Snow

I am amazed how much I'm enjoying my Chicago winter. Of course, it seems like it's a mild one this year, so that helps. But it's finally snowing again after a very brown Christmas. My desk is up against the windows in our spare bedroom and I can watch the flakes pile up along the branches of the old trees.

Y bought a projector which works wonderfully against the white wall in the living room. We watch a lot of movies anyway but now we seem to manage to watch even more. A couple of good ones lately: Once (sweet modern day musical ... no, really, it's really good), Eastern Promises (I'm not sure why I liked this one exactly ... perhaps a happy ending against a dark plot, good acting), Primer (from 2004, indie sci-fi, left me feeling confused but in a good way).

The other night I had this very strong urge to move back to Seattle/Portland after the program even though the job prospects (as far as money management go) don't seem that good - I just wanted to go home. See Baby Y grow up near the mountains and the sea, with grandparents and aunties and uncles and room to roam around. Thinking of him growing up in New York is very strange for me - given how rural my own childhood was.

Perhaps it was the holiday that inspired the feeling. But then, in the light of the day, Y and I want to find adventure in the Big City. I started college on the east coast, wanting to be as far from I where I grew up as possible and never planned to go back to the west coast. But after only a few years, I realized home was west for me. I returned to Seattle/Portland at that point, but wrestle with the east vs. west coast decision every year, even now. By choosing to live in the northwest after college I feel that I made some very big career sacrifices, but it's also where I met my husband and formed a pretty good life for many years. So I suppose it worked out in the end. Now I have the opportunity to choose again ... what to do.