Country and Christmas, not to be mistaken for "Country Christmas" which I find revolting even though I'm from Texas.

I just came off a SUPER FUN weekend which for the first time in many MANY moons did NOT involve even a split second of schoolwork. It did, however, involve:

Movie night (Terms of Endearment) including DaVinci's pizza followed by a trip to the pub under Third Place Books in the U District.

FREE yoga! Ommmm...followed by lunch at Boom Noodle. Chicken teriyaki, delish.

Chick flick w/the roommate (Letters to Juliet) followed by a fabulous nap on the couch followed by...

My first ever trip to The Little Red Hen, this country bar/club in Seattle. It was AWESOME. Next time, I'm wearing my Daddy's cowboy hat. Highlights:

• A great band, great music, and great margaritas.
• Jesse applied his knowledge of salsa dancing to the country music, and guess what? It totally worked. I love him.
• We learned (I re-learned) the Tush Push. Jesse picked it up after watching twice. Then he taught me. Seemed quite backward to me.
• This OLD couple...no lie, had to be in their 80s. And boy did they dance! I danced with the dude...adorable. I hope when I'm their age I'm gettin' my country dance on at the Little Red Hen.
• I was quel impressed by the number of country music fans...I really thought I was the only one who listened to it in all of Seattle.
• Leah's boyfriend, Kassra, was like "Are we still in Seattle? On Earth?" So I translated the lyrics for him: "I told her way up yonder past the caution light there's a little country store with an old Coke sign. You gotta stop and ask Mrs. Bell for some of her sweet tea...Mama gave her a big ol' glass and sent her right back here to me."

Sunday brought Seattle's first snow of the season...and our Christmas tree! Leah's awesome friend, Joe, met us at Home Depot and we loaded up on Christmas! I've wanted to decorate the last few years but haven't had the energy (or money, hello graduate school). This year, I have a job and TONS of energy! So we went a little Christmas crazy. We spent the afternoon listening to Christmas music, drinking hot cocoa, and setting everything up. The tree went in front of the living room window that looks out to the Seattle skyline.

Not so super fun, but went right along with the excitement of the weekend...I went to my room for bed and noticed out the side window what appeared to be fire. Upon further inspection, the a recliner chair on the back porch of the house next door was ON FIRE. I stood there gaping when a woman ran out onto the porch and dumped a pot of water on the chair. She looked at me and we made eye contact. It was one of those freaky moments when you watch someone in trouble and they see you seeing them. She ran back in and out again, this time on her cell phone. I hoped she was calling the fire department. I called Jesse and he told me to call the fire department. Just then, I heard sirens so I went to the front of the apartment to see if they stopped and they did. From my bedroom, I watched the firemen come to the back porch and put out the fire. They tossed the big chair over the 2nd floor balcony to assess the damage on the porch. It was pretty dark, but some of the floor and a lot of the railing was burned. Oh yeah, the whole house (porch included) is wood, as is ours. And also, the houses are like 2 feet apart. If we both reached out, we could touch. Scary.

This morning, I woke up to SERIOUS SNOW on the ground. I made it to work, but they are saying we will likely close early. I know it's a bit treacherous but to be honest, I'm just excited. Thanksgiving is next week, snow is on the ground, the Christmas tree is up, and I have a poinsettia in my office.

North Seattle Community College

P.S. If you are one of those people who thinks being excited about and/or decorating for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving is insane, please don't rain (or dump snow) on my parade.