped a couple of pictures of it.

With my letters mailed Daisy and I continued on, doing a one-mile loop before returning to the house. Once back at the house I cleared the walkway while Daisy tore around the yard, launching herself from the front steps and looking a bit like a superhero, her ears streaming behind her.

We stayed inside till afternoon, when we ventured out again, this time Jay joined us and we let her off the leash. She barreled down the barely-cleared road, staying in the tire tracks as she sped away from us. Calling her name caused her to turn around and run full speed at us.

Later still I would take her out on another walk and would snap a few more pictures. This is my street:

This is my car. I’ve taken several versions of this picture before, but it so adequately displays how much snow we have that I keep taking it.

Around 6pm on Saturday evening the snow finally stopped and the skies cleared. Apparently Mother Nature was done applying her winter wonderland to the DC area. Now I just have to dig out my car…

A funny thing is happening in DC this winter – we’re getting a LOT of snow. More snow than we’ve had in the 11 years I’ve lived on the east coast as a matter of fact, and on occasion, more snow than my sister has gotten in the frozen tundra that is Fargo, North Dakota. In fact she and I trade weather text messages and while she always beats me in temperature (current Fargo temp: 18 degrees F, current DC temp: 26 degrees F), as of late we’ve gotten more snow than they have.

When the weather is cold like this there are a few things you can do: play in the snow, stay inside (preferably with someone you like), run in the snow (only if you’re crazy like me!), toss a treat into a snowbank followed by your dog (my boyfriend did that as I laughed), drink gobs of wine, and you can also cook some good, cold weather food.

One of my favorite new recipes is White Bean Chicken Chili. I changed it so much that it no longer even closely resembles the original recipe so I can almost safely call it my own creation. If not that it is most certainly my own modification. It’s great when the weather is cold as it’s a hearty meal that warms you up; I usually make cornbread to accompany it. Also, I don’t measure anything in this recipe so the amounts listed below are estimated – add more or less based on  your liking. So if the weather is cold where you are, mix this up and let it cook while you’re outside shoveling snow. You’ll have a delicious meal waiting for you when you finish.

White Bean Chicken Chili

• 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes/pieces
• 1/4 chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or if you use the jar of minced garlic like I do, approximately 2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 jar salsa verde
• 2 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
• 1 can white beans, drained
• 3/4 bag frozen corn
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Garnish:

• Fresh lime, sliced
• Fritos
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sour cream

Throw everything except the garnishes into a crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Top with whatever garnishes you prefer – I like mine with Fritos and fresh squeezed lime!

My morning started as it usually does – walking Daisy (though once again I’m tromping through freshly fallen snow!), then a cup of steaming coffee was poured before I hopped in the shower. I was just rinsing the shampoo from my hair when I spotted it – a huge, ugly, dangerous, small, brown spider wedged into the crevice where the wall meets the ceiling. My first thought was to take the shower head and spray the ferocious critter, but I quickly realized this would send him raining down on me and that was exactly what I did not want. Also, who knows what he would do if I attacked him – he’d likely bare his sharp fangs (right, all spiders have scary fangs?), the poisonous venom dripping from them as he launched his multi-legged body toward the soft parts of my neck, aiming to dig into my flesh and cause me instant paralysis…

Instead I finished showering, keeping one eye trained on the spot on the ceiling where the spider contently waited for me to turn my back so he could launch himself at me with deadly force. I’m not exaggerating here people – this is what was going on in the spider’s mind, he was watching me through his multiple eyes (right? They have lots of legs and eyes?), waiting for the precise moment to attack.

As I shaved my legs, aware of the spider’s every non-movement (really, he just sat there, never so much as twitching a single leg), I thought of when I lived in Puerto Rico and was quite surprised to find a gecko in the shower with me.

If you want to see comedy, throw a tiny lizard into the shower while a woman is in there. I damn near broke bones as I flailed, trying to get out. That poor little lizard – and I do mean little, it was about as long as my pinkie finger from head to tail – was probably more panicked than I, wondering if this creature (that’d be me) that was a thousand times bigger than he was going to squash him.

So with those memories fresh in my mind I took a more cautious approach to the spider – simply keeping an eye on him while I showered and then once safely out of the shower – and out of what I deemed to be his attack distance – I shot him with a spray of water, sending him down the drain.

On Saturday I set off on the usual 10-mile run. It was cold, really cold, and the snow had just started to fall. I pulled on my thick running tights, which sounds like an oxymoron I realize, but I was wearing Under Armour’s ColdGear Frosty Tights and once moving my legs were plenty warm. On top I had on UA’s ColdGear SubZero Mock and to be honest it took me more than 3 miles to warm up, but my upper body doesn’t do most of the work while running, so I suppose this is normal. I was wearing my usual UA running shoes (though I actually have the first version of the Apparition, it would appear they’ve made some changes with this new model), gloves, and this time I even donned my UA facemask, which makes me look like a ninja. Now I realize I sound like an Under Armour whore, and really, I am. But since I had the sponsorship with them in 2009 I have a lot of UA gear. And it’s really good gear, so I wear it when I decide to be stupid and run ten miles in 20 degree weather while snow is dumping on us.

Now admittedly I didn’t take a picture of myself before I headed out, but I do have a picture I took about a month ago, during a previous cold snap. I looked the same on Saturday, only I didn’t have on my sunglasses as it was overcast due to the snow coming down. None the less, you get the idea – I’m a ninja. A running ninja.

Suited up and ready to go I set off, meeting David at the 2-mile mark and heading out. Talking as we ran, we commented on the cold and noticed far fewer people on trail than usual. That being said, we weren’t alone and we laughed at all the other idiots who were obsessed enough with running that they’d come out in the weather. We might be a little nuts for running in conditions like that but at least we’re aware of the absurdity.

Four miles in someone passed us going the opposite direction, “Ice ahead!” he said and we gingerly made our way over the snow-covered ice. A half mile later we hit another patch of ice only this time David wasn’t quite passed it when he put his weight solidly on his foot, sending himself flying. He was quite graceful though, he distributed his weight perfectly when he fell, rolling immediately and popping back up almost as quickly as he’d fallen.

“You okay?” I asked, slowing my pace.

“Yep,” he said, shaking it off and moving forward.

“You’re much more graceful when falling, I’m such a pussy!” I said laughing, referring to the previous week when I went sprawling.

“Well, you fell forward, I sort of slid off to the side,” David explained as we neared our turn-around point.

Heading back home we weaved through a neighborhood, as is our usual route when running 10 miles. The snow was nearing an inch on the ground and my fingers were frozen, despite wearing two pairs of gloves. Icicles clung to my eyelashes, making them heavy. We made our way back, our pace slowing. Along the way we helped push a BMW up an icy hill and saw several other cars swerve into the wrong lane. At the 8-mile mark we parted ways, finishing out the last two miles on our own as we headed to our respective homes.

By the time I got home I could barely feel my fingers, and the exposed part of my face – the area around my eyes – was numb with cold. I got to my  house and pounded on my door. Moments later my boyfriend opened the door and I fell into the house, the ice melting from my eyelashes as I pulled off my gloves. I couldn’t untie my shoes so Jay did this for me and then he threw on a pot of coffee while I took the longest, hottest shower, the water making my skin tingle as the feeling came back and I finally thawed.