When I was a kid, my mom would start piling up Chanukah presents in the living room as she bought them and wrapped them, but by the time I was in second or third grade, she knew to use double-sided wrapping paper on mine and tape up all the gaps in the paper, because I'd figured out how to hold the present up to the light to see the the box under the wrapping paper and lift up the stray edges of paper to peek underneath. If something was in a distinctive-sized package, she's put it inside another box before wrapping it.

One year my mother wrote all the presents, "To Aisha, To Khadija," etc. - she was reading Naguib Mahfouz at the time. So we wouldn't know what was for who and be tempted to peek.

Snort. I don't know when I stopped believing. We played along all wink-wink-nudge for a long time.

All day, people have been trekking up and down the streets with sleds and trashcan lids and now a snowboard just went by (nice sliding hills on the old stadium site.) t /neighborhood likes carrots

I want to go sledding. There is nowhere to sled around here, though.

I've got several new coworkers on fb who just moved to Baltimore recently and they are pretty much all in shock. It's funny.

Oh! My realtor? Who isn't due until 1/4? She's got 12lbs of baby in her. And she's TINY. I really can't imagine.

There are a lot of enterprising teenagers out there today. Hope they are making good money!

I can no longer describe the snow accumulation. I've run out of hyperbole.

SNOWMAGEDDON!!!

I went out in the snow earlier and it was awesome. Drifts up to my knees. Some of the people in the building were sledding down the ramp into the garage. Looked like fun, but am I a party pooper for being concerned about the continual opening and closing of the garage door?

It's possible you don't recognise that in me today.

Recognize and enjoy, in fact.

Wait, so they're sledding into the garage door that then opens for them? I think I'd be concerned, but I think I also don't get what's really happening.

Unpacking boxes that haven't been unpacked in years. Too fun.

I want to plug in the christmas lights on the balcony, but even if I could open the door without spilling a foot of snow into the house, the lights themselves are under another foot and a half of snow.

They'd be pretty! I saw a neat photo online somewhere of snow covered bushes with lights.