winter "break"

I am currently about to enter the second week of my office being closed (the university is saving money by impairing productivity, it seems) in what can only be viewed as a work-from-home holiday bonanza. After my last post, I only had to make it through another week of teaching classes and only at 2 of the schools. I also managed to battle a cold that struck that weekend and lasted several days. Speaking of cold, Philadelphia's temperatures dipped below freezing on several days and nights. There was snow, ice, and the inability to open my car door for several hours one morning. I think the wind chill factor is what really made it difficult to leave the house. I enjoyed 65-degree temperatures when I went back to Virginia for Christmas, and today was unseasonably warm enough up here to warrant a run. We'll see how the rest of the winter treats me in the Northeast.

The first week of January will mark 4 months since I moved to Philadelphia, which is pretty impressive. I'm not getting lost all the time (hopefully my Christmas gift Garmin will take care of the rest). I know to wear leggings under my pants, multiple layers on top, and to never forget a scarf and my earmuffs when going outside. I'm still not good at driving in snow, but maybe I'll figure it out.

The Eagles won tonight, which means that they secured a spot in the playoffs. They'll be playing the Vikings next week, and needless to say, we're all excited around here. I am not able to further comment on the situation until next week, but I'll probably have a weird dream about McNabb, Jackson, Dawkins, Westbrook and company. I'm still going to try and make it to a Flyers game later on in the season once I make some money from being a server that doesn't go directly to our house's gas bill. But if nothing else, we'll always have this year's Phillies.

Philly food review: I finally tried a cheesesteak from one of the 'big 3' (Pat's, Geno's, Jim's) when a friend came to visit. We went to Jim's on an evening chock full of snow and rain. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of my cheesesteak with onions and peppers and white American cheese. The price was less fun. I enjoyed getting American cheese more than provolone (have yet to try Whiz) because it provided a sharper flavor to stand up to the bread and steak. The grilled peppers and onions added to the texture and moisture content pretty nicely. I would definitely recommend splitting a cheesesteak with a friend, as I could only eat one half.